Chapter 110 CHAPTER 110
My fingers closed tightly around the book I was holding as I watched Asher walk over to our table.
Miss Tessa was running late for class today and it left the class buzzing with noise, irritating my sensitive ears.
I was still in heat but it was less intense than it was last night.
Akua has been on my neck for details all day but I'm just scared I'll slip up if I say anything.
Zade finished every juice in my body last night before wrapping us together in the sheets and we slept off.
“Hey girls,” the boy waved, sliding over the table top, grinning.
“What do you want Asher?” Mira hissed.
“Jeez, you all hate me that much?”
“Yes,” three of us chorused, and it was a struggle maintaining a fierce look when I wanted to laugh.
“Okay, okay, I was an ass the other day.”
“Worse than that, you were stupid as hell, saying stupid shit to my friend,” Akua thundered.
“I'm sorry about that, I don't know what got into me. I promise I won't do that again.”
“And you'll stop sending crappy gifts to my door?”
“Damn, I didn't know you were averse to romance.”
“From a sleazy scumbag like you, yes. And you must apologise to Erin, it's not her fault she thought you were reasonable enough to be liked.”
He rearranged his face after that and has the decency to actually look sorry.
“I'm really sorry girls, I've been an idiot and I will stop pestering you, Alira. I didn't think anyone could say no to this,” he flushed his hand at himself from head down, “but I see now that you have more things occupying your time. I'll respect myself.”
“Good, that wasn't so hard now, was it?” I rolled my eyes.
“Haha, you are right. Can we be friends instead?”
“That's fine,” Erin said, the ever-hopeful romantic.
I shrugged, Akua waved him off with her hands and Mira nodded as well.
“Thank you, I feel better now. See you guys at the pool party on rest day two?”
“There's another pool party?”
“Yes,” Akua answered me, “and you're not allowed to miss it.”
“Yes Ma'am,” I chuckled.
Asher finally walked away as Miss Tessa walked into the class with apologies.
“You're going to have to start doing strength training. I'll talk to Varak about this,” Master Florian said after knocking my sword out of my hand.
Again.
“What? No, don't please. The man hates me for some reason, don't give him more chances to have fun at my expense, please?”
“He doesn't hate you, Varak just has dark humour and the second you show him you can be made fun of, he goes all in. This place is boring, we all find our outlets in different ways.”
“What's yours?”
“Coincidentally, it's making you grind your teeth in frustration, now up! You've had enough time talking.”
“But I want to go home,” I whined, already feeling the heat settling in my stomach.
Whatever Zade had done for my last night was fading and I was looking at Master Florian longer than I should.
I was scared of him giving me the same speech the Principal gave me last night even though I could feel it in his throat.
It's good in a way anyway, that way I won't hurt Zade even if this is not my fault.
The way I feel about them is just as normal as these scales on my skin, the white streak on my purple hair that I'd been teased about throughout high school, and even the claws that pierce my hands whenever I'm too emotional.
But unlike those other things, the Soul Tie was a two-way street, they had to want me to.
One rejection versus one acceptance, that's the tally now.
I'm not ready for the man raising his sword at me to decide.
It's why I've been pushing him to let me go home since the last twenty minutes but I guess I'm his entertainment and he refuses to let go.
“Pick up your sword Alira, I won't say it again. Maybe I should start cutting you –”
“No sir, I'll fight,” I rushed towards the sword knowing he wasn't joking.
The halfling can be crazy sometimes.
We began another bout, my hand struggling to match his violent ones which got worse the more I kept engaging him.
It was like he wanted me to fail and failing meant that he'd look at me in that way that made my stomach flutter.
Gosh, I've never been this horny in my entire life.
My body sang every time our swords clashed, the impact ringing from my arm down to my toes.
I pulled back, moved my legs and intercepted the next one.
I saw the impending strike that he usually uses to strike down my weapon and I pulled back completely, his sword cutting air.
“Stop running Princess, fight me!”
“I'm trying!”
I went back in, trying to replicate his actions but I was stuck in a state of defence and frustration, running away when he was about to strike the sword away from my hand.
Suddenly he changed tactics and the sword fell out of my hand, but his own nicked my palm on his way back.
“Ouch,” I screamed, looking at it immediately and forcing myself to breathe and not cry.
He'd just laugh at me anyway.
But he didn't, he came impossibly closer, took my hand and carried it to his lips and he licked the blood away, slowly.
A breath got caught in my throat as I watched him lick my palm even after the blood was finished.
“Master Florian?”
“Call me Florian, please. Kalen if you prefer that.”
“But you're…”
“I'm not your instructor yet, I told Draco that. He has no right to stop us.”
“Us?”
“You're suddenly speaking in monosyllables,” he chuckled, trying to peel the sleeves of my top. “Does this affect you?”
“Of course it does,” I snapped, pulling my hand away, “you all knew what this meant all this while and kept me in suspense. Even Eruwan refused to tell me why three men were pulling at my heartstrings.”
“You won't understand Princess, there's a lot at stake here.”
“It's fine. You have made it clear that you don't like me either. Message received. Will you still keep training me? You don't have to, I can ask Eruwan for poison to use instead of doing this. I don't have sword training till the second year anyway.”
“No no, don't… that's not what I'm saying,” he said, pulling me back to him. “I'm not dumb Alira, I'll be stupid to let you go. I just want you to know everything you're getting yourself into before you do. When I told you all that stuff yesterday, I thought you'd run away but instead you hugged me. That's unusual and although I still want to take this slow, I want it. I want you.”
Uh oh.