Magni

by Janice M. Whiteaker

  The cunt deserved it.

  So drinking it was. She pulled on her shoes, grabbed her keys and headed out the door to go try to drown out the way Lori looked at Magni.

  And the way he looked at her.

  It was enough to turn Christine’s stomach and make her reconsider the trip to the bar. Then again maybe enough liquor would get rid of the image of the two of them staring at each other without so much as a glance her way. Like she didn’t exist.

  Or didn’t matter so much now.

  Christine picked up a rock and hurled it into the woods. Nope. It didn’t make her feel better to throw something. Not helpful unless she had a target. Maybe the sun-baked face of an old-ass hippie.

  That made her smile. Christine remembered Lori as a willowy, graceful, bronzed goddess. Now she looked like a handbag. Leathery skin stretched across a bony frame.

  But that didn’t stop Magni from staring at her.

  Christine yanked open the door to the bar and squinted as her eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light. Of all the places in Greenlea this was the one she frequented the least. Mostly because she didn’t like the taste of alcohol but desperate times...

  Made a girl need to drink.

  “Is everything okay?” Kari stood at the end of the bar, a concerned look on her face.

  “Yes.” It was an automatic reaction to give the answer people wanted to hear. No one wanted to hear that everything was wrong, fucking falling apart and there was nothing she could do about it. Christine stepped to the bar. “I think I would like a drink.”

  Kari’s blue eyes rested on her, warm and easy. “Okay. What can I get you?”

  Christine eyed the line of bottles along the wall. “I don’t really know.” She looked to see if anyone else was at the bar drinking. A line of guys about her age sat on the other side sipping clear liquid from small glasses. “How about what they’re having?”

  Kari glanced at the group then back at Christine. “Do you drink much?”

  Lying would probably be a good idea right now but Christine couldn’t make herself do it. “No.”

  Kari chuckled. “Then no, you can’t have that.” She turned to the row of bottles and pulled one free. “How about something that tastes sorta like a milkshake?”

  Christine scooted her butt onto a stool. “That sounds good.” She watched as Kari tipped a bit of dark liquid into a small glass followed by a touch of clear from another bottle.

  “How are things going?” Kari deftly added a few ice cubes then poured over a healthy dose of milk and a squirt from a pump bottle. She dropped in a stirrer stick and slid the drink in front of Christine.

  “Things are fine.” Christine picked up the glass and took a tentative sip. “Holy crap this is really good.” As promised it tasted like a melted mocha sort of milkshake. Maybe alcohol wasn’t as horrible tasting as she thought. Thank God because she needed it right now.

  “Thank you. I thought you might like that.” Kari leaned against the bar, dropping one elbow on the top. “What brings you in today?”

  Christine shrugged as she took another healthy swallow of the cold, creamy, sweet cocktail. “I just needed a break.”

  “I can imagine.” Kari tapped the tiny medallion hanging around her neck. “You’ve been cranking out jewelry like nobody’s business.”

  Christine waved a hand over the bar. “That’s no big deal.” She took another drink. “I could make those in my sleep.” She looked in the glass as she swished the ice around in the quickly diminishing liquid. “I like to work. It keeps me busy.”

  “Well then I guess it’s a good thing there’s more people coming into town. You finally got to make something besides those key chains my mom loves.” Kari’s eyes fixed on the glass as Christine tipped it back to drain the rest of her drink.

  “Oh I always made other stuff.” She shook the ice as if there was more liquid hiding under the cubes. “I sell online.” She held up her empty glass. “What is this?”

  “You mean what was it?” Kari took the glass and held it up. “A white Russian.”

  “It was really good.” Christine rolled her head around, feeling a little more relaxed. “Can I have another one?”

  Kari gave her a long look. “Sure.” She drug the word out as if she wasn’t completely sold on the idea. “You should probably pace yourself though.”

  “Pssshhhttt.” Christine shook her head. “I am fine.”

  She was better than fine actually. Why didn’t she drink more? If she knew alcohol could taste like something other than lighter fluid she probably would have. “It’s just been a really rough week and I needed to get out of my house.”

  Kari set another drink in front of her. “Well I’m glad you came to see me.”

  Christine straightened in her seat and gave Kari a smile. “You know what? So am I.” She sipped at the drink. “I might have to make this a regular thing.”

  Kari laughed. “Somehow I don’t see that in your future.”

  Christine snorted a little as she stuck her face in the glass. “So now you’re a seer?” She set the glass back on the bar, keeping her hand wrapped around it as she lowered her voice and leaned in. “You know people don’t like it.”

  Kari gave her a nod, her brows high. “Oh I know.” She tipped the leftover ice from Christine’s first glass into the stainless steel sink behind the bar. “Hagen cried about it for years.”

  Christine slumped back in her seat. “Did he cry really?”

  “Not literally, just in a whiny man child sort of way.” Kari set the glass in an under-counter dishwasher. “But it worked out well for him in the end.”

  Christine stared at the bar as the melancholy she was trying to drown eased back in. At least it worked out for someone because it didn’t look like it was going to work out for her.

  The door to the bar slammed open behind her.

  Awareness crept up Christine’s spine and made the hair on her arms stand up.

  The three men across the bar stared over her shoulder, their faces paling. Kari lifted an eyebrow.

  Christine kept her eyes straight ahead as heavy steps came up beside her. She couldn’t look at him. Not now.

  Magni leaned on the bar, his eyes boring into the side of her head.

  She ignored him and took a long sip of her drink.

  “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “That’s nice.” Christine still didn’t look at him, instead focusing on the bar in front of her. She caught the barest hint of a smile on Kari’s face as Hagen’s sister turned to take care of the men across the bar, leaving her alone with Magni. A very pissed Magni based on the feel of his energy beside her.

  Christine’s brow lowered with the realization that her well-built wall wasn’t currently working so well. She picked up the glass and peered at it. Was it the alcohol?

  She set the half-gone drink down and pushed it away.

  “You left your house unlocked.” His words were slow and tight, as if he was fighting for control over what came out of his mouth. “You left everything there. Your purse. Your phone.”

  “Not everything.” Christine jingled the keys she forgot to use in her rush to get here. “Why do you care anyway?”

  He grabbed the seat of her stool and spun Christine to face him, the legs raking loudly over the floor as he did. Magni leaned down close. “Because I thought something happened to you and I—” His voice broke off.

  “Something did happen to me.” She stared right back at him. “Your wife showed up on your doorstep and acted like she owned you.” Heat spread over her cheeks at the words she was about to say, not from embarrassment but from anger. “Like she was remembering everything about you.” Christine straightened, bringing her face even with his. “About your body. About the way you fucked her.” Christine narrowed her eyes at him. “And you let her.”

  Something shifted in his gaze. The anger Magni came in with was gone. Replaced by something much worse. Amusement.

  His full lips tugged in
to a smile as one hand left the chair to skim up her side. “Is someone a little jealous?”

  Christine’s face burned hotter as her irritation with him grew by leaps and bounds. She slapped his hand off her body. “Don’t touch me.”

  The smile on his face was gone. Magni yanked her chair closer. His eyes were completely gray, no trace of blue to soften them as he stared into hers. “I will do whatever I want with what’s mine Christine.” He grabbed her by the waist and dropped her over his shoulder. “I’ll settle up her tab with you later Kari.” He yanked open the door and hauled her into the street.

  “Put me down!” Christine tried to wrestle free of the arm he had pinned over her legs. “What in the hell is wrong with you?” She tried to straighten, hoping it would throw off his balance and force Magni to drop her.

  A hand came down on her bottom. The slap as his palm met her ass cheek sent a shock from her crotch to her belly, making her gasp and her upper body drop, leaving Christine hanging upside down against his back.

  A low growl vibrated through Magni as his hand stayed on her ass, gently stroking the sensitized flesh he just smacked. “Did you like that sweetheart?”

  Christine crossed her arms over her chest, her upper body bobbing with each step he took. “No.”

  His hand came down on the same spot sending another zip through her body, tightening her nipples and making heat pool between her legs. “Don’t lie to me.”

  He managed to cover the distance to her house in half the three minutes it normally took her, knocking open the door with his boot and kicking it closed behind him.

  “Will you just put me down?” Christine swatted at him as he dropped her keys on the dining table. “Magni, please. This is ridiculous.”

  He stepped into her bedroom and dropped her onto the center of the bed. “I’ll tell you what’s ridiculous.” Magni peeled his shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor. “That you would think a woman like Lori would even hold a candle to you.”

  Christine clenched her teeth together, refusing to go slack jawed at the sight of his bare chest. As big a man as Magni was, the long lines and lean cut of his muscles made him look graceful and almost elegant instead of bulky and awkward. From the width of his well-contoured shoulders to the broad plane of dark hair scattered across his chest and down the center of his stomach Magni was beautiful.

  Christine forced her eyes back to his face. Beautiful or not she was still pissed at him, at the whole damn situation and if he thought a set of defined abdominal muscles would distract her then he was only temporarily right.

  “She’s still your wife.” The last word burned as it came out.

  Magni’s hand hovered over his waistband. “She’s not my anything.” He flipped the button free of its hole. “And I’ll get started making sure the law agrees with me first thing in the morning.”

  Christine’s eyes were fixed on his fingers as they tugged down the zipper, tooth by tooth. “Why not now?”

  “Because I have more important things to do.” He hooked his thumbs into his jeans and eased them down over his hips, revealing the deep cut of a v that ended...

  She couldn’t look away as he pushed the fabric lower, each second that passed making her pulse speed up a little more in anticipation. “Like what?”

  “Make sure you know who owns me.” His pants hit the floor.

  Magni crawled over her, the heat coming off his naked body like a furnace as he nuzzled her neck. “Why would you ever think I would want another woman, let alone one like her?” He buried his face in her hair, breathing in. “She’s nothing.”

  Christine blinked her eyes, trying to get a handle on what was happening. “Then what am I?”

  He leaned up, his blue eyes still hazed with gray. “Everything.” His mouth covered hers, swallowing the gasp from her lips.

  He’d kissed her before. Many times. Some soft and sweet. Some heated and intense. But this one was different. This one was fervid, demanding.

  Claiming.

  Christine couldn’t hold back the whimper of surrender as her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer, his body pressing hers into the mattress.

  Magni was all she’d ever wanted. All she’d ever needed.

  And so much more.

  This was a moment she’d imagined countless times in her life, sometimes alone, sometimes pretending the man between her legs then was the man over her now, but none of those times could compare to this moment.

  And he hadn’t even touched her yet.

  Magni left her mouth to kiss across her jaw and suck on the dip just below her ear as his hand pushed up her ribcage taking the soft cotton of her shirt with it. His fingers moved over the sensitive skin of her stomach bringing on a shiver even though her body felt like it was on fire, burning her alive from the outside in.

  He traced across the lace of her bra peeking out the neck of her shirt, softly skimming over the swell of her breast. She arched under his touch as he teased the peak of her nipple through the fabric, circling the tight nub before gently pinching.

  A gasp that sounded dangerously like a moan slipped out.

  “Tell me you want me.” His voice was low and rough in her ear as his fingers continued to pinch and tug at her sensitive flesh.

  Christine struggled to catch her breath as he pulled the neckline of her shirt down, taking the cup of her bra with it, exposing her breast. His gaze was dark as he slipped one finger in his mouth then pulled it out. A sheen of moisture clung to his skin. Magni spread it over the bare bud, his finger gliding across her skin as he rubbed it until her nipple was so tight it ached. He plucked it between his thumb and finger, pulling, rolling, squeezing with just the right amount of pressure before dipping his head. “Tell me.”

  She closed her eyes against the feel of his breath skating across her skin. “Then what?”

  “Then you’ll have me.” Magni’s mouth closed over her nipple, firm and strong sending a bolt of lightning to her groin and dragging a soft moan from her lips. He growled against her as she clawed at him, trying to get more of him, from him. He pushed up on his hands and knees, pulling off her breast as he did, holding the suction until her nipple popped free of his lips. He shook his head at her slowly. “If you want me, you have to say it.”

  “Please.” Her voice was hoarse.

  “Please what?” Magni leaned back, resting on his knees, looking down at her, his brows lifted in question.

  He wanted Christine to admit she wanted him and it appeared Magni was willing to use torturous methods to get what he wanted. It made her want to resist in spite of herself. She wanted him, that wasn’t the issue. The issue was she didn’t like to be told what to do. Sort of.

  She liked when Magni told her what to do. It made her stomach clench around a swarm of butterflies when he tried to boss her around. The problem was she liked what happened when she didn’t listen more.

  The look in his eyes when she challenged him. Like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to grab her and fuck her, or turn her over his knee.

  Christine was gunning for both.

  Slowly she crossed her arms over her chest and grabbed the hem of her shirt, shimmying it over her head, letting her hips move side to side as she did. Next she slid one hand behind her back and unhooked her bra. The band went slack around her ribs as the hooks slid free.

  Magni watched her with an intensity that would be terrifying if she didn’t know him like she did. His chest barely moved as she pushed the straps down her arms and tossed it over the side of her bed. As Christine reached for her pants she let her arms push her breasts together. His pupils dilated until they were heavy pools of ink with a bare rim of cloudy sky at the edges.

  Her hand reached the waistband of her jeans popping the button open and sliding down the zipper before his legs locked at the sides of her thighs, pressing them together, preventing her from taking any more of her clothes off. Silly man.

  “I know what you’re doing.”

  Chris
tine let a slow smile curve her lips. “I don’t think you do.”

  Her hand slipped into her pants and under the narrow band of her panties. Her eyes rolled closed as her fingers slipped between the folds of her labia, swollen and hot with need. “This could be you Magni.” She pushed deeper, opening her eyes and locking on his. “Don’t you want to be the one to make me come?”

  “Goddammit Christine.” He grabbed her pants and ripped them roughly down her legs, taking shoes and socks with them. One big hand caught both hers, pinning them together as he pushed her legs wide and buried his face between them.

  She cried out as his mouth ate hungrily, sucking, licking, biting at her. His tongue lapped at her clit as one long finger slipped inside her body, slow at first then fucking her faster as his mouth clamped down sucking hard on the sensitive bundle of nerves.

  Christine flung her head back as the climax hit her, fighting the grip he had on her wrists as she writhed under his punishing mouth on her pussy. Her moans filled the room as wave after wave of pleasure crashed over her leaving her limp against the mattress.

  Magni raised up. He grabbed his shirt off the edge of the bed and wiped it down his beard, shoving it into his face and inhaling deeply before tossing it to the floor. He used the grip he still had on her wrists to press them over her head, stretching her body under his heated gaze. Magni tore open a condom she hadn’t seen him grab with his teeth then rolled it down his rigid length, his eyes never leaving her. “Tell me you want me.” The wide head of his cock pressed against her, teasing her.

  This time the request was different. It sounded raw. Emotional. Desperate.

  Christine looked into his eyes and saw the flicker of doubt she knew would be there because she felt it. She pulled one hand free of his grip and reached up to touch his face as what was left of the wall she built so carefully between her life and his crumbled around her. It was pointless now to try to keep it up. It wasn’t the alcohol making her wall ineffective earlier. It was him.

  She couldn’t stop the barrage of his emotions as they swept against her, it didn’t matter how strong or how high, no wall could shut out the feelings between them and there was no reason to hide any longer.