"Wards?"
Logan wiggled his fingers at her. “Magic. Oooh."
She quickly ran through the miniscule amount of magical knowledge she had. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were about the extent of it. “What are wards?"
"Magical runes Logan puts up to prevent anyone from entering our home uninvited. They also protect us from magical prying eyes. They don't last forever, but they do the job long enough for us to realize our time is probably up and we should move on."
"Oh."
"Too much information?"
She frowned. “No, just wondering why they haven't figured out ways to counteract them before."
"They have.” Logan smirked. “Then I change them."
"Change them? Isn't that supposed to be a bad thing? Didn't I read in some book somewhere that making up a new spell is, like, dangerous? On the level of oops I melted the world? "
"Not if you know what you're doing."
Kir smiled. “You need to remember something; Logan wasn't born Vanir or Aesir. He was born a Jotun."
"A what-un?"
"Jotun. A race of magical beings mistakenly called giants. To them, magic is an innate ability, not
something you learn like a human wizard would have to. It has limits, of course, like the toll it takes on Logan's energy to do anything really complicated, but it gets the job done."
"Really? Wow.” She filed that phrase like a human wizard away for later examination. She'd get more info on that at a better time. “Is there some way we can use Logan's magic to get your point across?”
Before they could speak she winced. “No, wait, never mind. They'll all chalk it up to trickery again."
"Exactly."
She began to pace, her mind whirling a mile a minute. Plans were made and quickly discarded as she realized that most of what they could do would be viewed as just more of the same deceit they'd come to expect from Loki.
"What kind of powers do you have? I know all about the Human Torch here, but what can you do?
Other than the bending knife trick?” She stared at Kir, eyes narrowed in thought.
He grinned. “Look out the window."
She turned and saw clouds begin to roll in on a perfectly sunny day. Dark clouds, fat with rain that began falling gently on the city below. “Rain. Huh. Anything else?” Thunder cracked, a shaft of lightning striking down somewhere outside the city. “Oh.” She turned back to Kir, who had his head in his hands and was looking down at the floor. Huh. Maybe it gives him a headache. “I thought thunder and lightning were Thor's gig?"
Kir looked up. There was no trace of pain on his face. “It is, but as a God of Spring, I'm in charge of, um, April showers. You know, sudden thunderstorms? Thor's lightning is a lot more directed, more like a Zeus kind of thing."
"Huh.” She looked outside; it was kind of pretty. She'd always liked thunderstorms. She flopped back down on the ottoman next to Kir and sighed, propping her chin on her hand, elbow on her knee. She looked over their heads and caught a glimpse of the laptop they'd set up on the glass dining room table.
Why it was there instead of in the posh den she'd spied on the way in, she didn't know, but the sight gave her an idea of how to blend Kir's powers and Logan's in such a way that the Aesir couldn't ignore the message.
An evil grin crossed her face as she looked at the two very hot, very supernatural, very photogenic , men. “Have either of you heard of YouTube?"
Kir closed the door behind himself and Logan after having seen Jordan onto the elevator. He sighed and closed his eyes tightly, completely mortified.
Fuck. Logan saw my reaction to Jordan.
The knowing gleam in his lover's eyes did not bode well for the coming conversation.
So it was with some surprise he felt Logan gently push his hand into his hair, pulling Kir's mouth to his own. The kiss was a languid stroking of tongues, not the usual kiss Logan gave. Logan usually preferred hot, heavy kisses, full of passion and the promise of sex. This one was the kind of kiss Kir preferred.
Soft, sweet, and full of the love they both felt.
"I love you, you know that, right?"
Kir focused on Logan's face. “No more than I love you."
"We need to talk."
Kir closed his eyes again, not wanting to see the pain in Logan's.
"Hey."
He sighed and moved past Logan's body and into the living room. Dejected, he sat on the sofa, his head in his hands. “I'm so sorry."
"For what? The fact that you're attracted to Jordan?"
Kir groaned.
"Kir.” He looked up, surprised to see the understanding on Logan's face. “Me, too."
He felt a surprising flash of jealousy at that, but wasn't sure if it was for Logan or Jordan. Not good ... or very good? “You want her, too?"
"Don't sound so surprised. She's a hell of a woman."
Kir found himself nodding his agreement. “She took everything we threw at her in stride."
"If I was her I would have kicked our asses out of my office, gone and had a few drinks, then convinced myself it never happened right after I called to have the carpet replaced."
"So what do we do about it?"
They stared into each other's faces, reading the promises they'd long ago made to each other and the new, sudden want they both felt. No matter how startlingly strong, there was no way Kir would act on it if it meant losing Logan.
Logan was his everything.
Kir reached out first, cupping Logan's cheek. “I would never do anything to hurt you, Logan."
"Ditto.” Logan's face was flushed with pleasure, that demonic grin of his once again gracing his features.
"So, what do we do?"
He watched Logan slouch down onto the floor at his feet, resting his head against Kir's knees with a contented sigh. “The way I see it, we have two options."
"Those are?” Kir's heart rate picked up. He began absently stroking that fiery hair, wondering if Logan was thinking what he was thinking.
"Option one: we walk away from her once this is all over."
No!
The instant denial raced through his body, causing him to jump. What the fuck? He never had that reaction to losing anyone or anything ... other than Logan.
It didn't help that Logan started to chuckle. “Thought so."
"Option two?"
His heart was in his throat right up until Logan looked up at him with a leer. “Don't you just love the French?"
Kir blinked. “Huh?"
"They come up with words for the most amazing concepts."
"Like?” Kir drawled. He was pretty sure now he knew where Logan was going, but he wanted confirmation before he said anything.
"Ménage a trois. It has such a sexy ring to it, doesn't it?"
" Permanent ménage?” The words had left his mouth before he even realized the significance of what he was saying. Something about Jordan just ... felt right .
Logan's expression turned serious. “I'm not sure yet.” He shook his head, smirking. “But tell me you aren't already a little in love with her, and I'll call you a liar. I mean, damn. She's got a smart mouth, hot body, bodacious ass, and she's clever as all hell. And she wants both of us."
Kir opened his mouth to say the words and found them stuck in his throat. “Damn."
"Ditto."
"How the hell did that happen?"
"I don't know, but it did.” Logan was frowning again, this time in confusion. “It's like we've found something we didn't even know was missing. But if you asked, I would walk away from this. You know that.” For the first time, Kir saw Logan's uncertainty peek through, reminding him of the broken man Loki had been after Baldur freed him from the mountain. The reckless youth he was had been burned away by the snake's acid, leaving behind a damaged man who tossed and turned at night, screaming denials as he relived everything over and over again. It had taken Kir a long time to ease his lover's torment. He also knew their relationship was the foundation the now confident, cocky man who was still inclined to take risks stood on.