And dammit, I really did have to pee!
My refusal was not received well. Modi’s sleepy grunt turned to a threatening growl, his knee moving up to force my legs apart so he could continue his questing, still asleep.
“Dammit!” I growled when his cock swelled against me, jutting up against my labia in search of entry. “Why are all you alphas such rapey bastards, even in your sleep?”
Modi rumbled a soothing noise, his subconscious probably picking up on my reluctance, and slid his hand from my clit to my thigh, lining himself up.
I did the only thing I could think of to stop him, save from calling out to Bjarni—and to be frank, after last night I wasn’t entirely sure which of us my blond mate would help in this particular situation—I reached down and grabbed his cock, diverting its trajectory.
Modi jolted hard, his eyes flying open with a hiss of expelled breath.
“Hel’s tits!” He quickly released his grip on my body so he could wrest my hands free from his member. “Your fingers are pure ice!”
I let out a disbelieving snort. “Don’t try and mount me in your sleep and maybe I won’t have to ice your dick.”
He frowned, eyes darting down our entangled bodies as if he hadn’t picked up on what exactly was going on before now. Some of the indignation died in the blue depths. “Oh. I am… sorry.”
An apology from a rapey alpha? Color me shocked.
“S’okay,” I mumbled, pulling away. Somewhat more reluctantly this time, because the second I wasn’t plastered against Modi’s warm skin, my body temperature truly plummeted. “God, why is it so fucking cold?”
“It is the Fimbulwinter,” Modi said as if speaking to a particularly slow child. He reached for me and pulled me back against his chest, capturing my hands in one of his palms this time. “Go back to sleep—it is still early, and we have a long day ahead.”
I sighed, half-irritated at being manhandled into position against my will and half-tempted to obey. At least this way, half of me would be warm. “I have to pee.”
Modi—eyes already closed again—made a noise of displeasure but released me without a fight.
I got into the clothes gifted to me by Verdandi as quickly as possible and sighed with relief as I exited the tent. Sure, it was still colder than an icebox, but the feathery garments held up against the howling blizzard much better than any human polar expedition outfit would have.
Bjarni was sitting by the small fire, his looming figure hunched on a log of tree as flurries of snow tumbled down around him. If it hadn’t been for the hooting wind, he’d have made an idyllic picture. Viking before Sunrise.
I didn’t see any sign of Loki, but I assumed since Bjarni was calm as could be that he was still around somewhere.
I hurried behind a tree, emptying my bladder as swiftly as possible before incurring any frostbites to tender parts, and then walked back to the fire.
“Morning,” I told my blond mate as he turned toward me.
A small frown creased his forehead. “It’s early still. You should try for some more sleep, sweetie.”
I grimaced. “Eh, it’s too cold. Whichever side of me isn’t plastered against one of you two walking furnaces gets frosty. Besides, Modi’s handsy in his sleep and I’m not in the mood.”
Bjarni cracked a small grin and wrapped me in his arms. It was warm and comfortable, and I didn’t resist as he dragged me onto his lap. “I’m sure it’d warm you up.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “What happened to you barely tolerating him? If I remember right, you weren’t best pleased the last time you found us together, and now here you are, trying to whore me out to him every chance you get.”
“It’s not really whoring when the man in your bed is your mate,” he said calmly, not biting at my provocation. “Guy’s got issues. Your pussy seems to calm him down, at least for a little bit.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And why do you care if he’s calm or not?”
“’Cause I feel him too, through you. All his anger and uncertainty. Can’t really do anything about that, so the next best thing is to get him to calm down and realize what a lucky bastard he is for getting to call you his.” Bjarni gave me a smoldering look.
“Flattery will get you nothing,” I teased, leaning in to kiss his cheek. He turned his head last moment, catching my lips with his.
The unexpected kiss heated my body from the inside, and I moaned softly into his mouth, clutching my fingers in his long, blond hair until he finally pulled away, leaving me panting.
“I promised I would help you find peace, Annabel,” he said softly. “The only way to do that is to help your other idiot mate get his head out of his own ass. I might not be thrilled about Magni, but at least he’s not such a ball of angst about all this, hmm?”
“I’m not sure there’s any helping Modi,” I said softly. “He doesn’t want this, and I don’t think anything can ever make him want it.”
Bjarni scoffed. “Please. You think Fate forced him to put a claiming mark on you? That was all him, sweetie. He’s just a bit thick. He’ll come around once he gets over his fancy Asgardian upbringing and realizes he couldn’t handle you on his own anyway.”
“His fancy Asgardian upbringing?” I asked, eyebrows raised.
“You saw his dad’s reaction to the news of Magni claiming a human girl, and sharing her with us filthy Jotunns, no less. And Magni’s the bastard son—of Jotunn heritage himself. Thor’s gonna birth a ram when he realizes his pure born’s gotten himself entangled with the same human, and Modi knows it.
“He’s been raised to be the noble, obedient son, always living up to expectations. Asgard’s golden child. Pretty sure all that angst you can feel in your bond to him is him coming to grips with what he’s been raised to be is nothing like what he actually is. There’s no human mate for Thor’s perfect son, no mercy for his enemies, and most especially no trading of glory on the battlefield for a place next to a woman who might just end up being more powerful than he.
“It’ll take him a minute to learn to listen to his heart, not his father’s voice at the back of his thick skull telling him who he’s supposed to be.”
“You seem to be getting a lot more from our bond than I am,” I said, sighing at the thought of the agony I knew awaited once Modi woke up again and returned to his usual loathing of our connection.
“It’s not so much the bond as it’s experience with asshole gods who like to dominate their offspring,” he said mildly, giving my nose a peck. “You hungry? I can start breakfast early.”
“Sure. Thank you.” I brushed my fingers through his beard and climbed off his lap, sad to lose his warmth, but thankful for his care and the words he’d shared. True or not, the possibility that maybe the pain in Modi’s and my bond wouldn’t be forever gave me just a smidgen of hope. And soon we’d be back in Asgard. Back with Magni and Saga.
“Speaking of asshole fathers—where’s Loki?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to see if I could spot him.
“Over there.” Bjarni nodded in the direction of a large snowdrift.
I turned and squinted. “What? Where? I don’t see—”