Chapter 6
Echo flexed her aching fingers.Her biceps burned, and her lungs felt as if all the air inside had escaped. Sweat dripped down her brow and more trickled between her breasts. She lashed out with another hard punch at the swaying sandbag—
“Aaack,” she whimpered, pain rushing through her hand, hurting like holy hell. Hastily, she leaped back before the swinging sandbag blasted her in the face.
Breathing hard, she glanced at her damaged knuckles. Yup, bruised them all. The middle one had split open and bled. Wonderful. She rolled her sore shoulders. She needed to find a willing opponent.
Of the Guardians, only Týr had trained with her, and she had a feeling he held back. A lot. Blaéz, he just gave her pointers but refused to engage in a fight. Hedori, however, took her training seriously, but only with weapons, which was why she appreciated having Ely and Shae as sparring partners. Man, those girls could fight.
As for Aethan… She sighed. No, he wasn’t going to relent. Darn stubborn immortal. She was so tired of hoping, knowing he would never change his mind.
Growling, she spun around and gave the sandbag a hard sidekick.There. That felt good after the tension she’d carried around the entire day. Besides, Darci was the one getting married and under stress. Perhaps she should finish now, shower, and go find her friend and see if she needed any help. After all, she was the maid of honor.
Echo picked up the towel from the bench and wiped her face. As she reached for her water bottle, she frowned, staring at her fingers.What the—?
The bruised skin on her fingers had mended, and the split knuckle only sported a fading pink patch.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
At that low, slightly accented and incredibly sexy voice that always made her toes curl, she spun around. A smile curved the corners of her mouth, her healed fingers forgotten.
“Aethan,” she breathed as he strolled across. The overhead lights reflected off the multiple blue shades of his gorgeous hair, which he’d tied in a stubby ponytail, revealing the small, platinum hoops in his earlobes. The man never failed to take her breath away, even after a year together. “I thought you were busy working on your stock and property stuff?”
“It can wait.”
Oh. “So you’re on your way to meet up with Nik?”
“Rescheduled for later.” He ran his gaze down her body, and his white-flecked gray eyes flared with heat. She swallowed, her body heating up. Yup, he liked her in her knee-length tights and tank top. But she also knew, he was a master of self-control.
Since he wasn’t here to train with her, despite wearing his workout gear, and it wasn’t in her nature to give up, no matter what her earlier thoughts were, she tossed her towel aside, grasped a handful of his t-shirt, and pulled him to her.
She ran her tongue over his lower lip before sucking on it leisurely…sensually. The growl became a groan, and he hauled her into his arms, deepening the kiss in a hungry tangle of tongues. The treacherous buzz of his deadly ability brushed over her psyche. Her breath hitched. God, she loved this dangerous side of him. And reveled in his perilous power as pinpricks of whitefire seeped through her, amping her own desire.
“Damn, Echo,” a rumble rolled out from deep in his chest. His hands slipped between her thighs, and his fingers stroked along her cleft.
Ohh! A moan broke free. Before she got lost in him, she pulled back, instantly missing the seductive warmth of his mouth, the touch of his hand. “Later,” she panted. “After I’m done with my training—”
“Fuck training—”
“Hedori is on his way.” Heck, the lies piled on, but she’d do anything to crack through that formidable will of his for what she truly wanted.
His eyes narrowed. “No, he isn’t. I saw him moments ago, he was headed for the boathouse.”
“Oh, well.” She rolled her eyes, so much for using him as an excuse. “I haven’t finished my allocated time.”
“Of course,” he muttered, the twitch in jaw more pronounced. “C’mon. There’s something I wanted to do. Why I came looking for you.”
“What?”
He didn’t respond but ushered her out and across the hallway to the other door and into the massive training arena with its sweeping, granite walls and gray-tiled floors.
Echo frowned, raking back her damp, over-long bangs from her eyes. “Why are we here?”
Still silent, he shut the door. The last time they were here together a year ago, he’d…
No—noway!Her heart tripped. Her chin dropped, almost smacking her chest in shock. “You’re going to train me?”
“Yes. I realized it’s time.” He strode off for the swords at far end of the arena.
