Chapter Twelve Heimdall

E lectricity exploded through my system, driving out all the panic and anxiety I felt. Suddenly I didn't care that I was stuck. I only cared that Loki was touching me, kissing me. I stopped my struggling and leaned into him, allowing his tongue to slip inside me and twist around my own. His rich earthy scent filled my senses, transporting me back to the forest above where the sun shone, and the golden leaves sat damp upon the earth. The butterflies in my stomach erupted and all at once, I felt light and careless.

"You're okay," Loki whispered as he pulled away from me. "But I need you to listen to me, okay?"

I nodded dumbly, unable to think of anything else but him.

"I'm going to take your hands and pull. You're going to breathe out as far as you can and relax all your muscles. Do you think you can do that?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Okay."

Loki got up and got in front of me. Instead of crouching down, he put his butt on the floor and his feet up on the stone above my head. Grabbing my arms, he threaded me into his lap so that my head was basically level with his navel. I was all too aware of the heat emanating from his groin and the thick scent of pheromones. Clearly, he was enjoying this as much as I was.

"You're going to hold onto me as tight as you can, alright?"

I nodded. Afraid to open my mouth this close to his cock. It seemed being in a life-or-death situation wasn't distracting me from the fact that I still wanted him badly. I wanted to know what it felt like to have his body in my hands, to feel his lips around mine, and to feel his tight ass wrapped about my cock.

"Mm-hmm," I said, trying to stop myself from fantasizing too much. Getting hard wasn't gonna help me get free of this tunnel any easier.

"Alright," he said. "On the count of three, okay?"

I nodded again, taking a deep breath before blowing it all out until my lungs were empty.

"One… two… three!"

Pressing his feet against the stone above me, Loki wrapped his arms under mine and pulled with all his might. At the same time, I felt myself budge a few inches and I inhaled sharply, surprised this weird horizontal squat thing he was doing was working.

"Breathe out again," he hissed through gritted teeth, not allowing himself to stop.

I forced all the air out of my lungs and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling myself up as he pushed against the wall. I clenched my teeth, forcing the rest of my body to relax as I breathed him in. Loki strained, the veins in his neck popping as he pushed and pushed against the wall. The pressure exerted against my body made me feel like I was being torn in two. But I screwed my eyes shut and forced myself to bear the excruciating pain.

In my moment of desperation, I made a deal with myself. Should I get free of this tunnel, I wouldn't hold back my feelings for Loki anymore. Already I'd wasted far too much time. He was my mate, I knew that. But I'd been too afraid to say anything and too afraid of the consequences. And there was a very real possibility that I'd missed my only chance to be with him.

Should I get free, I wouldn't waste that chance again. I'd tell him.

The moment the thought passed through my mind, I felt my body shift again. Loki cried out, giving me one last tug before I finally came free. I cried out for joy as we both tumbled backward. But just when I'd managed to get a full breath into my lungs, my body was suddenly enveloped in mind-numbing cold. Air rushed out of me once more as I realized we'd both fallen into the river.

I pushed myself up, the water only a couple of feet deep, and gasped. I could feel Loki's arms still wrapped around me, but I couldn't see him. The current was swift, carrying us both away at a speed I could only guess. I tried to dig my feet in or grab something but the stone beneath us was as smooth as glass. I glanced over my shoulder to see the light of his phone growing further and further away, still sitting on the edge of the river where he'd propped it up. In a matter of seconds, it was gone, and we were plunged into complete darkness.

And that's when we were suddenly airborne.

We fell through open air, holding tightly to one another until we crashed into water once more. I hadn't even heard the waterfall coming thanks to the terror of getting stuck and the shock of the cold water. But I heard it as I resurfaced. And from what I could tell, we still had another couple of falls before we were done.

I was almost right. By the time we stopped crashing into stone and over waterfalls, we'd been through three. I'd struck the bottom every single time, my body crashing against the rock. The cold numbed the pain, but I knew the moment we were out, I was going to feel like one giant bruise.

If we ever got out, that was.

"Grab for something!" Loki cried. "Anything!"

"I can't see!"

"Just keep trying!"

Another thirty seconds went by of being carried away by the current. But then, much to our surprise, the current slowed and the stone under our feet fell away. Suddenly we were treading water in a much deeper pool. And that brought with it a new fear. The cold was setting in and my muscles were already exhausted and beaten from the events of the last twenty minutes. I needed to find land or my legs were going to give out.

"Do you see it?!" Loki cried, grabbing at my shoulder in the dark.

"What?!"

His hand searched until it found my face. With a hand on my cheek, he pointed me the opposite direction. My heart gave a little leap as there, in the darkness, was a shaft of sunlight illuminating a dry piece of rock. It was some distance away, and it wasn't very big, but it was something . And it meant our survival. We just had to swim to it first.

"Come on," I said, pulling my way through the water. "Swim!"

Both of us panted and splashed as we worked our way across the pool. More than once I had to grab Loki and pull him back above the water. The poor guy was exhausted after having freed me. Not to mention, he was much smaller than me, so the cold was probably sinking into his system faster. Considering my teeth were already chattering, and I found it hard to breathe, I was surprised he'd lasted this long.

Still, I didn't leave his side. Even when my feet finally touched ground once more, I made sure to haul him up and out of the water. Both of us crawled up onto the stone until we were completely free of it. However, even when we reached the ten-foot circle of sunlight, it held no warmth. Autumn in the Appalachian Mountains was cold, and winter was close at hand. We'd have to find a different way to get warm.

"I'm s-s-so c-cold," I chattered, sitting up and pulling my knees to my chest.

"W-We need t-t-to get out of th-these w-wet clothes," Loki replied, his voice weak. "It's s-sapping our h-h-heat."

I was past the point of arguing with Loki. I was too cold and too tired for that. So, without hesitation, I began to strip my clothing off, dropping it on a wet heap on the stone next to me. I took off my shirt, pants, shoes, and socks. But after a moment of hesitation, decided to keep my briefs on. However, when I turned back to Loki, he hadn't even managed to get his shirt off yet. In fact, he was shivering so much, he could barely breathe, much less pull his shirt over his head.

"Here," I said, grabbing the hem of his shirt. "Let me."

Loki looked up at me with those amber eyes of his, but he didn't argue. Instead, he just watched me as I removed his shirt. I pulled his shoes and socks off next, placing them down with a lot more care than I had my own. At that point I paused, looking back up at him for permission to continue. His skin was cold to the touch, and he almost looked like he'd taken on a blueish hue. For a moment I wasn't sure if he was nodding to give me permission or shivering, but I decided I didn't care. He was in danger of dying if I didn't get him warm.

With shaking hands, I unbuttoned his jeans and worked them off. To my surprise, I found him completely naked beneath, his soft cock flopping free. The sight of it made my cheeks burn with embarrassment, but I didn't let it dissuade me. The moment he was free of his clothing, I gathered him up in my arms and pulled him close, wrapping my body around him to give him my heat.

He shivered under my arms, his body colder than I thought possible.

"Talk t-t-to me," I said. "I know y-you're not s-s-supposed to go to s-sleep. So t-talk to me."

"W-What do you w-w-want me t-to say?" he chattered, barely more than a whisper.

"Thank you for g-getting me out of that t-t-tunnel. I really owe y-you one."

"It w-was nothing," he replied. He paused for a moment before adding, "Y-You're a lot b-b-bigger than I th-thought."

"Did you j-just call me f-fat?" I asked incredulously, smirking despite myself.

"N-N-No. You're j-just… big ." He tilted his head to the side, letting it rest against my bicep. "I w-wish I was b-big."

"I think you're p-perfect just the way y-you are."

He opened his eyes, looking up at me with a confused expression.

I took a deep breath, knowing what I was about to do next.

"I d-decided that I'm n-not gonna lie to you anymore. N-Not after everything we've b-b-been through," I said slowly. "I-I… I think y-you're… pretty ."

Even numb from head to toe, I knew that was a stupid fucking thing to say. But before he could reply, I kept going, trying to cover up how foolish I felt.

"I d-don't know what it m-means. B-Before we fell down here, I d-didn't think I could even b-be attracted to a man." I shook my head, unable to meet his gaze. "I don't understand it. As much as I know I s-should hate you… I c-can't."

"Is this b-because I pulled y-you out of the pit?" Loki asked in a tone of disbelief. "Because you d-don't owe me anything."

"It's not that. It's… s-something else."

"What?"

I took a deep breath, forcing my gaze to stay on the stone. "I… I think you're m-my… mate ."