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  “I did it,” she screeches and raises her hand high above for a high five. Our hands meet with an award winning ‘slap’ and we break into uncontrollable laughter.

  An unimpressed throat clears behind us and I jerk around. My eyes widen in surprise and my face instantly scrunches up knowing I’ve just been sprung as no matter what excuse I give him, he knows exactly what my intentions were.

  Rylan stands with his arms crossed firmly over his broad chest. “You’re training,” he observes flatly.

  “Well, this is awkward,” Jacinta murmurs next to me, so low, I could hardly hear it.

  “Ah, well technically… I was just showing Jacinta a few things so she can show off to Trey,” I smile, as Jacinta eagerly nods in agreement beside me and I’m thankful that I didn’t actually have to lie.

  “Really?” he asks. “You decide to come down here to do that, rather than use the fully equipped gym or combat facility?”

  “Yep,” I confirm confidentially. “Trey and Daniel are in the gym now so we couldn’t go there and Jacinta wanted to work on her tan at the same time, so… here we are.”

  His eyes narrow and he immediately calls me out. “Bianca, you’re an awful liar,” he says.

  An innocent grin graces my lips. “Well… I’m kind of telling the truth,” I say, trying to help my case.

  “I know,” he groans as a small smile plays on his lips. He shakes his head at us and I know I’m in the clear. A resigned expression comes over him. “Fine, we can train tomorrow morning,” he says, not looking happy about it.

  I beam at him and his eyes sparkle at my expression. “Thank God,” Jacinta says relieved. “I don’t think I can handle any more of this, I’m pretty sure I’ve chipped a nail as well,” she adds, inspecting her hands.

  “Come on,” I say, throwing my arm over her shoulder. “We can go now, I get to actually kick some ass tomorrow,” I start dragging her along beside me as Rylan falls in step.

  He scoffs at my comment “Please, you’ll be lucky if you even get to throw a punch,” he says.

  I turn to him and narrow my eyes, doing my best to control my features as he wickedly grins back at me. He runs his thumb down the inside of my arm all the way down to my wrist, turning my brain to mush. I instantly forget any come back that was brewing in my mind.

  He gives me one of those sexy boy, half smiles and winks down at me before breaking away from us and heading for the staff housing. Damn it. If distracting me from training is the way he wants to play, then that is exactly what he is going to get.

  The next morning, I wake up bright and early for my first training session in what feels like forever. I chose my shortest shorts and a matching crop, throwing a loose tank over the top. I lace up my shoes, throw my hair up and head down to meet Rylan at the gym.

  I push through the door to find him finishing off a set of curls, his biceps bulging making my mouth water. Wow, I adore this man. He puts his weights down and makes his way over to me. Raising his shirt to wipe away sweat, flashing me his perfect abs and ‘V’. I quickly look away, knowing his little game has already begun. Nobody gets one up on Bianca Moore.

  I sit down on the floor space and begin to stretch. I open my legs wide and ever so slowly run my fingers down my toned leg and reach for my toe, then repeat again on the other side. I glance up at him to see his attention firmly on my legs. This is going to be a piece of cake.

  “You put Britney and Beyoncé on my iPod,” he comments with a warning in his low voice.

  I smile up at him innocently. “I thought you’d like it,” I say, my innocent smile quickly turning into a wicked grin.

  He shakes his head at me with mischief behind his eyes and I know I’m in for a treat today.

  I stand up and cross one leg over the other and bend down to plant my hands firmly on the floor, knowing my perky ass is reflected in the mirror behind me. “So what are we doing today?” I ask, crossing my other leg over.

  “Evasive techniques,” he smirks, talking about the game, not the training.

  “Ok, sure,” I say, without skipping a beat, not letting on that I’ve worked out his plan. “Where do you want me?”

  “Front and centre,” he replies.

  I step into the centre of the space and face him, waiting for his attack. I watch him approach and wait for his attack, but with the way he looks right now, I might just let him have me. No Bianca. Get your thoughts out of the gutter.

  Finally, he makes his move. He lunges at me and grabs me around the waist. I bring my elbow up and nail him in the chest earning myself a nice little grunt, but he doesn’t falter, his grip remains. He spins me around against his body so my back is to his chest. He clenches both my fists in one of his hands. “Looks like you’re trapped,” he observes smugly.

  “Tell me,” I say, twisting my head to look back at him. “What are the rules today?”

  “There are none, I’m an attacker and you need to get free anyway you can,” he says. Hmm, that sounds like approval enough.

  “Ok,” I say innocently, reaching up on my tiptoes and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. He smiles down at me, his body relaxing for the smallest moment. Perfect. I throw my bound hands down in front of me and instantly bend at the waist, nailing my bum back into his groin, though, with my lack of size, I’m pretty certain I avoided all the important parts. His body bends over the top of mine and I slightly angle my body and step a leg out causing him to trip against our forward motion. He begins to fall and throws his arm out to save himself. I duck into a tiny ball and roll out of the way before his weight crushes me.

  “Shit,” he cures as he lands sideways on the ground with a thud. I quickly get to my feet and flip him the rest of the way onto his stomach and put all my body weight on his back to keep him pinned. “Looks like you’re trapped,” I respond, using his own words against him.

  “Playing dirty, Bianca? That was good,” he agrees. “But not good enough,” he adds as he flips himself onto his back, my weight not even an obstacle for him as he grabs my ankle and pulls me down on top of him so I straddle his waist. Damn. He grins up at me smugly as I attempt to get out of his hold, but it is no use, the man is an absolute machine.

  I relax against him and he instantly loosens his grip on my wrists. I place my hands on his stomach as I catch my breath, my fingers tracing the ridges of his abs through his shirt. He reaches up and tucks a stray lock of hair behind my ear. I bend down on top of him and very slowly bring my lips closer to his. I graze my lips against his, ever so slightly, teasing him with the promise they hold. He raises his head and captures my lips in his, holding me there with his will alone.

  His body relaxes beneath me and I grab one of his hands and lace our fingers together. As I deepen the kiss, my other hand goes to his waist and runs up his broad chest, making sure to feel every tight ridge along the way. He raises his free hand to my lower back and slides his hand up the bare skin of my back. I moan against his lips at the feel of his skin on mine and I truly begin to hate myself for what I’m about to do.

  I quickly bite down on his lip, releasing it as I press into his chest and use the momentum to launch my body off of his, which takes all of two seconds. I grin down at his turned-on body as he looks up at me in shock. “How’s that for evasive techniques?” I ask as smug as ever.

  He raises to his feet and begins stalking me. I slowly back up as he grows nearer, eventually running out of room as my body presses up against the mirrored wall. He raises his arms on either side of me, effectively caging me in. “Seeing as though I’ve got you blocked up against the wall, it looks like your evasive techniques might need a little work.”

  “I know what you’re doing,” I tell him.

  “Oh yeah?” he asks. “And what would that be?”

  “Keeping me distracted with your muscles and good looks so I don’t do any real training. But you know what?” I say rather breathy. “You’re playing my favourite game.” His eyes blaze and I press myself further into the wall a
nd drop down to get under his arm.

  This time ready for me he grabs me around the waist and throws me back onto the wall, pressing his whole body into mine to keep me pinned. I smirk at him and get my own sexy smirk in return. “You’re not getting away from me this time,” he says as his hand's twine down my body to my ass. He grabs it firmly with both hands and lifts me up, my legs instantly hooking around his waist.

  “You win,” I say in resignation as his lips come down on mine once again.

  Chapter 11

  It’s a beautiful Saturday morning and I decide, what better time to visit Morgan and see how she is going. I met Morgan only a few short months ago when her father was brutally murdered by the same vicious vampire that had killed my father. Being that she is nine and I was nine at the time of my father’s death, we have made quite a special bond.

  I make my way out of my dorm and cross the Senior and Junior Campuses before finally finding my way to the Elementary Campus. I head past the classrooms and past their own combat facility and turn a corner. “Oomph,” I say as I’m slammed into another body. My eyes raise to the person before me and I find none other than Tessa. The woman who broke my mother’s heart by falling in love with my father and had some ridiculous affair.

  Tessa had been my other instructor early in the year, that is until I found out about the affair and sort of had a little meltdown causing her take an ‘extended holiday’ and get transferred to the Elementary Campus. “Sorry,” I mutter with distaste as I step around her. Well… that was awkward.

  “Bianca, wait,” she says.

  I cringe at her request, but knowing I need to get this over with at some point makes me turn on my heel and fix her with a scathing look.

  “Yes?” I ask as I cross my arms over my chest.

  She hesitates for a moment, clearly unsure how to approach this topic as according to Rylan, I am a bit of a loose cannon. “Look, I just wanted to apologise for how everything went down earlier in the year. I never intended you to have found out like that.”

  “You mean, you had never intended on me finding out at all?” I correct.

  She cringes once again. “I truly am sorry, Bianca. It was a very long time ago and I really never wanted to hurt you guys. You were like family to me.”

  “Having an affair with my father is not something, someone who considers themselves family does. Together, you and my father tore my mother’s heart apart, and that is not something I will ever forgive you for. Did you even think about her when you decided to get in bed with him?” I seethe.

  She cringes at my choice of words. “Of course, I did. I would never have made that decision lightly. You must understand that I was madly in love with him, I still am. I would never have done what I did if it was not love,” she defends.

  “How come you never said anything? We used to visit you all the time, there would have been millions of chances for you to come clean.”

  “Believe me, I wanted to. I really did, but there never seemed to be a good time and the longer I left it, the harder it became, but then I was worried, had you girls found out, would it have changed the way you saw your father? He loved you so much and I couldn’t risk the way his memory lives in you.”

  “What about mum? You could have told her.”

  “Yes. I could have, but I saw the look in her eye every time she looked at me. She knew. I could see the hurt and betrayal in her and I hated myself for it, she slowly stopped visiting and eventually, I stopped too. I had done enough damage.”

  “You certainly have.”

  “I know, Bianca,” she says, then looks me firmly in the eyes. “Just so you know, he loved you girls so much. You were both the apples of his eyes and he would have been so proud of you, Bianca. The way you performed at your mid-terms were amazing and commendable.”

  I nod and look away, afraid the talk of my father is going to bring on a strong flow of tears. “Thank you,” I whisper.

  “I do hope that one day you will be able to find it in your heart to forgive me,” she says, sadly.

  “I’m not sure I’ll be able to do that,” I confide.

  “I understand,” she says.

  I turn back on my heel and hastily make my escape, slipping between two buildings, tucked right away from sight and let the tears flow freely, hoping that was the last time I would ever have to deal with Tessa, though, seeing as though we both live at The Guard Academy, that’s probably a long shot.

  She was right. My father loved me and he would have been so proud. He would have been front and centre at each of my examinations, cheering me on, hell, he probably would have tried to get in the ring with me. God, I miss him. I wipe away the last of my tears and take a deep breath, pulling myself together. This morning was not supposed to be about me, but about Morgan.

  I step out of my hidden sanctuary between the buildings and carry on my way to Morgan’s dorm room.

  Not 2 minutes later, I knock on Morgan’s door. The door creaks open and I find a small brown-haired girl whose pretty features light up when she sees me before her. “Bianca,” she beams. “What are you doing here?”

  “Got any plans today?” I ask.

  “No, not really. I’ve got a bit of Guard History homework though,” she cringes.

  “Good,” I smile. “Put your shoes on and grab your homework.”

  She fumbles around in her room, getting the things she needs, “Ok, got everything,” she declares.

  “Good, because you’re spending the day with me.”

  She beams up at me, excitement radiating out of her. “Really?”

  “Uh huh. Do you want to see the senior campus?” I ask.

  Her little eyes widen in shock. “Yes,” she practically screeches.

  “Good,” I say, closing the door behind her, taking her books and leading her back across campus. “How have you been? Are things getting a bit easier for you?”

  Her eyes grow sad as we continue our journey. “Not really,” she says, her bottom lip pouting out. “Every day something happens that I want to tell dad about, but then I remember he’s gone.”

  “I know,” I say, putting my arm around her and pulling her in close. “But, unfortunately, that’s never going to change. It still happens to me all the time. In fact, this last week has been the worst with the examinations. I know he would have loved to be there to see me kick all those boys butts, but you just need to remember that he is watching down on you and he will always be with you, right here,” I say, placing my hand over her heart.

  “Yeah, I’ll try,” she says.

  We make it onto the Senior campus and I take her straight for the combat room to show her around. “Does the pain ever go away?” she asks softly as I push the doors open to the great room.

  I look down at her to find a few tears escaping her beautiful eyes. I desperately want to tell her, yes just to make her feel better, but decide the truth would be best. I pull her into a hug and whisper, “No, sweetie. It doesn’t. It will never go away, you just learn how to cope with it.”

  I feel her nodding against my shoulder and I try my best to cheer her up, after all, this is supposed to be a fun day. “Now, enough of this sad talk, you need to see the combat room,” her eyes brighten as she suddenly realises where she is. She begins to roam the great room and I struggle to keep up as she moves around the room, asking question after question.

  The door to the combat room suddenly opens and we find a confused looking Rylan standing before us. Morgan’s cheeks instantly go pink as she squeals “Oh. My. God. It’s Rylan Neill,” and begins shaking in excitement.

  “Uh…hi,” I cringe, turning to Rylan. “I hope it's ok that we’re in here.”

  “It’s fine. What is it you’re doing though?” he asks, looking curiously at Morgan.

  “I was just giving Morgan here a tour of the Senior Campus, she was thinking about doing the Combat program as well,” I say, glancing at Morgan who is staring at Rylan with her mouth hanging wide open. Apparently, someone is a li
ttle star struck.

  Understanding suddenly flashes in Rylan’s eyes. “Ah, so you must be Morgan. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he says, giving her one of the most amazing smiles, which has us both swooning.

  She squeezes my hand. “Oh my God. He knows my name,” she squeaks.

  He chuckles and walks over to join us. “So you want to be on the front lines, hey?”

  Morgan nods enthusiastically, then looks up at me in adoration. “Yep, just like Bianca,” she says. Rylan’s eyes soften at her comments as my heart begins to melt. I give her hand a squeeze and return her smile.

  “You want me to show you a few things?” he asks her.

  Her eyes widen once again and I worry that they are about to explode. “Oh my god. Really?” she beams as she begins bouncing on her feet.

  “Sure, go grab a sparring mat,” he says. She bolts off in the direction of the supply closet where I had just finished showing her all the equipment.

  “Thanks for doing this. It means the world to her,” I say.

  He reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “I didn’t realise you were still spending time with her. I’m proud of you.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I’ve got more in common with that nine-year-old than I do with the majority of people my age,” I say.

  Morgan returns, struggling to drag a sparring mat behind her. She drops it, stomps her foot and lets out a frustrated huff. “Point proven,” Rylan grins. He rushes forward and helps Morgan with her mat. Her eyes light up at Rylan’s chivalrous ways.

  He immediately gets into it, teaching her a few basic moves. She listens intently, giving it her absolute all, picking up on the movements with ease. “Geez. Keep this up and you’ll be taking over Bianca’s ranking by graduation,” he says, his eyes sparkling as he glances over at me sitting on the stage steps. Morgan’s laugh echoes throughout the room, the sound of pure joy as she enjoys every last second of Rylan’s time.

  “Whoa… I don’t think so,” I say, jumping up and making my way over to the mat. “No one gets to beat me that easily,” I joke as I jump into the fray. The fight quickly becomes me and Morgan against Rylan as I hold him down while Morgan’s little fists pummel away.