Pushing again, this time with a little more force, Chantelle tried to wriggle out of his arms. But Steve held fast. She hoped that someone would see what was happening and come to her aid. Though one glance around the dance floor told her the bouncers were nowhere in sight.
“Let go of me, or else I’m going to kick you so hard your grandsons will feel it.”
Steven didn’t take the hint and pulled her even closer laughing in her ear. “Now is that any way to treat the man you’re going home with tonight?”
Chantelle wanted to scream. Was he kidding her? There was no way she would go anywhere with this guy. Let alone home with him.
She was about to answer him when her eyes caught the man behind Steve and her world froze. She had hoped a bouncer would have noticed the scuffle, but they hadn’t. Now to her complete and utter horror, it was Loki who approached them.
Chantelle’s night had just gone from bad to worse. Wasn’t it bad enough this creep was groping her? Obviously not, because now Loki was standing before her looking pissed.
What must he think of her? As soon as the thought crossed her mind Chantelle became more agitated. Why should she care what he thought of her? Besides, she was a grown woman and she could come out to a club if she wanted to.
Steve must have noticed she had stopped her struggling, because he pulled her flush against him, jarring her right out of her troubled thoughts. “Glad to see you’re a smart little girl and I’m not going to have to take you outside and punish you.”
Although Steve had spoken close to Chantelle’s ear Loki had heard every word he had said. He had never been one to be ruled by violence, but at the sound of Steve’s threat to his woman all Loki could see was red. If anyone would be punishing Chantelle tonight it would be him. Not some little boy that thought he could run with the big dogs.
Once more the urge to challenge him to a duel clouded his judgment. Loki shook his head; it wouldn’t have been a fair duel anyway as he would have beaten the mortal before Steve could have raised his sword. Loki smiled at the thought, knowing full well he would have taken a page from Thor’s book and cheated. It would seem all his years of sparring with his brother had rubbed off on him. Or maybe it was just his overriding need to protect his woman? Whatever it was, the thought seemed to calm him. His vision cleared and he took the last few steps to reach a very distressed Chantelle.
Loki’s willowy frame towered over Steve’s shorter, muscular one. He grabbed him by the shoulder quickly gaining his undivided attention.
“I do believe the lady asked you to let go.” A predatory smile spread across the handsome planes of his face.
He felt a savage joy spread through him when Steve dropped his hands from Chantelle. When Steve turned to face him Loki finally took a good look at the mortal who had touched his mate all evening. Jealousy began to rear its head again and Loki wanted to rip the boy apart.
A laugh erupted from Steve when he took in Loki’s lean build. He must have been judging Loki by his size and figured that there was no danger since he outweighed him by muscle mass alone.
Chantelle felt herself cringe because even she wasn’t stupid enough to assess someone’s fighting skill by their size. No matter how much Steve outweighed him, there was an aura of danger that clung to Loki.
There was no telling what was about to happen between the two, but Chantelle knew that if it came to it Steve wouldn’t stand a chance. There was just something about the green eyed man that screamed predator and Chantelle feared Steve was too stupid to realize it.
The more Chantelle thought about it, the more he seemed like an all-powerful immortal. What if, Loki wasn’t just some guy with a weird name? What if he really was an immortal? Not just any immortal but her destined mate? Chantelle groaned. The shit was going to hit the fan. She just prayed Steve backed down, if he knew what was good for him.
“Buzz off. This is between me and the chicky here.” He shoved at Loki’s chest, a clear intimidation tactic.
Loki stood fast. It was as if Steve hadn’t even touched him. A cruel smile lifted the corners of his mouth causing Steve to bristle. Chantelle cringed; she knew Loki was egging him on. Why else wouldn’t he have backed down? He was pissing off Steve by not cowering in front of him. She knew a bully when she saw one, and Steve fit the bill.
She was rooted to the spot, too stunned to move. Already she had been wary of the dark haired man. Now the voice that had whispered for her too run was practically screaming.
Rationally, she knew he should have been on the floor from that shove. To her disbelief there he stood no worse for the wear. It was as if Steve’s hands had been nothing more than flies.
Loki reached past Steve and took Chantelle’s small hand in his larger one. As his long pianist fingers closed over her own an electric current coursed through her body. Chantelle felt her soul shift as if it was moving toward him. It felt like she was falling into a spider’s web; its silken tendrils ghosting over her skin.
He pulled her away from Steve, effectively placing himself between them. Chantelle placed her hands on his broad back for balance and instantly regretted it. Loki moved and his muscles shifted beneath her palms; making her mind fill with images of his body covering her own. Her arms wrapped around him in the throes of ecstasy.
A deep blush stained her cheeks as she shook her head, trying to get her mind out of the gutter. There was something about Loki that just drew her in. Something primal in him that seemed to call to the same primal thing in her.
Chantelle’s body ached at the contact of his. Her brown eyes widened in realization of what she was feeling; lust. She had never felt like this for any man she had ever met, let alone a complete stranger. But her soul kept crying out to her, telling her he wasn’t really a stranger. That he was the man from her dreams and they had known each other all her life. That he would complete her. Somehow she felt that he was her Fatum Anima.
Chantelle quickly snapped back to reality when she felt Loki’s body shift again. He had leaned forward and whispered something to Steve. The blond man’s eyes glazed over as he nodded in understanding. Without so much as a backward glance, Steve moved off through the crowd.
Chapter 16:
Loki’s green eyes watched as Steve approached one of the bouncers, shadowed by Hoder. A few words were exchanged between the two. The bouncer grabbed him about the collar and brought him outside. Hoder nodded in Loki’s direction and followed the two men out. A smile spread across his face when he thought of the bouncer roughing Steve up for what he had suggested the bouncer do to his mother.
He turned then to face Chantelle, her expectant doe eyes looking up into his own. “Are you all right, pet?”
If she kept looking at him like that, Loki would have to claim her lips right where they stood. She looked flushed and he knew from the subtle connection they shared that she was turned on, but he wasn’t sure by who. And so help him if it was Steve she was thinking of, he would kill the unwitting fool. She was his. Mortal or not. If Loki had anything to say about it, she would only ever want him.
The dulcet tones that reached Chantelle’s ears sent her spiraling into a memory. Or was it a waking dream? She looked up into his green eyes as she fought to find her voice. Trying to push through the memory into the reality before her.
“What did you say to Steve that he walked off like that?” Chantelle tugged her hand away from his. He quirked a brow at her and she had the urge to reach up and smooth her finger over it.
“I told the boy that he would not want to anger me further if he knew what was best. And I suggested he go have a talk with the bouncer.”
She shot him the same look she gave Emma when she knew she was lying to her and yet was willing to allow her to come clean on her own. Loki didn’t look fazed in the least, perhaps it was because he was a whole head taller than her.
“You should have minded your own business. I can take care of myself.”
She turned to walk off the dance floor and away from Loki.
His eyes played havoc with her soul and she needed to escape them. There was just too much she would be willing to agree to, with just one look from him. Chantelle felt trapped under his gaze like a butterfly under glass.
“You were not doing well enough. He had no right to put his hands on you.”
The tone of his voice said he thought he was the only one allowed to touch her and she found herself hoping she had mistaken his tone. Because there was no way Chantelle was going to allow him to think she was an object to possess.
Chantelle turned on him then. What the hell was he talking about? She had been two seconds away from kneeing Steve when Loki showed up. So he could just drop his he-man act. If he wanted to beat his chest because of something manly maybe he should go play tackle football.
“Listen, it’s obvious that you’re not from around here.” Chantelle gestured about them as if to indicate what she meant. “But I am not a damsel in distress.”
She was about to walk off when the opening strings to “Halo” filled the air. Loki motioned for the dance with his arm. Although Chantelle knew she should have walked away from him, she found herself instead stepping into his arms. Their disagreement all but forgotten.
It was against her better judgment but she couldn’t stop herself. Chantelle’s soul longed to be close to this strange man who held her in his arms. He called to her on some deep level and she couldn’t deny him anymore than she could stop breathing. A sure sign he was who she feared, which meant he was also her mate; although she refused to believe it.
They moved in perfect time to the music. Loki led her around the dance floor as if they had done this in another lifetime. Her tiny frame was held close to his, sheltered even as they danced.
It felt right as if this is how it was meant to be. Loki relished the feel of her arms about his neck, her tiny fingers trailing through the hair at his collar. He marveled at how her hips fit perfectly into his hands. The feeling of her soft body beneath his fingers had his mind racing. It took all his self-control not to drag her out of the club and find a place where he could claim her.
His body raged to life. His muscles growing taut; his body stiffening in preparation to claim his little mate. Loki almost came undone when a soft sigh escaped her lips. The look on her face said she knew she was home; where she belonged and he could not agree more.
Now, that he had her in his arms there was no way he was letting her go. After their dance he would just collect Bragi and Hoder and all four of them would head to a secluded area. Someplace they could summon Heimdal. He would have her behind the mansion walls on Oak Island before she realized it.
He leaned down and his soft lips tickled her ear as he whispered to her, “That boy had no right to hold you as if you belonged to him. That right is mine and mine alone, pet.”
Chantelle pulled back slightly, “I am not a possession to be owned.”
The look that flitted across his face worried her, “We have belonged to each other from before time even began.”
Closing her eyes Chantelle took a deep breath. Was this guy talking soulmates? Destiny? He had to be kidding her. She wasn’t in the mood for this kind of craziness. She knew from her lessons at the Academy that there was only one man meant for her. She would be his Fatum Anima, fated soul. But her mate would be a powerful immortal.
Oh God! This man before her wasn’t just named after the Norse god of Mischief; he was the damned immortal himself. And wouldn’t you know he had been playing cat and mouse with her this whole time. Well, two could play his game.
“Really?” Chantelle batted her eyelashes and hoped she looked convincing. “What makes you say that?”
Loki brought his lips against her ear and a shiver ran through her body. His breath ghosting over her, caused images of him taking her to rise to the forefront of her mind.
“You are mine. Let no one tell you different. You have always been mine. And always will be.”
Immortal or not, he needed a wakeup call. This was not the 1400’s and she was not some silly girl to be won over, by what he thought were sweet words.
“I don’t know about that. There have been others before. And I am sure if you don’t keep my interest there will be others after.”
Loki’s lips ghosted over her neck. A groan escaping her parted lips. Chantelle’s breaths were coming in shallow pants. Not matter how much she tried to deny it, Loki set her soul on fire.
“Pet, you can lie to yourself, but your body gives you away.”
His hands moved to cup her ass and pull her flush against him. Once more he brushed his lips over her ear and she almost came undone.
“Is that so?” Her voice sounded unsteady and she cursed herself for it.
“I know for certain that I am the first man to kiss you. I swear to the Sisters that I shall be the first man to bed you.” Loki pulled back to look her in the eyes. “And when I do you will be panting just as you are now, pet.”
Chantelle just stared at him gob smacked. Did he really just allude to taking her virginity? He better not have, or else he’ll end up getting what Steve hadn’t.
“Come now, pet, you and I both know we are meant for one another.”
His fingers were caressing the small of her back. Every sane argument against being with him flew out of her mind. It was like her dreams; she couldn’t see to fight the hold he had on her. His words echoed too close to the ones that he always spoke in her dreams.
Like it or not it was time to fess up. Chantelle had known something was off this afternoon when they had met. That perhaps he didn’t just look like the man in her dreams. She knew it was a high possibility that he was the man, himself.
Thinking back she remembered from her dreams how he would always tell her they belonged to one another. It was something that Chantelle wanted more than anything. To belong, but not when the choice was being taken away from her as it clearly was now.
Opening her eyes, her retort died before it was born. One of the club lights shone on Loki and a gold glow seemed to shine all around him. Making his green eyes glow with a feral light. All too quickly Chantelle found herself thrown back into one of her dreams. She felt herself being pulled under and she struggled to stay afloat.
Chantelle pushed out of Loki’s warm embrace and rushed off the dance floor. Eager to leave this night behind. Deep down she knew Loki had let her go or else she would have still been in his arms.
Quickly, Chantelle made her way to her table and found Savannah missing. Where could she have run off to? Or with? Her purse was gone and that meant that she had found a really hot number. It looked like Chantelle would be calling a cab.
“Great. Just great.” She muttered to herself. When she got her later she was going to strangle her.
“Your friend has left you. Perhaps I should take you home instead?”
He would be doing exactly that, taking her home, his home. She wasn’t going to hang around here with a friend who took off without her and boys who wanted to bed her. Loki refused to allow her to defy him as his mother did his father. The mortal boys were filthy beings and his woman was too naive to take care of herself. Chantelle needed to be safe by his side for all their sakes.
Rounding on him her eyes flashed with anger, “I’m fine. So cut the knight in shining armor crap. Cause you’re no better than Steve.” Chantelle grabbed her purse and headed out of the club.
No better than that mortal? Loki turned to follow her out. He was intent on making her see reason. Chantelle needed to learn how to respect him. If it took him all eternity, Loki planned on teaching her.
On the other side of the club Signe smiled. Loki had made her mission so easy. He had allowed his inner beast to control the situation. Chantelle being mortal, Halfling or not, wasn’t used to such actions. She hadn’t been raised around a mated pair, so seeing an alpha male in action was odd to her.
She had never been treated as if she mattered above all else. Besides, the mortal men didn’t help Loki’s plight. They barely held a door
for a woman anymore, so forget worrying about their feelings or safety. Signe was thrilled. It seemed that because of Loki’s actions he would not be claiming his mate. Because Chantelle was a modern woman and they just didn’t stand for a he-man.
There was no way she wouldn’t get her revenge now. The darkness would win out over Loki’s soul soon, that was a given. Chantelle was all that could keep it at bay. From the looks of things she wasn’t even going to look at him after tonight, let alone hear what he had to say.
In a flourish she was gone. Off to tell the Acolytes the good news. She could finally test the theory that she had given them. If she was right, the Council of Immortals would be no more and a new regime would stand in its place.
Chapter 17:
Savannah stood outside the club her eyes alight with laughter. Never had she met a guy that she could share her secret with and tonight the Sisters had dropped Bragi into her lap. He might not be her Fatum Anima, but at least he was easy on the eyes. Who knew, maybe she could have a little fun before the night was over.
Long ago she had learned that some men could not be trusted. That by the time you found out which ones they were, well it was too late. Your heart was already broken, but Savannah had been a fast learner. Once you got over the fact that some people frown on the way she acted toward men, it was easy. She couldn’t care less what they thought as long as her heart was safe. Hey, if they wanted to judge her who was she to argue. Just let them try to walk a mile in her shoes; because they would have said screw it too.
Her mother hadn’t really been a mother at all. She was too drunk on whatever her drink of choice had been at the time. The men that she had allowed to come in and out of their life had taught Savannah all she needed to know about guys.
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