All Things Wild and Beautiful

39. Gifts of Confession

The morning air was fresh and already growing warm. Fenrys leaned against the fence around a training ring, watching Nascha spar with Aeron and two other novices. She was making quick work of her opponents with the help of her duel bladed swords. Briefly, Fenrys wished he could see her use them in a real fight. She would be deadly. She would be devastating.

He clenched his jaw, letting his gaze travel over her curvy frame. She was wearing the leather outfit he had given her. Already, the leather was broken in and pliable. Nascha's movements were fluid as she parried one blow and landed a solid kick to her opponent's side. Aeron flashed her a proud grin.

She returned it, her crimson braid falling over her shoulder. They returned their focus to their opponents as the males swiftly righted themselves and lunged. One of them said something to Nascha. She laughed and pushed him back a few paces. The male smirked and Fenrys smothered a growl, catching the way his gaze briefly fell to Nascha's chest.

"Easy, Fenrys," Vaughan said, appearing beside him. "Aedion will be pissed if you scare his warriors away."

"Maybe he should tell his warriors to keep their eyes where they belong," Fenrys muttered. He sighed a moment later. "I'm sorry. I'm trying not to act so..."

"Possessive, claiming, territorial..."

"Yeah."

The male's gaze had fallen again. Fenrys lowered his head, gritting his teeth almost painfully. His every instinct was urging him to jump into the ring and show that male exactly where he could keep his eyes.

"Don't look now, but Nascha is about to kick his ass."

Fenrys looked up. Nascha ducked beneath the male's sword and rammed her palm into his elbow, forcing his arm up at an awkward angle. She grabbed his wrist and wrenched it backwards. The male yelped, dropping his sword. Nascha jerked him forward and kicked the back of his knees in as he stumbled past her. He hit the dirt and she pointed a blade at his throat.

Fenrys' lips curled into a smirk and he gave an approving whistle. Nascha caught his eye with a grin. Aeron quickly dispatched their second opponent and the two of them crossed the ring, joining Fenrys and Vaughan.

"I enjoyed that," Aeron chuckled. He shot a glare back at the males. "Those two love to belittle me for being Demi-Fae. They do the same to the Humans in the camp."

"Remind them that their general is Demi-Fae, and he wouldn't take kindly to hearing about one of his own being treated like that," Vaughan said. "And if that doesn't work, threaten them with Lorcan."

"They wouldn't believe that Lorcan would give a crap about me."

"Then we'll ask him to come prove a point," Fenrys replied. "He would if one of us asked him to. Well, maybe not me. We're still not on good terms with each other."

Nascha perched on top of the fence and leaned towards him. "You need to fix that. I don't want you two to dislike each other because of me."

"I'll see what I can do." He let his hand rest on her thigh and brought his mouth close to her ear. "But I can't help the way I react to things when you're around. The way you dispatched that male was very attractive, by the way."

"I think you find everything attractive," Nascha laughed.

"Everything that has to do with you." He kissed the hollow below her ear.

"Vaughan and Aeron are standing right here," she whispered.

"That male is watching too." Fenrys met his gaze. With a sly smirk, he touched a kiss to Nascha's neck.