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ChapterTen
ALEK
“What the hell is wrong with me?” This tightening in my chest wouldn’t ease, no matter how many shots I downed or women I flirted with.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Moira said, holding up two crystal goblets and a bottle of expensive-looking mead. “I brought reinforcements,” she said, flopping down next to me.
I hadn’t had a proper flagon of mead since I’d left home, but one whiff as I cracked open the bottle told me she’d gotten her hands on the genuine product. My mouth watered, craving the smoke and honey taste.
Picking up one of the glasses, I splashed some of the amber liquid into it and handed it to her. Then, holding the bottle up to my lips, I toasted, “Skål,” before knocking it back and draining it completely.
Once it was empty, I threw the bottle down on the floor beside me, causing a few of the patrons nearby to jump out of the way as the glass shattered. “I require more of this nectar!” I shouted at one of the waitresses in the loud, obnoxious fashion of my ancestors. Then I threw in a wink for good measure, and the pretty blonde turned a sweet shade of red before rushing off to do as I’d asked.
Moira was watching me with an amused quirk of her brow. “Was that really necessary?”
Stealing the drink she’d yet to sample, I downed that too. “Yes. Vikings don’t fuck around when it comes to mead.”
“Clearly,” she said with a snort.
The waitress was quick to return with a fresh bottle, and I settled in to enjoy the club's atmosphere. I wasn’t in the mood for dancing, but I was always up for a party. The mischief that could be made when a little alcohol was mixed with hot, sweaty bodies and raging pheromones was too tempting to resist.
“So what are you doing here, witch? Don’t you have someone to keep you occupied? I know I don’t have the right equipment to entice you.”
She kicked her feet up on the low table in front of the oversized leather couch we were seated on. Instead of answering, she said, “I think I have you pegged. It took me a while, but I think I know now.”
I lifted a brow, curious whether she’d finally put it all together. “Go on.”
“Fenrir.”
Before I could stop myself, a harsh bark of laughter escaped me. “You think I’m a fucking dog?”
“He’s a wolf.”
“I’m no animal.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s debatable.”
Opening the fresh bottle of Mannaölgr, I poured us each a glass. I raised mine, staring at her pointedly until she did the same. Then clinking them together, I shouted, “Skål.” When Moira started to lift her glass to her lips without repeating the toast, I put my hand on top of her goblet, preventing her from sipping.
“What the hell?”
“If you’re going to drink with a Viking, sweetheart, you have to do it right.”
“Oh fine,” she groaned. “Skål.”
I moved my hand, grinning at her before knocking my drink back. We continued on in this fashion until the bottle was nearly empty.
It took a lot to get me drunk. A lot. But Moira, however fierce she liked to pretend to be, was a cheap date. The woman swayed in her seat, then turned a little green. “Oh, goddess. I’ll be right back.”
Clamping a hand over her mouth, she ran for the bathroom, and I chuckled, shaking my head. “Fucking lightweight.”
I poured another, and my gaze trailed over the crowd as I brought the heavenly liquid to my lips. My focus zeroed in onher. Sunday. The woman I had no intention of lusting over. She wasn’t mine, wasn’t even interested in me. But there it was again, that strange tightness, that curl in my belly that spoke of an intense draw to keep her safe.
Thorne was all over her as they stood together at the bar, his hands roaming her body, lips moving as he whispered in her ear and made her blush. I shouldn’t care. I didn’t. But she was, for some reason, my responsibility. If that vampire flashed any hint of fang, I’d take him down and pull those teeth out of his skull myself.
What the fucking hell was wrong with me?
My hands ached from the force of the fists I was making as Thorne abandoned her in favor of conversation with two of his bloodsucking minions. The three of them left the main bar area, likely heading for one of the private meeting rooms downstairs. The bastard couldn't even bother to stay with her once he had her?
