Chapter 2 #2
Her beauty had been undeniable the moment her photo had landed on his desk.
But in person, her sharp, daggered sapphire eyes had made him unable to look away.
He’d met thousands of Valkyrie in his lifetime.
And all of them beautiful. But this one…
the last one still alive… she was something he’d never experienced before.
The passion and fierceness radiating from her rivaled his.
He knew self-preservation when he saw it.
And self-preservation had been carved into every single line of her body.
Most intense of all, she'd smelled of wind and wildflowers.
The kind he'd only smelled in the rolling gardens of Asgard.
But surprisingly, it had been how his body responded when he’d touched her hand.
He’d been so stunned, not only by seeing glimpses of what her life had held, but also by how she’d somehow called to him.
Not her, but something deeper, the real Valkyrie inside the tough exterior.
The one she’d locked away and never let anyone see.
The creative, loving yet fierce one that he’d seen ripped from her mother’s arms at a young age to start her training.
She glanced over her shoulder as she reached the exit, pulling off her mask and dropping it. His heart stopped when he caught sight of her face in person. The face of an angel with the lips of a sinner waiting for him to worship.
His pants tightened around his erection as he imagined those lips on his skin.
She spotted him, rolled her eyes, and exited.
How could she look so sexy when she wanted nothing to do with him? Dominant women had never been his style, but damn if she couldn’t melt his frost giant heart.
Loki raced for the door, but didn’t have to look far to find Val with her blade pointed at Thor of all people. He’d not even thought about Thor after being handed his mask.
Loki removed his mask and tossed it away as Val pulled Elle from Thor's grip.
"Hey," Thor protested. "Now wait a minute. Who are you?"
"Val," Loki interjected, strolling down the steps.
Val glowered at him, making him smile. She was good at that.
"I am more than capable of taking care of myself, thank you,” she growled.
"So you've told me. Twice already," Loki replied, flashing her his best smile.
Val rolled her eyes again.
How in the world was she so immune to his charms?
He’d never once given a woman that smile before, only to receive an eyeroll in return.
Usually, the response involved melting, fluttering, flushing, and sometimes even throwing themselves at him.
But never an eyeroll. He wondered how often she’d practiced rolling her eyes because she’d damn near perfected it.
"We should go," Val said.
"Wait." Thor grabbed Elle's hand again.
Val pulled his hand from Elle's. "No. No waiting, Odin's son. We are leaving."
Loki took a step forward, ready to defend Val if necessary. Not that she needed defending. Honestly, she might actually stab Loki for trying.
"Thank you for your kindness, Thor Odinson," said Elle.
Now that was the kind of woman Loki would have gone for in the past. Soft spoken and eager to please. But the way Elle’s eyes remained downcast, and the timid way she stood, was nothing compared to the way Val’s fiery spirit called to him.
Interesting...
Val tugged Elle away and headed down the street. Loki took a step to follow them, but as if knowing his intention, Val turned to him and brandished her wristblade as if flipping him off. He couldn’t help but laugh. What would it be like to get her in his bed?
He held his hands up before putting them in his pockets. Didn’t matter, he’d find her whether he followed them or not.
"When do you work next?" Thor called without thinking.
Elle turned over her shoulder. "I work every day."
Val said something to her, and Elle continued down the cobblestone street and into the mists beyond.
Thor stared at the spot Elle had stood moments before and rubbed his fingers together.
Oh Odin! Thor had it bad. Frigg had been right in her prediction to send Thor tonight.
Loki chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder. "Has the mighty Thor finally found a match?"
Thor eyed him. "And what about you? You seemed in unusually banterous form with Elle’s friend."
Loki gritted his teeth and focused on the direction the women had gone.
He didn’t like that his intentions had been read by Thor.
He didn’t need word getting around that there was something going on between him and Val that wasn’t.
Or did he? If others thought Val was his, they would leave her alone.
Maybe then he'd have a real shot with her.
Damn, where had that come from? He didn’t want Val to be his. Did he?
"Business nothing more," he finally said.
Thor snorted and pulled Mjolnir from his jacket pocket. "You keep telling yourself that, cousin. Are you fighting tonight?"
"Yes," said Loki. "I promised Baldur a rematch. Again."
Thor nodded. "Then I'll see you at the Throne." He raised his arm to the sky and jumped.
Loki watched Thor disappear and then looked back at the darkened street.
His body yearned to go after Val. To press her against the giant windows in his house overlooking the city, and take her.
To feel the length of her strong body cocooned against his.
Her legs wrapped around him. Her mouth on his.
Loki shook his head. What was that? Had she bewitched him?
No. He was immune to that sort of trickery. He was trickery.
Loki growled. He didn't like the feelings bubbling inside him. Feelings of... of what he didn't quite know. All he knew was he didn't like them, and he needed to get his head right before he did something he'd regret.
Since being with Val wasn’t going to happen, he’d do the next best thing to sex. The one other thing he excelled at.
He waved his hand, and his clothes changed from his suit to a kilt and a white tank top. All he wanted now was to take all his pent-up tension and confusion over Val out on Baldur.
He wondered if Baldur would ever get tired of losing to him. Didn’t matter, tonight Loki wasn’t going to take it easy on him. And when he was done, he was going to try something he’d not done in a thousand years. He was going to try to dreamwalk into Val’s dreams.
Loki clapped Baldur on the back as he pulled him to his feet. “This makes what? The two thousandth time you’ve tried to pay me back for what happened so long ago, I don’t even remember?”
“You tricked my brother Hodr into killing me.”
Loki chuckled. “Oh yeah. That’s what it was. What does it matter now, though? We’re all here in Helheim together.”
Baldur growled. “Exactly.”
Loki handed Baldur a towel for his bloody nose and walked him to the edge of the ring. “Come on, Baldur. You were the favorite. Everyone loved you. You were so damned annoying. And it was a joke gone wrong. I really didn’t think Hodr could make that shot, you know, being blind and all.”
“A joke? I died.” Baldur’s eyes flickered with anger.
Loki sighed. “Yes, you did. And every time we step into the cage, and you try to make me pay for what I did, you are the one who is really paying. Reliving it all over again. I don’t see Hodr in here trying to kick my ass every month.
Why don’t you let it go? Move on. Find a woman.
Settle down. Have chubby, cute babies and just… live?”
Baldur stared at Loki, and for a minute, Loki thought he might take the advice.
Instead, Baldur shoved the towel into Loki’s chest and stormed off.
Loki shook his head. He knew how it was to live in the past. To remember the old slights and quarrels, but in Helheim, all of that seemed so trivial.
Thor hating Surtr. Baldur hating him. Val hating him…
He jumped to the floor and wiped the sweat from his face. Val… In the old days, whether fighting or screwing, both had given him the same high. But somehow, having gone a few rounds with Baldur barely scratched the surface of what stirred inside him for Val.
Loki grumbled and headed for one of the backrooms.
As he turned down the long stone hallway. A voice sounded behind him.
“Are you ever going to let him win?”
Loki turned to find Odin walking toward him.
White hair pulled back in a ponytail. Piercing blue eyes, a leather jacket, and a ringed hand, he looked completely different from the Norse god who had once punished him by tying him to a rock and letting acid drip on him.
But the aura of power still exuded from him like a golden bubble.
“What would be the point of letting him win?” Loki asked. “If I did, he would accuse me of letting him win, and then he’d get even angrier. The object is to give him a fair chance to beat me, and I always do.”
Odin nodded and held out a wad of cash to Loki. Loki took the thick stack of money and folded it into his hand. “People still think he’s gonna beat me after all this time?”
Odin shrugged. “You can’t win every time, Loki.”
Loki smiled. “Says who?”
Loki rolled his car past the ten-foot gates and into his chic, modern sanctuary of sleek white surfaces and expansive glass panels that framed a dazzling view of Los Angeles.
The glow from the skyline merged with the dusky night, casting a soft, ethereal light on the driveway.
He emerged from his car and flicked on his car alarm; a mere formality given the fortress-like security encasing his property: cameras surveilling every angle, imposing fencing guarding the perimeter, and ever-present, there was Loki himself.