Vengeance (The Captive #6)(44)

“I’m not taking it back Tempest, so you either lie on it or it stays there with no one using it.”

She bit on her lower lip as she glanced between him and the cloak. Finally, she moved over and settled herself onto it. He went to turn away, but her hand snaked out and grabbed hold of his wrist. “You can… you ah… can lie on it too.” A crimson hue crept over her ivory skin at her offer. “It will keep us both warmer.”

He almost told her no, he didn’t know if he could trust himself lying beside her, but the proposition was too tempting to refuse. He would rather cut off his hand than ever hurt a woman, especially this one, but he still wasn’t exactly sure of himself, or what he might be capable of. He reassured himself there was nothing she could do that would cause him to snap the same way he had against those creatures.

He knew this, but his body was rigid as he knelt on the cloak. He lowered himself to lay beside her. His hand went out to her, but he pulled it back before he could touch her and forced himself to keep it at his side. Lying almost a foot away from her, the heat of her back warmed him far more than the fire ever had. She remained immobile before him, but he knew she was still awake.

***

Tempest stood with William the next day as he showed her the most vulnerable places to attack someone, especially a man. “Kick them between the legs,” he said.

“I knew that,” she replied with a laugh. “I’m not completely daft on how to hurt someone.”

He grinned back at her. “Just make sure you don’t use it on me.”

“I can’t promise anything.”

“Give me everything you’ve got.”

Tempest threw her shoulders back. In her head, she replayed all the things he’d been trying to teach her over the past two days. Eyes, throat, nose, groin, all the places to go for in order to inflict damage and throw an attacker off. The only problem was, he was smiling at her in that way with his dark hair tussled and falling over his forehead. His eyes sparkled in the glow of the fire as he watched her. She found the way he circled her mesmerizing.

Stop staring at him, she scolded herself.

Moving a little to the side, she kept her body loose and flowing as she followed his agile progress around the cave. Darting forward, she kicked him in the shin. He grunted before dancing back as she swung at him. He blocked her punch, knocking her hand aside and grabbing hold of her arm. A startled cry escaped her when he pulled her around and jerked her back up against his chest.

His low chuckle tickled her neck before he released her again. “Better,” he told her. “My shin still stings.”

“Good.”

He laughed as he moved toward the fire and further away from her. “That’s not very nice,” he teased.

She couldn’t help but smile at him. How could this man laughing and dancing around her be the same one who could become so cool and distant in the tick of a second? She’d witnessed his brutality, seen what he was capable of, yet she’d also felt the tenderness of his touch and the warmth of his smile.

He’d been awake and taking care of Achilles when she’d awoken this morning, but she’d still been able to feel the warmth of his body near hers. The memory caused her body to tingle and brought a smile to her face.

“My shin thanks you for smiling too.”

She laughed; she couldn’t tell him she wasn’t smiling because she’d finally managed to kick him. “I’m sure it does.”

“Come on,” he said and gestured to her again.

The smile slid away from her face as she lifted her hands up like he’d taught her to do. She went at him again, but he blocked her punch before shoving the foot she kicked at him down. Frustration filled her; he blocked her next three punches before she got a glancing blow in against his ribcage.

There was no amusement on his face as he watched her now, moving with her around the cave. His footsteps didn’t make a sound on the rock floor; she felt like an elephant in comparison as she bumped into things, tripped over her own feet, and threw punches at the air.

He caught hold of her fist and held it within his hand. She kicked out at him, grazing the inside of his thigh when he jumped back. “And now my manhood thanks me for avoiding that one.” She laughed and tugged her hand out of his grasp. “Would you like a break?” he inquired.

“Yes.” She walked over to stand against the wall.

She watched him as he tossed another log onto the fire and pulled the canteen full of water off it. He gestured toward her with the bottle and she nodded, a chance to clean herself up sounded wonderful. So did a fresh set of clothes, but that would have to wait until they could finally be free of this cave.

She took the warm water from him and walked down the more narrow section of the cave to a small hollow. The caves stretched on for another hundred feet before dead ending. Pulling off her clothing, she wet a rag and sponged herself off with the warm water before dressing again and returning to the main part of the cave.

William glanced at her from where he sat against the wall when she handed him the canteen. “You’re getting better at protecting yourself, faster,” he said.

“I’m ready to kick some ass.”

“Not so sure about that, but you’ll definitely put up one hell of a fight.”

“That’s something I guess.”

“That’s a lot,” he said as he rose to his feet. “There’s no telling what we’ll discover in your town.”