Page 24 of Tyr

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?”

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