by PJ Friel
She slid onto my lap. “Good doesn’t begin to cover it and you know it. Stop fishing for compliments.”
I gave her a quick grinning kiss. “We’ve got to be close to Dezi’s.”
Bryn squirmed in my lap, rubbing her delectable ass against my throbbing cock. “Let me take care of you.”
“No, it’ll give me something to look forward to later.”
“Oh, you think you’re going to get lucky later?” she said, arching a brow and giving me a smirk.
“Lucky is what I just got. Later I’m going to get blessed by the most heavenly pussy I’ve ever tasted.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Bryn chuckled.
“Nope, not ridiculous.”
I rubbed my nose against Bryn’s, gave her a soft kiss, then pulled back enough to look into her eyes. Before I could say anything, there was a knock on the partition. I returned the knock and the divider rolled down a little way.
“We’re almost there, sir.”
“Oh, goody,” I said.
“Be nice. You like Dezi.” Bryn nudged me in the stomach.
“It’s not Dezi I’m dreading. Besides, I said I’d go to this thing. I never said I’d be nice.”
Bryn bit my earlobe. “If you’re nice, I’ll bless you all night long.”
I groaned and thrust my still hard cock against her ass. “Well, in that case, I’ll be the nicest asshole in that building.”
CHAPTER 36
BRYN
DG stood inside the front door of The Prodigal Lair, playing the gracious club owner to his patrons. Playing was the operative word. The smile on his face didn’t reach his eyes, until his gaze met mine, then he lit up like a billboard.
Pretty sure there was a porno playing on his internal movie screen.
Great.
Even worse, he stood alone in the receiving line. I groaned. I’d really hoped that he would have a date or that his father would be present. Lacking both of those things, he’d probably spend the evening hitting on me and antagonizing Trygg.
I should have never agreed to come to this thing.
I shot Dezi a glare.
“Why are you giving me Graveyard Glare?” she whispered into my ear as we waited our turn to fawn over the heir.
“Graveyard Glare? Is that worse than Stink Eye?”
“Yeah. It goes, Hairy Eyeball, then Stink Eye, then Graveyard Glare.”
“Good to know.” I rolled my eyes. I swear she made this stuff up on the fly.
Dezi elbowed me in the boob.
“Ow! Don’t make me sweep your legs, shorty.”
“Wow. That’s Purgatory Face right there.” Her lips twitched.
“You don’t look very scared for someone seconds away from shucking her mortal coil.”
“Meh. You love me too much to kill me.”
“Obviously, because instead of being here, I could be at home having out-of-this-world sex.”
“And that you’re not is my fault...how?” She arched a bitch, please brow at me. She couldn’t give Stink Eye to save her life, but she was the mistress of sarcastic brow arches. Vulcans everywhere envied her her game.
“Because I never would have heard the end of it if I hadn’t played dress up and come with you to this thing.”
“This is the price you pay for me putting up with your grouchy ass, B. Deal with it.”
“Whatever.”
“Besides, I don’t want to hear it. From the glassy-eyed greeting I got when you picked us up, I know you already had out-of-this-world sex tonight.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Trygg smirked and I groaned.
“Thanks, big mouth. Now, he’s going to walk around with a swelled head all night.”
Dezi snorted. “Like he didn’t already have one when you picked us up?”
Trygg sounded like he was choking behind us. I laughed. Better his butt getting roasted than mine.
“Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.” I hip-checked Dezi, who cackled and dragged me forward.
“Good evening, DG,” she purred. “The club is absolutely stunning.”
DG took Dezi’s hand and raised it to his lips. “Wait until you see the new one. It will put this one to shame.”
Jace linebackered his way up beside Dezi, snatched her hand, and pumped DG’s all in one blurring motion. Apparently, Trygg wasn’t the only possessive man in the club tonight.
“Jace FitzRoy. Nice to finally meet you. Dezi has told me a lot about you.”
“I believe she’s mentioned your name a time or two, Jace,” DG said, smiling. “Welcome to The Prodigal Lair. I hope you enjoy your evening.”
“Thanks for having us. I’m sure we’ll have a great time.”
The sarcasm in Jace’s voice was nearly indiscernible, but I’d been around him enough to recognize it. DG either didn’t notice it or chose to ignore it. Either way, his focus latched onto me.
“Bryn! I’m so happy you made it. You look stunning.” He reached for me but was intercepted by Trygg thrusting his hand at him.
Let the games begin.
“Stunning doesn’t do justice to Bryn’s incomparable beauty,” Trygg gloated. “I’d know. I basked in it the entire ride here.”
I side-eyed him. He was so close to getting beaten with the flat sandals I’d paired with my dress. After the last fiasco, there was no way I was ever wearing stilettos again. Although, they had gotten me carried and kissed in a parking garage.
“I noticed Levi dropped you off. Nice of my father to let you borrow the limo. It’s like prom night.”
“And you’re looking at the king and queen,” Trygg said.
The handshake between the two of them was like a smack-talking thumb-wrestling match and I was fine with letting it play out until I saw a wisp of icy fog escape DG’s lips.
“How about we get a drink before the crowning? Which way to the bar, DG?” I asked, tugging on Trygg’s arm.
DG released Trygg’s hand and inclined his head. “Straight through the tunnel and on the right. Drinks are on the house for your party, Bryn. All the bartenders have been instructed. I’ll join you soon.”
I nodded at DG, then dragged Trygg to the tunnel and gave him a shove. The passageway was tall, but narrow, not even wide enough to walk two abreast. There was no way that it would have been up to code, except there were doors beside it that could be opened. Theoretically anyway. Tonight, the doors were chained shut. DG better hope the Fire Marshal didn’t show up.
As we each passed through the tunnel, LED lights pulsed and changed colors, creating designs and patterns. The effect was pretty, but I pitied anyone who was sensitive to strobe lights.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked when we reached the end of the tunnel.
“How are your Long Islands?” Trygg asked him.
I grinned and leaned into his side. Him knowing my drink order was a tiny thing, but it still gave me the warm fuzzies and went a long way towards me forgetting his possessive crap with DG. We’d covered this once and I really didn’t want to repeat myself.
I felt eyes on me and glanced over my shoulder. DG was staring at me, a shocked look on his face that he quickly schooled when he noticed me watching him. Trygg handed me a drink and I smiled up at him.
“Thanks, honey.”
He kissed my forehead. “Anything for you, beautiful.”
“Oh, god. You two are even more nauseating than we are,” Dezi whined.
“I don’t want to hear your crap, Ms. Minion,” I taunted.
“You told her about the Minions?” Jace asked, cheeks flushing pinker than Dezi’s dress.
“She’s my bestie, babe,” Dezi said, as if that explained everything.
It did. Dezi and I had no secrets.
“What’s this about Minions?” Trygg asked, clueing in that there was possible blackmail material being revealed.
That buzz on the back of my neck reactivated and I looked back through the tunnel. A regal looking woman stood beside DG, the two having a heated co
nversation. Her iridescent gown covered her from throat to wrists and ankles, but in spite of all the skin it shielded, her dress left little to the imagination. It hugged her slight curves like a shimmering second skin, interrupted only by her inky black hair that splashed against her hips as she shook her head at DG.
Both their auras were still sparking—hers the bright violet of the Ljósalf—but whatever they had disagreed about must have gotten solved because DG was leading her to the tunnel, smiling the whole way. I was both relieved that DG had a date and uneasy because she was a Ljósalf.
My adoptive parents were Ljósalf and all of their kind were magic users, capable of things I couldn’t imagine. No good came from trusting the Ljósalfar. The last time I did, I ended up with a wiped memory and living a lie for eleven years.
“Bryn, allow me to introduce you to Naoko Wakahisa. She’s the mastermind behind the design of the club.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Naoko,” I said. Meaning it…not so much.
“Naoko, this is Bryn Ullman, her date and my father’s head of security, Trygg Mackenzie. Dezi here is the realtor who sold me the Romig Road building and Jace is her boyfriend.”
All introductions made, Naoko accepted our congratulations on her work while I studied her. She could have been an Asian princess with her bearing. A very tall Asian princess. She was only a few inches shorter than DG, putting her at six feet. But it was the woman’s eyes that drew my attention. Lids with spiky black lashes framed eyes with sky blue irises surrounded by a thunderstorm ring. They were striking—and focused on me.
“I’d love to show you the rest of the club. Get your input,” Naoko said, her voice soft and very sincere sounding. “Let’s start with the VIP section.”
DG led the way back through the tunnel and Naoko motioned us forward and brought up the rear. Unease knotted in my stomach. I had the nearly irresistible urge to grab Trygg and flee. Instead, I gripped my drink and followed along, glancing behind me to make sure Trygg was at my back. I slowed my step and his arm wrapped around my waist, pulled me to a stop.
His lips settled onto the curve of my neck and he whispered, “Okay, baby?”
I caressed his cheek with my free hand. “Now I am.”
The smile he pressed into my skin chased away my unease. I danced away from him, resolved to putting my prejudices behind me. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin our night out.
We shimmied our way through the tunnel of dancing lights and DG motioned us up the stairs leading to the club’s upper level VIP section while he waited for Naoko. I leaned against Trygg and allowed him to lead as I studied the interaction between DG and his date. They’d paused at the bottom of the steps, heads together, having another intense conversation.
Naoko’s lips formed my name more than once. Dread coiled in my stomach. I wanted to write the situation off as misplaced jealousy on Naoko’s part, but that felt like I was reaching, trying to normalize something that wasn’t normal. If I cried wolf and was wrong, I’d look like a fool, but if I wasn’t wrong? Was an evening of dancing worth our lives?
CHAPTER 37
TRYGG
Pure sweet grass with a layer of frost, the scent of a Ljósalf and a Jotun, DG and Naoko. The fragrance wasn’t unpleasant, but I still didn’t like it. Neither did Bryn. She was jumpy and had been nursing the same drink for the past hour. Sitting in the dimly lit and sparsely populated VIP section probably wasn’t helping things, but she sweetly rebuffed my offers to dance, cuddling against my side instead.
She watched DG and Naoko, as well as her surroundings, with a dead-eyed stare that I hadn’t seen since the slaughter at Aughrim. I was a hairsbreadth away from drawing that dagger riding Bryn’s thigh and getting us the hell out of here.
My cell phone buzzed against my pec and I jerked. Bryn jolted beside me on the couch where we’d been pretending to listen to Naoko talk about her designs. I snatched Bryn’s hand, the one that I wasn’t already holding, and kissed it.
“It’s just my phone.”
“Do you need to take it?”
“Let me check.” I placed her other hand on top of our already joined ones and pulled out my cell. It buzzed again and I forced as much nonchalance into my expression as I could. “One of my guys. I’m going to take it over there. I can still see you.”
She flashed me a smile and let me go as I stood up and answered the call.
“I’m busy. What do you need?” I winked at Bryn and hightailed it across the room.
“Where are you?” Harry’s voice asked.
“With Bryn at a Grand Opening party for DG’s newest club. I repeat. What do you need?”
“We found Drew.”
“Alive?”
“No.”
Shit. Bryn was going to kill me when she found out. “How was he killed?”
“Grimm says that it’s time to bring Bryn in.”
Ice formed in my chest and my stomach turned. I wasn’t about to blow my world apart just on Grimm’s say-so. Fuck that guy. I shot a quick look at Bryn. Her gaze was glued to mine. Goddamn it. She was going to know something was wrong. I held up a finger, promising one more minute, then ducked through a doorway and into the hallway leading to the bathrooms.
“I’m not bringing her there without an explanation. What the fuck is going on, Harry?”
“We can talk about it when you get here, Trygg.”
“No. Fuck that.” I punched the wall. “You tell me what’s going on right now.”
“Calm down. Everything in good time.”
Calm down. How was I supposed to calm down when they were asking me to give up the woman I loved?
For just a second my entire body locked up and I swayed like a tree in a windstorm.
Was this love?
Considering my heart felt like a rock in my chest, I had to go with all signs point to yes. I was so screwed. There was little hope that I’d be keeping her once she knew the truth.
She’d kick me out of her life. Violently.
“Look, just tell me what I need to know. I can keep her safe.” I leaned my head against the wall and started to silently pray to the god that had always screwed me over.
Allfather, please. Don’t take her from me. I’ll do whatever you want, just let me keep her.
“Grimm says—”
There was a scuffle on the other side of the phone and then Grimm’s voice growled in my ear. “You listen, and you listen good, you piece of shit. You’re not keeping her. A Svartalf killed Drew and she’s going to be next on the list. Deliver Brynja Pruedatter to this hotel room in thirty minutes or I will hunt you down and take your head. Are we clear?”
My hand shook and I nearly dropped the phone. The power in Grimm’s voice nearly melted my bones. I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. Or could he?
Shit.
I’d heard rumors that Grimm was connected to Odin. Some said that he was the next thing to a prophet. Until this moment, I’d scoffed at the thought.
“I said...are we clear?” Grimm’s voice punched me in the head again.
“Yes!” I dragged in a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll bring her to the hotel.”
I’d deliver her, but I had every intention of never leaving her side, no matter what Grimm said. I’d make her understand. I’d get on my knees and beg anyone and everyone. Long and short of it...only death would keep me from her.
I breathed in spicy apple and tasted it on my tongue.
Oh, god.
“Trygg?”
No. No. No. No. One word, a dozen questions. She’d heard. I closed my eyes because I needed just a few more seconds to pretend my world wasn’t ending.
Why couldn’t it have been Jace who overheard that? Even DG would have been preferable. I disconnected the call and turned to face the woman I loved.
CHAPTER 38
BRYN
“Fine. I’ll bring her to the hotel.”
The words echoed in my head.
“Bring who to a hotel?” I asked the question, bu
t I already knew the answer.
“Bryn, let me explain.” Trygg dropped the phone back into his pocket and held out placating hands.
I stomped to him and gritted through clenched teeth, “Bring who?”
“You,” he whispered. “Please, let me—”
“Who were you talking to and what do they want with me?” I was close enough to him to hear his lowered voice, but just far enough out of his reach that I had time to draw my dagger if he lunged.
Oh, god. Would he lunge at me? Try to hurt me? Could I bring myself to stab him if he did? A tiny whimper left my parted lips and he cringed.
“Don’t be afraid, baby. I swear everything is okay.”
Okay? Everything was not okay.
My stomach turned and I pressed my lips together hard, breathed through my nose. Even with the muted music, he shouldn’t have been able to hear that tiny sound. What did that mean? What was he? That swirling aura of his taunted me. I knew nothing about this man.
Except the way he smelled and tasted, how my name sounded on his lips, the way he held me tighter and closer than anyone had ever held me in my life.
He made me feel so safe.
That word—safe—had gone from a vague concept to a tangible place I’d found in his arms. Now I realized our foundation was set in quicksand and he thought he could just call me baby, tell me everything was okay, and I’d believe that?
“Tell me who you’re supposed to take me to!”
He winced and looked at me like he’d rather die.
That made two of us.
“I was talking to Harry and Grimm, the FBI agents,” he said. He crossed his arms, gripping his forearms hard enough to drill his nails through the material of his jacket.
“The FBI? Why does the FBI want...wait. They’re not really FBI are they?”
He shook his head.
“You knew that all along. You lied to me! You called me paranoid when I suspected them, but you were just covering for them. You hurt—” I snapped my jaws shut, cutting off the admission, but he already knew how much he’d hurt me.
