His expression grew frigid. “Pity,” he spat and leapt at me again.
We sparred until long after sunset. Though the night was chilly, the exercise and my poor stamina had me sweating in my hoodie. I growled and yanked it off my body, baring the tank top I wore beneath. Throwing the sweatshirt to the side, I faced him again.
The merest flicker of his eyes to my breasts, and ice flooded my veins.
What was I doing?
Had I forgotten who this person was? Had the unfavorable power dynamic between us slipped my mind? Why was I showing him parts of my body when he was a Hunter, and he was a man, and he wasclearlyattracted to women?
And even though he’d saved my life, even though these lessons were meant to protect me, Istillexpected his next assault to be genuine. I expected to be laid out and threatened by the man he’d been in my head before he’d flustered me with this guy who…wasn’t terrible.
Lucas Scott was a violent executioner. A Blood Colonel. Being pinned beneath his lean body should have been the most dangerous place in the world, but once again, he trapped me without pain. No threatening advances, no careless grazes against body parts he shouldn’t touch. I tried to escape him, but I failed.
He sat on my hips, holding my wrists. “Your panic makes you make stupid decisions. Did you haveanytraining?”
I scowled. “My first drill sergeant died. After that, I got…complacent.”
“How’d you survive?”
“Dumb luck.”And protective friends.
“You have the instincts of a cocker spaniel. Do you like to cuddle and be petted too?”
Such an asshole. My teeth clenched as I gritted out, “Depends on where you pet me.”
A brief pause.
He blinked, and then a sound burst from his mouth.
No, not a sound. Alaugh.
His face transformed, and a genuine smile appeared like some lost treasure. It was definitely a more pleasant expression than his cold frown.
I glared at him.
“Do you have ashredof self-preservation in there?” he asked.
“You’reattackingme. I’m allowed to be pissed about it.”
He released my wrists and stood. “You made a deal with the devil. Suck it up and follow through.”
I laughed, mirthless and bitter. “Why? What more could you do to me? I’m already in hell.”
He eyed me. “This isn’t hell. And you lack imagination.” The dire tone in his words had me hesitating. I studied his face for answers, but it had reverted to its mask.
Slowly, I stood, my jelly muscles barely holding me up.
Tekqua had always been far more dedicated to her role as a soldier than me. When she advanced to sergeant, she took command of our squad with determination, arranging daily exercise routines and training maneuvers. With her hours of working out, she gave herself a body I envied but didn’t want enough to work for. Meanwhile, I could barely handle a combat knife, and I’d resigned myself to scrawny arms and my mother’s hips.
With Tekqua gone, my stamina had dwindled to nothing, and now it flaunted its absence with shaking limbs and a pounding heart.
“My imagination is just fine, thanks,” I said.
“There are worse things than spending a single evening with me every week, Sophia. Trust me.”
Trust him? No way.
He scrutinized my trembling legs and sighed. “Good thing for your patients you’re a better medic than you are a soldier.”
