Min fitted a blindfold over her eyes, blacking out the world and sending anticipation spilling inside.
And gods, it promised to be good.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kirby
Lips met Kirby’s in gentle, hesitant kisses. Brit. Kirby’s fingers twitched, aching to touch back.
Brit’s kisses grew more intense, drawing Kirby into the physical tugging at her heart. Each nip, peck, and nibble carried a new promise. Safety. Love. Brit glided her hands up Kirby’s chest, teasing her through fabric, with thumbs brushing nipples, palms cupping breasts, and finally coming up to her face.
Familiar callouses bit into Kirby’s cheek, as Brit dragged her mouth down Kirby’s jaw to her collar bone, licking and lightly sucking.
The kissing and touching drew on, and Kirby fell into each new caress. This was what they should have been. What they would have been in a different world. What they were now. Partners. Lovers.
When the kissing stopped abruptly and Brit pulled away, Kirby pouted.
Fingers knotted in her hair before she could process a response, and Min yanked her head back. She gasped with delighted pleasure at the sensation. Min pressed his hand to her throat, forcing her chin in the air, and leaned over her to claim her mouth and swallow her moans.
He increased the weight of his touch against her neck, fuzzing her thoughts, as he nibbled her ear, and bit her shoulder.
Brit pushed Kirby’s shirt up, shoving her bra out of the way in the process, and licked over a swollen nipple before drawing it into her mouth.
Kirby floated in the haze of strained breathing delicious teasing. She couldn’t do anything but fall into the intoxicating blend of sensations. With each breath she dragged in, her head floated further away.
Brit kissed down Kirby’s stomach, undoing her jeans at the same time, then shoved Kirby’s bottoms to the ground.
Min glided his hand over Kirby’s ass, to slip his fingers between her legs and tease her pussy. He brushed lightly, dipping near her opening but not penetrating her.
When Brit molded her body to Kirby’s again, it was skin-on-skin. As Brit kissed her, nipped at her jaw and her chin and her earlobe, Min pushed two fingers inside her.
The contrast of light and playful from Brit, and possessively passionate from Min, added to the floaty, lost-in-desire feeling that coursed through Kirby.
“Turns out watching someone else tease you and play with you and make you gasp is a definite turn-on,” Brit confessed between kisses. She glided her hand lower, to rub Kirby’s clit.
The build-up toward climax was a slow burn of shallow breath and more touches than Kirby could keep track of. She rocked between Min and Brit, wrapped in them. In pleasure. When that first shudder of orgasm clenched inside her, her legs wobbled, but they kept her upright.
As she came, her body shuddered with desire. With completion. She tightened around Min’s fingers and ground into Brit’s touch, not knowing when it was too much. Not wanting the moment to end.
Her knees buckled, and Min’s hands feel to her hips, supporting her. Cradling her. “How are you, Huntress?” His voice was both distant and buried in her thoughts.
She nodded and gave a tiny laugh as she struggled to find her voice. “Good. Really good.”
“More?” Brit’s question brushed Kirby’s ear.
“Yes.” Kirby nodded.
Min guided her forward, and coaxed her to her knees. The fingers knotted in her hair this time were more gentle—Brit. Her knee rested near Kirby’s shoulder, heat radiating between them.
Kirby didn’t need eyesight for this anymore than the rest of it. She was between a seated Brit’s legs. She vividly remembered this. Wanted it again.
She dragged her mouth up the inside of Brit’s thigh, kissing, licking, and ticking enough to draw a light giggle. When Kirby reached her destination, she scaped her teeth over skin and the thin landing strip that would be as pale as the skin it sat on.
She dove her tongue inside Brit’s pussy, savoring every gasp as sigh. Goddess she missed those sounds.
As Brit fingered her own clit, her fingers occasionally bumped Kirby’s nose, and she ground into Kirby’s face. Brit tightened her grip in Kirby’s hair, and her hips bucked.
Kirby recognized the tiny whimpering mewls that said Brit was close to climax, and increased her attentions, licking harder, feeling muscles tighten around her tongue and tasting a fresh rush of honey.
Brit pulled away with shaky laugh, and her body relaxed away from Kirby.
Before Kirby could tease a bit more, draw another shudder, maybe coax out another orgasm, Min lifted her to her feet.
He kissed her. Devoured her. Shared Brit’s taste with her. Intimacy and desire wrapped around them. As he danced his tongue with Kirby’s, he slid his fingers inside her again, meeting no resistance. She was wet, slick, and ready for more.
He pumped in and out, striking the right spot inside, and she rocked against him.
When Min pulled out, a disappointment sparked with anticipation, lighting a fire under her skin.
Min moved behind her to press his body to hers. He was naked, hard, and unyielding. He guided them back, then pulled her into his lap as they sat, stretching her out as he buried his cock inside her.
He withdrew almost to the tip before plunging back in, increasing the pace and shortening the thrusts until he pounded hard against and in her.
Brit was back, sucking on Kirby’s breasts while Min kissed along the back of her neck. The penetration, the touches and bites, the moans and sighs of her lovers, filled Kirby with need and security.
Another orgasm built inside, drawing out until she wanted to jump to feel that sensation of climax. When she tumbled in, all other thought fell away. There was nothing here but pleasure and love and a new flood of connection when Min spilled inside her.
This was everything. And Kirby would fight anyone who tried to destroy it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kirby
Lying like this, tangled up with Brit, Min pressing into her back, it was easy for Kirby to ignore the rest of the world. Especially the voice that played on a non-stop loop, as it listed the ways Brit had betrayed her over the years.
It was easier for Kirby to remember the good now—what things were like with Brit before it all fell apart.
As nice as it was to ignore the outside world, it hadn’t stopped turning while the three of them indulged in nostalgia and—incredible—sex. Kirby needed a direction. She understood Min’s insistence they wait here, but she only had so much patience for it.
“Call Gwydion again.” As Kirby made the suggestion, she reluctantly extracted herself from the warmth and security. It was tempting to move this into the bathroom. Take their time in the shower together. But that meant sacrificing their ability to hear. To react.
So did what they’d just done, and Kirby refused to do anything with the lingering memories but enjoy them. It didn’t mean she could wrap herself in this cocoon. She tugged her clothes on, and Brit did the same.
“No answer. Not from him, not at NEON.” Min dressed more languidly.
Kirby didn’t know that name. “Neon?”
“Frey’s club. Gwydion’s there with another of your TOM friends, Dahlia—”
Brit snapped. “I found her. Oh fuck.”
Kirby didn’t have to ask Brit to elaborate. She was thinking the same thing. There were too many coincidences. “So we get split up, literally moved to various corners of the world, while one partner works one group and the other works us.” She’d bought Magnus’s sadness this morning. Thought that whole Dahlia-betrayed-me shtick was real.
Kirby shouldn’t have run from TOM. If she’d stayed, she could have started to unravel some answers.
“I didn’t care for Magnus, but I trusted Dahlia when she said she left the organization. She’s a good person,” Min said.
Kirby bit her tongue, to hold back the retort that he wasn’t always the best judge of character.
>
Min’s expression darkened. “Consider for a moment—does this situation become less dangerous if both women hold the allegiances they say they do? Not everything is a conspiracy, and sometimes that makes things just as bad.”
Kirby’s argument died on her lips. He had a good point. “That doesn’t mean I’m writing off the Dahlia-and-Magnus-still-working-together idea. I almost guarantee Magnus is the reason we’re stuck here and can’t call out to any of our allies. ” Which also meant Magnus was nearby.
“Don’t dismiss either theory,” Min said. “Every option is possible until disproven. That’s part of training.”
He had an infuriatingly good point. Kirby had to find Magnus and go back to Vidar. She needed answers.
“Not without me,” Brit said.
Kirby stared at her. “I didn’t say anything.”
Brit raised an eyebrow. “Magnus has answers, and we’re not going anywhere unless she lets us or we kill her. We don’t know if killing her will change anything, since it’s not her magic, and neither of us likes that idea anyway. Which means we play her game until we know more.”
“I wouldn’t go back. That’s ridiculous.” Kirby’s lie had no weight behind it.
The way Min watched his phone, frown etched on his face, he might not have caught it. “Something’s not right,” he said.
Besides the fact that they couldn’t reach any of their allies? “What is it?”
“Gluskab’s natural disasters have stopped.” Min scrolled. “There was a non-stop string, and now nothing.”
“Maybe he’s recharging?” Brit didn’t sound like she believed it.
It was possible, but even a lull felt like a bad sign. An eye-of-the-storm kind of situation.
There was a knock, and tension ratcheted through Kirby. She moved quickly to the room with the cameras. No surprise, they were out.
“Magnus is back,” Brit said.
Kirby had suspected that would happen sooner or later. She was already moving toward the front door, Brit at her heels.
“You can’t return to Vidar with her.” Min stayed back. “This is your chance to be done with TOM.”
Walking away from TOM for good was a wonderful thought. “They want me for a reason. They’re keeping us here for a reason. I need to know what that is, or we’re not done with them.” She answered the door before he could argue.
Magnus was on the front step, looking irritated. “Do you have whatever this is out of your system?” Her voice was strained, despite her casual posture. “Because we need to go now.”
“You’re nervous.” Kirby could take this opportunity to probe her defenses. “Vidar have something wicked planned for you if you come back alone?”
“Presumably. But I can’t afford to stay here. Something’s coming, and I can’t hide myself or you from it. If I stay, I won’t survive. If you stay, you won’t get answers, and you will get dead.”
After the shoot-out this morning, there was definitely some threat out there. “You want me? Just take me. Like before.”
Magnus shook her head. “If you don’t want to be there, it will be one fight after another on campus, and no one has the time or energy for that.”
“Then they’re coming with me.” Kirby was going to yield, but she’d feel a lot better with backup.
“Brit, yes. Your god? Not a fucking chance.”
Kirby shrugged. “Both of them, or no deal.”
Magnus rolled her eyes. “I’m calling your bluff.” Panic wove with her words. “Just you and Brit. The clock is ticking fast and loud. You have five seconds to decide.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Min
“Deal. Just us. Let’s go.” Kirby gave Min one last glance, then she, Brit, and Magnus vanished from the room.
Min moved to the doorway. If he called Gwydion now, would he get through?
“Is she with you?” The question was shouted, carried on a guttural tone.
Min looked up to see Starkad, Gwydion, and Aya approaching on foot and wearing a matching set of scowls. He waited the few seconds until they were closer than yelling range, and shook his head. Might as well answer the question now, so they could take action quickly. “She was. She left with someone from TOM. Returned to camp—”
“You let her leave? With them?” Starkad half-shifted in a blink, face elongating and teeth growing pointed. He closed the distance between him and Min just as quickly, growling and snapping and pausing so closely to Min’s throat, his hot breath falling against Min’s skin.
Min stood his ground. “I argued my case, and she made her decision.”
Starkad’s growl deepened.
This was time wasted. Min twirled his finger, magically binding Starkad’s wrists and carrying him back a few meters.
With a bite and a jerk, Starkad snapped the invisible restraints. The shock of having the spell shattered shook Min, rattling in his thoughts. No one had ever done that before. Min reapplied the bonds before Starkad reached him again.
And again Starkad broke loose, sending a shower of sparks into the daylight. His growl was feral and the threat of death sparked in his eyes.
Each time Min held him back, Starkad broke loose to attack again, until they were surrounded by a midday fireworks show, caused by a clash of magics and wills.
“Enough,” Gwydion barked. “What the fuck?”
Starkad stepped back, chest heaving with restraint, but he looked otherwise unwinded.
Min felt drained. He’d poured more energy into the brief struggle than he realized. What had happened? Starkad wasn’t that kind of magical creature. He shouldn’t have the strength or power to break through Min’s defenses.
Gwydion looked between the two of them. “Nothing? Honestly, I always thought it would be me, standing where Min is, when this happened. But it’s not getting us anywhere.”
“I didn’t want to let her go,” Min said. “She chose this, and if you’d been here, you wouldn’t have been able to stop her either.”
“I would have found a way.” Starkad spoke through clenched canines.
Aya stepped forward. “If you’re done with the dick-measuring contest, we should get back. I can see NEON again. Whatever removed this part of the world from the rest is gone.”
“His arm.” Gwydion nodded at Starkad. “What we should do is get inside, let Min take a look, and then get to work.”
Min hadn’t noticed the twisted limb before. “Agreed. The deal was that we keep Aya safe in exchange for help finding Kirby. It’s as safe here as NEON.”
“And here, there are fewer non-combatants.” Starkad brushed past Min, bumping him as he moved into the house.
Min stepped aside, to let Aya and Gwydion in, as well. “We have everything we need, and if we don’t, I can have it brought in. We also have more information now,” he said.
For instance, Kirby told him the campus had been recreated someplace else. The list of places a full-sized school could be plopped down without someone noticing, and have the weather she described, was limited.
“What happened?” Min nodded at Starkad’s arm.
“Those bullets TOM has. The ones they used on Kirby.”
“It looks worse each time he teleports,” Gwydion added.
Min only vaguely knew how he’d healed Kirby. He’d see her, the death flowing through her, and done the only thing he could think of—he poured life into it. He hovered his hand over Starkad’s arm. “This isn’t the same magic.”
It was still death, but not the creeping, all-consuming plague-type sensation that had emanated from Kirby. This was more driven. Had more purpose. Was familiar.
“Maybe they’ve improved the bullets. Changed the formula.” Starkad sounded more bored than concerned.
Min shook his head. “Perhaps. I can’t say for certain, but it would have to be a drastic change. This feels like it’s a part of you. I can’t distinguish the bullet’s magic from yours.”
“If they’ve changed anything, it’s been recent.” D
ahlia’s voice came from behind them.
They spun, to see her standing in the middle of the room with Frey.
“Whatever was blocking you is gone,” Frey said. “When I felt Aya and knew the situation was safe, we came.”
“Magnus.” Min had no doubt.
Starkad growled. “Great. The gang’s all here.”
“You talked to Magnus?” Dahlia’s tone softened, and whisps of adoration drifted from her. It wasn’t lust or desire, though. It was more of a familial bond. She gave her head a single shake. “Not why we’re here. I’m seeing some chatter online. People are looking for yo—”
The door slammed open, cracking against the wall, as wood splintered and plaster filled the air.
“Down on the ground, now.” Lance burst into the room, several of his force at his back, all with guns drawn.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Starkad
Finally. A real fight. Starkad could sate the itch he hadn’t been able to scratch.
Even better he got to sink his teeth into the assholes who not only betrayed him—betrayed Kirby—but who brought guns to fight gods.
He let his wolf form take over.
Kill. Devour. Destroy. The words chanted in his thoughts, as he leaped for the nearest soldier, teeth bared and eager to sink into flesh.
Dragon.
Starkad reared up, rage and frustration rushing through him. Lance had assumed his other form too, and he didn’t fit in this house.
Lance swung a clawed hand toward Starkad, and the wolf dodged without hesitation. Plaster, wood, and fiberglass rained down around them.
Starkad dodged falling pieces of house, to lunge at dragon-Lance’s throat.
A backhand knocked Starkad aside. He landed on his feet, already springing forward again. Lance was strong, but Starkad was fast, and in the crumbling house, he was a lot more maneuverable.
Valkyrie Crowned Page 9