CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
It was one of the longest days McKenna could ever recall-second only to when Selig broke his arm falling off Cap and the day of Loki's funeral. She sat curled on the sofa while Loki alternated between the sofa, the windowsill, and pacing about the room.
He sighed from his perch on the sill, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "How long does this usually take on Midgard?"
McKenna lifted her head from the sofa's arm to peer at him over it. "I still have my appendix, but when Shay had hers out, I think it took about an hour or so. It's not a big deal on Midgard."
"He's been in there three hours, McKenna. Something's wrong. Something more than Eir is telling us."
Her belly did a slow, painful rollover. If Loki was worried, she should probably be terrified, since he was always the one who assured her everything would be fine. She uncurled from the sofa and rose to cross over to him, wedging herself between his knees. "It's going to be okay, Loki. Isn't that what you told me?"
He didn't look at her, his head falling forward, his hands dangling between his thighs. "Maybe I'm wrong."
She gazed down at him-or more aptly, the back of his neck, and without thinking, reached down to brush her fingers over that bared bit of skin. "No, you're not," she murmured, letting her fingers slip through his hair. "He's going to be fine."
"And if he isn't?"
He lifted his head and his eyes were bright blue. She sighed, shifting to sink onto his left thigh and draped her arms about his neck. "He will be. Trust Eir, love. Isn't that what you're always telling me?"
His arm eased about her waist, his fingers slipping beneath the bottom of her tee shirt to brush her back just above the waist of her jeans. "I'm full of it, as you'd say."
"No, you aren't." She curved her hand against his cheek, gently pressing to turn him toward her. "He's going to be all right."
Loki's eyes softened as they held her gaze and a slight grin tugged at his lips. "He almost walked in on us last night."
"Really?" She grazed his cheek with her thumb. "It wouldn't be the first time."
"True, but that time he was barely two and had no idea what we were doing." He gave her waist a gentle squeeze. "Now, not only would he know, but it would probably scar him for life."
"I doubt that. It might freak him out a little, but I think in time, he'd get past it." She smiled. "So you said almost. What stopped him?"
He raised one brow slightly. "You were loud enough that he heard you and thought you were sick."
"Oh, God..." Heat swept through her and her face grew too hot for comfort. She brought her free hand up to cover it. "Damn, I didn't think I was that loud."
"It's a good thing you were. Otherwise we'd have had a very unwelcomed interruption."
"True." She lowered her hand. "So, how did you explain? You didn't tell him the truth, did you?"
"Of course not. I'm no fool." His grin widened. "I told him you had a nightmare."
She shook her head. "We need to lock our door at night."
"It wouldn't be a bad idea." He eased his other arm about her waist and pulled her closer. "Once he and Aislinn are both over their nightmares."
With that, the door opened and Tyra came out. "You can come in and see Selig now. He's still asleep, but other than that, he's all right."
McKenna slid down from Loki's leg. "What happened?"
"Eir had to recalibrate the forge for him because of his mixed blood. It was a wee bit too strong and sent him into a form of shock." Tyra smiled as she touched McKenna's shoulder. "But he is going to be just fine in a day or two."
Without thinking, McKenna reached for Loki, threading her fingers with his. He gave her hand a squeeze and she breathed a sigh of relief as they stepped into Selig's room. He was, as Tyra said, sound asleep, but his coloring was slowly returning to normal.
Loki eased his hand from hers as they neared his bedside and with a flick of his fingers, Selig's stuffed dog, Cap appeared. Tucking the dog beneath Selig's arm, Loki then bent over and brushed a kiss over his forehead. "You gave us a scare, darling boy," he whispered, glancing over at McKenna and winking before turning back to Selig. "Let's not do that again, all right?"
Selig murmured something in his sleep and his arm tightened about Cap. McKenna reached down to lay the back of her hand against his forehead. Cool. Finally. She looked up as Eir came around and said, "He will sleep for most of the day, most likely. Why don't you go and get something to eat and come back around dinner? I'll send someone if he awakens sooner."
McKenna patted Selig through the covers. "We'll be back soon, little man."
"With funnel cake," Loki added.
She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "With funnel cake."
Loki slid his arm about her shoulders to gently steer her away from Selig's bed. "What was the eye roll for?"
"He is his father's son," she told him. "Funnel cake. Pork roll."
"Ah, but he's his mother's son as well. Football." Loki gave her shoulders a squeeze. "Hockey. Things I know nothing about."
"I've tried explaining football and I like hockey, but I don't know much about the intricacies of it." She eased her arm about his waist as they left the infirmary and made their way down the wide corridor. "We should go peek in on the twins, see how they're doing. It's almost time for them to be looking to eat."
"Lead the way, Princess."
She rolled her eyes again, but smiled as she said, "Don't call me that."
"Why not? You are a princess."
"I know, but... but I'm not."
He navigated her toward the wide railing along the terrace, where the sun shone warm against the gold. From there, they overlooked the expanse of the Asgard Sea, with Heimdall's observatory a small golden globe on the horizon. Maneuvering her in front of him, Loki eased his arms about her waist and pulled her against him. "Look out there, love." He gestured toward the globe, then swept his hand wide. "And look all around. One day soon, you will rule over this."
"No," she peered over her shoulder at him, "one day, you will rule it."
"Darling girl, you will be the wife of the most powerful man in the nine realms and you are the mother of the future most powerful man. If you think you will not be ruling, you are mad." His voice came low in her ear, his lips brushing her as he added, "You are every bit my equal and you will be when you are queen."
Her eyelids grew heavy at the low growl of his deep voice and she let them close, resting her head back against him. "I am only a lowly Midgardian, remember?"
"You haven't been that since... well... you've never been that."
"Liar."
He chuckled, his laugh washing over her as he tightened his arms about her. "Very well, you were at first, but then... then I realized just how wrong I was." His hands moved lightly along her arms and she smiled as he pressed a kiss into the top of her head. "You will be as much queen as I will be king, darling girl."
"I kinda like the sound of that."
"I thought you might. Now tell me, did you ever even think that would be a possibility when you came down that hallway and found me lying on your floor?"
She turned in his arms to smile up at him. "Absolutely not. I just wanted you to leave and for me to survive with both eyes and my life the same way it was."
His eyes softened as he gazed down at her. "I'm sorry it didn't work out quite that way."
"No you aren't."
"No," he shook his head, "I'm not." His fingertips swept lightly over her back. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Loki. And if you really want to make me Queen McKenna, I suppose I could learn to live with it." She couldn't keep the smile from her face or the laughter from her voice and it was her turn to give him a squeeze. "And you better be nice to me, or else I'll overthrow you and claim Asgard for myself."
"Why don't I see you as true threat?" His hands slid down over her backside and she shivered involuntarily as he pressed her into him. "That's right, because I know how to make you melt."
"Oh, yeah?" She did the same, smiling as it was his turn to shiver. "I think I make you melt just as easily, o'God of Mischief."
He sucked in a sharp breath and his eyes closed as she pulled him harder into her. "You don't play fair, love. Do you know that?"
"Who do you think I learned it from?" she whispered back, giving his backside a squeeze that made him groan softly.
He bent toward her and his lips caught hers in a soft kiss that had her tightening her grip on him even more. When he pulled back, he playfully caught her bottom lip between his teeth and flicked the tip of his tongue against it and when she shivered, he released her, murmuring, "I win."
"For now," she conceded as they resumed their stroll toward the nursery, "but I wouldn't get too smug if I were you, Mr. Odinson. I know exactly how to bring you to your knees."
"And you love what I do to you when I'm on them," he countered.
"This is true," she admitted. "But then again, I don't hear you complain when it's the other way around, either."
"Darling girl, I would never complain about what you do to me. I enjoy it far too much."
"You certainly seemed to that night in the pergola. Oh, and the night I blindfolded you. And-"
He cut her off with a slow, teasing kiss. Then he pulled back enough to murmur, "Your time is coming, darling girl. And you will beg me for mercy before I'm finished with you. And that's not all you'll beg me for, either."
She shivered at the husky promise in his voice, but couldn't resist teasing him a bit more. "Is that a threat, Loki?"
He pulled back, emerald swirling through his irises as a slow smile lifted his lips and he purred, "It's a promise, love."
***
McKenna smiled down at Kyra as she tugged her tee shirt back down. "There. And soon, we're going to bottles and then solid food."
Kyra smiled up at her, her blue eyes bright. She babbled back at McKenna, reaching out to grab a fistful of McKenna's hair.
"Ow... easy, little girl," McKenna said, carefully prying the little fist open to retrieve her hair. "Let's go see where Daddy and Nicky are, shall we?"
Kyra continued babbling as McKenna rose from the glider and stepped out onto the terrace. There, Loki sat, his back against a golden pillar, Nicholas asleep in his arms. Loki's eyes were closed, but she didn't think he was asleep and this was confirmed when Loki said, "If you're trying to sneak up on me, Midgardian, it isn't working."
"Nope. Not sneaking. Just trying to determine if you were awake or not." She moved around to sit on the ledge across from him. "You look tired."
"I am tired. It's been a long day."
"I know." She rocked Kyra, patting her backside gently. "How long has he been asleep?"
Loki glanced down. "Just now. He was fighting it."
"He's your son."
"Why do you say that when they are trouble?"
"Because they are little gods and goddess of mischief. They don't get that from me, do they?"
He offered up a sleepy smile at that. "No. I don't suppose they do."
"Do you want to do a trade off?"
"I'll put him down." With a soft groan, Loki pushed up from the pillar and rose from the ledge to bring Nicholas into the nursery. From her vantage point, McKenna watched as he set Nicholas in his crib, then bent away from the crib, arching his back. It must have been bothering him, the way it did from time to time.
Kyra smiled in his direction, babbling happily and pointing and McKenna smiled down at her. "That's right, little bit, Daddy."
As if he heard them, Loki turned and smiled, still rubbing his back as he came back out onto the terrace. "I think I might need Eir to work her magic on me."
"Back bothering you that much?"
"That pillar is not kind."
She smiled. "Let me put her in her bouncy seat and I'll rub your back for you."
With that, she shifted Kyra to her right arm, slipped her left through Loki's and steered him back into their chambers, where she strapped Kyra into her chair, while Loki flopped face down on the bed.
She straddled his back, sitting carefully on his backside. "Where is the pain the worst?"
"Right here." He pressed his fingers into his back, right above his hips.
She went to work, kneading his back muscles as gently as she could, freezing when he groaned. "Too hard?"
"Not at all." The black comforter muffled his words a bit, but there was no mistaking the relief in his voice. "If anything, you could do it a little harder."
She leaned over, let her lips brush his ear, and whispered, "Isn't that supposed to be what I say?"
"Careful, darling girl," he purred, winking at her as he peered over his left shoulder at her. "It won't take much for me to toss you down and have my way with you right here and now."
"That's a little creepy, considering our six-month old daughter is sitting right there."
He winked. "I can have her back in the nursery in ten seconds."
"Just let me finish rubbing your back, okay?"
"Then don't tease me that way." He winked again and turned back to the comforter. "Work out my kinks, love. Earn your keep."
"You'd be no fun without your kinks, but I'll be happy to unknot your muscles." She bent over to brush his cheek with a light kiss and then sat back and went to work, kneading the thick bands of muscle until not only did she loosen the muscle, but actually succeeded in putting him to sleep.
She climbed off and smiled as she lifted Kyra from her chair. "Let's let him sleep a while, okay? You and I can go out to the Western Courtyard and play on the swings while we wait for Selig to wake up."
Kyra's blue eyes were wide, holding her stare as if she understood every word McKenna said. And as she gazed down at her youngest child, McKenna had the strangest feeling that Kyra did understand every word she said.