His fingers close more snugly around my wrists, forcing my spine to bend. “I can hear you just fine.”
“But so can everyone else, and this isn’t the sort of secret you’ll want them to hear. Trust me.”
He leans in, and I think I’ve got him, but he hooks my calves, throwing me off-kilter before lowering me in excruciatingly slow-motion. And then the big Faerie cages my legs between his knees and sits back on my thighs.
I attempt to wriggle free, but there’s no give to the male’s body.
Ilya counts to three.
Once the first round is called—not in my favor—Konstantin, leans forward. “What was that little secret?”
“Help me up, and I’ll tell you.”
He tows me to my feet. The second I’m upright, I whirl and attack. I land a blow to his right thigh that rids him of breath and sends him staggering sideways. His expression sharpens when he realizes I duped him, and he lunges.
Although his muscled frame advances with speed, I anticipate his move and dodge. Our bodies graze, leaving me with a lungful of his evergreen, woodsy scent.
My heart thrashes with more than just frustration. Squishy heart.
I round Konstantin like the predator the men in my family have raised me to be. Instead of frightening him, it rekindles his smirk and sets his irises ablaze. Evidently, my fiancé is enjoying himself.
In a blur, he reaches out and snares my wrists. Before he can twist me around, I sidle up to him—front to front this time—and tilt my head. His hot breaths mingle with mine, growing more rushed when I roll onto my toes to reach his mouth and scrape a gentle kiss there.
“I hope you heal fast,” I murmur a split second before I shoot my knee with practiced precision between his legs.
He grunts, and his hold slackens. Whistles and chuckles erupt from Ilya, while Elio grimaces in shared pain. The shock dissipates from Konstantin’s features, morphing into something primal. He feints to the left and trips me.
My knees buckle, and I stumble, hitting the mats with a gasp. Before he can pin me down like an insect again, I kick up hard, landing my heels on his thighs, and shove, jarring his equilibrium.
I’m back on my feet before he’s recovered his balance, and then I’m launching myself at him, gripping his biceps to swing myself onto his back. I lock my legs around his middle, and my arms, around his neck. He cuffs my thighs, his long fingers warming the leather.
“Yield!” I yell.
A chuckle darkens the air as he skirts his fingers along the sides of my legs. “I yield to no one, not even to you,beloved.” And then he’s locking one hand around my ankles, flying theother up to my nape. When he squeezes, I tighten the knot of my legs and shift my weight, using Konstantin’s strength against him.
With a jerk of my body, I fell the tall, almighty Faerie, bringing him to the mat again. Though the supple ground absorbs the vibrations of our crash, I sense them rippling through the air, in time with our ragged pants.
I distribute my weight between my straddle and the palms I flatten against the backs of his hands, then curb my spine to murmur, “How about now,beloved? Do you yield?”
He smiles. “What a surprisingly steadfast combatant you are.”
“What about my steadfastness is surprising? As I’ve mentioned before, I really don’t like to lose. Also, I’m really pissed off with you.”
His body softens beneath mine as the fight leaves his system.
“One, one?” I press a white lock off his sweat-glossed brow, then trace the pointed edge of his ear with my index finger, bumping along all his blue-diamond studs.
With a burst of air-magic, he propels my body upward, then flips himself onto his back and hollers, “Out!”
Ilya and Elio don’t waste a second before shuffling out the door.
The instant the latch clicks, Konstantin releases me from his magical hold. A harsh breath flees my lungs when I land, my front thwacking into his. I find myself wishing he weren’t as muscular.
“That was incredibly unfair,” I gripe.
He flattens one hand on the small of my back and yokes my nape with the other. “Because fondling my ear was fair?”
I prop myself up on one elbow. With his distended pupils and mussed hair, he looks unhinged, a male about to commit anirrevocable crime. I’m hoping that crime involves my body. No, wait. I’m angry.
