Page 33 of Loki's Enemy Mate

There was a small huff of amusement, which confused me.

“There aresomany movies we need to watch,” he said, the smile in his voice plain to hear. “You just quotedTitanic,and you have no idea you did it.”

“What’s a Titanic?”

“You don’t even know about the boat?”

“I know what a boat is.”

“Oh my god. We’ll talk about this later.”

I was thoroughly confused, but I just held on as Loki moved toward. I could hear his feet scuffing along the floor, trying to make sure of his footing before he put his weight down. He moved until our arms were stretched out wide, straining against me as he searched.

“Oh,” he said with a tone of surprise. “The other side is right here.” He made a few more cautious movements to the left and right, still holding my hand. “It’s… It’s just a hole,” he said at last. “I can feel all the edges. It doesn’t lead to anything. But the floor is all loose gravel.”

“It might be a sinkhole or something,” I said, still holding him tight. “It could give way any second.”

Loki started jumping up and down making my heart skip a beat.

“Nah. It seems solid enough.”

“Will you please just get out of there?”

“Not yet. I have to find us a new rock.” He stepped closer, following my arm until he was face to face with me. “But I’m gonna need my hand back.”

I hesitated, my fingers flexing around his.

“I’m gonna be fine,” he assured me. “I promise.”

“What if you’re not?”

His hand came to rest on my cheek, his lips pressing against mine with a soft touch. “You can’t hold me like a bird in a cage, Hamball. I need you to trust me.”

It took me a long moment to finally work up the courage to let him go. “I know,” I said at last, my voice shaking. “I’m just… I’m scared.”

“For being a big dumb jock type, you sure like to worry,” Loki laughed, teasing me with another small kiss. “I would’ve never expected it.”

“I might not be that smart,” I replied. “But I know I care for you.”

“Alright Forrest Gump,” he grinned. “I care about you too.”

“Is that another movie thing?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I feel like you and I grew up on different planets.”

“We basically did.” He squeezed my cheek. “Let me get us a rock and once we’re out of here, I promise I’ll show you all the movies you could ever want to see. And you can show me how to… I don’t know…fishor something.”

“I do know how to do that.”

“Perfect. It’s a date.”

Loki gave me one last kiss before he pulled away, leaving me with warmth still filling my belly. The thought of going on an actual date with him made me more giddy than I would have expected. Dates and relationships seemed like such childish things only three days ago. Back then I would’ve said all of it was a waste of time when the goal was to mate and procreate. But now things had changed so much I barely recognized myself. I was giddy and stupid and worried over a boy that I barely knew. If we’d know each other longer, I might have called it love. Fornow, I was happy with a pleasant infatuation brought on by our mate bond.

In the cave we could feel however we wanted to, the outside world and all its influences shut out and unreachable. But once we were free… well, that would be the real test. I wasn’t sure if our shaking foundation could survive the challenges of our opposed packs at war. Still, I was willing to give it a shot. Even though we’d only just met, I knew I’d do anything within reason for Loki. And the more time that went on, the less I cared about the ‘within reason’ part.

“I found one!” Loki called, his voice pushing my thoughts away as he grunted, and I heard the shifting of gravel. “Oh fuck… it’sheavy.”