Page 16 of Loki's Enemy Mate

Mate!

I should have pushed him away, but all I could do was moan against his lips as I let him invade me.

MATE!

“Wait!” I cried, pushing him away from me.

I crawled backward on the stone, pulling myself out from under him. He just stared at me, those green eyes full of something soft and hungry that I recognized immediately as lust. Hewantedme.

“I… what…” I stammered, trying to find the right words. Eventually I settled on one. “Why?”

Heimdall looked up at me, confusion filling his features. He scrunched his eyebrows together and opened his mouth, but no words came out. Soon he snapped it closed again, looking just as shocked as I was. It was all too clear that he didn’t know the answer to my question, and neither did I.

Had I wanted him to kiss me? Yes. Did I understand why? Nope. And did I expect him to make the first move? Absolutely the fuck not! What was he thinking? What were weboththinking? Maybe the adrenaline had just gotten the better of us. Yeah. That had to be it. Just two dudes with way too much excitement coursing through their veins. Definitely.

Another full minute passed before I could stand it no longer. The tension in the air made the silence unbearable. Butas I opened my mouth to say something at last, Heimdall beat me to it.

“Can you do magic?” he asked, as innocent as could be.

“I… what?” I said, shaking my head. “Why would I be able to do magic?”

“Your brother can.”

“And? What does that have to do with me?”

“You’re related.”

“His mother was a witch.Mine, was not. If she had been, she wouldn’t have died giving birth to me.” I paused, my own words surprising me. I never talked about that with anyone. Not even Thor and Baldr. “So, no. I can’t do magic.”

Heimdall seemed satisfied with my answer. I wanted to ask him what caused his curiosity in the first place, but I decided to let it go. In fact, I decided to let the whole last five minutes go. The further we got from that kiss and the sudden rush of lust, the more I realized it was a bad idea. It was better to just ignore it. If only I could ignore the thick scent of pheromones in the air coming from us both.

“We need to keep moving,” I said, grabbing my phone and pushing myself to my feet. “And I suggest we take the other path this time.”

Heimdall nodded, shaking himself out of his stupor as well. “Right.” He got to his feet, scratching the back of his head. “Uh… thanks for saving me.”

“Sure.” I waved a hand dismissively. “It was nothing.”

“You saved my life. That’s notnothing.”

“You’d do the same for me.”

Judging by the look on his face, that might not have been the truth. But I left it alone. It was better to just move on. The faster we could get out of this cave, the faster we could leave all this weirdness behind. Heimdall was still my enemy and the only obstacle between me and taking revenge for my father’s death.Despite whatever we might feel toward one another, whether it be lust or gratitude, it didn’t matter. At the end of the day, I still had to go through him to get rid of Tyr once and for all. And that, for the past months since my father had died, was all I could think about. Every fiber of my being was bent toward that goal.

No matter what I might feel toward Heimdall, Tyr had to die. And I’d kill anyone in my way to make that happen. So, there was no need to talk about it or pretend otherwise.

“Come on, Hamball,” I said, gesturing for him to follow. “Let’s take the other path so we don’t have to plummet to our dooms on this one.”

Heimdall didn’t protest at the name or my directions. Instead, he dutifully followed behind me as I led us out of the right path and down the left one, sinking further into the mountain. I could feel his warmth close behind me and still feel the burn in my muscles from saving his life. And that tingle on my lips… it just wouldn’t go away.

I set my jaw, clenched my teeth, and went on, forcing all the softer thoughts in my mind away. We had to get out of this cave, and I needed to murder Tyr.

There was nothing else to think about.

Chapter Ten: Heimdall

Sheer unadulterated panic filled my body as we walked into the darkness, winding our way through the heart of the mountain. I kept my lips firmly sealed, and my teeth clenched as we walked, terrified that if I spoke, I’d somehow destroy this tenuous truce that was barely holding us together. My hands were shaking, fingers balled into fists. And there was a rush of adrenaline that had been coursing through me since we touched, and I couldn’t seem to get it to go away.

I hadn’t been able to answer Loki when he askedwhyI’d kissed him. The truth was, I didn’t know. I’d hoped it was due to him casting a spell on me. At least that, in some way, was explainable. But after he told me about his mother, I was convinced he was no mage. And that’s when the confusion started to press down on me like I was being crushed between two boulders.

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