Elemental Hunger

Chapter Eleven

At first, I was too surprised to move. Just like last night, his lips burned. They pressed nicely against mine. Without thinking, I laced my fingers through his curls. He slipped his hands to my back, pulling me closer.

Something coursed through my body. Something I'd never felt before—not even with Jarvis. A strange sense of belonging accompanied it.

Just as suddenly as he started, he stopped. "Holy tornadoes, Gabriella." He stepped away, breathing hard. "Sorry."

Then he left, the cabin door swinging closed in my face. I sat back down, staring at nothing. His ashy scent lingered, and I breathed it in. I relived the kiss—the pressure of his mouth, the gentle firmness of his hands.

I hadn't even seen it coming.

Status: Confused.

"Let's go, Gabe." Adam's voice cut through the illusion, hard and tough, not the husky tone I'd just heard say my girl name. I shook my head to dislodge the spongy feeling in my brain.

Outside the cabin, Adam stood with a knife extended toward me. I took it without speaking. He turned around and said to Hanai, "Lead the way, man. We've got heaps to do to get you jokers knife-worthy."

Hanai grinned before striding into the forest. I glanced at the knife, semi-repulsed from holding it, and sighed before following them into the trees.

After twenty minutes of meandering, Hanai stopped in a clearing. The ground had a generous covering of snow that I managed to melt before Adam could bark the command.

I kept my eyes down, still pondering what had happened in the cabin. Somehow he'd blocked the transmission. But why did he kiss me afterward? I wished I hadn't liked it so much.

With the ground clear, Adam demonstrated how to hold a knife. "They're weighted. Can you feel it?" He stopped in front of Hanai and adjusted his hold on the handle. "Too high. Down here. Feel the difference?"

Hanai nodded as Adam moved over to me. "You too. Scoot it down." He didn't touch me as I moved my hand lower on the handle.

The knife did feel different, almost like I could balance it on my thumb. A patch of tiny bumps ran under the joint of my first finger.

"Okay. Now, keeping your knife is important. If your opponent can disarm you, you're dead. Gabe, you're up first."

I took my position—feet a manly shoulder-width apart—across from Adam while Hanai loitered several feet away.

"Keep your knife," Adam said. Like that was an adequate instruction.

I gripped it tighter. Adam lunged forward, and I stepped sideways to avoid him. He elbowed me from behind, the blow landing on my triceps. The force traveled down my arm and the knife slipped from my fingers. The cool metal of his blade kissed my neck.

"You're dead," he said.

Time: Three blazing seconds.

I twisted out of his grip and glared at him. I didn't look away as I bent to pick up the knife.

"Hanai," Adam said, ignoring my hostility.

I leaned against a tree while Adam disarmed Hanai with his bare hands. At least Hanai wasn't very good at this either.

Adam disarmed me again and again. And again. After half an hour, I wanted to punch him. Instead, I watched him start in on Hanai again. He led with his right foot, but the blow came from his left hand. He rocked back on his heels before using his body weight to deliver the disarming blow. Hanai's knife landed several feet away. All that after only five seconds.