I interrupt his to-do list with a kiss. My poor, sweet king, pulled in so many directions. “I know, everyone wants a piece of you. I can wait.”
“You should not have to wait,” he says gruffly. “With another male, you would not to be kept waiting.”
“I’m proud to wait for you. It means a lot of people depend on you.” I kiss each corner of his mouth and then his nose and one chiseled cheekbone. His eyes fall shut as he enjoys the sensation. I kiss his other cheek, evening the score. “You waited a lot longer for me.”
That earns me a crooked smile, the nip of his teeth on my lower lip. “Tonight we will train. You will be my apprentice, and then I will be yours.” His voice drops an octave at the end of his sentence, and I feel my pussy clench in anticipation.
“Deal.”
His claws pricks my hips slightly, and then he releases me and stands, every step toward the door slow and full of regret. Reluctance stretches between us, sweet and sticky, as he pauses at the door. “We will share lastmeal every day,” he promises.
“And furs every night,” I shoot back. “No more sleeping in the comm room.”
“Never again,” he says, smiling on his way out.
I happy-scream into the furs, kicking my feet. He’s so goddamn good. Square-hearted, generous, sexy as fuck, willing to work on himself, and conveniently obsessed with me. All we have to do is figure out this motherfucking priest problem, and then things will be perfect.
We are going to make it happen. If there’s one thing we have in common, it’s stubborn dedication to our goals. Both of us working on the same one? Nothing can stop us.
It’s that comforting thought that relaxes me enough to take the nap that Nik prescribed. And thank the goddess I did, because that evening, after we caught up on our days over lastmeal, Nik puts me through it in the pits. My brothers thoughtIwas a drill sergeant? He isrelentless.
He starts me off with some basic exercises, lunges and jumps that mimic movements in a fight. It’s like burpees on steroids, and I hate it. Then there are some footwork drills. He strips off his clothes and does them right alongside me, and the eye candy almost makes it worth it. But after a few sets of reps, I can’t even enjoy the view because there’s so much sweat dripping into my eyes and falling on the sandy floor. He’s barely winded.
“I need a breather,” I tell him, propping my hands on my knees to rest a second. “Not that kind of breather,” I add, when he starts to call someone over to fetch me one. “A break. I can’t keep up with you.”
“No, you can’t,” he agrees, turning back. I make a noise of mock protest. It’s true, but he’s not supposed to admit it. “Thisis your first lesson, apprentice. You can’t win a fight by matching strengths. There will always be someone stronger or faster than you. You must fight their weaknesses, let them guide how you fight. Watch for hesitation. Watch for exhaustion, for bad habits. Then use those against them.”
I nod, understanding. It’s a lot like Y’len was saying, that surprise is a weapon. Blade-to-blade and muscle-to-muscle isn’t where the fight is. It’s in all the mental stuff, too. It’s playing with your opponent’s expectations. It’s exploiting their blind spots, their biases.
Nik hands me a wooden training blade, and we face off. I feel like a chihuahua staring down a pitbull, as we circle each other. Even naked, camouflaged in the pale, sandy color of the pits, he looks impervious, as if he’s fully armored.
“What are your weaknesses? Mine’s that I can’t stop staring at your dick,” I joke.
“I have none,” he says, voice clipped and lethal. “I’m larger than you, stronger than you, and faster than you. I have every physical advantage, and I am trained in eight methods of combat. There is nothing you can do to overcome me.”
Well, that’s not very encouraging. “So how can I beat you?”
“You must be less honorable than me.” He lunges, and I dance away just in time, but it won’t be long before he wears me out. He stalks toward me, all predator, his eyes gone flat and icy. Maybe for the first time I see why he was his father’s preferred executioner.
But it’s my Nik in there. I know things about him that no one else does. He does have a weakness: jealousy.
So the next time he lunges for me, I use my sharpest weapon. With a flick of my blade, I cut through my sash, letting my sveli fall to the floor. He stops in his tracks, eyes fixed on my bare chest.
“What are you doing?” He growls, throwing looks sharper than daggers at all the warriors watching from the rail.
“Just thought I should fight like an Irran.” I shrug casually, drawing his eyes back to my chest. My nipples harden under the hammer of his heated expression. Then I take the only chance I have, because this won’t work twice. I lunge forward and jab the training blade in the cleft of his left armpit, where Aqen told me an artery runs close to the surface.
And Nik—my Nik, my asshole alien who I wasn’t even surehademotions when I met him—turns bright gold with surprise. He stares at me and then down at the wooden knife still stuck under his arm, astonishment and wonder all over his face. Then he flushes the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen.
Imurderedhim, and he’s happy.
With the biggest, shit-eating grin on his face, he drops to his knees in front of me and bends his neck the way they all do when they lose a fight, offering the winner a chance to draw blood. On his knees, he’s almost the exact same height I am.
“Get up.” I push on his shoulder, laughing. “Come on. Everyone’s watching.”
“I know. I want them to see their queen take her prize. You earned it.” He draws his real blade from the sheath on his thigh and hands it to me, arching that brilliant blue neck again. “Be merciful.”
I hope they’re watching, all of them. I hope they see him shining with joy. I hope they see me put my mark on him because he’s mine. Instead of cutting him, I lean forward and bite him in the same spot he claimed me, clamping down hard but not enough to break the skin. He sucks in a breath and wraps his arms around me, trapping me against his body so my breasts are pressed against his chest and the rise and fall of his lungs becomes the center of my world.
