I waved a finger at him. “A puddle won’t win you anything, Golden. You need to bring your A-game.”
I wasn’t good enough for his L-game, let alone his A, but I didn’t want him to baby me. If I was going to improve, I needed to be pushed.
He nodded, his chest heaving with multiple rapid breaths. “I accept. Weapons?”
“Oh yeah.”
After stripping off my top to leave myself clad in a sports bra and workout tights, I grabbed my blades from their case. Kellan groaned again, his expression pained, as he looked between me and the weapons. He loved these custom-made beauties, and I was thrilled that Slade had been able to call in another favor and get a set made for his birthday next month.
That wewouldbe celebrating because wewouldbeat that fucking witch.
She’d already taken too much from us.
Kellan lifted two blades from a nearby shelf, a set I’d seen him practice with many times. He had a lot of weapons in his bedroom, but they were mostly shelf trophies. The ones down here were put to use.
“These areStabandJab,” he said, lifting the two, long, thick bladed weapons. I’d modeled his birthday ones on this same size. “They’re old friends of mine.”
My words came out in a burst of laughter. “Stab and Jab? Well, I guess I don’t have to look far for how you chose those names.” I glanced down at my pretty pair. “Maybe I need to call mine something too.”
Kellan’s amusement grew. “Oh yeah, you absolutely do. How else will you shout out their kill count during battle.” My Golden certainly had a vicious, bloodthirsty streak in him.
When we moved into the ring and faced each other, his expression turned pinched and worried. “I’m not sure I can do this, Shortcake. What if I accidentally nick you. I know you haven’t been learning for long.”
“Magic gives me a slight advantage,” I reminded him, “and if Ibattle Jewels or Blaine, neither of them will go easy on me. I need to be pushed past my comfort zone.”
He didn’t look fully convinced, but he remained in place, dropping lower into a fighting stance. Kellan was an offensive fighter, always striking first, andStab and Jabsat very comfortably in his hands. Even anticipating his quick strike, I only just managed to get my blade up in time to partially block his hit, the force sending a jolt through my arm.
Kellan didn’t give me a chance to recover, striking again with his other hand. While I mostly managed to block him, he was too fast for me to do anything other than defend myself. The magic essence inside me rose up as we parried, and I used it to anticipate his strikes.
It helped, but damn he was fast and strong.
“You’re pretty good, Shortcake,” he said, looking impressed. “For such a minimal time training, you’ve really developed some skills.”
I somehow managed not to beam, even though his praise flowed like a warm hug over me. “Thank you. The blades and magic help, of course, but I weirdly enjoy pushing my body. I never expected that. You saw me try to run without wheezing when I first arrived here, but now…” I paused. “Don’t you dare tell Slade.”
He chuckled. “Your secret is safe with me, pretty mate. Now, let’s get you attacking back.”
His strikes slowed as he encouraged me to return attack, calling out directions to improve my power and aim. After an hour, my arms ached in a way that shifter healing wasn’t keeping up with, and my tattoo was starting to smart, but it was still one of the best sessions I’d ever had.
When Kellan spun in another ninja move, he swung out sharply, and the next thing I knewStabwas at my throat. My heart skipped a beat, and I stilled so thoroughly I wasn’t even breathing.
Kellan held my gaze, our chests heaving as we stared at each other, our beasts prowling through the bond. A growl ripped from him, and as he lunged for me, his blades fell to the mat. My weapons dropped too, and I was too far gone to worry about the lack of respect we were showing our tools.
Kellan tore through my workout gear, literally ripping my sports bra down the center, and when my tits fell free, he buried his face between them. I was sweaty as shit, but he didn’t care as he lapped at my skin and sucked my right nipple in his mouth, followed by the left.
His hands traced down to slide my sweats and underwear off,until all I could smell was both of our scents, tinged with the musk of our arousal. He followed the path of my pants, his tongue sliding into my dripping pussy. He lapped at me and then buried his face until he had to be near-drowning down there.
“Fuck me,” he groaned, reassuring me he was alive. He wrapped his palms around my thighs, tugging me closer to him. My blood pumped from our fight, and as desperate need coursed through me, I tried to thrust against his mouth, but he remained in control.
“So fucking good,” I moaned. “Such a good boy, eating me like I’m your last meal.”
His chest shook with the deepest rumble I’d ever heard. He was near-frantic as he licked and sucked, sliding my clit into his mouth until I screamed into a rather dramatic release. Giving me exactly zero seconds to recover, he hauled to his feet, shoved down his sports shorts, and had me pinned against the wall with his cock buried inside me.
I groaned at that burning stretch of his frantic thrust, but it was a welcome ache in my core. I felt him through every nerve ending, as my walls clenched around his length. Kellan slammed into me in the same determined, desperate way he’d eaten me out, and I could do nothing but hold on and pray to survive the wave of pleasure.
I came two times before he buried his face in my throat and jerked inside of me, filling me until our combined releases dripped down our thighs. It took a long time before either of us could walk, and even when we wobbled from the gym, we had to hold each other up.
“Best day ever,” Kellan said, keeping me pressed against his side. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life doing just this with you, pretty mate.”
