Page 33 of Thor

"Right. So we just need to open these and check what's inside. If you see anything that looks like the padding in that picture, give a shout," Sibyl said, looking for something to use to pry the barrels open. There were a couple of crowbars in the corner, but she settled for a particularly chunky screwdriver.

The first one she pried open looked to be filled with dirty ice and slush. She quickly closed that back up again before the smell seeped out. The next two were filled with what looked like food scraps and rubbish from the mess tent. "Wow, we sure do eat a lot of fish," she said, moving on to the next barrel.

"Hey, this one has a letter on it. It looks sort of like a P, or maybe a D," she said.

Even through the bulky suits, she could feel Thor looming over her. "It looks like my mark, which is also the mark for danger. It's the rune thurs. But I did not make this mark."

"So...do you think we should open it? If someone took the effort to mark this barrel as dangerous, maybe we should leave this one."

"Did you not say these silly suits would protect us like armour? You may stand back, but I will open it. Danger or not, this cask bears my mark, so it follows that what it contains is mine!"

Yet as Thor pried at the lid with his crowbar, Sibyl couldn't make herself stand back. It wasn't like she expected to find anything worse than she'd already seen today. He lifted the lid, and Sibyl's breath caught in her throat at the sight of the same sort of wadding that filled the boxes in the lab. This was it. It had to be.

He tore into the wadding like a toddler opening a birthday present. The tinkle of something small and metallic hitting the concrete rang out.

"Wait, stop!" she said, darting forward to catch the cascade. It wasn't one item, but more than a dozen of what looked like brooches and coins, stuff she'd never seen before. "Where did all this come from?" she asked, picking up a large, golden piece as big as the palm of her hand. When she turned it over, she realised it was just the setting that was gold, framing a huge piece of amber that seemed to glow.

Thor growled. "This belonged to Odin's wife. A wedding gift from her family. From the day she died, he never took it off."

"Maybe someone put it in here to keep it safe," Sibyl suggested, but the words felt wrong. Everything in the boxes had been carefully packed for the journey across the mountains, and she'd made sure they were stored safely in the lab. Someone had hidden the jewels here.

She gathered them all up and wrapped them carefully in the piece of wadding they'd fallen from, then placed the bundle on top of one of the new barrels. "Okay, now you can remove more of the padding, but carefully, in case there's other artefacts in there."

Thor reached into the barrel, but this time the bundle he pulled out was a big one. The big one. If this wasn't Thor's hammer, Sibyl would eat nothing but raw herring for the rest of the summer.

He laid his bundle across the top of two barrels, and began to unwrap it with far more care.

Sibyl couldn't smother her gasp as the final layer came away. The hammer head shone like modern steel, or silver at the very least. It didn't look a thousand years old – it looked brand new. The leather-wrapped handle looked like it had seen some use, though it didn't look particularly worn. Like it was a ceremonial weapon, only used for the most important of occasions.

Thor flexed his gloved hands, then wrapped them around the hammer's handle. In one mighty stroke, he smashed the empty barrel flat, sending an explosion of paperwork flying in all directions. "How dare you try to conceal my hammer from me!" he roared, raising the hammer to pulverise the debris.

Sibyl rushed forward to stop him. If he destroyed any of the other barrels, things could get very messy, very quickly. Besides, those papers could be important. "Stop, stop! You can't go smashing things indiscriminately like that. I know you're happy to have your hammer back. Let's take it inside so we can get out of these awful suits, and I can put those other artefacts away. Oh, and will you help me gather up these papers?"

While Thor hefted the hammer proudly over his shoulder, Sibyl tucked the bundle of jewellery and papers under her arm.

It wasn't until she'd changed out of her suit and laid her finds out on one of the lab tables that she realised the significance of her little hoard. "These are the artefact tags for all of these things, including your hammer." Quickly, she matched each tag to the piece it belonged to, before packing everything into one of the empty boxes. That left only one sheet – the one for Thor's hammer.

"I do not like hazmat suits," Thor announced as he sauntered into the lab, still holding his hammer. He'd left his cloak behind, so there was plenty of bare skin to hold her gaze, between his kilt and boots and shoulder guards. A normal man should be wearing a shirt and a whole lot more warm clothing, but she knew from experience that if she pressed a hand to Thor's chest, he'd be every bit as warm as she was, with no need to cover up.

Nothing beat a Norse god.

"Miss Sibyl, I owe you a great deal for helping me find my hammer. How would you like me to show my gratitude?"

Her mouth went dry. Was it wrong to ask him to pose naked for her with just his hammer? Just one photo. Or maybe two, in case one pose looked hotter than the other. Or...

His eyes glinted with mischief. "I believe we should retire to your bedchamber for what you have in mind."

Moments later, the hammer lay forgotten on the desk, as Thor pounded her pussy with a far more pleasurable weapon, and she cried out for joy. Who needed pictures when she had him?

THIRTY-SIX

The next morning, Sibyl's legs ached in places they'd never done before. She probably shouldn't have ridden him so hard, but when he'd begged her to take a turn on top, they'd both enjoyed it so much that he'd taken hold of her hips, to prolong their shared pleasure, and...

Fuck, he was an absolute god in bed, for all that he said he was just a man. Her poor pussy would never want a mortal man again, after Thor.

Unless there was a way to break the curse so Thor could be a normal man again. Well, hardly normal, but...

She tried calling Callie again, but still got no answer.

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