ecstasy | corpse husband

chapter 25.

a hand grips her upper arm, firmly. she follows it to corpse's suddenly hardened stare. "that won't be necessary," he says calmly. "you have me."

"but you're making me nervous." she shakes herself free of his grip. the last thing she wants to do is hurt him or herself with the slip of her hand on the blade, which is very likely. he doesn't seem to be taking any of this seriously at all.

"nervous why?"

"because knives can do damage. a lot, at that, if you're not careful."

he ponders that. "do you intend to not be careful?"

"well, no," she drawls, then adjusts her answer, "maybe, if I'm feeling particularly irritated with you."

corpse smiles. "that won't take long, then."

she bristles. "this isn't a joke—"

"look, we're already there."

elowen raises a hand, the one without the knife in it despite her vexation, in an attempt to hit him square in the chest, but he catches her wrist. his mouth dips closer to her ear. "I know you're used to getting your way, minx, but for the next hour, what I say goes."

his words seem to travel down the back of her neck, making her shiver in his hold. he's never been this authoritative with her, at least not since their first few days together. surprisingly, it's enough to make her change her attitude. she would be compliant and not so bratty.

"trust me a little. can you do that?" corpse asks, lips still touching her hair before he leans away to get a view of her face.

"no," her mouth mutters, but her face says yes. he reads the truth in her expression and lets go of her wrist rather emphatically.

she isn't sure she can say she trusts him yet, but she could at least trust him on training her and not getting themselves killed or injured. he seems to be sure of himself and his abilities, despite his toying with her earlier.

the first lesson they work on is how to properly throw a combat knife. corpse leads her farther down in the parking garage where they can have some more space and lesser risk of causalities. giving her a brief synopsis, he tells her how technically, they should be using throwing knives for this activity, but their current ones will have to do.

"let's start with your grip." corpse stands in front of elowen expectantly.

she wraps her fingers around the handle of the blade like she would hold a hammer. It's the most natural for her. "do you really think flare was right about knives being the most valuable weapon? over a gun?"

corpse moves slightly behind her, peering over her shoulder as he adjusts her thumb placement. "I think it depends on the situation," he offers. "but knives would be my weapon of choice, personally. they're... versatile."

she feels his chest pressed behind her shoulder, and it's making her focus hazy. "they require close combat, though. that's a death wish against a pale."

"or a life saver," he argues and raises her arm up by the elbow. "turn towards me—are you saying they're aren't useful?"

she obliges, letting herself face him now. he grins faintly upon meeting her gaze before turning her chin to make her look straight ahead. "maybe as a last resort," she scoffs. "the enemy is much more deadly than us humans."

"If used as a projectile, knives could be invaluable—when you have the skill to aim it."

elowen narrows her eyes, but keeps looking straight as he ordered. "why would you want to throw your weapon away?" the idea seems stupid.