Page 34 of Vengeance Becomes Her

She would let him and her sister have each other. They both deserved the happiness the other could give. She had nothing to offer but a dangerous revenge scheme and bitterness.

It took everything in her to wash off the morning’s activities before she crawled into bed, not even bothering to try to detangle the mess of her emotions or dive back into her book she’d started reading. She would allow the darkness to wash over her and take her home to her dreams, the only place where she could get the answers she needed now.

Rhiannon was fully committed to her plan to put distance between herself and Tristain. However, he seemed intent on the opposite.

The next morning, Tristain showed up at her door with breakfast in hand and a wide grin on his face. The matching smile she returned was involuntary, but she had to admit that seeing him eagerly awaiting her company made her dread the day of grueling training that awaited her just a bit less.

When they headed out to the garden, she was excited to find out that they would be picking up their swords today. Every time she had the steel in her hand, she felt more complete. It lent her the strength she needed to face another day—she just hoped that would be the case when she needed to use it.

“It suits you,” Tristain noted appraisingly.

His words laced heat through her veins. She nearly dropped the sword under his praise. She gathered her composure as quickly as possible and shifted into a fighting stance, waiting for him to make the first move andset their pace.

She watched him from her peripherals as he stalked around her. Sweat trickled down her temples in anticipation.

“Tristain, do something—”

The flat of his sword hit her hip in a bruising thwack. Rhiannon bit back her irritation.

“You need to use all of your senses when facing off with an opponent. In a real fight, all is fair,” Tristainchastised her.

After a few more minutes, Rhiannon was breathing heavy and up two more bruises and Tristain had escaped their duel unscathed and unphased. She tried not to let the disappointment get to her—he had nearly two decades more experience than her—but her pride stung a bit. She’d never been good at losing.

Tristain walked over to her, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. “Don’t be discouraged. You should be proud that I only managed to land three hits on you today. I know I’m impressed.” He held her gaze until she nodded.

She tried to remain unaffected by his words, but with him so close, she couldn’t quite think straight. In this proximity, she could see the beads of sweat on his light brown skin and how his waves had grown unruly during their sparring. His eyes were kind and sincere, his hand was warm on her shoulder, and his slightly crooked smile was endearing. All she could muster was a small “Thank you” as she tried to get her mind back on track.

“Focus. Focus. Focus.”Rhiannon chanted in her head.

They took a few minutes to catch their breath and rehydrate. Despite the shift into early autumn, it was still warm and the sun beamed down on them with a vengeance. The leather didn’t help. As she watched Tristain strip off his tunic, she silently reminded herself to wear one of hers tomorrow.

Tristain cleared his throat obnoxiously, forcing her eyes to snap up to his. She realized her gaze had been fixed on his torso. While Silas had been lean and toned, Tristain was bulky with some definition across his chest and arms but otherwise he had a softer build. She wondered what it would be like to lay her head on his chest. She knew it would be comfortable. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment at where her thoughts had gone.

Tristain let out a mischievous chuckle at her expense. His dimples mocked her.

“Cocky bastard.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself, it’s been a while since I’ve been around a man.” She shot him a warning glare and picked up her sword.

“Mhmm.” His voice was teasing. “Ready?” The cocky glint hadn’t left his eyes as he positioned himself across from her, taking up a defensive stance this time around. She nodded and he urged her on with two fingers that gestured inhis direction.

Rhiannon took a deep breath, steadying her nerves as she watched him closely. Her eyes caught on the muscles that ran down his thick legs as they flexed under his pants. He wasn’t completely distracting her, though. When his gaze followed hers, she turned to her left and landed a blow on his other side.

Her laugh rang out in victory. “Now who’s the distracted one?”

Energy buzzed through the air as they sized each other up and waited for the other to make one wrong move. When his weight shifted, she assumed he was going to lunge. Instead, they both moved forward and to the right at the same time, causing them to bump into each other with enough momentum to send Rhiannon falling to her back. She came down hard on her tailbone and her head hit a rock that had been hidden in the grass. The smack of her body on the ground was audible. Tears sprang to her eyes immediately, all she could utter was “fuck” as the pain radiated through her body.

Within a few breaths, Tristain was on his knees beside her. His eyes darted across her face and his breathing was heavy as he reached down to check her head.

“Shit. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t expect you to go that way.”

He felt behind her head frantically for blood. His hand came back clean. In his relief, he crushed her against his bare chest.

Rhiannon didn’t even mind the sweat, his slick body allowing her to hide the few tears she had shed from the shock and pain. She took several slow breaths, pulling the calming scents of rain-soaked wood and eucalyptus deep into her lungs. It instantly centered her as she rested her forehead fully against him, listening to his heart beat wildly with concern. It was just as comfortable asshe’d expected.

Tristain pulled her back to look at her. His face fell, his desperate apology written all over his features as he traced the tears that had streaked her cheeks. He held her face in his hands, gently caressing them away with his thumbs.

“Rhia, I’m so sorry. I promise I didn’t mean to…”

Rhiannon jerked away, the cursed rock scratching against her back as she created distance between them.

---