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Maja cast another glance around the damaged foyer. How could Brynhild have been so mistaken about this location? With a shrug and a swirl of her swan feather cloak, she ignored every prompting of her Valkyrie training and followed the man who had spoken of his brother out into the street. As long as she didn’t interact with him, or—the Norns preserve us—interfere in his future, what could possibly go wrong?
* * *
Adam glanced left and right as he exited the office building. Although he’d believed he’d blacked out back there, he now knew he hadn’t. In the same way, he knew his body hadn’t suffered any physical damage. He had been fully conscious when he’d imagined the Valkyrie, clearly suffering the effects of shock.
This was a living nightmare, and his subconscious was clearly responding with a subliminal message. Don’t worry. We’ll send a beautiful Valkyrie to the rescue. Just as he had been coping with that little treat for his senses, the arrival of a group of armed men bearing the dreaded Reaper flag—probably the most feared symbol in the world—had brought him sharply back to reality.
The terrorist organization known as the Reapers had risen to prominence in recent years, spreading its brand of hatred and fear across the globe. The Reaper himself, the shadowy leader of the group, was the most wanted man in the world.
Captured by the Reapers, the most feared killers on the planet? I don’t think so.
Now, Adam’s heart pounded against his rib cage and the hairs at the back of his neck stiffened until they felt like pins being driven into his flesh. The car in which he and Yussef had arrived was ablaze in the middle of the street. The roar and crash of grenades and the staccato sounds of gunfire were deafening. As he tried desperately to find a way out of this living hell, a small figure caught his attention and he paused, his eyes narrowing as he followed its progress through the dust and smoke.
The boy—Adam decided it was a boy—was bent almost double as he ducked inside a drainage ditch at the edge of the road, clutching something tightly to his chest. As he drew level with Adam, with only the span of the street separating them, another grenade went off, throwing the fleeing child off his feet.
Adam moved swiftly, closing the distance between them, sliding into the ditch and crouching beside the boy to inspect him for injuries. The child seemed stunned rather than maimed, and he gazed up at Adam with wide, uncomprehending eyes. As he checked him over, Adam saw that what the boy was carrying was a small dog. Despite the mayhem going on around them and the strangeness of the situation, the bedraggled canine licked Adam’s hand and wagged its tail.
Cradling the boy against his chest, Adam shielded him and the dog from the gunfire with his own body. From his size, he judged the child to be about eight years old.
“Where are you going?” He mimed a gesture to go along with the words.
“I speak English.” There was a trace of pride in the words. The boy pointed in the direction of the road out of town. “I go to the mission.”
Another grenade hit close by and Adam decided waiting around in a ditch wasn’t the best idea for either of them. Scooping up both the boy and his dog, he stayed low as he broke into a run. He had gone only a few hundred yards when the bullet hit him. Even though there was surprisingly little pain, he recognized what had happened instantly. It felt like someone had punched him hard in the back of his left shoulder.
I’ve really been shot this time. There should be more pain.
Blood, hot and sticky, began to pour down his back. The pain did hit then. Like a demon digging its claws gleefully into his muscles and sawing on his flesh with razor-edged teeth. As his vision blurred, Adam staggered and veered wildly across the road. Determinedly, he kept going. Getting the boy to safety was all that mattered.
“Let me help you.” The voice was cool, feminine and vaguely familiar. It sounded like the speaker was used to giving orders. As an arm slipped around his waist, he gazed into the clear blue eyes of the woman who had burst in on him as he sheltered in the ruined office building.
Her name came into his head through the mist of unconsciousness that was trying to claim him. Maja. Since leaving the house, she had disposed of the horse, helmet, cloak and weapons. Even without those items she was still the same unmistakable warrior princess.
Great. Just when I think I’m being rescued, it turns out to be a figment of my pain-filled imagination.
“Lean on me.” For an apparition, she was surprisingly strong, and Adam was grateful for her support. With her arm around his waist, he could drag his feet along with her in something that resembled a walk. Somehow, he was still able to carry the child and the dog.
“This way.” From within Adam’s protective hold, the boy gestured to a large, run-down building, half-hidden behind a drystone wall lined with dusty olive trees. “The lady will help us.”
The next few minutes passed in a blur. As Adam staggered into a tiled courtyard, Maja vanished. At the same time, a tall, gray-haired woman came out of the building and issued a few commands in English. Three men in local dress emerged and followed her instructions. One of them took the boy from his arms, then Adam was carried inside and strong hands lifted him onto a portable examining table.
Exquisite pain followed as the woman probed the wound in his shoulder. After that, he dipped in and out of consciousness. He was aware of her clipped English tones telling him how lucky he was. He tried to laugh, to make a joke about the sort of luck that had brought him to Warda on this day. He wasn’t sure his voice had worked, but it didn’t matter because sweet, blessed darkness swept over him once more.
When he regained consciousness, he was in a small room. He took a moment to assimilate his surroundings. He was lying on a narrow bed with a broken ceiling fan above his head and a window with cracked shutters painted a faded shade of green. Oh...and his shoulder hurt like a demon.
“Where am I?” Since he was alone, he had no expectation of a response when he tried out his voice. Sure enough, it sounded like he had gargled with broken glass.
“Tarek called it ‘the mission.’”
Startled, Adam began to turn his head in the direction of the voice. The movement caused darts of sheer agony to shoot through his shoulder. He guessed the woman who had removed the bullet had done so without the benefit of anesthetic. He continued the movement of his head, slowly this time, and carefully.
Maja was seated on a chair near the window, her blue eyes fixed on his face. Her expression was one of mild curiosity. As if he was an interesting specimen she was studying and about which she was making mental notes.
“Who is Tarek, and who the hell are you?”
“Tarek is the child you rescued. And I have already told you I am Maja, Valkyrie shield maiden.”
“Of course you are.” Adam closed his eyes, too weary to pursue this strange alternate reality his mind appeared determined to force him into.
“Are you going to die?” The question had the effect of opening his eyes again. Fast.
“What sort of question is that?”
She got to her feet and he took a moment to appreciate the way the red corset fitted her curves. Who needed painkillers with that sort of distraction around? “What you did with the boy was brave. If you die, I can take your soul back to Valhalla and my journey will not have been wasted.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m planning on sticking around.” That was his ambition. Whether the government forces and the rebel opposition who were unleashing mayhem on the local area allowed him to fulfill it? That was another matter. Although sound was muted by distance, he could still hear the battle raging.
She bit her lip. “I was afraid you might say that.”
With those words, the ultraefficient, ice maiden facade slipped slightly and he saw another side to her. Briefly, he caught a glimpse of a frightened expression flitting across her perfect features. The swift change intrigued him, and he made an attempt at getting himself into a sitting position. It wasn’t successful.
“Can you lend a hand?” She might be something his mind had conjured up, but he seemed to be able to put her to use to get his body working. Sure enough, Maja slid an arm around his waist and, with some effort on both their parts, Adam managed to maneuver himself upright. “And some water would be good.”
She reached for the glass at the side of his bed and held it to his mouth. “None of this is helping.”
Adam took a long gulp of the lukewarm liquid. His shoulder was more painful than anything he could ever have imagined, but his head was clear. He still needed to know where Danny was, and Maja was a distraction he could do without. But she was looking at him with such wretchedness in her eyes that he found it impossible to ignore. “Helping what?”
“My defense.” She placed the glass back on the table next to the bed. “By interacting with you, I have broken the Valkyrie Code.” Her lower lip wobbled slightly. “By saving you instead of letting you die and securing your soul for Odin’s army, I may have signed my own death warrant.”
Chapter 2 (#u9723b41f-6060-5634-8f6e-dc7ed6b82fba)
Maja knew she was putting off the inevitable. Sooner or later, she would have to return to Asgard, the home of the gods. Once there she would have to confess all to Brynhild. Not only had she failed to find the American Lion, she had interacted with a mortal. Worse than that, she had committed one of the worst possible sins known to a Valkyrie. She had saved a man from death. A man who had likely been about to die in the performance of an act of great bravery.
This man had been a prime candidate for Valhalla. While he didn’t seem to be a warrior, the courage he had demonstrated when he rescued Tarek had been remarkable. Maja was sure many of the so-called heroes of Valhalla would have abandoned the boy to his fate. Her heart had lifted with an emotion she didn’t recognize as she watched him cradle the child in his arms and break into a run.
She didn’t know what had prompted her to go to this stranger’s aid when he was shot. Maybe it was the wild streak in her nature that Brynhild had always deplored. Maybe it was those intriguing dark eyes of his. Whatever it was, she had acted without thinking. Thoughtlessness was not a trait that was encouraged in the Valkyrie.
The consequence of that action was that she was sitting in this box-like room, with its cracked plaster and concrete floor. The only pleasant thing to look at within its four walls was the man himself. Maja had never seen a man as handsome as this one. From his dark, wavy hair to his chiseled features and muscular body, everything about him was perfection. But it was those eyes that drew her attention over and over. Darker than the storm clouds that surrounded Asgard, they could appear soulful one second, then lighten with humor the next. Maja felt herself being drawn into their depths. Which was an unforeseen circumstance. She had been told humans couldn’t weave spells, yet he seemed to be working a strange and powerful magic on her.
“I don’t understand.” The man’s voice forced her to focus on what he was saying instead of the melting darkness of his gaze. “How could you be punished for helping me?”
“Because I am a Valkyrie.” Why was he finding this so difficult to understand? Surely everyone knew what a Valkyrie was? “My mission is to take the souls of the dead back to Valhalla. By saving you, I have deprived Odin of a warrior for his army.”
“Maja.” Those incredible eyes fastened on her face.
What now? She had spoken to him, saved his life. According to the Valkyrie Code, the only thing she could do now to make things worse would be to have sex with him. If he asked her to do that... Maja felt a blush burn her cheeks. Was he going to ask her that? Surely not. She didn’t know much about these things, but she’d have expected some sort of preliminaries. And just because she had broken part of the Valkyrie Code, that didn’t mean she was likely to further, and forget her vow of purity. Not even for a man whose gaze did strange things to her insides.
“Yes?” She hoped the slight squeak in her voice hadn’t betrayed the unchaste trend of her thoughts.
“Why do you seem so real? Am I going mad?”
Before Maja could answer, the door opened and the woman who had operated on the man’s shoulder to remove the bullet entered. Maja promptly faded into invisibility. She was aware of the man looking around him in surprise at her disappearance, but he said nothing. Apparently, mortals were smarter than she’d been led to believe. Maja wanted to hug him to express her gratitude. Maybe even kiss those perfectly carved lips. The problem with that idea was that she would have to tell Brynhild about it on her return to Valhalla. Honesty was high on the list of Valkyrie values. Lying, or hiding the truth, never occurred to Maja. Somehow, she didn’t imagine her sister would approve if she discovered kissing a human had been added to the growing list of crimes.
Maja had only ever heard of one case of a Valkyrie breaking the Code. On her first mission, Silja had become separated from the group and had asked a mortal man for directions. On her return to Valhalla, Odin had ordered her execution, but Brynhild had intervened. Silja was now locked away in a tower in Valhalla, forced to spend the rest of her life in isolation. Maja wasn’t sure her own future held anything as lenient.
“Ah, you’re awake.” The surgeon had a hearty, clipped manner of talking. “You passed out while I was removing the bullet. Since we don’t have access to anesthetic here, it’s often a relief when that happens.”
“Is this a hospital?” the man asked.
“No, although I am a doctor.” The woman held out her hand. “Edith Blair.”
Maja watched as he took the hand and shook it. “I’m Adam Lyon. Thank you. You saved my life.”
“Tarek tells me of your own heroism. He said he would have died in a ditch if it wasn’t for you. He has been talking of superheroes ever since.”
Even though she was invisible, Maja held her breath. Would Adam—she wrinkled her nose at the strangeness of the name—give her away?
“Maybe Tarek has been reading too many comic books?” he said.
The frown on Edith’s face eased slightly. “Maybe. It’s very hard to provide a rounded education for these children. Even harder for Tarek, who has learning difficulties.”
Briefly, a flash of pain crossed Adam’s features. Edith appeared not to notice it, and it was gone as fast as it appeared. Maja wondered why those words had provoked such a strong reaction in him. Learning difficulties? What did that mean?
Edith shook her head. “I warned Tarek not to go out today, but that dratted dog of his escaped and he insisted on going out to find it.” She pursed her lips as she studied Adam. “I would normally suggest rest, but these are not normal circumstances. I’m surprised no one warned you about the dangers of this region for an American, Mr. Lyon.”
“They did.” Adam’s face was expressionless. “I’m looking for someone and it’s likely he’s in this area.” With his good hand, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and withdrew a photograph, which he held out to Edith. “This is my brother, Danny Lyon. Have you seen him?”
She studied the picture carefully before shaking her head. “I’m sorry.” Her manner became brisk as she rose to her feet. “I’ll have someone drive you to the border with Lebanon in the morning. The worst of the fighting seems to be over, so you should be safe tonight. You’ve had a lucky escape, Mr. Lyon.”
Maja made sure Edith was gone before she reappeared.
“Invisibility is one of your more unsettling habits.” Adam’s expression was unreadable as he observed her.
“You said that was your brother.” Maja pointed to the photograph. “Is he the American Lion?” Adam had said his own surname was Lyon. It was close enough. Perhaps all was not lost. It seemed safe to assume there was a connection.
Adam regarded her through narrowed eyes. “Maja, even if you are a figment of my imagination, I am not going to help you steal my brother’s soul.”
“I am not a figment of your imagination, and I do not steal souls,” she protested angrily. Leaning over the bed, she prodded him in the chest with one finger. “I escort the fallen to their next destination.”
Adam appeared to find her anger amusing, a fact that stoked her fury even further. Grasping her wrist, he pulled her closer. “I don’t care what you do. Let’s leave my brother out of whatever the hell is going on in my screwed-up head.”
Squirming to break free of his hold, she was conscious of his superior strength. Despite his injury and the pain he must be in, he held her easily.
His nearness was having the strangest effect on her. Although she was still struggling to escape, she was no longer sure getting away from him was what she wanted. A strange sensation was sweeping through her, a combination of lassitude and excitement. The warmth of his touch seemed to seep into her bones. As Adam drew her toward him, she faced a decision: keep fighting, or give in to the promptings of her body. His lips were inches from hers, the smile that flitted across them too tempting to resist. Slowly, enjoying the flare of surprise in his eyes, she lowered her head and kissed him.
* * *
Adam decided that, at some point, he must have floated out of his own body and into a trance. His theory wasn’t finely tuned, but he had conjured up Maja back in the office building. Maybe out of shock or terror? A desire to escape the situation? Then, when the bullet was being extracted from his shoulder, it seemed he had developed the fantasy even further. He didn’t care how it had happened. There was no point trying to make sense of it. As dreams went, this was the sort he needed right now. Even a truckful of painkillers couldn’t have numbed the ache in his shoulder the way Maja’s kisses did. Her lips met his with shy, sweet promise. He’d forgotten what this sort of kiss was like. First-time kisses. Nervous kisses. Not-quite-perfect kisses.
“I’ve never done this before.” She raised her head, a blush staining the creamy perfection of her cheeks. “Am I doing it right?”
In response, he pulled her back down and took over. Adam had kissed many women in his life. As his lips met Maja’s he realized with a pang of sadness that this had become a meaningless activity to him. It served a purpose only as a lead-in to sex. But kissing Maja took him on a whole new adventure. Possibly it was the circumstances, the danger, almost dying, the fact that she couldn’t possibly be real...but this was the most erotic experience of his life. When he slipped his tongue inside her mouth, he sensed a moment’s hesitation before she tentatively returned his caress. A soft groan escaped him as he tangled his good hand in the silken mass of her hair. Liquid fire throbbed through his veins, sending a hit of heat straight to his groin. He had never wanted anyone the way he wanted this woman, this woman who was a fictional character from his fevered imagination.
Maybe if I keep kissing her none of that will matter.
The weight of her body pressing down on his was perfection. He never wanted to return to reality. He inhaled her scent. She smelled like spring meadows. As out of place in a Syrian war zone as...well, as a kiss with a Valkyrie. And she tasted like honey. He wanted to lick every part of her to find out if the rest of her body tasted as sweet. As he slid a hand over her shoulders and dipped lower into the back of her corset, tracking her spine, he marveled at the satin feeling of her flesh.
Sometime later, he was never sure how it happened—to be honest, he didn’t really care—she nestled into the crook of his good arm on the bed next to him, her tempting Valkyrie curves pressed up against him as the kisses continued. He marveled at the way his brain was feverishly finding release from the nightmare he had endured.
Since arriving in Syria he had witnessed the horror of shattered lives. This was a land of blood, pain and tears. And now he had come close to death himself. Was his resourceful mind creating this image of feminine loveliness to compensate for the hell of this place? Okay, if he was going to make her absolutely perfect, he might not have gone for the whole warrior-on-horseback theme. That was a kick in his psyche he hadn’t seen coming. But as fantasies went, Maja was more than adequate. If she was here to compensate for the horror of the day just gone, she was doing a damn good job.
He had reached a point where the pain in his shoulder was nothing compared to the throbbing of his erection. The heat of Maja’s body was driving him crazy with desire. How could a dream feel so deliciously warm?
“Maja, I need...” As he spoke, he fumbled to undo his jeans with his right hand.
Her eyes widened as she leaned on her elbow. “I have never seen a naked man before.” Her voice was a husky murmur as she watched him free his rock-hard cock from the confines of his briefs. “Can I touch you?”
Not only was his horse-riding apparition a gorgeous, blue-eyed blonde, she was also a virgin. That was another unexplored side to his fantasies he hadn’t anticipated. Reaching out a hand, she stroked it downward in a long, slow movement, tracing the long, thick length of his shaft. Any pang of conscience Adam may have had, any thoughts of discussing the implications of losing her virginity with her even though she was a figment of his imagination...all of those mixed-up thoughts flew out of his head.
He hissed in a breath as her other hand moved inside his clothing to cup the heavy sac between his thighs. Pure sensation ricocheted through him.
“So strong,” she whispered, color staining her cheeks as she drew in a ragged breath. “So much power right here in my hand.”
Adam used his good hand to tug her corset and the chemise beneath it roughly down. Her breasts were creamy and firm, tipped with delicate pink nipples. As his lips moved down her neck, she arched her back, squirming against him. Her hands continued to caress him, driving him into a frenzy. Moving lower, his lips covered her nipple, sucking her as she gasped. Pleasure threatened to overwhelm him. His cock hardened and throbbed with an urgency he had never before experienced.
What was it that made her so different—apart from the fact that she wasn’t real? It was in her response to him. The way she quivered at his touch, her expression when she looked at him and the tiny sounds of appreciation she made. Adam wasn’t a vain man, but he knew he was considered handsome. Cynically, he sometimes wondered if it was him or his bank balance his partners found most attractive. Those doubts didn’t arise with Maja. It was clear she couldn’t get enough of him and that, in turn, increased his own desire to furnace levels. His hand moved lower, finding the heat at the apex of her thighs. This corset hadn’t been designed for a one-armed man to remove with ease. His creativity had deserted him when it came to the costume department. Luckily, Maja herself came to his aid, wriggling out of the offending article until she was lying naked in his arms. And as his fingers skimmed the soft curls between her thighs, the fantasy was back on track.
Maja wound her arms tightly around his neck, pressing her face against his uninjured shoulder as her legs parted to allow access to his probing fingers. She gave a soft moan as his thumb brushed her clit, and the sound was so incredibly erotic that Adam almost came there and then. He slid one finger inside her and she rocked against him, welcoming the intrusion. Adding another finger, he kept up the pressure with his thumb, circling the tiny, hard bud until he felt her shudder as her internal muscles clenched tightly around his fingers.
“Oh!” She tilted her head back, staring at him with a question in her eyes. “What just happened to me?”
He gave a soft laugh. “It’s called an orgasm. Didn’t they teach you that at Valkyrie school?”
The blush deepened further. “We are not taught anything about our bodies, and definitely not about sex. Since it will never happen to us, we have no need to know.”
Although the words struck him as strange, Adam couldn’t wait any longer. His injury meant there was no way he could do this conventionally, or gracefully. Using his good arm to lift Maja across his body so she could straddle him, Adam claimed her lips in a kiss and pulled her down onto his steel-hard cock. Even in the grip of a fantasy a brief, bizarre thought about protection flashed through his mind. He dismissed it. This was his imagination; the responsibilities of reality were not going to derail it.
No matter how much pain or danger he was in, his body was demanding more from this woman than he had ever believed it was possible to crave. Maja gave a little cry as he entered her.
“Is this okay?” A condom might be a detail too far, ensuring his partner’s well-being wasn’t. He was still the same person, even in a dream.
“It feels so good. Pleasure and pain at the same time. We were taught this is wrong...” Her voice was hesitant at first, then, biting her lip, she ground her pelvis against his. “But nothing ever felt so right.”
Running his good hand over the luscious curves of her ass, he released a groan of male exultation. Nothing had ever approached the surging, blistering heat of desire that flamed through him. Would he ever be able to cope with reality again after such an incredible dream?
Stop overthinking. Your body is compensating for the trauma it’s been through. Just enjoy it.
His lips found the hard, pointed tip of a nipple again and drew it into his mouth. Maja’s soft, feminine cries filled the air as her hands moved to his head, holding him tightly to her. As he sucked her sweet flesh—tasted her, branded her—he felt his desire spiral out of control.
