Page 21 of Power of Five
14
Leralynn
River, Tye, and Shade return to sclice hunting in the afternoon, Coal again seeming to have drawn the short straw of being left behind with me. Because who wouldn’t want to fight slobbering hog things as post-lunch entertainment? We both watch in silence as the others ride off, then turn to weigh each other. Around us, the inn grounds and common room are quiet, guests who were here when we arrived having either chosen or been paid to relocate.
Still shirtless from his earlier practice and apparently impervious to the cold, Coal is leaning against the stable’s outer wall, his broad shoulders threatening to bow the old wood. Well-worn black breeches hang on his hip crests, the V of his abdomen disappearing into the dangerously low waistline. His long blond hair is tied back into a tight bun that my unwieldy locks would never abide. He crosses his arms over his chest and my gaze narrows at something I’d not noticed before.
After three hundred years of fighting, the scars on Coal’s lithe body are understandable, but the ones circling his wrists are something else entirely. Someone shackled him. Held him for so long, rubbing the binds so deep, that Coal’s immortal body never fully repaired the cuts. My mouth dries, my hand aching to brush over his wrist, as if touch could erase the hurt.
I hadn’t realized just how deeply I meant my words when I told River that I claim all the quint brothers as my own.
Coal’s gaze follows mine and hardens, a sudden chill settling over him. The male raises his chin, his eyes flashing with a challenge. I might have told River that I’m claiming the four males as mine, but that doesn’t mean they all wish to claim me in return.
Not that I’m giving up on Coal without a fight. “Are we training or talking?” I ask.
He cocks a brow. “Careful what you ask for, mortal. Tye and Shade aren’t here to coddle you now.”
I take a step toward him, close enough that the sudden scent of male musk washes over me, Coal’s sculpted pectorals and shoulders making me feel absurdly small. “Scared to work without their spotting?” I ask, my voice huskier than usual.
He swallows, the apple of his throat bobbing, even as his hands tighten into fists that I’m certain I’m not intended to notice. “Get on the sand.”
My pulse quickens as I walk the twenty paces to the paddock we trained in earlier, my body still aching from the falls. I must have hit my head harder than I thought during one of those tumbles, because there is no reason any sane being would goad Coal into a repeat performance otherwise.
Coal clears the paddock fence with a smooth jump, not even breaking stride, while I use the gate like normal people do. People. Coal isn’t people. None of the quint are.
“So, what—”
The rest of my question dissolves into a chokedoomphas Coal launches himself at me, his shoulder knocking me cleanly back onto the sand. The fall is hard enough to take my breath, and I swallow a whimper as I stare up at the male, whose chest is heaving slightly faster than it should.
So we are playing throw-Lera-around again. At least I know this game. I wait for Coal to get off me, even as an idiotic part of me hates the thought of losing physical contact. As brutal as Coal is, I feel safer with him than I ever did with Zake.
Except for the part where he is still on top of me. “Get off,” I growl.
“Make me.”
I buck beneath him. Once. Twice. The futility of it sinks through me with each failing twitch of muscle. “Get off,” I say again. Coal’s weight, always considerable, is feeling heavier than it did moments ago, the heat from his body shoving itself into me. The world seems to shrink around us and it’s a struggle to draw breath, to assure myself that there is breath to draw. “Get the hell off! I’m not jesting, Coal.”
He shifts, becoming heavier and hotter still. His face moves in line with mine, our noses touching. “Neither am I,” Coal says, showing sharp canines. “Make me.”
My heart stutters, a sharp lash of panic bursting through my veins. I can’t. I can’t move him. I can’t breathe. I can’t... My teeth grind together, my weakness pressing on my chest as much as Coal’s weight. I was wrong. Coal isn’t safe at all. Stars. He wants me gone, away from his quint brothers, away from his life. He wants to be hunting right now, not minding a useless girl.
“Do something, mortal,” Coal growls. “Save your hide.”
I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable pain. Despite the sand beneath me, I’m back at Zake’s stable, cowering against a stall while he bruises me for imagined misdeeds. For not wanting him.Zake wants me to submit. Even Mimi says I should. Everyone says I should.I shudder, my heart pounding so quickly that the hard-won gasps of air aren’t enough.
The weight atop me disappears, and as quickly as I was on the ground, I’m now in the air, Coal’s powerful hands gripping my shoulders. The male’s blue eyes flash with a fury I’ve never seen as he lifts me to his eye level, my feet dangling off the ground.
“You never do that again,” Coal shouts, his nostrils flaring. “You never stop fighting. You understand?”
I swallow, my mind sluggishly trudging from the darkness.
Coal shakes me, but there is a difference in the motion from how it should feel. A desperation and fear that I mistook for anger. “I can teach you to fight,” Coal tells me. “I can teach you to defend yourself. I can teach you a thousand things you can do. I can’t make you want to do any of them.” He releases me quickly, like a hot coal, setting me back on my feet before crouching on the sand himself, his head braced in his hands.
The marks on Coal’s wrists fill my vision. Thick white scars encircling the tender skin.
I wrap my arms around myself, cold now. “I thought you wanted me to surrender to you,” I whisper—whether in apology or explanation, I don’t know.
His face jerks up, fast like the predator he is. “I never want you to surrender to me, Lera. Not to me, not to anyone. You are too good for that.” Coal rises to his feet, smooth like a panther, and steps back toward me until his musky, metallic scent caresses my cheeks. His chest expands and lowers with deep, powerful breaths, even as his arms rise tentatively to my shoulders. For a male who just used his weight to make me whimper in misery, the care with which he touches my skin is shudderingly intense.
Coal’s touch sends a thousand sparks through me, but it’s his eyes that capture me now. I thought they were just blue, but they are more complex than that, with specks of amethyst around the irises that turn brilliant when the light hits them right.
“What now?” I whisper, my voice hitching because I know the answer. Now is when Coal turns and washes his hands of the mortal girl who is too weak for him.
His breath stills, his hand trailing up to take my chin. “Are you afraid of me, Lera?” he asks.
I open my mouth and shut it without answering, the storm inside too loud to discern. I’m not scared of Coal. But I should be. What do I do with that? I bite my lip. “Do you want me to be?”
He lets out a long breath, closing his eyes for a heartbeat. “I should.” He growls softly—though the warning seems to be for himself, not me—and catches my eyes again. “But I prefer trust. If you could trust me to train you, to make you very, very uncomfortable in the ring... I’d prefer you be a bit afraid of that, but not of me.”
