Page 80 of Valhalla is Full of Hunks
And stay.
Stop it, Iola…
“Actually…” I cleared my throat, deciding to shoot my shot. “I think it’s your proximity tome.At least, that’s how it worked with Herculeia and her monsters.” When he turned to face me again—horror movie slow—I hurriedly added, “Which you guys should’ve already known… I mean, what kind of stalker-kidnappersareyou, anyway?”
He stared at me for a full minute—all scary and smoldering and hot AF—before huffing a laugh that sounded surprisingly genuine. “Kidnapping youwasn’tpart of the original plan, littlemækir.That was Fen choosing the path of least resistance, as usual…”
That tracks.
I stood and slowly approached.“Mækir,huh?You called me that earlier, too… You know, when you were rubbing your cock on my ass while I fucked Jör.”
Remember that?
Surt growled, making me stifle a moan. Before I knew what was happening, he’d backed me against the World Tree and caged me in with his enormous body.
“Hel almost had me convinced that youwereadís,sent to guide us on our noble journey.” He dipped his head and took a deep inhale of my hair, making me shiver. “But I believe you were sent here totestme. To see if I was strong enough to remain focused on my true destiny.”
Let me guess…
“Valhalla, right?” I sneered, trying, and failing, to push him away. “And yeah, I get it,I’min the way of your Very Important Plan, but what about the others? What about the actualloveyou’ve found with Fen and Jör? Hasthatserved no purpose besides distracting you from your dumb fucking destiny that you wouldn’t be so obsessed with if you bothered pulling your head out of your ass to notice what you already hammph—”
My rant was silenced as Surt’s mouth crashed against mine—his tongue invading my mouth with the exact amount of aggression I would expect from a grade-A asshole like him.
And I love it.
I loved it because I knew I could match him with everything I had, and, instead of running, he’d simply go harder. So I tangled my tongue with his, wrestling for dominance as our teeth clashed and his beard rubbed my face raw—each of us swallowing down the other’s moans like they were the only thing that could feed us.
“Trust me, Iola,” he snarled when he came up for air—backing away so I couldn’t pull him back into our kiss. “I am well aware of what’s right in front of me. But what if I give in to these earthly desires? What if I allow myself to grow so complacent that years pass—centuries, even—where I barely remember my purpose? Where does that leave me?”
You absolute idiot.
I opened my mouth to tell him this, but immediately snapped it shut again. For once, Surt wasn’t trying to argue. He was explaining why hecouldn’tget close to anyone—at least, not any closer than he’d already allowed himself to be. As hard as it was for me to understand hisobsessionwith Valhalla, it would be hypocritical to pretend I didn’t know how it felt to hold everyone at arm’s length. To think thatthishalf-lived existence was all I was meant for.
“Happy,” I murmured with a defeated sigh—causing him to hiss in a breath before turning and stalking away. “You’d be happy.”
And so would I.
28
IOLA
Why is this vision dragging on?
Wrap it up already!
It wasn’t that I had anywhere else to be, or that the broody company wasn’t secretly delicious. But I usually only spirit journeyed long enough to get the message I—or someone else—needed, and rarely was my time spent doing mundane things.
Like… hiking across a landscape, with no clear destination.
Since I hadn’t wanted to get separated from my field trip buddy, I’d hustled after Surt before he could stomp out of sight. He’d graciously slowed his pace so I could catch up, but didn’t say a word as we continued traveling away from the World Tree.
It looks like you’ll live to crow another day, Norwegian Heihei.
The briny smell of the sea hit me a few minutes before we emerged from a thick pine forest to find nothing but rocks and an endless expanse of whitecaps. I stopped walking at the edge of the pebble beach, curious to see ifSurtwould just keep going until his—still sexily visible—horns disappeared beneath the waves.
He could go hang out with Hazun.
Go be salty together…
