Page 6

‘You knew that from the start,’ he growled. That tight coil of desire within him unravelled as his focus honed in on every point of contact between them, on the friction between their bodies, on her heat pressing into him.

He could feel the cold brush of the steel against his skin, his throat bobbing as he drank in the sight of her, as he relished her touch, however violent. His cock was rock hard between them; there was no denying it.

Her gaze pierced his. She was so close, close enough that he might just risk slitting his own throat on her blade to lean in and —

Her eyes dropped to his mouth and she bit her lower lip, her breath audibly catching, rage and arousal entwined.

In that moment, Wilder didn’t care what vows he’d made to himself. He didn’t care that he was her mentor and that she was not only his apprentice, but a lost princess of the midrealms. He wanted her mouth on his, he wanted —

She cast the sword aside and kissed him.

Furies save him.This.Thiswas why he hadn’t slept in weeks.Thiswas what he had imagined day after day since they’d parted.

A low, carnal moan escaped him as he opened his mouth to her, her tongue brushing against his, her teeth capturing his lower lip. Wilder kissed her fiercely, uninhibited, unleashed, fighting the roaring instinct to strip her bare and fuck her in the mud.

He ground into her from beneath, cursing the layers of clothing between them, seeking the wet heat of her. He gripped her backside and crushed her against his erection. A whimper caught in her throat and she pressed her breasts to his chest. They were starved, desperate for one another. Those three weeks had been the longest of his life.

He sat up, cradling her in his lap, breaking their kiss only to scrape his teeth down the side of her neck, tasting sweat and rain, eliciting a soft cry of pleasure from her. Longing coursed through him and the urge to take her then and there heightened, becoming all-consuming. He cupped her breast through her shirt, her nipple hard against his palm, and she gasped.

‘Wilder —’

Gods, he loved it when she said his name. It caused a vibration in his chest, a storm of his own —

Thea leapt off him. The cold swept in as she snatched up her blade and sheathed it, veering back from him as though burned. ‘We can’t,’ she panted. ‘You made yourself clear in the broom closet. Remember? Do you remember what you said to me?’

‘If you insist on this stupid arrangement, then so be it. We will be mentor and apprentice, nothing more… What happened in the Bloodwoods was a mistake. It won’t ever happen again, Alchemist.’

Wilder was on his feet in an instant, straightening his clothes and adjusting his cock. ‘I remember,’ he murmured. He blinked through the rain, cursing himself and his lack of control. He was a Warsword of Thezmarr, for fuck’s sake, and he’d caved. Within mere moments of his return, despite all his vows and good intentions, he’d caved. And in the middle of the drenched training ground, no less. Anyone could have seen them.

But he couldn’t help himself – not when it came to her.

‘You’re right. This shouldn’t have happened.’ He forced out the words, looking away from the blush staining her cheeks, from the rise and fall of her breasts. ‘It was a mistake.’

‘I suppose you can add it to your list,’ Thea said bitterly. ‘It gets longer by the day.’

Wilder raked his fingers through his hair. He wouldneverput her on any such list, but perhaps that was best left unsaid. He took a steadying breath, gathering himself before he rummaged through his pocket and thrust a blood-stained piece of parchment at her.

‘What’s this?’

‘Drills, weights, endurance exercises and meditations for you to do.’

‘Unbelievable,’ she muttered.

And Wilder couldn’t help but echo a reply he had made to her once before. ‘You have no idea.’

Still fighting to catch her breath, she studied his instructions with a scowl. ‘Some of these look more like dances than combat practice.’

‘I don’t dance. I kill. As will you.’ He met her gaze, unflinching. ‘You’re going to be training hard. Training right.’

‘Ihavebeen training hard.’

‘Not with me.’ He made sure the implication was clear: whatever she had experienced up until now was nothing. The training at the hands of the guild’s masters had only been the beginning. His anger sparked anew as he thought of how she’d run herself ragged, of how she’d failed to tend to those dislocated knuckles. He’d put them back in place himself if he could stand the idea of hurting her. ‘You’re to see a healer at once. If we’re going to be living together —’

Thea blanched. ‘What?’

‘You’ll be moving into the cabin after the evening meal tonight.’

‘I will do no such thing.’