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“Totally.” Kalebwas on his feet, grabbing Shaw by the hand and dragging her towards the exitbefore she could finish that sentence. Determinedly keeping his back to her,because if she could see the triumphant smile on his face right now, she’d knowsomething was up. His Valkyrie had just kissed him, in front of all her sisterValkyries, Freyja and everyone. It had been nothing but a peck. A promise ofmore to come. But Kaleb couldn’t help but feel he was making progress here.First getting Shaw to laugh. Then to kiss him in public. Why, the way he wasgoing he would totally trick her into claiming him in a under a decade, if heplayed his cards sneaky and persistent.
Shaw wasn’t surewhy she was receiving so many looks of surprise from her brethren as she andKaleb made a beeline for the door. Surely they could guess why they were makinga hasty exit. She was tempted to stop and question one of them, but Kaleb wasin a gratifying rush to get her out the door and home for their night ofdebauchery.
Hmmm, night ofdebauchery. That sounded like a lot of fun. The kind of physical exertion shecould totally get behind. Her brethren were probably just surprised theyweren’t headed to the beer garden for a quick slaking. But hey, what could shesay, perhaps she was getting old, but a comfortable bed, and a completely nakedConflict Demon at her beck and call - who never said no - that sounded waypreferable than a quick hump against a wall in the dark. Where historically youhad a greater chance of incurring brisk rash than achieving a satisfyingorgasm.
Chapter Sixteen
“I’m never gettingthe smell of smoke out of my hair.”
“I think this placeis a bust.” Kaleb acknowledged, squinting through the hovering haze down at themain floor of the gambling den. Laid out like a 1920’s Earth saloon: dark woodpanelling, matching floors and red leather booths lining the perimeter of theroom. Most of the patron action occurring around the green felt topped largetables arranged in the centre of the large space. Cards. Roulette. Severalgames where small creatures scurried across the surface. Dice. Miniaturehorsefly races. The crowd mostly looked human, though there were severalpresent with horns, tails and skin colour that clearly indicated they weren’t.There was also an extraordinary amount of diversity when it came to the size ofthe patrons. Some hulking, some tiny, and a variety of patrons in between.
“She’s a goblin,they’re on the small side. I think we need to go down and look.”
“According to youshe wears a four foot purple wig, that’s kind of hard to miss.”
“Knowing ourluck….” This was their fourth stop of the day in their search for the elusiveshe-goblin, who had recently won the contract to become the Valkyrie’s new meatsupplier. A highly sought after lucrative contract. Which made the owner of thecompany’s disappearance a true mystery. “…Yashay is probably in the little girlgoblin’s room powdering her chin. We need to split up and search morethoroughly.”
“And I say again.Can’t you just void the contract and hire a new butcher?”
Heading for thestairs, Kaleb on her six, Shaw’s phone vibrated in her pocket. Tugging it outshe read the text message. “Olrun has just sent through the contract. Maybethere’s something in there that can give us a clue as to what the hell is goingon.”
“Finally.” Oncethey reached the main floor of the gambling den Kaleb tugged on Shaw’s arm,leading her over to an empty booth. “Let’s read the damn thing before we chasedown any more futile leads today.” Signalling a waitress that he wanted toorder some beverages. “I’m parched and we rushed breakfast. Let’s at least grabsome hot chips or something.”
Like the previousmorning Shaw has bustled Kaleb out of her house like it was on fire. Barelyallowing enough time for him to shower and dress in the clothes he’d beenwearing the previous day. There was no mention of their night spent together inthe guest suite. No thank you or coy looks to reference the seven, no, - he wasforgetting their first encounter outside the room in the corridor, they’d beenthat eager - eight times they’d banged boots.
Shaw had all butshoved a piece of cold buttered toast in Kaleb’s mouth when he’d emerged fromthe bathroom before hustling him outside to Zuri’s waiting yet again borrowedjeep.
Thankfully Kalebhad managed to find a black t-shirt with only two holes in it crumpled in therear of the vehicle. It looked a little odd, given the cream linen trousers andboat shoes, but it was better than swanning around dim dark dangerous gamblingdens wearing a pale blue shirt that practically screamed money, please try androb me. He so didn’t have the time for that today. Shaw was the mission.Helping her. In the process hopefully proving to her that he was a dependable,resourceful … cool enigmatic sexy guy.
Shaw studied Kaleb as he ordered them ale and some fries to share. Hewas looking weirdly dangerous today. Something about that black t-shirt withthe holes in it just revved her engine. Which was ridiculous. Her engine, afterthe night they’d just shared, not to mention the night before that, should be abroken down wreck. Yet there was just… something about Kaleb that made her… cravemore of his brand of fucking.
She wasn’t worried. Valkyries had a tendency to get fixated on things. Anew sharp edged hatchet. Favouring one technique over several others todecapitate. Or suddenly only drinking boutique pale ales.
But then a new sharp weapon would come along. Or they’d suddenly switchto defenestration over decapitation. Someone would insist they try a new stoutale. And instantaneously the fixation would evaporate. Shaw was positive beyonda doubt that the same thing would happen in regards to her desire for Kaleb.
Any moment now she was expecting the sight of his easy grin to piss heroff once more. Or for that damnable dimple to cause her stomach to curdle withdisinterest. Yeah, any moment now.
But until then she was prepared to lean into the fucking, figuratively,since any old moment it would all be over. Not right now though, as he reachedover, grabbed her phone and leant back, that disreputable holey black t-shirtstretching across hard planes of muscle she now knew intimately.
The important thing here was to ensure the Demon had no clue of how hungup she was on him… currently, momentarily, for a few passing days.
It was vital then that she stop staring at the bloody tight t-shirt fora start. And put a lock down on insane ideas like giving in to the urge tobrush Kaleb’s overlong sandy locks out of his eyes so he could read thecontract on her phone unencumbered.
What was going on with her? Was it nerves? She was very likely returningto battle fulltime in the very near future. Once she finished all hercommitments to Stephanie, ditched the Demon and received her medical sign off.
An Earth year wasn’t a huge amount of time to take off but it did equateto a number of years on the Fjornfall Planes. Perhaps things had changed. Freyja,what was she saying? Valkyries never forgot how to kill, and their enemiesnever forgot how to die grisly deaths. Thank the Good Goddess above.
Still, Shaw was unusually grateful for the interruption of the waiter,arriving with two large pints of ale and thumping down a huge basket of fries.Reaching hurriedly for her ale, Shaw took a fortifying swig, forcing herself toconcentrate on the beverage. Notes of apple. Don’t stare at Kaleb like a… hornyfool. Was that a hint of honey? Ignore that faint little furrowing of his browas he read, it was so not cute or sweet. Think about the ale. Or the missinggoblin. Or what she had to do before she hit the battle Plane. Her armour couldreally use a good buffing… damn, and she was back to thinking about Kaleb again.
For a gambling den, the fries were surprisingly good. Hot. Salty.Crispy. Okay, Kaleb knew he was getting distracted. Read the fricking contract.Don’t look at Shaw. The way her head is tipped back as she enjoys her ale. Theway her delicate throat moves when she swallows. Causing him to wonder whatbody part he’d have to part with to convince her to go down on him. Fries, man.No, he meant contract. Oh, hold on, that’s interesting.
“You know this contract isn’t legally binding until the Valkyries holdtheir first official vendor meeting with Yashay. Why don’t we just ditch thishunt and you guys pick another supplier?” Handing her phone back across thetable.
“Our accountants are bloodhounds. During the bidding process they deepdived into every bid. Yashay’s was comprehensively the best money for qualitydeal on the table. Her company has been family run for four generations. Mostof the growth occurring in the last five years since she took up the reins.Prior to her leadership they were little more than a corner butcher storelocated in the Betog Realm. Yashay expanded at just the right amount, at justthe right time. Bidding and winning more and more prestigious contracts butnever at the cost of her employees or product.”
“For a Valkyrie who says she despises her corporate role, you sure doknow a lot about the vendor bidding process.”
“Watching Stephanie wield her clipboard during the selection process wasactually rather enjoyable. She had like two hundred questions written down foreach candidate. Able to cut through bullshit and lies as effectively with hersharp edged tongue as her war axes. But Yashay sat through those meetingsdisplaying nothing but confidence, professionalism, and a fierce eagerness towin the contract.”
