The Valkyrie’s Ghost

Author's notes:First let me apologize for my poor publication skills. Part 8 was published to Loving Wives versus Romance. Yikes! Sorry about that. You can find it at https://www.literotica.com/s/08-the-valkyries-ghost-beta.

Wow, this is a long one. Work has been a bit crazy and that has limited my writing time, so this may be a bit rushed even for me. If I miss something obvious, I would appreciate a dm with the details on how I messed up the reality.

Here are the now all too familiar warnings. This is a beta, so I am allowed to make mistakes. Grammar is going to be a bit rough, but I am on the prowl for an editor to make it all better. This is my first official sex-adjacent scene. How was it? Don't tell my mother I wrote it if she asks! I would definitely be using soap as mouthwash.

Take care all! Thanks for reading and your votes and comments. PHD!

Chapter 41

Thursday, January 15th

East Bay Beach

Laucala Island Resort

Laucala Island, Fiji

Lysandra---------------

Lysandra opened her right eye as the makeup artist was working on the left side of her face, a mirror reflected the casual stance of Riley who positioned himself by the flap of the tent and his eyes seemed to be unfocused on any specific point, but aware of the entire tent.

She noticed Léa Moreau, a 27-year-old French swimsuit model flip off her terrycloth robe, and totally nude stretched her right arm into the air to flaunt her curvaceous toned body capped with firm breasts. Lysandra's eyes raced back to find Riley with his same unfocused but ready stance. His eyes did not track to Léa's display.

Ayaka Mori, the makeup artist stepped away, turning the chair to the center of the tent, conferring with Malik Okoye, the hair stylist. This positioned Léa between Lysandra and Riley. Without looking back, Léa bent over to grab her designer one-piece swimsuit that was by the same designer that she was to wear. This position flashed the tent her last, most private of secrets, but as she finally glanced back at the tent flap and Riley, she seemed disappointed.

"Ms. Moreau, Mr. DeMarco is ready for you." Jax Fontaine, who introduced them-self as a non-binary Model Wrangler, who turned to the makeup artist, "Ayaka, we need Ms. Vale in two minutes. Dawn is just minutes away!"

"I am finished, she just needs to get dressed." Ayaka said quickly, who turned to Lysandra, "I will let you get dressed" and left the tent.

Lysandra stood up and her head almost touched the ceiling of the tent, she smiled. "I didn't know you spoke French."

Riley smiled, "I can actually speak conversationally in French, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese with special thanks from Uncle Sam."

"I see Arabic, Russian, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, but French?" Lysandra asked as she walked over the her dressing area.

"There was a NATO joint operation that I can't speak of that might have involved the Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale" Riley explained, "They spoke English well, but I thought it would be rude, so I signed up for courses before that tour began. Practicing with fluent native speakers really helps with your own language acquisition."

"Well, you sounded fluent when you said..." Lysandra asked as she removed the robe's sash and she slowly opened the robe. The mirror reflecting the fact that she was nude underneath it. Lysandra fought the urge to look to Riley for his reaction. "...good morning in fluid French."

Lysandra smiled as Riley struggled to answer. "It is a trick I learned on my first gig of body guarding models." She heard him catch his breath as she pulled the robe off her shoulders and laid if over large shipping crate.

"Well, that seemed to work for Léa," Lysandra said and she couldn't stop herself glancing in the mirror. Riley's cheeks were flaming red, he was battling with himself and he finally shut his eyes tight.

"Umm, yea, it did." Riley answered distractedly.

Lysandra turned to face Riley, who still had his eyes closed, and said "Riley, you missed her show she put on for you."

Riley kept his eyes closed. "I saw it, but it was background. I worked in fashion, motion pictures, television, and music and for the most part, modesty is definitely not a requirement."

"I have grown up in locker rooms," Lysandra smiled, "so I am comfortable in my own skin." Then she blew on Riley's ear, and he jumped a good two feet, his eyes snapped open quickly scanning the room.

Riley took a deep breath as he saw Lysandra had pulled on her bottoms and was tying the top. She was a walking Greek sculpture. A Viking goddess walking in flesh. Her tone body displaying the definition of power within the feminine beauty of a, well, French swimsuit model.

"Ahh, thank you honey." Lysandra beamed. "That was the look our French friend was fishing for. If we had more time, I would have played more." She then lightly kissed his right ear and walked out the tent. "But the sunrise will not wait on anyone!".

Riley followed Lysandra down the wood walkway to the beach, which was swarming with men and woman rushing to the shouts of Lucien DeMarco, the world-renowned photographer and someone Vera Callaghan tagged as someone Riley and the Vanguard Six needed to keep an eye on.

Maya Chow walked up and stood by Riley as Lysandra was guided by Jax to the edge of the beach. Maya began to explain the setup. "Lucien is known for his sunrise and sunset photoshoots, so we just had to have him for this project."

"He prefers to use reflectors" she shared as pointed to stands weighted down with sandbags that held large rectangles of gold and silver fabric stretched tight across the frame. "But he has some strobes with gels" she pointed to several tripod stands, again weighted with sandbags and holding a cylinder of metal with a lens that was strategically pointed to the areas Lysandra and Léa were being positioned by Jax.

"Your two men are setting up the lightboxes with diffusers" the producer pointed to Breaker and Wraith piling on sandbags to anchor the large fabric boxes with sheets over one end.

"All you assholes shut your fucking mouths." a heavily Italian accented man yelled with venom. "For the next 90 minutes there is one voice, mine."

"Jax, position one!" A rugged man with tousled dark hair and olive complexion stood with a large camera in his hands. He pulled the view finder to his right eye.

"Omar!" Lucien spat, "flag that spill before it nukes the brunette's tits. I need contour, not chaos!"

He looked a second time through his camera. He dropped the camera a looked around. "Yo, you two grips." Pointing to Breaker "Boy grip, I need a full butterfly on that light box." When Breaker looked lost, "Fuck! Omar, what the hell did you hire?!"

The Italian photographer marched over and pushed Breaker towards the north most stand. "Shit for brains, take that stand and place it right in front of this light."

"Girl grip, do the same for the south stand." Lucien raged. "Right the fuck now!"

Wraith jogged to the southmost stand and mirrored Breaker as they pulled sandbags off a stand, shifted it and then restacked the sandbags.

"Jax, position one. Get the blonde's ass closer to the brunet!"

"Omar, don't tell me you used silver for the bounce?" Lucien exploded. "Gold. We need gold. You have 90 seconds."

Maya sprinted to help Omar, Breaker, and Wraith change out the reflectors to a gold foil look.

"Blondie, you are an athlete, right?" The photographer barked as he pulled up the camera to frame the shot.

"That is right," Lysandra said coldly. "By the way the Brunet has a name, it is Léa as does the blonde, I am Lysandra."

"Well, Lysandra" he drew out, "I don't need you to like me." Lucien dropped his camera when he sensed her terse response, "I am here to make you look like a model. So, when I say something, just do it."

"Omar, what is the hold up?" Lucien roared.

"Done!" a ragged answer from the lighting technician, "Full gold bounce is up."

"Léa and Lysandra, switch places." Lucien barked, "the amazon is throwing shadows on the brunet."

Riley took a deep breath and attempted to disassociate himself from the photoshoot. He had countless encounters with entitled narcissists who based on their fame or bank account felt as if they were able to treat everyone like dirt.

"Ghost," Riley said "Breaker and Wraith are enduring the tyrannical rule of his photo-ness."

"I see a twitch in Wraith's trigger finger," Torque said quietly.

"Justified homicide?" Grim asked in his dry humor.

"Wraith, lock down that smile," Torque warned, "His photo-ness might think you like him."

"Even better, workplace harassment." Grim offered, "I was afraid for my life, that is why he was double tapped to the 10-ring."

"Center mass, center soul." Torque chuckled.

"Shade," Riley asked, "how is the new tech?"

"Lieutenant Colonel, sir" Miko Tanaka answered hesitantly, "I know I should have asked permission, but..."

"Lieutenant," Riley laughed, "I was going to ask you to do it, but Maggs got to me and made a bet."

"A bet sir?" Shade asked.

"How long would it take you to fire up the Chimera-X system and take the Eagle out for a spin." Riley shared.

"What was the bet sir?" the Japanese member of the Vanguard Six asked hesitantly.

"A trip to a coffee shop next time I am in New York City. Looser buys." Riley answered. "By the way I won. Maggs said you would never touch the system and I said that you would have to so you could start cataloging the people that should be on the island."

"So," Shade reluctantly asked, "you are ok with this baseline flight?"

"Absolutely. Good work Lieutenant." Riley smiled.

"Sir, you could have given me the green light last night. I may have given myself an ulcer from justifying this flight."

"How is it going?" Riley asked.

"Sir, this is amazing with a capital A." Shade answered, "be sure you swing bye after the shoot and I will share the profiles we built."

"Will do." Riley answered. "Torque and Grim, all clear?"

"Grim clear." Dante Alvarez replied quickly.

"Torque clear." Jack Reed answered on Grim's heels.

Riley grimaced as His Photo-ness, Lucien DeMarco, actually kicked sand at the cowed Jax. Léa just held her pose, but Lysandra was getting uncomfortable.

Riley tracked Octavia approaching the Sports Illustrated leadership team of Sterling Talbot and Maya Chow. The tension in Octavia's body and harsh hushed words seemed to inflame Talbot, but as the producer Maya shuffled over to the photographer.

"What the fuck?" Lucian exploded, "you are going to tell me how to run my set?"

"Mr. DeMarco, can we just finish up this shoot and we can discuss this in private." the producer urge.

Lucien glared at Octavia and the Lysandra, "I don't give a fuck about some athlete, wanna-be model. This is MY SHOOT!"

"Mr. DeMarco," Maya said kindly, "the entire reason you are here is because you are the best." When she saw the photographer tense up, she continued with a strong stern tone. "However, after last year's Maui workplace complaint, Ms. Celeste Aragon included an addendum to your contract that" Maya Chow slowly annunciated "A N Y model, crew member, or contracted support files a compliant you would be dismissed with cause, you would be asked to leave the island, and I believe she included depending lost time and cost associated with retaining or replacing models might actually begin legal actions to recoup lost cost."

"You can't..." Lucien DeMarco looked around the beach, with each set of eyes he counted his rage doubled. When he came to Sterling Talbot they staired at each other before the SI executive turned his back and walked away, leaving the photographer by himself. "I will NEVER allow you to produce one of my photo shoots."

"I think we agree." Maya Chow said with a kind smile, "I am not the right producer for you. However, we have four other models on two different sites for today. Shall we continue?"

As Lucien DeMaro pulled his camera to peer in the viewfinder, he looked back with hate at Maya before shifting that look first to Octavia before settling on Lysandra. "Ms. Vale" he spat, "turn your hips to the left, chin up, a bit to the right." Then his eyes squinted, "show us a smile." The photographer's finger turned white with the pressure he placed on the camera's shutter release and strobes flashed their muted colors. "Perfect" he spat.

---

Lysandra walked with Octavia to her right and SiSi to her left. Riley walked just behind the trio.

The island's welcome center housed a front desk, spa, and a public dining area. Today, the Sports Illustrated team had reserved the front of the lobby that looked out to the beach and Pacific Ocean. The island's airport had been busy as the small planed had ferried in large press contingent to the island for a press conference and to allow the reporters to view a photo shoot with two of the woman swimsuit models, Soraya El-Amin and Camila Rocha, while Lysandra joined the soccer, tennis, and Léa for the presser.

Riley reached up repositioned his earpiece and tapped the Hermes ring. "Maggs, just confirming the list of attendees."

"Ghost, we were granted access to the ticketing gate. We confirmed each press member with the list provided by SI and a small dossier we developed for each member. The ticketing gate had name, seat, and cameras that we were granted by the Island management." Maggs yawned.

"Maggs, your staffing this event?" Riley wondered.

"They wanted one of the mothers in the lab tonight, so I volunteered." Maggs said nonchalantly. But then her own demeanor shifted and she was full of excitement, "besides Shade shared the Eagle's flight feed from this morning. It was fantastic."

"I know, I was able to connect with Shade who gave me the highlights." Riley chuckled.

He moved to stand against the wall as Lysandra and her team greeted Maya Chow who was pointing to a twelve-foot-long table that was formed from Pacific kauri tree that had a live edge and glowed with a well-polished finish. There were three large pedestals that seemed like small tree trunks sprouting from the floor to cradle the tabletop. Six wicker chairs were arranged down the table and microphones were positioned in front of each chair.

Sterling Talbot walked briskly from the back of the room and as he took the center seat that had a small cardboard placard that listed his name, title, and organization a bright white stock and Maya ushered the model and athletes to their assigned seating. Talbot started the press conference and introduced Luca Van Doren, Alejandro Cruz, and Lea Moreau with a prepared bio that listed each of their accomplishments. He started shuffling papers and then looked down the table at Lysandra.

"I am sorry, but I seem to have misplaced Ms. Bale, er, Ms. Vale's bio." Sterling smiled, but as he turned you could see the smile fade into a smirk as he made eye contact with Octavia who was physically being restrained.

In a crisp clear English with a hint of a French accent, Lea Moreau leaned into her microphone. "No offense to Alejandro or Luca, Lysandra needs no introductions."

"Si." Alejandro stepped in with a thick Spanish accent, "Lysandra has won championships at all levels and gold medals at the world championships and Olympics in multiple sports."

Luca in an European English accent, "Lysandra also invests her time to support STEM programs for students."

Sterling plastered a smile as Lysandra's fellow panelist offered an impromptu introduction. "Thank you Lea, Luca, and Alejandro." The SI executive turned to the gathered press and begun his presentation about the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit addition in general and the Laucala Island shoot in particular.

Chapter 42

Friday, January 16th

Villa 17

Laucala Island Resort

Laucala Island, Fiji

Riley--------------

Riley turned over and peered at his iPhone. Two-Thirty-Four am. He took a deep breath, rolled back and he slammed his head into the pillow, glaring at the ceiling above, willing himself to quiet his mind and sleep. As he closed his eyes, he was transported to the afternoon.

"Riley, I do not want to be within 100 feet of Talbot or DeMarco." She fumed. "I am sorry to be a hissy-fit-throwing starlet, but could you use your magic earpiece to have Octavia join me in the tent?"

Nyx had been in the tent and when Lysandra exited she headed for Riley. "Would you mind joining me in my villa for dinner? Octavia has arranged a meal to be served. I want you, the pool, maybe the hot tub, and silence."

The dinner was exotic and tasty, but Lysandra confessed she enjoyed the time they spent making dinner and even cleaning up after they finished eating. She asked if Riley wouldn't mind just listening to some music and cuddling on the sofa. They spent several hours nestling against each other. Listening to music and talking about the day.

It was just after 9:00 when Riley sat up and listened to his earpiece. Lysandra sat up, pulling her head off his lap, turning to him with eyes wide with interest.

"Headed out now." Riley said. "I have lead, Nyx has back up. Wraith, I will take the rest of Bastion Watch, get to the SI reception."

"Lucien DeMarco is headed up the pathway." Riley told Lysandra, "Nyx reported he seems to be intoxicated."

The sound of the Eagle drone taking off was momentarily heard. Riley jumped up to the floor.

"I will be glad to take care of this, but I am yours to command." Riley said seriously.

"Please, I don't even want to see that asshole," Lysandra said with a sigh.

When Riley returned 10-minutes later, he reported that Nyx and Grim were half carrying the photographer back to his villa.

"Did you beat up my photographer?" Lysandra asked with a shocked face.

"Of course not!" Riley said almost indignantly. He lifted his fist into the air, and his fore finger popped up. He started to count, "one, he was as drunk as a skunk." He raised a second finger, "two, he swung a roundhouse that sent a bulk mail letter about its arrival date, and the letter still beat the punch." A third finger lifted into the air, "Third, I am not sure the world-renown photographer passed his physics class, because momentum bit him hard. His swing and shaky feet had him falling face first into a fence post. He had missed the safety rails, but his forearm did not. He attempted to pop up, but he hit the back of his head on the rail."

"No, way." Lysandra laughed, "You bad-copped him, right?"

Riley pulled out his phone and with a quick message with New York, the clip was playing on his phone.

Riley looked into Lysandra's eyes. "I will never, never lie to you." His eyes were very serious. "I will never mis-represent the truth as a way to make myself or my team look better." He took a deep breath. "I will never harm someone who is no threat to you or those around me." He smiled. "I hope that wasn't too heavy, but I wanted you to know."

Lysandra sobered and her eyes dipped to the floor. "I am sorry Riley. I umm...."

Riley bent down and kissed her on the lips lightly. "There is nothing to apologize for." He kissed her lightly on the lips again. "I know you were teasing." He kissed her for the third time and then dropped to squat on his heels, so he was eye to eye with her. "One of the reasons I left the Army and moved to Aegis is that I have been the sword."

He looked down in shame, "I have hurt people." He took a deep breath. "That is a shadow of the truth." He took a second deep breath. "I have killed too many people." His eyes leaped to find the shock, fear, or anger in her eyes, but only found compassion.

"Riley, you don't have to..." Lysandra started before he smiled sadly.

"Actually, this has been bouncing inside a while." Riley said he stared into her eyes with hope. "You deserve to know who I am. I am a 31-year-old virgin, who until this week was considered asexual. I have a history of violent trauma which makes the most seasoned psychologist run in fear. You know the dark secrets of my childhood, but there I was the victim." He smiled warmly. "I can't believe it, but you," he took a deep breath and continued with an emotion filled voice. "You expressed interest in me."