by Jane Cousins
Yikes, Fen had said the Bigfoot branch of the family tree was smaller than the Cyclops, but from the looks of things it was obviously only a matter of inches. The creature stood well over eight feet in height, with long arms and a sturdy barrel shaped chest.
If anything, Fen had understated how hairy it was. Long matted fur obscuring pretty much all aspects of the creature, to the extent that Brodie couldn’t see anything of its face except a jutting blunt jaw, and a mouth full of large teeth.
“Why isn’t it doing anything?” Brodie hissed the question out the side of her mouth, body tense, ready to run.
Bigfoot swung its head around in her direction abruptly, some of its hair shifting to reveal one large dark eye, fixed on her position.
“They work on scent, mostly, give him a minute.” Fen whispered back.
Bigfoot took a big snuffling breath before shaking his head in what looked like revulsion. Great, way to make a girl feel wanted.
Brodie watched as the creature continued to scent the air, suddenly swivelling its head to the left, taking in a deep breath and then another one, issuing a low feral grunt of what might have been approval. Brodie frowned, there was nothing in that direction except… oh.
“Fen, change of plans. I don’t think I’m the right kind of bait.”
“What are you talking about?” Fen straightened slightly, and then froze, surprised to find that Bigfoot’s attention was fixed on his location.
“I think he, is a she.”
“Shit.” Fen paled slightly as the large hairy creature emitted another low grunt, one that sounded distinctly approving. “Um… crap, what should I do?”
Brodie couldn’t help herself. “From what I hear, you are supposed to cry out in feminine distress, and then run like hell.”
“You…” Fen didn’t bother to finish his sentence. He took off running, straight across the clearing and past Brodie’s position, heading for the Portal.
Fen set a fast pace, his boots were sturdy and he was trained to run in them. Even so, the ground was unpredictable and the bushland dense in places, so he did his best to stick to open trails where he could keep his speed up. Behind him, the crash of branches and low hoots and grunts indicated that his hairy admirer was giving chase.
Brodie loped along behind Bigfoot, now she was definitely having fun. In the interest of being helpful she called out a warning. “You might want to run a little faster, she’s gaining ground.”
All she heard in response was a series of breathless curse words. Throwing her head back, Brodie laughed out loud for what felt like the first time in forever.
Chapter Fifteen
“You enjoyed that way too much.” Fen’s breathing had slowed enough for him to finally talk. He reached up to brush some leaves from his damp hair and then some debris from his sweat soaked t-shirt. The dive and roll he’d performed moments ago, forcing his hairy, ardent admirer to stumble through the Portal, had been text book perfect.
Brodie tried to stop grinning but couldn’t. “I especially liked that sound you made when she almost caught you.”
“That is what’s known as a manly yell of acknowledgment that an eight-foot hairball is in imminent danger of making me her fun-time toy.”
“Fun-time toy?” Brodie laughed loudly.
Damn, the woman should do that more often, throw her head back with abandon and laugh joyously. Her eyes sparkling with amusement, the shattered snowflake spikes shimmering. “You doubt I’d make a good fun-time toy?”
“Hmmm, I’m not sure, but I saw the size of her hands. I think if she got hold of you, more likely you’d end up being her squishy, bruised, and broken toy. One that moaned in pain every time she tried to play with you.”
“So little faith in my abilities to keep a lady entertained.” Fen double checked the Portal settings. They were currently set to standby, nothing should be able to stumble out, but over the last few months there’d been spikes in the power grid. More power attracted more magical beings. And too frequently of late creatures like Bigfoot were turning up, causing mischief, and a lot more work for the Enforcement Team.
“Entertained, huh? So when exactly would you have told your hirsute lady friend about your vow of celibacy?”
“You trying to tell me you weren’t willing to step in and save my virtue if Bigfoot had managed to catch up to me?”
Brodie shrugged, still grinning. “I don’t know, I thought you two kids made a cute couple. I bet under all that hair she’s quite the looker.”
Fen shuddered, then grinned. “I’m sure. But since I don’t have a weed whacker on me, it seems like our interspecies love story has come to a thankfully swift and brutal end.”
Brodie laughed… and then because she couldn’t help herself, she laughed even louder, one hand splayed across her sore tummy. She was utilising a muscle group that she hadn’t used in ages.
Her mouth abruptly snapping shut as suddenly Fen was standing only inches away, his cerulean gaze sparkling with amusement, high colour still clinging to his cheeks whilst a day worth of stubble growth gave him a rakish air that had Brodie’s gut dipping in awareness.
“What are you…?”
Heat simmered in those cerulean depths. “You should laugh more often… it suits you.”
Corresponding heat leapt low in Brodie’s body. Suddenly she was uncomfortably aware that she was sweaty and probably dirt smeared, but Fen continued to look at her as if she were a treasure he’d just spent a lifetime searching for.
She should step back, he was too tempting. Or say something witty and meaningless, shrug off the moment. Her heart suddenly racing faster than it had been when she’d been dashing head long after Bigfoot. They… no… Reason fled.
She wanted him. Stepping forward she planted her lips on his. Plastering herself up against his hard chest, clutching at him to get even closer. Making encouraging noises as his muscular arms wrapped around her waist and held her tight. He tasted like flash fire and mead from Freyja’s own banquet table.
This man who had vexed her from the moment they had met. Who had beaten her in a challenge. Said no to her offer of sex again and again… and again. Her pride had deserted her. Taking common sense along with it.
All Brodie knew was that she wanted more than just his lips on hers. She wanted his hands on her flesh. Him naked, her riding him until they climaxed and could do it all over again.
She was reaching down to grab the bottom of her tank top when Fen’s mobile phone rang, shattering the moment. Sending nearby wildlife fleeing the scene noisily.
“Fuck… I…” Fen pushed Brodie away awkwardly, hand fumbling in the back pocket of his navy trousers. “What?!?”
Fuck and double fuck. Fen clutched at the phone like it was a lifeline. His whole body was still vibrating from the feel of Brodie clinging to him. Shit, his system was so flooded with need that his knees were actually trembling. His lips still tingled for Heaven’s sake, and he felt… bereft, now that she was no longer in his arms. The Valkyrie really was driving him insane.
“Fen? Fen? Did you hear what I said?”
Fen snapped to attention, his brother Erik sounded peeved. “What?”
“I said you need to get to the house, now. Saffron is here, she and Mum are talking about paint samples for fuck sake.”
What the…? “Paint samples?”
“Saffron’s been telling folks about your plans for the house, like you’re building it together or something. You’re not, are you? Have things changed?”
“No, they haven’t changed. Shit.” Fen ran fingers through hair and then across his rough jawline. He was sweaty, dirty and of all things, incredibly turned on still. The last thing he wanted to do was go have Sunday lunch at his parent’s place.
“Uh-oh. Saffron just pulled a bridal magazine out of her tote bag.”
“I’m on my way.” Fen snapped his phone shut, glancing over at Brodie, a cool, remote, expressionless look on her face. No sign of the heated lover or her earlier merriment i
n evidence.
“Problem?” Her tone so dry it could have started a bushfire.
“You could say that. Come on, we need to go, now.”
* * *
Brodie sent Fen another side long discreet look. His full attention appeared to be on the narrow road, his hands clenched tightly on the steering wheel. He showed no signs that he was perturbed by their recent lips on lips steamy encounter. Had he dismissed their heated kiss from his mind already? Seriously?
She couldn’t stop thinking about the episode. Wondering what would have happened if his phone hadn’t rung? If they hadn’t been interrupted?
It wasn’t liked he’d made any protest, pushed her away, or appeared to have any interest in bringing up the topic of his vow of abstinence. By the Sword, when his mobile had rung his large warm hands had been cupping her rear.
She didn’t have a heap of experience kissing men, but he’d definitely been kissing her back… with a delightful degree of enthusiasm. He had seemed, acted, far from disinterested.
Not that it mattered.
She wasn’t going down that path with Fen, the kiss, she’d just been caught up in the moment, her actions fuelled by adrenalin, not attraction. Anything more, well that might be courting trouble.
Still.
The kiss was worth mentioning. She cast another sidelong look his way, Fen’s focus remained fixed totally upon getting them to their mystery destination. When she’d enquired as to where they were hurrying, his gruff response had been all but unintelligible, something about an emergency. She could only pray it meant this time there would be a fight, bloodshed, something to release all this simmering tension she was practically drowning in.
His cool focus was beginning to piss her off. They’d kissed… again. It had been a good kiss, hot even, worthy of at least an acknowledgment, or a covert heated look or two.
“I’m rescinding my offer.”
“What?” Fen glanced over at Brodie in confusion. “What offer?”
“Sex. I’m rescinding my offer.”
“But… I… You can’t rescind an offer which has already been turned down.”
“Okay then, I’m formally taking it off the table, just in case you were ever thinking of changing your mind.” There, that would put the vexing man formally in his place and let him know where they now stood, vis-a-vis the kiss.
On reflex, Fen hit the brakes as a sudden nasty thought flashed through his head. “Is this new rule of yours purely for my benefit, or have I made the abstinence bandwagon look so damn attractive you’re jumping on board?” Or was Brodie trying to tell him that she was moving on to an easier more pliable target?
“None of your business. The only thing you and I have in common from this point forward is tracking down a Vulcan Firebug, and smacking him about until we establish exactly what his agenda here is.”
Fen pressed his foot down on the accelerator once more, women! They were doing his head in. First his mother, who he was pretty sure was acting as smoke screen for his Great-Aunt Alma’s match making machinations. Then there was Saffron, clinging tenaciously, no matter how hard he tried to politely shake her free.
And now, most annoying of all, a six foot Valkyrie, who stated plain as day that she’d like to have sex with him, kissed him practically senseless, and now was stating categorically that sex was off the table.
“Is this about the kiss?” Okay, maybe he should have said something about it earlier. It had been a great kiss, bordering on the stupendous. But it had instantly taken a backseat the moment he heard Saffron and his mother were potentially planning a wedding, his wedding. “Because if it is, then just remember, this time you were the one to lay the lip lock on me.”
Brodie did her best to shrug nonchalantly. “I just needed to double check something, that was all.”
“By kissing me?”
“Obviously.”
“So the kiss just now, it was some kind of test?” It hadn’t felt clinical or pre-planned to him. It had been heat of the moment hot. But now Brodie was saying it had been anything but? He didn’t believe that. Something else was going on here, something he was missing. “A test you’re saying I failed?”
“Yes.”
“Seems kind of unfair, if you ask me. What was the grading criteria based upon? What level did you set the passing mark? Most people get to re-sit a test they failed, so I’m going to need specifics before we try that again.”
“What? No. There will be no trying again, haven’t you been listening?”
“Let’s get down to tin tacks here, not hot enough? I thought there was an appropriate amount of moisture, what did you think? Maybe I was too rough, was that it? Or not rough enough? I know I have some callouses on my hands, but I’ve never had any complaints before.”
Brodie hid the shudder that swept through her, suddenly she was picturing Fen’s large capable hands skimming over her flesh. Wait, what did he mean he hadn’t had any complaints before?
“Okay, sure the location wasn’t ideal.” Fen continued. “But hey, I’m just the test subject, it wasn’t of my choosing, so if you are deducting points for that I want a recount.” He gave her a quick enquiring look. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“If you subtract the location points, did I still fail?”
Brodie rolled her eyes. “Yes, location was never a factor.”
“Good to know.”
He said the words with such emphatic acknowledgement she felt compelled to ask. “Why is that good?”
“It means I won’t have to factor in location when I re-sit the test. Means we can conduct further tests anywhere, anytime.”
Anywhere. Anytime. Why did the way he said those words send her libido bubbling and her sex creaming? Fighting the urge to cross her legs, Brodie sent a harsh glare in Fen’s direction.
There was no reason for him to tease her, and he couldn’t be serious. He was the one flying the celibacy flag after all, he should be grateful she’d declared her intentions to formally back off. “There will be no further tests required.”
“Maybe not for you, but maybe I have a few of my own to conduct.” Fen slowed the car, turning into his parent’s driveway.
Gulp, heat flared again between her legs. “What sort of tests?”
Fen flashed her a knee melting grin. “Now that would be telling.”
Brodie, confused, shifted her attention to the window… annoying, frustrating, vexing man. And just where were they? The driveway was lined with fruit and citrus trees. Off to the right was a large cottage garden set up around a reflective pool. Peaceful and tranquil, bees and butterflies flitted lazily over the array of stunning flowers.
But it was what was on the left that caught and held her attention. It reminded her of military training grounds. Dirt runs, tire swings over muddy bogs, grassy hills covered with obstacles, large challenge areas and straw round targets, one of which still had a war axe buried right in the bullseye.
Her gaze moved to the house they were approaching, a two storey place, painted white with bright yellow trim. It had a large front veranda, featuring cosy chairs and slowly turning ceiling fans. Off to the right was an outdoor entertainment area, protected from the harsh elements by an ornate wooden trellis covered by a vigorous wisteria vine, purple flowers dripping in profusion.
“Um, why are we here exactly?” Brodie enquired as Fen pulled the SUV to a halt.
“Emergency. Come on.”
Hopefully the beheading kind of emergency, although this place looked way too peaceful to have any need of her specialised skill set. Brodie got out of the SUV, looking at Fen across the roof of the car. “What kind of emergency?”
“We’re here to prevent a wedding.”
Wait. What? Brodie stared at him in confusion. “Whose wedding?”
“Mine.” Fen announced grimly. He rounded the SUV to stand beside her, looking at the house as if it were a fortress he was about to attack.
Fen’s wedding! A wave of hot jealous anger en
gulfed Brodie. And it was all she could do not to call Raven, raise her sword above her head, and run screaming to meet and vanquish the enemy. But then common sense descended. “Wait. We… I shouldn’t be here. What if the Vulcan is watching? This is a private home.” Brodie scanned the skies automatically trying to find any sign of her nemesis, taking a step back closer to the car.
Fen rolled his eyes. “We can only hope that asshole makes a run at us here. My father has a tendency to fry any bogies entering his airspace with a lightning bolt, and ask questions of the crispy corpse later.”
Lighting bolt? That power was generally reserved for the Norse Gods or their descendants… so… “Fen, what’s your last name?” All he’d been from the moment they had met was Fen, the man who had defeated her in challenge. The man who refused her. The man who vexed her at every turn. She hadn’t stopped to consider that his last name might be vitally important.
“Valhalla.” He said it like it was no big deal. “Come on. My mother is in there planning my wedding. I’m going to need a distraction… something big.” He eyed Brodie speculatively, then frowned, noting her suddenly pale face and the way she was holding on to the door handle of the SUV, as if she intended to never let go. “What’s wrong?”
“Valhalla? As in… as in the all-powerful, revered Odin?”
“Bloody hell, don’t ever let Gramps hear you call him that. His ego is way too healthy as it is.”
Gramps? Brodie’s mouth was so dry she could barely swallow. “You’re… related to Odin? So then your father is his…”
“Is his first born son.” Fen studied Brodie’s pallor, if anything she’d turned even paler. His Valkyrie was acting most peculiar. “Come on, Gramps won’t be here if that’s what’s got you twisted into knots. He’s got his randy eye on some wood nymph and is in hot pursuit.” Fen tugged on Brodie’s arm but the woman had a death lock on the door handle.
“You don’t understand.” Brodie hissed under her breath. “Your father is Gunther Valhalla… THE Gunther Valhalla. They taught us about him at school.”
