Chapter 17
The clearing Cal has chosen for our makeshift sparring ring is bare.
A small stream runs along the edge of the trees, but no other brush or plant life can be found besides a small patch of grass the horses immediately start to graze.
No vines or thorny bushes that I can multiply when he isn't looking.
Cal may have acknowledged my magic, but he still hasn’t divulged his secret power. For better or worse, today’s fight will have to be purely physical.
As if he can hear my thoughts, Cal slips his black shirt over his head, exposing the sea beast inked on his rippling muscles to the sunlight.
“Is that really necessary?” I taunt.
“This is a clean shirt and you’re very fond of sharp objects. I’d like to keep it in one piece.” He stuffs the shirt into his rucksack and stalks towards me. “You’re welcome to take yours off too if you’d feel more comfortable.”
A heat flushes up my neck and I open my mouth to make a snarky comment when Cal moves. Stepping towards me, he uses one leg to swipe both of mine out from under me. A startled yelp slips out as my ass hits the ground in a hard thud.
“Nick should have taught you to anticipate distractions. How many battles has he won?”
I stare up at Cal from my forced seat on the forest floor and roll my eyes. “Just like a man to make everything a dick measuring contest.”
Cal grabs my hand, pulling my chest against his as I stand.
“I’d win that, too.” He winks before dropping my hand and backing away several paces. “I’ve seen your defense in action; now show me your offense. Attack me,” he demands.
I watch for a moment observing his stance.
He’s nearly a foot taller than me and easily outweighs me by 100 pounds.
He’s got more muscles than a god and I’m fairly certain he could take down a house with brute force alone.
I will never win a match-up of physical strength, but physicality is only one part of a soldier.
Strategy and cunning carry their own weight on the battlefield, and as a woman and a politician, they happen to be my strongest weapons.
“You favor your left side,” I say, nodding my head off to the left in an attempt to distract him.
“You couldn’t possibly know what I favor.”
Cal’s eyes are fixed wholly on mine while I approach, allowing me the opportunity to slide my fingers into the sheath hidden on my right outer thigh.
I move to pull the dagger and Cal is on me in an instant, grabbing my left arm and twisting so that my back is pressed against his chest. The blade in my right hand now rests delicately across my throat.
Cal is in full control. He could slit my throat with a single thought. My magic sizzles under my skin, searing me everywhere his skin touches mine. Adrenaline kicks in, preparing me to fight despite knowing I’m in no real danger.
Well, at least no physical danger.
“You’re going to have to do better than that.”
Cal’s voice is rough, his stubbled cheek brushing against the side of my neck as he speaks. A shiver shoots down my spine involuntarily as a cool chuckle rumbles in his chest and reverberates through me.
“You like that, princess?”
“I’d like for you to get your hands off of me.”
My voice holds surprisingly steady as I speak words that couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s a low, maddening heat spreading through me and he knows it.
Cal drops his hands and steps away, a mischievous grin plastered across his face when I turn to face him. Stormy clouds fill his gray eyes, a faint electricity buzzing in the air around us. A promise of lightning so hot, it’ll burn us both.
“Try again. No blades, this time,” he says.
Oh there will be blades, just not the ones he’s expecting.
I pull the daggers from my thighs and toss them to the ground.
If I was fighting any other opponent, I would think twice about using my body as a weapon.
Despite the half-truths and hidden secrets, Cal has made one thing clear today: the growing heat between us is eating at him.
And that’s all the knowledge I need to know how to take him down.
So what if he puts his hands all over me in the process? Maybe I’m a little hungry too.
I turn and retreat a few paces, swishing my hips seductively as I walk. My hands take their time exaggeratingly caressing the sides of my breasts as my fingers work to slip the dainty blades from the boning of my corset.
I spare a glance over my shoulder, my breath hitching at the intensity burning in his eyes. I catch my bottom lip between my teeth and let my gaze reflect his.
Like a spider lying in wait, I prepare to lure my prey fully into my silken web. One more move and he’s mine.
“What a pity. I thought for sure you’d attack me from behind,” I say breathlessly.
Cal’s eyes darken, the raging storm clouds disappearing into onyx night. His voice is a low, deep growl. “Not here, princess.”
A wave of heat floods my lower body again, my heart rate spiking as I struggle to stand my ground.
With an unsteady breath, I place the toe of my left boot behind me, spinning and releasing one blade in one smooth movement.
It flips end-over-end, grazing Cal’s arm as it passes him, nicking exactly where I intend.
A tiny, red rivulet of blood trails down his bicep from the cut.
Cal glances down to wipe it clean and I rush him.
I go low, dropping my shoulder and using my lower center of gravity to knock him over.
As soon as his feet slip out from under him, I lunge upwards.
My other blade rests against the soft flesh of his neck as we hit the dirt with a loud thump.
Silver flames spark in Cal’s eyes as he shifts underneath me, large hands grabbing the backs of my thighs and holding me flush against him. I lower my head, letting my breath caress his ear as I press the blade firmer against his throat.
“You like that, Captain?” I taunt, repeating his words with his same seductive tone.
With a twist of his hips, Cal flips us, utilizing his size and brute strength and my cockiness against me. My breath comes in a ragged gasp that has little to do with being pinned against the ground and everything to do with being underneath him.
He grips both wrists in one hand, forcing them, and my blade, above my head.
“I said ‘no blades.’”
Cal slowly drags his pointer finger up the center of my corset, the third and final blade slipping free from the hidden sheath between my breasts.
He lowers his head, my back arching off the ground as his lips brush over the swell of delicate skin.
There’s a faint flash of silver in the sunlight as Cal lifts his head exposing the dagger he holds between his teeth.
With his free hand, he plucks it from his mouth and tosses it out of reach.
“Any more blades I should know about?”
His hungry eyes rove over my heaving chest and back up to my slightly parted lips.
The air grows thick, harder to swallow with each passing second.
I squirm in his hold. Whether I’m searching for a way out from beneath him or for friction of a different kind, I’m not entirely sure.
Pure power ripples over my skin at the delicious promise of him.
“Yield, Ivy,” he commands.
The sheer mention of my name is nearly enough to make me crumble under him. Cal presses his free forearm gently across my throat, rocking forward until the hard press of him rests against my warm center.
Thoughts and reactions no longer my own, my head lolls to the side, exposing my full neck to him. There’s a rough, warm brush against my skin and I feel his growl echo within me.
“Yield. Now.”
Each word is clipped as the captain fights to stay in control of himself. A deep, primal ache floods my senses as strange magic courses through me.
I am an undammed river. A tornadic wind. A raging wildfire. A rolling mountainside. I am light and shadow. Life and death all in the same moment.
Magic flares out of me before I can contain it. Deep purple blooms spring to life in the clearing. Poisonous godsbane littering the ground around our entwined bodies. The anomalistic power recedes as quickly as it appeared, the absence pulling me from my carnal stupor.
Instead of fear or confusion, only pride is written across Cal’s face. He arches a perfect eyebrow as his eyes move from my creations to me. This moment doesn’t feel like it confirms his suspicions. No, it feels like it confirms something much bigger.
Power of a different sort swells within me as I boldly declare, “I yield to no man.”
“And you never fucking will, princess.”