Chapter 28

"Simple."Thor let Nick crawl down before turning to face me. "I've given you my blood. Once you've shared blood with a god, they can always find you."He pulled me onto his lap casually; settling my voluminous skirts around us. "I like."He stroked my puffy sleeve and sniffed at the rose behind my ear.
"You can track me? Like a LoJack?"I felt a shiver of dread slide down my spine and it had nothing to do with Thor. "Anywhere?"
"Unless you guard against me specifically, yes."His soft smile was slowly replaced by an intense stare. "I knew exactly where Huitzilopochtli had taken you, but without the proper chant, I can't enter another god's territory. I'm sorry I couldn't free you."
"It's all right."I leaned around him to flick the light-switch on and the filtered light from the lantern filled the room. "I managed on my own. I always do."
"You're not alone anymore."Thor leaned closer, but before he could kiss me, I scooted off his lap.
"I dreamed of you."
"Yes."
He reached for me, but I scooted further down the couch. I couldn't think with him touching me, and I really needed to think.
"It's another side effect of the blood sharing,"Thor went on. "There's some of me in you now so I can seek you out. I can enter your mind if you allow it or if you're sleeping and your defenses are down. Are you upset with me for invading your dream? It was the only option left to me."
"No, that's not it."I held up my hands when he moved closer. "Does it work both ways? If I had given you some of my blood, could you still do all those things?"
Thor's face stilled and then tightened. "You gave him blood?"
"It was an accident,"my voice ghosted into the space between us.
"How do you accidentally share blood, Vervain?"Thor looked at me as if I'd cheated on him.
"Look, one second I was kissing you in a dream and the next I was awake and kissing him."Okay so maybe that wasn't exactly how it happened, but why the hell was I defending myself? It's not as if I was in a committed relationship with Thor. "He didn't get very far, but he managed to nick my tongue."
Thor shot to his feet with a roar. "I'll kill him! He'll wish for death a thousand times before I'm done!"
I grabbed his hand and pulled him back down beside me. "That's very sweet, but it was just some heavy petting; we didn't go that far."
Thor's eyes swirled and lightning flashed in their depths. "You make it sound consensual."
"Why didn't you tell me he's the father of all vampires?"
Thor's eyes widened as I effectively derailed his jealousy train. "I didn't know that he was. There have been rumors, but even most vampires don't know their origins."
"Then you didn't know that he could hypnotize with his eyes?"I really didn't want to believe that Thor had let me go up against Blue unprepared.
"No, I didn't know."His shoulders sagged and his face fell with them. "So, that's how he was able to take you without a fight. What else did he do?"
"At first, he did nothing really."I shivered; thinking of how weak I'd felt. Damn, but that was an awful feeling. I pushed aside the memory and went on. "Although, he made it pretty clear he could've made me happily consent to anything, even my own death."
"He can do that?"I heard a tremor in his voice and it scared me even more. If Thor was afraid of him, where did that leave me?
"Yes, I believe he can."I rubbed the chill from my arms and this time when Thor pulled me against him, I didn't resist. "He said it would be more entertaining to get me the old fashioned way; through seduction. How quaint, don't you think? Oh, and then when I stopped being so amusing, he would kill me."
"Did it work?"Thor had tucked my head against his shoulder so that I couldn't see his face, but his voice had lost all its usual vigor.
"Did what work?"
"The old-fashioned way."Thor's hand twitched against my back.
"A little,"my voice wasn't too strong either. "He was very sincere and very suave, despite all his casual threats. I might have fallen for it if he hadn't slapped me around a bit. I've never been into abusive relationships."
"He hit you?"Thor growled and started to sit up.
"It's done."I pushed him back down.
"But you didn't fall for it?"
I sat back and looked into Thor's face; a soft smile tugging at my lips. "You sound very worried, Thunder Cat."I placed a hand on his chest and felt his heart pounding rapidly beneath my palm. "Why does the idea of me wanting Huitzilopochtli upset you so much?"
"You know why."His eyes were intense and his voice was the barest trace of sound.
"We hardly know each other."I don't know which of us I was trying to convince. "We've only had one kiss. Well, at least in real life."
"It was a hell of a kiss."Those intense eyes started to sparkle. The lightning flashing in them took on a new meaning when combined with his sultry smile.
"That it was."My lips curved up into a half grin. "I'm not into the Aztec. I'm here, aren't I? I escaped as soon as I could."
"You won't escape me so easily."His lips were suddenly on mine, and I was drowning in his storm.
I felt the fire of his hands sweep up my back, over my throat, and up my face to hold me against him. His heat pulsed through me; searing me from the mouth down. Little tremors of excitement trailed along my skin, and I automatically started to push myself against him.
"Wait,"I gasped and pulled back; suddenly remembering what I needed to ask him.
"I'm tired of waiting,"his voice had deepened to a rumble.
"You've barely waited two days."I swatted him. "If you think I'm going to jump into bed with you that easily, the Gods really are crazy."
"I didn't think we'd make it to the bed at all."Thor looked down at the wide sofa with its soft cushions pointedly and then back at me.
"Enough, Thor; this is important. I need to finish our conversation."
"Talk is overrated."He pulled me back.
"Thor, can Huitzilopochtli find me now too?"
Well, that worked. Thor went still beneath me.
"Shit,"he cursed and then his arms tightened.
"I'll take that as a yes."I grimaced.