Valkyrie's Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

together for a few moments. I relished the feel of his body below
mine and the gentle rise and fall of his breathing.
    I finally
caught the scent of our intruder. "Oh. Great."
    "What?"
Jess said, pushing me back, trying to get to his feet.
    I helped
him up. "Don't say anything," I said, "I'll handle this."
    Gustel dropped out of the sky like a settling air balloon. She
was dressed in a holographic blue body suit that shifted with her movements,
mimicking the colors of the sky. Camouflage for Valkyries. I'd used it myself
on occasion, but found the body suit restricting and uncomfortable.
    Gustel's hair today was a drifting white, like cotton batting. When
she landed her skin instantly turned the color of sand.
    I rarely
saw my sister, but when we did meet, I was always impressed with her wing span.
She had a good two feet on me, her wings probably measuring twelve feet across
from tip to tip.
    " Gustel ," I said, hitching my thumbs to my belt loops. "This
is a surprise."
    "Don't
be coy with me, Sabrina. What do you think you're doing?"
    "I
don't know what you mean." I hoped the directness of my gaze, the thrust
of my jaw, might silence my outspoken sister.
    "This
is the warrior, I presume," she said, looking Jess up and down with
appraising eyes.
    "That's
just Jess," I said.
    "Right. Just Jess. Sabrina, you never
were a very good liar. And you've certainly never been one to pick up a boy
toy. Though I wouldn't mind..."
    " Gustel ," I interrupted, hoping to shield Jess from my
sister's overt sexual advances. "This really isn't anything you need to
worry about."
    Gustel directed her attention back to me. "You know it's all
over the network. Word is spreading like cracked ice. I thought I'd come see
you, put the rumors to rest, but from what I see here, it's all too true. You
cheated Death."
    "Not
exactly cheated..."
    "Not
exactly." Gustel laughed. "Oh, I'm sure that will reassure Odin. Not
exactly? Then tell me, what exactly is going on here?"
    I opened my
mouth to answer, but nothing came out. The truth was , I'd cheated Death to get what I'd had the night before. The realization hit me
like a thunder strike.
    "Ah," Gustel said, lifting her chin, her nostrils flaring. "I
get it. I can smell it. I can smell you on him. If you wanted him, you should
have taken him — before."
    "I
didn't see him before. Besides, you're wrong."
    "Am
I?"
    Jess
watched this exchange but said nothing. I wondered how much he understood. I
knew that Gustel was wrong. I hadn't taken him for
sex. He moved me. It was as simple as that. He moved me in such a way that I'd
thrown all caution, all rules, out the window. I'd wanted what happened between
us, but I hadn't used my powers as a goddess to get it. Or had I?
    "You
could be demoted for this. Or worse."
    "Yeah,
thanks for pointing out the obvious, Gustel ."
    "Do
you even have a plan?"
    "I ...
what do you care?"
    Gustel retracted her wings and stretched her neck. Jess's
shoulders dropped in obvious relief, and it was only then that I realized how
terrified he'd been by Gustel's dramatic arrival. His
gaze shifted from Gustel to me and back again. He was
probably wondering if I had wings as well.
    My sister
adjusted her camouflage to match mine, outfitting herself with combat boots,
fatigues, an Army green tank top, dog tags, and aviator sunglasses.
    "I
don't know, Sabrina," Gustel said, pulling her
curling red hair back into a ponytail. "I don't know why I care. But you
know that I do."
    "Yes,"
I said, giving her a weak smile. I was lucky to have Gustel as a sister, and there was no reason to antagonize my only friend. We are an isolated
race. Our lives are lived alone on the battlefield, and we rarely have the time
or the opportunity to congregate. Many Valkyries avoid social interaction after
the lonely years of the Death Duty. Some of us emerge from the decade of death
not quite sane.
    Gustel and I had had the unusual benefit of a kind, if not
loving, mother. It had brought us together as two