Blood of the White Witch by Lacey Weatherford

Vance
came to kiss me on the cheek before he sat down as well.
    “I think you’d better be careful or you may
find yourself run through,” she replied with a laugh. “I’ve never
seen anything like it.”
    “Me either,” Douglas replied. “I was really
sweating it out there!”
    “So I can see,” Fiona replied wryly as she
waved her hand back and forth in front of her face lightly,
scrunching her nose up slightly. “You’re a mess!”
    “Blame it all on this one,” Douglas replied,
reaching over to squeeze Vance’s shoulder.
    Vance was beaming, thoroughly enjoying
himself.
    “You’re giving me too much credit,” he
replied modestly with a slight shake of his head. “I’m just as
sweaty as you are, and you landed the last point.”
    “True, but there were three points,
remember? That means you’re the currently the victor,” Douglas
replied. “Now let’s enjoy some breakfast with our lovely company,
and then we’ll hit the mat again.”
    “That sounds like a good plan,” Vance agreed
with a grin, and he reached to fill his plate.
    I watched him as he moved, thinking he
looked like a gorgeous mess with his flushed face and sweaty hair,
clothed in the white garment. If he worked out like this every day,
he would certainly have me as a captive audience for every minute
of it. My eyes practically devoured every inch of him.
    “Portia,” his voice suddenly penetrated into
the thoughts in my head. “You have to quit staring at me like that.
You’re making my grandmother blush.”
    My eyes quickly flickered over toward Fiona
who was indeed watching me with avid interest, and I quickly cast
my gaze down into my lap, feeling the flush creep into my own
skin.
    Vance chuckled out loud at this, and I
kicked him under the table, mortified at his reaction.
    He leaned over and kissed my cheek once
more.
    “Don’t worry, baby,” he whispered into my
ear. “It’s all good.” He winked as he pulled away from me, and I
could tell he was totally enjoying my reaction to him … again.
    After they were done eating, Douglas and
Vance returned to the mat. This time the instructor explained
things in much greater detail to Vance, and the two worked slowly
together on moves.
    “Well, I think I’m done here.” Fiona sighed
as she stood. “I have some correspondence to take care of this
morning.”
    “I’ll walk with you,” I said to her,
standing also.
    Vance flicked me a smile as I left the
room.
    “See you in a little while, baby,” he said
into my head, and I smiled widely back at him.
    “I’ll send Colin up for your dress shortly,”
Fiona said, capturing my attention again. “He’ll have the maid get
it properly pressed for this evening.”
    “Thank you,” I replied. “That’s very kind of
you. Is there anything I can do to help out with the preparations
for tonight?”
    “No, not at all,” she said. “The catering
staff and the decorators will be here shortly after noon. They
should have things well in hand. Just get rested up and be ready to
enjoy yourself.”
    She paused when we reached the grand
staircase.
    “Okay,” I answered turning to go up. “I’ll
go pull mine and Vance’s clothes out for Colin now.”
    “Thank you,” she said. “And I enjoyed your
company at breakfast this morning.”
    I turned to smile back at her.
    “Thanks, it was fun for me, too,” I replied
with a smile.
     
    Vance walked back into the bedroom a couple
of hours later, still dressed in his protective fencing gear,
thoroughly sweaty and flushed.
    “Hey, baby,” he said as he walked toward
where I was sitting in front of the roaring fire.
    “Don’t you even touch me!” I protested, and
I lifted a finger in warning to him when I saw the wicked glint in
his eye.
    He laughed seductively.
    “Aw, you’re no fun,” he mumbled as he leaned
his head in toward me and I shied away from him.
    “You’re all sweaty!” I exclaimed.
    “Come on, baby. Just one little kiss on the
cheek for me then,” he