want to come back with us and return once Shelly and Marco are here?”
Freya gave me one of her patient big-sister smiles. “I’ll be fine.”
“Will you stay with Celeste after we leave?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry. I promise to personally keep a close eye on your sister and make sure that she’s safe and comfortable here.”
Victor’s words didn’t calm my nerves. “To be honest, I would prefer if you kept away from her.”
“Thor.” Freya gave me a reproachful glance. “That wasn’t nice.”
With a soft groan, I moved past them and caught up with Doreen and Linea, who were laughing as if they were old friends.
“Linea, can I talk to you?”
“Sure.”
“Oh, Thor, don’t look so serious. This year’s summit has been a marvelous display of international friendships and you did such a wonderful job at negotiating for your country.”
“Thank you, Doreen.”
With a beaming smile the short woman left me with Linea, who studied me in that way she sometimes did.
Looking over my shoulder I moved us around the corner of the hallway and into a nook that offered a bit of privacy. I didn’t speak, but simply cupped her face and kissed her as if she was my reward for getting through everything.
My desire for her was getting out of control and I don’t know what I would have done at that moment if Linea had rejected me. Grateful that she didn’t, I bent down, placed my hands under her butt, and scooped her up to sit on my hips. Linea reciprocated by wrapping her arms around my neck, kissing me back with fiery passion.
This was it!
I felt it with a hundred percent certainty in my body. Linea was my match.
Pushing her against the wall, I ground against her and let my tongue circle hers with ferocious hunger. My brain was screaming for me to get inside her like it was a necessity for my very existence.
Pressing my forehead against hers, we panted from the intense kissing as I whispered, “I need you!”
Her fingers played with the small hairs on my nape. “We could go to my room.”
My body and mind were at war. Before sleeping with her I wanted her to commit to marrying me.
My dad always said that Freya was the strategic one, but even I could tell that the strongest leverage I had with Linea at the moment was her sexual attraction to me.
“You mean to have sex without any commitment?”
“Mmm, to see if we’re compatible.”
“Oh, we’re fucking compatible.” I was so hard and horny that I grasped her hips in a firm hold and pressed against her again. “But I’m not French and I’m not playing around.”
Linea’s breathing was as fast and shallow as mine. Our bodies were buzzing from the electrical current that ran between us like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
“Put me down.”
With a groan, I complied and let her feet touch the ground again.
Her gorgeous eyes had a playful expression in them as she placed her hand on my chest and slid it downward slowly. I held my breath when her hand moved around me and stopped on my left cheek. With a naughty smile, Linea squeezed my ass. “I always wanted to do that. You have the sexiest butt in the world.”
Her words made my belly do a flip and again, my need for her exploded. “If you marry me, you can touch it as much as you want to.”
Linea let go of my pants and watched me with a cheeky smile before she brushed her thumb across the edge of my lips. “Thor, you don’t know what you’re saying. What we’re experiencing right now is intense lust. From the moment we stepped out of the drone I felt the shift. We’re getting affected by the energy waves of the French. They think about sex all the time. I promise you that when we’re back in the Northlands, you’ll be grateful that I didn’t take you up on your proposal.” Backing away from me, Linea kept watching me with hunger in her eyes.
“No, it’s not like that. I wanted you before we came here,” I protested and reached out my hand for her.
“It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. We don’t have to marry to have sex,” she said just as she turned a corner with a small wave.
“This conversation isn't over,” I called after her, but Linea never answered me.
CHAPTER 17
Nighttime in France
Linea
Our last night in France we partied again.
Now that I’d been part of the delegation from the Northlands, I had a much