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C ora found Teryn in the armory. The shuffling of his feet and the sound of his heavy breaths reached her ears just before she rounded the corner. He didn’t notice her approach. She kept her feet silent so as not to disturb his practice and leaned against the wall just past the threshold.

His pale hair was tied back, revealing a determined look on his face. He wore only trousers, his nightshirt draped over a rack of polearms. Sweat glistened over his taut muscles, a sight that wasn’t at all unpleasant. She studied the contraction of his abdomen as he pivoted and slashed, the bulge of his biceps as he thrusted. She’d seen him train with a sword and hunt with a spear, but she hadn’t watched him train quite like this—with focus and zeal and a deadly skill that was a bit terrifying yet…strangely erotic.

She folded her arms and leaned her head against the wall, her gaze sweeping over the length of him. Mother Goddess, she was lucky this man was hers. Not that she’d gotten a chance to enjoy her husband quite yet. They’d had their night of passion before their wedding, but they still hadn’t had a true wedding night. As she watched him move gracefully over the training floor, she realized just how unfair that was. Here Teryn was practicing for a battle they couldn’t avoid while she’d spent…however long she’d been gone establishing an alliance. They should have been wrapped in each other’s arms, enjoying the life of newlyweds, not facing war.

“Are you going to keep staring?” Teryn said, startling her. His gaze was fixed on his imaginary enemy as he sidestepped, then thrust. After a final slash and thrust, he angled his body to face her and planted the butt of his spear on the ground. A corner of his mouth lifted. “Or are you going to kiss me?”

A thrilling warmth ignited in her chest at the challenge in his eyes, the taunting in his voice. If he could still make her feel like that amidst everything that was going on, maybe there was hope for them yet. For them to enjoy some semblance of newlywed life.

She raced over to him and he met her halfway, grasping her around the waist with his free arm and pressing his lips to hers. Her palm rested over the slick skin of his pectoral. Just as quickly as he’d kissed her, he pulled away.

His expression turned bashful, but he held her eyes. “Sorry. I’m sweaty, aren’t I?”

“I don’t entirely mind,” she said with a coy look, though she had to admit, her lips tasted like salt.

He released her waist and strode to the rack of polearms, exchanging his spear for the shirt he’d hung there. She was almost disappointed until she realized he was simply drying off. A wicked smile curved her lips. She wanted to look at him like this a little longer. Extend the playful mood he’d begun.

She swept closer to him, evading his detection while he was drying his face with his shirt. As he brought the linen article down and found her standing so close, his eyes went wide. She blinked up at him, an innocent expression as she reached for the hilt hidden behind her back.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she pulled the dagger from her golden sash and flicked it to his neck. He flinched only slightly but otherwise held perfectly still.

“Don’t let me interrupt your training, love of mine,” she said.

His eyes simmered, whether with challenge or desire she knew not. All she knew was how it tightened her belly. His lips tugged into a wry grin and he dropped his shirt to the floor. Then, in a flash of movement, he whirled away and retrieved a wooden training dagger from a nearby stand.

They circled each other, and Cora considered whether she should dive for a training blade too. But they were both skilled enough to defend themselves and know when to hold back. She made the first move, striking with her dagger, and he parried her blade with ease. Swiveling to the side, she aimed for his ribs. He caught her wrist in his hand, angled her arm behind her, and twisted her around until her back was to his chest, her knife hand between them. He pressed his practice blade beneath her chin.

“There’s something familiar about this position,” Teryn said, bringing his lips close to her ear.

She shuddered at the sound and recalled a moment from their first meeting. He’d wrenched her arm behind her that time too, pulling her against his chest, and asked her to stop trying to stab him. The closeness of his voice had caught her off guard then, but now it made her want to get even closer.

She tried to get free the same way she had then, by striking his instep with her heel. Predicting her move, he widened his stance, but he loosened his hold enough to allow her to wrench her knife hand from his grip. She whirled to face him again, striking. He parried, shifted, parried again. At her next strike, he caught her wrist and pulled her to him once more. This time, her dagger wasn’t between them, leaving her back flush to his chest. He held her wrist in place while securing his forearm over her middle. His grip was firm enough to hold her still yet soft enough to feel more like an embrace.

She didn’t struggle as he brought his lips to the lobe of her ear. Instead, she angled her head, daring him to land a blow with either his mouth or his wooden blade. Instead, he whispered, “What are you wearing, by the way?”

“You only now noticed?” To be honest, she’d only remembered her state of dress when she’d neared the hall leading to the armory. By then, she’d sensed Teryn’s proximity and hadn’t felt like changing. It was after midnight now, and Cora hadn’t come across any servants on her way to find Teryn, only her husband’s guards, who were posted outside the hall.

“Oh, I noticed. Also…” His forearm froze against her midsection. Then, angling the hand that held her wrist, he spun her away from him, and for a moment it felt more like they were dancing. He didn’t release her wrist. Instead, he angled her arm overhead, bent at the elbow, and stepped in close. His eyes swept over her form, lingering on the deep V-shaped neck of her robe. His throat bobbed. “You aren’t wearing a corset.”

She lifted her chin, her chest, letting the lay of the thin silk and the peaks it accentuated speak volumes. “I’m not.”

That surprised him enough to allow her to catch him off guard. She freed her wrist and darted a step back.

“How about this?” she said. “For every blow you land, I’ll remove an article of clothing.”

He bit his bottom lip. When he spoke, his voice came out thick. “And what if you land a?—”

Before he could finish, she lunged forward and slapped his thigh with the flat of her blade. Just as quickly, she leaped back, a victorious grin on her lips. “If I land a blow, you have to do the same.”

His mouth fell open. “Did that one count?”

“It counted.” She dropped her gaze to his waistband, then fluttered her lashes at him. “So go on.”

With exaggerated reluctance, he brought the fingers of his free hand to the top button of his fly.

Cora watched with greedy anticipation?—

Before she knew what was happening, he lunged forward and slapped her lightly with his wooden dagger, in the same place she’d struck him.

She squeaked in surprise, her defenses thoroughly shaken. She debated striking back, but he was already retreating.

“Looks like we’ve both landed a blow,” he said as he worked his buttons in earnest this time. Then, in a taunting tone, he echoed her earlier words. “So go on.”

With a huff, she reached under the skirt of her robe with one hand, not daring to drop her dagger, and slid her trousers down. Teryn stepped out of his bottoms, and she was disappointed to see he wore linen undershorts. Devils take those undershorts. Meanwhile, she had no underclothes at all, for Garot had only left her the robe, sash, and trousers. At least the plentiful folds of her robe’s skirt hid her bottom half, which meant she still had the more exciting view.

She charged forward, thrusting her dagger, but he parried it. She charged again. Again. His defenses had grown sharper, fiercer. It seemed he was determined to get her out of another article of clothing. Well, she wouldn’t go easy on him. She was equally as?—

With a yelp, she tumbled back. She’d been so focused on striking Teryn’s wrist with the edge of her free hand, she hadn’t anticipated him sweeping out her feet. While she’d managed to force him to release his weapon, she’d lost her chance to land a blow with hers.

He caught her before she could fully lose her balance and guided her fall to the floor. Pinning her hands over her head, he lowered his body over hers, careful not to crush her with his full weight.

Heat burned deep in her core, tingling at the thrill of him being on top of her. Yet they were at an impasse. His training dagger was off to the side, but she still held hers. As soon as he released her arms, she could land a winning blow. Now all she needed to do was get him to release her.

With a wicked grin, she wiggled her hips slightly. “This brings back memories too.”

“I woke you up from a nightmare much like this.”

She spread her legs slightly, letting him settle more firmly against her. She hooked a leg around his hip, making his eyes widen. “I seem to recall you promising me pleasure.”

“Is that how you remember it?”

She arched her brow. “Am I wrong?”

“What I said back then was if I took pleasure in touching you, you would experience pleasure too.”

“And are you, Teryn? Are you taking pleasure in touching me?”

He rocked his hips slightly, and she could feel proof that he was, in fact, taking great pleasure from this. His grip slackened.

That was all she needed.

Clamping her legs around his hips, she shifted her weight and rolled him onto his back, she on top now. He lost hold of her wrists but flung his hand out toward his wooden dagger. Just as he touched it to her side, she brought her very real blade to his throat.

“I win,” she said through panting breaths.

“We both landed a blow,” he said.

“Yes, but you only have one more item to take off.”

“Don’t you too?”

Holding his eyes with a triumphant smile, she reached with her free hand for the sash around her waist. She tugged the tie, and it fell from around her robe.

His expression fell. “Damn that sash.”

“Now you know how I felt when I saw your undershorts. Which you will now remove. With both hands. I’ve won, so drop your dagger and take them off.”

Desire darkened his irises at the demand in her tone. He did as told, releasing the dagger and reaching for his waistband. She rose to her knees, still straddling him, and kept her blade to his throat. She accommodated his moves, easing her blade away to allow him to fully slide his shorts down. He held her eyes all the while, which only made the heat between her legs grow to an insatiable, pulsing throb.

Fully nude, he reclined back down, and she lowered herself onto him once more, spreading the folds of her skirt around her so nothing lay between their bare flesh. His hardness dug against her thigh, even as she continued to hold her knife’s edge to his throat. She wasn’t sure why she kept it there, only that it deepened the thrill, the desire that coursed through her. And from the way he watched her, jaw slack, eyes roving the sliver of naked skin her robe revealed, he felt the same.

“Do you want me like this?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“You mean with murder in your eyes and a knife between us? Gods, Cora.” He uttered her name through his teeth. “I want you in every way you’ll have me.”

She shifted her hips, rocked them, and he moaned with want. His hands caged her hips, fingers clamped around the silk folds of her skirt with an intensity that spoke of either pleasure or frustration. Her dagger’s position left him with little range of motion.

He spoke again, echoing her question back to her. “Do you want me like this?”

In answer, she slid over him, holding his gaze as she guided him inside her. She seated herself fully over him and gasped at the feeling, the fullness. Teryn cursed, his eyes fluttering shut.

She tapped the underside of his chin with the flat of her blade. “Keep your eyes open and watch me.”

“Devils,” he groaned as his eyes locked on hers again, lips quirked in a devious smile. She moved then, sliding up and down his length, igniting pleasurable sensations that burned hotter with every thrust. Just when she thought she could quench that need, her desire only grew. Teryn’s expression, the clear yearning in his eyes, the sounds he made, the way he made no move to make her drop her blade, the way he watched her just like she’d demanded, only increased that feeling.

She never imagined she’d want something like this, that she’d take pleasure with a blade in her hand. But gods, it was a thrill. And yet, even as her passion burned, the thrill gave way to more want, and she couldn’t take another moment without his hands on her. She tossed her blade to the side.

Teryn moved at once, lifting his upper body to meet her in a crushing kiss, a violent dance of teeth and tongues. His hands roved everywhere he hadn’t been able to touch before, tangling in her hair, caressing the column of her neck, then down the length of skin visible through her open robe. He pulled back slightly and parted the robe further, baring her breasts, her stomach, and the meeting of their bodies.

They watched the way they moved together for several beats, then his mouth closed over her breast. She threw her head back at the caress of his tongue over her hardened peak, and let her robe slip fully from her shoulders. Moans left her lips, ones she didn’t care enough to stifle. The guards weren’t close enough to hear them, and even if they were, she didn’t care. There was a boldness to what they were doing that made her euphoric and a roughness between them that hadn’t been there the first night they’d made love. Through it all wove a softness in her heart that made her feel safe. Loved. Cherished. Even as Teryn’s teeth grazed her skin. Even as she dug her nails into his back.

Release began to unravel inside her, and she rode that cresting wave. Teryn aided it with his fingertips, circling over her most sensitive spot as he continued to move inside her. Then finally, the sweetest, fiercest pleasure erupted from her, one that sent stars to her eyes and whimpers from her lips. Teryn found his release next, and he guided her hips through every wave and valley until they both were thoroughly sated.

As they fell back, out of breath, and stared at the armory ceiling, Teryn spoke through trembling breaths. “Say whatever you want, but I think I won that battle.”