My heart thudded as I whispered, “Tore.”
He strode quickly through the open space, eating up the distance between us before crashing into me. His hands came up around the sides of my face, and a low growl rumbled from his throat as he hungrily crushed his mouth against mine in a commanding, possessive, hot first kiss. A sigh escaped my lips as I parted them to let his tongue slide into my mouth. He tasted absolutely divine. Spearmint and winter and Tore. The electricity that I’d first felt when we met coursed through me, making my body hum. My hands snaked inside his t-shirt, moving up his back to feel the corded muscles beneath his skin. The sensation sent a fresh pulse of heat just south of my navel, making my knees go weak. Tore stepped closer then, pressing me up against the cold window pane to stabilize me. His chiseled pecs pressed against my chest, and my sigh deepened into a moan. Hell yes. I was kissing Tore. Finally kissing Tore. I needed to almost die more often. Obviously.
When he finally pulled back, he ran his nose along my neck, inhaling deeply. Oh, yum. “Allie.” He exhaled. “I was so afraid I was going to lose you.”
“Can’t lose me, Protector,” I said lightly. “I’ve got the Liv, remember? Frost giants got nothing on my glowy blue hand ball.” I waggled my fingers against Tore’s chest.
He pulled his head back to look at me. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. You hear me?”
I just nodded because he was staring at my lips while licking his own. I prayed fervently that he’d kiss me again, like, right now. Tore’s thumb ran over my bottom lip, and I sucked in a breath at the same time my knees gave out. He caught me easily, snaking an arm around my lower back to support my weight.
He kissed my nose, my forehead, each cheek. Then he whispered into my ear. “I should have kissed you weeks ago. One day soon, I’m going to kiss every inch of your body.” He trailed his finger from my shoulder to my wrist, sending a sea of goosebumps across my skin. Oh, God, yes.
“I look forward to it,” I whispered. I reached out for his energy, but I couldn’t sense anything. Dang it. Tore had thrown his wall up. Again.
“What happened?” I bit down on the inside of my cheek. “When I was, uh, passed out, I sensed your energy. I can never do that. And now you’re back to being a void. Why did you shut me out?”
Tore lowered his forehead to mine again. “I’m not trying to shut you out. You have to understand, being close to someone is hard for me, Allie. My default is to keep a shield up so nobody can track me . . . or even just read me. But when I thought the woman I’m falling in love with might die, maintaining the shield sort of dropped off my priority list. You know?”
Super-hot demigod said what? “You’re falling in love with me?” I let the words hang in the air, trying them on. They sounded really, really good.
Tore tucked a loose strand behind my ear. “You’re stubborn. You steal my bacon. You can’t cook. And you pepper sprayed me the first time I saw you. But I’m falling for you. The thought of losing you forever completely ruined me.”
I ruined Tore. Me. Holy freaking mother of pearl! My heart swelled, and I held an internal cartwheel fest before pulling myself together. “Well,” I demurred, “I guess, now that you mention it, we do have a little bit of a connection.”
Tore laughed; a big, deep, hearty laugh that healed every last bit of my soul. I leaned forward and kissed him again, relishing the feel of his scruffy beard against my face. When I pulled away, I leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I’m falling pretty hard for you, too. But I think you already knew that.”
A knock on the door jolted me from our moment. I wasn’t sure what the Asgardian protocol was for a protector dating his charge, so I took a step away from Tore. But he slipped his hand into mine and pulled me close. By the time the knock sounded again, his arm was wrapped possessively around my shoulders. “You’re not going anywhere,” he murmured.
Good Lord, he is hot.
“It’s open,” I called, feebly.
Greta peeked her head around the corner of the door, her cherubic features lighting up when she saw me. “Allie! You’re awake! And you’re standing!”
Bodie filed into the room behind her. He darted his eyes between me and Tore, then stalled on Tore’s arm around my shoulder. One corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “Well, well, well. Couldn’t wait until she changed out of her healing unit gown, could you?”
“Shut up, Bodie.” Heat crept up my neck.
“Aw, I’m happy for you guys. Well, I’m happy for him.” Bodie tilted his head at Tore. “He’s totally getting the better end of this deal. You sure you don’t want to back out? If it’s demigods you’re into, I could introduce you to a slew of them. Warriors, diplomats, artists, what’s your type, Allie?”
“Yeah, it’s not too late to change your mind. Tore’s a handful.” Johann chimed in from over Bodie’s shoulder.
“Leave my god-sister alone.” Mack muscled his way past Bodie. He nudged Tore out of the way so he could wrap thick arms around me in a gentle hug. “I’m so thankful you’re okay, Allie. After what I saw in that snow cave . . . well, I owe the cosmos a tremendous debt for bringing you back to us.”
“Aw. I missed you, too, Mack.” I hugged the lumberjack back. “Thank you—thank all of you. I’d be dead, or worse, if it wasn’t for you. You guys majorly saved my butt.”
Tore stepped closer, edging Mack out of the way so he could wrap his arm around me again. “I’ve said it before, Pepper. It would be a travesty if anything happened to your butt.”
I laughed. “I seem to remember you communicating something to that effect.”
Tore winked. “Well, if your memory needs refreshing, I’d be happy to drive the point home when we’re alone.”
My cheeks felt like I’d set them on a hot plate. Bodie just cackled at my mortification.
“Careful, Bodie,” I warned. I tilted my head at the strawberry-haired healer. “Payback sucks.”
Bodie got real quiet, real fast.
An oblivious Greta rubbed her hands together. “I know we’re all happy to see Allie up and about, but we have a teeny situation we need to address.”
The four protectors in the room straightened to military attention. “What’s going on?” Tore asked.
“Allie’s mom was just checked into the healing unit. The energy in her third center took another dip, and we decided it would be in her best interest to receive a more static level of care than what I could provide at her cottage. She’s right down the hall, and she’s stable, but . . .” Greta chewed her bottom lip. “It’s not ideal.”
My throat constricted, and tears pricked at the back of my eyelids. I’d just gotten my mom back. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to lose her again.
“Allie has the Liv,” Tore blurted out.