Page 67 of Savage King

“The Jaeger.”

“Yes. Once he realized he couldn’t have what he wanted, he tore my heart out, stomped on it, and tossed me out. When I met you, I was convinced you were Aaron 2.0, that you thought you wanted me as a woman, but you were just after the chase. That you were bored with the club women and needed a challenge.”

“You’re a challenge alright, but I am looking forward to a lifetime of that. I don’t want temporary, I want forever.”

She blinked away a tear but Odin caught it with his thumb, wiping it away. He kissed the tip of her nose, then her eyes.

“Forever isn’t long enough for me, baby,” he murmured hoarsely, his heart in his throat. This woman was so much more than he ever knew, and he couldn’t wait to spend his life learning her, loving her, living with her until the end of his days.

“That’s what Aaron said, too. His vows meant nothing to him, though.”

“Well, Aaron isn’t a man you should be pining over, sweetheart. The man got himself in some serious trouble, and he only had himself to blame.”

At that Skathi sat up, oblivious to the erotic show she was putting on with her tits swinging and her nakedness on display.

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“That day he came into the gym spitting’ all that shit about owning it because he was buying it from Steele…. Well, Steele was up to his eyeballs in gambling debt, so he needed to sell to pay off his bookies. The only reason Aaron was in a position to buy it was because he was being funded by the Bratva.”

“Oh shit,” Skathi spluttered. “What was the fool thinking, getting involved with the Russians?”

“He was thinking that he had a coke problem and his new wife had a spending problem, and he was broke. So, he signed up to be the Russian bitch boy, going around town, selling performance enhancing drugs to fighters, boxers, and even stage performers who needed a little extra kick in their show.”

“So he was supposed to buy Steele and sell drugs out the back?”

“Yeah. And he was planning to fix fights, too.”

“Gods, what a mess. He should have known better than to get caught up in that. What about his wife? The baby?”

“Shannon found out how deep he’d gotten and took off to live with her mother in Ojai.”

Talk about poetic justice; the woman he left his wife for up and left him. The fucker had gotten bitch slapped by karma, and Odin couldn’t be happier.

“Is Aaron okay?” He peered at her then, searching her gaze and expression for any hint that she still had feelings for the man she married. There was nothing but was concern. His woman was soft beneath all that Viking armor, and he loved her all the more for it.

“He was found yesterday. Dead. Throat slit.”

Skathi cried out, her hand flying to cover her mouth, her eyes wide and leaking tears.

Odin pulled her into his chest and held her as sobs shook her body. No, she wasn’t in love with her ex-husband any more, but she still cared about him. She’d shared her life with him for several years. And, like any human being, she would grieve his loss.

After about twenty minutes, Skathi pulled away. Her golden eyes were rimmed in red and puffy, and her face was pale.

“I’m sorry…it’s just…he had such potential for a good life. He could have been a good man, could have been a successful fighter. But all of his choices were bad ones.”

Odin didn’t respond because he had nothing nice to say about the dead motherfucker.

“What happens now?”

“Now that Aaron is dead or—”

“No. I’m done planning my life around him. I want to know what’s next for us. You and me.”

He grinned. “Ah. Well,” he began, licking a path from her neck, down her collarbone, to the tops of her breasts. He kissed her there, before dropping to take one erect peak into his hungry mouth. “Now, I make love to my woman. Then I want to take you downstairs, call Church, and claim you in front of my brothers. Then, I’m putting a Property of Odin kutte on your back.”

She purred, arching into his mouth as he returned to worshipping her breasts. “All of that, huh,” she breathed. “And what will the property kutte say my road name is?”

He smiled, glad she was getting the club lingo without much trouble. “What else would I name you? You’re my goddess, my big, beautiful, badass warrior woman. You’re my Valkyrie.”

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