Page 12 of Wild Bond (Wild Bond #1)

A s I made my way over to the practice fields for my lesson with Dembe early the next morning, with Skye in tow, thoughts of Rake kept plaguing my mind. Due to my unexpected visit to the castle yesterday, I hadn’t had a flying lesson with him. In fact, I hadn’t seen him at all. I tried to convince myself I wasn’t disappointed by that.

The way I had responded to him the other night made it clear I could no longer lie to myself about what I was feeling for Rake. I was attracted to him. Very attracted to him, and I couldn’t afford to be. He was a leader among the dragon riders, and I was a trainee. I wasn’t even a full-fledged rider yet, not until I passed the trials, and that wouldn’t be for several years yet. Not to mention there was a bit of an age difference. I was only twenty, and he had to be at least thirty or close to it. If anything were to develop between us, he would no doubt eventually come to see me as immature and inexperienced.

You are inexperienced, a tiny voice in my head reminded me. A voice I quickly shoved down and ignored.

That was when I noticed a small crowd of teachers and other trainees had gathered around the ring where Dembe and I usually sparred. A sense of curiosity came from Skye where she flew a few feet above my head.

I wasn’t sure what could have caused such a stir this early in the morning, but as I came to a halt at the edge of the crowd and saw what they were all gawking at, I got my answer.

Rake . Rake was here.

And he was fighting Dembe.

And they were both shirtless.

I couldn’t help it. My mouth dropped open.

I was vaguely aware of Skye coming to rest on my shoulder as I took in the scene.

Each man held a sword in one hand, and they were fighting each other with a ferocity and power that was mesmerizing to watch. The way they moved was like nothing I had ever seen. They were both graceful and fluid in their movements despite their size, and so fast I could barely follow some of their blocks and strikes.

It was quickly apparent they were pretty evenly matched. Though Dembe was bulkier, and his blows rang against Rake’s sword like a hammer on an anvil, Rake was faster. His leanly muscled body bent and twisted out of the way with practiced ease.

I couldn’t take my eyes off all that bronze skin, his wide muscular shoulders, broad chest, and the ridges at his abdomen. Then my gaze traveled lower to where the two defined lines at his hips disappeared into his black fighting leathers. Swirling black ink covered most of his right arm and shoulder as well as his right pec, only stopping part way down his ribs. The design almost looked like flames, but then also seemed to form other shapes within them. I would have to be closer to see what they were. I was able to see that both men sported the familiar dragon rider tattoo on their right bicep.

Without consciously meaning to, I took a few steps closer until I was right on the edge of the chalk outline, where it was considered safe to stand and observe.

I realized Daisha and her two cronies, whose names I had now learned were Morina and Silva, were standing a few feet away from me, observing the fight as well. I didn’t think they’d noticed me yet.

“With moves like that, it makes you wonder what else he does well,” the redhead, Morina, murmured to Daisha.

“Shh!” Silva laughed, as all three giggled like little girls. “He might hear you.”

“Of course, Daisha doesn’t have to wonder,” Morina teased.

My gut tightened.

A smug smile flitted over Daisha’s beautiful face, before she said primly, “A lady doesn’t kiss and tell.”

The women laughed again.

Trying not to think about the fact that Daisha and Rake might have had a relationship at one time, or how that made me feel, I turned my mind back to the men.

The fight lasted several more minutes, and I was impressed at how lethal both men were. Eventually, Rake twisted forward after blocking Dembe’s strike and managed to disarm him with one quick flick of his wrist. In the next instant, Rake’s blade was at Dembe’s throat and both men were grinning and breathing hard.

Some of the trainees around me clapped, including Daisha and her friends, while others began to disperse. For the first time, I noted their dragons were nowhere in sight.

Dembe glanced over then, finally noticing me. “Did you enjoy the show, Rin?” he inquired, that wide grin still on his face.

Rake’s head whipped around at Dembe’s words, but I purposely didn’t look at him as I stepped forward. “I did. And I see you’ve been holding out on me.”

“Only when it comes to sword play,” he qualified. “If these were daggers, it would be another matter.”

“Daggers?” Rake asked curiously from my other side.

“Rin here is rather skilled with knives,” Dembe explained. “So much so that I think she might even give you a challenge.”

“Is that so?” Rake mused, sounding intrigued.

Finally meeting his stare, I found him looking at me with an assessing gaze.

“Care to give it a go?” he asked, gesturing to the weapons rack.

The idea of fighting Rake, even just in practice, both thrilled and terrified me. What would it feel like? I immediately decided that wouldn’t be a good idea. I could barely keep my eyes from straying to the beads of sweat dripping down his chest as it was. Not to mention the way I wanted to run my fingers up and down the short, rough hair on that chiseled jaw of his. My mind kept returning to the other night.

Nope. Definitely not a good idea.

I fought to keep a somewhat neutral expression on my face. “Maybe some other time. I have plans to train with Dembe.” A flash of amusement entered Rake’s eyes at my brusque refusal, but I turned to Dembe before he could respond. “That is, unless you’re too tired now after your fight?”

“Not at all,” Dembe said, a knowing look passing over his face as he regarded Rake and me.

“Good,” I nodded, again pointedly ignoring Rake and the sudden annoying flush on my cheeks. “Why don’t you go deal with your admirers, Commander, so we can get to sparring.”

“Admirers?” Rake’s brow furrowed.

I gestured meaningfully to Daisha and her friends who were still standing there. All three watched our interaction closely.

Rake glanced over as if noticing the women for the first time, before returning his attention to me. “I’m talking to you,” he said simply.

I scoffed. “Yes, and as fun as slumming it with me is, I’m sure you’d much rather enjoy—”

“Slumming it?” Rake spoke over me, his gaze sharpening at my words.

Was that a flash of anger on his face? Like usual, it was gone so fast I wasn’t sure.

“I’m just saying,” I stammered, surprised by the intensity of his reaction, “that I’m sure spending time in Daisha and her friends’ stimulating company would be preferrable to you.”

“It wouldn’t,” he stated, and his gaze bored into mine as he continued in a slightly lowered voice, “and you obviously haven’t the faintest clue whose company I would prefer.” Before I could respond, Rake nodded at Dembe. “I’ll leave you to your training.”

Rake returned his sparring sword to the rack and picked up his discarded shirt. Holding it in his hands he strode off. I couldn’t help watching as he did.