Chapter 104: Grace
I steadied my breathing. Come on Grace. You can do this. I took a step forward, arms up in the position Rhys had taught me. I needed to go on the offensive or else Maizie would win again, and I was sick of losing.
I took two steps forward and swung my arm at the opening I saw on the left side of her head. I made contact and as she moved to block, I kicked my other leg out into her stomach.
“Good, Grace!” I heard Rhys call out from somewhere on the other side of the room, but I tuned him out. I was sure he was going to tell me what to do next, but I could do this without him. I could do this.
Maizie recovered quickly, and I retreated a step, stumbling slightly. Maizie didn’t hesitate, she took me right down to the ground, and next thing I knew, it was over. Damnit.
Maizie reached her hand out, and I took it graciously, allowing her to pull me back to my feet.
“I really thought you had me for a minute.” She admitted breathlessly as she grabbed her water and started chugging. “If you hadn’t lost your balance, it might have been a different story.”
I nodded, but I was mad at myself for stumbling. I wasn’t as hopeless as I was a couple of weeks ago when we had started, but I hadn’t come nearly as far as I wanted to.
“Good work you two,” Rhys praised, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, and forcing the water bottle into my hand.
“I can do better.” I answered, ignoring the compliment.
“You can go Maizie. Thanks.” Rhys dismissed her. She nodded, and I looked at Rhys in annoyance. It was just us now in the gym, and I knew I was about to be lectured about how perfect I was, but I wasn’t. I was so far from it, and that training session just showed it.
“I don’t think I deserve that look.” Rhys told me.
“I don’t want to hear how perfect I am.” I responded bitterly.
“I wasn’t-”
“You were. You do it after every training session, and I get it, I’m not completely hopeless anymore, but I also stumbled, and in a real fight that would have cost me my life.”
“You were never hopeless, Grace,” He breathed, pushing a lose strand from my braid out of my sweaty face.
“Be for real,” I bit back, not falling for his tricks again.
“Gracie, you have been training hard for two weeks. Maizie has been training her whole life. There’s a difference in skill level. She might be younger, but she is far from weak. She was trained by them to be a warrior; you were trained to be used. It’s going to take time, and that’s okay.”
“We don’t have time,” I answered in exasperation.
“We’ll make time.” He said seriously. “We control it from now on. Not them.”
“You make it sound easy.”
He gave me a small smile that told me he was trying to be patient but that I was testing him.
“Sawyer gets out of the hospital today.” He said changing the subject.
My heart skipped a beat. Despite Maizie giving him back his energy, he had been slow to heal. His wolf hadn’t recovered in the way we had hoped, but today, he was deemed normal, and I was excited to see my friend again not hooked up to machines, and lifeless.
“What time?” I asked.
“When we decide to go get him. They want someone to walk him back to the room. He’s still supposed to be taking things easy.”
“Well then what are we doing here?” I asked in surprise. “I didn’t realize he was waiting on us!”
“Slow down,” Rhys laughed, grabbing my hand and stopping me in my tracks. “There is no rush.”
“I’m sure he does not want to spend another minute in that stupid room.” I argued.
“And I’m sure if I had stopped you earlier, you would have been mad at me for interrupting your training.”
I rolled my eyes. With Rhys, everything felt so natural. Since the night everything went down, everything had begun to feel so natural between us. I stopped fighting the bond, and I was finally starting to figure out who I was. Rhys was great in giving me the space to do that. In fact, he wanted to be a part of it, and I was glad. I don’t think I would have had the same courage to figure it out if it wasn’t for him.
“I would not have.” I answered stubbornly.
“You would have, and then it would have postponed our whole day, and then we would be behind. And right now, I have you all to myself.”
He pulled me into him and kissed me deeply. I immediately caved, feeling myself melt into him. There was still so much of this man to explore as his tongue asked for entrance into my mouth, which I granted. His fingers tugged at my braids, and I entangled my fingers in his dark brown hair. I could kiss him forever. And it wasn’t until we both were gasping for air did we break apart.
“I thought we had things to do?” I asked breathlessly, my hands still wrapped around his neck.
“You are my thing to do,” He smirked.
I rolled my eyes again. This man was nothing but trouble. If he had it his way I would be locked away in our room, never wearing clothes again.
“Come on, let’s go rescue Sawyer, and then we can get on with our day.”
He pecked my lips again, but it left me wanting more. With him, I always seemed to want more. Which felt a little crazy. Since the night that Ethan betrayed us, I had barely left his sight, but it still wasn’t enough. I was beginning to feel like nothing ever would be.
“If you insist.” He answered, his voice not hiding their longing, and I couldn’t wait for later because making him wait was always worth it.
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