Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains #6) - Katee Robert Page 0,33

on that list.

I stride to where Aurora and Ivy stand and accept a towel from Ivy to wipe my face. “What are you doing here?”

Aurora is looking at me like she simultaneously wants to knock me on my ass and devour me whole. “You’re fast.”

“That’s not an answer.”

She shrugs. “I have too much pent-up energy. I need to run it off somehow.”

“Then obviously I haven’t done my job correctly,” I murmur.

She looks away. “She said there would be people to spar with.” She jerks her thumb at Ivy. “I don’t see anyone else.”

“Shift change was two hours ago. Most of them have finished up and gone home.” Why am I telling her this? I should send her back to the penthouse, or at least to another room. I suspect I’m not going to be able to concentrate properly with her here, and that’s a recipe for a black eye when sparring with Sara. I have absolutely no intention of walking around with a marked face because I was distracted when I shouldn’t have been. “Go find somewhere else to run off that energy.” I motion to Ivy.

“Do you only spar with Sara?”

I stop short. “What?”

Aurora finally looks at me, a stubborn set to her expression. “Do you only spar with Sara?”

“Aurora,” I say her name slowly. “I know you’re a masochist, but this is not a scene and I have no desire to harm you.”

“Malone.” She matches my tone and yanks a hair tie off her wrist to pull her hair back. “Maybe I’m the one who will hurt you.”

Who is this woman? I’ve spent far too long studying her, to the point where it borders on inappropriate. Distraction does not begin to describe Aurora. She’s a blazing light in any room she walks into. I wouldn’t be who I am if I didn’t have the desire to bottle it up and keep it for myself. But this? I don’t have the information to respond appropriately to this. I’ve only ever seen her in the club.

It never really occurred to me that she’d have hobbies outside the Underworld. Or that it would matter. After all, we become our truest selves in that place. All the polite masks are removed and there’s only base need. No right way, no shame, no rules but consent. I know Aurora right down to her core.

But I also know next to nothing about her on a surface level.

“Clear the room.” I speak without looking away from her.

Sara sighs. “Try not to break her.” They nudge Ivy with their shoulder as they walk past, which prompts her to pick her jaw off the floor and follow Sara from the room.

I wait for the door to close behind them to motion Aurora onto the mat. “I’m not capable of going easy.”

“I don’t expect you to.” She rolls her shoulders and, after some consideration, kicks off her shoes and socks.

I try to view her through the lens of an opponent, but it’s like my brain skips every time I look at her. All I can see are her graceful movements, the curious tilt of her head, how fucking breakable she is. No matter what she believes, it was never my intention to shatter Aurora. I’m not sure I can do this without harming her. “Aurora—”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.” I answer without thinking, still trying to find the right words to let her down gently without harming her pride.

She comes at me like a whirlwind. One moment, she’s several feet away, and the next she’s too close, delivering a punishing kick to my thigh and following it up with a right hook I barely dodge. Fuck, she’s quick. And well-trained.

I move out of the way before she kicks the same spot on my thigh. A few more hits there and the leg will buckle. Damn. I shove my hesitations away and feint a few times, testing out her response time. Fast. So fucking fast. “You’ve done this before.”

“Many, many times.” Aurora knocks my hand away, but I’m expecting it, and I come in with my other fist, forcing her to block me to avoid a hit to her face.

I retreat, still studying her. Now that I know what I’m looking at, I realize I recognize the way she moves. Smooth and dangerous and intent on her mission. Not like Aurora at all. No, she looks like… “Allecto.”

Aurora grins. “We’re good friends.”

I know that, of course. In the last year or so, it’s been impossible to miss the strange sort of