by Shara Azod
Money problems aside, some things were just not worth it. This job was suckier than the other two combined. Yeah, it paid more, but nothing was worth being treated like a piece of meat.
“I quit!” She didn’t have to take this. Working herself to the bone wasn’t making her life any easier, anyhow. So she wouldn’t eat the rest of the month—at least she wouldn’t have to come to work with dread knotted in the pit of her gut.
“Oh, so you want to get uppity?” The asshole actually pushed her into a small hallway, where there wasn’t a soul around. Rainey started to hit at him, swinging with all her might to get the drunken bastard away from her, but he was so much stronger than she was. When he ripped her blouse, she screamed. Only no one was going to hear her over the loud celebration going on just steps away.
This was it—she was going to get violated. There wasn’t anything she could—
“I don’t think you want to do that.” Loki! Oh, thank God he’d shown up just in time, sounding all deadly serious.
“Hey, man, wait your turn.” Brandon the dickweed dismissed the other man as if raping the staff was no big deal. “I’ll only need a few minutes. Stuck-up bitch has me so hot I’m already ready to—”
Whatever Brandon Becker was about to say was lost in a whoosh of air as his body was slammed up against the opposite wall. Rainey gaped as Loki handled the other man like he was little more than a rag doll, repeatedly pounding his body against the wall. And Loki didn’t even look mad. Well, his eyes were on fire, but his expression was blank. It looked scary, like he had no qualms about killing the rich puke right then and there and not give the man a second thought.
“Loki! Please don’t hurt him too bad!” Maybe she should’ve begged him to stop, but it felt good to have someone defend her like this. And she detested the lot of the people at the party. Rather, she detested the way they treated her and the other women who served them their goodies and drinks.
“I won’t hurt him any more than he deserves,” Loki replied. His voice was mild. He wasn’t even winded. But he didn’t let up on Becker until the man collapsed in a heap on the floor. Surprisingly, though the man should’ve been beaten to a bloody pulp, there wasn’t a mark on his body. When someone found him later, it would look like he’d simply found a corner to pass out in.
“How did you--”
Anything she might have said was cut off when Loki put a gentle finger to her lips, his other arm going around her waist and pulling her close. Where Brandon’s invasion of her personal space felt like the slimiest scum, Loki’s was warm, comforting, and much-needed. Rainey found herself melting into him before she stopped herself, stiffening.
She was about to pull away from him, trying with all her might to find her willpower, along with her sanity, when Loki’s face began descending toward her. Sweet Christ, he was going to kiss her! Did she want this? Would he be as bad as Becker had been? If she were honest, Rainey would have to admit that she absolutely wanted this. Loki’s touch was so different from Becker’s the two weren’t even in the same universe. He was…right. The way he felt, the way he touched her...everything about him felt right. Normally, Rainey’s internal alarm would warn her against getting too friendly with any man. Experience and life had taught her to at least fully vet the guy before even going on a date with him. Not so with Loki. It was as if everything inside her was drawn to him despite herself. She knew on some primal level that he wouldn’t hurt her. That he was the one. But that was crazy. Right? She didn’t believe in fairy tales; there was no such thing as the perfect guy.
With a sigh, Rainey tilted her face up to meet his descending lips with her own. She could no more fight it than she could stop breathing. Rainey thought he’d take her lips passionately, but he only feathered his lips across hers for a few moments before pulling back, smiling at her. Now that was hot! Give her the barest hint of a taste then leave her begging for more.
“You don’t need this, Rainey. I’m taking you home, and away from all of this. Someplace where you’re safe. Where I can take care of all your wants and needs.”
And just like that the spell was broken. That was just creepy. Like a line right out of some horror flick, or even something a deranged serial killer might say right before imprisoning her in his basement along with his other specimens.
Not!
All she had to do was find her common sense and get the hell away. Any second now, she would regain control over her limbs and high tail it out of here. Okay, maybe not. It was really hard to leave the security of such strong arms. Logic demanded she go, but every cell in her body insisted she stay. Wasn’t this every little girl’s dream, after all? A man who was kind, gentle, and could make all her problems go away? A regular Prince Charming, only way sexier, with a wicked streak instead of the Dudley Do-Right persona. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe, after a while, she’d remember why. Right now, for Christmas, Rainey just wanted to live in a fairy tale. Just this once, she was going to follow her heart. And, for whatever reason, she knew her heart was with this man who called himself Loki.
God, she really hoped she didn’t regret this.
Chapter Four
Never in his very long existence had Loki wanted a woman so much. How he managed not to take her right there, he had no idea. Probably because he was one hell of a god. The only thing that seemed to cool his ardor was the fact that taking her against the wall at a party seemed the worst possible sacrilege. His woman was better than that. She needed to be laid out for his complete pleasure—and hers, of course. He wanted to spend a couple thousand years learning new ways to make her scream his name.
Whoa! Where the fuck had that thought come from? He didn’t want a woman for anything more than a few pleasurable nights between the sheets of his bed, did he? Looking at the lovely Rainey, he wasn’t so sure anymore. When he looked into the dark, mysterious depths of her eyes, he kept seeing that little fucker, Thorn. Only with Rainey’s dark eyes instead of his brother’s sapphire ones. And his own wicked smile instead of Jeanna’s impish grin.
Fuck!
All at once, Loki felt like he’d been sucker punched. His gut clenched, nearly bending him double. His heart pounded and, for the first time he could ever remember, sweat beaded on his upper lip. Was this what the humans called a panic attack? But he was god among gods; Loki the Trickster, the first of the Shapeshifters, the playboy of several millennia could not possibly actually be considering settling down. That shit Thor had brought into his life was catching. Love—blah! Who needed it?
Apparently he did.
“Loki?” Rainey’s voice was full of concern. For him? When was the last time anyone had actually been concerned for him? He was a god. He couldn’t be hurt or sick. Damn it, he was invincible. So why did he feel like this little human woman had just metaphorically knocked him on his ass? “Look, you don’t have to take me home. Just get me out of here without another guy grabbing my ass and I’ll be forever in your debt.”
“No one will touch you, Rainey. Never again. Unless it’s me, that is.” Oh, sweet Frigga, he was actually growling. Just like that wolf-boy Baldur, or worse, Thor when he was watching others watching Jeanna.
Loki was all for tricking other people, but he never tried to kid himself. This was it. As soon as his lips brushed hers, he knew it. And now that he had the merest hint of a taste, he needed more. Badly.
“Uh, okay.” Rainey was watching him as if she was concerned about his sanity. Well, he was worried about it too. Right now his cock was so hard, it throbbed painfully against his thigh.
“We will not go back to that hellhole you call an apartment.” His woman would no longer live in squalor, damn it. This woman should only sleep on the finest silks and furs.
“There is nothing wrong with my place.” Although Rainey sounded indignant, her cheeks colored a lovely shade of dark red. It was cute given her dark complexion.
Loki didn’t have it in him to argue. He didn’t have any thought other than getting her somewhere worthy
of her and making her his. Permanently.
“Sir? I believe you called for your car?” Thorn, the little imp that started all this. He had to remember to get his nephew something spectacular for Christmas. After all, Thorn had forced him to face his own destiny. Perhaps a small country or two.
“Yes, right.” But Loki had no idea where he was going to take her. All the time he had been here, he had mostly spent on the roof across from her apartment building.
“I believe you said you wanted to go home?” Thorn prompted with an angelic smile.
Home. Right. Did the child mean his home? Because Loki had no idea where that would be away from Asgard, but he couldn’t be bothered to care.
“Come, Rainey.” With his hands he shooed Thorn away while Rainey wasn’t looking. His nephew being the good little boy he was, climbed into the front seat.
Unwilling to let her go, he kept his hands on her as he escorted her out of the hallway, through the throng of drunken fools. Thankfully no one dared stop them. He might’ve been forced to reduce any who interfered into a pile of smoldering ash. By Odin, he was smoldering himself. His hand shook against the small of her back as he firmly urged her into the back seat of the limo and climbed in beside her. He had to use a little bit of his powers to completely block out the window separating the front from the back seat. For good measure, he soundproofed the back also. Thorn may have been a godling with all the knowledge of a fully grown adult, but the kid didn’t need to see or hear anything that was about to go on.
Loki was impressed that Thorn had thought to appear as a fully grown adult while playing at being a chauffeur. The kid thought on his feet, he would give him that. However his nephew’s job was now officially over. Loki accepted this woman as his soul mate, true mate, whatever you wanted to call it. All that mattered was that she was his.
“Look, Loki.” Rainey turned those big, brown eyes on him as soon as he and Rainey were settled. “I want you to know I don’t usually do things like—”
He couldn’t take it anymore. Before she could finish the sentence his mouth swooped down on hers, kissing her the way he’d really wanted to back in the banquet hall. Forcing her lips open with his tongue, he delved inside, tasting the honeyed heaven of her mouth. Something within him broke free, filling the back seat with the heady scent of urgent need. He couldn’t stop touching her, kissing her, pulling her closer. The lushness of her frame fit so perfectly against his own as he pulled her into his lap, his hands ripping at the damnable hair net to set her tresses free.
The satiny texture of her hair entranced him. Twining his fingers through the heavy mass, he gripped it a little harder, forcing her head back so his lips could travel from her mouth to her neck. Mercy, her scent was intoxicating! And she kissed him back with just as much fervor, grinding her hips down against his crotch. His own hips rose of their own volition, welcoming her heat.
Moving his hands down to her hips, he encouraged her to ride, gritting his teeth against the wild longing to be buried so deep inside her he wouldn’t be able to tell where he ended and she began. It was a good thing she was wearing a skirt, since he didn’t have the patience for the pants women wore these days.
“Forgive me, sváss, but I am very afraid I am not going to be able to wait.” He punctuated his words with a swift, hard kiss while ripping her underwear from her body.
One had to love skimpy little lace nothings women wore; it made disrobing so much easier. Unfortunately he still had on his own pants. Making them disappear would be an easy thing, but the very last thing he needed to do right now was freak her out. His hunger burned too strongly to have the patience to explain exactly what he was right now. There would be time for that after he had already made her immortal. She couldn’t be mad at him for long...right?
“Loki, I need you inside me,” Rainey panted, her nails digging into his shoulders through his clothing.
He really needed to get rid of these damn modern coverings. Having no idea where Thorn was taking them, there was no way he knew how long they had. Looking out the window, however, he noted clouds. The brat was taking them to Asgard. He had better distract Rainey before she had a chance to notice they were driving in the sky.
“Unzip me,” he instructed, opening her blouse with none-too-steady fingers. “Take my cock out and have your wicked way with me.”
Because he was certainly going to have his wicked way with her. Pulling open the blouse, he bent his head, taking a bra-clothed nipple into his mouth, sucking deeply on the hard rock of a nubbin. He could feel her small hands impatiently tugging at the button and zipper before fishing his pulsating dick out into the open. There was no holding back the groan as her hands wrapped around his dick. It felt so damn good!
If she didn’t put him inside her, he was going to die. Immortality be damned, his heart would burst right here in the back of a limousine his five-year-old nephew had conjured. Thankfully, she must’ve had similar thoughts. Only, when she placed him against her opening, sinking down on his rock-hard erection, he wasn’t so sure he would survive that, either. Despite being wet for him, her cunt clenched at his member, her impossibly tight vaginal walls vibrated all around him.
“Sváss, you are so...” There were no words. How could he possibly describe the velveteen vise of her pussy? The feeling of coming home for the very first time? “Perfect.”
Chapter Six
Rainey had experienced lust in her lifetime—passion, even—but nothing could compare to the all-consuming, urgent desire she felt now. God, Loki was stretching her almost to the point of pain, but fuck, it was amazing! Circling her hips, she had to work to get him completely inside her, then paused, trying to get used to the ample girth of his cock. Incredibly, just sitting there allowing her body to adjust to him set off small orgasms that began deep inside her womb.
“I need you to move, sváss,” Loki groaned harshly against her ear. Even as he spoke, his hips rose, sending his dick impossibly deeper inside her.
Moving had become imperative. Starting out slowly, Rainey lifted her hips before sliding down slowly. The friction was exquisite. As she rose and fell she could feel every ridge, every vein in his cock. Loki’s mouth moved from one breast to the other, using his lips to pull on her sensitive nipples with a fervor that sent wave after wave of electric, erotic shock through her. Her pelvis started moving faster, urgently. There was something so much more she needed, something beyond an orgasm. Having no clue what drove her, all Rainey could comprehend for sure was that she needed it, had to have it, whatever the hell it might be.
“Oh, God, Loki, I need more!” So much more.
Riding frantically now, she crashed into him, holding on to anything she could to keep steady. More! She needed so much more!
Somehow Rainey found herself on her back, her clothing gone, as were his. She couldn’t think about that now; all she knew was she needed this man worse than she’d ever needed anything. Wrapping her legs around him, she twisted, thrust, surged up to meet his every powering piston. Her nails raked down his back… She was so close, so very close.
“Look at me, Rainey.” The power behind the words left her little choice but to obey. Oh, God, the deep green eyes were becoming lighter—glowing. But how was that possible? “Hold on to me and no matter what, do not fear.”
Wait—what?
But then all thoughts flew from her mind as Loki hammered inside her. There was nothing she could do but feel him, be taken by him. Unable to look away, Rainey stared up at the beautiful man taking her body to a place she’d never known existed. Her body convulsed, her lungs froze. It started as a humming sensation in her gut, then spread like molten lava throughout her. She was going to explode. She just knew there was no way she would survive this.
“Loki!” With his name on her lips, Rainey flew apart, shattering in extreme ecstasy from the inside out.
She felt him flooding her womb as she struggled to hold on to consciousness. It was a battle she was going to lose, and she couldn’t real
ly say she cared. Her very last thought as she drifted off into the sweet embrace of darkness was how much she wished it could be like this forever.
And what the hell was that bright light surrounding them?
***
“Where are we?” Rainey’s heart raced and her head throbbed as she saw for the first time the splendor around her.
The walls looked as if they were made of pure gold. The luxurious bed was big enough to fit at least seven, piled high with pillows of silk and satin and covered with the softest furs she’d ever felt. It wasn’t the palatial surroundings that were setting off a hell of a lot of warning bells, however. It was the soft sunlight streaming through wide-open balcony doors. Outside, the weather was warm, pleasant, and there wasn’t even a hint of winter. Jewel-colored flowers were in full bloom, the grass and trees varying shades of green in perfect health. This was not Atlanta in December.
“My home. In Asgard.” He seemed expectant. As if waiting for her approval.
No. No way he was that Loki. This was had to be a joke. Only they were in the limo the last she remembered. And how the hell could he have faked the weather? You couldn’t just turn the sky blue instead of gray or rid the ground of snow and ice.
“Don’t get upset,” Loki soothed, pulling her back into his embrace. “I know this is a lot to take in.”
Now that was putting it lightly! She should be panicking. Or maybe she had been killed back at the party and this was some weird dream heaven. Or maybe she’d never left her apartment, because that was where Loki had first appeared. But deep in her heart she just knew this was real. Somehow, some way, Loki was really a Norse god, and she was really in the realm of the gods.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding, were you? This really is Asgard.” How the hell had she managed to attract the attention of a god? More importantly, how did she keep that attention? Because Rainey was certain of one thing. She didn’t want to be without this man. Ever.