“I told you I didn’t want to talk about it.”
I shifted my stance, prepping myself for what was to come. “Then come over here and shut me up.”
“I think you would go into withdrawal if you couldn’t hear your own voice.”
Her response caught me off guard and I laughed aloud. “Damn, pauper, you are getting pretty good at the insults lately.”
Anna smirked. “I learned from the best.”
“Damn right you did,” I growled, motioning for her to come at me. “Come on, pauper, show me what you got.”
She returned my growl and charged me, her sword raised at an awkward angle. I dodged her immediately, hitting her sword and sending it flying away from her. “You’ve forgotten everything I taught you,” I told her as she scrambled to pick up her sword.
“I have not,” Anna huffed, repositioning herself. “I just was hoping to get an easy strike.”
“Baby, you are going to have to do something better than that,” I mocked her, placing my sword at my side. “Go on. I will even give you a second chance.”
She made a sound and charged me again, this time with her sword held correctly in her hand. The force of our swords hitting each other caused my ears to ring with the sound and I parried her thrusts, taking a swipe at her side with my fist.
Not hard enough to break her ribs, but enough to have her know what it was like to have not only the sword to worry about, but also the free hand that could destroy her in another way. Anna held her side as she straightened. “What was that for?”
“Call it payback,” I grinned, feeling the sweat start to break out over my forehead. “Come on, pauper. Make me feel your wrath.”
“God, you talk too much,” she muttered, her eyes raking over me. I knew she was looking for a weakness, exactly how I had taught her, and my chest warmed at the thought. She had actually listened to me at some point.
Anna did better the third time, our sparring lasting longer than I had expected. I struggled to block all her thrusts, her sword catching my shoulder more than once. Though the blade wasn’t sharp enough to go through my T-shirt, I still winced as it struck the muscle.
“Got you,” she said, her face flushed with exertion.
I growled in response. “I do love a woman who can handle a sword properly.”
Anna’s eyes danced in laughter. “Well you did teach me, after all.”
Damn right, I did. A swell of pride flowed through me as I heard her words. I had done more for her than Arthur had, that was for sure.
We sparred for another hour or so before I laid down my sword. “Enough. I need a break.”
Anna did the same, pulling up her shirt to wipe her forehead. “I should be getting back to the academy.”
Hell, I didn’t want her to go. “Why the rush?” I asked casually as I placed my sword on the holder in the wall. “I’m the only one that matters.”
Anna rolled her eyes, following my lead. “Yeah, okay, Royce. I have work to do. I can’t spend all day sword fighting with you.”
“What about watching the tube then?” I offered, hoping that I didn’t sound desperate. Since the kings were at odds, I was fucking lonely as hell. “I will even cook you dinner.”
She shook her head, picking up her bag. “I really should get back, but thanks for the workout. I’m getting better at this.”
“Yeah, you are,” I said reluctantly as I walked behind her up the stairs to the main level, not bothering to hide the fact that I was staring at her ass in the process.
“Holy crap.”
I stepped into the hallway, following Anna’s gaze. “It’s snowing.”
“That’s like a blizzard,” she said, walking to the window.
“It is a blizzard,” I answered, watching the snow swirl outside the window. “You can’t walk in that.”
Anna turned toward me. “Then you will have to give me a ride back to the academy.”
I chuckled. “You haven’t seen my car, have you? One tire on that slick-ass road and we will both be in the hospital. I don’t have chains for it. You will have to stay here.”
Anna bit her lip and turned away. Damn, she was actually thinking about walking back. Was it that fucking bad to spend the night with me? “Listen,” I started. “You can sleep in a different room if you want to, but the offer of a movie and dinner still stands.”
“You can cook?”
I grinned at her back. “We kings aren’t fucking helpless, Anna. We can survive on our own.”
“I doubt that,” she laughed, dropping her bag on the stool in the kitchen. “Fine, but I’m expecting a damn good meal, Royce.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
**
Three hours later, I set my plate on the coffee table before me, watching as Anna finished the remains of shrimp fettucine on her plate. “Well?”
She placed the fork in her mouth, pulling it out empty a moment later. “Well, you weren’t lying, Royce. This was really good.”
I took her plate from her, replacing it with her wineglass. “I told you.”
“Where did you learn to cook?”
Her plate joined mine and I picked up my glass of whiskey instead. “My mate in boarding school, actually. His father was a French chef and there wasn’t much for us to do other than get into trouble, of course. They would always put us on kitchen duty, which was fucking ridiculous considering he loved to cook.”
“Well, it definitely paid off then,” she answered, taking a sip of her wine. “I apologize for judging your cooking skills.”
“I have a lot of skills, pauper,” I said in a low voice.
She blushed and I
