Page 41 of Stolen Thorn Bride

Dechlan attacked.

Slowly, and with plenty of peripheral movement to telegraph his intentions. And Kasia still barely got her blade up in time to block him. Her surprise must have shown on her face, because Dechlan grinned and retreated.

"Good!" he encouraged her. "Again!"

Each time, the shock of their blades clashing together sent a jolt up her arm, and each time, that was nothing beside the impact on her heart. Dechlan lookedhappy. As if he didn't resent being here, teaching her something the elves around her had probably trained in since birth.

And each time he attacked, each time their blades locked together, his eyes seemed to lock onto hers, provoking a strange, shivery sensation in the pit of her stomach.

She was so distracted, his next pass caught her entirely by surprise. Dechlan abruptly threw aside his blade and ducked beneath her guard, knocking her sword from her hand and taking her to the ground.

Stunned for a moment by the fall, Kasia lay there with his knee across her legs and his arm across her neck, almost unable to comprehend what had happened.

"You will need to be ready for an enemy that does not care about tactics or expectations," he was saying. "Battling wraiths teaches you that your enemy will not always fight fair or utilize the same weapons."

But she had a hard time thinking about tactics when he was touching her, leaning in close, with the dark tail of his hair falling over his shoulder and the light in his eyes bright with focus.

Breathe. She had to breathe. He wasn't putting pressure on her, so the problem with her lungs couldn't be explained by anything except sheer, devastating attraction.

And he was enjoying this, too. Oh, not for the same reasons, but it was as if he found pleasure in teaching what he knew.

Suddenly, Kasia experienced an overwhelming urge to show him that she knew something he did not. That their relationship was not going to be all one-sided. That she, too, had something to offer. Maybe she wasn't gorgeous and deadly like Aureann had been, but that didn't mean she was helpless.

So she stopped struggling. Allowed her eyes to close and her body to go limp. Kept her breathing shallow and let her hands go loose.

"Kasia?" Dechlan sounded startled. "Kasia, did I hurt you?"

She waited—eyes open the merest slit—until he moved, no longer restraining her but crouching over her with evident concern.

"Kasia, do you need help?"

And then she sat up. Fast.

Her head met his face, hard enough to draw a startled grunt, and she opened her eyes fully to see his hand clasped over his nose.

A grin spread across her face at his stunned expression.

"And that," she said cheerfully, "is what you learn from raising small children who talk in their sleep."

Suddenly she could hear… nothing. As if everyone else in the practice grounds were collectively holding their breath.

Sure enough, when Kasia looked around, every single elf in the vicinity was staring at them with fascinated horror.

Uh-oh.

What had she done?

Oh, right. She'd head-butted her husband—the Rian of the Northwatch—directly in the face.

On purpose.

In retrospect, perhaps she should have thought that through for a bit longer before proceeding with such a ridiculous plan.

But as Dechlan's hand slowly lowered from his nose and he wiped at his watering eyes, a smile lurked at the corner of his lips. "I can see I will not need to worry about teaching you to be devious," he remarked, and it felt as if everyone around them suddenly began to breathe again.

"My eight-year-old sister believes she was born to be a pirate," Kasia told him, not quite able to hide the tremor in her voice. "I recommend never underestimating the tactics I've had to learn in order to keep up with her."

"I don't believe I will ever make that mistake again," Dechlan returned ruefully, still rubbing his nose, but also still smiling as he stood and extended a hand.