be serious look, I said, “Thor, come on.” I couldn’t decide if he was playing with me or if he was serious when he leaned in and whispered in my ear. “Walk away, little fairy. If you don’t, I’ll put you over my shoulder and take you back inside my room.”
I pushed at his chest to create distance. “You’re out of your mind. Everyone knows that Nmen get possessive after sex. No thanks.”
He laughed again. “That won’t happen with me. I share your sentiment, you see. You’re a beautiful woman but all your nonsense about energy work makes you sound naïve to me.”
I already knew he was skeptical of my abilities, but his words activated my pride and made it easy to suppress my lust for him. “Until you clean up the emotional mess that you’re in, I wouldn’t touch you.”
“You sure about that? I’d say that you’re already touching me.” His gaze fell to my hand, which was holding on to his shirt with the fabric wrapped between my fingers.
I let go and stepped back.
Thor straightened his shirt with a smirk on his lips.
Changing the subject, I asked, “Have you decided if you’re going back or not? I promised Pearl that I would offer you a ride home.”
“Hmm.” He leaned his head back and looked up at the blue sky. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean there’s obvious sexual tension between us. If it’s you and me alone in a small drone for ten hours, it’s bound to happen.”
I smacked my tongue at his arrogance. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re not even on my list of the ten most attractive Nmen. I’m pretty sure I can keep my pants on.”
The way he narrowed his eyes made me instantly realize my mistake. Nmen were competitive by nature and Thor was taking my words as a challenge.
“Forget what I said,” I added fast, but he was already pointing at me with a determined expression.
“You will tell me who is on that list.”
“No, no, there’s no list. It was something I made up. Forget I ever said it.”
Thor walked to his room and put his hand on the doorknob. “We’re leaving as soon as I’ve cleaned up my room and said goodbye to Dee-dee. You’ll give me my answer before we make it back to the Northlands.”
I retorted fast. “I’ll give you my answer right now; are you ready?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“My answer is that it’s none of your business.”
Thor had that determined expression on his face that I knew from my father. “You’re forgetting that I wasn’t raised to accept a no. I want names, Linea.”
I sighed, realizing that it was going to be a long flight back.
CHAPTER 5
Planting Thoughts
Thor
The community drone was small with four seats and the bare minimum of functions. Huginn and Muninn took up a lot of space and when one of them farted about an hour into the flight, we almost died.
Holding my sleeve to my nose, I pressed at the ventilation button. It made little difference and we couldn’t open the windows.
“Should we land to get some fresh air?” Linea suggested in a muted voice behind the shirt she had pulled up over her nose to avoid the stink. “Maybe they need a bathroom break.”
“What did you eat?” I asked the dogs with a baleful look. They didn’t raise their heads from their paws.
A ten-minute break later, we continued our journey. Beneath us the tropical landscape turned into vast areas of forest and rivers.
“So how was Sparrow’s and Banni’s wedding?” I asked.
“Beautiful. They held it at the school.”
“Why not at the mansion?”
“Sparrow grew up at the school,” Linea said as if that explained everything.
“Yeah, but the mansion is perfect for a wedding. The park is gorgeous and so is the ballroom.”
“Then you can marry there. Sparrow and Banni chose an outside wedding, and we all had a great time. There was a lot of dancing.”
“Did anyone get together?”
“Hmm, let’s see. I saw Indiana and Aubri kiss. Solomon and Willow too. Mason looked besotted with Bell and I believe the bride and groom made out behind a tree at one point.”
“Yeah, but they’re all couples. I’m talking about my sister. Did she hook up with anyone?”
Linea laughed. “Freya? No.”
“Why is that so funny?”
“Because who would have the courage to come on to your sister when a million of her protectors were there? Besides, she doesn’t seem interested in anyone.”
With my arms crossed, I kept my gaze on the clouds in the distance. “I’ve been