My hands caught my body on either side of her head, bringing our faces inches from one another. Her breath huffed out, fanning across my face. All I wanted to do was kiss her and let my hormones take control, but that was a massive no. A fucking death sentence is what that was.
We stayed in that position, our eyes roaming over one another’s features as we sank into the electrified energy that we emitted. Gods, I never wanted to cave to my desires so much before.
Gray froze, wonder and confusion sparkling in her eyes. With a tentative hand, she drifted her fingers with the lightest touch up my arm, starting with my forearm and ending on my shoulder.
“Gray,” I whispered, a promise. It was a feeling I’d been fighting off since the night of her punishment in the ballroom. Something had clicked inside me that day. Something that I’d been shoving deep down and far away from the surface. I was only meant to protect her, not fall for her. But as I fell into the depths of the storms brewing within her eyes, basking in her energy, I knew I was too far gone. How could I not be?
Thinking back to the day I found her lifeless body on the stairwell, the pounding of my heart increased. How close I’d been to losing her that day. By her own hand at that. However, the strength she harbored was on another level. Only Chromematched it. And with my train of thought leading to Chrome, the moment broke.
I sat back and jumped to my feet, sucking in the largest gulp of air my lungs could manage to clear out the fog of desire that clouded them. “Water break!” I spun around, stumbling toward our belongings resting on the floor in a lust-filled haze.
Shaking my head, I struggled to clear my brain of the thoughts that shouldn’t be spinning through it. Chrome had tried to convince me that he didn’t have feelings for the princess, but I knew him. As stoic as he tried to be, I knew when he lied. Growing up, I’d watched him seamlessly weave false tales to his parents. Surely, he knew I wouldn’t buy his assurances, but it didn’t matter. He had made up his mind.
I reached for my water bottle, desperate to give my dry mouth moisture, savoring the coolness that slid down my throat.
Gods, what was I doing with the princess? Not only would the king obliterate me where I stood, but I’d crush Chrome in the process. There was no way we could ever happen.
I linked my fingers together at the back of my head, trying to calm my body, so I could make it through this training session without epically fucking everything up.
“Hey, we gonna keep going?” Gray’s voice came from behind me, and fucking hell, my heart nearly leaped from my chest.
“Uhm…training? Yes,” I clarified because gods knew we didn’t need to keep going with where we were headed a minute ago. I twisted around to face her, and the worry that clung to her eyes reminded me of the dreariest day.
With a relieved sigh, she said, “Good. I was afraid I messed up…”
Taken aback, I shook my head. “What? You didn’t do anything wrong. Not at all.”
Gray crossed her arms over her chest, offering a meek smile with a conceding nod.
“Come on. Let’s get back to it,” I assured her, gesturing to return to the sparring mat. “Let’s…” I hedged, “stay on our feet this time.” The smile I gave was nothing short of awkward.
Her face bloomed red as she dropped her gaze to the floor and swallowed thickly. “Right.”
I wanted to say something else to convince her that she had nothing to be embarrassed about, but I didn’t want to drag out the uncomfortable moment any longer than necessary. The only way to move past it was to change the moment completely.
I lunged, keeping my strikes aimed at her abdomen.
She was startled at first but quickly began to block my blows. What started off as slower movements to give her time to think about her defensive stances and motions, ratcheted up in speed the more she defended against my attempts.
Pride bloomed in my chest for her determination and natural ability. Her confidence grew more each day with every session, leading to her rapid progress. And soon, I had no doubt that we’d be on equal footing.
Finally, her guard slipped, and I landed a jab to her stomach.
She grunted and stepped back. The only tell on her face that gave away her pain was the slight grimace that she quickly wiped clean.
My own gut felt like it took the punch, realizing that the only reason she could take a hit like that so easily was due to her childhood. Taking blows by a male wasn’t new to her.
“You good?” I asked, relaxing my shoulders by my sides.
She nodded, waving me off. “Yeah, that was nothing. Let’s go again.”
My eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I think we should take a break. You did amazing blocking me, by the way.”
She shrugged. “I guess. I let you get one in on me, though. So, I’m not happy about it.”
“Gray, it’s only been a month ago today since you started training. You shouldn’t even be at this level right now.”
“I won’t be happy until I can defend myself against—” Her words were abruptly cut off, sealing her lips tight. But I knew who she meant.
