“I was not. We were discussing how I choose guys for my vlog when—”
“He pulled you onto his lap,” Eirik finished again, not masking his annoyance. “I saw you through the mirror behind the food counter.”
“Was I really flirting with anyone tonight, Raine?” Cora asked in a trembling voice, turning to glance at me.
Cora loved to flirt. Even though she thought it was harmless, Eirik always hated it and often gave her a hard time. “I, uh…”
Eirik snorted and started the engine. “I’ll drop you off first, Raine.”
Surprised he didn’t offer to drop off Cora first, I sat back. The silence during the drive was thick with tension. My thoughts turned to Torin, and I smiled. Maybe things would work out between us after all. I felt a little guilty for being happy when my friends weren’t even talking to each other. Maybe they’d have a chance to talk once they dropped me off.
Eirik pulled up outside my place, and I glanced over at Torin’s. It was in total darkness. He wasn’t home yet.
“Talk to you later, Raine,” Cora said.
I nodded and waved.
“Later,” Eirik added, but his expression said we needed to talk. He was smart enough to know that the incident at Cliff House was supernatural, which meant his people were involved.
I started toward my house as they took off. Muted light was visible through the living room window, and I wondered if Dad was asleep. He tended to leave the stair lights on when I hung out with my friends late at night. An SUV pulled up into Torin’s driveway, and I stopped. He jumped down and hurried toward me.
“I was just going inside,” I said.
“Not yet.” The SUV took off, the driver hitting his horn. Torin waved and took my hand. “We need to talk.”
I checked my watch. It was a little past eleven, so I had time. “I have to be home by midnight.”
“I’ll make sure you are tucked in bed.”
I smiled at the visual. I’d pull him under the covers and not allow him to leave. He picked up a bag he must have dropped when he left the SUV, and we walked to his place. Inside, we headed to the family room. Ingrid didn’t come out of her bedroom, but she must have cleaned up because there was no evidence of our earlier meal. While Torin went to the fridge for drinks, I shrugged off my jacket and put it on the counter, watching him.
“Soda or juice?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter.”
He grabbed two bottles of apple juice, sauntered to where I stood, took my hand, and tucked it under his. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Upstairs to my room. It’s private.”
My heart started a crazy staccato beat, excitement washing over me. I didn’t protest his assumption that I wouldn’t mind going to his bedroom. I loved his take-charge attitude. Besides, I wanted to be with him, fall asleep in his arms again, and not because I just had a craniotomy.
“I need to know everything the Norns said about Seville, so I know what I’m up against.”
I liked having him in my corner, though his words didn’t match the look I’d seen in his eyes or the vibes I got from him. “Don’t you mean what we are up against?”
“It doesn’t matter how you phrase it, Freckles. I’m not letting Norns screw with your head again or force you to join them just to protect Seville.”
Norns were maidens with zero interest in men or love. I wasn’t that noble. Not now that Torin was back in my life. “I have no intention of becoming a Norn.”
“Good because I wouldn’t let you.”
“Let me? Who died and gave you the key to my future?”
He stopped, his eyes roaming my face. I swallowed at the heat in his eyes. He let go of my hand, reached up, and pushed the hair away from my face.
“You did when you ran across your yard and fell into my arms like it was where you belonged. When you look at me with a mixture of innocent wonder, seductive charm, and enough defiance to make a lesser man back off.” He lifted my chin, running his thumb across my lower lip. My breath caught. He gave me a slow, sexy smirk. “When I touch you and your breath catches.” Slowly, his eyes not leaving mine, he lowered his head. “When you forget to breathe because I’m about to kiss you.”
Just like that, thoughts of Eirik and Norns became insignificant. Anticipation rolled through me. I reached up and placed my hands on his chest, the thin material of his polo offering no barrier against the heat from his body.
“Do you know how hard this week has been for me?”
I swallowed, shaking my head, wishing he would stop talking and kiss me already.
“Wanting you, telling myself I shouldn’t. Watching you flirt with those idiots Drew and Keith. Wanting to protect you from the morons at school and always coming short.” He rubbed his cheek against mine, the contact sending heat coursing through me. “You have no idea how close I came to going from class to class at super speed and marking everyone with forgetful runes.”
“It’s okay.” My hands fisted, bunching his shirt. The anticipating was killing me. “You protected me against the reporters.”
“It’s not enough. I plan to do more.” He dropped kisses along my cheekbone, the corner of my eye, my temple. Slowly, he came down along my other cheek. My insides went all mushy at his tenderness, my heart pounding. Our breath mingled as he rubbed his nose against mine, and I trembled.
Getting impatient, I gripped his jaw. “Stop teasing me.”
He chuckled, the sound rippling through me. “Funny, you tease me all the time. With a smile. A look. Walking into a room.”
He rubbed his lips across mine, kissing my upper lip then my lower. I pressed against him, needing to get lost in him. The taste of him exploded in my senses until I was consumed with one thought: Torin. He became the reason I was breathing, all my senses tuned into him. If it were possible to be fused to another person, we would be one.
He lifted me up, one arm looping behind my knees, the other cradling me close, our lips locked. He kicked something, his door I presumed, and entered his bedroom. Lights came on and the door closed behind us. Gently, he laid me on his bed. He didn’t give me a moment to look around. Not that I needed to. This used to be Eirik’s room. I knew it was spacious and as big as the one across the hallway. My focus stayed on Torin’s face. I heard the bottles of juice he’d carried knock as he put them on the table, then he lowered himself beside me, one leg trapping mine.
The feel of his body against mine took my breath away. He rained kisses on my face and my neck, taking little nips that had me gasping. I pressed against him, needing more. A low growl escaped him, and he was back to kissing my mouth, sucking me down into a whirlpool of emotions and sensations. I could stay with him like this for hours. Forever.
His knuckles moved up and down my bare arm before stopping at my waist, where my shirt and jeans met. He slipped his hand under my shirt, and I stopped breathing. The feel of his skin against mine was nothing like I’d ever imagined. I shivered. Was it possible to die from too much sensation? Maybe from not breathing.
I sucked in air, bunched his shirt, pulled, and imitated him, touching him intimately. He shuddered then went still. Sure I had done something wrong, I froze, too. My eyes flew to his. His eyes burned, his face tight with tension.
“Don’t stop,” he said in a voice an octave lower. Then he sat up and yanked off his shirt.
I was like a kid in a candy store. My eyes feasted on his broad chest. Golden skin. Rippling muscles. Taut abs. It was one thing to ogle him from afar and quite another to have him this close. At my mercy. Blood roaring past my ears, my pounding heart threatened to explode, I drooled.
He leaned against the pillow, hands behind his chest. “Go ahead.”
I did. His skin was hot, smooth, his muscles flexing under my palm. A few times he held his breath, telling me without words what pleased him. I grew bolder, loving the feel of him.
He caught my wrist when I reached his belly button. “That’s enough.”
“But—”
“Come here,” he whispered, studying me from under his lashes.
I crawled up his hot bod, draped myself over him like I’d always fantasized, and stared into his eyes. The fire in them had dimmed for some reason.
He pushed my hair back and cupped my head, his expression serious. “Tell me what the Norns said about Seville.”
I blinked. “Now?”
He chuckled. “Yes, now. I have to tuck you into bed by midnight, and we have...” he checked his watch, “twenty minutes.”
I pouted. I’d rather make out than talk about Norns, but from his expression, that wasn’t going to happen. I sighed. “First, Eirik is not human. He is Baldur’s son.”
Torin tensed. “Odin’s son Baldur?”
“Yes.”
Torin cursed softly and sat up, forcing me to leave my comfortable position on his chest. He dropped a kiss on my lips then hopped off the bed and started to pace. The way the muscles shifted on his chest and stomach had me mesmerized. He had such a beautiful body. Lean. Hard. Masculine without being overpowering.
“This explains everything,” he muttered. “Lavania’s behavior, why he’d looked familiar when I first saw him, the crap that happened tonight. A force so dark and scary is after him they had to hide him down here.” He sat, his blue eyes piercing. “Tell me word for word what the Norns said.”
By the time I finished, Torin was pacing again.
“Say something,” I said.
He continued to pace.
“You’re seriously beginning to scare me.”
He stopped, his eyes narrowed on me. “The Norns were right. He will need protection until we catch this thing after him. I don’t know what happened tonight or if whatever affected the others was this, uh, shadow. He acted strange, almost like he was enjoying the carnage.”
“Which is very strange for someone who hates violence. I think he was possessed.”
Torin came to sit beside me, his eyebrows cocked. “What are you talking about?”
“When I went to talk to him, he didn’t recognize me. I asked him about Cora, and he had no idea who she was either. Then his eyes glowed strangely. When they cleared, he seemed surprised by the chaos. The person we saw smirking and taking pictures wasn’t the Eirik I know. Do Norns possess people?”
“Not that I’m aware of, but they never sleep, which makes them perfect watch dogs.”
My stomach dropped. “Are you saying I have to be one of them to protect Eirik?”
“Hel’s Mist no.” He gripped my arms, his eyes flashing. “Never. I’m saying we have to find a way to protect him. You can’t take on this responsible on your own, and the Norns had no business asking you. We will protect him together.”
I liked it. The weight on my shoulders lifted, and I sighed. “You and I?”
“Andris, too. But first, we have to get Eirik out of his house and bring him here.”
“His parents will want to know why.”
“Leave them to me.” He got up and offered me his hand.
“Are you sure about him living here? You have four bedrooms, and they’re all taken.” I glanced around. When Eirik lived here, there was a large-screen TV, gaming consoles, and a table with cameras and packs of photographs. Right now it held a large chair, a table with magazines about motorcycles, and a shelf with sports trophies. The wall that used to have pictures Eirik had taken over the years now had posters of different models of motorcyles. Some were modern, like his Harley, while others looked like they were straight from a steampunk novel. On the opposite wall were schematics of motorcycle engines. His love affair with motorcycles must have started hundreds of years ago.
“Or he could share your bedroom. It used to be his,” I added
Torin pulled me up and into his arms, a wicked grin tugging his lips. “I don’t share anything that belongs to me, Freckles. And I don’t let anyone under my protection down. He will room with Andris.”
“He’s a god,” I reminded him, wrapping my arms around him.
He snorted. “Yeah, some god who needs a slip of a Mortal girl to protect him.”
I stuck out my tongue. “I’m not a slip of a Mortal girl, and I’ll soon be Immortal.”
He sighed. “I still don’t understand why. You’re perfect the way you are.”
My insides turned into jelly, but I couldn’t help wondering if my training was really an issue. “You’re just saying that because you don’t get emotionally involved with little Mortal girls.”
He flashed a super wicked grin. “No, I don’t. I use their bodies and move on, but I could be persuaded to seek more.”
“Don’t look at me. I’m still waiting for someone to persuade me to stop chasing emotionally unavailable guys.”
He chuckled and leaned down to kiss me, but a loud noise from somewhere in the house interrupted him. We both froze.
“Stay here,” he said and moved toward the door.
***
I was right behind him when he opened the door. More bangs and curses came from across the hallway. No, they came from behind Lavania’s closed bedroom door.
“Do you think she’s back?” I asked.
Torin glared at me over his shoulder. “I told you to stay back.”
“You didn’t say please. You think she and her husband are making out?”
He laughed.
“Shh.” I gripped his arm. “They might hear... Yikes, let’s go.” The doorknob turned, and the door swung open. The edge of something wrapped up with brown paper appeared. Andris followed, gripping the sides of a large package. Black runes were on his face and arms, and he didn’t seem to be straining. The edge of his package hit the opposite wall and left a dent.
“A little help here, bro,” he said. “The damn thing keeps knocking things over.”
Torin was still laughing when he went to help him. “What’s this?”
“Portal. I just picked it up from Raine’s family’s store.”
“Where’s mine?” Torin asked.
“Do I look like a delivery man to you?” Andris retorted. “It’s back in there.”
“Remind me again why I’m holding one end of yours?”
“Because you’re trying to impress your girlfriend.” He winked at me as they walked past. They continued downstairs, still trading barbs.
Shaking my head, I peered inside Lavania’s bedroom. The floor-to-ceiling mirror in the room was now a portal leading to Mirage. I could see a familiar aisle. What would Jared think when he found the mirrors gone? Dad would probably tell him Andris had picked them up after Jared had gone home. I was sure they had a system that shielded him from the Valkyrie world.
I touched the wall of the portal. It was solid though it looked like a swirling, white cloud. I tested the floor.
“Go ahead and try it,” Torin said from behind me. He was alone. “It’s solid.”
“What happened to Andris?”
“He’s being an ass.”
“Thanks,” Andris said, stepping off the stairs.
I followed them into the store. Both men engaged their runes, which glowed and lit up the dark room. Through the window, I could see the deserted street. I checked my watch. It was time to head home. I didn’t want to leave, but my father would go ballistic if I wasn’t home by midnight.
“I should go home,” I said, watching Torin and Andris lug the mirror to his room.
“Wait for me,” Torin said.
“I’ll be downstairs.” I went to the kitchen to get my jacket and shrugged it on. Torin was there when I turned around. He’d put on his shirt. He lifted the hair from under my collar, followed through and gripped my nape as though he couldn’t stop himself, and kissed me again.
“I don’t want you to leave,” he whispered.
“I have to. My dad—”
“I know.” He kissed my nose then reached down and gripped my hand. We started for the entrance just as Andris entered the living room. He chuckled.
“Look at you two love birds.
I guess I haven’t lost my touch.” Andris grinned and pulled off biker’s gloves. “I should fly around with an arrow and a sling.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Ignore him,” Torin said, opening the door.
“You owe me, big bro.”
“Whatever you want,” Torin threw over his shoulder.
“Your Harley,” Andris said, following us outside.
“Take it,” Torin said without hesitation.
I looked over my shoulder to see Andris punch the air. “Are you really going to give him your bike?”
“He’s earned it, but he won’t keep it. As usual, he was trying to prove a point.”
“Which is what?”
“What is more important to me. It’s a no brainer.” We started down the driveway, then down the sidewalk. It was cold and wet, and the skies overcast. Cold sipped through my thin jacket, and I shivered. Torin’s arms tightened around me. “You’re cold. Next time, we’ll use the portal and go straight to your room.”
I loved the idea. “I have a thing about portals, you know.”
“What?”
“I don’t like using them unless absolutely necessary.”
“That’s too bad. I was planning on sneaking into your room sometime and holding you until you fell asleep.”
My stomach dipped, but in a good way. I would love that. We stopped outside the door. “Maybe I’ll change my mind about portals.”
“Maybe I’ll do it for you.” And he did with a long, toe-curling, make-me-want-to-rip-his-clothes-off kiss. He stopped too soon and pressed his forehead against mine. “Do you have plans for tomorrow?”
My mind was too scrambled after the kiss to understand anything. I couldn’t think, let alone string together a sentence.
Torin grinned. “Take deep breaths, until your head clears. If that fails, I’ll take a step back and give you space. You know, stop messing with your head.”
Reality returned at his teasing. I playfully punched him in the gut. “Shut up.”
He doubled over, laughing. “Okay, about tomorrow. Do you want to hang out?”
“Oh, yes. I’m jogging with Dad in the morning, and after lunch I was planning on visiting a few graves.” Dad might have been right about that one.
Immortals (Runes book 2) Page 16