Valhalla Virus by Nick Harrow (best management books of all time TXT) 📕

smashed into the wall again and again, shaking the paintings on either side of the frame loose from their nails. The heavy frames crashed down onto the side tables, glass cracking, wood splintering.

Their ragged cries echoed from the walls, so loud he half expected Bridget and Ray to bang on the door to make sure they weren’t killing each other. The world shrank around them, and their awareness narrowed to slipping flesh and a building ecstasy they chased with no regard for anything else.

The bed was no match for their passion. Its frame crashed to the floor, lopsided, two legs broken and the other two cracked. They reveled in the destruction, Mimi shredding the sheet with her nails, ripping strips of it free with every groan that tore loose from her bruised lips. Gold light exploded from Mimi’s forehead, blinding Gunnar for a moment with its intensity.

Their pace quickened, and the cycle built to a frenzy. She grabbed Gunnar’s hand and guided him to the finish line, her wet fingers entwining with his, her moans louder and louder, urging him to join her. Every muscle in her body stiffened, squeezing his fingers.

He erupted inside the völva, a torrent of sensation ripping his breath away with every thrust. She reached the heights again, quivering under him until they were both spent and limp on the ruined bed, their hearts pounding in a synchronized rhythm.

When they finally came back to Earth, Mimi pushed against Gunnar with one hand. “Hey, that was great,” she whispered dreamily.

“You’re pretty great, too,” he said, tickling her nose with his beard.

“But if you don’t get off me, I will suffocate,” she giggled.

Gunnar grabbed hold of her and rolled onto his back with her astride him. “Better?”

“Much,” she agreed. She traced the line of his sternum with one nail. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course,” Gunnar said. “Anything.”

“I’m afraid,” she admitted.

“Of the jötnar?” Gunnar asked.

“Yes.” Mimi pressed her hands against Gunnar’s chest, her nails lightly dimpling his skin, as if she were afraid she’d fly off into space if she didn’t hang onto him. “They’re terrifying. But what really scares me is how much you all mean to me. That’s why...I wanted you to know. I wanted us to give ourselves to each other, with nothing held back. In case...”

Mimi angrily swiped at her eyes with the back of her left hand. Gunnar knew she was right. Any of them could die out there tomorrow. Hell, Hyrrokkin could attack them in the night and toss their corpses through the penthouse windows.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” she whispered. “Then you turned up on my doorstep with the plague at your back. I really thought about shooting you and sending your girls off to dispose of the body.”

“Glad you didn’t,” he whispered into her hair. She smelled like wildflowers and caramel tinged with the faint aroma of the strong, black coffee she loved so much.

“Fuck you,” she said, tears trickling down her cheeks as she looked up at him again. Her voice cracked as she whispered, “This isn’t how I thought I’d end up, you asshole. I never loved anybody, never needed it. Now I’ve got three of you stupid cunts weighing on my heart. It hurts, Jolly. Christ, but it hurts. How can I care so much?”

“I know,” he said, gently stroking the curly ringlets of her red hair down her back. “Nothing hurts like this. But it’s worth it.”

“I always thought you were too, I don’t know, hard to feel like this,” Mimi said.

Gunnar’s barking laugh startled them both with its suddenness. “God, I wish that was true.”

The story spilled out of him, one word after another, until the trickle of truth became a flowing stream he couldn’t have stopped if he’d tried. He told her about how scared he’d been that his love for Ray would burn them both and chase her away. How relieved he’d been when she finally fell for him, all the way. About the brief slice of time when they worked together at YmirRe, sure they were saving the world and so in love they couldn’t imagine anything would ever change.

“Arthur took it all away,” Gunnar said, his voice choked with emotion. “All because we were both going for the same promotion. He told them I’d stolen data from the servers. Planted a thumb drive in my locker. That ended my career in security. Ray couldn’t be with me after that. Even if she believed I was innocent, my name was poison in the industry. I could have fought it, maybe. But proving I was innocent would have taken forever, and it would torture Ray, never knowing if I was guilty or not. So I took my lumps and cut her loose. She was too smart, too talented for me anyway. I had to let her go. And I was terrified I’d never see her again.”

“That’s why you looked like a whipped dog that day you walked into the bar ,” Mimi whispered. “I thought you were just another biker junkie. If I’d known—I’m so sorry,Gun.”

“Me, too.” Gunnar laughed again. “It was a long time ago. And now look where we are. If I hadn’t let her go, I wouldn’t have met you. If you hadn’t been such a dick to me, I wouldn’t have had to go underground. I’d never have learned all the things a bodyguard has to know. I wouldn’t have saved Ray, or Bridget, or been saved by you.”

“Thank you,” Mimi said. She kissed him softly, her breath warm and soothing against him, and then curled up beside him. “I promise you, I won’t run. No matter what it costs. And don’t you dare tell the others that I cried. It’s bad for my image.”

“Don’t worry,” Gunnar said as he hugged Mimi until she groaned. “I won’t tell anybody what a big ol’ pussy you really are.”

“You’re such a dick,” Mimi wheezed. “Let’s get out of here before you crush me.”

Chapter 17

GUNNAR WATCHED THE Luxor