Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
Bokkan
In an effort to understand my female better, I asked her to take me through a regular training day for her.
I quickly regretted it.
While conditioning was an important part of my training and of my men's, Leda and I had different ways of approaching it. I knew my female was formidable, but, like my men, I’d underestimated her skills and abilities.
Leda took me through a series of bodyweight exercises that I found difficult.
With her shorter stature and legs, her body had no issues with moving the way she wanted it to.
I struggled to complete each exercise because my joints and muscles weren’t used to it, and they didn’t want to fold in on themselves the way hers seemed to so effortlessly.
Then, we did something she called burpees. I loathed them. After my fifth burpee, I refused to do another. She laughed at me. The female laughed at me.
After the foul burpees, we did strange exercises that included squatting down before jumping as high as we could. Again, I despised them.
“Are you making these up, female?” I finally asked, breathing more heavily than I had since I began my physical training as a soldier in my thirteenth year.
The infernal female was breathing hard, but not as hard as me. “What? No! These exercises increase strength and stamina at the same time. They also work more than one muscle group.”
“Are you sure you aren’t just trying to torture me?” I gasped, leaning over to put my hands on my knees.
Her laughter was loud and bright. Her eyes lit up with humor and entertainment. In the morning sunlight, she seemed to sparkle. I vowed then and there to make her laugh every day if possible. She was a light in the darkness that had become my life.
I was not unhappy before, but there had been no joy or laughter either. Each day blended into the next. I was not even content. All I did was exist.
Now, looking at the small female who laughed with her entire body and whose smile took over her face with joy, I was so much more. The world seemed brighter, clearer. I had a purpose.
I had a mate.
In all my years, I never understood what this would feel like. My father tried to explain. Other males had as well. But none of their words would ever come close to the true, soul-deep purpose her presence gave me.
Caring for her, bringing a smile to her face, touching her soft, beautiful body—these were now my reasons for living.
After the torture of burpees, jumping squats, and a few other exercises, Leda said it was time for a water break.
The soldiers were training with Guldan this morning, and it was clear they were watching us when they were able.
I was tempted to bellow that if they had time to gawk, they must need more of a challenge.
I decided not to because it was good for them to see Leda’s capabilities. They could see that I was struggling while she excelled. I wanted them to remember that she might be human, but she was also formidable in her own way.
However, that didn’t mean I was going to spar with her in their eyeline. After seeing her fight Talus, I had no doubt my little human would surprise me. She might not be strong enough to harm me seriously without a weapon, but she was fast and vicious in a fight.
If I hadn’t feared for her life yesterday, I would have been able to admire the way she dismantled Venna’s attacks and used the daemoness’s size and strength against her.
After our water break, I led Leda behind the house and onto the soft grass.
“What are we doing?” she asked.
“Sparring,” I answered, scanning the grass with my eyes for any rocks or branches that could injure her.
“Is there a reason we’re doing it back here?”
I smirked at her. “Maybe I’m afraid my men will see me get my ass kicked by a small human female.”
She rolled her eyes. “I think you’ll hold your own better than your soldier,” she muttered. “I saw you fight that big asshole.”
“And what did you think?”
Leda straightened and studied me. “Of your fighting abilities?”
I nodded, curious how this female saw me.
“You’re very skilled and definitely faster than your men. You’re also creative and don’t rely on brute strength. But you have a few tells.”
“Tells?”
“Small signs you’re about to strike.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What are they?”
A mischievous grin spread across her face, making her golden brown eyes sparkle. “You think I’m going to tell you before we spar? That’s cute.”
I growled beneath my breath and lowered my arms, which made her laugh.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you when we’re done.”
“Very well,” I sighed.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Ready.”
She dropped into a fighting stance, her eyes locked on me.
She appeared relaxed, yet her gaze was sharp and alert.
I nearly shook my head. How my men had missed this aspect of her when Guldan brought her to the estate was ridiculous.
It was clear she had the heart of a warrior and the training that went along with it.
Leda darted forward, quick and graceful, and I tried to move back.
Before I could finish my retreat, she swept one of my legs from beneath me.
Already off balance, I started to go down.
Seeing the little smirk on her face, I reached out and grabbed her waist, dragging her down with me.
As soon as my back hit the ground, I rolled, using my much larger mass to pin her.
Thank the gods I brought her to the grassy area behind the manor. That fall would have been painful if we weren’t.
Before I could grasp her wrists, she reached up, locked her hands on my horns, and pushed my head back and to the side.
A grunt escaped my mouth as my back arched, and I shoved my body away from the ground with my hands to keep my neck from being wrenched. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back in the grass, staring up at a panting Leda with the point of the dagger at my throat.
“By the gods, female, are you planning to slit my throat?”
The infernal human winked at me before she tucked the dagger back in the sheath she strapped to her thigh earlier. “Not yet.”
Wrapping my arms around her, I sat up and jumped to my feet. She laughed in my ear but didn’t fight my tight hold. I even felt the light press of her lips against the side of my neck.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” she teased.
I squeezed her a little tighter. “Maybe I should just crush you.”
Before I could release her as I planned, sharp nails pinched the back of my arm hard, right over my tricep. A bellow escaped me, and my hold loosened. Leda dropped to her feet and darted away, laughing louder this time.
“You’re an evil female!” I said, rubbing furiously at the back of my arm.
Despite the scowl on my face, I was enjoying myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had fun. Not just with a female, but with anyone.
I’d spent too many years in charge of the training of elite soldiers. Fun was not a component of that training. I never discouraged them from enjoying their time away from training, and even encouraged them to find ways to relax, but I’d never followed my own advice.
“Aw, is the big, bad daemon pouting?” she asked, her voice light and amused.
“Pinching isn’t nice,” I retorted.
“It was nicer than stabbing you in the dick with the dagger,” she shot back.
I couldn’t hide my wince, which had her chuckling.
“You’re too large for a fair fight,” she continued. “So, it was either pinching you somewhere tender or putting a hole in you.”
“Good point,” I muttered.
“Shall we continue?” she asked.
My answer was to charge her.
We sparred for another half hour, both of us holding back enough not to harm each other.
I managed to pin her three times, but it was much more difficult than I expected.
She was quick and fought in a completely different style than I was used to, which made it almost impossible to anticipate her next move.
Even when I tried to rely on brute force, she honed in on the weakest points of my body and ruthlessly used them against me.
Leda took me down three times as well, knocking me to my knees once, sweeping my feet out from under me another, and the final takedown was with the same choke she’d used on Venna. I still had no idea how she got behind me.
My vision turned black within a minute of her arm locking around my throat. Before I was completely out, she released me, holding my upper body against hers as I gathered my wits.
“You are a warrior to be reckoned with,” I said, shaking my head as I moved away from her.
“I think we both know you could kill me with one blow if you truly wanted to,” she answered. “The only reason I’ve bested any of your men is that none of you wanted to damage me.”
“I might be able to kill you with one blow, but I’m too slow to stop you if you decide to slice open my arteries with your dagger. I don’t know a single daemon who is quick enough to evade or block your strikes.”
She sighed, a faraway look in her eyes as she stared out over the trees growing on my estate. “I hope it never comes to that. I don’t want to have to kill anyone else.”
I stepped in front of her, and her gaze rose to mine. “But you will if your life is in danger,” I said. “Promise me.”
Her eyes burned with golden fire. “I already have. When I woke up in that cell before the auction. They weren’t daemons, though. I think they were imps like Masu, but one of them had yellow eyes.”
I nodded. “I’m glad that you defended yourself. When they stole you from your home without a binding contract, they earned that death.”
Leda shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve been too busy trying to survive to think about it until now. I killed two creatures. Did they hurt me and frighten me? Yes. But I don’t think they would have killed me.”
She wasn’t wrong there. They would have seen her as an investment and done everything they could to avoid damaging her. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t hurt her at all.
I opened my mouth to tell her that I would always protect her. That she would always be safe with me.
But the sound of hoofbeats in front of the manor caught my attention. Rage filled me, and I clenched my fists. If Venna had returned to cause trouble or potentially harm my mate, I would kill her myself.