To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(46)
“I don’t want to accidentally stab you.”
He chuckled. “You won’t.”
She thrust forward gently, and he tapped her blade aside.
“Good. Keep your shoulders back and thrust harder.”
“Harder? Are you sure?”
“Yes.” He slapped the spot on his armor that he wanted her to aim for. “As hard as you can, right here.”
She took a deep breath, thrusting at him. He gently deflected the blow to the side.
“Again. Harder, Graciella. Put your weight into it.”
She tried again, her nipples distracting her because they were still hard as little pebbles and scraping against the fabric of her dress as she moved.
Again he deflected her easily. “Come on, Graciella. I am a vicious, ugly, smelly cave troll. I’ve broken into the palace, and I’ve come to eat you up. If you don’t sink your sword into my torso as hard as you can, I’ll be roasting you up for dinner and feasting on your flesh.”
She chuckled throatily, then resumed her stance. She drove the tip of her sword toward his ribcage as hard as she could. “Hah!”
He deflected her thrust, then straightened, smiling. “That’s more like it.”
She grinned and reached up to swipe at the dampness on her forehead with her forearm.
He cleared his throat. “Let me show you a trick for defending yourself from a sword thrust.”
“Yes. Please.”
“When I come at you like this,” he moved toward her with a slow thrust, “I want you to try to catch my blade against your crossguard. Catch it now to get a feel for how it’s done. Use both hands on the hilt for more power.”
She raised her sword, and he stepped forward to place his hand over hers on the hilt, helping her catch his sword at the right spot. “See? Catch it right here.” He backed up. “Okay, get ready to catch it just like that.”
She did.
“Perfect. Okay, then what you want to do is parry the sword away from your body to deflect my blow. Twist your wrist to the left.”
She tried to follow his instructions.
He laid his sword down. “Let me show you the move. Here. Turn around.”
She turned her back to him, and he moved close behind her, put his arms around her, and grasped the hilt of the sword over her hands to show her the move. He pressed his chest against her back, using his hands over hers to force her to stab forward with the sword. She held her breath, shivering at his nearness.
“Turn your wrists this way, loop your blade over mine, and push my sword to the right so I can’t hit you. Then what I want you to do is go in for the kill while my sword is out of the way and my torso is vulnerable.” He let her go and backed away. “Got it?”
Gabriella released the breath she’d been holding and nodded. “Yes. Got it.”
He scooped up his sword. “Okay. Get ready. We’ll go slow.”
He thrust; she parried the blade away and thrust toward his ribcage. He performed some lightning-quick flick of the wrist to deflect the blow, grinning. “Well done. Gods willing, your opponents aren’t as practiced at swords as I am, and your blade runs them through.”
“You’re a good teacher.” She swiped at the strands of hair that were stuck to the perspiration on her face.
“Are you feeling overheated?”
Yessss. “A little. I guess I’m getting more accustomed to the chilly climate up here. I haven’t been this warm since I got to Nandala.”
“I think that’s enough for today.”
Nooooo! “All right…as you wish.”
“I’ll take my leave, then, Miss Stovy.” He strode to the weapons rack and replaced his sword, then headed for the door.
Graciella watched him go, fanning herself with one hand.
At the door, he turned back to her. “Same time and place tomorrow for more lessons?”
Her heart surged in her chest. “Yes, that would be lovely.”
He inclined his head to her, then left.
§
Lovely indeed. He enjoyed how flushed and healthy she looked when she worked in the kitchen, but she was even more beautiful when she was taking exercise in the armory. He was pleasantly surprised that she was more agile and physically stronger than he’d thought she would be, never complaining about the weight of the sword or letting it drop down to rest her arms.
It was all he could do not to stare at her hard nipples pushing against her chemise, but he’d managed reasonably well by focusing on the sword lesson itself, on explaining things well and watching for the proper technique. When it came to sword skills, he was completely in his element, and it gave him something to channel his nervous energy into while he was in her presence. He congratulated himself, in fact, as he left the palace and headed for the stables to check on Sikar. Perhaps he was getting stronger, more able to control his lust in her presence. Tonight he wouldn’t have to flee the dinner table, if all went well. He could stay and enjoy her company. Think of her and treat her as a younger sister.
A younger sister with the most delectable, enticing, tempting breasts you’ve ever seen? There is something wildly wrong about this, Yavi.
“I know,” he whispered aloud to himself in Nandalan, sighing as he swung open the stable door.
§
Graciella requested a hot bath be drawn in her room that afternoon while Yavi was in his meeting. She and Wilten had prepared the spice cakes for dinner that night, one with the ground aphrodisiac herb in it for Yavi, and four others without it for the staff. They glazed the tops with a cinnamon glaze, swirling the glaze in a spiral design on the cake laced with the herb so they wouldn’t get them mixed up.