Page 105 of Vengeance of the Gods

“You look good down there on your knees,” Vega teased, winking at him as she slid off the edge of the table.

He watched every single fucking move she made, eyes drinking her in. It only took her a single step to stand directly in front of him. Bridger’s hands were like a magnet to Vega. He ran them up her soft legs, her skin so much smoother than his war-trained hands. His eyes hadn’t met hers yet—he was too distracted by Vega’s glistening inner thighs. He licked his lower lip, biting down hard enough to remind him she’d spoken.

“The view’s really great down here too.” He finally flicked his gaze up to Vega’s. She cupped her hand under his chin, guiding him to his feet.

Bridger stood, towering over her again, and placed his hands on either side of Vega’s face, trying to get inside her head and see every thought.

“We’re so fucked,” she said what Bridger was thinking.

Bridger couldn’t help himself. As if under a spell, he brought his face down to Vega’s and pressed his lips to hers in a delicate kiss, his hands still cupping the sides of her face.

It wasn’t a kiss with the underlying expectation of wanting more. It was a kiss that made the air around them feel scalding hot, like warmth was seeping back into Bridger’s life after years locked outside in the cold.

He could stay here forever, in this moment with Vega until the rest of the world fell away.

And she seemed content to stay with him too.

For now. It felt like someone else’s voice warning him.

The patter of a set of light footsteps triggered Bridger’s senses. He pulled away from their kiss, and Vega groaned in protest, blissfully unaware of the company who’d slipped in without them noticing.

He blocked Vega’s nearly naked body from the red-and-black fox frozen in the middle of the room with Bridger’s bonded dagger gripped between its teeth. It garbled a growl and fled for the front door.

“Hey!” Bridger yelled, scooping Vega’s underwear off the floor and passing it to her.

She tugged them on quickly, and as soon as she was no longer naked, he took off after the fox. Bridger’s bonded sword flew through the home, finding his outstretched hand by its bond to his power.

He checked over his shoulder before he blew through the front door to find Vega already stepping into her pants.

The fox didn’t look back, but it kicked itself into high gear once out in the open. Even as it kicked up dirt and did its best to get away, Bridger was still too fast, snatching it up by the scruff of its neck.

His bonded blade clattered to the cobblestone below as the red fox screamed for help—he didn’t have to speak to animals to recognize the cry.

Bridger held the too large sword against the animal’s throat, but Vega came out ready to defend—as usual. “Bridger, no! It’s a bonded animal!”

Bonded animals were similar to Bridger’s bonded weapons, only alive. And depending on how deep the soul connection was, if a bonded animal died, so would their person.

“No, please! Don’t kill her.” A woman who could be anywhere from twenty to over a hundred, with hair the same color as the fox’s deep red chest, came crashing out of the shadows with her hands up, approaching slowly. “Please.”

“Grab your blade and put her down,” Vega told him.

The fox wriggled in Bridger’s unrelenting grasp, doing what it could to sink its claws or teeth in him.

“Tilie, calm down. It’s okay,” the girl ensured her bonded pet, taking small steps towards Vega and Bridger.

Bridger extended his sword to Vega. She took it, and as if she’d lost no time at all with weaponry too big for her body, Vega sliced through the air, holding the girl at the tip of the blade. “Don’t come any closer.”

Bridger watched her throat bob. “I promise we mean no harm.” Her hands stayed up, and she let her eyes rove away from the sword at her neck. “I didn’t know it was you two. Only that two people were in there, distracted, and they might have food or weapons.” She shrugged her shoulders apologetically.

The fox continued to thrash. Bridger scooped his dagger up and plopped the feral animal on the ground—maybe a little harder than he should have.

She snapped at Bridger once but scurried quickly to hide behind the redhead. She weaved through her ankles before sitting between her parted feet like she’d done it a million times before. Her thick tail flicked as she watched Bridger. “Tilie says she’s sorry.”

With the way the fox hissed, Bridger knew she was lying.

“Who are you?” Vega asked.

“I’m Octavia. Tav. This is Ottilie. Tilie.” She nodded down to the red fox. “And I was sent by the leader of Demuto. I need to talk to Khort.”