I watch her closely, and when she pulls her elbow back this time, she takes the string to her jaw instead of her mouth. “Don’t move,” I say quietly, trying not to startle her, but she still reacts with a little shudder. I stand behind her, touching the side of her hip to keep her in place. Being this close to her is dangerous. I want to sink my face into the space behind her ear, inhale her scent, and listen to her breath catch from my touch. I want to run my lips and teeth along the inside of her thigh and drown in her. I have to shut my eyes and gather strength so I do not wrap my arms around her and pull her back into my body.
“Ziv?” she questions so softly, it makes my cock ache. I inhale her unique fragrance and open my eyes. Nothing has changed. I still want to sink inside her in every way imaginable, but I find the control to use two fingers on her wrist to reposition the string back to the corner of her mouth.
“This is your anchor point. Every time you pull the string back, I want it right here,” I instruct.
“Okay.” Her voice is breathy. I affect her just as much as she affects me, even if we’re both ignoring it.
“Now, steady your breathing.”
“Sorry.” She inhales but doesn’t release it.
“I said steady your breathing, not hold your breath.” The huff she releases relaxes her shoulders. “I want you to try to hit the arrow. Inhale, exhale, good. Now the next time I say exhale, exhale and release the arrow. Ready?”
“Yes,” she whispers.
“Inhale…exhale.”
The arrow flies right along with her breath and lands a foot away from the target. Not great, but not horrible either.
“Keep working while I get the target. Remember to exhale when you take the shot.” I take a step back from her and force my feet to carry me to the armory to get a straw dummy.
I take the time to adjust my dick down my leg so it doesn’t feel like I’m getting bent in half and mentally prepare myself for being too close to my mate, but not nearly close enough.
KAGE
It’s not accidental that I’m in the gym at the precise time Ziv brings Briar in. He told me about his plan to train her, and I think it’s smart. She should know how to protect herself. Ivy Institute is dangerous enough, and that’s only while training for the real trials next year.
Heads turn as they walk through the center of the sparring ring, but they never slow. He leads her straight to the doors of the smaller field, where there will be no witnesses, not even me. A curse leaves my lips, and the female ten feet away from me who wields fire lets a glowing orb splat into the sand and fizzle out as she stares at me like she thinks I’m about to slaughter her where she stands.
“What’s your problem?” she barks when she realizes I caught her staring like a scared cat.
Instead of answering, I lunge forward as if I am going to try to touch her, and she backpedals so fast, she ends up on her ass in the sand, staring up at me with an open mouth. “It would never be you,” I tell her truthfully.
When I glance at the now closed doors of the other pit, I catch one of the other instructors watching me. He’s not as big as Ziv, though not many are, but he’s still larger than your average male. He doesn’t look as if he would try to stop me if I killed the girl, but I don’t need the extra attention, especially now, so I resume my solo training, ignoring both of them.
I bide my time by coming up with ideas on how I could get into the smaller ring unnoticed, but fail the execution. My only option would be to go full shade and hope no one would notice a disconnected shadow slinking through the arena, looking for a crack to slip through.
When I need to leave two hours later, they still haven’t emerged from the other space. There’s a big part of me that wants to stay put until I at least catch a glimpse of my creature, but not attending to my other duties would be noticed.
I leave the sparring field with just enough time to clean up and make it to my class with Mistress Myers. It will be the first time I’ve seen her since finding Briar on the road, and her slow response about the situation still pisses me off. Just like most of the classes here, hers is a waste of time for me. I don’t need help honing or strengthening my ability, and there’s no way to dampen it to only inflict pain. My touch kills, there’s no way around it, and I’ve never hated it more than I do right now.
The hall darkens around me—a sure sign I’m collecting shadows. I don’t bother trying to lighten my mood or the shades, since it would be pointless.
BRIAR
I mop my forehead with the sleeve of my shirt, longing to work with the bow again. I thought my arms were tired then, but it was nothing compared to how weak I feel now. Ziv has been putting me through the wringer for the last hour. I’ve decided I hate him, even though I can’t seem to take my eyes off him when he demonstrates what I’m supposed to be doing. He makes everything look so freaking effortless, which makes me feel like a lump of shit because I know I’m about as graceful as a headless chicken.
When I try to swing the sword again, my legs give out, and I collapse in a heap. Thankfully, I don’t impale myself on the blade. Maybe I should have tried. I wince and spit out a mouthful of sand. At least I didn’t inhale it this time.
“You’re as weak as a kitten.” Ziv hurls the insult at me, and it hurts, even though he could easily say much worse.
“I know. You should kick me out of here,” I reply after lifting my cheek off the ground.
A heavy weight lands on my back, and breathing becomes my top priority. I start to panic when I realize what it is—Ziv has his entire body pressed against mine with his forearm barred across the back of my shoulders so my face is pushed into the sand. Even now, his dark cherry scent invades my senses in a way thatconfuses the hell out of me. My brain knows I need to get him off me if I want to breathe, but my body is quite content under him. I don’t think I possess survival instincts. How have I lived for so long?
My mind is getting thick, making my eyes heavy. “Fight me,” he bellows near my ear, and that more than anything spurs me to move. The only problem is, every time I wiggle to get free, I sink deeper and deeper into the grit.
“You’re too…heavy!” I scream in desperation.
