Page 109 of Storm of Fury
“I’ve finally worked out what sweet name I can call you,” he said. “My little hedgehog.”
“If you call me a hedgehog, I will set your boots on fire.”
“Better my boots than the world, I guess.”
She made a sound in her throat that he’d never heard before. Like a captured scream.
“I swear to the gods that you are the most stubborn, frustrating, infuriating man I have ever met.” She lifted her voice. “I’ll do it, Marduk. I’ll rescue the princess. And I’ll do it alone, because I don’t think of the risks. I’m only mortal, but I act like there’s immortal blood in my veins and nothing will ever hurt me.”
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “You can admit that you like me and you don’t want me to get hurt. The others are gone now, so there are no witnesses. Just you and me. And I won’t tell a soul.”
He tugged an apple from his pocket and as she opened her mouth to reply, he shoved it in.
Bryn’s sharp teeth crunched into the apple, her eyes spitting sparks. She tugged it out, but she chewed thoughtfully. “Is this meant to appease me?”
Tormund winked. “If you married me, I would always see to it that your belly was full.”
“I think that wouldn’t be the only thing you’d see was full,” she grumbled, crunching the apple.
His eyes widened. She hadn’t even reacted to the marriage comment.
“Your bed would always be warm,” he pointed out. “I’d give you head and foot rubs whenever you wanted them. We could spar in the mornings and fuck in the snow when things got a little heated. I’d let you beat me occasionally—”
“Occasionally?”
He grinned. “And then I’d spank your bottom when you got that look in your eyes.”
“Tormund.” She shot him a look filled with murderous promises and shook the half-eaten apple at him. “Don’t ruin your good work. I’ve almost forgiven that hedgehog comment.”
“That one,” he whispered, leaning close enough to brush a kiss against her lips. “That look.”
Bryn rolled her eyes to the skies. “Why, Blessed Freyja? Is this part of my punishment? Am I being forced to endure this human out of some misguided lesson in humility? Or—”
He kissed her harder, capturing the words on her lips.
And Bryn sighed and kissed him back, slinging her arms around his shoulders. She practically melted against him, her tongue stroking his and her hips tilting into his burgeoning erection.
It was Tormund who drew back regretfully. “Night is going to fall soon. And while I would love to accept the eloquent offer of your hips, I’d prefer to do it from the warmth of a bedroll. My bare ass doesn’t like snow.”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice that marriage comment,” she whispered. “The answer is no. It will always be no.” Pushing away from him, she tossed the apple core to Sýr and collected her bags. “I have my destiny to fulfill.”
Damn it. His mouth twisted as though he’d tasted something vile. “I will always be there for you, Bryn. But I don’t think your Valkyrie sisters have even graced you with a visit, have they?”
She spun on her heel. “I am trying to save you from a broken heart.”
“Is that whatyou’reafraid of?” He held his arms wide. “A broken heart? Because I’m not afraid to take that risk, Bryn. And if you gave your heart to me, I would move Heaven and Hell to see that I never made a single mark upon it. I would never hurt you, Bryn.”
Just as she moved to retort, thunder rumbled ominously to the east.
The pair of them looked in that direction.
While they’d been arguing, the sun had slunk behind a curtain of gray, and as he watched, lightning flickered in the distance.
“Yours?” he asked.
“I don’t control lightning. I’m notdreki,” she said. “I can occasionally hurl it when I am in battle, but it’s the sort of weapon one saves for a crucial moment as it can only be wielded once.”
His eyes narrowed. “You hurl lightning.”
