Hell, yes, he had a plan in mind. Looking at Sia, he had more plans in mind than he had a right to—most of them centering on her being naked and spread out beneath him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in such tight quarters with a female, mainly because he made a point to avoid them except on occasions when he needed an open vein to feed from or a fast, anonymous fuck to take the edge off.
Sitting with Sia in the close confines of the vehicle was wreaking bloody havoc on his senses, to say nothing of his concentration. The best thing he could do for both of them was to get his hands on whatever Santino was after from the dead woman, then get on with the business of hunting down his target. Anything to put a lot of space between himself and Sia.
And the sooner the better.
He pulled a black skullcap out of his jacket pocket and plugged his head into it, pulling the knit hat low onto his brow. “I’m going in. And you’re not going anywhere near that building. Understood?”
She started to balk, but his dark glower seemed to actually give her pause. “What are you going to do, Trygg?”
“My fucking job.”
She watched him pull the collar of his leather jacket up to cover the Breeddermaglyphsthat tracked up his neck. When he checked the pair of sheathed daggers that he wore strapped around his torso beneath the jacket, Sia swallowed.
“Do you think you’re going to need those?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“Trygg, there must be close to a hundred officers in there—many of them Breed. If you get caught, you won’t be able to take them all.”
His grin felt more like a sneer. “Don’t be so sure. You have no idea what I’m capable of. And trust me, Sia, you wouldn’t want to know.”
She sat back at that bleak admission, dark questions swirling in her uneasy gaze. “It’s a busy night at the station. There have been people coming and going the entire time we’ve been here. So, how do you expect to get inside?”
“Right through the front door.” He grunted, closing up his jacket. “Be a hell of a lot easier if I didn’t have this face. It tends to get noticed. And not easily forgotten.”
Sia didn’t laugh at his joke. He wished he hadn’t said it now, feeling her studying him, knowing he must seem beastly to a beauty like her. Ordinarily, he’d find solace in his monstrous looks. Caught in Sia’s unflinching gaze, he felt exposed. Cut open all over again.
Before he realized what she was doing, she lifted her hand and brushed her fingertips over his scarred cheek. “Promise me you’ll be careful, Trygg.”
No one had ever asked that of him before. No one had ever cared. Not unless they wanted something in return.
But Sia’s eyes were tender on him, her voice sincere. And as unexpected as her touch was against his riddled cheek, he barely held back his groan of pleasure in the instant before she drew her hand away.
Emotions churned, mixing with the desire that was becoming increasingly difficult to contain. He clenched his fists, if only to keep from taking hold of her and dragging her into his arms.
He didn’t quite know how to process any of what Sia made him feel, other than to shut it down hard.
“I have a job to do.” Opening the driver’s side door, he threw her a cold look. “Do us both a favor, Sia. Don’t be here when I get back.”
Chapter 5
Sia sat in the dark vehicle for only a moment. She watched Trygg stroll casually toward the entrance of the station, her irritation growing with each passing second.
What just happened?
She’d felt the sizzle of awareness that had ignited between them when she touched him, and she knew he had too.
Yet Trygg, a behemoth of a male whose lethal glower and deep, gravel-rough voice made even the warriors of the Rome command center stand a little straighter when he was around, had practically scrambled to get away from her.
Right after ordering her to be gone when he got back.
She knew if she left she would never see him again. He would make sure of that now.
Because somehow, in spite of the fact they couldn’t seem to avoid locking horns or struggling for the upper hand, she and Trygg had connected. And it had scared him.
It scared her, too, especially when she was still licking her wounds from the last time she’d allowed herself to get close to a man.
But Sia wasn’t the type to run.
