“Och! Me heart!” She spun around, looking in danger of falling over. “How long have ye been there?”
“Nae long.” He walked in, being careful to close the door behind him. “Ye look as if ye could dae with a sparring partner. Are ye in need of distracting yerself from this evening?”
“Aye. Very much. Pick up a weapon.” She gestured to the rack full of swords.
He could have chosen the broadest and heaviest sword there, but he knew their fight would be over too quickly then. Wanting to draw it out, he chose something smaller and lither, then walked toward her.
“Was I the block of wood?” he asked, standing before her and lifting the blade an inch.
“Maybe. I didnae like the way ye were glaring all night.”
“I wasnae glaring.”
“And this isnae a sword,” she said with full irony then lunged toward him.
Their conversation was lost for a minute in quick parrying. Each way she tried to get the blade close to him, he managed to block. He let her have the upper hand for a minute, then started to advance forward. She was forced to back up, her leg beingincreasingly revealed through the slit in a skirt in a way that proved too distracting. She nearly caught him as he leaned back.
They both halted, with Ava smiling in victory.
“One point tae me?” she said smiling.
“It’s the only point ye’ll get.” He lunged forward first this time. She kept aiming up high, allowing him to shift the thin blade black and forth with ease. Rather than moving forward on this occasion, he moved them to the side, so they began to circle around one another. Then the opportunity presented itself to get a point. She pulled her hand too far out to the side, allowing him to turn his blade inward and flick it up her sleeve.
“Kai!” she said in alarm. He hadn’t caught her skin but had cut a perfect tear through the sleeve up to her shoulder, flashing more of her pale skin.
“Perfect.” He stood there victoriously. “I think that’s a point tae me. Now we are even.”
“Ye…” She marched toward him purposefully. Forced to back up, he quickly raised the blade again.
Their movements were even quicker now. He blocked a blow near his face, then his shoulder, and his hip. She seemed too caught up in the fury that he had ripped her dress to concentrate on her skill, allowing him another opportunity. When she puther leg out to the side, he caught the skirt with the blade, drawing that slit so it was now cut all the way up to her hip.
“Stop ruining me clothes!” she hissed, jumping away from him. Her whole leg was on show, and her beautiful hip. The carving of muscle in her leg was making Kai feel completely breathless.
He wanted to yell at her to forget Blair Grant. Why couldn’t they just do this instead? Just be them?
“This wasnae supposed tae happen,” she complained loudly, though she was also smiling.
“Ye and I both ken ye feel more at home sparring with me than ye dae anywhere else.”
“That may be the case, but ye dinnae need tae cut all me clothes away as we dae it.”
“Mmm, tempting,” he murmured.
She launched herself at him. He had been too distracted staring at her hip and thigh to notice. This time, she got a point from him, managing to cut a rip through the sleeve of his shirt. It went all the way to his chest, revealing a flash of his right peck. “Oh, I…” She trailed off, her eyes tarrying on the skin there.
“Like what ye see, Ava?”
“Dinnae dae that.” She warned, raising the sword between them. They began to circle one another again. “Ye and I agreed we were nae tae talk like this.”
“Aye, we did.” He nodded, reluctant, yet also enjoying this easy atmosphere between them. It was heated, full of spark, excitement, and also laughter. “Maybe we should just talk like this instead.”
He moved toward her with the blade. She backed up, but not quick enough. They were parrying once again, some quick strikes, other longer blows. He was the first one to get another rip on her clothes, managing to put another slit in her skirt. In irritation, she thrust back, managing a rip in the other arm of his shirt. His returning blow cut up the center of her kirtle, so some of the laces were torn open, revealing the curve of her breasts.
“There, that’s better,” he said with satisfaction, stepping back as if his work was done.
“Kai!” She spun around in the middle of the room. “If I didnae ken any better, I’d say ye were trying tae undress me.” When he just raised his eyebrows at her, she looked ready to throw the sword at him. He ducked out of the way just in case and burst out laughing.
“See? This is what I love,” he said through his laughter.
