The tinny sounds of clanging swords drew her to the adjacent window. Near the forest at the far side of the cabin, Týr and Michael fought.
Sheesh! Immortals and their vicious training. Nope, not her thing when she’d just gotten up. Heck, not even when her brain functioned normally. Unless Echo was around. Man, that girl should be locked up.
But the way the warriors moved, so fast and so violent in their strikes, there was sheer beauty in their brutal dance. Týr held her spellbound. He remained shirtless. The sunlight gleamed off his pale hair and underscored every ridged muscle on his body, his sweats riding low on his hips. Recalling exactly what he could do with his hot, persistent mouth and skillful hands, her tummy tensed, and need stirred again as unfulfilled desire for him took hold.
A low growl erupted in the quiet room. Kira spun around just as something furry leaped at her, knocking her backward, and she hit the wall. Frowning, she blinked at the wolf cub. “Puppy? What is it?”
Did he look bigger?
He growled, flashing his canines, stalking her.
What the heck!Her heart knocking against her ribs, she cautiously sidestepped the angry cub. “Did you want to go outside?”
The pup fixed her with an unblinking stare for several long seconds. Then its head cocked. His growls subsided and a small whine followed.He plopped on its rump, staring at her with dark, dark eyes…as if it could see into her thoughts or something.
Man, hanging with immortals was making her paranoid.
She pushed her over-working imagination aside. Sure, he was a wild animal, but he was still a pup—a baby. He probably wanted his mama—not be trapped here with her.
“C’mon. Wolf cubs should have their freedom instead of being stuck in a cabin with over-protective mortals.” She opened the door. The black ball of fur gamboled out, tripping down the steps and into the snow. The pup sniffed the wood near the steps before bounding off toward the trees.
Shuddering from the cold, Kira shut the door and scurried back upstairs to the bathroom. She peeled off one edge of her dressing and checked her wounds. Wow, the lesions were as good as healed.Thanks, Gran.
A quick shower later, she toweled off then shimmied into her jeans and finished getting dressed.
Back downstairs, she retrieved a black scrunchie from her jacket pocket and then paused, her brow crinkling. She could never relax or sleep when she worried about something. Her usual was to pace or stare at the ceiling. But she’d been lying in Týr’s arms, agonizing over Tomas, and then… Damn him!
Sliding the hair tie onto her wrist, she tore out of the cabin and staggered to a halt at the frigid cold, her boots sinking into the fresh snow. A harsh inhale of the icy air numbed her lungs. Darn! She shivered. Yeah, putting on a jacket over her cable-knit sweater would have been a good idea instead of taking off like a bat out of Hell.
Týr worked out near the lake now, alone, and went through some kind of precise karate or taekwondo movements. The sheer fluidity, the beauty of his utter control held her spellbound for several seconds before she recalled why she’d stormed outside. The wretch!
She clomped across to him. “How could you?”
“How could I what?” He continued his workout without a break in stride, feet spread, hands moving before they shot out in a deadly strike.
“You put me to sleep,” she snapped. “When you knew how worried I was about Tomas.”
“You could do nothing for the boy last night.” He leaped into the air, spinning like a tornado, unleashing a flying kick before he landed in the slush without even stumbling. “You needed sleep.”
“It wasn’t your decision. You had no right—”
“No right?” He stopped, chest heaving, eyes narrowed. “No right?” He took a step closer, looming over her like some dark cloud. “I hadeveryright when you’re working yourself into some human sickness.”
She scowled. Fine, maybe he had a point, but still. “It was my choice. You took that away.”
“I will do whatever I must to keep you safe, even protect you from your own mule-headedness.”
“My own—?” Spluttering in anger, she shoved him, hard, palms to pecs. “Just when I thought you’d gotten rid of the caveman tendencies, you do this!”
Ugh!It was probably easier to move a rooted oak. She stomped off toward the lake, or tried to, but the damn mushy surface hindered her. Kira gave up and glared at the snow-covered trees on the far side instead.
“Stop glowering, or the ice is sure to melt and haul you into its freezing depths, considering where you’re standing.”
Yeah, he’d make jokes. Her gaze dipped…to the glassy ice-surface underfoot. Holy crap! And she hadn’t slipped on her ass? Cautiously, she retreated to the trodden snow several feet away from the frozen lake. Soft laughter reached her. “At least your hair lost its temperamental shade.”
The big lout.
“About Tomas.”
