Page 26 of Loki's Enemy Mate

Loki looked up at me, trying to figure out whether he should be offended or excited or prideful by my proclamation.

“Thanks,Hamball,” he said at last, adding a little sarcasm to his smile.

“Anytime,Dinky.”

“For fuck’s sake…” Loki sighed, shaking head. “Do we already have pet names for one another?”

“Seems like it. I guess it was bound to happen, eventually. We are mates after all.”

Loki paused, his amber eyes fixed on mine. His fingers twitched nervously in his lap. “You really believe me about that?”

“I believe you because I believe myself,” I replied. “Iknowyou’re my mate. It only makes sense that you feel the same. Besides, considering you’ve saved my lifetwiceand you haven’t tried to kill me yet, I’d say there’s something holding you back.”

“You saved me too, you know.”

“I did?”

He nodded. “Last night. I would’ve drowned if you hadn’t pulled me to shore. Then you warmed me up too. I never would’ve made it through the night if you hadn’t.”

“I sucked you off.”

“Still,” he grinned. “It worked. And that’s what matters.”

Suddenly I felt sort of embarrassed, my face flushing. “I was just… you know… trying to be helpful I guess.”

Loki leaned close, kissing me gently. “Well, I’m glad you did.”

We sat there for a long moment, our foreheads pressed together as we stared into each other’s eyes. I wanted that moment to last forever, but there was a burning question on the tip of my tongue that I could ignore no longer.

“So,” I said slowly. “What happens now?”

A long silence greeted my question as Loki lowered his gaze. I felt his heartbeat pick up, thumping against my chest. Both of us knew what awaited us outside this cave should we ever find a way out. There was a world out there that wouldn’t take kindly to our pairing. In fact, it could be downrightdeadly.

“I don’t know,” Loki said at last. “And I don’t care right now. We need to find a way out of this cave. That’s more important than figuring everything else out.” He lifted his gaze again, his hand cupping the side of my face. I saw a fierce determination in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before. “But I’m not going to waste a minute here worrying about it right now. Iknowyou’re my mate and that’s all that matters. So, until we find away out of this place and have to deal with all that, let’s just enjoy it, okay?”

There was a plea hidden behind his words, one that said heneededthis respite from his grief. It didn’t take a genius to see that Loki had been fighting for a long time. Fighting against his brother, his pack, and his own emotions. And of course, I was only too happy to give it to him. Out of everyone in the world that could’ve been my mate, I’d found one that understood what it was like to live under the constant pressure of other’s expectations. Just as Loki had been bowing under the weight of his own pack, I’d been doing the same because of mine.

We had a lot more in common than I ever would’ve guessed.

“But I’m still going to kill Tyr,” he added after a moment. “He needs to pay for what he’s done.”

All at once, that happy resolve I felt just seconds before began to slip away.

“You know I can’t let you do that,” I replied slowly. “Iwon’tlet you kill my father.”

Loki let out a long sigh. “Then I guess we’d better enjoy what time we have in here. Because once we’re out of this cave, mates or not, we’ll be enemies again.”

“I really can’t change your mind about him?”

He shook his head. “Not unless you can bring my father back to life.”

We both knew I couldn’t. There wasn’t a power in the entire world that could do something like that. Even the most powerful witches couldn’t resurrect the dead. Once someone had slipped beyond the veil, that was it. There was no coming back.

“Try not to think about it,” he added. “It’s not worth worrying about right now. We need to focus on getting out of this cave.”

I sighed and nodded, knowing he was right. The clock was ticking, and no amount of worrying was going to make it go slower. At least that’s what I told myself. But thinking and doing were two totally different things.

“Any idea how we’re gonna do that?”

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