Page 17 of Valkyrie Unknown

I clenched my fist. If I choked him, would that give me more satisfaction than it would him? It wasn’t as if the action would kill him, but it might get him off.

He finally set down his mug. “I didn’t. But I almost always know where you are, Lover. Until you vanished from my view after the last time we spoke. I’ve been worried because I couldn’t sense you. What if something happened to you?”

There was the lie. He wasn’t above those when they served him. He didn’t give a shit about me personally.

He’d found me tonight because I took off the necklace. The one I gave to Azzie.

Worse, I’d just confirmed for him that I’d found her. That he had.

“Fuck you.” I left the diner.

I’d done it again. Said something that would send him after her. If I tried to find her and warn her, all he had to do was follow me.

If I left her alone, all he had to do was ask around. A woman like Azzie would leave an impression.

Every instinct told me to go after her.

She was hidden again, though. She was safe from magical gazes, as long as I kept my distance.

If I wanted to protect her, my walking out of town and not looking back was the best way to do so.

In the gas station, I grabbed a backpack from the shelf, several bottles of water, and a lot of jerky. I didn’t expect to be walking long before I found a ride, but if I had to go a couple-hundred miles on foot, I could diminish my discomfort a little.

It was a shame I couldn’t call another god to blink me out of here. Those I knew were like Aya—too interested in meddling—and as likely to try to trap me here as to help me get somewhere else.

I stepped outside and the heat hit me like a wall. I’d need to stick close to the road to hitchhike. If no one picked me up, walking back to Idaho in the desert with no relief from the weather might not kill me, but it would make me a severely grouchy bear.

For the next few hours, I lingered at a picnic bench outside the truck stop, keeping an ear and eye out for anyone heading north. By the time the sky turned from black to gray, I hadn’t spotted a single vehicle heading in my direction. Did I need to compromise and grab a ride to a different place, to find more options?

Most of the overnight drivers were gone, and the traffic had thinned out. What was I feeling?

Relief.

I needed to find Azzie. Loki and others were going to hunt her regardless, and my staying by her side would help her odds.

Besides, there was a tug inside, urging me to track her down.

Six

Azzie

Heat and desireraced through me with every touch. Lips brushed my mouth. My jaw. My neck and ears. Fingers trailed up my spine. Down my chest. Along the sensitive skin inside my thighs, sending shivers through my whole body.

I was wrapped in warmth. Consumed by passion. And my heart fluttered with each kiss and pinch and stroke. A hand cupped my breast, kneading. Rolling a nipple, while a mouth covered mine, swallowing my moans. There shouldn’t be this many points of contact. How was it possible to be touched in so many places at the same time?

Why did I care about anything but the sensual attention enveloping me?

Need built inside with each fresh caress. A desperation, carried on the swelling adoration. The all-consuming feeling that, here and now, I was safe. I was loved. I was where I belonged.

Fingers slipped between my legs, sliding easily along my skin. A cock nudged my opening and thrust inside, spreading me open. Connecting me to?—

Who?

I tried to grasp the thought. Who was I with? How did they make me feel so good?

It didn’t matter. Because this was incredible—the climax building inside me, the pleasure, the promise of eternity…

As I slid toward orgasm, a gasp tore from my throat. And then a cry.

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