Warmth spreads through my chest. I want nothing more than whisk her away to our little room and have my way with her. Already, staring into those big and luminous eyes, all I can picture is her expression at the peak of her climax, coming as she cries out my name.
Fuck. I’m already getting hard.
Then Lis arrives.
Erection dead.
“Well,” she says dryly, folding her arms. “That was painful to watch.”
Every positive feeling I may have had before evaporates.
I stare at her. “Excuse me?”
She tilts her head. “You won. Congratulations. But it wasn’t a clean victory.”
My eye twitches. “I defeated a stronger opponent.”
“Eventually,” she replies. “After allowing him to dictate the pace of the entire fight, control the battlefield for far too long, strike you at least twelve unnecessary times, and force you into a reckless combat because you failed to identify his tactical objective early enough.”
I blink at the successive critiques she throws my way. Then scowl.
“You counted?”
“I was bored.” She shrugs.
Moe coughs into her hand, clearly hiding laughter.
I reiterate to Lis. “I won.”
“Yes,” she says. “Through stubbornness and physical durability. Not skill.”
“You are impossible.” I roll my eyes.
“And you are deeply untrained.” She steps closer, her expression losing some of its mockery. “You fight like someone who has gained power too quickly and has no idea what to do with it.”
My jaw tightens.
“Why exactly do you care?”
For the first time since this conversation began, her expression shifts.
The amusement fades as her gaze flicks briefly to Moe. Then she looks back to me.
“Because,” she says evenly, “you’re playing with her life.” Her tone is accusing, which in turn gets another rise out of me.
“You—” I grit out.
“And before you start again with your nonsense, I have no designs on your mate. None whatsoever.”
I narrow my eyes at her. What’s her angle now?
“Don’t bring Moe into this,” I growl.
“Why, when she’s at the crux of this?” She continues. “You have spent the last several days glaring at me like an overprotective beast because you think I am attempting to seduce her.”
“You have behaved suspiciously,” I grumble under my breath.
Lis ignores that entirely.
