Page 57 of Thorulf
“Not because I wanted to forget you,”he reminded telepathically, following thoughts he shouldn’t.“But because I was forced to.”
Even so. As much as she applauded people enjoying sex with whoever they wanted, the thought of these women touching Thorulf made her not just queasy, but worse yet, because she loathed the sensation,possessive. However illogical, her inner dragon felt betrayed by these women. They should have known Thorulf was hers even though they couldn’t possibly have.
When she glanced to the left and saw Thorulf’s lodge, her throat thickened with emotion once again. How many times had she longed to go in there? To curl up on his bed when she was little, then spread her thighs for him on that same bed when she got older?
“I never lay with another woman in there,”Thorulf divulged.“For some reason, it never felt right, and now I know why. Some part of me had to have known you were still out there.”
“Yet you kissed my sister on that bed,”she returned dryly.“And I bet you would’ve slept with her if you could have.”
“I think we both know Evil had his hand in that,”he countered.“And I wouldn’t have slept with her because I felt nothing when I kissed her. Nothing at all.”
She knew. She had followed enough of it telepathically across time to know she had nothing to worry about. Nonetheless, she was on an emotional rollercoaster ride at the moment. Partly because all of this was intense and partly because she was in heat. Not the best time for it, considering it amped up an already healthy sex drive and tended to make her think with a one-track mind. Add in jealousy and forget it. Vicious mix.
“What about our lair?”she asked more sharply than intended. Though she tried to hide her relief over his lodge, she knew he felt it.“How many women did you bring there?”
It didn't matter that she herself had flirted shamelessly with Loki and outright kissed Vicar. She was on a roll.
“None to our lair,”he replied a little too quickly.
“None but the purple dragon,”she surmised.
“I don’t know.”He sighed.“Maybe.”
She cringed at the thought then shivered with equal disgust that she might have done the same with that big black dragon. That both of them might have been seduced by Evil to that degree.
“But not anymore.”Thorulf glanced at her, his anger unmistakable.“They will never have us again, Jade.”
“No,”she agreed, stopping once she entered the main lodge. It was just as it had been in his mind’s eye. Large and spacious, with fire burning in bowls hung from the rafters. Sven and Emily greeted her then introduced everyone else. Where in the Realm, men had blatantly checked her out, they were more discreet here, respecting that she was with Thorulf. But then, like before, he made things perfectly clear to men and women alike when he repeated what he’d said at the Realm.
He intended to make her his mate.
While before she’d all but given him the finger, this time she gave the women eyeing Thorulf a that’s-right-and-don’t-forget-it look. She hated how possessive she felt. She really did. But at the same time, it felt perfectly natural and one hundred percent hers. So maybe she didn’t hate it allthatmuch.
Where Maya likely beamed pure sunshine at these people when she first met them, that wasn’t quite Jade’s style. She winked at the men, letting them know being friends wasn’t off the table. Then she narrowed her eyes just enough at the women. Not necessarily to be threatening but to let them know she could go that way faster than they could take their lustful gazes off of Thorulf.
After they chanted themselves dry and Tor saw to Thorulf’s wounds, they were handed ale and sat at a trestle table beside one of many fires. Drums played a steady beat, and rain pounded on the ceiling as godly storms continued to rage overhead.
“Tell us about what happened when you went back for Maya,” Sven urged Thorulf. “And while I’m pleased to know we have LokiandThor protecting us now,” he went on, having been filled in on everything telepathically, “what are we to make of Evil getting through in the form of not one but two dragons?”
Though Maya had said little since returning, she’d given Jade a look of reassurance and told her all was well. She hadn’t been hurt. Her main concern, understandably, had been her unborn child.
“As to Evil's two dragons getting in, I would imagine the enemy had a direct line in through his connection to Jade and me,” Thorulf replied. “As to retrieving Maya, that went more smoothly than anticipated, but then Loki and Thor likely helped with that.” He looked at Jade and surprised her. “But most specifically,youhelped with that.”