Page 52 of Dark Angel

She can’t quite tell if he’s angry, frustrated or impressed-perhaps it’s a mixture of all three. His grin grows, settling her nerves as he says, “You’re even better than Matthew said you were.” Complimenting her.

With a sly smirk, he removes his shirt up over his head, giving Kora a full view of his muscular abdomen. Deep, defined muscles frame his figure. A sharp V shape disappears into the waistband of his pants. Wiping away the blood from his leg, Jordan tosses the shirt aside.

Kora can’t peel her eyes away from his bare upper half. She has only ever seen her brother and Matthew shirtless in the lake during the hotter months, but they were never as glorious as what she’s staring at right now. Saliva fills her mouth as she forces herself not to move any closer. To reach out and run her fingers along-

“Kora?” he asks, a brow rising with enjoyment.

She flicks her gaze up at his face to see a smirk toying on his lips. He did that on purpose just to mess with her.

Shaking her head to clear the image from her mind, she trains her focus onto his handsome face. As much as she wants to look at every line and etch of his body, she has to win this fight.

“Sorry.” She repeats, not able to think of any other word to say to him right now. Her mind might as well be liquid.

Jordan lets out a small chuckle, his muscles moving in rhythm with each inhale of air. “You said that already.” He teases her.

“Do you concede?” she asks him, ignoring his toying with her.

“Hell no.” He smirks.

Great, now I have to fight him while he looks like that.Her cheeks blush pink as they reset their positions.

Jordan approaches her, swinging a silver dagger that gleams under beams of light.

Kora lets out a sound as she dodges him, jumping up onto a wooden crate perched in the corner of the room. She’s just taller than him now, despite the generous size of the crate. Pushing out her golden blade, the metal collides with one of his weapons.

Reaching for her other knife, she swipes it out, attempting to cut him. It strikes his other dagger that lifts just in time to defend. They lock eyes as their arms push against each other’s strength.

Not wanting to let her eyes drift downwards, Kora tells herself to only look at his eyes.Nothing else.

With enough force, Jordan pushes her off. Kora’s body stumbles backwards off the crate.

Hitting the ground with a thud, Jordan appears on top of her. He holds a dagger against her throat; the blade threatening to slice into her skin, and he grins down at her, pinning her into place.

Kora’s hazel eyes flare as he stares down at her. The chilled kiss of metal holding her to the floor. She can’t even swallow without the blade digging into her flesh.

“Do you concede?” Jordan taunts her lightly.

“Never.” She says, pushing his arm away so that the blade is no longer pinning her down.

Jordan’s other hand swipes at her, and she rolls out from underneath him. He turns to face her as she steadies herself again. Tiny beads of sweat sit on his forehead and she can feel them dotting hers as well.

Thrusting out her blade, Kora misses his torso, his muscles rippling as he dodges her.

Then she feels the stinging in her side.

Pain shoots through her ribs and stomach as the dagger wedges itself into her side. With a cry, she lets her mother’s blade drop to the ground in defeat.

Falling to her knees, the pain intensifies as she feels her body already trying to repair itself. Her muscles and tendons attempting to string together around the metal piercing her insides. Blood rushes to the surface and Kora presses the palms of her hands against her skin, blocking his view of the wound.

Jordan crouches beside her, watching her whimper in agony. “I am sorry, Kora,” he says quietly as she bites back tears. “I think I distracted you there for a moment.”

Her glare at him is glacial.Yes, distracted by your half-exposed body.She wants to yell out angrily, but she controls herself.

“Does it hurt badly?” he asks, his voice growing gentler.

She shakes her head at him in response, even though a tear slips from her lashes. It’s not from pain though, it’s from the fear engulfing her chest.

He goes to take out the knife when Kora stops him, pushing him away from her. “No!” She shouts out, her hazel eyes widening with panic.

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