Immortal Need (29 page)

Her ultimate goal was his cock, the thick, pulsing instrument that had made her weep with pleasure before. She wanted to feel it between her lips, wanted to feel the power harnessed over her tongue. She kissed over his stomach and licked the muscles at his groin before taking him in her hand. He was so thick, like velvet-covered steel lifting itself to her lips. She breathed him in, taking in the heat that flared through her, sending her body into overdrive.

The first heat of her mouth closing over him had him clenching his teeth. She worked her tongue over the sensitive head, flicking over the base of the helmet. She caught the bundle of nerves easily. She moaned around him, her lips stretched to accommodate him. She could barely take in more than the head, but her hands nimbly pumped over what couldn’t be engulfed. She twisted her hands in opposite directions around him, pumping at the same time with the motions of her mouth. He growled, clenching his hands at his sides. She wanted him to lose control, wanted him to shout with pleasure. She sucked him harder, pushing him closer to that edge.

“Gods,” he whispered. She smirked around him. She sucked on him a little harder, working her hands until he moaned and clenched. She let him slide out of her mouth with a
pop.

She felt heat suffuse her as he grasped her roughly by her upper arms and pulled her over him. He met her as she moved, his hands guiding her hips over him and meeting her downward thrust with his own upward one. He slid home, and she rode him. He let go of her hip with one hand, gripping her breast as she rode him.

“More, Ayah, more,” he called, rolling his hips under her. She leaned forward, pushing a breast into his mouth and then arching and flexing her lower back so that she bounced on him. The rubbing penetration had him sucking on her with more force. But the harder he sucked, the harder she rode him, searching for that peak that was moments away and yet too far to reach for. He let her set the pace, his hand only guiding her movement, his other hand pushing the nipple in his mouth farther.

She screamed as her climax hit, her body freezing over him. But Sevani was too far gone to let her stop. He flipped her, lifting her legs until they were hooked in the curves of his arms. He pounded into her then, sweat dotting his brow. She screamed again, another climax hitting her before she could catch her breath as he watched himself disappear in her.

“So beautiful. Ayah. My Ayah,” he whispered reverently, pushing deeper. She couldn’t fight his invasion with her legs held captive. She had to take him as he ground into her, balls slamming against her.

“God,” she screamed as he slammed harder. He pushed deeper, hiking her legs higher. His face was a twisted mask of pleasure as he rose above her.

“More,” he begged, pushing into her more until she was shaking around him, an edge of pain making the pleasure all the more stronger. Finally, he pushed one last time and bellowed as he came within her. The climax was as profound and deep as his possession had been, and she held him through it. If the rest of her life was going to be like this, then she would be the happiest woman in the world.

Chapter Twenty

Ayah walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes, trying to wake up. Sevani hadn’t let her sleep much, and, for once, they knew there was no danger right around the corner. It had felt good to simply rest with him. This morning she wanted to make breakfast for her boys. She’d thought before this would be a good tradition for them to start, knowing they hadn’t had much of a normal life. Now, with Valerie gone, they deserved to have as much normalcy as possible before Lei got on his way to find her. Ayah was determined to do that. She opened her refrigerator door and pulled out eggs, bacon, and the fixings of homemade biscuits. By the time her guys woke up, she should have breakfast just about done. None of them seemed to be late risers, but she figured today would be the exception. She placed the ingredients on the counter and turned around to the island to grab pots and pans from the counters underneath, but froze. There, sitting in her kitchen, on one of her chairs, was Loki, resting his chin on his hands and watching her.

“Sevani!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, terrified.

“Oh, please, call the men,” Loki said. “I’ll wait.”

Ayah was comforted by the sound of pounding feet coming down the stairs as Alexander, Lei, and Sevani appeared in the kitchen door. It would have been funny to see the three of them try to force their way through the door at once, Lei with a gun in his hands and Sevani with his sword drawn, but apprehension killed all sense of humor. The men finally sorted themselves out, and Sevani walked through first. He pushed her behind him as he reached her, and angled the point of his sword toward Loki. Alexander skirted around Loki to stand near the back door, and Lei blocked the entrance.

“What do you want?” Sevani asked. He wore only a pair of jeans over his hips. Her man hadn’t even thought to put a shirt on. Lei, at least, had a T-shirt and jeans, but he’d left them unbuttoned and unzipped. Alexander was the most dressed, wearing his customary blue shirt, pants, and boots. The only thing missing was his garrotes strapped to his body. He faced Loki with his bare hands.

“Well, good morning to you all as well,” Loki greeted. “I see that you failed in killing Freya. But I won’t condemn you for that. It seemed that she had an ally in my daughter, Hel, and was able to escape to her realm. It’s not your fault. You technically can’t follow her there. But I do want you to finish the job.” He folded his arms across his chest.

“It’s impossible,” Alexander argued. “No human, even if we’re immortal now, can enter into Hel’s realm without being dead first. Trust me, we’re trying to find a way around that now.”

“Oh, I know that as well. My daughter, though Freya’s ally, cannot keep secrets very well from me—especially since I’m living on the other side of the realm,” Loki added, shocking Sevani. “Yes, I’ve been there the whole time. Hel, at least, has been good enough not to divulge my location to any of the other gods and goddesses, but it seems she’s hedging her bets for the coming of Ragnarok. She’s completely behind neither me nor Freya. She’s positioning herself in such a way that whoever seems to be winning, she will be in their good graces enough to follow them. I can understand her endeavor, I suppose, and can’t be too upset about it. She is my child, so it’s in her nature.”

“So, what are you doing here?” Sevani asked.

“Simple. I propose we work together. I know, I know,” Loki said then when Lei grunted. “You don’t exactly want to work with me against the rest of them in Ragnarok. All your thoughts of what I will do when Ragnarok comes, I’m sure, are messing with your head. I understand. But it still remains that you are my best asset against Freya, and I’m yours against her. She fears you. It seems, like I said, gaining your souls back has given you some extra powers. So it would seem you hold some small power from the old ones—not enough to make you gods, but definitely enough to make you worthy adversaries against one goddess who’s done enough in her time to make sure you hate her guts.”

“It still makes no sense to us. And why would I trust the man who helped me go crazy enough to kill my wife?” Sevani asked with deadly calm.

Ayah started. She remembered seeing the flashes of memory when she’d bonded with Sevani. Loki may have helped them find a way to best Freya in her lands, but it was true that he had also helped push Sevani toward becoming a Watcher. If he had never slept with Nila, then Sevani would have lived his life as he should have in the past. Though she could be happy that it hadn’t happened that way, she would not lower herself to wish death on another, or pain to the man she loved, just to have the future they were looking forward to. She placed her hand on the small of his back, hoping he felt her support.

“That was a momentary lapse of judgment,” Loki said, and he smiled. “Okay, it wasn’t, but it shouldn’t have turned out the way it did. I wanted you with me, in my army, to storm the gods, but Freya got her hooks in you deeper than I would have guessed. I am making up for that mistake now,” he added with a magnanimous expression, as if he was doing them some great kindness that they should be groveling for.

Ayah was not a fan of the god, not by a long shot.

“One of Freya’s servants,” Loki was saying then, breaking her from her thoughts, “one my daughter gave her and just received back in Hel recently, made a mistake when cleaning and compromised the urns. The powers were able to leak some, through transference, from the other gods to your souls.”

“I meant about why you want us to help you when you know we would be against you later. Trust me, that shall never change,” Sevani promised.

“Well, why didn’t you say that?” Loki asked, seeming oblivious to the threat.

“I did,” Sevani growled.

Ayah moved her hands higher up his back, rubbing up and down soothingly. She did not need him to lose his head in here. She could feel Loki’s power in the room, pulsing as if alive. He may appear to be jovial, a jokester as his history mandated, but he was deadly, too. Ayah knew that to her bones.

“Give him a chance,” she said, trying to ease the tension.

“Whatever. Use the strength that you now possess. I propose this: I will give you a way into Hel’s realm. I know there is someone there that you would love to have back,” Loki added.

“Valerie,” Lei exploded, dropping his gun so it hung from the strap at his side. He paced up to Loki. “Tell me how to get her back.”

“That is what I’m trying to explain. If you agree to my terms, then I will help you get into the realm, and into Hel’s palace, where the spirit of the goddess is now residing. You will be able to bring her back and have your precious Valerie, and it will also give you a chance to strike once more at Freya, who is trying, desperately, to regroup and come back after you. It will take her some time to challenge you again, but she will do it. Once she’s lost Valerie’s apple, Valerie will gain the rest of her power back. Freya doesn’t want to tango with you until she’s prepared. She will also now have a very angry husband to contend with. He now has two wives in Hel, one by force and the other by choice. And it seems that Freya’s activities haven’t been the favorite of the other gods. She has to make sure she can get back without making too much of a stir as well. These things will work in your favor.”

“So you’re saying that if we help you kill Freya, you will give me the chance to go get Valerie back from Hel?” Lei asked.

“That’s it. Of course, you will have to make a pact with me, which means if you don’t kill Freya, your way out of Hel will not be guaranteed. It’s a simple matter that you can agree to by shaking my hand. Do we have a deal?” Loki asked, extending his hand to Lei.

“Don’t do it,” Alexander argued. “We can find another way to go get Valerie. I can go visit with Huginn and Muninn again. You remember the game that Freya played with Valerie.”

“Oh no, they’re in the doghouse, too,” Loki interrupted. “Odin may hate his wife, but he doesn’t want anyone openly going against her but him. Huginn and Muninn giving you information has earned them some extended time at his side. And I am not Freya,” he growled, his eyes narrowing at Alexander. “Do not compare me to that lackwit again.”

Alexander stayed wisely silent.

“And you could just be lying to us,” Sevani broke in.

“Yes. Yes, I could. But you learned the last time that I was not. My whole goal is to get Freya dead. D-E-A-D, dead. The quicker that happens, the better for me. So at this point, though it covers my tongue with icky to do it, it does me better to tell you the truth. So, Lei, do we have a deal? Do you want your woman back or not? I am sure that Hel is taking
excellent
care of the goddess’s spirit the only way she knows how. She’s never been very fond of the goddesses of Aesir, who are free to do as they please and are touched by the sun. She should get along with Valerie…nicely,” Loki added.

Ayah got the sense that his words were the exact opposite of what was really going on. When Lei tensed, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he surveyed Loki, she knew she was right.

“And if I fail to kill Freya?” Lei asked.

“Then you will be trapped in Hel, a fate worse than anything I would have planned for you. Those are the terms,” Loki answered.

“Kill Freya and get Valerie out of Hel, or fail and stay in Hel. There is really no question. I would do anything to get her back,” Lei answered. He looked at Sevani. “I’m sorry.”

Lei grasped Loki’s hand in his. Ayah could feel the sense of power flowing through the room, and it made the hair on her arms stand on end, and her heart quickened. Lei groaned as he fell to his knees, still holding Loki’s hand.

“And so,” Loki said, his voice deeper, louder, “a god’s agreement has been made. The way to Hel will be opened to you. The way back will be opened upon killing Freya. Do my bidding!” He then flashed away.

Ayah went to help Lei to his feet. “You didn’t have to do that,” she whispered.

“Yes, I did. I don’t have a choice. She is everything to me, was everything before I even kissed her. The greatest experience of my life torn to shreds because I became her slave,” Lei said quietly with a sad smile. “I’m going to go get ready.” He shook his head and stood and left the room.

“I’ll go with him,” Alexander said then. “I’ll make sure that he keeps his head on straight.”

“I don’t want to lose the both of you,” Sevani said.

“And we can’t lose him,” Alexander responded. “If I can’t bring him back, then I will do what is necessary. You have Ayah, and he has Valerie. I’m the only one not attached, and it would be easiest for me to make the wrong decision.”

“I don’t agree with you tossing your life away,” Sevani argued.

“Funny thing, freedom. We now have the option of doing whatever the hell we want. I’ve followed you for thousands of years, and I will continue to,
after
I do this. So don’t get your heart twisted up like you’re making us do this.”

“I didn’t want it to come to this. This is supposed to be a good time for us.”