Page 58 of Loki

His face grew serious. “Yes. Yes, it did. Quite a lot.”

She couldn’t help but snort. She bent over and sucked in several deep breaths.

Loki rubbed the small of her back. “Are you sure you’re alright, love? Should I take you home and pamper you instead of making you sit through this dinner.”

Val straightened and breathed in. “Nice try, but getting me in your bed isn’t in the cards for tonight. Elle will be down here and with your whole family; therefore, we will be down here and with your entire family.”

Loki nodded and took her hand, leading her to the front door. “So my bed isn’t in the cards tonight, but what about your bed? Or my couch? I have a soft rug in the living room. And there’s the shower, the sunken tub, the—”

She pulled on his tie and brought his lips an inch from hers. “Shut up, or all those places will be out of the cards for the foreseeable future.”

He smiled. “Yes, my love.”

“And don’t call me that while we’re in there. I don’t want to explain anything to anyone. I want to get through this night without too much bloodshed.”

His eyes twinkled, and she got the distinct impression he wasn’t about to listen to a thing she said.

“You’re impossible.”

He kissed her nose. “And you’re irritating as hell, so we’re even.”

No. Not in the slightest.

They stepped up to the bouncer, and he looked between Loki and Val, nodded, and let them in.

The inside of Valhalla’s Throne punched Val in the heart. It was like being at an inn back on Asgard— except for the half-naked women.

Valhalla’s Throne was similar to the underworld side of the Raven Weaver but more masculine. Deep leather chairs. Dark smoky wood. Rustic red brick walls. Metal ceilings with beams exposed. Dim lighting made everything more mysterious and sensual. It surprised her how much alike Frigg’s and Odin’s places were. Maybe they both missed Asgard and had been used to how it had been.

All around, beings played darts and cards. Women in non-rear covering skirts and little more than a bra delivered drinks and food. The women smiled and laughed with the men, touching them, rubbing their shoulders, ruffling their hair.Yuck.

Several of the women sported heavy leathery wings folded neatly on their backs. A couple more had long pointy tails poking out underneath their skirts. More than half the women sported horns of various sizes and colors.

“Anything you like?” Loki teased.

She elbowed him in the ribs. “Trust me. If I had been so inclined to be with a female, I would have chosen a Valkyrie over this lot any day.”

Loki nodded in appreciation.

“Loki?”

Val turned to see a bushy mountain man striding toward them. With dark hair shaved on the sides and braided on top and down his back and tattoos covering most of his exposed skin, she recognized him instantly.

Baldur.

Val stiffened momentarily, knowing the history between Baldur and Loki, but Baldur simply walked up to them and nodded.

Loki offered his hand, but Baldur simply folded his arms.

Wow. Talk about someone who couldn’t get over the past.

Loki dropped his hand, unfazed. “Good to see you vertical.”

Baldur growled, and Loki chuckled.

“Baldur and I go into the ring every few weeks. He keeps trying to avenge slights in the past.”

“Slights?” said Baldur. “You killed me.”

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