Thor's Hammer Page 11

  Reaching down, he grabbed his constantly hard shaft in his hands and squeezed. He needed to regain control of his thoughts. Running about with his mind on having sex with his glorious Goddess would not serve his purpose well. He needed a well-formed plan to get her back. Perhaps if he took the time to ease the tension coiled around the base of his cock, he could think clearly again.

  He flashed himself back to Asgard, into his private chambers and lay down upon his bed. Undressing himself with a thought, he lay back with his head on his pillow, as one hand tightly gripped his shaft. His other hand reached down to fondle his balls as he slowly slid his hand over the rigid flesh.

  He closed his eyes, imagining his sweet Emma’s lips caressing the head of his massive shaft as he slowly pumped his hand up and down the length. She would lick and kiss the head before slowly engulfing it in her heated mouth. Warm moist heat, enclosed his flesh as he wished his fantasy to slide down over his heated flesh.

  Mere moments passed when he clenched his teeth, ready to spill his seed. His balls tingled and fire flowed through his veins as jets of semen shot from the head of his cock, arcing up over his bed. He arched his back, the imagined sensation of Emma’s mouth driving him mad as the ropes of cum shot from his shaft.

  After a moment, he lay back on his bed, his seed spent. Yet his need for her was stronger than ever. Nothing would take the place of his Goddess in his life. He must make her forgive him. There was no other choice.

  He wished himself and the bedding clean and stood. There was naught else to do, but make her realize that she loved him. But how could he do it when she wouldn’t allow him near her? He smiled sadly. There was a way. There had to be a way. He would find it and he would have her again.

  Thor stood, a feral grin on his face. He watched himself in the mirror as he shifted his shape into one he knew that she would never be able to resist. When she came to love him in this guise, he would reveal himself to her. He could only hope that she would forgive him, not hit him over the head with something and call his father in on the situation.

  “Now to put myself in a position where she will want to take me home...” He paused. “No. Lying about who I am is what got me into this mess to begin with,” he said with a sigh. He changed back to himself. “What can I do to let her know how sorry I am?”

  Send her flowers, you dolt! Give her chocolates, gifts. A way to a woman’s heart usually leads you through a few expensive stores first.

  Stay out of my head, old man. I don’t remember asking you for your opinion, he answered his father with a scowl.

  Still the idea had merit. He glanced back into the mirror and dressed himself. If he was going to win her back, he would have to work at it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Emma made her way down to the kitchen to make Alex some breakfast before school. She inhaled deeply, loving the crisp, clean scent of the early morning air. The surprisingly strong smell of roses wafted through the opened window and she stood enjoying the treat. A noise outside drew her attention and she opened the door to see what it was.

  A mountain of flowers sat on the porch. Roses in every color, daisies, calla lilies and other flowers she couldn’t name sat on every flat surface of the porch. Only a narrow walkway to the steps remained open.

  Who would send her flowers, especially so many? Reaching out, she grabbed the card that stuck up from a large bouquet of red roses on the table next to the swing. She absently glanced at the retreating florist’s van as she went back inside, closing the door with her foot.

  With trembling fingers, she opened the note.

  Dearest Emma,

  I was a fool. I know that now. Please forgive me.

  T.

  Tears burned her eyes and she closed them. Crumpling the note in her clenched fist, she vowed to carry the flowers to the burn barrel later. Their presence on her porch would only serve to remind her of all she had lost. She couldn’t bring herself to forgive him. How could she? It was his negligence that ultimately brought about her parent’s death.

  Don’t be so sure about that, child. The blame rests on the person or persons responsible for the accidents. You should hold them accountable for their horrible acts, not on one lonely man with so many vying for his attention.

  She ignored the voice in her head, proclaiming to be Odin. If she didn’t, it would drive her mad.

  Alex clomped down the stairs, minus his rollerblades this time. He sauntered into the kitchen, his stuffed book bag slung over his left shoulder. The black t-shirt that he had haphazardly tucked into his cargo pants was covered by a large dragon-print button-down shirt. Headphones rested over his ears, the cord leading down to one of his large pockets.

  “What’s for breakfast?”

  “Eggs, toast and sausage,” she said, setting a pan on the stove. “Just give me a few minutes.”

  She popped the pre-cooked sausage into the microwave and punched the reheat button and busied herself scrambling the eggs. “Can you put some bread in the toaster?”

  Alex did as she asked and looked out the window over the counter. He whistled. “Whoa! Where did all of the foliage come from?” He strode over to open the door and wrinkled his nose. “You got a boyfriend?” He turned an accusing glare on her. “How come I haven’t met him? I’ve been home a couple of weeks now.” He closed the door hard and the glass rattled in the frame. Hands on hips, he stood glaring at her.

  Emma couldn’t miss the hurt in his eyes. She could tell he wanted to meet the man who would send her so many flowers and was upset that she hadn’t introduced him. He probably thought she was ashamed of him or something.

  She turned the heat off under the eggs before she moved the pan from the burner. “I didn’t introduce you because we broke up before you came home from the hospital.”

  She pulled two plates from the counter, set them on the table and served the eggs straight from the pan before she pulled the sausage from the microwave.

  “He...” she paused. “He wasn’t right for me. For us. He was too self-absorbed. When things didn’t go his way, he closed up, keeping himself away from people. Out of reach. I couldn’t deal with that.”

  The toast popped up. Alex brought it to the table on a saucer and set it between their plates. “So you left him?”

  She nodded as she sat down. “I couldn’t bear the thought that he would leave us as soon as things got rough.”

  “Makes sense, I suppose,” he said with a shrug as he lathered butter and a thick layer of grape jelly onto his toast. “Were you worried about him leaving us, or just you?” He slid her a glance from the corner of his eye. “Cause, you know, I don’t want or need someone who wants to be a father figure in my life. Dad was a hard act to follow.”

  “You’re right there,” she said, nodding her agreement and giving him a sad smile. “He was a great dad.” She blinked back the tears that threatened and looked down at her eggs, no longer hungry. She pushed her plate toward Alex. He grabbed it and scraped her breakfast onto his plate the typical teenage boy, always hungry. It made her want to smile.

  “Thanks. I have an exam today and I can’t concentrate if I’m hungry.”

  “What class?” She rested her elbow on the table, her chin in her hand and watched him shovel the food into his mouth.

  “History,” he answered, as he pushed a huge piece of sausage into his mouth before guzzling down a half glass of milk.

  “Is old Mr. Hamilton still teaching that class?”

  “Yeah,” he said with a grin, his mouth stuffed to near bursting. “He asked about you.” He added that tidbit after he chewed what was in his mouth, swallowed it and washed it down with the last of his milk. He waved the empty glass at his sister and she stood to get the gallon jug from the refrigerator.

  “And?”

  “He wanted to know if I was just as stubborn and academically lazy as you were in his class.” He laughed at her frown. “I told him that you didn’t have a lazy bone in your body. That, usually, you are up before da
wn and still going strong late into the night.”

  Emma winced when he crammed a whole slice of toast into his mouth and chewed.

  “Thanks for sticking up for me. He was always riding me about how I never worked hard enough. He basically said that when he signed my yearbook. He wrote that I would go far if I ever learned to apply myself.”

  “The jerk!” Alex scowled down at the rest of his sausage as if it was somehow at fault for the teacher’s comments.

  “Don’t get too mad at him. He was right. I could have done better. But if I had, I would have gotten scholarship offers then Dad would have made me leave and I wouldn’t have been here when he died.”

  “Yeah.” He swallowed thickly. “I don’t know what I would have done if you wouldn’t have been here.”

  “Well,” she said, clearing her throat and swallowing around the large lump lodged there. “Let’s not dwell on things we can’t change.” She stood, grabbed her plate and the empty saucer and rinsed them out in the sink before putting them in the dishwasher. “Do you want me to fix you something for lunch?”

  “Nah. Today is pizza day. I figured I’d eat that.”

  “Okay.” She knew how much her brother loved pizza. “You need to get to school. I think I’m going to go buy a lottery ticket. I dreamt some numbers last night and I figured what the heck. I’d give it a try.”

  After driving Alex to school, since she was in town anyway and the image of those numbers were still flashing in her mind, she drove straight to the nearest store.

  * * * *

  Thor watched with undisguised delight as the first part of his plan took shape. He whispered the numbers into her mind again as she told the woman behind the counter which numbers she wanted.

  “Five, nine, thirteen, twenty-seven, thirty-three and forty-two.”

  “Is that it, honey? You just buyin’ one ticket?”

  The woman looked at her as though she expected more numbers to pour out of her mouth. Thor scowled. The one she had would win her enough money to rebuild her barn. Why would she need another?

  “Yes, just the one. I only dreamt up the one set of numbers.”

  “Oh, you’re one of those.” The woman said with a sneer.

  Emma gave her a strained smile, and left the store.

  Invisible, Thor followed her back to the house and watched, stunned, as she threw every one of the flower arrangements he’d sent her into the burn barrel and set them on fire. The stench of burning greenery filled his lungs and he stubbornly told himself that it was the smoke from the fire that burned his eyes, not the utter sense of loss he felt at watching those small symbols of his undying love going up in smoke.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The flowers arrived daily for the next two weeks. Every day Emma took them to the barrel behind the shed and burned them. Finally, after the sixteenth day, she’d had enough. She looked up toward the sky, and called to Thor.

  “Okay, we need to talk. I refuse to go on like this.” She waved her arms, indicating the plethora of foliage on her porch. “This wastes my time everyday, Thor. Get your butt down here and tell me what the hell you expect from me.”

  She leaned against the porch rail, looked over at the framework of her new barn and smiled. The lottery ticket she bought had been a winner, a big winner, and the five numbers she matched had given her enough money to rebuild her barn.

  “I suppose your love would be too much to ask?” he said from just behind her.

  She gasped and turned, holding her hand to her chest.

  “You scared the crap out of me, dammit.” She slapped his arm with a scowl. “Don’t ever do that again.” Her eyes widened when she realized what she’d just done. She was too comfortable with him. What would he do to her for slapping a god?

  He stared down at her, his expression intense and she swallowed thickly. He smelled so good. He always did. His scent, a mixture of sandalwood and citrus always drove her wild. Clenching her fists, she stubbornly raised her chin and vowed to ignore the strange pull he seemed to have on her.

  She itched to reach out and unbuttoned his shirt to check the two spots where Loki had stabbed him. The last time she’d seen his chest, it had been covered in blood, two angry looking wounds marred his perfect pectorals and upper abdomen.

  Could he scar? She hoped not.

  “I’ve missed you.”

  It was all he said. He just stood there, staring down at her as if he would never get enough of just looking into her eyes.

  “I will never get enough of looking at you.”

  She groaned. “Don’t say that.” Don’t be nice to me. Don’t look at me with those wonderful sad eyes. I can’t take it. She licked her suddenly dry lips and looked down with a groan when he grinned at her.

  “Please forgive me.”

  Emma shook her head. “How can I?” She paced away from him and wrapped her arms around her middle. “How can I forgive you? It was neglect, just as surely as not feeding my animals would be. Or not caring for an infant’s needs.”

  He nodded, then rubbed his face with his hands.

  “I know and I will regret that for the rest of my life.”

  Have you considered how long that is? She wasn’t sure if the inner voice she heard was hers or Thor’s that time.

  You are punishing him for another’s misdeeds. Blame should rest solely on the person responsible for the events that took your parent’s lives. Another god is responsible for this, not my son. The sound of Odin’s voice did little to sooth the raw pain of her heartbreak.

  She gaped when Thor sank to his knees in front of her.

  “Forgive me, Emma. Take me back into your life and love me. I may be a powerful being but, like you, like anyone, I am not perfect.”

  Her mouth dropped open. She tried to say something several times but what do you say when someone whom you’ve worshipped as a god for most of your life prostrates themselves in front of you? How could she not forgive him?

  “I—I…” She’d started to say ‘I can’t’ but she couldn’t make herself say it. She didn’t want to live her life alone anymore. She loved him, faults and all. Maybe it was time she forgave him for being a bit human.

  She knelt before him and took him into her arms, unable to stand seeing the pain reflected in his eyes, unable to be the cause of that pain any longer. His arms wrapped around her. She closed her eyes and sighed.

  The farm, all of their surroundings fell away and Emma realized that she was home. Home wasn’t the house, the land or even the family she grew up a part of. Her home was right here in his arms wrapped in his warm embrace.

  Snuggling deeper into is arms, she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. How could she live the rest of her life without him in it? How could she refuse a god?

  He buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. “I’m a man first, baby. Remember that. And I need you.” Pulling back, he tilted her head back with his thumb to stare into her eyes. “I’m going to kiss you.”

  She licked her lips, nervously watched his eyes darken to near cobalt as they followed the trail of her tongue over her lips and smiled at his intense expression.

  “Well, what are you waiting for?”

  Apparently, he didn’t need a second invitation. Butterflies took flight in her stomach as he covered her lips with his. The warm pressure set her heart racing and moisture pooled between her legs.

  “I love you,” he said, still feathering kisses over her face and neck. “I love you more than my own life.” He covered her lips with his again. His hand burned a trail down her back to her rear as he cupped the mound in his palm.

  Emma moaned into his mouth. The sweet torture of his lips on hers was nearly too much to bear. Thrusting her fingers through his hair, she held him to her as his tongue plundered her mouth.

  “Oh, man. Get a room, will ya?”

  The sound of Alex’s voice was like a bucket of cold water being dumped over her. She pulled away from Thor with a groan and covered her face.

/>   “I guess you two got back together, huh?” he asked, looking between them with a grin. He held out his hand to Thor. “I’m Alex. I guess you’re the boyfriend she dumped?”

  Thor smiled and shook his hand. “Hi, Alex, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Thor.”

  “Cool! Named after the God of thunder. How awesome.” He turned to look at his sister. “You never told me he was a god, Emma.” He chuckled at his own joke.

  “Well, I never thought you’d meet.” How much did she tell him? Did she dare tell him that he was the Thor of Norse legend or should she merely make light of his joke?

  He has the right to know, love.

  Emma closed her eyes and savored the endearment for a moment.

  You’re right. He does have the right to know.

  Standing, she held Thor’s hand and faced her brother.

  “We have something to tell you, Alex. Thor is the Norse God we’ve worshipped all our lives.”

  Alex just stood gaping at her as if he thought she had a screw loose.

  “You’re kidding, right? You don’t really believe that...” he let his words trail off as he looked between them. “You son of a bitch!”

  He threw himself at Thor and began punching him. Thor merely stood and waited for him to tire, taking his blows as if they were nothing, the mere buzzing of a fly around him. Barely a nuisance.

  After a moment of shock, Emma grabbed her brother and dragged him away from him. “What are you doing? Leave him alone!” She placed herself between them.

  “He’s taking advantage of you. He’s no god.” He turned to look at her. “You have more sense than that. I know you do. Why are you acting this way?”

  “Because he is Thor, Alex. He can prove it to you, just give him the chance.”

  Alex stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I won’t be as easily duped as my sister.” He flicked a gaze to Emma when she gasped. “I don’t think you’re stupid, Sis. I just think that he’s somehow blinded you to the fact that he can’t possibly be who he claims.”