Beast of Burden (6 page)

Her blue eyes blazed. “Nicely played, Avarr. Yes, as a matter of fact, I do want to see you two going at it. But I plan on being involved…just as soon as you clean me up.”

She grimaced, and Hall laughed. “You’re a mess.”

“Thanks.” She bit her lower lip. “You two really reamed me. I can’t believe how good you are. I mean, I felt like you were sharing more than your seed. You have so much energy between you.” She rubbed her hip and looked down at it. “What happened there?”

“Ah, we kind of forgot ourselves. Hope that was okay,” Avarr muttered.

“Better than okay.” She beamed “Valkyrie don’t scar. So if you made a mark that takes that much time to heal, I am
totally
showing that off.”

Avarr’s eyes widened. “Well, um, yeah, but—”

“First we need a shower,” Hall said firmly. “Come.” He yanked her from the bed and tossed her over his shoulder. She shrieked with laughter, and he loved this side of her. No more taunting, but enjoying herself with them. As equals. Though she’d never been cruel, she hadn’t respected them either. Because Freya had forbidden them from going after her. But now, she knew the real them. Would it be enough to convince her to accept the claim?

He sure the Frigg hoped so.

Chapter Five

Eira swore the pair was up to something. The searching looks, the huggy affection. Avarr refused to meet her gaze more than once. And Hall talked so much she thought he’d grow hoarse. But she let them pretend for a while because, like the cats, she liked to play with her prey.

She soaped her hair in the massive marble shower, more than aware how they watched her. “You know, the valkryies are forced to share bathing quarters. It’s nice because everything in Folkvang is amazing. But still. It’s obvious you two are Freya’s favorites. Now I see why.” She frowned as an unwelcome thought struck. “Have you two fucked her?”

Avarr gaped. “Freya?”

“Surely you jest,” Hall said. “She’s Freya. Our goddess.”

Relief filled her from head to toe. “Oh. Good to know.”

Hall’s eyes narrowed. “Why? Were you jealous, Little Snow?”

Avarr turned her to face him and laughed. “She was jealous. Well, well. Perhaps we weren’t the only ones wanting for so long.”

“Shut up.”

Avarr raised a brow. “Make me.”

She knew just how to do that. “Hall, come closer.” Hall obeyed, though he wore a smirk. “Avarr, on your knees. Put that cock in your mouth.” She held Hall, not surprised when he instantly hardened from semi to a full-out erection. “That should keep your tongue busy.”

Avarr grinned. “Ah, that I can do.” He knelt before Hall and took Hall down his throat.

Hall’s pleasure stole her breath away.

“You two are just beautiful.”

“Yes, oh yes.” Hall threw his head back, and the water continued to roll down his body. “That, Avarr. Just there, with your tongue.” Hall moaned. “Gods, yes.” Then Hall opened his eyes and stared at Eira. “You, too. I want you on your knees. Take your turn.”

Eira’s libido returned full force. “O-kay.” Normally the one giving orders, she liked having the tables turned. Hall and Avarr commanded without trying. She knelt next to Avarr and readied to suck Hall when Avarr released him and kissed her. Then, lost to the moment, she obeyed when Avarr pulled back and put her at Hall’s cock. Fingers entered her as she sucked on Hall, teasing the cum from his mouth with little work. As she came over Avarr’s clever fingers, he withdrew and stood, taking Hall’s place. As she swallowed him down soon after, she realized she didn’t want their time together to end. Not when the hum of a purr vibrated in the center of her being. Where her heart beat for not one, but two battle-cat warriors.

Avarr hadn’t realized their time would end so soon. One moment he was drying off and dressing while his lovers did the same. The next they’d been teleported into Freya’s throne room, facing not just an aggravated goddess but a host of annoyed gods and goddesses from other pantheons.

Not good.

“Avarr, Hall, Eira.” Freya nodded at them but didn’t smile, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

Next to him, Hall moved so that Eira stood between them, protected. If she disliked their attention, she didn’t say. Her stare seemed focused on Athena. Then Eira scowled. At a goddess. Another bad sign.

“It seems a small skirmish grew out of proportion earlier this afternoon,” Freya announced.

Avarr relaxed. He’d thought his goddess upset that he and Hall had claimed Eira. Gods could do a lot of things, but breaking a mating bond went beyond even them. “Oh, that.”

Athena glared. “Yes,
that
. I lost three centaurs and two minotaurs.”

“I lost two fauns,” Mercury muttered.

Horus said nothing about his mummies and wadjets.

Around them, the others gods looked on with disapproval.

“Freya, I thought we were treasured guests. This goes against good hospitality.
And
against the rules.” Sedna shook her head, her eyes sad as they rested on Avarr and Hall.

“Rules? You want to talk about rules?” Eira snapped.

“Eira, not now,” Hall tried.

“Fuck yes, now.” Their Little Snow stepped in front of them, her arms crossed over her tunic. She looked powerful, enraged, and so damn beautiful his heart ached. He’d do anything for her, including taking the punishment sure to head their way.

Eira continued. “I was taking a nice bath in one of the lakes in the forest when a bunch of dickless centaurs and fauns showed up with a challenge. I met that, even when two minotaurs showed along with mummies and wadjets. And that annoying fuck-all priest.”

“Watch your tone,” Horus advised, his voice soft.

Hall and Avarr stepped close to Eira, prepared to protect. Avarr’s battle-cat hissed inside him, and he heard Hall’s do the same. The energy that bound them together earlier extended to Eira. And it remained.

“I will
not
watch my tone. You bring your kind to our halls and attack us?”

“They meant no more than play,” Athena countered.

“They got what they deserved.”

“Death? Please.” Mercury buffed his nails on his tunic. “So a few of my randy fellows wanted to have some fun. Is fucking a valkyrie really off limits, Freya? I thought they were hard up for anything with a sword.”

“Fuck you.” Eira spat at him.

“Oh, little maiden, you couldn’t handle me if you tried,” Mercury said with a smile that boded ill. Though normally even-tempered, Mercury could fly into a rage that completely wiped out villages in seconds. A man of mercurial moods for certain—hence the name.

Avarr had a bad feeling the fight earlier had been staged for some purpose other than just fucking with Freya’s valkyrie. This went deeper. Striking at the goddess’s soft spot. All knew of her love for her female warriors especially.

Hall grabbed his arm when he would have advanced on the god, then he nodded at Eira “Stay close,” he advised in a low voice. “I’m needed elsewhere.”

Realizing Hall meant to provide their unguarded goddess with support, Avarr agreed. He stepped back and took Eira with him.

“What—?”

“Shh. Something is amiss.”

She quieted and watched their goddess grapple with some inner decision. Hall reached Freya’s throne and stepped to the side of it, just in time to catch an arrow aimed for Freya’s head. He batted it away and stood resolute.

“Well well. Arrows from thin air. Minions playing with Freya’s maidens without permission. Something’s afoot,” Sedna murmured.

“Innocent fun.” Lugh snorted. “We maul and maim for fun at my palace all the time. Wounds heal, and our warriors gain much from the sport.” The Celtic war god would think that. “Then again, we do not kill our own. Enemies, however…” He shot Avarr and Hall a glance of what looked like appreciation.

“Hey. It wasn’t out and out murder.” Eira and her big mouth. “I was up against close to ten opponents. Not that I couldn’t have held my own, but Avarr and Hall came to my defense. As Freya’s guards, they’re bound to help those in her charge. And they thought I needed help. I loved the fight,” she said bluntly. “But forced sex by a bunch of horny fauns and centaurs isn’t my idea of a good time.”

“All could be forgiven, I suppose.” Athena sighed. “I do love my centaurs, but I’m not pleased with brutes who would force themselves on a maiden.”

Avarr refrained from educating Athena on Eira’s less-than-maidenly status.

Hall coughed to hide the smirk no doubt on his face.

“Thanks, I think.” Eira frowned.

Still, Freya said nothing.

“The loss of my scarab is nothing to play about.” Horus glared, and a mini tornado appeared next to him. It hovered with destructive rage, waiting to suck Avarr and Eira gods knew where.

“A good point,” Freya said quietly, waved a hand, and the tornado disappeared. “However, I’d like to know why it was in my woods to begin with.”

Horus shrugged. “My priest called him. I can speak with Anubis and have him get us answers if you desire.” Anubis, god of the Egyptian underworld, could connect with the dead.

Freya pointed to Eira. “Come here, girl.”

“Girl?” Eira muttered.

Avarr nudged her. “Go. And wipe that frown off your face,” he whispered.

She walked forward and stopped before Freya, standing tall and proud before she knelt with reverence. “My lady.”

“Stand.” After Eira stood, Freya said, “You engaged with others in battle. Correct?”

“Yes, but—”

“You killed when you knew the penalties for killing. Did you not?”

Eira didn’t look back at him, but he imagined she glanced at Hall before answering. “Yes, I did.”

He tried to refute her but found himself unable to move or speak. Hall, too, seemed frozen. Avarr needed to defend Eira. He and Hall had killed the others. Not her.

“A blessed scarab, one of the Egyptians’ most valued treasures, is no more. A result of your actions, is that not true?”

Eira looked ramrod-stiff as she answered, “Yes, Freya. It’s all true.”

“Then you must be punished.”

The other gods seemed to settle, Horus in particular, at seeing Freya taking accountability for her valkyrie’s actions.

“Would you seek her life?” Freya asked Horus.

The god studied her, his bird eyes unblinking. “I would not. Any maiden that can defeat a scarab, even using your battle-cats to do so, deserves respect.”

Lugh nodded. “Hear, hear.”

“But an example must be made,” Horus continued. “We do not engage on another’s lands. I will find out why mine fought with yours, Freya. However, as none of my people killed yours, the fault is a minor one, and completely within the rules of legitimacy.”

“True.” Athena nodded. “I am of the same mind. We will talk to our people about settling down. However, reparations must be made.”

“If I am not to kill the one responsible, then how about the next best thing?” Freya asked.

Avarr’s heart raced, his fear for his mate overpowering.

Freya smiled, and her eyes flashed with power. Blue bolts of lightning crackled around the room. “Banishment should suffice.”

“No,” Eira whispered. “This is my home.”

“No longer. You disappoint me, girl. Killing without permission is not to be tolerated.” She snapped her fingers, and Eira vanished.

Avarr struggled against his muted, frozen status. To no avail.

Then Freya turned her gaze on him. “You two. I know you thought you were helping, but you’ve hindered far more than you know.” She snapped again, and he and Hall suddenly transformed into their battle-cats, fear for their mate overwhelming all else. In a rage, he sought to end the ones responsible.

Athena, Mercury, and Horus.

Before he could attack, he fell hard into…a dark chamber? He saw Hall, in human form, hanging unconscious. Shackled and braced against a dark wall, Hall didn’t move. The heat was stifling, especially in his dark fur, but Avarr felt only panic. Yet it was an odd sense. Instinctively he worried for his mates, but he felt in his heart they were safe.

He roared and tried to reach Hall. He couldn’t shift to human, and despite running, he grew no closer to his mate. And where the fuck was Eira?

A figure blurred into existence to the left of him, and he hissed as Hel’s form took shape. The queen of the underworld had the magnificent upper torso of a beautiful woman with long dark hair and blue eyes. Yet her lower half, wreathed in swathes, remained skeletal.

“Why, hello there, Avarr. Come to visit Fenris?” Hel winked. As if he’d spend any time with that demon dog. The thing thought it could end the world by chewing through the gods. What a monster. “Kidding. So why are you here?”

He growled and pawed in Hall’s direction.

“Oh, right. Sorry. Just a sec. I think Freya’s on her way.”

Avarr sweated until he thought he’d pass out, and finally, Freya appeared next to Hel. He’d always figured the underworld of Niflheim to be full of cold, where the dead passed to their new lives. So he must have skipped on to Muspell because the heat was enough to rival the sun. He heard the clang of metal. Definitely Muspell then, where the fire giants toiled, readying to war against the gods when the time was right.

He’d planned on being by Freya’s side when that happened, defending his goddess to the end of time. He didn’t think he’d get the chance. He still loved her, still wanted to protect her, but he couldn’t understand why she hadn’t asked for their side of story. Condemned without a trial. That would make sense were it any other deity but Freya.

“Oh, good. We’re all here.”

Constricting energy sloughed off him, and he gratefully shifted back to human. “All but Eira.”

Freya murmured a few words, and then Hall appeared dressed and awake and aware right next to Avarr.

Avarr took him in his arms and hugged him. “You’re fine then?”

Hall hugged him back then pushed free, looking angrier than Avarr had ever seen him. “Where is Eira?” he asked Freya, ignoring Avarr.

“I believe your mate asked you a question.” Freya watched Avarr with a smile.