Runes #03 - Grimnirs (13 page)

“Yeah, see you around.” I turned, expecting eyes to be on us. Instead, they were on Echo. The attention didn’t seem to bother him. He stood in the middle of the deck like an island and watched me with piercing eyes, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was only there for one thing. Me.

“Let’s go.” I grabbed his arm and tugged. He allowed me to pull him along. Just before I entered the house, my eyes met Kicker’s. The expression on her face was comical. I waved.

“You know what everyone is thinking, right?” Echo asked.

“I don’t care.”

“That you can’t wait to get me alone.”

“I
can’t
wait to get you alone.”

“Rip my clothes off and have your way with me,” he added, smirking.

I threw him an exasperated glance. He wanted honesty? He was about to get a bucket load of it. I was done pretending I didn’t want him. “I’d like nothing better than to do that, but first we talk.”

He cocked his eyebrows. “Rip my clothes off?”

“Uh-huh.” We left the house and headed toward my car. I unlocked my car, but before I could slide behind the wheel, he gripped my hips and turned me around.

“You mean it about us and clothes off?”

I touched his cheek, his lips. “We’ve done it many times before, right?”

He nodded, a heavy hooded expression settling on his face.

“Then it’s no big deal.” I reached up and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Let’s go.” But before I could turn, he palmed my face, eyes blazing under the moonlight. He wanted to kiss me. My pulse raced. Knowing he wanted me was thrilling.

“I want you.” He pressed me against the car door, one thigh pushing my legs apart. He settled between my thighs, pressed closer. “I stayed away, hoping I’d get you out of my mind, but the longer I was gone the stronger my craving for you became.”

Holy crap! What had my admission unleashed? “I thought you were stopping Hel’s army from coming after me.”

“Hel’s army doesn’t stand a chance against me.” He rubbed his cheek against mine. Inhaled deeply. “I missed your smell. When I’m away from you, I dream about holding you, touching you, making you happy.” He kissed the corner of my eye. “When with you, I want you in my arms.”

“That’s because you remember what we had.”

“No, it’s more than that. There’s something different about you. I feel it whenever we… Before, we’d have sex and I’d leave without a single concern. Not caring if you went back to Eirik or a Mortal.”

His hand crawled under my top. I trembled when his fingers caressed my side. His skin against mine was stimulating. I stopped breathing when his touch became intimate. I knew we’d done this before, but it all seemed new and exciting. Part of me wanted to tell him to stop, but I was curious, so I didn’t push his hand away. Worries about privacy flitted in my head. We were away from the house, and darkness hid us from prying eyes. His duster also gave us some cover.

Thoughts of lack of privacy became unimportant as his caresses grew bold. I wanted to say something, but speech was beyond me.

“Now I want to punch every Mortal that looks at you. I want them to know you might live among them but you are mine.”

The possessiveness in his voice should’ve bugged me, but all I felt was elation. Then I realized his hand was on my leg, inching up under my skirt. Now was the time to tell him to stop.

“I’ve tasted every inch of you, doll-face, yet this all feels new, like I’m rediscovering you. You want to know why?” he whispered in my ear and nipped my earlobe.

I trembled, my mouth too dry for me to speak. Worse, his hand was under my skirt, on my thigh, hip, slowly creeping to the front, totally driving me crazy.

“Your kisses are different, your responses natural.” He kissed my neck then moved to my shoulder. “You taste so sweet. Every time your eyes widen or your breath catches, it makes me feel invincible.” He moved to my jaw, punctuating each sentence with a kiss. “It makes me want to please you more. Keep you with me always.”

Our lips connected. Once again, the kiss was gentle, worshipping. When I sighed with pleasure, his tongue slipped between my lips to caress mine. The tempo of the kiss changed, and he became demanding. Lost in sensations, I clung to his shoulders.

A rumbling groan vibrated through his chest as his fingers tugged my thong. The material rubbed intimately against me, and the intensity of the pleasure stole my breath away. I pressed closer to him. I wanted his touch. Needed to remember what it felt like to have him make love to me. Every fantasy I’d ever had about being intimate with a guy ceased to matter. He was my fantasy.

He let go of my lips to trails kisses along my neck, nibbling and suckling.

“If you want me to stop…” His words came out disjointed, his voice husky and ragged.

“Don’t,” I gasped.

His fingers slipped my thong aside and touched me intimately. His touch was electrifying, the feeling mind-numbing. I strained against him, needing more.

He looped his free arm around my waist and lifted me up, using the body of the car and his thighs to anchor me in place. I wrapped my legs around his waist as each movement of his fingers pushed me higher and higher, the intensity of the pleasure increasing with the number of the runes appearing on his body.

I heard something rip, and then cool air rushed on my chest. My silk bra didn’t stop Echo. The heat from his mouth replaced the cold. Pressure built. My body became a fine-tuned instrument at his hands, until something beautiful unfolded in my core and spread through me like a wild fire. I cried out, but he kissed me and swallowed the sound.

7.
 
Breaking Rules

My world would never be the same again, I thought dreamily.
I
would never, ever be the same again. Echo didn’t stop kissing me. His kisses became slow. He was taking his time, as though giving me a moment to recover. Didn’t the reaper know a kiss from him always had the opposite effect?

“Wrap your legs around me.” I tightened my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist. Echo secured me against him by crisscrossing his arms under my butt. He started around the car to the passenger side of the car.

“You know I can walk.”

“I’m not ready to let you go.” He stopped by the passenger door, propped me against the car body, and started shrugging off his coat.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Stripping just for you.”

Oh, baby. The visuals were enough to make a girl drool. “Cute.”

“Your shirt is ripped, and I don’t want anyone looking at you.”
 

Heat rushed to my face. There were a few students, some making out, others walking to or from their cars. Had they seen us? Echo had ripped my shirt. I still couldn’t believe what we’d done. What I’d let him do. Should I offer to return the favor? Even now, I could still feel the evidence of his need pressing against me. My legs tightened around him, and he groaned.

“Did I hurt you?”

He chuckled. “No, but you could.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Forget I said that.” He lowered me to the ground and pressed against me, sandwiching me with the car. He ran a finger down my neck. I shivered. He smiled, pleased with my reaction. “Engage your runes and fix your top.”

“What?”

“Use the right runes to fix your top.”

I shook my head. “How do I do that?”

He cursed softly under his breath. “That really pisses me off.”

“What?”

“The way the Norns erased all your memories you can’t even remember simple runes.” He shrugged off his coat and held it up.

I shoved my arms through the sleeves. “So, uh, did you write the runes on our truck?”

“Yeah. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Why should I? What do they mean?”

“They are protection runes against car accidents. Your parents will be safe now. And before you ask, I didn’t etch them on yours because I assumed you were covered, that you could engage healing runes and self-heal. You are going to need a crash course on runes, doll-face. Once you know them, you can visualize them and make them appear on your skin whenever you want.” He started buttoning the duster. “There are runes for healing, speed, strength, protection, guidance…”

Something pressed on my left ribs. I reached inside, pulled it out, and frowned. It was his scythe.

“My artavus.” He took it and touched the tip. “Sorry I forgot about this. You don’t want this cutting you. It is sharp and cuts deep.”

“Is artavus another name for a scythe?”

“No, artavus just means magical blade, which is what a scythe is to a Grimnir. Our most important magical blade. You might disperse a soul in this realm with a metal rod, but the scythe does it
and
inflicts excruciating pain. That’s why souls freak out when they see it. It also opens a portal to Hel’s Hall. The scythe, like any artavus, is sacred to its owner.” He shoved it somewhere in his back pocket, helped me with the buttons, and looped the chains on his coat. The duster was longer on me and dragged on the ground.

“I look like a clown,” I said.

“You look dangerous. My kind of girl.” He opened the passenger door. “Get in. I’m driving.”

“Oh no, you’re not.” I started around the car, but he grabbed my hand.

“I need to focus on something else, Cora, not you or how amazing you smell or how you felt in my arms a few minutes ago. I need to stay preoccupied or I’m not going to keep my hands off you while you drive.”

Put that way, who was I to argue? I opened the door and settled into the passenger seat.

“No snarky comment?” he teased.

“No.” Until I knew how to engage my runes and self-heal, I was playing it safe. “But I’m happy to know you can’t keep me out of your thoughts and dreams, or keep your hands off me.”

He chuckled and ran his knuckles down my cheek. “That mouth of yours drives me crazy. Do you want to head to your place and talk?”

“No.” I shook my head. “If I go home now, my parents will want to know why and start worrying that someone said or did something to make me leave the party early. I have until midnight, and I know the perfect place to go for our little chat. It is quiet, and with Drew’s party here, no one will be there to bother us.”

“Good.” Echo ran around to the driver’s seat, slid behind the wheel, and studied the dashboard.

“You do know how to drive, right?” I asked.

He chuckled and extended his hand toward me, palm up. I dropped the key in his hand. “I’ve been driving for centuries, doll-face. From steam to electric cars.” He started the car and eased out of the spot.

I couldn’t remember details of industrial revolution. Steam engines were used in the 1700s. “How old are you?”

“Old.” He reached for my hand, interlaced our fingers, and pressed a kiss to my knuckles. “At least much, much older than you.”

“Where were you born?”

“France.”

“So you are French?”

“You could say that.”

I sighed. For someone who talked a lot, he was being stingy with information. “Okay, Echo. Hide your identity. Continue being Mr. Mysterious. Turn left ahead.” I waited until he turned. “Stay on this road then turn right at the light.”

“Tell me again where we’re going?”

“A scenic overlook. It’s quiet, and the scenery at night is breathtaking. It is only five minutes from town. Right turn’s coming up.”

Silence filled the car. Soon were headed out of town on I-5.

“About my past,” Echo said, “I’m not trying to be mysterious. I just hate dwelling on it.”

The wariness in his voice surprised me. Echo wasn’t the type to be so cagey. “Why? What happened?”

He let go of my hand and gripped the steering wheel. “Long story.”

“We have…” I peered at the time on the dashboard. It was a little after nine. “About three hours and I’m a good listener.”

More silence. Okay, this was out of character. Echo was cocky, bold, badass, and unstoppable. He was Hel’s best reaper. What could have happened in the past that was so horrible he couldn’t share?

I took his hand, wrapped it between mine, and rested my head on his shoulder. “It’s okay. Talk to me when you are ready. Just know that I won’t judge you or anything like that. I’ll just listen and keep my opinion, good or bad, to myself. Of course, you must also know I hate people who keep secrets from me and I’m not a strong believer in double standards.”

“You didn’t want to talk about Eirik before,” he reminded me.

“Yeah, well, that’s because he’s not important. You are.”

He chuckled. “Are you trying to manipulate me, Cora Jemison?”

“Of course. How else am I going to get you to talk to me? Seriously, what’s so bad that you can’t tell me? I swear I won’t laugh or joke about it. If it’s sad, I’ll keep my tears to myself.”

He chuckled again. “You are amazing.”

“I know.”

He laughed. “I came from a Druid family.”

“See, that wasn’t so bad.” I knew next to nothing about Druids, except what I’d read in fiction and watched on TV. They were a magical people. “What were the Druids?”

“We
were
a priestly race during the Iron Age. Very spiritual. We sought knowledge and enlightenment. Respected nature and tried to learn from it. Our scholars were respected and revered. In fact, rulers could not make decisions or maintain order without our help.”

“You also used magic,” I said.

“To do good, not hurt people. During the peak of the Iron Age, we were everywhere—Britain, Ireland, Gaul, and Celtic Europe. My family came from Gaul.”

“We’re almost there. The sign is on the left. Where’s Gaul?”

“A region that covered most of western Europe, present day France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, northern Italy, Netherlands, and Germany. My father was an important official, so I became a novice to a priest at a young age. It helped that the head of the Druids at the time was my uncle. By the time I was seventeen, I had learned all the verses by heart.”

“Verses?”

“Sacred teachings passed down from Bards, Ovates, and Druids to novices. We weren’t strong believers in keeping records or writing down our practices. Everything was oral. Spells, charms, incantations—they were all memorized. When Rome attacked Gaul, I was eighteen. We were a peaceful people. We didn’t even join the military, but the Romans were determined to destroy us.” His hands flexed on the steering wheel. “Once they conquered Gaul, they slaughtered my people and outlawed our religious practices. I think they targeted us out of fear because the Gaullish society was dependent on us, yet our teachings were sacred and not shared with non-Druids. Is that the sign?” he asked.

A white sign with the words “Kayville Point” was ahead. “Yes. Go on with your story.”

“Some of us were forced to fight back using magic. The scholars took to the forest, hiding and moving from place to place. My group managed to survive for two years when a traveler from Otherworld visited.”

“An alien?”

He laughed. “That’s a more recent term.”

He pulled up on the gravel embankment with parking spaces clearly mapped. Only one car was parked in the area, its windows foggy.

“Is this the go-to place when students want to make out?” Echo asked.

It was. “Yes and no.”

He switched off the engine and faced me. Runes appeared on his body, a few lighting up his face and the interior of the car. I could never get enough of looking at him when his runes were engaged. He looked beautiful, yet dangerous. Then I noticed his narrowed eyes. It wasn’t the I-can’t-wait-to-kiss-you look he’d worn at Drew’s place. “What is it?”

“You come here a lot?” he asked.

“No, just a couple of times. The football team holds crazy parties up here after games. They don’t come for the view, even though it’s amazing.” I pointed to our left. “There’s a sharp drop over there with more beer bottles than the city dump.”

Echo’s eyelids dropped as he pushed his fingers through my hair and gripped the back of my head. “You and Drew ever drive up here, doll-face?”

He spoke softly, but I heard the jealously in his voice. “No. We didn’t have that kind of a relationship. I mean I kissed him, but it was a one-time thing.”

He studied me as though trying to see if I’d lied. “Eirik?”

He’s coming back… You were all he was concerned about before he left…
“No. We, uh, I don’t want to discuss Eirik. Tell me about Otherworld.”

Heat flashed in Echo’s eyes. “What happens if he comes back?”

I shrugged. “I don’t care. He’s not who I though he was.”

“Yeah, he’s a freaking god among Mort—”

I pressed a finger to his lips. “Let’s not talk about Eirik, okay. He never understood me, and he wasn’t there when I needed him. You get me, and you are here.”

He kissed my knuckles and smiled.

“Yes, I get you. Just a second.” He stepped out of the car, pulled the blade from his back pocket, and went into high speed. I got out of the car and watched him, but he was a blur, so I focused on what he was drawing on my car. He was etching runes. So many of them.

“Excuse me?” a guy said behind me, and I whipped around, my stomach dropping. The couple from the other car peered at me.

“Cora?” the girl asked.

I recognized her from school. Kendra something or other. Her date looked familiar, but I couldn’t place his face. “Hi, Kendra.”

“What are you doing up here alone?” she asked, studying Echo’s coat curiously. She didn’t introduce her date, and I didn’t really care.

“I’m not alone.” I glanced at Echo, who as still scribbling. Of course, they couldn’t see him. He slowed down, and I caught his smirk before he disappeared inside the car.

“So are you guys just hanging out?” I asked lamely and tried not to cringe.

Kendra looked at her date. “Yeah.”

Her date peered at the car. Thankfully, the door opened and Echo stepped out.

“Oh, there you are,” I said with relief.

He completely ignored the couple. “Come on.”

“Nice seeing you again, Kendra.” I opened the passenger door and slid inside.

Echo opened the back door and fumbled with the driver’s seat until it folded, creating more space. “Back here. If we’re really going to talk, let’s get comfortable.”

I tried climbing over the tray with the coffee holders, but the duster kept getting in the way. Growling in frustration, I sat back in my seat and opened the door.

Kendra and her friend were walking back to their car. They turned and waved. I’d normally be embarrassed if anyone saw me crawling into the back seat of a car with a guy, but not this time. I could make out with Echo anywhere and not feel ashamed. Not that we were planning on making out now.