Escaping to You -Book I of the Journey Series

Chapter 6

===Heather====

"How about a sparring session?" I suggested to Hiccup with a smirk. "A sparring session?" He asked me, a smirk slowly forming on his lips. "Yeah. Right here, right now" I said as I slowly walked toward him. "Are you sure?" He narrowed his eyes at me, the smirk not leaving his lips. "I wouldn't be suggesting if I wasn't sure." I said.

Then, the weirdest thing happened; Hiccup started taking off his body armor. "What are you doing?" I asked him, confused. "Its pretty hot today. Plus, I don't spar with my armor on." He just shrugged with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Two can play at that game.

"In that case....." I began to take off my body armor and my tunic, leaving me in my leather bra and pants, by braid still intact. "It is hot today, don't you think?" I asked him, a small smirk on my face.

His eyes traveled all over my body, and I could feel my insides melting. His hungry gaze can undo me in a second. Then, he smirked and took off his tunic. And what I saw made my jaw unhinge from my skull.

I mean, I knew he was lean, but I didn't know he was this well-toned. Come on, six-pack abs?! How can I possibly spar with him when he looked hotter than the weather? I had to use every inch of self-restraint I had in my body not to drool at the magnificent sight in front of me.

"Yeah, it is." He said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Ready?" I asked him as I took my stance. "Ready." He said as he got into position at the other end. I took off at him as I threw a punch and he blocked it with ease. I tried to hit him with the other hand but he caught it just in time. I broke free by doing a flip, and kicking him under the chin in the process. "Impressive." He commented when he recovered from the kick. "You ain't seen nothing yet." I told him, getting a boost of confidence. "I bet.." I hear him mutter under his breath as he attacked me.

He threw a punch, and I ducked it. He threw another one. I blocked it and countered with a punch to the face. He managed to block it and flip me over. I landed on my ass. Literally! "Nice reflexes." I complimented him. "If you work in a forge where metal objects randomly come and go at you, you need fast reflexes to make sure you don't get killed accidentally by a stray kitchen knife." He said, with a hint of sarcasm at the end. "Am I hearing sarcasm in your tone, Hiccup?" I asked him, my eyebrows raised. "Maybe." He feigned innocence. "Maybe they should call you 'The King of Sarcasm' instead of Dragon Master." I remarked sarcastically.

"Now, who's being sarcastic?" He asked me, almost laughing. "Shut up, Hiccup." And we continued sparring for the rest of the hot spring morning.

Our sparring ended right before noon. The sun was high, and so was the heat. "I think that's enough for today?" He wheezed out. "I agree." I breathed out. We were both bathed in so much sweat. I had to stop myself from staring at the heaps of sweat trickling down his incredibly hot, six-pack abdominal muscles. "Control yourself, Heather." I silently scolded myself. "You need to stop gawking at him like you're some crazed lunatic."

"What do you say we eat, then we cool down at the beach?" I offered. "Good, I'll race you." He hopped on Toothless and sped towards the beach. "Hey, no fair!" I quickly mounted Windshear and sped off to catch up with Hiccup and Toothless. "You're a cheat, you know that?" I told him as I caught up to them.

"I do. And I only did that because I like seeing you all fired up." He joked. I playfully glared at him and lightly hit him in his shoulder. We landed on the beach. The view was spectacular. The water glimmered in the sunlight. The clouds looked like soft streaks of white painted across the clear blue sky. The waves gently crashed unto the sand. l removed my boots and I felt the pure white sand against my feet. I slowly breathed in, and the smell of the ocean breeze with a mixture of forest and floral filled my lungs. I sighed contentedly as I basked in the beauty of my surroundings. Then, I had an idea.