***
I am so torn I feel like I’m going crazy. On the one hand, having Sailor staying at the cabin is amazing. Knowing she’s here where I can keep her safe and see her anytime I want to is great. On the other hand, the temptation to just throw caution to the wind and sweep her up in my arms and make love to her is proving difficult to resist.
After our visit with Nexus, we went back to the cabin to round up the girls so Sailor could take them with her when she begged her dad to let her have a girls’ weekend. I was half hoping he’d say no. I hung back with Aziza, who had no interest in convincing Sailor’s dad to let her come and stay at the cabin. Ya-Ya, Grace, and Mel assaulted him with a mixture of makeovers, movies, junk food, and gossip talk. He got caught up in their excitement and agreed to it. He took Sailor to one side and told her to be home by six on Sunday because he wanted her to meet Raven, whom he is now referring to as his girlfriend. I saw Sailor’s smile slip for just a second and it hurt me to know she was hurting.
She has been training more with Sunday. We’ve pretty much given up on the history lessons. They won’t keep her alive. Sunday has been doing weapons training with her. Sailor skipped breakfast this morning to have another session with Sunday while I talk to Grace about her progress teaching Sailor to scribe.
“It’s not good news, Rye,” Grace says. “I know Sailor can do this, but it’s like she has a mental block or something. Your whole dating other women thing has hit her hard and it’s affecting her concentration.”
“It’s for the best, Grace,” I say quietly. “The consequences are…let’s just say they’re not something I’m willing to risk.”
Grace nods her head.
“Yeah I get that, but just stop rubbing it in her face, alright?”
Before I can argue with her, she goes back to the dagger.
“So Nexus dropped by while I was working with Sailor. She’s still trying to find the exact location for us, but she said the dagger is in a cave somewhere deep in the forest. And now the medallion has been found, it seems that the dagger has come to life. Nexus said it will soon start attracting darkness and evil will be drawn to it.”
“Wonderful,” I say. “No pressure then.”
Grace laughs softly.
“Yeah, none at all. I’ll keep trying with Sailor later on today. I know she’ll get there.”
I nod my head.
“Speaking of Sailor, I better get over to the warehouse for our training session.”
I get up and head for the warehouse. I’m already regretting this decision. I should have kept up the weapons training and had Sunday practice the hand-to-hand stuff with her. The hand-to-hand stuff has too much risk of contact. I shake my head. I’m a fucking god, not some dumb teenager. I can focus on the mission and ignore the insistent voice in my head that tells me to kiss Sailor.
I step into the warehouse. Sailor is on the mats. She’s running through a kicking and punching routine. Her body is graceful and I hang back for a moment watching her. She’s getting there. Her movements are fluid and she’s committing properly to each move. She stops moving and frowns in my direction.
“Perv much?” she snaps.
“I’m seeing where your weaknesses lie so I know where to focus your training,” I say haughtily.
Lies.
“Oh,” she says sheepishly.
I step toward her.
“Why don’t we start by having me attack you and you try to stop me,” I say.
I don’t give her any more warning than that. I move in toward her, bringing my hands up as though I’m ready to choke the life out of her. She doesn’t hesitate. She kicks out with her foot, swiping my feet out from underneath me. I slam onto my back on the mat. Sailor grins down at me and offers me her hand. I take it, shocked at how easily she was able to take me down. I wasn’t ready, I tell myself.
Another lie.
I was too focused on Sailor’s lips, on her collarbone. On wanting to hold her, kiss her.
Damn, Rye. Get a fucking grip.
I move toward Sailor again. This time I circle her, getting behind her. I run at her. She grabs my wrist, ducks, and slams me over her head and onto the mat again. This time, she doesn’t offer me her hand. She just frowns down at me. Great. She’s kicking my ass and she’s still mad at me.
“What?” I demand as I get up.
“Going easy on me isn’t doing us any favors, Rye,” she says.
I force myself not to smile. It’s much better she thinks I’m going easy on her than thinking I’m distracted because I can’t think of anything but how her lips will taste against mine.
“Okay, we’ll do this your way then.” I grin. “You come at me.”
Sailor pauses and looks me up and down for a second and then she runs at me. She crouches low and aims a kick at my head. I grab her ankle and pull her other foot out from under her. She goes down and I lay my hand on her throat. She gets back up and tries again. Again, I have her on the ground with my hand on her throat within seconds.
This is bad. Every time I touch her throat, I want to caress it, to run my tongue over it. She’s starting to look a little tired now, but she told me not to go easy on her, so I won’t. She comes at me again, but before she’s close enough for me to reach her, she stops.
“Shhh, listen,” she whispers. “Rye, there’s someone here.”
I pause and listen but I don’t hear anything except Sailor’s breathing. I shake my head.
“There’s no one here but
