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“I don’t know. You like to cheat.”
“When have I ever cheated while training?” he challenged. His fingers dug into her flesh, and he pulled her forward with a sudden, possessive tug until their bodies touched.
“Please. Back on the island, you did all the time.” Did he remember their training sessions again? Her heart was beating so fast, she could barely think straight. There was no greater gift than him regaining his memories.
“You’re a sore loser…”
Nava pursed her lips. “I win if I reach the weapons rack first.” Lifting her chin, she pointed in the general direction of the target. Her skin glowed yellow as a rush of magic came to her call, feeding the adrenaline already rushing through her veins.
“Since you’re intent on tainting my name, I get to call the prize if I take you down.” Arkimedes stepped away, depriving her of his nearness. He dusted off his pants and stalked around her like a predator inspecting his next meal. Oh, she wanted to be that. Badly. If only to forget about everything else.
“Do your worst.” The challenge died on her lips when Arkimedes launched himself at her. She squeaked, darting out of the way of his shadows.
He’d always waited for her to attack first, and him making the first move unsettled her. But she transferred out of his grasp just in time. Her blood buzzed, warm with the delicious exhilaration of being chased across the wide expanse of this room, surrounded by tropical plants that lent their energy to her.
She laughed, half running, half transferring in a billow of dust and pollen toward the weaponry stack. Arkimedes’s wings beat in sharp bursts as he swooped into the air and toward her like a bird of prey. She was almost there, but the reach of his magic was too great.
The air crackled with black particles that swarmed her. He was anticipating her moves, perhaps reading her emotions. Each time she appeared in a new place, he was almost there, ready to catch her.
The peppery scent of his magic brought tears to her eyes, blinding her and slowing her down. Through the gust of dark ink that wrapped around her like a secondary shield and refused to let go, Nava could see the shelves a mere four feet away. They beckoned her forward, calling for her triumph.
Suddenly, Arkimedes landed behind her with silent steps. Someone else might not have noticed, but Nava sensed the spike of excitement through the bond. Two could play the game of guessing where the other would go. She didn’t need to see him or hear his steps to know he was running toward her.
He was close, too close.
She bolted in the opposite direction and reached for the shelves. Her fingers wrapped around the polished wooden handle of a dagger, just as his fingerlike mist grabbed her ankles and dragged her backward.
Nava kicked at the tendrils of magic and pulled the entire rack of training weapons from the wall to the floor. The ground shook, and Arkimedes tackled her from the side, emerging from the pitch-black wall of his power.
A scream escaped her as they tumbled to the ground, collapsing in a pile of sweaty limbs away from the weapons. Slowly, both their auras faded away to nothing.
“You’re heavy,” she groaned. Having the full weight of his body on top of her made her keenly aware of how perfectly it fit against every plane and curve of her body. Her blood sang with his nearness.
He lifted himself off her, although one of his hands lingered on her stomach, right over the spot where she could feel their bond the strongest, where his emotions blended with hers, intangible but real.
His need for her ran rampant, merging with her desire for him. She lifted the small wooden dagger she’d picked from the rack before Arkimedes had reached her.
“It seems you won. What’s your prize, Bee?”
Nava dropped the practice weapon to the side and placed both hands over his sweaty skin. Gods, she loved the thundering of his heart under her palms. She trembled beneath him with the force of her craving. “I want you to touch me.”
Arkimedes let out a low groan. His eyes darkened with something primal as he caressed the side of her face with one hand, before closing the gap that separated them with a kiss.
Their lips touched gently at first, but the kiss soon caught fire as he deepened it. His tongue traced her lips, then slipped inside her mouth, tangling with hers in an obscene dance that left Nava breathless. She shuddered, her entire body tingling with the need to feel him, to have him explore every inch of her.
She swallowed as his hand splayed over her stomach, traveling over her blouse, slowing down to trace her breasts, grasping the mounds and flicking a finger over her nipples.
“Devon could come at any moment.” She dug her fingers into his scalp, pulling him closer.
“I don’t want to hear my brother’s name on your lips when I’m touching you like this.” Arkimedes slipped his hand inside her trousers, and the breath caught in Nava’s throat when his fingers met her aching center.
A gentle wind chime rang in the air, and his lips closed on her neck, sucking. His tongue lapped at her skin with the same intensity that his fingers danced over the point where she craved him most.
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded in a ragged tone, writhing beneath him as he slid a finger inside her, pumping harder.
Her hips moved of their own accord, rising and falling as she met each thrust of his hand until she was a tight coil ready to snap.
“Nava, I want to devour you whole.”
