by Amy Sumida
Part of me hated that, hated being so emotionally invested in someone that they could wreck my world by simply not being a part of it. I wanted to be strong on my own, without a man standing beside me. Then I realized how it took way more strength and courage to allow him to stand there, knowing it may not be forever, than it did to stand alone.
I'd lost him once, to my own stupidity which is usually why my relationships end. I'd thought I'd never recover. I did of course. I dusted myself off and got back on my feet but there had been an ache in my chest that I wasn't sure I'd ever be free of.
We made up and I thankfully didn't have to find out how long that ache would have lasted but the memory of it haunts me. Like a ghost without a voice, it screams silently, and I'm left to imagine what it's trying to tell me. I have a very fertile imagination.
I took his hand from my hip and pulled it across my chest as if he were my security blanket and could protect me against the memory of losing him. I felt his breath catch and his scent enveloped me as he leaned down to kiss my cheek.
“Is it something you wish to talk about?”
“Why do the stars here look strange to me?”
He turned his head up to look where I was looking. “They are reversed, of course.”
“Of course?”
“Our worlds are like the faces on a coin,” he tried to explain. “A flip and you're on the other side.”
“Or a mirror,” I thought of my favorite story, Alice in Wonderland. “A reversed image, like in Through the Looking Glass.”
“Yes, exactly,” I could feel him smiling against my cheek. “But isn't there something else you'd like to talk about?”
“No,” I snuggled back into him and returned my attention to Asgard. “I just want to forget about everyone else but you for awhile.”
“That's the most intelligent thing you've said all night,” he chuckled.
“I guess I deserve that,” I sighed. “I'm sorry you have so much to put up with.”
“It's not like you sought this situation,” one of his hands was stroking my hair and I could feel the little sparks that were already building between us. They raced along my hair like blue fire, lifting a few strands out to the side.
“No,” I smoothed the strands back. “I didn't pursue it but I think I haven't put up enough boundaries either. This is so unfair to you. If you had done this to me, I would have left you already.”
“I don't believe that,” he turned me around to face him and I was blinded for a second by the light pouring out onto the balcony from his bedroom. I blinked up at him. “You'd never leave me for something beyond my control. I know you have more honor than that and I know you know I have more honor than that as well.”
“That's a lot of honor,” I gave him a half-grin. “Unfortunately, honor doesn't equal happiness. In fact, if you're having to be honorable, it usually means you're not at all happy about it. I want you to be happy, Thor. At the very least, I don't want to be the cause of your unhappiness.”
“I'm more happy being in this mess with you than I would be out of it without you,” his face got serious. “I love you, Vervain. I love you no matter what comes along to try to hinder that love. I'm yours and you're mine, end of story.”
“Yes,” I smirked, “but is it a happy ending?”
“It's about to be,” he grinned and lifted me off my feet, walking swiftly to his massive four-poster bed.
I didn't have the time or the inclination to admire the carvings in the bed posters as I usually did. I was too busy admiring the thick muscles being revealed to me as he divested himself of both shirt and pants. Somewhere in the middle of my lust haze, my clothes were removed as well and we were pressed skin to skin at last.
He kissed me and the electricity of his magic shot along my nerves and raced through my body. I held on as best I could, wrapping my legs around him. His hair fell around us, glinting in the flashes of lightning that were suddenly striking Asgard. I groaned against his lips, every time we made love his power would flare and it would begin to storm. It was exhilarating and flattering but at the same time, it was a little embarrassing. It was like announcing to all of Asgard that we were getting busy.
He pulled my thighs wider apart and was inside me with one swift stroke. He knew the sparks had already prepared me and he wasn't wrong. I was more than ready, needed it as desperately as he did. What I wasn't prepared for was the violence of his need. The intensity of his passion. It rushed over me, a tidal wave of lust, love, and magic pouring from him and into me without a moment for me to adjust. He went straight from lightning to thunder without the pause in-between. Pure, raw, elemental sex.
I felt like I was drowning in it, drowning in him, and I clung to him as if he could save me. There was no safety though. That was the point, wasn't it? To be completely lost in each other without a net to catch you if you fell.
So I let go. I let him carry me exactly where he wanted me to go and when I finally screamed my release, I knew that falling was the best part.
Chapter Thirteen
“That would be beautiful on you,” a pair of vivid blue eyes peered over my shoulder and met mine in the tabletop mirror.
“Thanks,” I smiled nervously and edged away from the stranger as I put the necklace I'd been admiring back on its display.
“You're not going to get it?” He was just your average tourist; pale skin, light eyes, and a horrible Aloha shirt in obnoxious colors, but there was something familiar about him.
“No,” I shrugged. “Still looking, think I'll keep my options open.” I tried to wander away towards a rack of belts.
“I've heard that about you, Godhunter,” he smiled when I turned abruptly back to him.
“Who are you?” I whispered harshly as I narrowed my eyes.
“Has it been so long?” He grinned wickedly. “The last time we spoke, you were in the Froekn arena showing off your pretty claws... right before I stole them.”
“Loki,” I rolled my eyes and relaxed. “I was wondering when you'd make an appearance. Fenrir said you always give your victims a chance to regain what you steal.”
“You make me sound so naughty,” he pursed his lips and some of his extraordinary good looks peeped through.
“Give me back my gloves,” I said calmly.
“Why don't we grab a coffee?” He gestured to the door.
“Then I can have my gloves?”
“Then we can talk about your gloves,” he smirked, “over coffee.”
I sighed and followed him out, knowing he had me by those painful little hairs. I wasn't looking forward to the hoops Loki was going to make me jump through but I wasn't too worried. I didn't think he'd actually try to hurt me since I was kinda related to him now. Besides, hurting me could have serious repercussions on his grandson... like death.
You never know though. I mean look at the way he'd treated his son. Loki was definitely a self-centered bastard.
He left me seated at a wrought iron table outside Starbucks while he went in and got us coffee. I pondered him as he sauntered back, wondering why he'd donned a disguise. Maybe he just got tired of being stared at.
No, no way, I was almost positive Loki loved attention. So why the subterfuge?
As he sat down, I felt my magic rise and whisper a warning. I caught my breath at the disturbing sensation. The butterflies of my love magic actually fluttered away and hid. I could feel them trembling low in my belly. They'd never done that before. Usually, if they didn't like someone, they just kept quiet.
Evidently Loki wasn’t worthy, in like, a really big way. I almost dropped my coffee with this new revelation. He didn’t strike me as an evil guy. Self-centered, yes, but evil?
“How did you find me?” I sipped my coffee as I tried to figure out what was setting off the alarm bells in my head.
“I see you have your priorities straight,” Loki grinned and it was a practiced grin. I suddenly had a vision of that big snake Kaa singing Trust in me to Mowgli in The Jungle Book
. “Gloves first, then tracking techniques.”
“So spill,” I waved a pointedly glove-less hand at him.
“I have your gloves in a safe place,” he leaned on an arm, coming in closer. “I tracked you through VѐulfR, he told me where you'd be.”
“Trevor betrayed me to you?” I felt like I'd just been slapped in the face. Repeatedly. By a bat. Baseball, not vampire.
“Your wolf,” Loki took a sip of his steaming coffee, “is my son’s firstborn and he’ll do as I ask.”
Ask, not say, good distinction but still worrisome. Did I like being tied to a wolf that did the bidding of the Trickster God? Not so much. I suddenly felt the need to get a little jab in.
“You mean he’s your grandson,” I kept my expression open, like I had no idea he’d be insulted.
“He is my son’s firstborn, I don’t like the title of grandson,” he made a moue of distaste. “Do I look like a grandfather to you?”
I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, especially since I really wanted my gloves back. “Maybe not but I’m sure there’s a few little girls who’d like to be bounced on your knee.”
He laughed and held his cup up in salute. “I like your weapons but the gloves don’t fit me,” he sent me a look that suggested it was all my fault.
“I apologize for not anticipating your thievery and having them sized for you,” I gave him as much sarcasm as I could stuff into words.
“You have a sharp tongue, Rouva,” he patted my hand. “I like that but you should be careful lest you cut yourself with it.”
“I’ve got a friend that’s a great healer,” I shrugged off his warning.
“Yes, I saw the Mohawk’s handiwork. My congratulations on taming not only VѐulfR but Fenrir as well. I thoroughly enjoyed watching your victories.”
“Thank you,” I withdrew my hand. “Now what’s the deal? How do I get my gloves back?”
“A friend of mine wishes to test your skills too,” he crossed his arms as he looked at me with glittering eyes. Tru-u-ust in me. I almost started humming along. “Come to my Hall for a little challenge and not only can you have them back, you can use them in the fight.”
Another fight already, I nearly groaned. “Fine, who am I fighting?”
“Sif.”
I gaped at him and into the silence came “Zalacadoo la mettricaboo la bibbity bobbity boo,” I blanched as my Cinderella ring tone sang from my purse. I tore into the bag and flipped open the phone.
“What?” I ground out as Loki chuckled.
“Where are you?” Thor growled back.
“I'm having coffee with Loki.” Go figure, Thor would call, right after Loki told me he wanted me to fight Thor's ex-wife. Were gods psychic or what? I'd known a few that were psychotic but psychic? I really hoped not.
“You're what?” Thor's voice rumbled through the phone. “I just woke up and you're gone. No note, no nothing, and now I find out you went to meet Loki. When were you going to tell me?”
“I didn't sneak out to meet Loki,” I rolled my eyes and Loki chuckled more. He was enjoying himself immensely. At least that made one of us. “I went shopping because you sleep forever and I ran into Loki. He just told me the price for getting my gloves back is fighting Sif.”
“What?” He roared.
“I know.”
“You will not.”
“I know.”
“The thieving bastard.”
“I know.”
“I'm going to kill him.”
“Me first,” I narrowed my eyes on Loki. “Gotta go now, babe. I'll see you in a little bit.”
“No, Vervain, don't you hang...” I clicked off the phone and stuffed it back into my purse.
“Sif doesn’t want to test my skills,” I ground out. “She wants to kill me.”
“So did the wolves,” he turned his head to the side. “You handled them just fine.”
“They weren’t the scorned ex-wife of my boyfriend.”
“Yes,” he smirked at me. “I heard something about you enchanting Thor away from Sif’s vast charms.”
Sif had vast charms? Great.
“Look, they've been divorced for years. I didn't steal him away but it doesn't matter. Pick someone else and I’ll fight them but I can’t fight Sif.”
“But it’s perfect,” he spread his hands. “You both can work out your pent up hatred for each other and I get to watch two hot babes duke it out.”
“Very funny but I don’t hate Sif and I can’t fight her. I’m dating her ex-husband and I’m friends with her son. If I kill her, they might be a tad upset and frankly, I don’t think I can go up against her without one of us dying.”
“What a quandary,” Loki shook his head like he actually sympathized with me. “So what are you going to do?”
“Get used to life without my gloves,” I got up and started towards the parking lot. My gloves weren’t worth destroying my relationship with Thor over and I was pretty sure that killing Sif would be the last straw.
“She’ll just come after you,” Loki grabbed my arm and I stared at his hand pointedly but he kept it firmly planted. “She’s really mad now that you’ve killed Aphrodite. You know how close they were.”
“Let her come,” I shrugged. “If she attacks me and I defend myself, that’s one thing but if I agree to a fight with her, then it becomes my choice. Well, my choice is to leave it up to her. I won’t make the first move. Keep the gloves, may the fact that they're useless to you, frustrate you forever.” I tried to pull away but he kept me trapped.
“No one ruins my plans,” he ground out and his face hardened. “You will fight her.”
“Shove it where the sun don’t shine, Grandpa,” I tried again to yank my arm away but he tightened his grip and reinforced it with a hand on my other arm.
“You will fight, Vervain,” his eyes melted back to their original purple. I was so distracted by the change, I didn’t realize he was chanting a spell to trace, until it was too late. Not that I could’ve done anything about it anyway, he had my arms in a vise grip.
One minute we were in front of Starbucks in Kailua, the next we were hurtling through the Aether. Solid mass became thought-forms, pure waves of energy riding the realm of magical possibilities, before reforming into our bodies again. The whole process took seconds and normally I handled it pretty well, what with all the practice I've had at it in the years since I'd first learned to manage tracing, but Loki took me by surprise. Without preparation, tracing is a terrible strain, not only on your body but on your mind, which can find it difficult to process.
I was left bent over double, dry-heaving, when we arrived in a large room done in cold-bastard chic.
Black leather couches loomed together on cinder-gray carpeting and a whole wall of entertainment equipment sparkled and pulsed with green lights. The walls were empty expanses of dark metal and there wasn’t a single window to be found. When I finally adjusted, Loki took one of my arms and pulled me through the room toward the open door.
“You can’t do this to me, Loki,” I tried to sound calm but my heart was racing. “I’m bound to VѐulfR, don’t you have any loyalty?”
“No,” he snapped over his shoulder. “Haven’t you heard? Loki is loyal only to Loki.” He continued to pull me along into a stone passageway and then down a flight of stairs.
“Where are we going?” I thought about dropping to the floor to become dead weight but I was pretty sure he’d just drag me and that would be painful in my sundress.
“To the pens,” he kept going down and a horrible feeling crept up from my stomach.
“Pens? You wouldn't happen to mean writing implements?” I stumbled and he turned around, lifted me over his shoulder, and just kept going like it was a choreographed move.
That was it. I'd had just about enough of all that. I wasn’t going to be carted down like a sack of potatoes to be thrown in storage. I pulled the lightning bolt hair-sticks out of my hair and stabbed them both into the base of Loki’s
back, pulling them out quickly before he dropped me.
He screamed and clutched his back as the blood poured out of it. I ran back up the way we came, chanting a tracing spell and clutching my purse like a silly girl. Before I could get very far, he shifted into a sabertooth tiger and leaped in front of me.
Now, I knew Loki was a shapeshifter, that he could be anything from a flea to Godzilla, but a freakin’ sabertooth? Really? Conceited much? It was like an episode of The Flintstones. Except not funny, or animated, or entertaining at all.
He faced me with a low growl, long sharp teeth glinting at me. I felt my blood go cold, even the war and victory magics cowered inside me. My Nahual and Trevor's wolf? Nowhere to be found.
How do you fight eight-hundred pounds of prehistoric muscle topped with knife-like teeth and claws? I backed away and he shifted into gorgeous Loki form again.
“All I want is a little entertainment,” he spread his hands wide, showing me that he wasn’t holding any concealed weapons. Since he was naked from shifting, it was a moot point. He didn’t really need any weapons anyway, did he? “Is it so much to ask, a little sport to entertain your new grandpa?” He ground out the last word and closed the distance between us.
I was more scared than I’d ever been. So of course I was as polite as possible. “Fuck you, freak.”
“That might be entertaining as well, Rouva,” his hand moved with a speed I couldn’t track and buried itself in the hair at the base of my neck. He jerked back on it painfully and lowered his face to mine. “You’ll find me a gentleman once my needs are met. Fight Sif and you can take your toys and go home. Refuse me again, and I tear this dress off you and take you in my previous form. Ever been raped by a Sabertooth? Their cocks are barbed.”
I blanched and couldn’t stop the trembling that immediately started in my legs. He smiled cruelly as he sensed my defeat. Purple eyes raked over me slowly and I was so disgusted, I almost threw up all over him. Wouldn’t that have been a great comeback? I couldn’t even appreciate his beauty anymore, which really sucked since the full monty was on display.
