Page 10 of Obsession

Her scent—both sweet and carrying a hint of musk from the whiskey—had made my head spin. Or maybe that was the Noovian whiskey from the card game. Either way, I'd found myself leaning in, wanting to breathe in more of her.

"Name the time, and I'll teach you everything you need to know to seduce any male you want."

She'd fled so quickly I'd barely registered her stammered response. What was wrong with me? I'd promised to teach her how to catch Zav's eye. But now he was an instructor. Wasn’t that just as wrong as pursuing her myself?

I sighed. But a promise was a promise. Even if the thought of her helping her seduce the Taori made something dark twist in my gut.

Grekme. Britta was a cadet. I was an instructor. More importantly, she was my friend.

But she was not like any friend I’d ever had before, not like any female I'd known before. There was no artifice in her, no trickery. She was beautiful without all the perfumes and potions and cosmetics that I’d come to expect from females. She didn’t need any of my techniques to attract a male, which was what I should tell her when she arrived.

I growled softly and ran a hand through my hair. I should tell her no. I should tell her I’d made an error in judgment. I should tell her I could not help her.

I’d almost convinced myself of all this, when I heard soft footsteps approaching and all my good intentions evaporated like smoke.

"Kann?"

I spun around, cursing myself for my stuttering heart and racing pulse.

Britta stood in the shadows of a bookshelf, looking uncertain. The moonlight painted white streaks in her silvery hair, and for a moment, I couldn't find my voice.

"I wasn't sure you'd come," I managed finally, hating how rough my voice sounded.

"I almost didn't." She stepped closer, and I caught the faint scent of soap and something distinctly floral. "This is probably a terrible idea."

"Probably," I agreed, trying to recall all the reasons it was a bad idea and coming up blank. "But I promised to help."

She exhaled loudly and her shoulders relaxed as she stepped closer. "Do you even know how to…I mean, is flirting something that can be taught?”

“Anything can be taught,” I said with more confidence than I felt. Teaching combat moves was one thing—this was entirely different.

“I’m pretty hopeless.” She ran her fingers through her hair and gave me a shy smile, proving that she was anything but.

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“Compared to you, I am.” She narrowed her gaze at me. “I’ve heard you’re legendary.”

Or notorious, depending on who you asked.

“I’m sure you’ve flirted before. You’ve dated males before, haven’t you?”

She twitched one shoulder. “Sure, but I never pursued them. It just happened.”

It happened because the males had pursued her, I thought. Britta had no clue how attractive or desirable she was, but I doubted she would believe me. I pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit then I took the seat opposite her.

I needed to create distance between us so I could treat this like any other lesson I was teaching. Although, most of the lessons I taught involved lots of physical contact and in this situation, that was something I wanted to avoid.

I thought back to what I did when I walked into a bar. “The first thing you need to do is create opportunities for interaction. You need a reason to be alone with him. You could stay after class and ask him to explain something."

Her brow furrowed. "But I understand everything in class."

I couldn't help but smile. "That's not the point. The point is to get him alone, to make him focus on you."

"Oh." She bit her plump lower lip, and I forced myself to look away. "What else?"

“Once you get him alone, body language is important."

She frowned. “You mean hand gestures?”

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