Loki, page 1
LOKI
SPEED DATING WITH THE DENIZENS OF THE UNDERWORLD
BOOK SEVENTEEN
REBEKAH R. GANIERE
NAUGHTY NIGHTS PRESS LLC
CONTENTS
Loki
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
Excerpt
Follow Rebekah R. Ganiere
About Rebekah R. Ganiere
Loki
Speed Dating with the Denizens of the Underworld
Book Seventeen
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Copyright © 2022
Rebekah R. Ganiere
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ISBN: 978-1-77357-398-4
978-1-77357-399-1
Published by Naughty Nights Press LLC
Cover Art By King Cover Designs
Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.
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Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
LOKI
What happens when Loki falls for the one woman immune to his charms?
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Val has spent the last hundred years doing two things, protecting Princess Sutrelle of Muspelheim from her father, and hating the Norse Gods who forced her and her Valkyrie sisters to fight in Ragnarök.
When she meets the God of Mischief at a Speed Dating event, the last thing she intends to do is fall for the man-whore, woman-using, Trickster God. But getting away from Loki isn’t as easy as she had hoped because despite him being irritating, vain, and stubborn, he’s also kind, understanding, and hotter than Hell itself.
Val has a decision to make—let go of the past and embrace what could be a fantastic future with a sexy, rich playboy God, or settle for someone that the Fates didn’t have in mind for her and save her heart from the possibility of the heartbreak of a lifetime.
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Loki is book seventeen in the Speed Dating with the Denizens of the Underworld shared world, filled with angst, revenge, arrogant trickster Gods, strong-willed warrior women, and more.
CHAPTER 1
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
Loki rolled his eyes. “I think it’s your mother you need to thank. I asked if you would go with me because I have a meeting, and I don’t want to get roped into conversations with other Underworlders looking for free legal advice.”
Thor threw him a daggered gaze. “You mean a meeting you happened to mention in my mother’s presence which happened to be on the same night as the speed dating event?”
Loki chuckled and straightened his shirt cuffs. “Wrong again, my boy. Your mother set up the meeting. It’s not my fault you’re so nosy you eavesdropped on the conversation and got tangled up in her little scheme to marry you off.”
He wasn’t about to tell Thor that the conversation he’d had with Frigg had been prearranged to try and lure Thor into going to the speed dating night. The morning before the conversation, Loki had been awakened by his cell phone. He hadn’t needed to look to know it was Frigg calling.
He’d had a dream involving Thor, a woman, and the speed dating event. And if he’d had a dream about Thor meeting a woman, there was no doubt Frigg had had one as well. So, he’d answered his phone and set up a time and place for the meeting where Frigg knew Thor would be. And one week later, Loki was playing babysitter and making sure Thor went to the event like he was supposed to.
Loki delved into Thor’s thoughts for a moment and then laid his hand on Thor’s shoulder. “It won’t be any different if you don’t give it a chance.”
Thor brushed Loki off. “I hate it when you do that.”
“I wouldn’t need to if you opened your mouth and spoke more. You used to be so talkative. Couldn’t stop talking as I remember. Mostly about yourself. Your conquests, victories, virtues, anything about you. But now—”
“Now I know better.” Thor snatched up his leather coat.
Loki checked his hair in the mirror. “I was going to say; now you’re boring.”
“And what about you?” Thor questioned. “I don’t see you rushing out to find someone.”
A permanent relationship was the last thing Loki was looking for. He’d been married. And he’d had kids. Now he was content to sample all the underworld had to offer.
Loki flashed him a winning smile. “I don’t need to. My bed is constantly filled with whomever I find companionable for the night. No strings. No expectations. The way I like it.”
Thor walked to the edge of his loft and took off down to his shop floor, two at a time. Bikes lined the walls of the solid brick structure.
“No time for fiddling with those,” said Loki.
Thor walked to his workbench and lifted an ancient hammer.
“My car is out front.” Loki followed down and headed for the exit.
“I can make my way there.” Thor lifted his hammer to the sky and, as always, disappeared in a flash of light.
Loki shook his head. What was the fun of being in the underworld if you were going to stick to doing things the way you always had?
Loki exited the building and smiled at his metallic lime green Lamborghini. He owned over a dozen cars, but the Lambo was his favorite. And when he took it down to the demon street races, he couldn’t help but win.
“Are you sure this is where Lady Frigg said we were to meet Loki?” asked Sutrelle.
Val reread the paper before showing it to Sutrelle.
Yup. DeLux Underworld Café was definitely the place on the piece of paper. But it didn’t look like a place to have a business meeting.
“Come on,” said Val. “Let’s get this over with and get topside again.”
Being in the underworld made Val twitchy. There were too many prying eyes. Too many loose lips. And too many oversized ears itching for any piece of gossip that could get them a leg up.
Though they’d been out of Surtr’s realm for a month, Val had yet to let her guard down. Armed from the shoulders downward, she didn’t allow herself to slack off for even a moment. She spent nearly three hours every night continuing her training before bed. And the first thing she did when she awoke each day was to walk to Sutrelle’s apartment door and make sure the princess was safe.
Val opened the door, and the light scent of flowers and vanilla made her nose twitch. Feminine scents had never been her thing. She preferred the scent of steel, leather, and whiskey to the smell of flowers or candy. She shook her head as she took in the bright reds and pinks decorating the Café. Was there some kind of orgy happening she wasn’t aware of?
A beautiful woman glided over to them and smiled at Sutrelle. “Hello. I’m Aphrodite. You must be new here.”
“Yes,” Val answered for them. “We were told to come by Lady Frigg. We have a meeting—”
Aphrodite smiled brighter. “Of course. Lady Frigg sends many customers our way. If you want to go to the table and sign in with Eve, we can set you up.”
Set up? “I... I don’t understand. We were told to be here at 8:00 pm.”
Aphrodite nodded. “Yes. This is the meeting place. As you can see, we have many customers, so if you sign in, we can assign you to tables, and we’ll start in a few minutes.”
Val glanced from Sutrelle to Aphrodite. She didn’t like that Loki had chosen somewhere so crowded. Didn’t the idiot know they were trying to keep a low profile?
Val’s back itched between her shoulder blades, and she fought against scratching. She knew what the itch meant, and it’d been getting worse lately, particularly when in the underworld.
“Thank you,” said Sutrelle finally. She took Val’s hand and led her toward the table outside a red velvet curtain.
“This is strange,” said Val. “Why do we need to sign in to get a table to talk to Loki?”
Sutrelle shrugged. “Maybe he has a lot of clients. I’m sure we aren’t the only ones he is helping. I’ll go ask at the table; you have a drink.” Sutrelle smiled at Val.
Sutrelle was obviously trying to calm Val, but it wasn’t going to work. It never did. Because the moment Sutrelle began to relax was when Val needed to be more vigilant than ever. Sutrelle knew running from her father meant her death, but Val had experienced what Surtr did to those he deemed a traitor— and death was the last thing Surtr would allow them if he trapped them again.
Sutrelle walked to a table and spoke with a woman. She sure hoped Sutrelle remembered not to give away their real identities.
A moment passed, and Val turned to the bar. She wedged b
As soon as they arrived, she downed them and threw down cash. The growing crowd of people made her twitchy. She wanted to get the documents she needed and return Sutrelle to their apartments above Frigg’s bar.
Since they’d run from Muspelheim, Val had been more agitated than ever. But Lady Frigg had taken them in and offered them shelter, and Loki finally had the human paperwork needed for them to change their identities permanently, which brought them one inch closer to freedom. It irritated Val how many pieces of identification humans needed to live on Midgard. Birth certificate, Social Security Number, Real ID? It was as if Midgard was afraid they’d lose people, or worse, they wanted to keep tabs on their every movement. Much like Surtr.
Living on Midgard the last month had been... strange. The sights, smells, and noise of Los Angeles were nothing like what she was used to. And the people, especially the men, left something to be desired. On dozens of occasions, she had been hit on, flirted with, and objectified by human men. And in every instance, she had made them each a bet. She would have a drink with them if they defeated her in an arm-wrestling contest. But if they lost, they would have to give her the money they would have spent on the two drinks. So far, she’d won over a thousand Midgardian dollars.
“Hello there. Are you new?” asked a voice so deep she wasn’t sure she’d heard it.
Val turned to a tall crimson-skinned demon with broad horns like a Minotaur. He smiled at her, revealing bright, sharp teeth.
“New would imply I had an inclination to be here, which I don’t. So, no, I’m not new here. I’m just stopping by to pick something up.”
His head cocked to the side and chortled. “Okay.”
“Is this your first time here?”
He shook his heavy head. “Nope. Been coming for more years than I can count. Hoping this will finally be the night.”
“The night for what?”
He smiled again. “For me to find the one I am meant to be with.”
And that was her cue. “Well, I hope you find her. Or him. Or... whomever.”
She found Sutrelle shifting from foot to foot, holding an empty glass. Just what she needed, a drunk Sutrelle.
“What did you find out?” asked Val, coming up beside her.
Sutrelle jumped and peeked over her shoulder at Val before flashing a nervous smile. “Here. They said they would let you talk to Loki first. Apparently, he’s popular.”
Val snorted. “Yeah... He’s always been an attention whore.”
“You know him?”
Val averted her gaze from Sutrelle’s. She knew all about him from her Valkyrie sisters, who had taken a tumble or two in his bed. A man-whore she would call him— but there were more Norse Gods who had bedded as many women as Loki than those who hadn’t. So, how could she judge? Just because she’d never given it up to the God of Mischief didn’t mean she was a saint.
“I’ve seen him. And let’s say a lot of my sister Valkyries... spent time with him. His reputation precedes him even larger than his ego.”
Sutrelle’s cheeks flushed. Val had always tried to shield her from the crasser parts of life. Too bad Sutrelle’s father hadn’t been the same.
A bell rang.
“Everyone find your seats, please,” the woman Sutrelle had talked to announced.
“I’m over there.” Sutrelle pointed.
Val read her piece of paper and held it up. “Eight.”
Sutrelle nodded and took a step away, but Val grasped her arm.
“Don’t leave your table. I’ll find you when I finish with Loki, and we can head back topside.”
Sutrelle nodded.
“And remember,” Val whispered. “No one can find out who you are. You never know who would be willing to sell you out for favor with your father.”
Sutrelle dropped her gaze and nodded.
Val tracked Sutrelle as she found her table and sat.
Sigh... She didn’t know what Sutrelle had gotten them into, but she didn’t like it so far.
A bell rang as Loki entered. Thor smiled and walked to Loki, handing him a piece of paper.
“What’s this?” Loki inspected the paper and scowled. “You didn’t.”
“If I have to, you have to.”
Loki scowled. “Why? Frigg’s not my mother. I didn’t promise her anything.”
“Call it payback.”
“For what?” Thor opened his mouth, but Loki held up his hand. “Never mind. Fine. But I’m only doing this because Aphrodite and Eve will have my balls for earrings if I don’t. But don’t think this is the end, cousin.”
Thor snorted, and Loki knew what he was thinking. They may both be Norse Gods, but they were far from being any kind of blood relation. The closest relation to Loki besides his children was Thor’s adoptive mother, Frigg.
Loki sighed before heading past the plush velvet curtain and looking at table eight. Long blonde hair and a ramrod spine stared back at him. A shiver skittered over his skin, making him want to turn around and run out the door.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared,” said a sultry voice.
Loki bit his tongue to keep from telling Eve where to stick her stupid speed dating events and rumors of people finding their true loves.
He inclined his head, smiled, and beelined for table eight.
Though he’d never been able to see what was in the cards for him and his own future, something told him his was about to change forever.
CHAPTER 2
Val eyed every person at the group meeting and calculated their danger factor. The demons she could easily take on her own. The shifters would be doable as long as they didn’t work together. Vampires, meh. But the other immortals were her biggest challenge. She calculated the odds; at worst, she should be able to hold off the entire room long enough for Elle to run back to Frigg’s.
A tall frame glided into view and, in one fluid movement, pulled out the chair across from her and sat. His dark eyes never left her face as he completed the action and a sexy smile slipped across his lips.
“Valkyrie?”
Val scanned to see if anyone had heard him, but everyone appeared to be concentrating on their meetings.
She nodded but didn’t answer. He studied her face and body as if imagining what was under her clothes.
She forced her breathing to stay even under his inspection and took in every nuance of expression he made, telling her he appreciated what he saw.
After a minute, he waved his fingers, and a bottle of wine and two full glasses materialized. He reached for his glass, pulled the deep burgundy liquid to his lips, and sipped it. Again, he watched her like trying to decide whether to bed her— or bed her.
“Do you have the papers?” she asked.
His eyes widened slightly. He snapped his fingers, and a bulky envelope appeared in his hand. He swept it across the table and set down his glass of wine.
Val snatched up the envelope, opened it, and thumbed through the documents inside. She didn’t know what to look for and had no clue whether they were correct, but she checked them out anyway.
“They’re all there,” said Loki.
She nodded and continued to inspect the documents.
“You know Val is a silly name. You should be more careful.”
She glared at him. “I can take care of myself.”
“Elle for Sutrelle. Val. Valkyrie. Kind of on the nose, don’t you think?”
She shoved the documents back in the envelope. “It’s been my name for a thousand years.” That part was genuine. It had been her nickname for a thousand years. But that didn’t mean it had always been her name. She did have another name. One given to her by her mother before she was taken as a child to serve as a Valkyrie. But she wasn’t about to let anyone use that name. It was hers and hers alone. The last piece of herself which hadn’t been stripped away by the Norse Gods or by Surtr’s torture.
