Page 94 of Beds and Blades

The ease of it sent a fresh rush of heat through me. I was still half dressed, still breathless, still wet with him, and he picked me up as if taking me to bed was not a question but a command.

He carried me to the bed and set me down. His hands went to my shirt with intention. He stripped it from me slowly enough that I felt the change in him—the sharp edge of needing me giving way to the deeper pleasure of having me.

My pants were already gone. He removed the last of them from my ankle and dropped them beside the bed.

Then he looked at me. All of me.

The war could have us again soon. For now, he had me naked in our bed.

And he was not finished.

Chapter seventeen

Day Patrol

Varia called the halt a little before midday, which meant I had survived another morning.

I would be sore tomorrow, but less so than before. Over the last two weeks, training had shifted from feeling like betrayal to something more steady—a dull ache of muscles resigning themselves to use.

Medieval vampire-killing fitness would make a great gym class if the gym had excellent lawyers and strong liability waivers.

“Better,” Varia said, which from Varia was high praise.

“My arms feel like noodles,” I said.

Varia laughed.

“That is the soreness leaving and the strength arriving. They pass each other on the way.” She tossed me the water flask. “Drink. All of it.”

I drank. Water was astonishingly delicious after training meant to fight vampires rather than to satisfy a calorie target on a fitness app.

***

We were putting the practice blades away when Flavia crossed the yard.

We knew each other pretty well by then. After that first meeting in the mess hall, she started sitting with me more often, usually bringing raunchy jokes and inappropriate comments.

Today, she had a bow across her back and a sword at her hip.

“Lady Meghan,” she said, grinning.

“We talked about this.”

“The claimed woman of the High Commander should be referred to properly.”

I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling.

It had become a running joke between us. Flavia liked calling me Lady because she knew it annoyed me. I had disliked it on principle at first, but it was growing on me.

“Flavia.” Varia returned the greeting with flat warmth. “You are riding out?”

“Day patrol. Gaius and I.” Flavia tipped her head toward the gate.

Gaius stepped closer.

He was tall, though not Skip tall, with sun-browned skin and dark blond hair cropped short at the sides. He had a lean, athletic build rather than Skip’s battlefield-wall proportions, all compact strength and easy balance. A sword hung at his hip, and a short hunter’s hook was strapped across his back.

Varia’s lips parted slightly, and she looked at him for half a second too long. Just long enough for her expression to change before she caught it and put it back where it belonged.