Page 75 of The Call of Crimson
“Ayden, I’m still not doing this!” Darian calls after him.
“You know she’s too skilled for the others,” Ayden throws over his shoulder.. “Just do it, and I’ll make it up to you later.”
Darian folds his arms. “How, exactly, are you planning to make it up to me?”
“What if I make it up to you?” Rowina asks, a sweet smile curling her lips.
Darian lifts a skeptical brow. “Are you finally going to get in this ring and let me train you?”
“Mmm, no. But what if I let you take me home for family dinner?”
“Fine,” he finally relents, “but I’m not pulling my punches for her.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to,” Ayden replies as he strips off his shirt, heading for Aurelius across the ring. Beside him, Aurelius pulls his own shirt free, leaving both males bare-chested under the late morning sun.
What a glorious sight that is, I think to myself, momentarily distracted.
Ayden may not be what my soul craves, but his body does something to me. He and Aurelius are the same height, but Ayden carries at least thirty more pounds of pure, defined muscle. I thoroughly enjoy every inch of Aurelius’ lean, honed form, but Ayden?
Ayden is like reading the same book in a different, equally sinful language.
“You done ogling them,General?” Darian sneers.
I snap my attention back to him, only to find him shitless as well.
Fuck me,I think grimly.Why did the asshole have to look so good without a shirt?
Darian, like Ayden, is all carved muscle and brutal strength. But where Ayden and Aurelius’s skin is kissed by the sun, Darian is fair like mepale and dusted with chestnut hair that trails down the hard vee of his hips. He’s taller too, by at least half a foot, and solid as a wall.
Gods, what was wrong with me? Did I really find this male attractive?
Yeah, babe. Assholes are kind of your type,my inner voice supplies helpfully.
The inner voice had started sounding suspiciously like Elijah lately.
Not that asshole, I grumble inwardly.
“You done flirting with the princess?” I snap out loud, ignoring my traitorous brain.
“Are you going to fight me or just drool all day,General?”Every time Darian says my title, it holds more disdain than the last. It was really starting to piss me off.
“Let’s go,General,” I retort with equal disdain.
“There are a couple of ground rules,” he says as he paces into the ring. “One—you fight without your Gifts. You’re only good as your powerless self.”
“I can respect that,” I say with a curt nod.
“Two—first to tap out, pass out, or exit the ring loses.”
“Fair enough.”
“Three—nothing else is off limits. Your enemy won’t fight fair, so I don’t train fair. There is no honor in dying because you played nice.”
“I’m feeling an odd sense of respect for you and your rules. I don’t like it.”
“I swear to the gods, though—” His eyes narrow. “If you go for my cock, I’ll make you fucking regret it. That’s kind of an unspoken exception to the third rule.”
“Males and their damn cocks.” I roll my eyes. “You have nothing to worry about. I want to stay as far away as possible from your tiny appendage.”
