Chapter Fourteen Flynn

"E xcuse me?"

I looked up from my sketchbook, surprised to find that I'd spent the majority of the afternoon back in the atrium after lunch. Already the sky outside the glass dome was growing dim and twilight was drawing near. I'd completely lost track of time.

"Yes?" I said, flipping my brain back into talking mode. "What's up?"

"Are you Mr. Flynn Daniels?" the man asked.

"Yeah." I gave him a once over, realizing he was a member of the resort staff. "That's me."

"I've been told that your luggage has arrived, sir," he said. "And it's been taken up to your room."

"Oh. Thank you."

"Here's your key," he added, holding out his hand and a room card. "You're on the second floor. Room two forty-nine."

I hesitated. "I… I have a different room?"

"Don't worry, sir," he smiled. "It's one of our larger suites and it's completely on the house. I apologize for the inconvenience of switching your room mid stay."

I sat there for a moment, trying to process what I was hearing. "Is… Is Thor mad at me or something?"

"Mr. Hati assured me that there were no problems. He merely stated that you'd be more comfortable with a space of your own so that you could take full advantage of our healing services with your injury." He glanced down at my leg. "Speaking of which, would you like me to book you a private massage in your room? It would do wonders for your leg's flexibility and promote healing."

"Can I speak with Thor?" I asked, ignoring his offer. "I'd like to make sure that everything is okay."

"I apologize, sir. But Mr. Hati is not seeing anyone at this time. He's taking care of some delicate matters with his family and the resort. He said he would be predisposed through the rest of your stay and beyond. However, he did say that anything you'd like is on the house and when you're ready, we'll send you down the mountain with an escort to make sure you make it home safely."

"So… he doesn't want to see me?"

The man hesitated again, his smile faltering. "He… He's just busy."

"Right." I wasn't mad at the staff member, just irritated with the message. I reached up and pulled the key card from his hand. "Thanks. I guess I'll just go eat by myself then."

"If you like, we can provide a staff member to share a meal with you if that's what–"

"No," I said, dismissing him with a wave. "I'll be fine. Thanks."

"As you wish, sir."

With a small bow, the man turned and headed back out of the atrium leaving me there with my head spinning. Why did Thor kick me out of his room? And why didn't he want to see me or talk to me? Was it possible that our little jerk off session together had freaked him out so much that he never wanted to be near me again? Or maybe something really was wrong with his family. Then again… he did say they could never find out about us. Had one of them figured out his secret?

A part of me wanted to keep away and respect his wishes. After all, I hardly knew him. And if his family was going to go off the deep end from us being together, I didn't want to cause him anymore unnecessary pain.

"No," I said aloud, shaking my head. "Fuck that. He can at least give me a goddamn explanation. I deserve that much."

I flipped my sketchbook closed, my thumb smudging the corner of the drawing I'd spent hours perfecting. With a scoff I threw it into my bag along with my pencils. It was only when I got up that I realized there were at least three other couples walking through the atrium at the same time and every single one of them had just heard me cursing to myself like a maniac.

With an embarrassed smile, I threw my bag over my shoulder, hopped on the scooter, and headed back toward the lobby. Maybe Thor didn't want to explain himself, but I wasn't going to accept that. Changing my room wasn't going to stop me because he'd made a very big mistake.

I still had the key to his room, the one he'd given me the day before. It didn't matter if he hated me, thought I was ugly, or was being threatened by his family. That didn't give him the right to just toss me away like I was yesterday's trash. I deserved an explanation, and I was going to get it one way or another.

Ten minutes later I was standing outside Thor's door, gathering up my courage for what I was about to do. Inside I could hear the sound of the television playing. I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or just lazing around, but it sounded like he was alone and that was all I cared about. Without knocking, I swiped the card and pushed my way inside.

A figure sat up from the recliner and I started in on him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I barked. "Do you think you can just write me off without telling me what's going on? What the fuck?"

The figure turned toward me, but the room was so dark I could barely make him out. Still, I knew it was Thor. Who else would it be?

"Look, I understand about your family, and I get it. But you can't just toss me away like that. At the very least have the balls to say it to my face instead of sending one of your little flunkies after me. I think I deserve that much."

A hand reached out, clicking on the lamp and my jaw fell open.

I didn't see blond hair, a beard, and tattoos. Instead, I saw a man with dark hair, a smaller but still intimidating frame, and a familiar pair of bright blue eyes. It was Thor's brother, Loki, and he looked fucking furious.

"Who the flying fuck are you?" he snapped. "And how the hell do you have a key to this room?!"

"I… uh…"

I knew I couldn't let him think that Thor and I were together. Loki was the one he seemed the most concerned about. I might be upset with him, but I didn't want to make his life worse.

"Thor gave it to me," I replied at last. "He said he wanted to talk to me about… my room accommodations."

Fuck. Why couldn't I have thought up a better lie? There had to be some way to make this sound less sketchy.

"And he wanted to tell me about some healing therapy that might help my leg. He said the hot springs had some sort of special property or something?" I shook my head, trying to feign confusion. "Anyway, he wanted me to stop by. Can you tell him I'm here?"

Loki gave me a good once over, one of his eyebrows arched high. Clearly, he didn't believe me. He sniffed at the air a couple of times and then scoffed.

"Fine," he snapped. "Wait there and don't nose around."

"Why would I do that?"

But he didn't answer as he disappeared around a corner. Seriously, what a dick. I could see why Thor had such a problem with him. The guy seemed to fly off the handle at just about anything. I'd only met him twice now and each time he was in a pissy mood, like a god snapping at anything that got near him. Someone needed to take the stick out of his ass. Or push it in further, I wasn't really sure what kind of stuff he was into.

I stood there quietly as a minute passed by and then two. There were voices coming from the other end of the hallway where Thor's office was, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. At last Loki returned with an exhausted-looking Thor trailing behind. His shoulders were bunched up around his ears, he had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked like he hadn't gotten a lick of sleep since I'd seen him that morning.

"Make it quick," Loki said, flopping down in the chair. "We've got a meeting tonight."

"Right," Thor nodded. He glanced up at me, his expression turning even more haggard. Just the sight of me was enough to exhaust him further. That boded well. "Let's talk," he sighed, waving me back out into the hall. He turned back to Loki. "I'll see you at the meeting."

With that, we both left Thor's suite and headed down the hall.

"What do you need?" he asked as we reached the elevator.

"What do I need?" I scoffed. "I thought it would be obvious."

He let out a deep sigh. "Right. You're upset. Baldr told me you would be."

"Sounds like he at least has a little bit of sense," I snapped back. "Must not run in the family."

Thor glanced down the hall, lowering his voice. "Look… we… we just can't , okay? That's just the way it is."

"I want an explanation."

"I… I don't like you like that…" he said in the most unconvincing tone ever.

"Bullshit." I reached up, grabbing him by the shirt collar and pulling him down to my level. "You're going to come down to my room and you're going to tell me the truth."

"I don't have the time–"

"Then make the time," I growled. "I deserve that much."

Another sigh. "I… Alright. But I only have an hour. After that you have to go on your way." It sounded almost painful for him to say those words. "I can't do this. My… my family needs me right now."

"Come on." I gestured for him to get in the elevator as the doors pulled open. "You can explain it downstairs in my new suite. Nobody will overhear you there."

"Right."

Thor climbed into the elevator, and I followed suit. I felt a little bad for riding his ass so hard about this, but then again, I was still upset about it. Maybe it was stupid, but I didn't care. There was some strange feeling still drawing me to him and I needed it gone. Hopefully his explanation would be enough to sever it for good so I could get on with my life.

Also, I was kind of irritated I never got to ride that giant cock of his. That was truly a missed opportunity.

Oh well. I'd just buy one online and fuck myself, I guess.