Page 21 of Rejected Mate Bride
“That’s not bad,” a voice said.
Flora startled, turning to where Camden stood twenty feet away. She hadn’t realized he was still there.
“It’s shit, actually,” she argued. “I knew I’d be disadvantaged because I’m not a wolf, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”
Camden shook his head. “I don’t think you’re doing as poorly as you believe you are. Come on, square up. I’ll spar with you.”
Flora raised an eyebrow doubtfully, but put up her weapon in a ready stance. Camden smiled, his eyes glinting with excitement as he took his stance. They stood motionless for a moment, assessing the other person’s weaknesses, until finally Flora struck first. She lunged forward, only to have her weapon knocked aside by Camden. Another blow, another parry. On and on it went, with Flora not making any ground. She could tell that Camden was toying with her, allowing her to strike but not connect. She gritted her teeth, knowing that if he wanted to end it, it wouldn’t take much effort from him.
Finally, he struck back. She blocked him once, then twice, but wasn’t fast enough to block the third strike. The wood stung on her thigh as it made contact, and he followed it up with a second hit on her left arm. As she was attempting to make a counterattack, he swung fast, stopping just short of her neck. She inhaled sharply and dropped her weapon.
“Good,” he said, nodding his head and lowering his own weapon. “Next time, I want you to try a few defensive maneuvers between your attacks. You’re letting me draw you in, and that leaves you vulnerable. It’s harder to defend and attack with these weapons in close quarters.”
Flora nodded her head, listening to his pointers. She had expected that he would make fun of her terrible skills, but he had surprised her again.
“Got it,” she said.
“Ready to go again?”
She nodded, getting back into position. This time, she felt ready. Camden had actually given her decent pointers. She had known she was doing something incorrectly before, but hadn’t had anyone describe it so succinctly. Now that she knew, she would be ready.
Camden used his own weapon to slap her stick passively, readying their weapons together. She took a side-step, swiping with her weapon toward his knees. He dodged, dancing to the side and circling her. She kept step with him, waiting for him to return an attack. In a moment, he did, and the dance continued.
Flora felt confident as their attacks continued, matching each other in both strength and agility. When she finally made contact with her weapon, she smiled, pleased with herself, as Camden’s eyes narrowed. A welt was already beginning to form on his bicep where she had struck him, and she could see that they were much more evenly matched now.
He danced to the side, avoiding her lunge, and cracked down on her side with his own weapon. The sting of the injury was exhilarating. She moved closer, and a second later realized her mistake. The glint in Camden’s eyes was triumphant as he swiped underneath her feet and knocked her to the ground.
She landed with a thud on her back. He was towering over her, but after all the work she had put into this skirmish, she wasn’t willing to end things this way. She couldn’t let him win outright. With a lurch, she grabbed his weapon and yanked hard, pulling him on top of her as his weapon flew to the side.
“That was impressive,” he said nonchalantly.
Flora couldn’t stop grinning. “I couldn’t let you win outright. Did I do okay?”
“Amazing,” he whispered.
She had been so wrapped up in their sparring and subsequent defeats that she had barely registered that Camden was lying on top of her. His body was pressed against hers as he propped himself up on the ground using his hands on either side of her head. Their bodies, sweaty from their exertions, were hot. With each second, the heat seemed to increase as a tightness in her abdomen grew more pronounced. Her breath hitched slightly as his breath tickled her face. He was moving closer…closer…and she had no desire to stop him.
“Flora,” he whispered, and her eyes shut.
Their lips touched, and it was a thousand times better than their kiss at the marriage altar. There was no audience or expectations; nothing except Camden’s lips pressed against hers. She wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling his weight more firmly down on her as her lips parted to allow his tongue to explore her mouth.
Chapter 10 - Camden
Kissing Flora felt like coming home. Camden relished the feeling of her body under his, the taste of her lips, and the sensation that her nearness was giving him. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, and hadn’t expected her to respond so enthusiastically when he did. After weeks of doing everything he could to show her how much he had changed, he felt like everything was finally coming together.
Despite being prone on the ground, Camden felt like he was floating in the clouds. Her arms wrapped around his abdomen and linked behind his back, pulling him closer to her. He didn’t want to crush her, so he held his weight with his forearms but allowed her to draw him nearer. That was all he really wanted: to be close to her, to be one with her.
He could smell the saltiness of their sweat mixing together as their skin rubbed together, but underneath it was the faint smell of cinnamon that always seemed to follow Flora. It had a spicy, earthy sweetness that was intoxicating.
Camden groaned as she bit his lower lip. There was no one around, no one to see if they took this further than a kiss. He moved his arm down and pressed his palm against her hip, sliding it upwards under her shirt so that he could feel her smooth skin beneath his palm. Their lips were still enmeshed when his fingers brushed the bottom of her bra. Flora suddenly froze beneath him.
“Flora?” he asked, pulling back to check on her.
The hands that had been behind his back moved suddenly to his chest, and she shoved him with all her might, forcing him off her. He sat down on the grass, stunned by the sudden shift in mood.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did I do something?”
Flora shook her head, avoiding eye contact as she brushed herself off and stood. Without a word, she started to walk away.
