Page 24

Finally. All her life, she'd wanted to see reindeer, and there had to be twenty or thirty of them, right in front of her.

Then she looked up, and forgot all about the reindeer.

"Is that the aurora? The northern lights?" she asked, marvelling at the coruscating colours as they reflected off snow, clouds and the distant sea. "I thought you could only see those in winter, not summer. I wish I'd brought my camera. This is freaking amazing." She dropped to her knees beside Loki, and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you."

He cuddled into her, making a sound that was almost like a rumbling purr. Not something that usually came out of a dog, but then he wasn't really a dog, was he?

She wasn't sure how long they sat there, just watching the light show, until the fog started to press in, and the light faded.

Loki shoved at her as he rose to his feet. And kept rising, which made no sense.

"What?" she asked, turning to look at him. The wolf was gone, replaced by a sturdy looking pony with shaggy fur. A pony who jerked his head toward his back expectantly. "You expect me to ride you back to camp?"

She wasn't sure how a pony could possibly look smug, but he did, when he nodded.

She had to force herself not to check if he was hung like a horse as she climbed on. She was still aching from last night, so she knew as a human, he was definitely big enough to satisfy her. If only he'd be willing to do it again...

But even with the heat of him between her thighs, it was hard to think about anything else other than not falling off, as the path narrowed to where there was a precipitous drop on either side that the fog had hidden from her before. He trotted off down the mountain, and she dug her hands into his mane and hung on.

If he got her back to camp safely, then she could think about...whatever she was starting to feel for this man. God. Horse. Wolf. Whatever.

The god of mischief, definitely. What else he was...she could worry about that later.

TWENTY-FIVE

Loki shouldn't be enjoying this. He didn't like being a horse. But if it meant having Jorunn on his back, right up close to him, he didn't mind it so much. Besides, he could hardly let her head down the mountain on her own. She might stumble off a cliff and get herself killed. She wasn't made of living stone, the way he was.

Some small creature scurried ahead of him, running along the edge of the ridge until it sloped down, and hid the creature from sight. A rabbit, maybe? As a horse, the runner meant little to him. Now, if he'd still been in his wolf form, or even an owl, he would have taken off after it, and maybe turned it into a lining for the hood of his cloak, but right now, he just kept plodding along, protecting the drowsing woman he...

Loki stopped. No. He wasn't protecting her. That's what THEY wanted him to do. Erik and his pet witches.

Then again, he was fairly certain Jorunn wasn't one of Erik's people, and definitely wasn't a witch. So if he was protecting her, as his instincts were screaming at him to do, it couldn't possibly be Erik's doing. Just something strange to do with the spell that he hadn't managed to entirely break.

But he would, he promised himself. He would. Thor might want to remain in the spell's thrall forever, like the gormless oaf he was, because fighting and protecting was what he wanted to do anyway. Not to mention the dark sprite who'd enchanted him – someone that delicate needed protecting. Not like Jorunn, who was every bit a shieldmaiden, even if she didn't own an actual shield.

So why was he carrying Jorunn home now?

Well...

He'd led her up the mountain, and she'd trusted him, something few people did, so he supposed he was honouring that trust by taking her home safely. Not that she couldn't have walked beside him instead of riding, or even finding her own way, with that curious light she wore on her head lighting the way.

And he wouldn't mind the feel of her body on top of his in other, more intimate circumstances...and without the fur, of course. Or clothes. Definitely without the clothes.

He'd give his life for another night with her like last night...

None of the women in Odin's village had ever trusted him the way Jorunn did, or looked at him that way, either. Once or twice, he'd fancied Thor's sister, Sif, might have, but she'd never actually asked him to take a tumble with her, and he'd never had the courage to ask, and then she'd been gone. Then again, if he had, he'd probably have had to contend with Thor's wrath, which would have outweighed all the pleasure from a night in his sister's bed.

So Sif had never really been an option for him.

And now...

Now he was branded a traitor to his people, and no one but Jorunn believed him trustworthy enough to listen to him. Even Thor thought he'd stolen his hammer. As though he'd want to wield that bulky hunk of metal. Give him a throwing axe or a knife, and a place to hide, and Loki was in his element, but in an open battle, he was the worst kind of warrior. He was a scout for a reason, and he was good at it.

Except when he'd been captured by Erik's men...

Like a rabbit in a trap, as helpless as the running creature up on the ridge.

Loki sighed. He was a good scout. The best. Except that once.