“Having fun?”
“Yes, actually—” The air vanished from her lungs. A chill swept through her. Her hands trembled and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.
That voice.
She willed herself to turn and look.
Alrik.
Chapter Twenty-one
Seamus grinned over Alrik’s left shoulder. “See how things work out when you listen to yer uncle?”
She was on the verge of hyperventilating but she couldn’t help it. “What are you…I thought you were…you didn’t show up and I…what about your family…what happened to your head?”
Alrik wore a small gash on his forehead, just above his right eyebrow.
Seamus stepped forward. “Look, why don’t you two go sit on the couch and have a nice chat? Leona and I have some locations to check out.”
He kissed Calleigh on the cheek before whispering in her ear, “Follow your heart, love.”
She nodded without taking her eyes off her Viking.
Grinning like Notre Dame had just whooped Navy, Seamus clapped Alrik on the back. “And you, you listen up. That’s my niece. You step out of line and I’ll show ye the true meaning of the Fightin’ Irish, understand?”
Alrik nodded without taking his eyes off Calleigh.
Seamus chuckled and headed toward Leona’s desk.
When the elevator doors had closed, Alrik held his hands out.
Calleigh had never seen his eyes so blue or his face so serious. She slipped her hands into his. The warmth of his skin gave her goose bumps.
“Are you real?” she whispered. Her eyes burned with tears.
“Aye.” His voice cracked. “I am.”
He blinked hard. “I need to know. Do you—”
“Yes!” she interrupted, nodding her head. “Yes, I do. I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t say it to you sooner.”
A smile that lit the room broke out across his face. “I love you, too.”
He bent and caught her beneath the knees with one arm and behind her back with the other.
She shrieked as he hoisted her into his arms and kissed her.
She flattened her palms against his chest and broke the kiss. “I saw you kiss that blonde hussy.”
He grinned. “Nay, what you saw was Freya kiss me. What you missed was the moment after when I pushed her away. I did not want that kiss, Calleigh lass. Since I met you, I have thought of none other but you.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I want your kisses and yours alone.”
He hadn’t cheated on her. Her eyes widened. “That was a real live goddess?”
He nodded, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “Aye.”
“I don’t care if she is a goddess, I don’t like her.”
He struggled to suppress a grin. “I think she feels the same about you.”
“But she is beautiful.”
And a freakin’ goddess.
He shrugged. “But not the most beautiful.”
“There are other goddesses more beautiful than her?”
His brows rose as in thought. “Aye, there are.”
“Such as?” she demanded.
“Such as the goddess I hold in my arms.” He kissed the corner of her trembling mouth. “Will you have me, Calleigh lass? I am no longer a Phoenix. I have no means, no land, nothing to offer you but love.”
She laughed. “Do you have any idea how much you’re getting paid for the ad you did?”
He shook his head.
“Trust me,” she said. “You have means. And if Seamus has anything to do with it, you’ll have more means than you can handle.”
She winked. “Besides, I’m loaded.”
“Then you will have me?” His face brightened.
“Aye.” She grinned. “I will have you.”
All of you, and soon.
She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. He no longer tasted of cinnamon. But his lips were still as soft, his passion still as hot.
He teased her mouth open, gentling his tongue across hers.
Stars glittered behind her lids. The heat of his kiss traveled to her core and radiated through her like a secret sun.
A deep, abiding happiness settled over her. Alrik was hers.
Hers
. He’d come back after all.
With a sigh of satisfaction, she opened her eyes and looked at the man she couldn’t imagine living without. “I missed you. I was so sure you’d be back on the third day. What happened?”
Before he could answer, she touched the gash on his forehead. “And you still haven’t explained this.”
“Well, my love, let us settle in on the couch as your uncle suggested and I will regale you with the saga of my last days in the service of the goddess of love.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Alrik loved the feel of Calleigh in his lap. From the lush softness of her backside pressed against him to her delicious scent that filled his nose, he reveled in every beautiful bit of her.
This woman, this amazing woman, loved him. It was a feeling that set a man’s heart free.
He leaned back on the couch and she wiggled to get comfy. The movement roused an earthy heat in his loins. He grinned and nuzzled her neck.
Her squeals told him he had kissed the right spot.
She bent her head away. “Stop that! You’re supposed to be telling me what happened.”
“Well then, stop your wiggling. It does things to me.”
She raised her brows. “Things? Like what?”
He rolled his eyes. “I am sure you do not know.”
She laughed. “Okay, I’ll stop wiggling if you stop kissing me. But just until the story is over. Then the kissing can start again. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” Thor’s hammer, she bewitched him. He kissed her once more, just to hear her squeal again.
“Alrik!”
He laughed. “You do know I no longer require your permission to kiss you? Or anything else for that matter.”
“So I noticed.” A light blush colored her cheeks.
“On to the story.” His face ached from smiling. He pulled her closer and she rested her head on his shoulder. The pleasure from her small acts of affection staggered him. He inhaled and found the breath to begin. “When you gave me your last change, I did not at first comprehend what it might mean. I simply understood that you had seen Freya kiss me and having misunderstood it, wanted to be rid of me.”
He cupped her chin and lifted her face to his. “I will never betray you. Ever. You must know that.”
“I do.”
“Good.” He released her and kissed the top of her head as she settled back against him. “I was furious with Freya for what she had done, but most of all, for hurting you. I decided to kill her.”
Calleigh jumped in his arms. “What? That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”
“Vincentius did not think so either. He talked me out of it and gave me a new plan.”
“He’s not so bad for a Roman.”
Alrik laughed out loud. “He will be pleased to know you think so highly of him.”
“You talk like you’re going to see him again.”
He nodded. “I will, as will you.”
“Really? When? How come?”
Shaking his head, he smiled. “I will answer those questions in due time.”
“Okay but I’m holding you to that.” She tapped her finger on his chest.
“Good enough. Now back to the story. Vincentius also went with me when I faced Freya to tell her what your change had been.” He thought about that for a moment. “I think he worried I might still try to kill her.”
“Could you have actually killed her? I mean, she is a goddess,” Calleigh said.
“Nay, I could not have killed her, but I would have taken pleasure from trying.”
“What would she have done to you for that?” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper.
“She would have banished me from Valhalla.”
Calleigh shuddered in his arms. “That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”
He lifted her hand and kissed her fingertips. “I am here now, that is all that matters.”
She nodded against his chest. “So how
did
you get here?”
“Ah, the story. When I told Freya you had given me your last change, she exploded. I swear to you, in my countless years in her service, never have I seen her so overcome by rage. She lost control.”
“Freaked her out, huh?”
He smiled, remembering the goddess’s outburst. “It was a highly enjoyable thing to watch. For that, I thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She patted his chest. “Why did it make her so mad? It was my change to give.”
“Aye, that is was. It angered her because she realized the change would take me from her service. She was about to lose her control of me, and she knew it.”
“I hate that she has the hots for you.” Calleigh’s words came out tinged with jealousy. “How many times did she try to hook up with you?.”
He nodded slowly, thinking about all the times Freya had tried to seduce him into her bed. “If you mean how many times did she try to bed me, many.”
“Why didn’t you?” She pulled back and looked at him. “I mean, I’m really glad you didn’t but I can’t believe you resisted her for that many years.”
“The pleasure comes with too high price. Once she beds you, she owns you. All chance of leaving her service vanishes. I wanted revenge more than I wanted her. And the thought of being turned into her pet, like Dimitri…” He curled his lip in disgust.
Her eyes widened. “Did you just say Dimitri? Blond hair?” She circled her fingers in front of her face. “Crazy blue eyes?”
“Aye. The eyes of those who become her thralls take on the same shifting blue of the goddess.” He furrowed his brow. “How do you know this?”
“I…I ran into Dimitri at the club. Vincentius was taking his guard dog role a little too seriously so I told him I had to go to the bathroom and slipped away. Dimitri seemed nice enough at first, but as we danced he kept getting closer and…” She hung her head.
Temper flared hot in his veins. He sensed what was coming next. “Go on.”
“I didn’t want to stay but I couldn’t seem to get away from him.” Her head stayed down, and her voiced lowered further. “He kept telling me I wanted it. He kissed me. Without permission, I swear.”
He growled and clenched his fist. “Freya used him to distract you until the moment was right.”
She looked up, eyes glistening. “I knew something wasn’t kosher when he kissed me. You told me a Phoenix wasn’t allowed to interfere. That was definitely interfering. I managed to break away from him and that’s when I went to look for you.”
He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Like all of Freya’s minions, Dimitri’s gaze holds hypnotic power. It only works on mortals. I am so sorry. I did not know this happened to you.” He hugged her close, the soft press of her body soothing his anger. “Could I regain entrance to Valhalla, I would hunt that cur down and geld him.”
She laughed softly. “I don’t think Freya would like that.”
“All the more reason.” He kissed her sweet, pouting lips.
She kissed him back but only for a moment. “So what happened next? After Freya freaked out?”
He pulled her tight, snugging her hip against his groin. “When Freya regained control, she realized she had to grant my change. The laws of the Phoenix are not hers to bend. I announced my change and it was made so. And here I am.”
“You think that’s going to satisfy me?
I announced my change and it was made so
.” She deepened her voice, imitating him. “I want the whole story. What about avenging your family and getting even with Dagny?”
He leaned further back on the couch and propped one arm behind his head. “I have Vincentius to thank for helping me figure this out as well. For my change, I requested that my soul be taken by Freya two days prior to my marriage with Dagny and that my life be regained here, with you. My disappearance will be a hard thing for my family to take but better that they live and miss me, than we all die for naught.
“Besides, my brother long held suspicions of Dagny. I think my disappearance will raise his guard high enough to prevent her deception. And with no wedding feast, her plans must be relaid.”
An image of his brother flashed in his mind. “Aran is a good man. He will be a fine chieftain in my stead. I wish you could have met my brother. He would like you very much.”
Calleigh tilted her head. “But won’t you miss your family?”
“I have mourned my family for more years than I can count. Knowing I was not the cause of their needless deaths has lightened my heart considerably. It will not be such a hard thing to bear, I think.”
“Wait.” Her brows knit in confusion. “Let me get this straight. You asked Freya to bring you back here, to me. But you didn’t show up on the third day like I thought you would.”
He grimaced. “Actually, I did return on the third evening. To a place called Central Park. Freya’s last strike, I suppose.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Does that have anything to do with the cut on your forehead?”
“Aye. This Central Park is not such a friendly place when the sun sets. But trust me when I tell you the other four are far worse off.”
“Four?” She swallowed. “I don’t think I want to know any more about that.”
He chuckled. “I promise not to speak another word of it.”
“Thanks. How did you get from Central Park to here?”
“I did not know how to find you but I had your uncle’s card still in my pocket. I procured one of those yellow vehicles, showed him the card and commanded he take me there.”
“Wow.” The corner of her mouth turned up in a playful grin. “You’re smarter than a horse.”
He laughed. “I am just pleased your uncle agreed to pay the driver.”
She wiggled off his lap to kneel beside him on the couch. Her bronze eyes were so serious, so full of wonder. “You really took a chance coming back here, didn’t you?”
“Aye.” He clasped his hands around her waist, enjoying the feel of his woman. “I did not know if you loved me or if you would even want to speak to me but my heart would not let me decide otherwise. I had to come back to you.”
She flung her arms around him and squeezed. “I’m so glad you did.” Her breath tickled his ear as she exhaled. “I’m so glad you did.”