Page 78 of Wicked Rivals
Linley held the cap tight to his head. “I’ll keep it on if it’s the same to you, my lord.” Then he rolled up his sleeves and stepped into the ring.
“I’ll only end up knocking it off.”
“I’m hoping you’ll go easy on me, my lord.”
Charles raised his bare fists. “Put up your paws and let me see your form.”
Linley curled his fingers into fists and lifted them up awkwardly.
Charles dropped his hands and walked up to Linley with a critical eye. Linley held his breath as the other man raised his hands higher.
“Like this.” Charles seemed to be satisfied, and then he walked backward, putting distance between them before he raised his own hands.
“Should I throw a punch?” Linley offered.
With a nod, Charles waited for him to move.
Studying his master’s body, Linley looked for points of weakness. He’d spent more than a year learning how to fight from a master. He could see Charles’s brandy had weakened his stance, and one elbow hung lower than the other. With just a shift to the right he could cut through Charles’s guard without his master even being aware of it before Linley had him on the ground and pinned.
It was not the way a gentleman would fight, of course, but he hadn’t been trained to fight like a gentleman. He’d been trained to survive.
“Don’t dawdle, lad. Show me your moves.” Charles danced a step closer, gently feigning a throw with one hand.
Linley analyzed the way he moved, graceful as a waltz. Linley would not get past Charles’s defenses by fighting fair. Knowing this, Linley sidestepped, and the instant his opponent mirrored him, he shot forward and landed a blow to Charles’s shoulder. It was a glancing blow, not intended to hurt.
Charles’s gray eyes lit up with delight. “Well done. Again.”
It was a ritual. Charles was banishing the demons that so often tried to drown him. The nightmares he suffered were beginning to haunt Linley too. More than once, he’d woken to the sound of half-strangled screams, and he’d find his master thrashing about in the sheets, unable to wake.
The memories of those long nights spurred Linley to move faster, strike harder. Whatever was causing Charles grief built a fury inside Linley that he could not understand.
He was meant to betray this good man someday, lead him like a lamb to slaughter the day his master commanded it. He’d made peace with that fact. And yet he hated that this man was hurting in such a silent and lonely way. He deserved better than the fate that would someday come to him.
A light punch to Linley’s chest sent him stumbling back.
The blow had caught him off guard, and though it only stung a little, he reacted with instinct. He swept Charles’s leg, knocking the man off his feet. He hit the floor with a thud and a groan.
Ha!Linley grinned, then winced. That had been foolish. He should never have used such a move. The art of combat could be as distinctive as a signature, he’d been told, and if Charles suspected that this had been more than just luck…
“What the devil?” Charles growled as he got up and lunged for Linley. He had no choice but to take the blow to avoid suspicion. Suddenly the world was spinning and he landed on his back with a crash. Charles rolled on top of him, pinning him down.
The shock of the impact sent a hundred buried memories through Linley.
Pain. So much pain. Hands on his throat. His true master taking everything from him. His world destroyed, but a new one offered. At a price. A guttural scream ripped from his throat and stars dotted his vision.
“Tom! Shake it off, lad, you’re fine!” Charles’s voice barely cut through Linley’s terror, but at least he could breathe now.
Sweet, blessed air.
He sucked it greedily into his lungs, and his vision cleared. He was back in the leisure room with Charles.
“Are you all right? You scared the bloody hell out of me, Tom.” Charles’s face was carved with lines of worry, and he crouched beside Linley.
“I’m sorry…my lord,” he whispered. His voice was too hoarse for anything else.
Charles placed one hand on Linley’s shoulder. “I thought you were ready for some more of the rough tactics when you took out my leg like that.”
“Just something I saw once. Never tried it before.”
