Angus yanked down at his own crotch as he squatted up and down. “Nay. The things give. Ye best keep the old woman in yer mind. When Mistress Vivienne took to bouncing around in her wee lovely tights, my cock had no problem at all lifting his head to pay her proper respect.” His eyes widened a bit, then he twisted around and picked something up from the steel shelf mounted above the ceramic basins. “I nearly forgot. Here.” He held out a milky white object with black edging that covered the palm of his hand.
“What the devil is that?” Graham took the strange oblong bowl and studied it.
“Yer codpiece.” Angus thumped on his own crotch. “The man Alberti said to wear the wee bowl to help protect yer parts lest a sword goes astray.”
Graham squeezed the cushioned rim of the odd apparatus, then ran his fingertips around the slitted openings running the length of the cup. “A codpiece?”
“Aye.” Angus winked as one corner of his mouth lifted in a wry grin. “Or do ye need a much smaller one?”
Sliding the cup down the front of his pants, Graham rolled his eyes as he shifted the piece firmly into place. He would not lower himself to such a discussion with the irritating numpty. He smoothed the tight shirt down across his chest, then sat on the bench and put on his boots. “See to it that ye control yer swordplay so ye dinna hurt the women.” He stamped his feet down harder in his heavy boots as he stood and flexed to settle the strange clothing more comfortably in place. “If ye make the mistake of getting too rough with my Lilia—ye’ll not be needing a codpiece at all after I’m done with ye.”
CHAPTER11
“Holy shit,” Vivienne said in a voice filled with such awe, there was no doubt the term was meant as the highest possible compliment.
Lilia turned and immediately forgot to breathe.Holy shitdidn’t begin to cover it.
The formfitting workout gear accentuated every lickable ripple of Graham’s muscular body that his silk T-shirt and jeans had failed to properly display. The bright floodlights lighting the practice arena reflected off the material stretched tight across his wide chest. The electric glow shimmied down his laddered abs, gleaming across his bulging thighs and all the delicious bumps and grooves in between. Every move Graham made flexed in a sensualcome and get some of thiskind of way.
“This place has never seen a man like that.” Vivienne gently nudged her. “Close yer mouth, lovie. Ye’ve got a wee bit of drool running down yer chin.”
Lilia slammed her jaws shut and swallowed hard.Dammit.She squirmed in place, painfully aware that her hardened nipples were dangerously close to slicing through her sports bra. She folded her arms across her chest and lifted her chin as Graham and Angus came to a stop in front of them. “Are you ready?”
“More than ready, lass.” The twinkle in Graham’s deep gray eyes left no doubt that he was in no way referring to swordplay. The tilt of his head, the way he leaned forward with a knowing smile—Graham was ready all right.
“Uhm . . . yeah.” Lilia backed up a step and motioned toward a roped-off area without taking her folded arms away from her chest. “Vivienne and I have already stretched and warmed up. Why don’t you and Angus demonstrate some of your techniques and then we’ll pair up and try them out.”
Graham gallantly bowed then swaggered over to the dueling arena and stepped over the ropes. He tossed one of the practice swords to the side and motioned Angus forward with the other one. “I prefer one sword. A fine shield would pair well with it but I can make do without one.”
Awesome.She had been struggling with wielding a shield for ages. Maybe Graham could show her what she was doing wrong. Lilia held up a finger. “Hang on a minute.” Her pinging nipples would just have to get over themselves. She trotted over to the long, broad storage chest along the far wall and hefted up the heavy lid. She’d never quite been able to get down good moves with a sword and a shield. Maybe concentrating on what Graham could teach her would keep her mind off the othermovesshe felt certain he would be more than happy to share.
She tucked four practice shields under her arm, let the lid to the storage chest drop, then hurried back to the roped-off mat. “These are a lot lighter than the ones used in competition but if you could show me what to do, I know I can adapt to the heavier model.”
“Aye, lass, come to me.” Graham smiled, waving her forward while at the same time pointing for Angus to leave the ring. “I’ll have ye handling a shield with ease in no time at all.”
Lilia stopped just outside the ropes, glancing first at retreating Angus then back at Graham. A disturbingly delicious mixture ofhell yesandoh shitshifted her heart rate to pounding level as Graham held out his hand again and repeated, “Come to me, lass.”
“I meant you and Angus could show me.” Dammit.If her voice squeaked any higher, she’d sound just like that billion-dollar cartoon mouse. Lilia cleared her throat. This was ridiculous. She was the self-ordained queen of playing with fire and not getting burned. Emotions and trust stayed on lockdown—especially after making the mistake of trusting David to the point where he’d nearly financially destroyed her. Only Alberti and Vivienne could be trusted. She never made the same mistake twice. “Why don’t you and Angus demonstrate?” There. That sounded much better.
“Och no, lass.” Graham’s smile showed no mercy. He slowly moved forward as though stalking her. “Ye’ll learn much better firsthand.”
She flexed both hands and rolled her shoulders. Fine. She could do this. Time to engage cold, calculating ice princess and shut out the dangers of the emotional world. Besides—once she immersed herself into the physical strains of learning the battle, she’d be fine. Working out until she collapsed had saved her empathetic ass on more than one occasion.
Turning to Vivienne, she held up her right hand. “Sword.”
Vivienne lobbed the weapon across the broad expanse of floor as she’d done a thousand times during Highland competitions and medieval reenactments.
Lilia easily caught it, then slid between the ropes into the matted arena in one fluid movement. Straightening, she settled her footing, faced Graham, and nearly burst out laughing.
A mixed look of shock, disbelief, and open admiration filled the man’s face. For some inexplicable reason, his expression filled her with the warmest sense ofhappyshe’d felt in quite some time. He admired her. Excitement released a wave of pleasant fluttering through her middle. She’d bet money if someone pressed their ear to her side, they’d swear she was purring. She looped her hand through the two leather straps in the back of the shield and raised her sword. “I’m ready.”
Graham blinked as though struggling to awaken from a trance. “Nay. Ye are not ready.” He scrubbed his fingers through the dark reddish-gold mat of neatly cropped beard outlining his jaw as he approached her. He pulled the shield to one side, lifted her arm, and frowned down at the hand she’d latched through the straps. He tapped a finger against the inside of her forearm between the two loops of the shield. “Ye’ll not be able to properly shield yer body with a hold such as this and ye could verra well break the small of yer arm with the first good strike from the enemy.” He wobbled the shield back and forth, twisting her arm in the process. “When ye dinna have the one handle properly balanced in the center of the disc and covered by a weighted boss, it takes a great deal of strength to control the heft of the shield. Ye’ll find yerself fighting the weapon rather than fighting yer foe.”
In one brief explanation, Graham had nailed down exactly why she hated using a shield. Lilia slid her arm out of the loops and tossed the practice disc to the hard arena floor outside the ring. She pointed at it, then nodded to Alberti. “I know we can’t have new shields before next weekend but maybe you could find some like Graham described and he can teach us all how to use them in time for the big meet later this fall.”
“Absolutely.” Alberti gathered up the practice shields and stacked them against the bleachers. “We’ll donate these to the Beaver Scouts. I’m sure those innovative young lads will derive a good use for them.” He bent and retrieved an additional sword, then tossed it into the ring. “Now, let’s see a bit of swordplay. We’ve a reputation to keep and you’ve got a title to defend.”
Lilia scooped up the second sword, rotating the weight of both weapons in her hands at a slow, familiar turn. Now, this was more like it.She turned and faced Graham. “Do you want another sword or are you okay with your one to my two?”
