head. Trying to maintain control, she releases her own sword, using her arms to keep her balance as she performs a perfect back layout, once more landing on her feet. But this time, she’s weaponless. We’re back to even.
Sweat drips from my forehead to my nose to my chin. A disgusting trail of liquid meanders beneath my tunic, too, flowing down my spine. Suddenly I feel confined and trapped beneath my shirt. I pull it over my head, wipe my face, and toss it aside, immediately relishing the feeling of the air against my sweat-sheened skin.
“Trying to distract me?” Adele says, her lips curling into a smile that sends warmth all the way to my toes.
I laugh. “You could do the same thing and I can guarantee it would work,” I say flirtatiously.
“In your dreams,” she says, her smile vanishing.
She attacks.
As usual, she leads with a kick, aimed low, somewhere in the vicinity of my knee. Dodging to the side, I whip my own kick at her hip, but it misses when she jumps back.
“Want to just call it a draw and have a reconciliatory hug?” I joke.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” she retorts, faking a high kick from the left and then sweeping her other leg along the ground from the right.
Jumping her tripping attempt, I lean forward, grabbing her from the front in a bear hug. Using my strength-advantage, I pick her up and force her to the ground, settling my own body firmly on top of hers. A light, airy feeling floods my chest, moves into my throat, and there’s a flush of heat in my head. Our bodies have never been closer. She’s breathing hard, and I am, too, our warm breath mixing as our lips drift closer, me tilting my head downward and her raising her head slightly. The tingly-warm-airy surge of pre-kiss exhilaration flutters through me just before our lips meet. I close my eyes.
Just as my pouting lips meet hers, she knees me in the abdomen and twists hard to the side. Our faces are still jammed together, but her lips are no longer open to receive mine. Instead, they’re a tight determined line, still full and beautiful, but somewhat scary, too. Shoving a forearm against my jaw, she says, “Concede.”
I don’t care about the victory anymore. I just want to know why she’s so angry at me, why she wants to hurt me. What I’ve done to wrong her. “Not until you kiss me,” I say.
“Forget it,” she growls. “It wouldn’t mean anything anyway.”
“Why not?” I say, struggling to breathe as she adds pressure to my windpipe.
“Don’t you remember what I said to you before you zonked out just a few hours ago?”
I think hard. We lay down. I felt warm and loved. My vision started to blur as sleep took me. Adele said something, but I thought I was dreaming. What was it?
“I can’t remember. I thought it was a dream.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Then tell me,” I plead, choking the words out. “I can’t read your mind! All I know is I woke up, you were talking to Roc, and now you seem to hate me and I don’t know why.”
There are wrinkles and pain on her face, and moisture in her eyes. “I told you that my mom told me that it was no accident that we met. Don’t you get it? Someone wanted us to find each other. Someone did something to make us want each other. Everything’s been a lie from the very beginning.”
What? No, I don’t get it. How could I? None of this makes any sense. But before I can ask her anything, she pushes off me and stalks away, leaving both my body and mind in pieces on the ground.
Chapter Nine
Adele
I glance at Roc as I pass. His wise brown eyes are unreadable, his lips a thin line. I don’t look at Tawni or Trevor. Yeah, training could have gone better, but seriously, how was I supposed to train with what I have on my mind? It’s like asking a miner to dig a hole with a loose boulder hanging above his head. Kind of hard to concentrate.
The bad thing about caves: there’s nowhere to go when you want to get away. I stomp to the other side of
Sweat drips from my forehead to my nose to my chin. A disgusting trail of liquid meanders beneath my tunic, too, flowing down my spine. Suddenly I feel confined and trapped beneath my shirt. I pull it over my head, wipe my face, and toss it aside, immediately relishing the feeling of the air against my sweat-sheened skin.
“Trying to distract me?” Adele says, her lips curling into a smile that sends warmth all the way to my toes.
I laugh. “You could do the same thing and I can guarantee it would work,” I say flirtatiously.
“In your dreams,” she says, her smile vanishing.
She attacks.
As usual, she leads with a kick, aimed low, somewhere in the vicinity of my knee. Dodging to the side, I whip my own kick at her hip, but it misses when she jumps back.
“Want to just call it a draw and have a reconciliatory hug?” I joke.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” she retorts, faking a high kick from the left and then sweeping her other leg along the ground from the right.
Jumping her tripping attempt, I lean forward, grabbing her from the front in a bear hug. Using my strength-advantage, I pick her up and force her to the ground, settling my own body firmly on top of hers. A light, airy feeling floods my chest, moves into my throat, and there’s a flush of heat in my head. Our bodies have never been closer. She’s breathing hard, and I am, too, our warm breath mixing as our lips drift closer, me tilting my head downward and her raising her head slightly. The tingly-warm-airy surge of pre-kiss exhilaration flutters through me just before our lips meet. I close my eyes.
Just as my pouting lips meet hers, she knees me in the abdomen and twists hard to the side. Our faces are still jammed together, but her lips are no longer open to receive mine. Instead, they’re a tight determined line, still full and beautiful, but somewhat scary, too. Shoving a forearm against my jaw, she says, “Concede.”
I don’t care about the victory anymore. I just want to know why she’s so angry at me, why she wants to hurt me. What I’ve done to wrong her. “Not until you kiss me,” I say.
“Forget it,” she growls. “It wouldn’t mean anything anyway.”
“Why not?” I say, struggling to breathe as she adds pressure to my windpipe.
“Don’t you remember what I said to you before you zonked out just a few hours ago?”
I think hard. We lay down. I felt warm and loved. My vision started to blur as sleep took me. Adele said something, but I thought I was dreaming. What was it?
“I can’t remember. I thought it was a dream.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Then tell me,” I plead, choking the words out. “I can’t read your mind! All I know is I woke up, you were talking to Roc, and now you seem to hate me and I don’t know why.”
There are wrinkles and pain on her face, and moisture in her eyes. “I told you that my mom told me that it was no accident that we met. Don’t you get it? Someone wanted us to find each other. Someone did something to make us want each other. Everything’s been a lie from the very beginning.”
What? No, I don’t get it. How could I? None of this makes any sense. But before I can ask her anything, she pushes off me and stalks away, leaving both my body and mind in pieces on the ground.
Chapter Nine
Adele
I glance at Roc as I pass. His wise brown eyes are unreadable, his lips a thin line. I don’t look at Tawni or Trevor. Yeah, training could have gone better, but seriously, how was I supposed to train with what I have on my mind? It’s like asking a miner to dig a hole with a loose boulder hanging above his head. Kind of hard to concentrate.
The bad thing about caves: there’s nowhere to go when you want to get away. I stomp to the other side of
Similar Books
