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He’s fucking toying with me.

At least Archie had the decency of not mocking my inexperience.

Channeling my irritation into my attacks, I throw extra force behind each swing.

He dodges again, as if he could do it in his sleep. “You’re going to have to do much better than that,kitten.”

The name unlocks a deep rooted anger within me. How fucking dare he think he can call me such a thing. Impulsively, I lash out with my full strength, sweat gathering on my brow.

With a simple twist of his wrist, he disarms me and grabs my other forearm in one move. He whips me around, twirling me away from him, and pinning my back into his hard chest. The cold metal of his sword kisses the delicate skin on my neck, near the cut from the last time I was held hostage.

Cole shifts from the edge of the ring, fists clenched and ready to pounce. “Darian, if you don’t let her go in five seconds…”

“Control your emotions, or they’ll control you. We have no room for deadly mistakes,” Darian hisses in my ear.

I writhe as his breath caresses the sensitive part between my neck and ear. Every attempt to free myself is unsuccessful, and the memory of him adamant on killing Archie in their last sparring practice resurfaces in my mind. But he doesn’t deal the final, killing blow.

“What? You aren’t going to kill the weakest link now? How veryanticlimacticof you,” I hiss at Darian, struggling in his grasp.

Darian chuckles behind me, his laugh radiating in my chest. He leans closer, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. It takes everything in me to hold down a shiver. We are far,fartoo close for comfort now.

His voice dips to something only the two of us can discern. “If you’re looking for a climax, kitten, all you have to do is ask.”

I drop my elbow into his crotch. His sword drops from my throat and clatters to the ground, his startled gasp whispers against my ear. Pushing out of Darian’s grasp, I turn to face him. He folds over, his face lowered as he braces his palms on his knees.

Cole springs to my side and muffles a laugh behind tight lips. I don’t think anyone else heard Darian—just me. Because if Cole heard the innuendo, he might kill Darian himself.

“I’ll take that as a win,” I declare, strutting off the center of the sparring ring with Cole.

Archie loops an arm around my neck, chuckling and raises a hand to high-five me. “Remind me to never call you kitten! That’s two wins for you today. Maybe you should start training me?”

I roll my eyes and playfully slap his arm. Darian sucks in a loud inhale from where he is still hunched over in the sparring circle and stands. His fuming green eyes raze me before he slips off back to camp.

Good riddance.

After lunch with Archie, I head to Cole’s room and knock on his door before inching it open. Cole sits at his desk, his angled chin perched on his fist as he stares down at the papers in front of him. He furiously scans the pages with lowered eyebrows.

I slip into his room, closing the door behind me, and he finally looks over to me.

A smile twitches up at the corner of Cole’s mouth. “Hey. Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“Hey.” I float across the room to him, circling my arms around his neck and looking down over his shoulder at his desk, wondering what has him so focused.

“That was pretty impressive, you fighting Darian,” he praises.

“Oh, but not Archie?”

He laughs, smiling up at me. “Of course Archie, too. Admittedly, he took it a little too easy on you.”

“I think we all knew that.”

“What did Darian say to you?” he asks.

I bite my tongue, trying to think of what to say. I’d rather not upset Cole about the things Darian said. Cole has enough on his plate already. That, and I’m perfectly capable of handling Darian on my own. “Just that…you’re a protective big brother.”

He watches me carefully. “If he keeps harassing you, let me know. I’ll deal with him. But keep your distance from him—he’s dangerous.”

I shift my focus from Cole down to the papers scattered on his desk. “What are you up to?”