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“So, yeah, ummm, I rushed back to Helheim like my feet were on fire. On the way here, I thought about ideas and designs–exactly how I wanted my garden to look. Once I arrived, it took less than twelve hours to get everything just right.” Dropping her chin and looking shyly to the side, she admitted, “I Magicked it into existence…” Snapping her head upright and turning to face Hopper, she smiled as brightly as she ever had.

“…and that was the last time Enchantment of any kind was used in what I call my ‘happy place’.”

“I hope someday we can call it ‘our happy place’.” His voice was low and rumbly and touched places in Hel she hadn’t know existed.

“He’s waiting for you to give me a sign, Helly, my girl,” Carys encouraged. “You can talk about gardening any day of the week and twice on Sunday. It’s time to claim your Mate.”

“But…”

“But nothing.” The Dragoness’s tone went from soft to demanding. “You don’t have to do the dance of the seven veils or swing on a stripper pole. Just go to him, show him you’re interested, and let nature take its course.”

Hel knew she was right, but… And just like that she was back to talking about her garden.

“From then on, I babied, nurtured, protected, and did everything I could to keep each and every shrub alive without a drop of Enchantment of any kind.” Opening her arms wide, she pushed up on her toes and did a single spin.

Stopping when she was once again facing her Mate, her heart skipped a beat at the look of hunger in his eyes.

So shook, it took her three tries, and she stuttered when she said, “Th-the l-last time I-I checked, it’s over a square acre of nothing but the pink, red, maroon, purple, white, and crimson blooms.”

Taking a step toward her, Hopper asked, “Including the ones in the house?”

“Oh, ummm, well… Yes, I only pick the ones that will die if they are left on the vines any longer.” She stopped. Had she waited too long? Had he already lost interest? Should she…?

“You should take a deep breath and know that I will never ask you to do anything you’re not ready to do.” Another step closer, and he continued, “Can I tell you a secret?”

Nodding, she just barely squeaked out, “Mhm.”

Another step and he was close enough that she could see the flecks of silver on the sea of cobalt blue that were his eyes. The heat of his body bathed the front of her armor, making her realize she was still dressed for battle.

But she couldn’t move. Didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to be anywhere but exactly where she was.

“Well…” Hopper cleared his throat. “I am no more experienced in the matters of love than I think you are.”

“But you’re…”

“I’m Hope, not Love or Lust,” he chuckled.

“And I have hoped for you for a very long time, my spectacular Mate. I have only ever wanted to be with you. So, I waited.” Taking the final step that brought him to her, the man made for her by the Universe took her hands in his, knelt down on one knee and with the most open and honest expression she’d ever witnessed, solemnly asked, “Will you, Hel Odinson Lokidottir, Norse goddess of Helheim and Queen of the Dead, be my wife, my Mate, my everything , forever and ever amen?”

Unable to breathe. Unable to think. Unable to do anything, Hel was so glad she shared her soul with Carys when the Dragoness Queen zapped her Pure, White, Dragon Magic and snapped, “Say something, my girl. Get to it! There’s no time like NOW!”

Dropping to her knees, giggling like a schoolgirl when Hopper’s eyes opened wide and he gasped, “Oh, dear, I didn’t mean for you to get down on the ground, too,” Hel smiled, “I would follow you anywhere.”

As he took her left hand in his, Hel’s insecurities threatened to rear their ugly head, but in an unprecedented and very welcome move, she tamped them down and moved them aside.

Looking into her Mate’s magnetic gaze, her eyes snapped to her hand when he slid an absolutely perfect, Royal Asscher cut red diamond set in a simple platinum setting surrounded with pink diamond onto her ring finger.

Then he whispered, “This ring was given to me by my Aunt, Mother Nature. She said I was to place it on my Mate’s finger so she would know she always has my heart.” Placing a tiny kiss on her knuckle, he added, “And you always have and always will. I love you, Hel.”

“And I love you, Hopper, so very much.”

Melting when his lips met hers, all of her fear, apprehensions, and nerves simply disappeared with every passing second.

Hopper was gentle and kind, and with his mind completely opened to hers, he let her see that he was taking all his cues from her.

There would be no rushing and there were no expectations.

Hopper really and truly loved her for who and what she was, and that meant the world to Hel.

So much so, that she needed to tell him right then and there.

Reluctantly pulling away from her Mate, Hel once again giggled like a schoolgirl when Hopper groaned at the loss then pushed out his bottom lip and pouted. Needing to reassure him, and herself, she quickly explained, “I need you to know that… that I…”

Inhaling deeply, she exhaled immediately and just went for it.

“I ran away all those times and didn’t come to you earlier or let you know that I knew we were Mates and I so very much wanted to be with you because…

Because… Oh, shit, because I was afraid that you would hate the way I look and not be able to accept the fact that you could be stuck with a half dead-half alive goddess for all eternity. I didn’t want you to have…”

“Stop right there,” Hopper’s voice was loving but carried a steely undertone that froze the words on Hel’s tongue.

Eyes glued to his, her heart filled with love and her soul felt as if it would fly right out of her body when he said, “I will not have you doubting yourself, not even for a moment. You are perfect just the way you are. I want nothing more than to spend eternity by your side. I have wanted to be here, with you, showing you how very much I love you for so very long.”

Squeezing her hands and rubbing circles on the back with the pad of his thumb, Hel shivered at the electricity filling every fiber of her being as he continued.

“The only reason I didn’t show up down here, throw you over my shoulder like a big Neanderthal and make you mine was because, well, it’s not my style.

” He winked. “And I knew you weren’t ready. ”

Laying a sweet kiss to the middle of her forehead, he pulled back and added, “I would never and will never ask you to do anything you do not want to do. We are in this together, all the way. We are partners from start to finish. Deal?”

“Deal!” Hel readily agreed, wrapping her arms around his neck, it was her turn to kiss him, and she did with everything in her.

Never wanting their embrace to end but knowing there were things she still had to tell him for her own peace of mind, wanting out of her armor, and definitely not wanting her first time to be on the ground even though they were in her garden, Hel hesitantly pulled away.

Gently laying her hand on Hopper’s chest when he moved closer, she whispered, “Open your eyes. I need…”

A flash of light and rush of unconditional love and acceptance burst to life in the Mating Bond connecting the goddess to her Mate. In the next breath, Hel was transported directly into Hopper’s mind and shown exactly what he thought, and most importantly, felt about her.

Transported to what she immediately knew was one of his favorite memories by the way Hopper’s emotions painted the scene, Hel was both shocked and overjoyed when she realized it was that day so very long ago when her father took her to Dreki Island.

She hadn’t thought about that day for so long, had only recently realized that Hopper was there and that she’d run away that time too.

Floating on the lovely feelings of his memories, Hel heard his thoughts, and the breath caught in her lungs.

His voice filled her as he said, “I’ve heard so many others call the left side of Hel’s body her ‘dead side’, but that is absolutely absurd, and something I will clear up once we are properly Mated.

The world will know that I belong to her, and she belongs to me, and they will treat my Mate with the respect she is due. ”

“Hel is not dead. Neither is any part or parcel of her lovely visage. She is gorgeous. She is perfect. She is a goddess, and I don’t mean just because of her parentage.” He huffed to himself. “Most importantly, she is mine, and that is all that matters.”

“I just can’t get over it. Hel is absolutely beautiful.

She is the woman made for me by Auntie Universe.

It is as simple as that.” With a sharp nod, he kept the inner monologue going.

“My Mate is loveliness personified. Her very existence represents the boundary between Life and Death. She is a living, breathing symbol of the true duality of the natural cycle of Life. How could that ever be ‘dead’?”

“Hel is not only the Norse goddess of the Underworld and the Queen of the Dead, to me, she is quite literally everything. She is the fresh new life of Spring, the warmth of the Summer sun, the splendor of Autumn colors, and the frigid winds of Winter that energize rebirth and start the cycle of Life and Death all over again for so very many things. She is perfection.”

With a single tear rolling down the cheek of her dead side, she sniffed, “Oh, Hopper, I love you. I always have and I always will.” Outlining his lips with the tips of her fingers, she added, “This is our time. I honestly never thought it would come, never thought I would get over myself and let it come, but here we are.”

“Are you sure, my love?”

“Oh, yes, I am sure. I want to be with you. I am meant to love you and only you and we are meant to spend eternity together.”

Tracing his jawline, loving the way the blond stubble tickled her fingertips, she added, “Please love me and let me love you, mín ae .”