She pulled her hatred and anger over herself like armor. It was safer that way. “You’re right, we were nothing,” she said, studying her fingernails with casual indifference.
“Nothing? I did not say this.” Sprawling his long legs out, he leaned back against the cavern wall like he owned the gods damn place.
“Yet you proved it in a single night. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. You wouldn’t have been able to handle all of this.” Vessa traced the curves of her body with her hands. “Then or now.”
He worked at his gloves, pulling them off each of his thick fingers. Veins shifted beneath the dark blue flesh of his hands as he revealed them. “Oh, my love,” he purred, and a fissure opened inside her as his voice rolled through her. “These hands of minecan hold a lot. If I could pin you in a fight, I’m confident I could handle you in all ways. Then or now.”
No.Absolutely not. A sensation she hadn’t felt in years overtook her core. It was only the familiarity of it. Ofhim.And maybe the fact that it had been over thirteen years since she’d actually been with anyone at all. That was it.
When this was all over, she would need to remedy that. Expeditiously.
It took her more effort than she cared to admit to keep her voice even. “I highly doubt you can pin me anymore.” Vessa may not have a dedicated training partner, but she had plenty of new tricks. The fight houses she liked to spar in frequently had beings much bigger than Kedar. One time, she’d fought an Orc—the Orcru’s far superior cousin in every way—that was ten span tall. She had brought him down with only her body.
“You seem awfully confident for someone who was dying quite recently,” he rumbled.
“A challenge, then. No weapons. Whoever pins the other for ten seconds wins. And if I win, we fight tomorrow no matter what.” Not only was she confident in her abilities, it would be an opportunity to see what all his training had done for him.
Kedar’s silence implied he was considering it.
“And don’t say shit about my condition,” she snapped. “Think of it as a friendly competition. Between enemies.”
He huffed out a hard breath. “Ten seconds. Only takedown maneuvers.”
Vessa rolled her eyes as she rose from her spot near the fire. “Boring.”
“Necessary.” Kedar stood from the obsidian stone. The shift in his energy was sudden. She’d just woken a sleeping predator and gained its full attention. Did he feel the same way when he looked at her?
Vessa took her raze sword off, then stretched languidly, reaching up and making her back crack as she lengthened her spine. As she moved toward the center of their makeshift arena, she knocked some of the debris out of their way. “Ready when you are, big boy.”
He rolled his shoulders and tilted his head side to side before stalking toward her. With each step he took, she swore reality flickered. Past. Present. Past. Present.
Kedar wouldn’t have to use much technique in order to take her down. Once on the ground in the dominant position, he had the advantage. She knew exactly what he would do. It was what all bigger opponents did.
Once they were in each other’s strike range, Kedar’s hands shot for her waist.Perfect.
Before he could fully lift her off her feet, she jumped, bringing her knees up between them. Using his arms as her stability, she leaned away from him, upside down, her legs finding their target. With her knees on either side of his neck, all she had to do was twist her body.
It all happened in a split second. Feline and efficient. He didn’t have time to adjust his balance, and his own momentum became his downfall. They fell sideways. She landed hard on her hip but was already moving. Victory was her only focus. She just had to be faster than him.
Kedar grabbed her calf and yanked her toward him with a growl. She slid across the stone floor on her ass. Sitting up, he pulled her closer, looming over her, but she refused to let him place her where he wanted her.
With adrenaline lighting up her veins, Vessa lunged forward, forcing him to release her leg and respond to her attack. Speed was her advantage. She straddled him and jabbed her forearm into his throat.
He tried to pull her arm away, but she grabbed a fistful of fabric on his trap muscle. If it were a real fight, he’d have to break her arm. The tendons in his neck strained. He refused to go down, but in order to not give ground, he was choking. His hands found her hips, his fingers digging into her curves as he tried to lift her up with a bruising hold.
She fought against the force, legs squeezing against his hips. “You’re just trying to muscle your way out,” she growled. “Where’s the technique?”
With nothing but brute force, he lifted her up just enough that he could easily roll them. The air wooshed out of her as her back hit the cold stone.
“My strengthismy technique,” he rasped.
Then his body was covering hers. The weight and heat of him was overwhelming. And his scent. Gods, it was so familiar. Sohim. Memories roared through her in the span of a single heartbeat. Him uncloaking before her in the Minad forest. Laughing together under dozens of different skies. Sweating, fighting, and bleeding together. Alive.Happy.
Past. Present.
Baring her teeth at him, she dug her fingers into the pocket between two of his ribs as hard as she could while wiggling a foot out from beneath him. He didn’t have one of her legs fully trapped, and if she could just—
“Three seconds,” he ground out.
