Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
Senara
The impact of Thorn’s sword on my own sent the power of the impact traveling up my arm and forced me to stumble backward. I barely had the strength to swing the sword these days, let alone handle an attack from someone as strong as him. The time apart had weakened me more than anyone expected.
Healer Kalum had said I was probably overly sensitive to magic because of my lack of exposure to it while I was growing up. Apparently, magic was generally referred to as mana by the fae and was considered part of their life force, which was why I was so weak.
Being separated from Thorn had literally been draining the life from me.
My body had started to waste away, but upon reunion with Thorn, I’d started to regain some of what I’d lost, which was why we were now in the practice arena together. It was the only place we saw each other regularly since, though he stayed close; he always managed to be somewhere else.
I drew on the magic that had begun to accumulate within me once again and pushed it into my limbs like Thorn had taught me. It was akin to a tingling sensation but deeper ,as though I could feel the power that lay just underneath. I pulled on it even more as I lunged toward him, slashing out with my sword.
The clash of steel on steel was deafening in my overly sensitive ears. Everything since I’d reconnected with Thorn had been more intense, as though I was getting double the information from my senses. I didn’t want to whine about it when there were other things that needed more attention, but it was starting to get a little overwhelming, something which happened altogether too often for my liking.
Thorn easily dodged my second swing and came in close, wrapping a hand around my dominant wrist and yanking so I had no choice but to release the sword, which, in turn, had it falling to the ground. A snarl twisted his lips as he looked down at me. “Is that all you’ve got, little one?”
“Still recovering over here,” I snapped back.
“Recover faster. You’ve got more than that in you, I know it.” The glint in his eyes had me wondering whether he was just talking about my energy or about the quick solo afternoon delight I’d had before practice. Had he been able to sense that? I knew if I was going to be around him it helped not to have my need gnawing at me like a termite on wood, so I’d taken to trying to relieve some of that desire before our training sessions. Still, nothing would be the same as being with him. The thought sent a shiver of need through me that converged on my core.
His pupils dilated. “Whatever you’re thinking about, stop it.” He paused and looked at me seriously before drawing closer still, so his lips brushed against my cheek as he spoke into my ear, “Unless you want me to fuck you right here and now, in front of everyone in the room.”
Part of me wanted to say yes, that if I could just live the rest of my life fucking him and taking care of my basic needs I’d be happy, but according to everything I’d been told that was just the bond exacting it’s revenge for being denied for so long.
Healer Kalum had theorized that if we gave in to the bond’s demands then at some point we’d reach an equilibrium where we didn’t need to have quite so much sex, but until that happened even the slightest suggestion had my body ready to go and my mind happily skipping down filthy paths of thought.
“Don’t test me, Senara. I can barely hold myself in check as it is.”
His words echoed through my mind, the need in them making my skin tingle with anticipation.
A large part of me wanted to snap that he was the one still fighting the bond, the one avoiding me when we weren’t training, but I knew that would start an argument, or at the very least reveal some truths I wasn’t sure I was prepared to hear. Still, we hadn’t had sex since we’d been reunited, which had been Thorn’s decision, not that he’d consulted me about it. He’d just been gone when I woke up after falling asleep to him and Healer Kalum talking. I’d known he was close by, but when he never came and found me, I figured it was for a reason.
I gathered enough willpower together to shove him back and refocus. With some distance between us I felt like I could breathe again, though I wasn’t rid of the aching need in my body. I could at least think past it now, though.
With careful steps I backed up even further, watching Thorn as he turned to face me, keeping himself stationed over my weapon and giving me no choice but to go to him if I wanted to get it back. We’d talked about using magic as a diversion, but I still didn’t understand how to do that. I couldn’t manifest my magic like most fae. Not yet, at least.
It was hard not to be resentful of the lack of experience I had when it came to magic. Everyone else had so many more skills and could do so much, whereas I struggled just to give my strength an extra boost in my limbs, something which most fae learned to do as children.
Their schooling was as much dedicated to their magic as it was to their general knowledge. The amount of schooling I’d had consisted of two years: one when I was at the Chantry and the other when I was studying to get into the military. They hadn’t required much, thankfully, but I’d needed to prove I could read and write and understand basic concepts. The Chantry had barely taught me how to write my name and only to read the holy texts. Everything else was foreign.
To say I felt less skilled than more children around all these fae that had schooling as a standard part of their lives was an understatement. At least I had finely-honed instincts, though, years of living on the streets and struggling for survival, combined with years of fighting on the front lines had made those instincts as sharp as a knife’s edge.
It was exactly that which led me to jumping out of the way as Thorn lunged toward me, intent on capturing me. I could feel his own need battering at me like the wind against a sail. He wanted me just as much as I wanted him, and if I had any say in the matter as soon as we were done training we’d be naked in the showers together, him pressing me against the wall as he fucked me senseless.
Only that wasn’t what would happen.
We’d been through this too many times now, his need becoming overwhelming until he stalked away with a stiff gate, unable to even look at me as he left the training area, leaving me sweaty and flustered by myself.
He lunged again as he snarled at me, which only turned me on even more, if I was being honest. Though, to be fair, there wasn’t much Thorn could do that didn’t turn me on at the moment.
It didn’t help that I could see the outline of his hard cock pressing against his breeches. It had to be uncomfortable trying to fight like that. At least my body only ached with need.
The more I dodged out of his way, the more it infuriated him, which I couldn’t deny I found some pleasure in. His last movement had given him enough distance from my weapon that I was able to sprint forward and scoop it up.
I’d barely wrapped my hand around the hilt when I felt his presence behind me. I turned my head slightly to see him looming over me in a way that had me feeling like a hare in front of a wolf.
He glared down at me, a hunger in his eyes that had nothing to do with battle.
I rolled out of the way, intending to spring to my feet off to one side so I could turn and face him, but the pillar I rolled into stopped that, only it wasn’t wood or anything like that; it was just his leg. Thorn had moved faster than I had and had destroyed my chance of escape with one stomp of his foot.
The hit had me rolling onto my back, leaving myself exposed to him.
He angled the wood sword he’d been using at my neck.“Dead.”
“Castrated and dead,” I replied, with my own sword angled at his family jewels.
Thorn’s gaze darted down to the tip of the sword as I pressed it against his breeches. “Stop thinking about my cock for two seconds and you might have been able to do more than just dodge my attacks.” He let his arm go slack, the tip of the wooden practice sword sliding down my protective leather vest, hovering over my nipple, which to anyone else would look like he had it aimed at my heart, but he and I both knew exactly what he was doing.
The wood tip grazed back and forth minutely. I wasn’t even sure if he was even aware he was doing it, though; it practically had me writhing on the ground. “Are you going to let me try again or keep me pinned here?” I growled out.
“Haven’t decided yet.” Thorn’s gaze flicked around the room and I saw that we were down to only another pair of swordsmen that were sparring with each other.
Thorn didn’t want to practice anymore--that much was evident--but if we took a break then I knew it would just end up with him leaving like he’d done so many times before.
I swatted the practice sword away with my free hand while keeping my sword pointed at his manhood as I backed up and pushed to my feet. “As much as I’d like to be done with this, we both know that I need more work. I’m not even as good as when I fought you in the human lands, and I have more strength, speed, and power now.”
He grunted and I knew that he was agreeing with me, he just didn’t want to admit it. His body and mind were at war with one another, just like mine were. Only my mind seemed to be winning out, whereas his body appeared to be winning the battle on his side. If his body won that would mean him leaving, though, and since no one else would train with me I wasn’t prepared for that to happen yet.
His need was something I could take advantage of if I was smart about it. There was nothing that said my only weapon had to be the sword in my hand. Under the pretense of brushing dirt from my leathers, I ran my hand over my breasts and down my belly to my hips, keeping my own sword pointed at Thorn the whole time.
When I looked up, he was practically seething with anger and need in equal measures. I couldn’t keep the grin from my face as I lunged toward him.
Instead of fighting me, he just let me run at him, smacking him on the bicep with my sword before I tried to dart away. He caught me around the waist, though, tugging me to the ground, the two of us tumbling together. At first I landed on top of him, but he quickly rolled so I was on the bottom, every inch of him pressing against me in the most delicious way.
“Dead,” he said again as I felt the poke of his wooden blade against my ribs.
I glanced around and found that the last two men who had been sparring in there with us had left, which meant we were venturing into dangerous territory. Whenever we were alone we would dance on the knife’s edge of giving in to our desire before he left. If others were around, we were better able to restrain ourselves since the two of us being together was technically forbidden.
Being forced to think about others when all we both wanted to do was rip each others clothes off was getting harder and harder. Maybe it was because I didn’t grow up with this idea embedded in me, but the more I needed Thorn the harder I found it to care about the idea of us not being allowed to be together.
Fuck everyone else. He was mine and I was his and no words from a king, queen, or other noble would change that.
“Then kiss me back to life,” I murmured as I reached up and looped my hands around his neck, pulling him down to me before he could pull away.
His whole body went rigid for a moment as his lips crashed against mine like the waves against a shore during a storm.
There was nothing gentle or loving about the kiss; it was one that had been built out of pure need on both of our parts. I bit at his lower lip before sucking it into my mouth and releasing it a moment later.
Thorn groaned and pressed himself even tighter against me and I couldn’t help the way my legs spread and invited him to get closer, to touch me where we both needed it the most. I didn’t care that other people could walk into the room at any moment. Everything in the world had focused down to one point: him.
“Senara,” he growled my name before he buried his face in my neck, licking and sucking at the skin there as though it was a delicacy he had been denied for too long.
I panted at his touch, my whole body feeling electrified by it and barely kept enough mental clarity to form the words, “Baths. Now.”
For a moment Thorn didn’t respond, too lost to his own lust and need for my words to make any sense. A second later he pulled back.
I held on, wanting him to take me with him as he pushed to his feet. I clung to him like frost to a window pane as he began to try to disentangle my hands from behind his neck. I was still so small in his arms, still unable to let him fuck me the way we both wanted him to, or at least the way I wanted him to. Maybe that was part of the reason he seemed to be so deep in denial about our bond.
“Am I interrupting something?” a female voice sounded from behind us.