Chapter Fourteen
Nina
By the time I reached the courtyard, sweat covered me.
I hadn’t worn the fighting leathers. Instead, I’d dreamed up an outfit from home: a lightweight flowing skirt, dyed blue-black like the river in winter, the hem falling to my boots.
It hid my leg brace, so it was perfect. My hair was tied back in a braid, and I wore a look of focus and determination, though I felt anything but.
Leander stood near the weapons wall, with sleeveless chest armour and a sword sheathed at his back.
His slicked back hair was different, darker blonde this time, threaded through with gold.
When he turned at the sound of my steps, his eyes caught on my skirt first, then lifted upwards.
The look that travelled up my body felt like a fingertip dragging up my spine.
His face looked the same . . . but not the same.
His sun-browned skin hadn’t changed, but his features were narrower, more symmetrical somehow.
A small furrow pinched between his brows.
“You’re determined to fight in that?” His tone wasn’t unkind. “Again?”
“It’s comfortable.” Sweat was already slicking the waistband.
“If you say so.” He plucked two long blades from the weapons wall, and held out a hilt towards me. I grabbed it tightly.
I had lost count of how many hours had bled into days here.
He gestured towards the open tiles. “Footwork. Tempo. Then the fun part.”
Sweat slicked down my back, and the pain in my hip screamed louder than the pulse in my skull. I breathed in deeply, feeling that prickling sensation in the back of my mind, the very fabric of Temptation at my fingertips. Then I willed my pain away, wished it with every fibre of my being.
Something like approval flickered in Leander’s gaze. Maybe he could sense what I was doing.
“Begin,” he said.
Before I could ask what he meant, Leander lunged.
His hand grabbed my wrist. The world flipped.
My back skidded across the stone, and suddenly I was on the floor with a blade at my throat, his grip steady, the cold edge resting just below my pulse.
His hair fell forward over his forehead as he leaned over me, his gaze intense, eyes locked on mine, hypnotic almost.
I bit my lower lip.
Focus. That’s the plan – and I’m failing spectacularly.
“Your footwork needs improvement,” he said, and my eyes caught on his lips. “Keep yourself rooted to the ground. Left foot in front, right foot back.”
I nodded, speechless. I didn’t trust my voice to remain steady.
Leander pulled me up from the ground. I grabbed the fallen long sword I’d dropped, twisted around and angled the blade towards him.
Metal scraped metal.
He grinned, struck back, and his sword was at my neck, not cutting, just pinning. The knife felt like a cold pressure under my throat. I panted hard, feeling the burn in my chest.
My stamina’s doing great – if we’re comparing it to corpses.
The heat in the courtyard was suffocating. Maybe my outfit wasn’t exactly training appropriate after all.
I reached for that tingling sensation once more.
Temptation was pleasure and desire. The fabric of the domain seemed to bend to my will whenever I called on it.
And I needed it now. Without it, I’d collapse before my training session was over.
I told the tingling pulse under my skin what I wanted – the heat gone, my stamina renewed. I desired strength, lightness, and speed – and it listened.
This magic felt incredible, cool water rising beneath my ribs, quelling the exhaustion, taking away all aches and pain.
“You’re learning,” he said, his voice thick with praise. “Use what serves you. Don’t deny yourself.”
I forced a smile. “You make everything sound like seduction.”
“Have you not noticed? A soul only wants two things. Violence and sex.” He lifted the knife a fraction, sliding the edge along the chain at my throat until the relic slipped into his hand.
Leander stepped back, allowing us to spar again. The world narrowed to one foot, pivot, and parry. We worked until my clothes were wet with sweat. Thankfully, the heat never grew merciless.
Even though I had strength, my pain hidden by whatever kind of magic coursed through me, my brace pinched. It grinded into my skin joint until every step was painful. Leander’s eyes dipped to the tremor in my thigh. His brow arched, curiously.
“Again,” he said. I braced.
My next step faltered. My foot landed wrong. Pain shot up and a sound slipped from me before I could bite it back. My knees buckled, dragging me towards the ground. He was there instantly.
When he pinned me, the blade cold against my throat, he leaned close enough that his breath brushed my cheek. The slightest shift, and we would have been touching. His gaze dropped, catching on my mouth again, and I hated the shiver that answered it.
I turned my head just enough to break his line of sight, though the knife stayed poised beneath my chin.
“Flustered already?” he teased, easing the blade away but not stepping back.
I yanked free, heat rising to my cheeks despite myself. “You’re insufferable.”
“You know, you bite your lip when you lie,” he said simply, eyes glinting.
We circled again, blades glancing off each other, steel ringing sharp in the hot air. My skirt dragged at my knees, the brace grinding fire into my thigh. He noticed. He always noticed.
One brow arched, curiosity cutting through his focus.
When he had me cornered a second time, his grin curved wickedly.
“So tell me, where are all your lovers from the feast? Shouldn’t they be lining up for their turn by now?”
I froze. The question slipped out before I could catch it.
His answering laugh was bright and merciless. “Why? Jealous?”
My cheeks burned hotter than the courtyard sun. “Just curious.”
“This may be the Domain of Temptation, but that doesn’t mean I sample a new lover every week.” His gaze flicked down, blatant, lingering on the flush in my throat, the tremor in my stance. “Sometimes temptation is sweeter when you wait.”
The words hit harder than the heat, than the ache in my leg. I forced myself to parry, breathe, and not let the magic rise. Because I wanted a door. And he was standing in the frame, holding it open with a smile.