by Sumida, Amy
“Wow,” I frowned, fighting the urge to make another Santa joke. “That's kind of beautiful and really insightful. Thank you.”
“Of course,” he reached over and took my hand.
“Well isn’t this sweet?” Thor was suddenly standing over us, glaring at our joined hands. What the hell was he doing here? “Is this why I saw Trevor stomping off?”
Odin started to get up and I could feel his anger like a drop in barometric pressure. I squeezed his hand and when he looked at me, I shook my head. This was my battle. He leaned back and inclined his head to me.
“Odin’s just offering some comfort because Trevor took off on me.” I was used to Thor’s rudeness, so I could keep calm. Some small part of me actually welcomed it after the strange way Trevor had been acting.
“So why did Trevor run off?” Thor sat down on the end of the couch.
“We had a disagreement.”
“About what?”
“About none of your business, that’s what,” I raised a brow at him.
“Yet it seems to be Odin’s,” his eyes were starting to fill with lightning.
“Ah fuck, Thor,” both men stared at me with wide eyes. “Trevor proposed okay? I said I wasn’t ready and he got pissed. You happy now?”
“Why aren’t you ready?” The lightning immediately started to die down to little sparks.
“It’s only been a year,” I dropped my head to my knees.
“More than that since you bonded,” Thor corrected me and I looked up at him in surprise.
“I’m just not ready.”
“You’ll never be ready,” Thor’s voice was too sad to be concerned over Trevor.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You pick things apart, Vervain,” Thor glanced at Odin uneasily but continued. “You need to find things to blame in case something does go wrong. Then you can say I told you so and be done with it.”
“I didn’t pick us apart,” I felt my teeth clench.
“Vervain,” Thor rubbed his forehead, “I came here to apologize to you tonight. I love you. I miss you but I want you to be happy. Why don’t you let yourself be happy?”
“So you think I should marry Trevor?”
“No,” Thor sighed. “Yes. Whichever makes you happy. Stop worrying about ifs and whens. Just do what feels right.”
What makes me happy. What did make me happy? I frowned as I considered. Trevor made me happy when he wasn’t acting like a jealous idiot but would marriage to him make me happy? Maybe. Did I want little werewolf babies? Maybe not but then I wasn’t sure if I wanted any babies, werewolf or otherwise. Would waking up next to him every morning for the rest of my life, make me happy? I suddenly thought that it might.
“Alright,” I got to my feet.
“What are you going to do?” Thor’s face twisted into concerned lines.
“I’m going home,” I leaned over and hugged him tightly, letting myself remember us in a good way for moment. It had been so long since I held him. I inhaled his wonderful scent, felt the massive muscles under my cheek tense, and then I let him go. In every way I could. “Thank you, Thor and thank you too, Odin.” I turned and looked down at the one-eyed god who was still lounging against the couch.
“Before you go,” Odin got up, brushing off his jeans. “I was wondering if I could speak with you later.”
“Tonight?” I squeaked a little in surprise.
“No,” he smiled. “I was thinking later this week. I have something I need to discuss with you. It’s actually why I came down here in the first place.”
“Sure,” I nodded. “Um, why don’t you come by Moonshine on Thursday?”
“How about around seven in the evening?”
“That works for me,” I handed Odin a business card. “In case you get lost and have to call me.” I kissed him on the cheek and whispered, “thank you again,” before I turned and kissed Thor’s cheek too. “I told you when I left, I'd never forgive you.” His face fell. “But I think I'd like to make peace with you.”
“Peace then,” Thor pulled me into another hug before I could escape. “I’m always here if you need me, darling.”
“Thanks, Baby Thunder,” I whispered and pulled away before I embarrassed myself more.
I made my way downstairs and through the “trees” that grew right out of the floor, passing the waterfall and the Froekn bouncers, to walk out the main exit. I walked round back, to the employee parking, but as I was making my way to my car, I felt a strange tingle between my shoulder blades. I turned slowly, preparing to flick my hands down and release the blades housed inside my gloves. One quick movement and I'd have four stilettos sticking out above my fingers, each imbued with god magic.
In the shadows across the lot from me, a dark figure stood. He came forward a little when he saw my regard and the light hit his face. His skin was pale, his eyes dark, and his smile feral but it was his elongated canines that gave him away.
“What do you want, vampire?”
Kirill growled and it startled me even more, I hadn't realized he was following me. It showed how badly Trevor had shaken me. Kirill followed me everywhere, I should have known he'd be there.
“Nothing,” the vampire chuckled. “Just browsing.” With that, he turned and was gone.
“Great,” I growled. “Cause I just didn't have enough weird shit going on right now.”
Chapter Two
Trevor wasn’t at home like I thought he'd be.
I curled up with Nick and fell asleep on the low sofa in my Moroccan living room as Kirill watched me intently from the dining room table. I hadn't said anything about Trevor and he didn't ask. He already seemed to know something was wrong. So he just went into guard mode while I went to sleep.
Before I knew it, it was morning and I was achy from camping out on the sofa all night. I rubbed my face and pushed the blanket away. Blanket? When had I got a blanket? Kirill. Must have been. He was like a mother hen sometimes. I got up and went into the bedroom.
No Trevor.
I had a horrible sinking feeling as I approached the closet but his clothes were still there. I let myself have a small measure of relief before I grabbed the phone and called his cell. No answer, it went straight to voice mail. I texted him Where are you? and still no response. Then I called TryggulfR. He hadn’t seen him and Fenrir was at his Hall in the God Realm.
I didn’t want Fenrir to know anyway, so I said no to Ty's offer to fetch him. I couldn’t face the inevitable questions and the distinct possibility that it was all my fault. My hands began to shake so I went into the kitchen to make a pot of PG Tips tea while I waited. There really wasn’t anything else to do.
I took my tea out to the backyard and sat on the iron bench next to my koi pond, hoping the scenery might calm me. After a little while, Kirill joined me, sitting beside me quietly and holding my hand. I tried to contemplate the beautiful fish but every time their scales flashed gold I’d think of Trevor’s eyes. So I ended up just staring at Nick as he lazed in the sun, feeling my eyes lose focus on his soft fur, imagining another darker pelt beneath my hands. I shook it off and tried to look somewhere else, somewhere safe.
It didn’t matter; everywhere I looked there was a Trevor memory. The whole damn house was infused with him. I’d made love to him in a spot not too far from my feet. It had been a perfect moment, a perfect love, even though he’d been in werewolf form at the time. It hadn’t mattered to me, it was Trevor. So why had it mattered when he proposed? Maybe Thor was right.
Yet even sitting there, feeling my heart constrict with a horrible aching pain, a part of me held back. I loved Trevor, more even than I'd loved Thor, but a part of me whispered no, not yet. A part of me held its breath, waiting for something big, or maybe just waiting for something to fuck it all up… like I just had.
I started to imagine a future without Trevor. No warm arms around me, no fierce kisses, no laughter. An empty shell of a life. He’d come to visit of course, he’d have to, but th
ey’d be cold visits, cold touches, just long enough to keep him alive, and wouldn't that be worse? Instead of being able to move on, I'd have to break open the wound every month. When I died, he’d die with me but it’d be alone, each of us in our own beds, separate, till death did us part for good.
Great, now I was crying again.
Chapter Three
Nick was chasing chameleons in the mock-orange bushes bordering my property when Trevor finally got home. He came bursting through the back door, stopping suddenly when he saw me, and the panic eased out of his face as we looked at each other across the yard. My tears had finally stopped and I’d been sitting in a red-eyed stupor with Kirill's arm around me. Hope sprang to life in my chest and I had to stop myself from getting up and running over to him. I couldn’t handle the rejection if this was merely goodbye.
He walked over, eying me warily along the way. I saw his nose twitch as he scented the air, his forehead crease as my swollen eyes registered. He never truly lost his animal instincts, even in human form, and I realized I didn’t want him to. I didn’t want Trevor to be anyone but Trevor. I didn't want a human anymore, I wanted him.
I set my cup down carefully on the wrought iron of the bench and stood up. Kirill had faded into the shadows and silently left us. He always knew what was needed of him.
“Minn Elska,” Trevor whispered shakily and the tears started falling as I launched myself at him. “I’m sorry,” he buried his face into my hair and I felt his body shake. “I love you so much, it makes me crazy sometimes.”
“Why are you so jealous suddenly?” I squeezed him hard before leaning back enough to look at him. “What’s changed? What have I done to make you so insecure?”
“It’s not you,” he sat down on the bench and pulled me into his lap. His face was strained, dark circles under his eyes, and a tight, self-reproaching look around his mouth. “I keep having these nightmares about you being in love with someone else.”
“Nightmares?” I remembered what Odin had said about the Froekn being psychic and a shiver went down my spine.
“The dream is always the same, this man comes up to me and tells me you loved him first. He says I can’t stand between you. He says nothing will stand between you.”
“What man?” I stroked his cheek. “There’s no one from my past who could take me away from you.”
“Not even Thor?” Trevor searched my face. “In the dreams I can’t see his face but something about him reminds me of Thor.”
“No, honey-eyes, not even Thor,” I kissed him gently and he picked me up to carry me inside. I found myself clinging to him, burying my face in his neck. He smelled like musk and warm, spicy wolf. He smelled like home. My whole body reacted, shaking in relief and desire.
My dress disappeared, along with his clothing, before he laid me on the Chinese wedding bed that dominated our bedroom. The walls of the bed, which was like a little room all on its own, were carved with dragons and phoenixes. Light filtered in, patterning me with their strange shadows, and the smell of sandalwood seeped into the air. He crawled over me and I felt the magic rise up to tease me, the magic which bound him to me and made every slight touch rapturous. He growled low and tremors shook through me.
Trevor rubbed his face along mine, then down my neck and over the cleavage pushed high by my red bra. The part of his soul I kept was swirling inside me, filling me with delight as he stroked pleasure over my skin. I raked my fingers through his thick, black hair as he continued to draw his face down my body. He hadn’t scented me like that since the first night we were together and I was glorying in the soft attention.
“I’m still yours,” I stroked his cheek and he looked up at me with eyes that were glowing with passion.
He was beautiful, with those bright wolf eyes and all that black hair falling in loose waves around him, making his eyes stand out even more. His arms were bunched with the effort of holding himself above me, making sexy angles and curves. His wide chest was devoid of hair, odd when you thought of how furry he could get, but I liked the smooth planes of it. He lowered himself, pressing his chest to mine.
“I know, Minn Elska,” he kissed my stomach and a sweet fluttering started beneath his lips, “I just need my body to accept it. The wolf in me needs to reclaim his mate.”
“Claim away,” I laughed, spreading my arms wide, and he smiled wickedly before yanking off my underwear and then flipping me over to repeat the marking process on my back.
When he covered every inch of skin, he turned me over again and spread my legs, sliding his hands up my inner thighs and around my hips. The glow of his eyes captured and held mine as he lowered his face and I was shaking even before he licked me slowly, in one long, sensuous, lapping motion.
Hot breath blew over me as he focused on the right spot and began to flick his tongue quickly. I nearly came off the bed but he held me down with arms around my hips. Then he bit me, not hard, just a love nip, and growled as he worried at me gently. The growl vibrated through me, pushing me over the edge. I screamed as I came, my legs shaking so much, I was afraid they’d fall off and roll away. Bye, legs, nice knowing you.
My eyes were closed in ecstasy, so I didn’t see him crawl up me but I definitely felt him through the entirely too short journey. Then his warm, wet mouth was working my skin again. I found a reservoir of strength and wrapped my legs around him, so I could arch up and rub against him. Trevor’s tongue was magic, just slightly rougher than a human’s. It was the perfect texture for licking skin... mainly mine. I came again, my breasts have always been sensitive but with the addition of a little Froekn magic, I was lost. I was losing track of the number of orgasms already, was that two or three?
“I want you on top,” he rolled onto his back and pulled me with him. “I want to see you above me, claiming me as well.”
I widened my eyes at him. This was new. I was used to getting marked. Blue had left bite marks in my neck and then Thor had covered them with a lightning shaped scar from just below my right ear to my collarbone. When I’d finally ended up with Trevor, he’d covered the lightning with his bite but his teeth marks eventually faded and although he renewed them once in awhile, Thor’s lightning still curved down my neck. The idea that I’d finally get to do some claiming of my own for once, excited me. Maybe I’d even leave my own mark.
I smiled slowly.
Before I climbed on top of him, I slid down between his legs. He raised his head and an eyebrow. I gave him my secret, libidinous look as I took him in hand and began to work my own magic on him. His legs tensed around me, lifting a little and pulling in to hold me. The scent of his arousal filled my head and his body flinched deliciously. When I lifted back up, his eyes were glowing brighter, casting shadows under his cheekbones. The cheekbones themselves, seemed sharper, more defined. I continued until his breath was coming fast and he was gripping my shoulders desperately.
“No more,” he groaned, “get up here now or I won’t last.”
I slunk up him and straddled his body, guiding him inside me. He fit so perfectly, it made us both sigh, and I once more appreciated the fact that he wasn't overly endowed. Women always rave about a “large” man but frankly, they scare me. I like a normal size that fits as it should, without pain or stretching. I don't want to have to work at making love to someone. Trevor was my normal, perfect sized man.
I reached up and took a hold of the bed’s carved ceiling. I was able to weave my hands through the carvings and use it to steady myself. It was a good thing the bed was an original antique and not a new reproduction, or it might not have been able to withstand our treatment of it.
Trevor moaned and I looked down to find him raising his hands up my waist to cup my breasts, which were lifting high from my raised arms. Heat and pleasure swirled around us, tingling against my skin. The magic grew in strength till it permeated us and sank deeper, to join our souls along with our bodies. I saw the wolf inside me slinking around another wolf. Even though the wolf was his originally, she'd be
come mine, merging with me to form a unique Froekn. His wolf nipped around her playfully before they twisted together, blending until I couldn't tell which was which. I cried out with the intense pleasure, the perfect completion, then let go of the bed to fall over him.
My face landed perfectly in his neck and I bit him gently. Trevor’s arms tightened around me, pulling me closer while he made gruff sounds of pleasure. So I bit harder and he bucked his hips up into me. His flesh filled both my mouth and my body while his arms surrounded me. I felt lost completely in Trevor, ceasing to be just Vervain, I was becoming something new.
I sucked as I bit in, feeling wild and powerful with his body thrusting inside me and my teeth in his neck. My Nahual and lioness even raised their heads, letting out rumbled sounds of pleasure. The orgasm shook through me and into him, then back to me in a circle of sensation till we were both screaming.
When there were only aftershocks left trembling through us, I sank to the bed beside him and he pulled me close, his arm cradling me while he stroked my hair. I looked over and saw a set of dainty teeth marks in his neck, enclosing a dark red stain. The smile spread across my face. It felt good to have proof of my possession. Horrible but true, I finally understood why the men loved to mark me.
“You took the claiming to heart, Rouva,” he had a huge smile plastered on his face.
“Look at you,” I laughed and pulled back a little so I could see him better. “You’re actually pleased that I bit you.”
“Of course,” his brows twitched in a quick, confused motion. “It’s a sign of your desire for me. I’ve wondered why you haven’t done it before.”
“Bite marks are badges of honor then?”
“Among the Froekn, yes,” he smiled wide. “Now I don’t have to listen to TryggulfR tease me about not pleasing you in bed.”
“You’ve been getting ribbed because I haven’t bit you?” I sat up and gave him my why do you have to be so difficult face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
