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I’d hoped he wouldn’t notice, but of course he had. He fucking noticed everything, and that was a problem.
Instead of obeying, I continued to block his blows. He picked up the pace, moving faster than ever before.
Clenching my jaw, I kept up with his moves. Each clang of our swords vibrated through my entire body.
“Stop holding back,” he rasped. “Since they aren’t allowing us into the arena today, I suspect the second trial will be tomorrow, and you need to unleash your strength out there. Holding back will get you killed.”
Our bodies were slick with sweat, and the room was bright, indicating it was midday. We still had hours to practice.
When he lifted his sword over his head and swung it down, I gripped my blade at the tip and hilt, using it as a block, being careful not to cut myself. His sword slammed against it, forcing me to use every ounce of my strength to prevent the sharp blade from hitting me. Then he kicked me in the stomach.
My body flew across the room, and I tried to retract my wings, but I couldn’t before my back slammed into the wall. My head hit hard, and I crumpled to the floor.
He’d kicked the shit out of me. Thank goodness it wasn’t literally.
He stood in front of me with his hands at his side and growled, “I told you to attack.”
Was he fucking serious right now? I jumped to my feet, and the floor tilted underneath me, but I managed to keep my balance. Probably just to spite him. I glared. “That wouldn’t have prevented that from happening.”
“Yes, it would’ve.” His chest heaved, and I tried to ignore the way his annoyance had my body revving. “You were so focused on blocking my blows that you forgot I could also attack you with my body or another weapon.”
Shit. He was right, but dammit, I refused to admit that. He had a big enough head already. So, I had to settle for the truth. “I don’t want to learn to attack.”
He sighed and sheathed his sword. “That’s what I thought. Alina, it’s either you or them, and it better fucking well be them.”
Though he didn’t know about the conversation I’d overheard, he was right. Curry, the pink-haired girl—who I’d learned was named Lesli—and the blonde-haired woman named Mackenna would be after me as soon as the second trial started. I had no doubt about that. “All my life, I’ve wanted to protect people, not hurt them.” I doubted he understood that being a fae and all, but the truth fell from my lips before I could stop it.
His face twisted into what looked like agony. “Believe it or not, I understand. I’ve always done what I thought was best for my people, but something I learned recently is that, when you worry only about protecting others, the decisions you make may come at too high a cost to bear. And you may actually weaken your people because of it.”
Something twisted in my chest, right where my heart beat. Whatever he’d done haunted him, and I didn’t like to see guilt and pain weighing on him. When everyone else turned their back on me, he’d allied with me and trained me to defend myself. “Attacking someone isn’t protecting my people, and not attacking is protecting myself from becoming like Curry and the others.”
“You could never be like them.” He closed the distance between us, placing his hand on my cheek. His next words were almost a whisper. “You’re amazing, kind, brave, and too damn good for this world. This world needs you, which means you have to protect yourself.”
Something around my heart trembled, and I decided one thing right then and there: I couldn’t die without knowing what kissing him was like. I dropped my sword, letting it clank to the floor, and wrapped my arms around his neck.
His eyes widened as my lips touched his, but I pressed on and kissed him.
When he didn’t respond, my heart almost stopped. I inched away. “I’m sorry. I?—”
“Don’t,” he groaned as his arms circled my body, and his hot, eager mouth met mine.
He tasted of cinnamon and chai, two of my favorite flavors that I missed from Earth, and I couldn’t get enough.
I’d kissed only one person before. When I was sixteen. And it was nothing compared to this. My tongue stroked his lips, and his breath caught. Something warm swirled inside me as my neck pulsed cold, cooling off my body. When his mouth opened to mine and our tongues intertwined, I never wanted to stop kissing him.
He grabbed my ass, lifting me up, and my legs wrapped around him. Our armor rubbed together, making the position harder to navigate, but we were determined to make it work.
Fisting my hands in his hair, I tilted his head back so I could taste more of him. My head grew foggy, and my body brimmed with heat that might make me implode. I needed him with no barriers, especially not his armor.
He matched each stroke of my tongue, and before I realized what was going on, he’d laid me down on something as soft as a cloud.
His bed.
He pressed some of his body weight on me, inflaming my body further. I’d never understood desire, but I ached to feel his skin on mine. It wasn’t rational.
A loud knock sounded on his door, followed by a loud voice as if the speaker were using a microphone.
“Trial two starts in twenty minutes.” Caden’s voice projected down the hallway. “All contestants have ten minutes to gather their weapons and armor and come downstairs to be let in.”
