Page 36 of Distinctly Daray
“Right,” Keegan said. It didn’t matter that Phillip had yet to start his training. Unlike Keegan, Phillip had been resurrected with crazy sentinel skills. From the start of his classes, Keegan was told that he’d never compare to any sentinel. So, it was intimidating to square off against the steely-eyed man who’d kissed him so thoroughly the previous night.
But Keegan was competitive and eager to learn. He whipped his right hand forward and tried not to wince at the ugly sound of his blade smashing into Phillip’s. Instead, he braced himself as the force of the hit vibrated up to his shoulder. Phillip flashed him a quick smile, balanced his weight on the toe of one boot, and used his other leg to kick the dagger right out of Keegan’s left hand.
“I see how it is, Spicy,” Keegan muttered as he plucked his blade off the mat beneath their feet and surged forward to slam their weapons together again.
Phillip disarmed him again with another lightning-quick smack of his boot.
“Don’t charge,” Phillip instructed quietly, the scent of cinnamon surging through Keegan as the sentinel leaned closer to be heard. “It is like a game. One better played with well-thought-out plans. How will you move? What do you expect my reaction to be? Where can you best position yourself for your next action? Think first. Attack second.”
“Okay,” Keegan replied. Taking a deep breath, he copied Phillip’s toe spin and nearly succeeded in surprising his mate. But his blade landed with a dull thud on the mat again.
“Better,” Phillip said. “Try again. Punch your second arm through and try to hit both my blades before I disarm you.”
With a nod, Keegan went to work and, though he still had to grab his weapon from the floor, he was grateful he and Phillip were both devoted to law and order. The last thing Keegan wanted was to be a criminal coming up against someone of Phillip’s ilk. Like every sentinel, he was ruthless.
But he was also kind, thoughtful, and damn sexy, especially when his mouth was fused with either Keegan’s or Victor’s. He bent to grab his dagger yet again and straightened. Phillip took a step forward and caressed the underside of Keegan’s chin with the back of his fingers.
“Stop thinking about kisses,” Phillip murmured. “I can’t concentrate if you keep looking at me like that.”
Hoping to take advantage of unintentionally distracting Phillip, Keegan stepped forward and elbowed the sentinel in the chest. It worked. Phillip took a giant step backward and narrowed his dark gray eyes.
“Excellent move, Keegan,” Brynnius said as he came over to where he was facing off with Phillip.
“Thank you, SkeL Brynn,” Keegan replied, flashing a winning smile at Phillip.
“Brynn,” the sentinel corrected again.
“Sorry. What should I do next?”
“Use your feet more,” Brynnius suggested. “Phillip has demonstrated how you can use your feet to disarm your opponent, but that is not the lone option. Kick him to put spacebetween you. Legs are longer than arms. He’ll have to regroup to attack.”
“Or he could smile at me so I lose my train of thought,” Phillip muttered as Brynnius left them to aid another pair.
“Should I stop smiling at you, Spicy?” Keegan teased.
“Kick me so Brynn will know you are listening to his advice,” Phillip said. “And no, never stop smiling at me.”
It took two tries to complete a kick that sent Phillip back, but Keegan loved knowing even that was an improvement.
“Will you spar with me again?” Keegan asked. “After classes are done sometime? I know the Darays go to the gyms at the sentinel complex regularly. Maybe we can convince Victor to join us.”
“I asked Sam on the way over here if Victor ever trains,” Phillip replied. “While he doesn’t wield daggers himself, he told me that Victor routinely travels to the complex to watch the Darays. I’d be happy to spar with you on those nights.”
“Thanks, I want to get better. It’s fun, and I like sharing this with you.”
Keegan held in his sigh as his blade slid along the mat and past it to twirl in a wonky circle on the hardwood floor. This time it was Phillip who flashed a triumphant smile.
“It is definitely fun.”
“Maybe you’ll enjoy it less when you can’t kick my ass as easily,” Keegan grumbled as he plucked his dagger from the ground.
“If anything, the challenge of a worthier opponent will only increase my excitement,” Phillip teased.
“Why is your spell written to make you so damn competitive?”
Phillip shrugged. “I do not know, but it is wonderful.”
“Does any sentinel suffer from low self-esteem?”
