Page 5 of Great Falls Rogue
Clank. Clank. Clank.The ringing metal called a deadly cadence, the sharpness of the blades multiplying the stakes. Demanding every ounce of attention. Every bit of focus.Clank. Clank. Clank.
The blades locked beside River’s head, Coal’s pressing down, River’s up. River’s thighs burned, his arms trembling with the effort.
With a derisive snort, Coal kicked River in the chest.
River grunted, the force of the warrior’s blow making him stumble back.
“You’ll have to try harder than that,” Coal growled softly, barely sounding winded.
River’s breaths came short and fast, his lungs stinging even as he swung his sword tip back to ready guard, watching Coal’s lithe body circle like a predator, black pants and bare torso gleaming in the low sunlight. Did the bastard ever get tired? River adjusted his grip, his sweaty palm starting to slide on the sword’s hilt.
That one moment of fidgeting, of losing focus, hurled River right back into the very thoughts he’d come to escape.
Leralynn’s image came to him unbidden, River’s body aching to know what she would look like in the setting sun. He longed to bask in the glowing skin of her bare shoulders, the deep chocolate eyes that had held so much intelligence and compassion when he’d looked into them earlier today. And mistrust. Smart girl. With a body as lush as hers, Leralynn should be wary of men. River doubted there was a single one in the Academy who hadn’t dreamt of her at least once since she’d arrived, and that very thought made him want to brush his scent over her. To mark her as his.
Which she wasn’t. Leralynn looked like Diana, but she wasn’t River’s beloved wife. He knew as much with his mind, though his body refused to agree.
“Should I take a nap while you pull your head out of your ass?” Coal asked.
River blinked, then lowered the blade with a rough shake of his head. Anyone but Coal would have injured him in the past seconds, and River knew it. “Is Leralynn having difficulty in morning training?” he asked.
Coal’s jaw tightened. “I’m not rutting with her, if that’s what you are asking. I’ve not even sparred with her myself since we spoke.”
“I was asking exactly what I intended to ask,” River snapped, even as he knew the sudden jab of fury inside him was meant for himself more than for Coal. Then the rest of Coal’s statement registered. “Wait. You’ve not trained with her at all?”
“No.” Tension rippled through Coal’s bare torso, and River thought he knew exactly how the man felt to be denied Leralynn’s company. Though, unlike River, Coal had at least felt Lera’s body beneath him once.River didn’t know whether that would make it easier or harder—either way, it made it no more appropriate for either of them.
“What about the split brow?” River asked, calling up Lera’s words. “Did she earn it from someone else?”
Coal huffed, hefting his sword in his hand like a predator too long denied his chase. “It didn’t happen on my watch. Are we fighting or gossiping?”
River’s jaw tightened. With anyone but Coal, he’d have dismissed the words as an understandable oversight, but the warrior before him missed nothing. Especially when it came to Lera. “She lied to me,” River said, realizing he’d spoken aloud only when Coal answered.
“Yes, she does that.”
River’s grip on his sword tightened, the unexpected hurt stinging his chest. He shouldn’t be bothered. He was in charge of student discipline, for star’s sake. Of course a cadet would lie before admitting something that might get her into trouble. And River was too experienced to take such things personally. Or he should be.
“Fight,” Coal growled, the sound primal. Feral. As if River’s talk of Leralynn had roused something desperate in the man. Before River could so much as salute, Coal was on him, his sword swinging for River’s throat.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
The metal sang again, drowning out the world. Waiting until Coal was midstep, River rushed in, his sword swinging in a high-low-side combination so fast and powerful that Coal retreated a step in his parries. The blades clashed with a deafening, deadly ring that promised injury to any unfortunate limb that might get in the way. When the tip of River’s blade opened a gash in Coal’s biceps, the warrior didn’t even blink. Didn’t hesitate either.
Allowing the blade to bite him deeper, Coal used the opening to close the distance with River, even though it meant sliding his own flesh along the sharp blade. River’s eyes had only a moment to widen before he felt the sharp point of a dagger that Coal had pulled from stars knew where against the soft triangle of his throat.
“Yield.” Coal’s voice was ice, his blood still dripping onto River’s blade.
4
Lera
The sight of Shade leaning against the fence of our training corral, hands stuck casually in his trouser pockets as he speaks with Coal, sends a ripple of energy through me. In some ways, the two males couldn’t be more different, Shade’s long black hair, kind eyes, and relaxed shoulders an utter contrast to Coal’s crossed-arm glare. Yet, the pair’s size and power —not to mention their chiseled, beautiful faces—set them apart from the rest of the group. As does my body’s instinctual hum upon seeing them together.
I am not the only one humming, it appears. By the time Arisha and I duck under the training yard fence—Arisha sneezing and nearly hitting her head in the process—the female half of the class has migrated closer to the chatting pair. The boys strut about the edges of the court, practice swords in hand and chests out. One hair away from pissing in the corners just to mark their territory.
Coal’s gaze catches me as I straighten, his blue eyes dark and feral. The sudden intensity of even such a causal connection sends a ripple of energy along my spine. Unwelcome energy. The male hasn’t come near me since we mated in the cave, always calling a change in rotation anytime we come close to facing each other on the sands. It’s taken weeks to build up the emotional calluses to feel nothing for the oversight, and I little want to surrender the hard-won shields over a single glance.
“Are we learning field medicine today, Master Shade?” Katita steps close to Shade and Coal, breaching the two paces of empty space everyone else leaves around them. With her long legs and shining blond hair whispering in the wind, she has the grace and looks to match her confidence. When Shade gazes down at her and smiles, golden eyes flashing in the sun, my jaw clenches so hard, I can hear my teeth scraping together.
