He turned his head to look up into Njord’s eyes, bright with fury. But his thunder was trapped. He couldn’t—
“Yes, you can.”
“What are you talking about?” Hrothgar asked, his voice taking on a shrill edge.
Face morphing into an expression of pure horror, the traitorousvalastarted struggling against his bonds.
Thori let his power run free. A mighty clap of thunder shattered the silence, and Hrothgar was struck down by lightning. He didn’t even scream; he simply fell still as if the Norns had severed all the threads of his fate.
Thori was dizzy with the relief of being allowed to wield his thunder again, even if it was only on Njord’s terms. Breathing hard, he clung to Njord, trying to center himself.
He was only distantly aware that Njord was giving orders to prepare the fortress for an attack and to search for further signs of the entity he’d called ‘Bog Mother’. Skalmöld announced in grimy detail how she planned to extract information from Hrothgar’s corpse, but all Thori could think about was that his thunder had touched Njord and didn’t harm him, that his power had chosen Njord to be part of it.
“I understand your mistrust of theÆsir,” Njord said, addressing the mountain giant, and Thori’s heart sank.
Only now, the implications of what he’d done began to register. He was in so much trouble for attacking an advisor.
“But Thori belongs to me. You won’t speak ill of him.”
“Understood, my lord.”
The giant bowed his head, and the others nodded their agreement. Andora looked at them with something like awe.
Njord finished the council meeting with his usual calm authority, and Thori was relieved when the sea lord finally ordered him back to their sleeping chambers. He stumbled to the bed, barely awake, and sank down on its edge.
“I wouldn’t have hurt your giant,” Thori mumbled, feeling like he had to say something to defend his actions.
“I know.”
Sitting down next to him, Njord pushed a few unruly strands of hair back behind Thori’s ear.
“Still, I’ll have to punish you for your rashness.”
“Oh.”
On some level, Thori knew he should be afraid, but he was too tired by now to care.
“Don’t worry,” Njord breathed. “I won’t be cruel.”
A shudder ran down Thori’s spine, and his chest constricted with a confusing mixture of complicated feelings.
Apprehension?
Gratitude?
Lust?
He didn’t know anymore.
And he didn’t care.
Swaying forward, he pressed a chaste kiss to Njord’s lips.
“Thori,” Njord breathed, before kissing him back, soft and sensual.
He pulled away way too soon.
“You should sleep now,elskan.”
