“Because you lift your heels every time you move. Keep your feet flat.”
“I’d like to flatten you,” she muttered, and my lips twitched.
I had to admit, training Niamh was more fun than I’d anticipated. Mainly because I’d finally founda way to get under her skin. She delighted in irking me, calling me that stupid “sunshine” name, teasing me, but I hadn’t found any way to get her back—until today.
Sweat trickled down the sides of her face, red hair plastered to her forehead, the rest of her hair in a long braid that trailed all the way down to her... I realized I was staring at the two round globes of her trousers and averted my eyes, focusing on her movement.
“I’m tired,” she said. “Do I get a water break?”
“No. If you want to learn to defend yourself, you have to build stamina. You won’t get a water break when an enemy is chasing you.”
“Well, I won’t ever learn to defend myself if I pass out from exhaustion.” She jabbed her hand out, arm quivering with the movement.
“You’re getting sloppy,” I warned.
“Because I need a break,” she shot back. “I’ve been doing this same movement for nearly fifteen minutes. Don’t you think we should work up to the stamina building?”
“I didn’t ask for this.” I gently lifted her arm, which was too low and out of position. “I told you to go find some royal guard to train you. You insisted it needed to be me. So are you going to do this my way or are you going to quit?”
Her face settled into a determined scowl as she took a deep breath and kept going, and I nodded in satisfaction.
“The least you can do is tell me some stories to distract me.”
I groaned. “You and your stories. Why can’t the wind be enough? The rustle of the trees? The splash of the water in the distance?”
“Maybe you’re comforted by those things,” she said. “But I like conversation.”
I shoved a hand through my hair and swore under my breath as a chilly breeze blasted us, knocking Niamh off-balance and onto her ass.
I marched over and held out a hand, and she glared up at me, swiping her brow with her arm. “Don’t you say a word.”
“Wouldn’t dare.”
She grabbed my hand, and I heaved her to her feet, but once again,she didn’t plant them firmly enough and lurched forward into my arms. Her palms flattened against my chest, the same way they had that day Cillian had shoved her at me on our journey, and she looked up at me with those wide green eyes that had the smallest halos of yellow around them.
I clutched her hips to steady her.
“What are you doing?” she asked, voice breathless.
“You need to move your hips as you jab,” I said, slowly turning her away from me, ignoring the heat that flared in my chest where her hands had just been. My fingers dug into her hips, so soft and plush, so much for me to grab. I cleared my throat and stepped away. Her cheeks were flushed, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the way I’d just touched her or from the workout.
“I shouldn’t have grabbed you.” I rubbed my jaw.
“It’s okay,” she said quickly, looking away. “It helped me better understand how I need to move.” Her voice rose a few octaves. “So thank you. And you can do it again. Touch me.” She squeezed her eyes shut, cheeks turning scarlet. “Not just anywhere or at any time. I mean... you can touch me while we’re training... for training... purposes.”
My lips twitched again, dangerously close to tipping up into a smile, a feeling so foreign I wasn’t sure what to do with it. “Focus,” I directed, voice firm, and she jolted in response, looking straight ahead and repeating the motion I’d taught her, except now she turned her hips exactly like I’d shown her and her feet remained planted to the ground.
She kept shooting me glances out of the corner of her eye.
“Gaze forward,” I barked, and she snapped her head straight.
I was enjoying this far too much, far more than I’d enjoyed anything in a long time. Lor had liked to argue with me, too, when we trained together. Loved to tease me about how I was far too serious. Lor and Niamh were nothing alike, but some of the fire in her reminded me of his, and it brought me a weird sort of comfort. I’d missed this. Missed having someone to teach, to share my passions with.
Once she’d completed fifty of the movements exactly how I’d taught her, I gave her a break.
She tromped over to the water barrel by my house, taking a tin cup and dipping it in, then gulping the water down.
“Slow down.” I approached. “Drink too fast after a workout like that and you’ll make yourself sick.”
