When I got out of the shower, it was time to meet Lucian. I forced myself out the room with a soaking body vest lumped in my arms. The vestunfortunately wouldn’t retract into a disk when it was wet.
“Enjoy,” Becky said, without taking her nose out of her book.
I found him inside the dome waiting for me. He was practicing moves that made me stare at him like an idiot. He wore black pants with the body vest I’d only seen once in Wetherley’s and Co. He wasn't wearing a shirt underneath, and his muscular arms could make any girl's knees tremble. I closed my eyes, thinking how lucky I was to call him mine.
For the love of blueberries, he was so effing hot.
When he turned around I pretended I’d just walked in and hadn’t been gawking. “You’re late,” he said in a harsh tone. He looked away. When he turned to face me again, a smile lurked in the corners of his mouth. “This is going to be hard, isn't it?”
I giggled at his internal struggle. “Can we please just rest for a while, I just finished with a fighting class.”
He squinted and contemplated my request. “It’s not my fault.” A huge teasing grin appeared on his face, and my stomach made another flip. My body vest was still icky and sweaty from my previous class, and I almost gagged when I pulled it over my head.
I picked up the heavy sword from the cupboard and dragged it all the way to where Lucian waited patiently. The screeching sound of the sword on the floor should've made me cringe, but I was too tired.
“Elena, how heavy is that thing?” He reached out his hand for it. I gave it to him without answering. My body language said enough.
He laughed softly. “I think I just found your first problem.”
“What?”
“This one is way too heavy for you.” Lucian walked back to the cupboard and replaced it with another one. “Here, this is much lighter.”
I took the sword from him and felt the difference immediately. “You want to say my problem this entire time was that I was using the wrong sword?”
“Yes, that's why you have to be early for class so you can choose the right weapon.” He smiled again.
“You sure this weapon can protect me? It looks so thin.” I looked at the blade skeptically and barely saw his sword coming straight for me. My reflexes kicked in, and I blocked it, just the way Professor Mia had shown me in class my first day. He came for me again,and I blocked that one too. He was so fast I barely saw him move, but he was right about the sword. It was as if I’d found my Excalibur and had become King Arthur.
When he finally stopped, I gasped for air and held the side of my burning waist. He laughed as I struggled to take a breath, and he playfully slapped my hand away that I had raised in surrender. Becky was right. He was a slave-driving demon.
“One thing I can say, your reflexes are really good, Elena. I don't recall seeing that before in a first year.”
I gave him the whatever look.
He chuckled. “I'm serious, no joke.”
“You’ll say otherwise when you see me sparring with Collin,” I said, wincing at the thought.
“Get here early and you might show him a thing or two,” he said and forced me to get ready for another round.
“Don't you ever get tired?”
“I’ve got plenty of energy left,” he flirted, pounding his fist on his chest and jumping up and down like a boxer.
“Oh, please, you're going to kill me if you say the break is over.”
“That's your second problem; you're nowhere near as fit as you need to be. So I suggest a two-mile run every morning.”
I grunted.
He gave me a hard slap on the ass that made me shriek. “C’mon, Elena, you’ll thank me after a month.”
If you live that long. I thought as my eyes narrowed.
He chuckled seductively, making me forget why I was upset. Then he attacked me again. His blows grew stronger after each swing.
I blocked two of them and landed on my butt. I didn't want to get up, but when he offered me his hand, I had no choice.
“Becky was right, you are a slave-driving maniac,” I said, still out of breath.
“You complain on the first day. Sweetheart, I see hard times for you,” he joked. For the love of blueberries, I hoped it was a joke.
He only gave me thirty seconds before he attacked me like a samurai lunatic. It didn't look so hot when I was facing him. I blocked five of his blows before my strength got the better of me, and I found myself flat on my back once again.
He pulled me up one more time, not accepting my surrender. It carried on like that for the next hour. When we were finally done, I thought I was going to drop dead right in the dome. I lay down on the cold floor, and placed my flushed cheek to the cool surface. He could even leave me there, I didn't care.
He came to sit down next to where I’d almost passed out. I heaved like someone that had run for two days straight and my parched throat made me feel like puking. “You're not bad, Elena.” He touched my leg.
“I beg to differ.”
“I know you don't see it right now, but I wasn't kidding about that run. So I suggest you go to bed early. I took it easy on you today.”
I gave him the excuse me look.
“Get up and take an afternoon nap. You look like hell.”
“I can't.”
He shook his head, picked me up, threw me over his shoulders as if I was a bag of flour, and carried me to my room.
I felt his hands on my legs, pulling me gently off his shoulder. When I reached his waist, he held me in place, and my legs automatically wrapped around him. Our lips found each other, and we kissed for a long time. It turned into a different kind of war,and I finally understood the phrase“Love is a battle field”.
He grunted and chucked me on the bed.
“I must go, before I do something we might regret,” he said, and I could hear the strain in his voice. I laughed.
“Am I too much for you, Prince Lucian?” I teased him, looking at him suggestively.
“Sweetheart, you have no idea,” he whispered, leaned down to give me another soft kiss before forcing himself out the door.
I couldn't stop smiling, but I was so tired that I dozed off a couple of seconds later.
It felt like I had only been asleep ten minutes when Becky's alarm clock went off.
“Becky!”
“It's not mine, it's yours,” she yelled back.
My eyes flew open. I didn't own an alarm clock.
“Elena, shut that thing off,” Sammy growled.
I saw a small digital clock right next to my bed, showing it was 4:45 am. The sun hadn’t even woken yet and I had to get up. I struggled to get out of bed. Getting down on all fours and crawling to the bathroom. I smelled like I’d just rolled out of a dumpster.
I needed the showerfor my aching muscles; the knots made it feel like I’d carried weights on my shoulders. This guy was really messing up my routine. Usually I took a shower after exercising, not before.
I pulled on some sweatpants and a shirt, hoping that it wouldn't be cold. When I got out of the bathroom, it grew lighter outside. My joints didn't want to work, and my knees didn't want to bend.
I found the slave driver stretching near the cafeteria. He tried to suppress his laughter but failed. Only when I pointed my finger in his face and gave him the not now look did he bite his lip, which made him look extra hot. I looked away so that I could at least stay mad for a minute.
“You should have stretched yesterday. Sit on the floor. Let’s see what we can do.”
The moment I tried to bend my knees, I tipped over. He caught me right before I landed flat on my face.
We both laughed as he lowered me to the ground and started to stretch my legs like a physical therapist. The pain as he pulled my legs to my head brought tears, but when our eyes met, they disappeared. I felt better afterwards,but it wasn't what I’d hoped for.