CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
After spending a wonderful afternoon on the beach, she and Loki and four very wiped out children made their way back to the palace. Tyra ran a bath for Selig and Aislinn, while Kirsten took the twins. All four would eat and be ready for the ball, although they would only be in attendance for the first hour or so.
While they did that, Loki flashed McKenna a grin that made her knees go weak, and he led her back to their chambers, where he filled their tub as well. As she sank back against him in the hot, bubble-filled water, she sighed and let her eyes droop shut.
He wrapped soapy arms about her and murmured, “Where are you, Midgardian?”
“I’m right here,” she murmured back. “Because there’s nowhere else I’d want to be.”
It was still so difficult to believe how everything could change in the span of a day. A little over thirty-six hours earlier, she was convinced she would never smile again and now there she was, in Loki's arms once more.
Part of her was still convinced it was all some wonderful dream or maybe Eir had given her something to calm her nerves that resulted in an amazing hallucination. Part of her was still a little afraid that at some point, she’d open her eyes or be jolted awake only to find herself a widow once more.
Loki's lips skimmed along her left shoulder, the tip of his tongue warm as it brushed her wet skin. “Today was one of the best days we’ve spent here,” he said between kisses.
“It certainly was. It’s too bad we don’t get to play like that all the time.”
His laugh came as a warm puff against the slope of her neck. “I don’t think we’d appreciate it as much if we did.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “As much as I hate to admit it, being away from you as long as I was, makes me appreciate being with you that much more.”
“Me, too,” she confessed, opening her eyes to peer at him over her shoulder. “I took an awful lot for granted until I thought you were gone forever. It just seemed like, once Odin forgave you and we were able to be married, I just assumed you’d always be here. And then you weren’t and I thought of all the things I should have said, but didn’t. And all the things I shouldn’t have said, but did.”
She shifted to face him, water sloshing slightly as she did. “In the days right after Odin told me you were dead, I couldn’t remember what you sounded like. I couldn’t really recall what you even looked like. And that scared me so much.” Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. “And then, when I went back to Jersey, and I saw our wedding picture, it all came screaming back at me so hard… I just kind of lost it.”
His eyes softened as they held hers. “Lost it?”
“I kind of… shattered the picture frame. I threw it. I was so angry at you for leaving us, which is really kind of stupid, since it wasn’t really your choice, but I couldn’t help it.” Her bottom lip quivered, so she caught it momentarily between her teeth and as her eyes stung, she swiped at her left eye with the tip of that pinky. “All I wanted was to hear you. To see you. And not in my mind, but in reality. I told God that if He brought you back, I would never take any of those little things for granted,” she finished in a pained whisper.
A hint of a smile played at his lips even as his eyes remained soft. “You smashed a picture frame?”
“I destroyed it. Two of them, actually. I was angry.”
“Which pictures?”
“The one of us in the Western Courtyard and the one of you holding Selig when he was about a month old.”
“Did you feel better afterwards?”
“Only for a few minutes. Then I felt guilty because I was blaming you.”
He sighed softly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “I didn’t want to handle it this way. I fought Odin on it. I didn’t want to purposely hurt you.”
“You didn’t. I just… I regretted so much because there were times when I should have said something and thought, ‘well, I can just tell him tomorrow,’ and what a horrible way to realize no one is promised tomorrow.”
He reached to pull her into his arms again, tucking her against his chest and she sighed softly. “And I am so fucking lucky that I get the second chance to say those things.”
“What things, McKenna? What could you have to tell me that I don’t already know?”
“How much I love you. How wonderful the last five years have been. What a great father you are. How fortunate I am to be the woman you chose to love. How much I love your smile and the sound of your laughter and how you always make me feel safe, no matter what. I love how you make me crazy by magically making things disappear and that when I watch you with the kids, like today, playing in the sand and letting them climb all over you, I just fall head over heels in love with you all over again. I love how much you’ve shared your magic with Selig and Aislinn and how patient you are with them and how much love you shower over all four of them. How proud I am to be your wife and how much I love you.”
“I know all that already, darling girl, because you’ve let me know in every way possible.” He kissed the top of her head and gave her a gentle squeeze.
“Remember when you taught Selig to jump Cap?”
“How could I forget? You were furious about it.”
“Until I saw you jump Ravn. I’d never seen you do that before and it really just took my breath away. I fell in love with you all over again. You were amazing. And like tonight, I’ll be talking to Sif or Volstagg and I’ll look over and see you across the ballroom, dressed in whichever armor you decide on and you will just look so handsome… so sexy, I’ll be struck dumb at the sight of you. And then I wonder how the hell you fell for me.”
He laughed softly against her hair. “McKenna, that happens to me on a daily basis. You take my breath away, darling girl. At first, it was because you were so damn cute—this tiny little thing with nerves of steel and a spine to match, standing up to me as if you really were a match for me. But, all you asked for in return for helping me was that I not harm anyone else. Not that I didn’t harm you, but that I didn’t harm anyone else.
“As I told you then, you were kind to me. With a beautiful heart. And when I met Joe, all I could think was you needed someone to protect you from men like him. You were too kind, too easy to take advantage of, and I wanted to be that man. Only, then I found out that you really weren’t nearly as weak as I’d thought. You’ve a strength I didn’t know possible and by then, it didn’t matter because you had my heart, love. And as to how I fell for you? That’s easy, because I’d have to have been mad not to. You were everything I dreamed of, love, and you still are.”
She shivered and glanced up at him. “We make a good pair, you and me, Jötunn. And I promise I will never take our life together for granted ever again.”
He bent to capture her lips in a tender kiss and as it deepened, she turned in his arms to face him once more. When he pulled away, he whispered, “I love you, Midgardian.”
“I love you, too, Loki. Now, shut up and kiss me again.”
“As you wish, love,” he murmured just before his lips claimed hers once more.
***
McKenna hummed softly as she sat at her vanity, trying to decide what earrings to wear, and then wondered why she even tried to decide when she went with the same pieces—the teardrop emerald and diamond earrings that Loki gave her the night before their wedding. They were her favorite ones.
For tonight, she’d chosen to wear her hair down, since she normally kept it pulled up in either a ponytail or in a clip. And thankfully, it behaved, spilling over her shoulders in a gentle fall of smooth waves. Her skin had a hint of a tan from spending all day in the sun and the white gown she’d chosen showed off that beautiful tan perfectly.
She smiled as she rose and moved to her mirror. The ball gown was a new one—pure white, edged in green and gold, with long sleeves that were opened from the shoulder to her wrists, a low scooped neckline and fitted bodice that she thought showed off her curves perfectly. The skirt fell to the floor in a fall of snowy white silk and the toes of her white strappy sandals just peeked out from beneath.
Loki poked his head into her dressing room. “Are you almost—whoa…”
She smiled, twirling to face him. “What do you think?”
He stared for a long moment and then murmured, “I think you are the most beautiful woman in Asgard, McKenna.”
A delicate heat touched her cheeks and she smiled. “Thank you. I certainly feel like a princess in this.”
He smiled, offering her his arm. “I hope you find me acceptable, then.”
She gave him a long up and down look. He’d chosen formal black leather leggings and tunic, the top embellished with gold and silver. Tapping her finger against her lips, she pretended to think it over before saying, “You’ll do.”
“Oh, thank you.”
She smiled. “You are more than acceptable, Prince Loki, and you know it.” She slid her arm through his and her hand came to rest on the intricate weave of his leather sleeve. “Why don’t you use your title, anyway?”
“I don’t care for it, to be honest. Frigga wished us to be raised as normal as possible.” He covered her hand with his. “Rather like you wish for our children.”
“Children should have the chance to be kids—even royal children. And speaking of which, where are the royal kidlets?”
“Tyra and Kirsten are bringing them to the ballroom. The Allfather is planning on making a formal to-do over my return. I think he wishes all of us to appear together.”
“I think that’s a fine idea. Although the noise will probably freak Nicholas and Kyra out, since I imagine someone’s going to cheer.”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“So, tell me something,” she said as he escorted her from their chambers and down the promenade, “if you had conquered Midgard, were you going to make us all call you King Loki?”
He grinned down at her. “Of course. I might still make you call me that.”
“In your dreams, bud.”
His laugh echoed along the promenade. “Just once?”
She smiled. “I’ll think about it.”
“Careful, love, I might demand that you do it when you’re on your knees before me.”
“Do that and you might find yourself regretting it real quick when I junk punch you.”
“You would never junk punch me, darling girl,” he told her with a laugh. “You’re far too appreciative of what I can do with it to ever risk injuring it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please.”
“Tell me you aren't.”
“Okay, well, maybe a little.” She held up her free hand, her thumb and forefinger only millimeters apart.
“Only a little? Do I need remind you how much you appreciated it only a little while ago?” He bent toward her, his voice barely a whisper as he playfully moaned, “Oh, Loki… Yes, Loki… That’s it, Loki! Right there… harder… faster…oh—oh, God, Loki, yes… Yes… YES!!”
“I did not sound like that.”
“I beg to differ, love. That’s exactly how you sounded and you saw—never mind felt—the effect it had on me.”
A little shiver rippled along her spine. “You were pretty amazing.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I try.”
As they neared the ballroom, Thor came striding their way. “Did the two of you have trouble finding your way here?”
“No,” Loki said with a straight face, “we had trouble dragging ourselves out of our wonderful bath.”
Thor’s cheeks took on a reddish hue. “Oh… Four children aren't enough?”
McKenna chuckled while Loki just grinned. “Have you seen my wife, Thor? See this beautiful woman standing right here? Tell me you wouldn’t be taking her to bed every chance you had if she was yours.”
Now it was McKenna's turn to blush. “Loki! That sounds too weird.”
Thor cleared his throat, but didn’t protest, which made her blush even harder while Loki scowled. “Tell me you are not thinking such thoughts about my wife, Thor.”
The flush in Thor's face deepened even as his forehead creased and his expression suggested that was the most ludicrous thing he’d ever heard. “Of course not. No offense, McKenna.”
“Um… none taken.” She glanced up at Loki, who was still scowling. “Oh, cut it out, Loki. You’re the one who asked.”
“I didn’t think he’d actually blush, though.”
McKenna didn’t either and it weirded her out to a certain degree. Thor was handsome, in a big, blonde, Asgardian kind of way, but he didn’t even hold a candle to Loki. As far as she was concerned, Jane Foster chose the wrong brother and as far as she was concerned, she was thankful she had.
Giving Loki's biceps a squeeze, she said, “Come on, you put him in an awkward spot, Loki. If he says no, you get offended because he thinks I’m a bridge troll. He says yes and you get offended because you think he wants to fool around with me.”
They both gave her odd looks and said at the same time, “Bridge troll?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oy. You know what I mean.”
“She uses that phrase often, but I’ve yet to see such a creature on Midgard,” Loki said, shaking his head.
“Perhaps it is a mythical creature,” Thor suggested. “Or one only seen by those who are intoxicated.”
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes again, this time hard enough that she was sure she saw herself thinking. “You two can stay here and debate it. I’m going in.”
Loki clamped his hand over hers before she could pull free. “Ah-ah, love. Not so fast. We have to wait for the children, remember?”
“They’re already inside,” Thor said, gesturing to the room behind him. “The Allfather is just waiting for you and McKenna so he can make his announcement.”
“Announcement?” McKenna looked up at Loki. “What announcement?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t a clue. I suppose we’ll have to go in and find out.”
She sighed softly. “Why don’t I like the sound of that?”
“It will be fine,” he told her, glancing down at her and giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I promise, I am not going anywhere.”
“I certainly hope not.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Loki said, taking a deep breath and starting towards the ballroom.
She sighed once more, but let him propel her into motion. He was right, they certainly weren’t about to find out standing out on the promenade and as they made their way into the ballroom, she wondered if the time would ever come when she wouldn’t be apprehensive about one of Odin's ‘announcements.’