Chapter 9

9

N icola didn`t know where to begin. Her head was bursting with questions, and she was overcome by a sudden shyness that wasn't like her. The Viking across the table from her was patient and magnetic. She didn't know if it was the fact he was a true Alpha or that he was her mate. How could he possibly be? How could the Fates think that this was a good match? Thor Halfdansson was a legend in every meaning of the word. She was just...Nicola.

"How about the obvious? How did you become a warg, or a vampire, for that matter? It seems a volatile mix," she said and took a mouthful of her sweet mead. She had been drinking water, but now she needed the liquid courage.

Thor watched her calmly, the question seeming to please him. "My men and I are from a small village that no longer exists. At the time, we dreamed of glory and riches, and we had heard of others who had traveled to Miklagard—Constantinople—to work for rich Christian lords. The Byzantines had money to burn, and we wanted more." Thor let out a tired sigh, and Nicola worried he wouldn't continue. "There is much to this tale, and we don't have the time tonight. The short version of events is that we made it to Kyiv, it was on the way, and we were hired by a rich lord who was traveling to Constantinople and wanted a bodyguard. We thought he was a strange Christian eccentric who only wanted to travel at night."

"He was a vampire?" Nicola guessed, leaning closer as the tale drew her in. Thor had a deep voice that was good for storytelling, and his Scandinavian accent was like a purr in her ears.

"He was a vampire, and worse, he had mages who were interested in experiments. We stopped our travels in an estate outside of the great city, and our host showed us right into the cages that we were to live in for years."

Nicola's chest hurt. "Gods, Thor. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, little one. This was the ninth century. A very long time ago."

"Doesn't make it right," she said, and her wolf growled in agreement.

"It doesn't, but it is what it is. Out of forty of us, only fifteen are left," Thor continued. "I don't remember much of the experiments done on us at the time, but the mages were trying to make us more powerful. First, they changed us into wargs. Half creatures, melding real creatures with us using magic. Then the vampire lord realized we were too powerful and turned us into vampires so we would become his thralls and be forced to obey him. For hundreds of years, it worked. We did everything he asked. We slaughtered rivals. We were used as whores for his vampire friends who wanted to fuck us in our warg forms. We served in any way that he wished."

"Your warg forms?"she asked before she could check herself.

Thor nodded. "We are built differently because of the experiments and some enjoyed that form most of all."

Despite her burning question on how they were built, Nicola knew it wasn't the time. He had been a slave and used in every possible way. No wonder he had thought the wolves had raped her, because that was what happened to him.

Nicola reached across the table and placed her hand over his. Thor looked surprised before his hand turned and held on.

"I'm sorry that happened to you. I hope you made them suffer for what they did," she said, meaning every word.

Thor smiled, the curve of his fangs flashing. "Don't worry, my fierce mate. We got our revenge. We Vikings never do well under pompous lords for long. Astrid was the first to notice that our bonds to the vampire were weakening. We were maybe two hundred years old at the time. Astrid is Volva. She has always been our seer and bridge to the gods. She could see with her own magic that our bonds were weak. The vampire never wanted us to be more powerful, so he never shared more of his blood, and he never let us drink from humans. What he didn't know is that the vampires he was whoring us out to sometimes liked it when we bit them. It can heighten pleasure at certain moments."

"Is that so?" Nicola stammered. Heat curled through her, and she pressed her thighs together. She had never thought a vampire biting her would be sexy, but the idea of Thor biting her caused a whole different kind of reaction in her. Her body had terrible timing, and she quickly had another drink, trying to quench that fire.

Thor's thumb stroked over the top of her hand. "We used their own lusts and weaknesses against them. We no longer had to obey the lord's commands."

"What did you do?" Nicola asked.

"We did what Vikings do best. We killed the vampire who had imprisoned us, took his gold, and burned his estate to the ground. We blood eagled him and staked him out in the sun to burn along with all his court." Thor's smile went vicious. "Then we went hunting other vampires who abused their powers and harmed others."

Nicola frowned. "So how did you end up becoming a Blood Lord? Seems like letting a fox into the hen house."

Thor laughed, and it was a deep, good sound. "They made a bargain with us. We would stop killing vampires, and they would give us a seat at the table that would help ensure what happened to us never happened to others. If we do find out about others, Claudius is always happy to offer the bounty to us. It is a compromise, and my people have seen enough. They wanted to settle in Inferno when the dragons opened the city. We fought for our peace, and now we don't bother anyone that doesn't bother us."

"And I have brought a war back to your door. Gods, I'm so sorry, Thor," Nicola said. They had already survived so much, and now she was bringing war on him again.

Thor's calloused fingers tightened over hers. "Don't be sorry. From what you say, Kaleb was going to try and kick off this fight with the vampires with or without you. If anything, you have helped us get an edge in what he's planning."

"I didn't think of it that way," she said and rubbed at her face.

"You are tired, and I need to go and talk to Claudius about all of this," Thor replied, and they both stood.

Nicola was surprised at his reluctance to let her hand go. He held onto it and escorted her back through the hall to his chambers. Anticipation flickered through her, sending her pulse thrumming.

"Get some sleep. It's been a long night for someone who is healing," Thor said.

"And where are you sleeping if this is your room?" she asked quickly. Please don't say with someone else.

Thor's lips twitched. "There are plenty of empty beds around."

"I can sleep in one of those if you prefer. You can have your room back. I feel bad for taking it," she said.

Thor closed in on her, and she found herself pressed against the wooden door. "I do not prefer you to be anywhere except where you are," he said, voice dropping to a soft growl. "You really think I want my mate in anyone's bed? I love that you are in mine, your sweet scent soaking into my sheets."

Nicola stared up at him, his blue eyes filled with a level of lust that she had never seen. Males had looked at her longingly before, but it had been for her name, her status in the pack. She had nothing to offer Thor. He just wanted her , and it was a heady feeling.

"You think I smell sweet?"she asked.

Thor's fingers moved to stroke her neck, and she turned her head to give him better access. It was submissive of her, but she wasn't afraid. If she couldn't let her mate at her throat, she couldn't let anyone.

Thor leaned in to rub his nose and lips over her skin, making her breath catch. "You offer a ruthless vampire like me your throat? So trusting. So tempting, little wolf."

"You...You won't hurt me. I'm your mate," she whispered, her pussy throbbing as his mouth traced a line over her.

"No one will ever hurt you again. I promise you this." Thor's breath was hot against her ear. "Be careful how much you tempt me, my mate. I'm trying to be patient with you, but it's very hard to keep my hands off you."

Nicola wet her lips, her hands twitching as she reached for him. "Is it?"

She wished she could think of something clever and flirty to say, but he was too close for her to think straight about anything.

"You have no idea what being this close to you does to me. The power you have over me," Thor said and then brushed himself against her.

Nicola whimpered as the bulge in the front of his jeans pressed against her. Holy gods, he felt huge. It was crude to be doing this in the middle of a hallway where anyone could walk in on them, but she couldn't have stopped it for the world.

"I've been this hard all night, just smelling your scent of blackberries and sex," Thor whispered hotly and ground against her again.

"Fuck," she gasped as the throbbing between her thighs grew painful. Thor licked the soft skin of her throat, and they both groaned.

"Even your skin tastes good. I bet your cunt tastes even better," he growled. "If you let me, I'll show you just how good of a mate I can be to you. How good I can make you feel."

Nicola's hands were somehow under his shirt, her nails digging into hard, hot skin, pulling him closer to her. Somewhere, a phone alarm sounded, breaking the spell.

"Fuck, I have to go to this fucking meeting," Thor hissed.

Nicola removed her hands from his shirt, heat burning her cheeks. Thor made another disgruntled sound as he moved back from her. His eyes burned into her, and her eyes dropped to his full lips. She wished she was brave enough to lean in and kiss him.

"You're killing me, Nicola. If I kiss you now, I won't stop." Thor brushed his fingers over her cheek before dropping his hand away. "We will continue this later."

Dazed, she asked, "We will?"

Thor smiled in the dim light and was as handsome as any winter god. "Oh yes, little wolf. I'm going to get my taste of you before dawn. This, I promise."

With that, he was gone. Nicola put her hands on her burning cheeks and tried to catch her breath.

She had always been forced to be the perfect daughter and groomed to be the perfect mate. If her father was alive and knew that any vampire had touched her in such a way, let alone the Blood Wolf, there would've been hell to pay.

Nicola pushed the thought aside. Her father had also always thought everyone was as honorable as he was. Her training had always emphasized loyalty to the pack first, but as soon as he was dead, look what they had done to her.

"Fuck the pack. Fuck his stupid rules," she muttered angrily under her breath.

For the first time in nearly a year, she couldn't stop smiling. She finally felt like she had someone who had her back. She didn't care what the rest of Inferno would think of their union. She wanted Thor's protection, and her body was still singing from his touch. They would stop Kaleb's schemes, and then she would do the first selfish thing in her life and take Thor as her mate.