Page 48 of Thor

I believed him completely. There was something deeply reassuring about knowing Thor would protect not just my physical safety but my dignity and privacy as well.

"Thank you for suggesting this," I said, gesturing to our surroundings. "Coming here, I mean. Talking through the practical stuff before..."

"Before we ended up in my bed?" Thor supplied, his bluntness making me blush despite our earlier activities.

"Yeah. That." I took another quick sip of my drink.

Thor's thumb traced patterns on the back of my hand, his touch deceptively casual but sending shivers up my arm. "Like I said, I want to do this right. You're too important to rush."

The simple statement, delivered in his gruff voice amid the chaos of a rowdy biker bar, might have been the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to me. Not because it was poetic or flowery, but because it was real.

"I'm glad we're doing this," I admitted quietly. "Getting to know each other properly, I mean."

Thor's smile transformed his face, softening the hard lines and lighting his eyes. "Me too, Mandy. Me too."

Iwasinthemiddleof explaining my bookkeeping system for the tattoo parlor when a shadow fell across our table. I looked up to find a man I didn't recognize—young, maybe mid-twenties, with a prospect cut and a cocky smile that tried too hard. His dark hair was slicked back, and a fresh tattoo crept up his neck like ivy climbing a wall. He had the rangy build of someone who hadn't quite grown into their strength yet, nothing like Thor's solid presence.

Thor tensed beside me, subtle but unmistakable. His posture shifted from relaxed to alert in an instant.

"Bones," Thor acknowledged, his voice neutral but with an undercurrent of warning. "Need something?"

The prospect—Bones, apparently—kept his eyes on me, ignoring Thor's question. "You're the accountant, right? The one who does the books for Lena's shop too?" His gaze traveled from my face down to my chest in a way that made my skin crawl.

"Amanda Wright," I said coolly, not offering my hand. "And yes, I handle the finances for Marked Kings."

"Thought so," Bones said, his smile widening. "Heard you were smart. Didn't hear you were so fine, though."

I felt Thor go completely still beside me, the kind of stillness that precedes violence. I placed my hand on his thigh under the table, a silent request for restraint.

"Thank you for the compliment," I said, my professional voice firmly in place. "Was there something you needed help with?"

Bones slid uninvited into our booth, forcing me to scoot closer to Thor to avoid contact. The prospect either didn't notice or deliberately ignored the dangerous energy radiating from Thor.

"Thor's been keeping you all to himself," Bones said, leaning across the table toward me. His breath smelled of beer and cigarettes. "How about I show you what a younger ride feels like? Bet I could make you forget all about the old man here."

The temperature of the air around us seemed to drop ten degrees. I felt my mouth fall open at the audacity—not just disrespecting me, but openly challenging Thor in his own territory. It was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. I was betting on the latter.

Before I could respond, I witnessed something remarkable. Thor didn't explode. He didn't grab Bones by the throat or flip the table over. Instead, he underwent a transformation more frightening for its restraint. His entire demeanor shifted. He didn't move a muscle, and yet suddenly he exuded a controlled power that filled the space around us like a physical force.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet. Deceptively conversational. "She's mine."

Two simple words. No threats, no posturing. Just an undeniable statement of fact that left no room for argument.

The effect was immediate. Bones' cocky smile faltered, then disappeared entirely as the blood drained from his face. He looked at Thor—really looked at him—for the first time since approaching our table.

"I didn't know, man," he stammered, raising his hands in surrender. "No disrespect meant."

"Now you know," Thor said, still in that eerily calm voice. "And disrespect was exactly what you meant. You’re lucky I’m with a lady. You better not make that mistake again."

Bones scrambled out of the booth so quickly he nearly tripped over his own feet. "Sorry. Sorry, Thor. Won't happen again." He backed away, bumping into two other club members who watched the exchange with interested expressions.

I turned to Thor with wide eyes. "Yours?" The word came out somewhere between a question and a challenge, my heart pounding so hard I was certain he could hear it over the bar's noise.

Thor's expression softened as he looked at me, the dangerous energy receding like a tide pulling back from shore. He took my hand, engulfing it in his much larger one.

"If you want to be," he said, his thumb tracing gentle circles on my palm.

My pulse thundered in my ears. There was something both terrifying and exhilarating about that simple statement. Claiming and offering all at once.

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