“Uh…”
“With you, Cora?” he pushed.
“Yes, of course, we… talked.”
“And you know they, as you put it… hooked up?”
“Uh…”
“How do you know this?”
Oh boy.
“Tor –”
“How do you know this?”
I wasn’t going to get out of it. So I answered, “He kind of… hugged me and, uh… kissed me.” I watched Tor’s face turn to stone and finished lamely, “Twice.”
The air in the room changed again, it got heavier. So heavy, it was hard to breathe.
“He touched you?” he whispered.
“He surprised me,” I said quickly. “I had to, uh –”
“Put his mouth on you?”
“Tor –”
His eyes narrowed. “Twice?”
“Um –”
Suddenly I was across the kitchen, my back to the wall and Tor was in my space, his hands on my neck, his thumbs in my jaw forcing it up so his eyes could lock on mine.
“He does not touch you again,” Tor growled.
“Tor, he doesn’t know what’s going on. I had to –”
His fingers tensed and his face came to within an inch of mine. “He does not touch you again.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Repeat it,” he commanded harshly.
“He does not touch me again.” I kept whispering.
“I will deal with him.”
What?
“What?” I asked. “How?”
“I don’t know but I will. You do not deal with this man. This man does not touch you. He does not see you –”
I wrapped my fingers around his wrists and interrupted, “Tor, he can’t see you either. You both look exactly alike!”
“Precisely,” he clipped. “You’re in love with me and I’ll not give this… other bloody me an opportunity to muddle your head.”