Page 38 of Wild Bond

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.

Afterthefiascoonthe training grounds that morning, I made a point of avoiding—not running from—Rake all day. Not that our paths generally crossed much, but I still made the effort to not be anywhere I thought he might be. Thank the Nine he hadn’t summoned me for a flying lesson. I had no idea how I would have gotten out of that.

You obviously haven’t the faintest clue whose company I would prefer.His words from earlier still made me shiver whenever I thought of them.

Pushing that thought aside, I tried to focus on what I was doing. So far, trying to find Lessa had been an exhausting task.

Sneaking out of the rider compound while everyone was preoccupied with the evening meal had been surprisingly easy. Though I guess I technically wasn’t a prisoner any longer, I still thought one of Rake’s goons—namely Zade—would have stopped me the moment I tried to leave the safety of The Tower, but no one had.

I had spent several hours visiting some of our old haunts trying to find my young friend, but so far, no luck. I had purposely been avoiding Master Safan’s part of the city in hopes that I could find Lessa without crossing that scumbag’s path. I would go if I had to, but I would like to avoid it if at all possible.

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