Page 46 of Fortune Academy: Year Two
I found my way to Dante’s room and paused at the door before trying the palm reader. To my surprise, the door opened for me.
I peered inside, finding the main living area empty, but thumping sounded from beyond the doorway. A tingling ran over my body as I eased inside and then a faintpoprippled through the air.
Did I just disarm his protective spell? Oops.
I looked around the corner to find Dante shirtless, sweat dripping down his perfect abs and his fist pounding the living shit out of a poor sparring dummy.
His orange eyes glowed with raw fury as he blurred and danced, wailing against the training equipment in a series of movements that had me utterly mesmerized. It was only when he roared with a final blow, sending the dummy’s head sprawling to where I stood at the doorway did we lock gazes.
He heaved to catch his breath.
“The fuck are you doing here?”
It took me a minute to find my voice. “The, uh, the palm reader worked for me. So I, uh, came in.”
He narrowed his eyes, then broke the intense stare by turning to get a towel. He wiped the back of his neck, making me go weak in the knees as so many parts of him moved and flexed.
I was supposed to be furious with him. In spite of that, my gaze shamelessly raked down his toned body, my succubus side screaming inside of me to claim and feast.
“That doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here,” he said, his orange eyes flashing up to meet mine. “You’ve been missing for weeks. I assumed you used the Fortune Card. Didn’t expect you to be back after you got a taste of Heaven.”
I didn’t answer him for a long time, as I was currently distracted by the sweat carving a line over his abs.
He cleared his throat and I flinched from the trance.
“I, uh. Yeah. Well, I learned some stuff, and it didn’t Awaken me, but I’m back now.”
He gave me a raised brow.
I wanted to slap myself. I sounded like an idiot.
Trying to salvage my dignity, my brilliant mind came up with a solution to even the score. If I couldn’t speak proper English in front of him when he was shirtless, then I just had to lower him to my level of dumb.
I ripped off my blouse, leaving me only in my skirt and bra, and I propped my hands on my hips. “I’m here to train with you, of course.” I grinned as his towel dropped to the floor and his eyes dipped to my cleavage. “What’s the matter, Hunter, never seen breasts before?”
He choked and tried to cover it up as a cough. “You’re impossible,” he grumbled, but grabbed a stick and tossed it at my face. I caught it and stumbled back. “Show me what I’m working with,” he ordered as he pointed at the dummy.
I gave the mauled thing a raised lip. “I don’t know. I kind of feel sorry for that thing.”
He picked up another stick and hefted it in his grip, drawing my eye back to his incredible body. “Then you’ll fight me.” By the small grin that flashed at the edges of his lips, he was glad to have another chance to go at me, this time without any witnesses.
Well, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who was pissed off.
Dante moved so fast that he almost lopped my head off, but I bent backwards as the weapon went flying over my face. Snapping back, I blocked his next blow and the clash ran all the way up to my elbows, making me wince.
Fuck, he wasn’t holding back, was he?
“Are you trying to evaluate me or kill me?” I bit out.
He yanked his weapon back, then went for my legs. I jumped before stumbling out of his reach. “You’re a powerful supernatural,” he reasoned. “Holding back on you would be an insult, and I don’t intend to insult you.” He moved again, this time faking with his weapon on the side so that he could barrel into me, crashing me against the wall.
I blocked him as much as I could, holding the stick with both hands against his chest. He pressed in and the weapon gave a crack of protest. Even with my supernatural strength, Dante was a force to be reckoned with when he was angry.
He leaned in, his face just inches from mine. “Good. Glad to see a visit to Heaven hasn’t made you lose your edge.”
The urge to command him, trap him and feed off of him nearly overwhelmed me. I wasn’t used to my succubus side being so strong, but Dante was seriously turning me on right now and pissing me off at the same time. Not a good combination.
“Is that why you’re so pissy?” I asked, shoving him off me before my succubus side had a field day. “Are all my Virtues such fucking hypocrites? You left me for a year, Dante. I just leave you for a few hours, and even if it was weeks on your end of things, that’s nothing to be pissed off about.”
