Fateful 2-Fractured (4 page)

“Don’t go there, Ethan!” she warned.
However, as she noted the smirk playing about his mouth and the
twinkle of mirth in his eyes, she doubted he’d ever actually do it.
He was simply teasing her and using a tactic that had worked for
him in the past, just like the time when he’d fooled her into
opening her eyes so he could check for signs of a concussion.

Poor Max had to be present during this tiff,
and apparently decided to intercede, “Ethan, let her try the sword.
She did great with the foils, and didn’t you see that double
nunchaku thing she did earlier? She’ll be fine.”

“Thank you, Max!” Danielle gave him a
grateful punch on the shoulder.

“Stay out of it!” Ethan growled as all humor
fell from his expression.

Danielle smirked as she leaned into Ethan,
pressing against his chest with hers. She took his face into her
hand and turned his blue glare from Max, then brushed her nose
against his. “Please?” she whispered as flirtatiously as she could,
slipping her other hand over the hilt of the sword he wore.

His breath hitched and he set his hand
gently over hers. Danielle tightened her grasp on the handle.
“Danielle, behave yourself.”

“Pretty please, with sugar on top?” She
pulled on the sword to release it from the sheath. Ethan’s hand
tightened on hers.

She pressed her lips to his, then watched
the muscles in his throat work as he swallowed and then groaned.
“Fine, but be extremely careful or I will take you to the
hospital—even if you get the tiniest nick,” he threatened, clearly
knowing her intense hatred toward hospitals and doctors.

Danielle did feel a twinge of fear tweak her
insides at just the thought. She knew he’d follow through with this
warning. “I’ll be careful.”

Once the blade was free, she realized
Ethan was right. The sword was quite heavy. She knew she needed to
be extra careful as she handled it. But she wasn’t going to let
Ethan know that, and hoped he couldn’t read it on her face. The
rascal grin to his lips told her he could.
Dang it!
She dropped her chin trying to
recompose.

Max rumbled with a chuckle. “Wow, Danielle,
did they teach you that at the dojo you go to? You’re more
dangerous than I realized.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,”
she replied innocently while brandishing her prize.

“I suggest you watch your back with Nadia,
Max. I’m afraid that particular weapon of hers has more to do with
gender than martial arts,” Ethan advised.

“Too true. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve already
fallen victim to that one,” Max replied.

“Clearly, I as well, am a sucker to their
beguiling talents,” Ethan said, eyeing his sword in her hands.

“Cunning little creatures, females are,
aren’t they?” Max went on.

“Seriously, guys, that’s enough.” Danielle
swung the sword toward Max, but stopped in front of him. “Shall we
duel?”

Max met his sword with hers, a huge cheeky
smile stretching his lips. The blades set off one high metallic
ping as they made contact.

“No!” Ethan bellowed. “If she fights anyone,
she fights me!”

For her own safety, she was sure of that.
And wow, he’s moody today.

Ethan angrily reached for Max’s sword. Max
surrendered it while laughing and stepped back. It seemed he
enjoyed seeing Ethan so riled and manipulated, and rewarded
Danielle with one of his notorious winks. Ethan didn’t see it.
Danielle stifled a snicker.

“Now, darling, let’s see what you’ve
learned,” Ethan said, his tone slightly threatening.

She swung the sword as she’d done with
the lightweight,
safe
sword,
and nearly lost her balance.

Ethan exploded into a peel of chuckles. “I
told you it was heavy.”

She scowled and swung again, handling the
blade better this time. Ethan raised an eyebrow and blocked it.
“Better,” he said.

As they parried and maneuvered, Ethan
remained extremely careful, never using much force against her.
They fenced with the blades until Danielle couldn’t swing the heavy
thing any longer. The practice foil had been much lighter, and
while she was in good shape, she wasn’t accustomed to swinging
heavy steel.

As usual, Ethan was acutely aware of how she
was feeling. “All right, that’s quite enough. I hope you’re
satisfied now.”

“I am. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now I suggest you move
aside while I fight Max.” He motioned to a chair several feet away,
took his sword back from her and returned Max’s sword to him.

“Ethan, I don’t think you’ll do as well
against a vampire now that you’re mortal,” she reminded, but knew
from the frown tugging down the corners of his mouth and because he
completely ignored her comment that he didn’t want to hear it.
Without even a glance in her direction, Ethan engaged Max in an
aggressive fencing bout that appeared just as dangerous as when
they’d both been vampires.

Danielle groaned audibly,
he’s going to get himself injured
,
she mused. And feared they would be taking a trip to the hospital
anyway, just not for her. Her only comfort was that she could tell
Max restrained himself, trying not to hurt the now weaker Ethan. To
Ethan’s annoyance, however, he still walked away from the exchange
with a sprained wrist and a bruised ego.

“I need more karate training, Danielle, I
feel like a weakling now,” Ethan whispered when they were out of
earshot from Max.

“You’re no weakling.” She ran her
fingers along the contours of his muscle-packed arms, and a smirk
crept into her lips. “Very few mortal men have anything like this.”
Even if
this
wouldn’t likely
help him against a vampire ... but she wasn’t going to remind him
of that part.

“Do you think I’ll lose my tone?” He sounded
anxious, and was clearly ignoring her obvious infatuation with his
buff body.

“You might if you don’t pump iron. But I do
think it’s harder to build it up than it is to maintain. Or maybe
it’s another thing you get to keep from being a vampire,” she
offered encouragingly.

“Perhaps,” he said, but he didn’t seem
satisfied.

The next time Danielle visited, he showed
her the weight room he’d set up in a spare bedroom. Ethan also
requested private karate lessons, hoping to gain an advantage over
Max in that area. Danielle obliged because, obviously, she couldn’t
deny Ethan anything. They went to the secret garden in the back of
Beon’s garden to practice, so Max wouldn’t see.

Once they emerged from the hedges and strode
onto the stony path beyond, Ethan said, “So, Danielle,” while
holding her waist and forcing her to step back as he stalked
forward, “what would you do if someone did this to you?” He
suddenly took hold of her wrists and pinned them behind her back,
his arms wrapped around her. Their eyes locked for a moment before
Ethan closed his and gave her one kiss—that lingered.

Uncertain if Ethan meant to come off as
threatening or tempting, she decided tempting worked fine for her,
and also decided she was a willing captive. Defense was the
furthest thing from her mind at the moment. “I suppose I’d have to
kiss him back.”

“What if it wasn’t me? You’d better not kiss
him back.”

“Oh, well in that case. I’d have to bring my
knee up into someplace rather sensitive, just to get my message
across accurately.”

“Good girl, and … what if he did this?”
Ethan lifted her wrists above her head and pushed her back into the
smooth stone wall with his body.

A soft giggle escaped her. “Can I kiss him
back now?” she asked, her gaze glued to his mouth.

“Danielle,” Ethan said disapprovingly,
“would you really kiss someone who had you in this position?”

“Sure,” she whispered as she tipped her face
towards his, trying to close the gap.

Ethan gathered both of her wrists in one
hand and took her chin in his other, preventing the kiss. All humor
had left his expression. “You’re supposed to be teaching me your
defensive skills. We’re in the middle of a war. I need to learn
what you know. Spar with me, Danielle.” The last was an order.

“Is it
really
war? I mean nothing’s
happened—”

“Yes.”

“But—”

“This is serious, Danielle. This isn’t just
about my pride. I’m seriously handicapped!”

“Fine. But if you’re so serious then why all
the flirting?”

Ethan rolled his jaw, an abashed smirk
lingering at the edge of his lips. “I ... well, when I got that
close to you I couldn’t resist a kiss or two before we began.”

Laughing softly at him, Danielle said, “Very
well, but could I have one more before we begin?”

Grinning like a fool in love, Ethan angled
his head to possess her mouth. Again he lingered, but no way was
she complaining about it.

As his lips left hers, she sobered and got
back to seriousness. “I should hold back this time. I could hurt
you.”

“I’m no flower. Go for it, with all you’ve
got.”

“You do realize these skills won’t help you
against Max, or any other vampire.”

“I realize that,” Ethan ground out.
Obviously what taunted her self confidence also troubled his.

“You wish you were still cursed, don’t you?”
He’d said he was handicapped. Did he regret being turned back into
a mortal? Was he one of the ones who didn’t really want this
cure?

Apparently, he’d chosen not to answer as he
pinned her harder against the wall. “What’s the defense against
this?”

“I don’t think anyone would do this to you,
Ethan.”

“Just show me, Danielle.”

“And you’re sure you want to be the
dummy?”

His brows drew together. “What’s that?”

“The attacker. The one I use my skills
against.”

“Sure, I’ll be the dummy.”

Just as the words left Ethan’s mouth,
Danielle pulled the move on him, swiftly reversing their position
with Ethan facing the wall and his wrists pinned behind his
back.

Ethan grunted and then chuckled. “Wow, I
didn’t see that coming.”

“You’re lucky actually,” she whispered
against the shell of his ear, “I left the strike to the groin out
of the move. I’m guessing you’re not wearing a cup.” Smirking,
Danielle noticed that she’d actually made him blush with that.

“No, ma’am.”

Danielle wanted to burst out laughing, but
held back for his sake. “You’d better get one if we’re really going
to do this.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ethan replied almost
sheepishly.

She released him and stepped away.

“Did you expect me to get the cup now?
Because ... I don’t actually own one.”

“You don’t?”

“No. Never a need.”

“I’ll be careful with you today.”

“Thanks. “

“You’re welcome.”

“Now show me how you just did that because
it was absolutely brilliant!”

They switched positions so Ethan was the one
pinned against the wall, and Danielle taught him the technique.

Near the end of their
lesson,
Ethan decided to pin her again. Again,
she allowed it. She sort of liked it and laughed as Ethan attempted
to look menacing. She knew he could pull it off if he really wanted
to. She’d seen him look quite fierce before, and it was truly a
look she’d never like to have directed her way, but this one was
just adorable.

“Aren’t you going to defend yourself?” Ethan
whispered against the space just beneath her jaw, right before he
pressed a kiss to the spot.

Relieved to see that he’d gone back to
teasing rather than the serious topic of war, Danielle smiled. “Hmm
… uh … sure.” She shuddered and her fingers laced their way into
his soft hair.

“I’m afraid the attacker might like that,”
Ethan crooned. His hand slid from shoulder to hip, snaked around to
the small of her back and nudged her closer.

“I suppose this position calls for a
technique called, um, snogging. I think—yes, yes, that’s it. I need
to snog you this time.”

“My, my, Danielle, where did you learn such
language?” he muttered, feigning disapproval, as he continued to
move his lips against her ticklish flesh.

“It seems Brianna is corrupting me with her
funny British lingo.”

“I’m afraid you’re corrupting me,
Danielle.”

“I know you’ve corrupted me.”

“A bit of snogging, you say?” Ethan’s nose
brushed against the tip of hers as his lips lingered dangerously
close to hers, yet painfully too far away.

“That’s right.”

“Anything you wish, my darling.” And his
lips smashed into hers for quite an amazing kiss, or snog, or
whatever else one would want to call it.

Chapter 3

Pillow Talk

Danielle was awakened when she felt a
pressure on her mouth. Like a hand covering it. Ethan had done that
to her before, but he wasn’t allowed to come to her room any
longer. So she knew it
couldn’t
be him.

Her eyes flew open and she blinked. Her
vision hadn’t quite focused, but she could clearly see a man
leaning over her. His face was only half-lit by the moonlight
filtering though her windows. Although blurred and in shadow, it
was enough for her to recognize him … Alex. The vampire who’d tried
his magic on her at the ball. Danielle snapped her eyes shut before
they focused. With his magic at full-strength, he was dangerous to
her now, especially his eyes.

And for the short moment that she did see
them, she realized, with horror, that he was thirsty. What should
have been a lighter shade of hazel was now a glowing shade of
silver. Danielle pinched her eyes more tightly closed. How could he
get in here when there was suppose to be a guard protecting
her?