Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

For the next forty-eight hours, Celeste didn’t see Tyr, though she felt him close by. He’d left her leggings freshly laundered outside the door later that night, as well as some food, but she hadn’t seen him. It didn’t surprise her. His arousal had been more than evident when he’d removed the leggings, and she assumed he thought she’d been playing some sort of game with him. But she was smart enough to know women didn’t play with an immortal like the Norse God of War. Not if they wanted to live. So that night, after trying to reach her dad, she’d fallen into a deep sleep remembering the touch of Tyr’s strong hands on her skin.

At some point, he’d come in, opened the windows, and let Yegret out. Celeste wasn’t sure how he’d known when she slept. She wondered if perhaps he had cameras in the room. It wouldn’t surprise her… No. She decided he wouldn’t do that. Everywhere else on the estate, yes, but not the bedrooms or the bathrooms. That wasn’t Tyr.

By day four, the majority of her injuries had healed, but mentally, she’d begun to go downhill. Memories of Anton locking her first in her bedroom and eventually moving her to his closet made her skin prickle, and she broke into a light sweat.

She reached her breaking point. She needed to get out. Out of the room and out of the house before she lost it. The door opened as she approached, and she stepped into the hallway.

Men’s voices floated upstairs, but she couldn’t make out what they said until she tiptoed to the edge of the glass landing.

“So, you took care of it?” asked Tyr.

“Would I be back here if I hadn’t?” said Vid.

“I just want to make sure. It’s been a long time since you’ve had to get your hands dirty on a job.”

Vid snorted. “Too long. I’m not sure why you talked me into letting Fenrir do that stuff. That’s the fun stuff. The vengeance part. Making them promise to leave someone alone. Or making them pay for what they’ve done. I like it a hell of a lot better than doing surveillance.”

“I like surveillance,” said Herm.

“Because all you do is play games on your phone,” said Vid. “I’m the one who does the actual watching.”

“That’s not true,” Herm protested. “Who do you think does all the watching while you snore away in the passenger seat?”

“No one,” said Vid. “I don’t snore.”

“Enough,” said Tyr. “I’ll contact the client and inform her the man won’t be harassing her anymore.”

“That, and she’ll be getting reassigned to a new partner in the firm, receiving a sizable settlement and a raise,” said Vid.

“Perfect,” said Tyr.

The scent of fresh coffee filled Celeste’s nostrils, making her stomach groan. She would love a mochaccino. She wondered if they had a specialized coffee machine that could make one. They had state-of-the-art everything else.

Celeste walked across the landing to the top of the stairs and paused before heading downward. Herm poured Tyr a cup of coffee. He spotted her first, and his eyes widened. She gave him a small wave.

Herm blinked and poured hot coffee all over Tyr’s hand.

“Shit, Herm, what are you doing?” Tyr followed Herm’s gaze, and his eyes widened at the sight of her.

“Hi,” she said.

Vid turned and spit his coffee all over the counter.

“Hi, Celeste,” said Herm. “Looking better. Much, much better.”

Tyr set down his mug, jumped the massive island, and stripped off his t-shirt as he raced to where she stood.

He wrapped his shirt around her bare torso and pulled her against his chest. “What are you doing?”

She looked up at him. “I’m sick of being in your room, and since you’ve taken to becoming room service only, I figured I’d come down to talk to an actual human… well… immortal, I guess.”

Tyr stared down at her. “But… you don’t have clothes on.”

“I have my underwear, and my boobs are covered by the sling. You only brought my leggings and I can’t get them on or off by myself. Remember, you helped me?”

Herm choked and coughed. Tyr glared over his shoulder, and she caught a glimpse of Vid whacking Herm on the back harder than necessary.

“Anyway, you never brought me anything else, and I figured you wouldn’t be too keen on me looking through your closet, so here I am in the only thing I have.”

Tyr shook his head and stared at the ceiling before speaking in a language she didn’t understand.

Herm burst out laughing, and Vid grabbed Herm by the arm, dragging him toward the stairs to the basement.

Tyr turned her as they got close so they couldn’t see her.

Herm pointed at Celeste. “I like her. I like her a lot.”

“Let’s go,” said Vid.

“I can’t. You know how Tyr gets if we leave a mess in the kitchen. He’ll kill us if we leave coffee everywhere.”

Vid yanked on his arm. “He’ll kill you if you don’t.”

Hermódr and Vidar disappeared down the stairs, and Tyr turned back to her.

“You shouldn’t be down here.”

“What did you say?” she asked. “In another language. What did you say?”

He blinked several times. “I’d rather not repeat it.”

“Well, if you don’t want me to read your thoughts, then I ask you not to speak in a language I can’t understand.”

He worked his jaw for a minute and then licked his lips. “Fair enough. Now, what are you doing down here?”

“I… I… uh…” Her heart pounded as he wrapped her tighter in his arms. Again, security washed over her. “The guy who hurt me kept me locked up. I needed to get out.”

Tyr nodded. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you couldn’t come down, I just meant?—”

“You don’t want me down here without clothes on?”

“Well, yes. It’s not that I don’t think a woman has the right to walk around in what she wants or doesn’t want. It’s just Herm, he’s…”

It took a minute, but then Celeste smiled. “It flusters you that I’m almost naked, doesn’t it?”

“I’ve seen lots of naked women. I don’t mean lots. I mean…” Tyr groaned and shook his head. He stayed silent for a moment and then looked her directly in the eyes. “Yes. It flusters me and frustrates me. You’re Sy’s daughter, and he asked me to protect you, not…”

He didn’t need to finish. So that was the problem. Tyr was attracted to her, but he was her father’s friend. A thousand-year-old god. Of course, he didn’t want her half-naked. To him, she was his friend’s daughter. No wonder he’d run from the room after taking off her leggings.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to… fluster you.”

His thick eyebrows pushed together.

“Have you heard from him, by the way? My father. I haven’t heard from him at all.”

“Not yet. But it could take some time. Be patient.”

She nodded, and he loosened his grip on her. “Let’s get you dressed.”

He let go of her and headed toward the stairs.

She turned to the kitchen, and her eyes widened. “Oh my gosh, you have an espresso machine.”

Without a thought, her feet moved her toward the ultimate caffeine administering machine.

Tyr raced up to her. His heavily muscled arms wrapped around her and his bare torso pressed into her back, warming her. His chest hair tickled her neck.

“Celeste, you need to put something on,” he insisted.

“But… coffee!”

He grabbed the t-shirt he’d wrapped around her and pulled it over her head. He reached inside, grabbed her non-injured arm, and pulled it through the armhole.

“What about my other arm?”

“What about it?”

“What if I lose my balance and tip over?”

“I’ll catch you.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and then he grinned.

“What?”

“You’re talking. Like, with your mouth.”

“Believe it or not, I prefer to speak with my mouth.”

“Your face is almost healed as well.”

“The vision in my right eye is still a bit blurry, but at least I don’t look like I went a couple of rounds with Rocky Balboa. Now, about that espresso?”

He ran his hands through his hair and over his face. “Fine. But then you go back upstairs.”

“Why?”

“Because your father asked me to protect you, and that’s what I’m doing.”

“But you said nothing bigger than a fly could get in here without you knowing. So why do I have to stay up in your room? Why can’t I be down here?”

“Because… Because… I feel more comfortable with you up there.”

She scrunched up her eyebrows. “Do you think if I sit in your kitchen, someone is going to try to break past your gates and come get me?”

“Well… no, but…” He opened and closed his mouth several times. “I’m more comfortable with you up there.”

“Yeah, you said that already, but why?”

He stared at her for a long minute and then blew out his breath and rubbed his face.

“You trust Herm and Vid.”

He lowered his hands. “Yes,” he drew out the word.

“Then it’s not them you need to keep me safe from, right?”

“Safe from? No. But… but…”

“But what?”

“But you are still in your underwear. And when a woman who looks the way you do is standing around in only their underwear…”

“Then men should be as respectful as if she’s wearing a muumuu.”

“Of course. That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“You’re in your underwear!” Exasperation rang clear in his voice.

“Then let’s fix that. You get me clothes, and I get to not be a prisoner in your room.”

She wasn’t sure if Tyr would say no again or throw her over his shoulder and take her back upstairs. To her surprise, he did neither.

“Fine. I’ll get you clothes, and then you can move around the main house. Tell me what you want, and your sizes, and I’ll have someone get it for you.”

“I also need underwear, and though I may not be ashamed of my body, I prefer not to have someone else picking out underwear for me unless it’s someone I’m dating.”

“Do you let the men you date pick out your underwear?”

Her cheeks heated. “Maybe. Not that they’ve ever picked something remotely comfortable. Why do guys think underwear that goes up the butt crack is so sexy? Have they ever tried wearing them? I’m pretty sure if men did, they would realize how very unsexy things can be when they aren’t comfortable.”

“Uh… I wouldn’t know.”

“You wouldn’t know because you’ve never bought a woman that kind of underwear, or you wouldn’t know because you’ve never tried them on yourself?”

“Both,” he stammered.

She admired his chiseled chest and hard-packed abs. “I think you might look good in a g-string.” She thought for a moment. “I bet Herm has tried a g-string.”

Tyr opened his mouth and closed it again. “Thank you for an image I will now never get out of my head. There’s a place here in the Underworld where you can get anything you need. I’ll take you after you eat, and I finish my meeting with Herm and Vid.”

“Okay.”

He turned from her and headed back into the kitchen. As he went, she glimpsed a full back tattoo of an intricate war scene. She followed him into the kitchen to get a better view. He grabbed a cup from the cupboard as she stepped closer to make out the details. The scene had been amazingly done—so intricate that she waited for it to start moving.

He turned and bumped into her, knocking her off balance. He grabbed her healed arm and steadied her.

“Guess you weren’t kidding.”

“About what.”

“That you’d catch me if I started to tip over.”

Tyr pulled his hand away and put the cup under the espresso machine.

She bit her lip. “So, you haven’t heard from my dad?”

Tyr looked at her sideways as he pushed several buttons. “No.”

Celeste’s gut twisted. She let down her barrier and felt for her father.

Nothing.

“We should call him.”

Tyr shook his head and handed her the cup of coffee. “We’ll give it until the end of the week.”

“He should have called to check up on me.”

“I’m sure he will as soon as he is able. Let him do what he needs to first. He’s dealing with a lot right now.”

Celeste took a sip of her coffee. “But what if he needs me? What if he’s in trouble?”

“He would call me for help. Give it two more days. If we don’t hear from him, we’ll call, okay?”

She nodded. She didn’t want to wait, but Tyr might be right. If her father was indeed in the middle of something, she didn’t want to bother him or get him in deeper.

“So, what are you going to make to eat?”

Tyr said nothing for a moment and then yelled, “Vid! Get up here and make us some food!”