Toher. Which was why I needed to proceed with extreme caution. She might revel in blood, but she had never felt the might ofmine.
Energy sizzled on her skin, spreading like wildfire through her nerves. Crawling through her muscles like a merciless horde of marching ants. I could lash the skin off her luscious body with my blood alone if that were my goal. Though I had only one wish.
Her bond flared in my mind, filling me with her presence. Her spirit. Flowing like the crystal pure waters at the base of Yggdrasil.:What’s your wish, Heimdallr?:
I hadn’t meant to broadcast my thoughts to her, though it spoke of how deep and true her bond had forged its way into my being.:Forgive me, Helayna, my queen. I’m forbidden to ever reveal in words the secret weapon inlaid within this body.:
Misery darkened the crystal waters flowing into me, and I couldn’t bear to look upon her beauty. Shadows so old I couldn’t even recall when they’d begun to cast their shade across my path. The ache of millennia. Unfulfilled longing. Alone. So alone.
Crafted to be the perfect guardian. A shining bow of colorful hope against the darkest storm clouds and grimmest, bloodiest battles. Destined to die at the last bridge. The last stronghold. So as I lay dying, my blood...
Could destroy the last bridge and keep the golden halls of Ásgarðr safe.
One would think a being as old and powerful as me would have given up silly, selfish wishes. The hope that perhaps a vampire queen might not be afraid of the deadly weapon I carry in my very blood. I’d allowed hope to grow when she fed so long without harm. When she’d found pleasure just from tasting me, spinning her own rainbows into the night. When she’d absorbed the small amount of my blood on her chin without any harm. But that did not mean?—
“Look at me.”
My eyes snapped open, focusing on her face, first, but try as I might, I could not keep my gaze locked to hers. Not when her fingers glided between her breasts. Over her stomach. Drawingmy gaze down to the crimson droplets shining against her skin. She traced aimless swirls and designs in my blood. Smearing it deeper.
Her back arched. Her breath caught on a cry. Not of pain. Not of fear. She absorbed the power burning on her skin and turned it into pleasure. Her body shuddered with climax, her hips undulating. Her head rolled side to side on the cushions.
Blinking up at me, she licked her lips. “I want more.”
A shudder of shock rolled through me. Followed swiftly by licking flames. “Then you shall have every drop in my body if you want it.”
29
HELAYNA
I’d tasted the darkest essence of Hel flowing in my dark alfar’s veins. The piercing, brutal cold of my ice giant. The snowy fur of my arctic predator. The colorful, dancing rainbows in my god.
But I’d never felt anything quite like the explosion of his blood on my skin. The heated rush of flaring magic sinking into me. Magic so strong and powerful it laced the Nine Worlds together into the tapestry of Yggdrasil’s roots and branches. Crossing universes. Spanning infinite darkness to the full spectrum of light. The deepest levels of Hel to the highest, brightest realm of light. Now lighting up my cells. Forming new connections and bridges throughout my body. His blood sank through my skin, melded with the rainbows I’d already swallowed, and turned my veins into raging torrents.
My fangs throbbed. I needed to bite him. Tear at him. Fill my mouth with his essence. Grip him in my jaws. Coat myself in his blood.
I tried to arch upward to sink my fangs into him, but he gripped my throat, pinning me flat. Fangs bared, I glared up at him, digging my nails into his arm.
His eyes blazed like the crystal prism on his sword. His nostrils flared, his jaws tight with effort. “I will give you want but carefully, my queen.”
“Fuck carefully. I want you to fuck me now.”
His jaws ground side to side, the cords in his neck and shoulders straining. Not to hold me down—but to keep himself under control. It dawned on me I should probably heed his warning. I should be at least a little scared of him.
He was an ancient Norse god of untold majesty and power.
But I’m the Daughter of Hel and Loki. I’d survived being trapped inside Jörmungandr and touched Yggdrasil. If anyone could survive a god’s full, undivided attention, it would be me.
I raked my nails down his forearm. Even his godly skin was easy to shred after tearing through dark alfar hide. His blood streamed down around my neck. Tiny rivers carrying powder kegs of explosive magic. I squirmed and twisted in his grip, now slippery with his own blood. Though I couldn’t escape while climax raged through me.
Shuddering, I bit my bottom lip, adding my own blood to the volatile cocktail of magic shimmering between us.
“Fuck,” he ground out.
“Yes, please.”
“Odin damn me for being a fool.” Then he released me.
I surged up and sank my fangs into his chest. A hard, deep, messy bite made him grunt. His throat, tearing his skin rather than leaving tidy punctures. His blood fountained across my breasts, and I lost the capacity for thought. For anything. Thrashing, I fell back to the mattress. On fire. Inside and out. The rainbows in his blood swept through me in a sparkling flood, making me pant, sweat, and shake.
