“The slice between day and night is much too thin.” His statement reminded me to keep this to yes-no questions. “Don’t dwell too long on my…facets. I’m a complex person. The fates know I’ve tried not to think about what happens when I’m unavailable. I focus on your time with me.” His lips quirked up, and his eyes gleamed with heat. “I hope you think about those particular moments as often as I do.”
“Keep this on topic, Merrick,” I said in a stern voice that I hoped didn’t betray the flames spiraling through me. This man ignited a craving inside me I didn’t know how to control.
He stepped forward on his toes, the movement precise. My heart jumped in a way it had no right to. I didn’t let him see it, though. He hadn’t earned that satisfaction, even if I couldn’t ignore the way his body flowed like water. This man made everything seem effortless. And he was much too confident about his ability to manipulate everything—including me.
He lunged, leading with his right blade. I blocked, the clang of steel-on-steel ringing in the room. A satisfying vibration shot up my arm. His second blade sliced toward my side, and I twisted, narrowly avoiding its edge as I pivoted out of reach. My boots scraped against the floor.
“Perfectly done, as always,” he said, circling me. His green eyes tracked my every move, gleaming with sharp cunning, but there was something else there too, something that made my skin feel too tight. “But not good enough.”
“Have you two been like this all your life?”
He held eye contact without blinking.
“You were split into Lorant and Merrick, snarly night guy and sweet, adorable day guy who?—”
“You find me sweet and adorable.”
Way to feed his ego. Thanks, Reyla.
He surged toward me, the edges of his blades gleaming in the light. This time, I stepped into him instead of away, parrying his strike with one blade while delivering an uppercut with the hilt toward his chin with the other. He tipped his body enough that I missed, though the steel might've shaved a few hairs off his pretty neck.
“If you haven’t always been like this,” I said, not panting, not yet. “You must’ve split at some time in your life.”
“Heissnarly, isn’t he?” The satisfied grin he shot me made flames curl around my spine and dip lower.
“We’re here for me to ask questions and you to answer them.”
“A shame.” His voice dropped lower, wrapping around me as if he planned to encase me in his charm. Our blades clashed together overhead. A faint grunt escaped his lips as he leaned closer, forcing his strength against mine to make me relent and back away. “But predictable.”
“Return to my question.” I needed to keep this on track.
“Puberty can do odd things to a person, am I right?” His penetrating gaze met mine.
I whipped my hands together, breaking his hold, and whirled around, trying to gouge toward his side.
He quickly sidestepped and lashed out at my right flank.
A dart to the left saved most of my leathers. He was slowly cutting away bits of my tunic, but I would not allow him to slice all the way through. “You split in your teen years.”
He blinked. “My father died when I was ten?—”
“And him thirty. I’m sorry. You were a child, and no one that young should have to take on the responsibility of a kingdom. Youshould’ve had many years to prepare for something like that. What were you, fifteen?”
He held my gaze steady.
“Sixteen?” Once I reached the top, I’d work my way backward. “Seventeen?”
He blinked and thrust his right blade toward me. “Things have a way of catching up with a man.” I didn’t miss the way his breath brushed against the side of my face, warm and infuriatingly steady while I was beginning to pant. As I twirled away, I kept my eyes locked on his. I also hated how clearly unrattled he looked. Composed. Controlled. A smirk shadowed his mouth, as if this wasn’t a fight at all but a game he was enjoying far too much.
And I was losing both battles. It wasn’t easy to think, talk, and fight at the same time.
I was also too aware of how powerful his body felt against mine, of the heat radiating from him in waves, of his scent—clean with a hint of evergreen, plus something richer, something uniquely his own. I jerked back, spinning out of his reach, trying to untangle my thoughts along with the move.
As I backed away to catch my breath and regroup, he followed, stalked me. “A father’s advice is not always welcome, but it often contains details that can make a difference in his son’s life. I was wise to listen and hold his words close to my heart.”
“Your father shared what he knew.”
Merrick blinked, his blades poised to strike at any moment. A muscle in his right thigh twitched, and he came at me fast, slashing his blades in a lethal scissor motion. Instinct took over. I ducked low, feeling the draft of his weapons split the air over my head as I swiveled beneath them.
