Page 9 of Odin

"Ja, I shovel snow for you," he said, in that same deep voice that seemed to make things vibrate deep in her core.

"Can you clear a path to that shed so I can put this away?" she asked, pointing.

"I can, but there is an easier way," he said, striding through the snow as easily as if it was air. He lifted the scooter onto his shoulder, then turned and walked toward the shed. Like the bloody thing weighed nothing.

She couldn't help it. She just stood and stared. Sure, the overalls hid a lot, but nothing could hide the bulge of his muscles as he carried an entire scooter across the courtyard, and into the garage. When he emerged, she was still standing there, feeling stupid.

"Would you like me to carry you inside again, too?" he asked.

Fuck yes. And hell no.

If he lifted her in his arms again, she was totally going to take him to bed, not caring that she was his boss and that she'd be in a whole lot of trouble if anyone found out and...

Fuck he was hot. She was surprised the snow wasn't steaming around his feet.

"I'll be fine," she said airily, turning away so she could head toward the front door. The snow was falling harder now, turning the drive from black to white. Even the steps were dusted with snow, and those clouds were darker than night, even if it was still midafternoon.

She knocked the snow off her boots, then walked in her socks down the corridor past the labs to the loading dock, where the outdoor gear was supposed to be kept.

She could hear the scrape of his shovel against the snow outside the loading dock door.

He should come inside, instead of staying out there in this storm. There was no point shovelling snow if it was only going to come down harder as the storm worsened.

He'd saved her last night, but as his boss, she was supposed to be responsible for his safety. She should open the door and tell him to come inside.

She was not going to do anything inappropriate when he came in. She could control herself.

Freyja punched the button to open the loading dock door.

Wind howled into the building, showering her in snow. She coughed and spluttered for a moment, before she cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, "You need to come inside, out of the storm. It's not safe out there!"

A rumbling laugh came out of the darkness. "I will be fine. I will come inside when I am finished."

Sleeping with one of her staff was bad enough, but letting him get injured because of her own silliness was way worse. He'd only been wearing overalls. Not even proper snow gear. If he stayed out there much longer, he might freeze to death.

And that would be a terrible loss to the world. Even if she could never share a bed with him again.

"I must insist. The university safety procedures state that everyone has to take shelter inside during a snowstorm. They even extended the accommodation block so that a whole expedition team could stay here in case of bad weather." Oh god. He'd have to sleep here another night. She wasn't going to sleep a wink. "I must insist you come inside."

"I am almost finished. Once I am done, then I shall come inside, and not before."

The shovel scraped again, but she couldn't see him amid the whirling snow outside. It looked like a freaking blizzard out there. What kind of lunatic insisted on shovelling snow in a blizzard?

"Get inside now!" she ordered, with the voice of a Doctor Dealing With Life or Death.

"Miss..."

"It's Freyja. Doctor Freyja Valdis, actually, but as we tend to keep things pretty informal at the university, Freyja will be fine."

He appeared at the door, looming larger than she remembered. His eye gleamed blue like the summer sky should have been, as he dusted snow out of his golden hair. "As you command, Doctor Freyja, I am coming inside with you now." He grinned, as if he knew exactly how his words sounded.

And then his grin disappeared, as all the lights went out.

"Fuck!' she said, spitting out another mouthful of snow. She needed to get the door shut, and that wasn't happening without electricity. "Go get the power back on, and then come right back so I can close this door!"

ELEVEN

Odin nodded, and turned back to the storm. He had no idea how to do what she'd ordered him to do, but she'd pointed up at the roof, and he vaguely remembered a picture in the manual showing a ladder to the roof, which he could just make out through the swirling snow. What he'd do once he reached the roof, he wasn't sure, but if that's what she wanted...he shrugged and headed up.

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