His gaze lowered, his entire expression shut down. “Yeah.”
But the haunting flash of darkness she’d witnessed troubled her. “So, this is Dagan’s place?” she asked, hoping to pull him back from wherever his thoughts had taken him.
“It was. It’s mine now.”
“Of course. Won it from a foosball game, did ya?”
“No.” A smile ghosted his sexy mouth and then quickly disappeared. This, Kira realized, was the real him. Away from his fellow warriors, the facade dropped—not totally, but the cocky persona with the acerbic comebacks was nowhere in sight.
“Go to bed. It’s almost four.”
“I can’t.”
He cut her a contemplative look then retrieved his cell from his pants’ pocket and tapped a number on the display. He set the device on the table, on speaker. A second later, the call got picked up. “Yeah?”
“Nik, the boy, any sign of him?”
“Nothing yet. The night’s been quiet so far. It’s a few hours to dawn, he could be holed up anywhere. I’ll call if I have news.”
“Okay. Thanks, man.” Týr ended the call. And waited.
At his penetrating stare, her heart tripped. Ignoring the tension between them was like ignoring a boulder rushing downhill. And she feared the eventual crash.
Tension scaling through her, Kira rose, and rolled her shoulders. Her wound twinged and she bit off a wince. “Fine. I’ll go to bed. You’ll wake me up if you hear anything?”
After he gave a slight nod, she picked up her cup and made for the stairs.
“Use the couch,” he called out.
“I’ll be fine. There are extra blankets in the closet.”
God, she just had to find a way to move past the dangerous attraction she felt for Týr, because she if she didn’t, she would be the one left hurting.
* * *
Won it from a foosball game, did ya?
Kira had been teasing, but the truth was far more devastating.
Týr shot to his feet, hands clenching and unclenching as he prowled to the fireplace and then back to the window again. Nothing worked. He had to get out of there and calm the hell down. There was only one way to do that since taunting one of the warriors into a fight was off the table.
He sprinted up to the bedroom and stopped at the doorless entrance to inform Kira that he was going for a swim, but she appeared asleep. He pivoted.
“Týr?”
Just the sound of his name, it was as if she’d physically touched him. His body tensed, and his groin throbbed. Fuck. He slapped a palm against the doorjamb, keeping him from doing something reckless, like going over there, tearing off her clothes and sliding into her warmth until he didn’t feel like crap anymore.
“What is it?” She sat up and pushed her tumbling mass of reddish-brown locks from her face.
“I’m going for a swim. Wanted to let you know.”
“It’s freezing out there. If you need a shower, use the bathroom.”
Naked and mere meters from her? She had no idea what she was asking of him.
He rapped his knuckles on the jamb. “You need me, holler. I’ll hear you.”
Wheeling around, he jogged down to the sports bag Hedori had brought him. He grabbed a change of clothes, kicked off his boots before heading outside, and flashed to the far side of the lake. The water here hadn’t frozen over and appeared sludgy. It would do. Besides, he could see the cabin.
