Page 63 of Victoria's Discovery

“Practice yields improvement.”

Easy for the giant, muscled, alien Viking to say.

* * *

Victoria hitthe ground with anoomph, her diaphragm seizing from the impact, leaving her unable to draw in a breath for a very alarming few seconds. Thorn’s mouthwateringly handsome and very concerned face appeared above her, blocking her view of the sky.

“Njorl’s balls! Are you hurt, Vee? I did not mean to throw you!”

Damn, but he was sexy all sweaty and shirtless with his big, brawny, tattooed, blue chest on display, glistening in the sunlight.

And that was exactly why she was flat on her back with sand down her pants.

She’d been staring, again, and hadn’t seen his attack coming until it was too late to block or dodge.

Instead of answering, she swiped her leg out, taking him off guard and sending him tumbling down to the sand. Shocked that had actually worked, she propped up on her elbows to gaze over at him wide-eyed. He looked just as surprised as she felt.

Laughing with delight, she jumped to her feet and threw her hands in the air as though she’d made a touchdown. She’d just begun her victory dance when Bree, the snarky woman who made the humping remark on the spaceship, made a snide comment from behind her.

“Poor, shy, little Victoria. Is that the only way you can get a man to fall for you?”

Victoria felt like her stomach took a freefall to her shoes when the haughty woman strolled up to Thorn, who’d just gotten to his feet, and proceeded to help him brush the sand off his back.

For his part, Thorn couldn’t have looked more uncomfortable if he’d tried and he was actively avoiding her stroking hands, but that didn’t stop sharp-edged anger and jealousy from setting Victoria’s blood on fire.

This fucking bitch here…

Victoria was only distantly aware that people were staring, her entire focus on Bree’s flirty face as she stared up at Thorn. So much so that it took a couple seconds to realize she’d just growled… something.

Oh shit. Did I just challenge her to a duel? Tell me I didn’t just challenge her to a duel.

Judging from the collective murmuring of the crowd and the slack-jawed shock on Bree’s face, the answer was ‘yes.’

She spotted Thegan pushing through the circle of spectators lining up to watch the drama and knew he was about to intervene. She was so very tempted to let him, but then she caught the look on Thorn’s face. His surprise was easy to read, but there was something else, something both fiercely pleased and, yet, almost… fragile.

Victoria stood straighter under that look. Resolve washed over her in a wave. She was going to do this.

She’d never stood up to her bullies in her old life, and, yes, maybe she was shaking in her boots at the prospect of fighting Bree, but she’d been given an opportunity here to be the person she wanted to be, and she was going to hold onto it with both hands, damn it.

She wasn’t a pushover anymore. She’d been chosen from hundreds of other people to be the Vice President of a complex full of aliens. Aria believed in her. She was no longer the kind of person who would just stand there while some mean cow flirted with her man.

That thought brought her internal pep-talk up short.

Herman? She’d accepted she had a crush, but when had she started thinking of Thorn as hers?

Glancing at Thegan, she thought about him and Vi’kail and realized she felt the same possessiveness over them, too.

She immediately tried to put it off as friendly possessiveness, if such a thing even existed, but the intensity of the feelings in her chest revealed that for the lie it was. No, this feeling was definitely of the ‘you’re mine and I want to keep you forever’ variety. Victoria swallowed a groan and resisted the urge to smack herself on the forehead.

When the hell did this happen? We’re supposed to be making better choices here! That does not include falling for guys who don’t return your feelings. Again!

Sighing, Victoria resolved to deal with that little epiphany later and squared up with Bree, who, oddly, looked almost…approving?

Pfft, no way. Must be a trick of the light.

They circled each other, fists raised and at the ready, both looking for an opening, waiting to see who’d make the first move.

There, Bree’s left fist dropped just a little when she peeked down at Victoria’s feet. Heart leaping into her throat, Victoria sprang. Bree’s eyes widened, and she stumbled back a step in surprise. Taking advantage, Victoria jabbed with her right fist and, to both their surprise, hit Bree square in the mouth.

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