Page 34 of Into Orbit
I had a sudden wish that it was him I was about to throw punches at.
‘I can tell him to leave,’ Ashton said, watching me carefully.
Not making the choice for me; noting my agitation and offering help.
I pulled my hair over my shoulder and braided it into a rough plait, then tucked the tail under my shirt so it wouldn’t get in the way. ‘Tell who to leave?’
Ashton’s lips curled up at the corners. ‘Well then,’ he said, stepping back and taking his place in the middle of the room, holding his arms loosely by his sides as he rolled his massive shoulders. ‘Show me what you’ve got, human.’
I stepped forward to meet him. The world began to slow as adrenaline surged; I raised my hands, one before my face and one shielding my neck, ready to fight.
Though I wouldn’t have been opposed to a fuck.
I waited for him to throw a punch, but he didn’t, holding his relaxed pose, his expression one of pleasant blankness. Against the wall, Adair snorted.
I smiled, and struck straight at Ashton’s face.
He’d evidently been off his game the first time I met him; his arm came up before my fist got anywhere near him and blocked the blow. He didn’t return it, resuming his pleasant expression and relaxed stance.
I struck again, this time aiming for his stomach. He wove out of the way with surprising grace.
‘Good,’ he said approvingly. ‘You’re more likely to do damage there.’
‘Except you wear armour,’ I muttered.
‘We do. But our armour is more likely to crack than our bone, so it’s a better choice than a strike to the face, no matter how satisfyingthatmight be.’
I struck again, dancing around to aim at his side. He blocked the blow, and returned one of his own, aiming for my cheek. I ducked it just in time, managing to land a punch under his upper arm.
‘Good,’ he said again. ‘But this time mean it, Maeve.’
I laughed and danced forward, delivering a number of strikes to his torso. He blocked several punches then caught my wrist, spinning me around and pinning me against his body, just as he had when I’d first boarded the ship. I tried my usual moves to escape, but he hooked a foot around my leg and I found myself face down on the floor with what felt like a thousand kilos of muscle pinning me down, his hands around my wrists.
He shifted slightly, holding his weight off me. His breath shivered over my ear. ‘You let me do this.’
‘What makes you say that?’
He chuckled. ‘You’re not struggling.’
‘Maybe I’m conserving my energy,’ I said archly.
‘For what?’
I yanked a leg up and pushed an arm outright with all my strength, throwing him momentarily off balance. I used my slight advantage to push his bulk off me, then was on my feet a moment later, landing a solid kick to what – in a human – might have been a kidney.
He gave a soft grunt and was back on his feet before I could do any further damage. I’d expected frustration, anger even, but instead his eyes were lit gold with challenge and his lips were carved into a smile.
‘Again,’ he said.
We sparred for what felt like hours and no time at all. At some point, Adair left, and other guards arrived to watch instead, but I didn’t notice who because they didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the massive male in front of me who moved around the training room as if he was as much a dancer as a soldier. Nothing mattered but the moments his skin slid over mine, the moments his weight pinned me down on the floor, the moments his eyes glowed when I fought back with all my skill and all my strength.
Nothing mattered but his soft words when we were a sweating, panting mess and he judged we’d done enough, before he pushed me to the door with his hand on the small of my back so I could take a shower.
‘You’re good, human.’
I didn’t know what was wrong with me. There werethousandsof Tirians aboard the ship, and a good portion of those usedUnclaimedas a kind of last name, which meant they were available – for flirting, at least, given their rules about bonding and families. I didn’t care, though; even when I saw a particularly attractive example of the species – to my human-skewed lens, anyway; I got the feeling that Tirian beauty standards were different – I felt no compulsion to offer my usualwell, hellosmile. I just … didn’t want to.
Not with the rest of the ship, anyway. There were three Tirians who were a different matter. An entirely too seductive,deliciousmatter that I wanted to break open and lose myself in.
