Wanted Man (Loki Fanfiction - Book #1)

Chapter Eighteen

McKenna dreaded the walk back up the shadowy path. This time, it felt even more foreboding than it had earlier, and halfway up, she tugged on Loki's hand. "I don't want to go back. You know other ways in and out of this realm, don't you? Isn't that what you told me? Please, let's just go. Just leave here and go back to New Jersey."

She knew she rambled, her words just fell over one another, but she couldn't help it. Fear rose with swift wings to set her heart hammering against her ribs. "Please... can't we just do that?"

He turned to her, catching her face in his hands. "I don't want to run any longer. I don't want to spend the rest of my days looking over my shoulder." He traced his thumbs along her cheekbones, his eyes growing soft. "Everything will be all right."

"You can't promise that. You said yourself Odin could very well sentence you to die." She hated how weak she sounded, but the truth was she was terrified that this very thing would happen. That in the span of a day, this could all end.

Her eyes stung and she dropped her head forward so he wouldn't see her crying. But he wasn't about to let that happen, as he caught her chin and tilted her face back to his. "McKenna, if that happens—"

"Don't say it," she gritted, her voice cracking as she jerked free and shook her head. "Don't tell me to be brave and get on with my life and all that. Don't tell me again not to mourn or grieve or whatever, because that's not going to happen." A hot tear slid over the edge of her eyelid and streaked down her cheek. "Because I'm going to mourn and fall apart and the worst thing is, no one will ever believe me. And those who do believe me, will never believe you to be the man I see now. They will always see you as the power-hungry megalomaniac who wanted to rule the Earth.

"And now, I can't even go back to a normal life because it isn't possible. Even if I did manage to want to even think about dating again, do you know how ordinary men will compare to you?" Her hand clenched into a fist and she punched him as hard as she could in the chest, with enough force that he actually stepped back.

"Do you think any other man could ever hope to make me feel what you do? Do you?" She hit him again. "Because you're wrong. No before you ever made me feel like this—" another punch—"and no one after ever will either. And do you—" yet another punch—"know why? Because you are. A. Fucking. God!"

She threw one last punch, but this one he caught and lowered her hand as he murmured, "Do you feel better now?"

"No. And now my hand hurts. You're not a soft god, either, you know."

"I try hard not to be." He rubbed her hand with both of his. "And while I have to admit, the thought of ruining any other men for you does play to my vanity, I'm not fool—or vain enough—enough to agree with you.

"But, I would rather have only a few more hours with you, than a lifetime of being without you and if, by some chance, that happens, trust me, I'd rather the axe." He brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. "And I do not want you grieving for me, McKenna. If I should get the axe—"

"Please don't say that." Her bottom lip quivered, so she caught it between her teeth and shook her head. Then, she leaned into him, pressing her cheek into his chest, and giving into the sobs that refused to be silenced.

He folded his arms about her, one hand pressed against her head, smoothing over her hair as she cried. When she finally went quiet, he continued holding her and stroking her hair as he whispered, "Everything will be all right, love. You will see."

She sniffled, lifting her head to look at him. "You don't know that. Not for certain."

His thumbs moved over her cheeks. "No one knows anything for certain. Now, no more tears. No more rages. And please, no more punches. You don't exactly hit like a girl, you know." As she let out a weak laugh, he bent and kissed her forehead. "Now, let's go back to my chambers, splash about in the tub, perhaps roll about in the sheets, and then we will deal with the rest."