Page 10 of Loki's Heart

He had a variety of ideas but imagined none would translate to the heart. None would convince her his feelings went deeper than that of the flesh.

“I have faith in you to figure it out,” Cian replied.

“Do you really?” Loki murmured, eyeing him. “You strike me as the last person who would feel that way.”

“Yet, I must.” Cian took a swig of mead and eyed him right back. “Because her safety is more important than her heart being wounded by you in the end.”

He couldn’t fault the wizard for putting her first. Who knows? He might very well be right. Or he could be wrong. Something Loki contemplated as the evening wore on, and Revna spent time with the tiny seers. All of whom, not surprisingly, seemed quite taken with her. How could they not? Between her beauty and power, however waning it might be, she was a remarkable woman.

“I don’t want you sleeping near me,” she muttered when the night came to an end, and Svend showed them to their own alcove with a small crackling fire.

“Yet, I will.” While he would much rather have her in his arms, he sat with his back to the wall and watched her lie down on the other side of the flames. “Where else can I be when you hold my heart?”

“On the other side of the tree,” she muttered, frowning when Cian started to lie down and then apparently decided to leave. “Where are you going?”

“Too hot,” the Irishman said over his shoulder, shooting Loki a look on his way out. “I don’t crave the fire like you two.”

Revna grumbled something under her breath, yet she didn’t turn her back to Loki like he figured she would. Rather, she layon her side facing the fire, as sultry and defiant as ever, and closed her eyes. He had been mulling over how to go about things with her for hours and still wasn’t entirely sure of the right course of action, which left him more frustrated than he let on.

Irritable enough to go about things all wrong.

“I did what was best for your people, and you know it, woman,” he began firmly, certain she wasn’t tired in the least. “You’re far too wise not to have figured out why I would remain close to you. It was practical.” He rested his arms on bent knees and shrugged a shoulder. “And as I said before, pleasurable.”

When she didn’t respond, he went on.

“Truly, you should be flattered I appreciated your power of foresight.” Couldn’t she see the honor in that? “As was said, it aided in the cause. Gave you a role above and beyond the part you already played.” He nodded once, pleased with what he offered her. Sure she would be as well. “I will make sure everyone knows when we get back, too. What you did for them. For me. Your god.”

When she didn’t respond yet again, he gave more honesty than intended, hoping to incite their usual frisky banter.

“Whether you believe it or not, Iwastaken with you from the beginning,” he revealed. “More so, naturally, as you grew into a woman, but it was always there. Desire for your flesh. Your fire.” He bit back a smile when a telling flame curled up her neck. “The taste of you. The—”

“Stop talking, Loki,” she mumbled. “It’s not your strong point.”

“I disagree.”

“I’m sure.”

“What do you wish to talk about?” he asked, certain that communicating was the best course of action at the moment. He held back from reaching through the flames and touching hersoft cheek. “How can I convince you to share your heart with me?”

“You can’t.”

“But I will.”

“Go to sleep, Loki.”

“I’m not tired.”

“I am.”

“Then I will talk, and you can listen.” He manifested a horn of ale and considered how best to convince her verbally when it would be so much easier to get his way via her flesh. To have her moan, “No,” only to scream, “Yes.”

He had been dared, though, and would not see her proven right.

He could talk.

Wouldtalk.

Better yet, he would convince her with words what he’d eventually show her with his body.