by Nina Bangs
She got up to get her drink, and Kayla welcomed the chance to edge away from Thorn. “You can’t blast anything until you get the people out.” Kayla noted that Kel’s expression said keeping the humans safe wasn’t one of his top priorities. She watched gloom settle over the group.
Sparkle didn’t return to her seat. She got a glass for her wine and stood sipping it. “So the first thing we do is find a way to free the hostages. Then we decide how to drive Aegir away.” She looked a little more decisive. “I’ll talk to my people. A few of them have major talents. Some of them might have an idea we didn’t explore.”
Everyone stood, and Kayla stood with them. She looked at Sparkle. “Well, my presence certainly helped. We accomplished so much.” As weapons went, sarcasm wasn’t much, but it made her feel better. Kayla didn’t look at Thorn as she followed Sparkle to the door.
“Wait.”
Thorn was right behind Kayla. How had he moved that fast? He was close enough for her to feel him, that particular awareness she had for him alone.
“I’d like to speak with you for a moment, Kayla.”
His voice was husky and soft, a sensual caress that stroked her with invisible fingers. She imagined he’d use that same voice to invite her into his bed. And God help her, she’d go.
Kayla nodded and turned back to the room. This time she took the recliner. His lips lifted, acknowledging her reluctance to sit near him. He returned to his seat on the couch and waited until everyone had left.
The door closed on the last person. To Kayla, it sounded like the boom of a dungeon door shutting, locking her into his personal keep. Get a grip. She smiled at him. “You have something to say?”
He met her gaze. “I wanted to clarify some points from last night.”
She raised her brows and remained silent. Kayla wouldn’t make it easy for him.
Thorn looked grim. She wasn’t sure if it was because of what he was about to tell her or because of physical pain. He reached up again to massage his temple.
“I’ll repeat what I said from last night just in case you didn’t hear it the first time. I never used persuasion on you.”
“Just everyone else.” Even she could hear the nastiness in her voice. Kayla didn’t like the sound of it.
“Not really.” He closed his eyes. “During the last two hundred years I’ve only used persuasion three times—to convince Eric to fly in from Chicago, to make sure Eric, Zane, and Klepoth accepted my job offer, and to force the leader of the mob to calm his followers.”
She had an almost irresistible urge to walk over to the couch and smooth that crease away with her fingers. And from there . . . ? Kayla took a deep breath. And from there, nothing. “That’s not what you said last night.”
“Last night I was angry and figured if you already thought the worst of me, I may as well live down to expectations. I lied to you.”
He opened his eyes and speared her with a hard stare. “I stopped using persuasion two hundred years ago because it made life too easy. I could get whatever I wanted, so there were no challenges. Life grew boring. I even thought of ending it.” The last was a mere murmur.
Horror so powerful she felt like heaving shook her. What if he had killed himself? She never would have known him.
“So I decided to live the way a mortal would live. Working for what I wanted gave me goals, reasons for living. It’s worked for me.”
Kayla straightened in her chair. “True?”
He nodded. “True. Anything else you want to know?”
“Sparkle said you had blood in your fridge, but what about your dining-out nights?”
“I don’t kill when I feed. And when I’m finished, I wipe the memories of what happened from their minds. So yes, I do still use a few small powers necessary for my survival.”
She wasn’t sure she believed everything he’d said, but she wanted to. Kayla decided for tonight she’d go with what she wanted. “Fine.”
His smile had hard edges. “That seemed too easy.”
“Maybe I’m tired tonight. I’ll be argumentative and disbelieving again tomorrow.”
“Deal.” Thorn stood. He looked as though he expected her to leave.
She didn’t. “This might be one of my last chances to try another one of Nirvana’s rides. How about the roller coaster?”
He seemed surprised. “Sure.”
Something moved in his eyes, a challenge. It was warm and curled like a sleeping cat inside her. But she knew the sleeping cat could always waken, teeth and claws ready. The thought was sort of exciting. At least she knew there was no persuasion involved because it had been her idea.
“Let’s go.” He sounded eager.
Kayla left his apartment with him, wondering if she’d just made a huge mistake.
Thorn stopped beside the roller coaster. Kayla looked around. Other than some workers who were clearing away rubble and boarding up the restaurant windows, the pier was empty.
“You’re lucky to be doing this with me. Being the owner has perks.” He fiddled with the ride’s controls and then guided her into the front seat. Thorn slid in beside her. “A regular visitor would zip right through the ride, no pausing.”
Puzzled, she glanced at him. “Isn’t that the whole purpose of a roller coaster, to careen around curves and plunge into the depths at warp speed? Then when you get off you can throw up. It’s a thrill ride.”
Thorn shook his head. “Not this one. The joy is in the intentional pause.”
“If you say so.” Her stomach was in knots. Sitting next to him was its own thrill ride.
He put his arm across her shoulders and pulled her closer to his side. “No matter what happens on the ride, just go with it.” Thorn leaned close. “I’ll keep you safe.” His breath warmed the side of her neck while goose bumps gathered at other more exposed parts of her body.
She could only nod as they began to move. Kayla reached for his hand and he gripped it hard. His warm hand enveloping hers gave her more confidence than the protective bar holding her into the seat.
Her stomach did somersaults as the car laboriously chugged up the first steep incline. She knew what was coming. They’d reach the crest, pause, and then plunge down the other side leaving her stomach at the top still looking around stupidly.
Kayla was tempted to close her eyes. From her experience with the Ferris wheel, she suspected that strange things would happen on this ride too. But Thorn was with her, so she kept them open.
“Umm, haven’t we been climbing a long time?” Of course they had. This was a Nirvana experience. She looked down. The pier seemed an impossible distance below them.
“The farther to fall.” He sounded energized by the whole thing.
Kayla thought he was crazy. Finally, they reached the top and she looked down the other side. She gulped. “Uh, the tracks drop into the water.” Logically, she knew they didn’t. This had to be an illusion. But that didn’t stop it from looking real.
Thorn just smiled at her. “Go with it.”
“Don’t have much choice.” Those were her last words before they rocketed down the hill into the Gulf.
She was still screaming as the water closed over her head. Then she stopped. So did the coaster. Her brain felt scrambled. She should be holding her breath, fighting to swim to the surface for air to fill her tortured lungs. She wasn’t. Kayla was breathing easily as she floated free of the car.
Puzzled, but calming a little, she looked at Thorn. Her eyes widened. He was naked, every beautiful inch of his body bared to her view. She glanced down. She was naked too. They were naked together . . . Kayla stared around her. This wasn’t the Gulf.
First of all, it was daytime because she could see sunlight filtering through the surface of the water above her. The water was warm, sliding over her body in a silken flow. This was an illusion. But it felt real.
Everything was so gorgeous she wanted to cry from the sheer joy of staring at it. Brilliant coral competed with equally colorful small fish.
Thorn needed no words. She recognized the desire in his eyes, the flare of excitement and invitation. Illusion or not, Kayla knew she wanted this, wanted him.
She couldn’t stop her hands from shaking as she cupped his face and drew him close. Words. He might not need them, but she did. She wanted to tell him how right this felt and how wrong. Right for now, for this time cocooned in soft sea currents. But wrong for any tomorrows. The Stanleys didn’t love vampires, didn’t even date them. And vampires? Why would they bind themselves to humans, puny creatures who died too easily and too soon?
She didn’t have time to think more brooding thoughts before he covered her mouth with his. Thorn’s lips slanted across hers. They tasted of the sea and hunger. Kayla parted her lips, welcoming him in. His tongue explored, hot with promises. His fangs were down, and she carefully traced them with the tip of her tongue. What if biting completed his sexual experience? Then he deepened the kiss and she forgot about biting.
Thoughts tumbled and tangled with emotions and senses. Happiness exploded like bright flashes behind her eyes. Smooth skin slid over smooth skin. How the heck would they make love floating in the water? She banished the thought. Thorn would find a way.
He finally broke the kiss to nibble a path from the sensitive skin behind her ear to the base of her throat. The only sound she could hear was the mad pounding of her heart, and if pulses turned him on, then hers would drive him into a sexual frenzy. His lips lingered at her throat for what seemed like forever. He didn’t bite her.
Thorn skimmed his fingers over her shoulders and then lowered his head to her breasts. She arched her back, floating effortlessly as he closed his lips over her nipple. Tangling her legs with his, she gave herself over completely to the sensation of him teasing the nipple with the tip of his tongue and drawing it into his mouth. He sucked, and she felt the pull all the way from low in her belly to the nipple in question.
She wanted to moan, needed to moan. Next time they made love there would be sound. Next time? Would there be one? This thought was less organized than earlier thoughts. It floated away before she could really consider it.
When he released her nipple, she slid down his slick body and wrapped her arms around him. She dug her fingers into his butt cheeks, felt him clench, and wished she could glide around him and bite that temptingly tight ass. And here she’d worried about him biting her.
And since everything she wanted to touch was within floating distance, she slid lower. She cupped his balls and massaged them gently as she gazed up at him. He’d flung his head back and closed his eyes. His throat was taut, vulnerable. She didn’t associate that word with Thorn, so this moment was special.
Was the water getting warmer? Maybe it was just her.
She wanted to hear him groan with pleasure. But in this silent world the only senses remaining were sight, touch, and taste. Right now touch was front and center.
Kayla twirled her fingertip around and around the long hard length of his cock. Then she substituted her mouth. She kissed and nibbled her way from the thick base of him up to the head. Kayla was just about to close her lips around him when she felt his fingers grip her hair. He pulled.
Thinking had finally been removed from the equation. Kayla didn’t reason why he’d stopped her, only felt a sense of deprivation and disappointment. But she would get over it. She had other things to do.
She would swear the water was getting warmer.
But it seemed that Thorn had things to do too. He pulled and pulled until most of her body had floated past him. Then he transferred his hands from her hair to her thighs. He nudged them apart and slid his tongue the length of her inner thigh. Then . . . then . . . he flicked his tongue across . . . She screamed in her mind.
Kayla sucked in her breath—amazing that she could do that—and spread her legs farther apart. The sensation . . . Not only the warmth of his tongue but also the ripple of water touching her . . . right there.
Damn, the water was hot.
Not as hot as her, though. She bucked and thrashed as his magic tongue tortured, teased, and tore away any preconceived beliefs of what making love with Thorn Mackenzie would feel like.
Finally, she couldn’t stand it one more moment. Her body clenched and clenched some more, begging, howling its silent need. Now. Now. Now. She had to get his attention. Leaning over, she clawed at his back and yanked on his hair.
Kayla couldn’t hear it, but she’d bet he was growling. He gripped her around the waist and forced her down until she was standing on the sea floor. Then he backed her against a huge boulder she hadn’t noticed before.
Inside her head she was now cursing the water that wanted to float her away. Wasn’t going to happen. Thorn cupped her bottom with his large hands and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around him and then gripped his shoulders.
Hot water, hot water, hot, hot water.
He slid just the head of his cock into her and paused. What the hell was that about? More. She gave him a gentle hint by biting his shoulder.
Then he buried himself inside her. She gasped as he plunged and then moaned as he withdrew. From there everything was a watery blur. Her gasps and moans formed an ever-quickening rhythm. All her senses coalesced into one shiny ball of ecstasy, and she rode it to an alternate universe. One where pleasure went on and on as something hot and explosive built inside her.
Almost. There. Kayla knew she was sobbing, but she couldn’t stop. Nothing should feel this good.
He thrust into her one last time.
Kayla froze. That pleasure beyond reason, beyond description expanded and expanded until she thought she couldn’t hold it in. But she tried. She clenched her body and didn’t breathe, didn’t think, even willed her heart to still as wave after wave of spasms shook her.
She felt Thorn shudder against her even as her spasms started to fade. Kayla held on to them as long as she could but finally they were gone. She felt limp and satiated. He hadn’t bitten her.
Eventually, she grew aware of her surroundings again. Thorn floated beside her, his arm around her waist. He wore a startled expression.
“What?” She celebrated the return of her voice. And then she felt it. “Jeez, this water will boil the flesh from our bones.”
Now he looked worried. “Let’s get out of here.” Thorn dragged her through the water and back onto the roller coaster. He threw a switch and then they were rocketing out of the Gulf and up the last incline. The cool breeze brought reality with it.
Kayla remembered. Naked? She looked down. Relieved, she realized she was dressed. Just an illusion. No, she could never classify what had happened beneath the water as “just” anything.
Strangely shy, she glanced at Thorn. Then she widened her eyes. “Wait. Your hair is wet.” Kayla touched her hair. “So is mine.”
“Yes.” He didn’t look surprised.
“I thought that was an illusion.”
“Did it feel like an illusion?” He smiled but didn’t look at her.
“No.” She knew her voice had softened, and Kayla feared her tone would tell him too much. She wasn’t ready to put herself out there, to allow him to see all of her.
Thorn nodded. “That’s Eric’s genius. He has the power to create illusions that are . . . real, even if they feel surreal. I can’t explain it. I don’t think anyone can. We absolutely experienced everything in that illusion.” He paused to study her. “Do you regret the realism?”
“No.” She seemed stuck on that word. “What about the heat?”
He laughed. Kayla loved his laughter. She wanted to wrap herself in it and wear it forever. Now you’re wandering into shark-filled waters.
“I think our combined passions shorted out a magical wire in Eric’s underwater fantasy. But even if I’d ended up cooked, it woul
d’ve been worth it.”
Kayla thought that was probably one of the strangest compliments she’d ever received. And she didn’t care that she wore an idiotic grin.
When they left the roller coaster, Thorn invited her to stop by his apartment to dry her hair. She welcomed any excuse to stay with him longer.
Kayla was busy thinking about impossible dreams that somehow didn’t seem quite so impossible right now when Thorn opened his door and stepped inside. He stopped. She slammed into his back.
“Why did you . . . ?” She peered around him. “Oh. My. God.”
A huge gray wolf sprawled on Thorn’s couch. Kayla had only seen wolves in the zoo, but they couldn’t come close to the size of this monster. The wolf watched them from cold yellow eyes. She resisted the urge to turn and run.
Thorn reached back and clasped her hand, but he didn’t take his gaze from the wolf. The air thrummed with tension.
Thorn finally spoke.
“Welcome, Loki.”
16
“Loki? I don’t—”
Thorn squeezed Kayla’s hand. She got his message and stopped talking. But when he tried to keep his body between her and Loki, she moved around him. Her glare said what she thought about his attempt to protect her.
“Loki is a shape-shifter. The wolf is one of his forms.” Thorn damned himself for suggesting she return with him. He didn’t want her anywhere near this god.
“Oh?” She infused that one word with all the questions she wanted to ask.
Suddenly the image of the wolf shimmered and became a man. Thorn heard Kayla’s muffled gasp, but he kept his attention on the god.
Loki stood. He was tall and lean, pale with shaggy black hair and eyes the same yellow as his wolf’s eyes. He was into blending. No Viking gear for him. He could’ve passed for any human on the street with his jeans, boots, and black jacket. Until you looked into his eyes. What he was lived in those eyes.