Page 82 of Warrior's Captive
Tai’ri, who’d been standing to the side watching her with a professional eye, shook his head. “You’ll injure yourself. You just gave birth.”
“Sixweeksago, Tai’ri. You said you would train me.” She pinched her upper arm. “I’m flabby.
He gave her a reproachful look. “You aren’t flabby. You’re motherly. You aren’t a warrior.”
And that was the problem, wasn’t it? “Maybe if I’d been a warrior, I’d never have been kidnapped.”
They stared at each other. “And then we would never have met. Had Mayleen.”
“I want to be able to defend myself. I want to be strong.”
He came closer, cupped her face in his hands. “I agree. I just want you to give yourself time. I know you think six weeks is enough time, but your body is recovering from more than a regular human birth. I talked to my mother, andshesaid twelve weeks, minimum. A fourth trimester.”
Yes, Agata had warned Vivian as well about a fourth trimester and not to be so eager to follow standard human guidelines of six weeks to recovery. “In fact,” his mother had said, “on Yedahn we really give the mother a year before we expect her body to return anywhere even close to pre pregnancy.”
“What if there’s no time?” Vivian asked. “What if someone comes after us again?”
His expression hardened. “Then they’ll die.”
“Or?”
Tai’ri grimaced. “Alright. Alright. I wanted you to have time to relax and enjoy the baby. Once I start training you, I’m going to train you the way I would one of my people. I’ll demand your full attention.”
“Good. Let’s start now.”
* * *
Vivian giggled, curling in on herself in self-defense as Tai’ri tickled her mercilessly.
“That’s what you get for not defending that block,” he purred, fingerstorturing her sides.
“Tai’ri!” she howled. “That’s enough.”
“There are consequences for sloppiness. Though I could punish you in other ways.”
Both of them stilled at the tone in his voice. Vivian uncurled from her ball and rose to her knees to face him. He crouched, eyes hot and roving over her body. She really didn’t understand what he saw; she was sweaty, plump, hair frazzled from sweat and her belly was . . . not what it once was. Her boobs were leaking through her thin tank top again; she’d forgotten the cloth pads.
But she narrowed her eyes at him. He wasn’t going to dangle the bait of his body in front of her as a distraction. “I’ll fight you for it. If I score two hits in five bouts, you make lunch. If I don’t . . .”
His gaze brightened, smile turning feral. “You realized you just gave me the best excuse to kick your ass.”
She rolled her eyes. “With what? A feather boa?”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
“She’s trying to say your training sucks,” Banujani’s flat voice said.
Vivian started, though Tai’ri rose, seemingly unsurprised by her presence. His second in command fixed him with a look. “All this giggling makes me ill. I thought you were supposed to be training her.”
His shoulders hunched. “I am.”
“You’re flirting. I’ve been watching you. You’re not taking it seriously, you’ll get her killed.”
His expression hardened, a cold expression snapping into place. “Careful, Banu.”
Banujani advanced into the room, stabbing a finger at him. “You can’t train her. You wince every time she gasps or flinches, and all you can think about is sex.”
He opened his mouth, closed it.
