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He purses his lips. “And you did this—”
“Every day,” I answer.
I’m not sure why I’m surprised at how impressed he looks, but it makes me press my lips together against a smile.
“I, uh… I’ve been training vigorously since the day my parents told me about the agreement.” I laugh humorlessly. “As if I could somehow fight my way out of it.” Shaking my head as heat floods my cheeks, I add, “I don’t know why I’m telling you this.”
Atlas steps closer, and I can feel the heat radiating from him. Before he can say anything, though, I speak again.
“I was willing to fight for my freedom. To train and work hard every single day so that…” I shake my head again, mostly at myself. “Forget it.”
“Calla—”
“The moment I stepped into my apartment the night you came for me, I knew. No amount of training would have been enough.”
“Your dedication to protecting yourself is admirable.”
I shrug. “My family certainly wasn’t going to.” Theycouldn’t. Because how exactly do you prevent four vampires from taking what they believe to be entitled to?
His gaze holds. “What’s your reason for training now?”
Another shrug. “Maybe I’m going to stab you again,” I offer, “gotta keep my strength up.”
I’m kidding—mostly—but when he doesn’t so much as crack a smile, I cringe inwardly.
“Fine. It’s a… release. It feels good to push my body, to test the limits of my endurance.” It can also be a really good distraction, which, these days, could most definitely come in handy.
Atlas nods as if he understands what I’m feeling, as if he’s felt it too. “Fight me.”
I scratch the back of my neck, suddenly feeling a hell of a lot more self-conscious having my hair pulled up off my neck with his silver eyes trained on my every movement. “Huh?” I must’ve heard him wrong. Surely, he isn’t saying—
“Fight. Me.” He repeats the words slowly. Pointedly. Then adds, “No weapons.”
That stirs something in me, and I cross my arms over my chest. “Fine.” There aren’t any weapons in my sightline anyway. I meet his gaze and say, “No vampire mojo.”
He presses his lips into a thin line. Ha. He’s trying not to smile. “You think I need that?”
I tilt my head back and forth. “I don’t know. Seems pretty convenient that you can touch or look at your opponent and make them do whatever you say. It’s kind of cheating if you think about it.” My tone is slightly mocking; I’m baiting him. A dangerous game, but it makes my stomach swirl with excitement.
One second I’m staring into his eyes, and the next I’m looking at the ceiling, my back pressed against the mat with the air knocked out of me.
I suck in a breath and grumble, “Cheater.”
Atlas hovers over me, holding himself up with one hand, while the other has both of my wrists trapped above my head. My heart is pounding in my chest, and the heat pooling much lower gives away that I don’t particularly dislike the position I’m in. Damn him.
He stands, pulling me up with him in a blur of motion. The room spins for a second before my vision rights itself, and I launch myself at him without hesitation. My fist connects with his jaw, and I just barely manage to duck under his arm when he grabs for me again. I spin around and kick hard, catching him in the back. He stumbles forward a couple of steps before rolling his shoulders back and turning to face me.
“You’ve got strength behind you. That’s good.”
I exhale a breathy laugh. “For what exactly?”
He advances again, this time without using his preternatural speed. Even still, he catches me off guard and pushes me back until I collide with the wall next to the bench press. Atlas traps my wrists against the wall above my head and slowly leans in until the tip of his nose grazes mine.
“Being a human in our world is very dangerous,” he says in a low voice, though I don’t think he’s threatening me.
I lift my knee, trying to catch him between the legs, but he manages to turn fast enough that I hit his thigh instead. I attempt to pull my wrists free, but it’s useless. I can train all I want, I’ll never have the strength to overpower a vampire. “What’s your point, Atlas?”
His eyes flare with something I haven’t seen from him before—lust. The fire there makes my breath catch, and when he leans back enough for me to see his face and drags his tongue along his bottom lip, I can’t keep my eyes from going there. “You’re safe here,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. “From outside dangers, at least.”
