Lessons of the Heart and the Liquid it Pumps ||

The result was instant as a loud crack filled the air and a trickle of blood ran down his forehead to settle on top of his closed eyelid. I could feel the shock in the air as he lay beneath me. I released his shirt and his head fell limply towards the ground. It hit it with a thud that made my nerves tingle in response. His eyes shot open and the deep grey seemed to form a pit for me to fall into. I found myself momentarily stunned, gazing at his eyes, my breath freezing in my lungs unable to move.

He’s doing it with his eyes! My mind warned me and I scuttled off of his body just in time. His hands snatched in the air where I’d been a second ago. A wild growl ripped through the air as Francis leapt to his feet and darted towards me. My knee dragged against the cement as I tried desperately to get to my feet before he could reach me. It was too late.

His hand grabbed a handful of my hair, roughly tangling his fingers in my fine dark golden curls. With a heave he yanked on my head pulling me to my feet with such strength I could hear the individual strands of hair tearing their roots from my scalp. He hauled me to my feet forcing me to stand on my tippy toes to try and support my weight.

I yelled in pain, ignoring the voice in my head telling me not to let him have the satisfaction, and desperately tried to pry his hands free from y hair. He responded by sweeping his arm rightwards, dragging me along with it, and letting go with a forceful push. There was nothing I could do to stop my body from raising into the air and soaring a few feet before gravity took over and I landed roughly on the ground.

My feet wouldn’t respond in time to force myself back up but that didn’t matter. Francis was kind enough to help me to my feet, his hands sweeping under me as he hoisted me from the ground and tossed me casually over his shoulder. I groaned as his shoulder dug into my chest and the air rushed out of me in a loud oof. His hand wound around my legs as he hold me still, the feeling of his erratic breathing moving my whole body with every breath.

“Had enough?” he asked, his smug voice filling the air as he tried to keep his voice even.

Not even a second passed but it felt like an eternity as my mind reeled. Images flashed through my mind at the speed of light; too fast for me to comprehend. But my body understood and a burning sensation filled my every pore. I wrapped my arms around his waist in a steely embrace as I flung my legs backwards. In a elegant arch my body carried itself over his shoulder and I released him at the best possible moment to land on my feet behind him in some sort of assisted backflip.

Using his surprise to my advantage I spun to face his back, drawing my leg out as I did so. It caught of his heels and knocked his legs out from under him sending him tumbling to the ground. I wanted to stop and spare a moment to look down at his rage filled eyes but my body wouldn’t let me. It continued on as though it’d planned everything out in advance.

I sent a wicked kick into his side causing him to slide a foot or so across the hard blood stained cement of the fighting circle. He moved to get to his feet and I was at his side in a single bouncing stride of my legs. I followed through with a swift knee to his face the moment he managed to get onto his hands and knees. It sent him another foot or so away and this time I followed as he went along.

I moved to grab him but he rolled out of reach, springing wildly to his feet as he lunged at me. We collided roughly and with neither of us willing to give the other the satisfaction of hitting the cold ground we tangled our arms each other so if we went crashing down we’d at least bring the other with us.

The closeness of his hard body against mine and his arms around me awakened a new feeling I hadn’t felt before. Was it. . . possessiveness?