Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
Kann
T he silence of the Stacks was as heavy as a weight on my chest as I made my way through the looming shelves and scant light. Dust motes danced in the pale moonlight filtering through the high windows, carrying the musty scent of leather tomes and yellowed paper. My shoulders tensed instinctively – there were too many shadows here, too many places an enemy could hide. Give me an open battlefield any day, over this maze of towering shelves and forgotten books.
What in the grekking hell was I doing here?
“You couldn’t exactly meet in your quarters,” I whispered to myself, grateful for the company of my own voice even if it did echo back to me. “Or hers.”
The idea of meeting Britta in the female tower almost dragged a laugh from my lips. It was impossible to blend in or be inconspicuous in the one place in the entire school where Drexians did not frequent. It wasn’t that we were forbidden—well, the cadets were—but it was an unspoken rule that the few women deserved their own space. They had to be in our space surrounded by Drexians the rest of the time.
But maybe there would have been a better place to meet than the Stacks. I’d only ever been in the ancient library for our meetings about Sasha’s rescue. A chill went through me, partly because the space was kept significantly colder to maintain the integrity of the books, and partly because it was so quiet.
Had I set foot in the place when I was a cadet? Doubtful. Even before I’d been selected for the School of Battle, I’d known that I would be a Blade. I’d gritted my way through my basic engineering and strategy classes but there was little love lost between me and books.
Unlike Britta. The Earth female either had her nose in a book or in a circuit box. Another reason this was a bad idea. Why did I think I could teach Drexian ways to one who was so different from me?
I paced the length of the eastern alcove, my footsteps absorbed by the silence. A promise was a promise, even one made in a moment of…what? Weakness? Madness? I still wasn't sure what had possessed me to offer Britta lessons in seduction. The thought of her pursuing Zav made something hot and dangerous coil in my gut.
Britta.
I thought of the way her platinum waves tumbled over her shoulders, the way her eyes had darkened as she’d looked at me when I’d set this rendezvous.
"I never forget a promise." The words had come out deeper than I'd intended.
Her scent—both sweet and carrying a hint of musk from the whiskey—had made my head spin. Or maybe that was the Noovian whiskey from the card game. Either way, I'd found myself leaning in, wanting to breathe in more of her.
"Name the time, and I'll teach you everything you need to know to seduce any male you want."
She'd fled so quickly I'd barely registered her stammered response. What was wrong with me? I'd promised to teach her how to catch Zav's eye. But now he was an instructor. Wasn’t that just as wrong as pursuing her myself?
I sighed. But a promise was a promise. Even if the thought of her helping her seduce the Taori made something dark twist in my gut.
Grek me. Britta was a cadet. I was an instructor. More importantly, she was my friend.
But she was not like any friend I’d ever had before, not like any female I'd known before. There was no artifice in her, no trickery. She was beautiful without all the perfumes and potions and cosmetics that I’d come to expect from females. She didn’t need any of my techniques to attract a male, which was what I should tell her when she arrived.
I growled softly and ran a hand through my hair. I should tell her no. I should tell her I’d made an error in judgment. I should tell her I could not help her.
I’d almost convinced myself of all this, when I heard soft footsteps approaching and all my good intentions evaporated like smoke.
"Kann?"
I spun around, cursing myself for my stuttering heart and racing pulse.
Britta stood in the shadows of a bookshelf, looking uncertain. The moonlight painted white streaks in her silvery hair, and for a moment, I couldn't find my voice.
"I wasn't sure you'd come," I managed finally, hating how rough my voice sounded.
"I almost didn't." She stepped closer, and I caught the faint scent of soap and something distinctly floral. "This is probably a terrible idea."
"Probably," I agreed, trying to recall all the reasons it was a bad idea and coming up blank. "But I promised to help."
She exhaled loudly and her shoulders relaxed as she stepped closer. "Do you even know how to…I mean, is flirting something that can be taught?”
“Anything can be taught,” I said with more confidence than I felt. Teaching combat moves was one thing—this was entirely different.
“I’m pretty hopeless.” She ran her fingers through her hair and gave me a shy smile, proving that she was anything but.
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“Compared to you, I am.” She narrowed her gaze at me. “I’ve heard you’re legendary.”
Or notorious, depending on who you asked.
“I’m sure you’ve flirted before. You’ve dated males before, haven’t you?”
She twitched one shoulder. “Sure, but I never pursued them. It just happened.”
It happened because the males had pursued her, I thought. Britta had no clue how attractive or desirable she was, but I doubted she would believe me. I pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit then I took the seat opposite her.
I needed to create distance between us so I could treat this like any other lesson I was teaching. Although, most of the lessons I taught involved lots of physical contact and in this situation, that was something I wanted to avoid.
I thought back to what I did when I walked into a bar. “The first thing you need to do is create opportunities for interaction. You need a reason to be alone with him. You could stay after class and ask him to explain something."
Her brow furrowed. "But I understand everything in class."
I couldn't help but smile. "That's not the point. The point is to get him alone, to make him focus on you."
"Oh." She bit her plump lower lip, and I forced myself to look away. "What else?"
“Once you get him alone, body language is important."
She frowned. “You mean hand gestures?”
“The rest of your body,” I said, making a great effort not to even glance at hers. “The way you walk can be a powerful tool of seduction."
"Show me," she said, then quickly added, "If you don’t mind.”
I shouldn't have. Every instinct screamed that this was a terrible idea, but I was already committed. Drawing on memories of the most graceful females I'd encountered, I stood and crossed the space between two bookshelves with deliberate, fluid movements, letting my hips sway slightly.
A strangled sound made me turn. Britta had both hands pressed to her mouth, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
"I didn't know you could move your ass like that.”
I tried to scowl at her, but I couldn’t help grinning. “I am showing you how females can walk to attract male attention. That is not how I walk.”
“Oh, I know. I double dare you to walk like that through Battle.”
Now I was chuckling too, the sound echoing softly in the quiet library.
She straightened, still grinning. “Should I try?”
"Unless you'd prefer to keep critiquing my technique."
She stood, took a deep breath, and began walking. Grek me. I might not have nailed it, but she did. The sway of her hips and twitch of her ass made my mouth go dry. I found myself tracking the movement of her body with an intensity that had nothing to do with instruction.
I had to clear my throat twice before I could speak. "You got it.”
"Really?" She turned back to face me with such a bright smile that I had a hard time remembering to breathe.
“Moving on,” I said, racking my brain to come up with anything else to teach the woman. “Eye contact!”
My exuberance made her jump, but I kept going. "When you talk to him, make eye contact. Run your fingers through your hair, smile, lick your lips.”
She thrust one hand into her hair, but her fingers caught in a tangle. "Ow!"
Without thinking, I closed the distance between us and tried to help her untangle her hand from her hair.
“I think it’s caught on my ring,” she said, averting her gaze.
When I pulled the last strand from her ring, she looked up. “Thanks.”
Her eyes met mine, wide and dark in the faint light. Something electric crackled in the air between us.
I jerked back, my hands tingling where they'd touched her. "That's good. The eye contact just now?" My voice was husky. “That was perfect. That would work on anyone.”
The words tasted like ashes in my mouth. The thought of her looking at Zav that way made me want to burn something.
Britta blinked at me, her lips parting slightly in surprise. “I wasn’t trying…”
“That’s a good start,” I interrupted. “It's getting late."
She backed away from me. “You’re right. I should go.”
Before I could say another word, she was gone.
I forced myself to wait until my breathing steadied, bracing my palms on a table as I shook off the feelings I could not allow myself to feel. When I started to make my way through the library, I was so distracted I nearly walked straight into Commander Vyk.
I took a step back. “I didn’t see you there, Commander. I didn’t know you frequented the Stacks.”
The security chief's face was unreadable in the shadows, but his voice carried a warning. "I saw an Iron cadet leaving in quite a hurry."
I straightened to my full height, calling on years of military discipline to keep my expression blank. “I was helping her with a problem, Commander."
“You were helping an Iron?”
I bit back an insult, reminding myself that Vyk was an Iron and my superior. “Not all Blades are mindless brutes.”
I didn’t wait for his response as I continued toward the tall doors, feeling Vyk's gaze boring into my back. This mistake was getting bigger and bigger.