Blood Past - By Samantha Young Page 0,39

balance, leaving his leg undefended. She pounded her knee into the side of his upper thigh with total brutality and watched his eyes narrow with pain as his leg crumpled, taking him to the mat. Stupidly triumphant, Eden forgot that Noah was fighting back and just stood gloating as he fell. But as soon as he hit the mat, he swung his good leg up and caught her behind the knees. Eden crashed to the mat, the air whooshing out of her lungs. She’d barely blinked once and Noah was on top of her, his strong upper thighs caging her legs, his lower legs trapping hers and his hands gripping hers above her head. Trying to move was useless. She pushed her body up at him but he wouldn’t budge. Growling in frustration, she collapsed against the mat and glared up into Noah’s smiling eyes.

She was totally caught.

“Told you I was going to fight back,” he murmured.

The low vibrato of his voice sent a shiver down Eden’s spine and she was suddenly completely aware of the fact that Noah was straddling her. The heat of his body soaked into hers, his face inches above her. Eden’s breath caught and the sound seemed to make its way through Noah’s body because she felt him tense and watched his eyes narrow and darken as they drifted over her face to her lips.

Attraction rippled in waves off of both of them and Eden couldn’t remember where they were or what they had been doing. All she cared about was the delicious tingling in her body, the flush of heat that held her captive, the way the sight of Noah’s mouth and strong jawline and throat sent dangerous shivers cascading over her and caused a strange but pleasant tug in her lower abdomen.

His lidded eyes drew back to hers and Eden felt triumphant at the sight of Noah’s desire. She had been right. He did want her.

“I hope I am not interrupting.”

They both froze.

Cyrus.

With a hastiness that was almost comical Noah slid off of her, throwing her a desperately pleading look as she gasped at the feel of his body whispering over hers.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, not sure what she was apologising for and feeling very stupid all of sudden. No longer able to look at Noah, Eden scrambled to her feet to face Cyrus and Val. Her guardian didn’t look angry but he was certainly eyeing Noah strangely. And then she saw it. The dark flash of warning in his gaze. When Noah tensed beside her she knew he had gotten the message.

Eden glanced at Val for reassurance and only saw resignation on her face. Eden frowned at that.

“Eden,” Cyrus spoke, drawing her gaze back to his. His eyes were carefully blank once again.

“You will resume training with Valeria with Noah coaching.” Neither of them argued as Val joined Eden on the mat and Noah stepped off to the side beside Cyrus. As she began to spar with Val, a studied politeness developed between her and Noah. On the outside it was as if nothing had happened. On the inside… Eden couldn’t stop remembering what it felt like to have the pressure of Noah’s body on hers. It was the most delicious feeling she had ever felt. She’d felt so awake. So real. It unlike anything she’d ever felt before and it was as addictive and as needy as her soul eater hunger had been but it didn’t incite feelings of terror and horror within her.

Instead, it made her feel hot and electric all over. Not at all the kind of feelings she had time to dwell on at the moment. In fact… they were kind of brilliantly inconvenient.

Val’s knuckles brushed her cheek in a punch and the Ankh stepped back impatiently. Noah clipped at Eden to focus, his business-like tone icing over some of the earlier warmth. She threw him a dirty look and kicked Val’s legs out from underneath her.

Chapter Thirteen

Breathless Clarity

Despite Cyrus’ optimism that her training would progress quickly Eden still hadn’t gotten around to sword training yet. Instead she had been training nonstop in hand to hand combat all week. Things between her and Noah were a little strained. They had come to a truce of sorts and she was probably politer towards him than she’d ever been, which made her awkward, and she had the feeling it was making Noah uncomfortable. She just didn’t want to ignite the spark between them again, and teasing and grouching at him as