Born of Defiance

Closing her eyes, she savored the sensation of him holding her so sweetly. He took a deep breath in her hair before he got up and headed to the weight bag. While she packed away his empty plate, he shadowboxed. Until he started sweating, then he began punching the weight bag. Ferociously.

She cringed at the strength of his blows that hit it so hard it sounded like he was about to break the chains holding it in place.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

She nodded at Erix’s question. “I would hate to be on the receiving end of that.”

“Yes. You would.” He wrinkled his nose playfully at her. “Luckily, he would never hit a female. And lucky for me, he’d never hit an old male.” He glanced over at her. “Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“Taking care of him.”

“I haven’t really done anything.”

“I disagree. There’s an innate change in him. A peaceful calm he didn’t have before. And I’ve never seen him smile and laugh like he does around you, never mind tease and play.”

She wasn’t so sure about that. Talyn was still very serious whenever they were together. “I find that hard to believe.”

“You shouldn’t. I swear. I didn’t even know he could smile. At all. He’s very different when you’re not around. Deathly serious and stern. Silent, like he’s sizing you up for a body bag. No one can get much more than noncommittal grunts or smart-ass retorts out of him.”

She remembered glimpsing that part of his personality when he’d been in the room the first time they met. And again at the Ritadarion restaurant.

“You make him playful and happy, Felicia. I can almost see the kid in him whenever you’re around.”

She didn’t believe that until Talyn ran at her and picked her up. Laughing, he swung her around and placed a quick kiss to her lips before he dodged to the double-end bag and started training with it.

He was so impressive that within a few minutes, everyone at the gym had stopped what they were doing to watch him train while Erix called out drills.

“Damn,” one of the males next to her said to a friend. “I don’t ever want to be in the Ring with that.”

“That’s the Iron Hammer. No one wants to be in the Ring with that.”

“Did you see him when they were charting his PSI?” a third male asked the other two.

“No.”

Felicia arched her brow at the conversation. “What was it?” she asked the males.

“Almost a ton of pressure. Just over nineteen hundred.”

Her jaw dropped.

“Bullshit!” the male beside him said.

The male who’d spoken held his hand up in a sign of sincerity. “No, I swear. It’s why they call him the Iron Hammer. You can check it online, if you don’t believe me. Splatterdome did it as part of a series where they charted the PSI for all the big-name fighters. And that was barehanded. He rated more than two hundred PSI over his closest rival, Death Warrant.”

Wow! Her head spun at what they were telling her. But as she watched him, she didn’t doubt it. He did hit like a sledgehammer.

The male closest to her raked an interested look over her body. “Who are you here with, love?”

His friend turned the male’s face away from her. “Don’t even. I saw her eating with the Hammer earlier. More to the point, hand-feeding him.”

“Oh dear God.” He passed an apologetic stare at her. “Sorry. It was nice speaking to you. Give your male my best.” He quickly put space between them.

Laughing, Felicia returned to watching Talyn practice. There was a fierce beauty and grace to what he did. And like Erix had said, a deadly earnestness. But she still would hate to see him in the Ring being pummeled by another fighter. For that matter, she despised the bruises that marred his tawny skin.

Once he was done with the bag, he grabbed the towel from Erix and wiped his face. She walked over to him and pulled him against her.

He grimaced. “I stink and I’m sweaty.”

She nipped his chin. “I like your smell. Have I grossed you out yet?”

“Are you trying?” He gave her a fierce squeeze.

His band started buzzing. It was a different alarm than normal.

“What’s that?”

“Drill call. I have to leave immediately. Can you grab my stuff and take it back to the condo for me?”

“Absolutely.”

Pulling his gloves off, he kissed her and handed them to her before he pulled on a clean, loose T-shirt and left.

Scared of what it meant, she took the gloves to Erix. “Should I be worried?”

“I don’t know. It’s a squadron alert. Could be an unexpected meeting or they’re needed to fly.”

She cringed as she remembered Talyn telling her about the Tavali. She hoped this wasn’t them returning with a larger group. “I don’t think I like this dangerous life he lives.”

“Yeah, I feel your pain. And I hate that sound whenever I hear it. I was having dinner with my son when he got a call like that. It was the last time I saw him.”

“I’m sorry, Erix.”

His white eyes sad, he inclined his head to her. “Did you drive or take public transport?”

“Public.”

“Then I’ll take you home.”

“You don’t have to.”