redith.
I elbowed Draven again just to make Dennis eat his words. But Draven only laughed, easily catching my arm.
"Alright," he said with amusent dancing in his eyes, "we will call it here for today. You did well, redith."
I exhaled hard, brushing stray strands of hair from my face. Despite his teasing tone, I could see the genuine pride in his expression, which felt better than winning.
Then I asked, "When is our next duel?"
He tilted his head slightly, a soft chuckle rumbling in his chest. "You are already asking for another?"
I crossed my arms. "You said I need to be able to kill a vampire on my own, and I did that. You also said I need to last longer in a fight, and I’m getting there. So yes, Alpha," I teased, mimicking his serious tone, "I’m asking when my next duel is."
He gave that look, the kind that uttered he was both proud and entertained. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"Alright," he murmured. "From now on, you will have more of these duels with . But sotis with Dennis, Jeffery, or a few of my warriors. You will get used to every kind of opponent."
A flicker of excitent stirred in my chest, pushing away the last traces of fatigue. "So, you are promising to duel often?"
Draven’s lips twitched into a smirk. "I am. But don’t bla when you start begging for rest days."
I laughed softly. "I will believe that when it happens."
He stepped closer again, close enough that I could see the faint glisten of sweat on his skin.
"In all honesty, you really did well today," he said quietly. "You kept your focus. You didn’t let fear take over. That’s what matters."
His praise shouldn’t have ant so much, but it did. It always did.
"Thank you," I murmured, and when his hand brushed my cheek to move a strand of hair away, I didn’t stop him.
For a second, we just stayed like that, the air thick with unspoken things, the dying sunlight pooling around us.
Just then, Dennis’s voice bood across the field, shattering the air between us.
"Alright, lovebirds! If you are done making jealous, I would like to remind you that dinner is in two hours!"
I rolled my eyes. Typical Dennis—always with the worst timing. But when I turned back to Draven, I froze for a mont, seeing how he was looking at like I was the only thing left in this world worth looking at.
The fading sunlight glinted off his golden eyes, and there was sothing dark and hungry in them, sothing that had nothing to do with fighting.
Then I heard his voice in my head. "There is enough ti before dinner for us to do sothing else."
The sound of his mind-link inside sent a shiver down my spine. I narrowed my eyes at him, but couldn’t stop the small, knowing smile that tugged at my lips.
"Sothing else?" I asked. "And what exactly do you an by that?"
He tilted his head, smirking faintly, his gaze dropping to my lips before finding my eyes again.
"Sothing you will like," he said, his tone deep and teasing. "Sothing that will have you begging for more."
My heart gave a hard, traitorous thump. I opened my mouth to respond, but my thoughts tangled over themselves.
"You—" I began, but before I could finish, Draven acted.
He didn’t give any ti to think, question, or pretend to be unbothered. He grasped my hand firmly, possessively, and warmly, then started walking.
His pace wasn’t rushed, but there was determination in every stride. I had no choice but to follow, my pulse syncing with the rhythm of his steps.
"Heh! How can you both just leave like that?" I heard Dennis’s voice calling from behind us, but neither Draven nor I paid him any attention.
I knew exactly where we were heading the mont we reached the stairs, even though Draven didn’t bother speaking again, even through the link.
He didn’t need to, though. The air between us said everything.
---
As soon as we entered his bedroom, he shut the door behind us with one hand. The sound echoed softly against the walls.
Before I could turn around or say a word, he was already there, closing the distance, catching my face in his hands, and pressing his mouth to mine.
The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was deep, hungry, claiming. All the tension from the duel, every hit, every blocked strike, and every challenge burned between us now, alive and electric.
I felt his heartbeat against my chest, wild and powerful. Mine wasn’t any steadier.
When I tried to pull away just to breathe, Draven followed, his lips finding mine again, slower this ti, coaxing, savouring, like he had all the ti in the world to unravel .
"Draven," I whispered against his mouth, not sure if I wanted him to stop or keep going.
He didn’t answer. His hand slid to the back of my neck, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw before his voice brushed my mind again.
"I told you that you would like it."
A shiver ran down my spine at the sound of his voice in my head. It wasn’t just his tone; it was the certainty behind it, the quiet dominance that pulled at sothing deep inside .
Draven kissed again, slower now, and more deliberate, until the tension in my body began to lt into heat.
His fingers traced down the side of my throat, finding the pulse there, feeling it race beneath his touch.
I caught his wrist before he could move lower, but he only smiled that dangerous, knowing smile, the kind that made lose my balance without even moving.
"You are trembling," he murmured, his breath fanning against my skin. "What could be the reason?"
"Maybe because soone is trying to set on fire," I whispered back.
He chuckled low in his chest, the sound a little rough and intimate. "Then burn with ."
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