Especially if you guys are meeting daily for Declan to teach you how to defend yourself. https://www.tumblr.com/canirove/825500540749365248/httpswwwtumblrcomcanirove825485232658628608?source=share
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“Lift your arm a little bit, my lady.”
“Like this?”
“Like this” Declan said, quickly correcting her posture and going back to stand in front of her, putting as much distance between them as the exercise they were practicing allowed him to, which was something he had been doing during their whole training session. During this one, and all the previous ones they had had during the week in one of the fields outside the castle, always acting as if he couldn't be close to her. As if he couldn't stand to be next to her.
And it was driving her crazy.
Why had he suddenly changed? Since the moment they met, he had had no problem with being around her and close to her. Sometimes even closer than it was appropriate. And his mood around her had changed too.
His smiles weren't the same. The way he talked to her wasn't the same. And it all had started after she told him she wanted to go to the war and help as a nurse. After she had told him that her betrothed had basically forbidden her from doing it.
But Declan had told her he had no right to do that. That he didn't own her. Had he changed his mind about it? Did he now think like her betrothed? Had something else happened? Had she said or done something? Had she…
“Fuck!”
“My lady” Declan said, forgetting about the distance he had been keeping and running towards her. “My lady, are you alright?”
“You hit my hand!”
“But it wasn't on purpose! You were distracted!”
“I wasn't.”
“You were” he said. “Let me see it.”
“I'm fine.”
“My lady…” he sighed.
“Urgh” she groaned, letting him see her hand.
“Did that hurt?” he asked her.
“A little bit” she lied. Because she couldn't tell him her gasp had been caused by his touch.
“Can you flex your fingers? How does that feel? Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“Then nothing seems to be broken. Though you may wake up with a bruise tomorrow.”
“Don't” she said, grabbing his hand when he tries to let go of hers and not letting him put that space between them again.
“My lady, this isn't appropriate.”
“What isn't appropriate, is the way you've been behaving around me lately, Declan” she said. “Have I done something to offend you?”
“What?” he said, looking at her with those beautiful blue eyes of his.
“Have I done or said something to offend you?” she asked him again.
“You haven't, my lady.”
“Then what has happened? Why are you acting so differently around me?”
“I'm not…”
“You are, Declan. So tell me. What has happened? Why have you changed?”
“I haven't changed.”
“Of course you have! Declan…”
“I'm sorry, my lady” he said, managing to free himself from her grip.
“You think like him, don't you?”
“What?” he said, picking up their wooden swords from the grass and putting them against a tree.
“You think like my betrothed. You think I should forget about joining the war as a nurse.”
“I do” he said, those two words hurting her a lot more than when his wooden sword had hit her hand. “But it isn't for the same reasons as him.”
“What?” she said with a confused look. “What do you mean it isn't for the same reasons?”
“That I…” he said, running a hand through his hair.
“That you what, Declan. What is it? Talk to me!”
“That I don't want you to go because I can't bear something happening to you” he blurted out, looking at her again. “That just the idea of you getting hurt kills me. That even though I'm in awe of how strong, generous and good you are, thinking that you could be in danger… that something could happen to you… It kills me. It bloody kills me.”
“Declan…”
“But that's not the main reason why I am… different around you” he said, looking away again.
“Isn't it?”
“No” he said, shaking his head and taking a deep breath. “If I'm colder with you and putting my distance, it's because I don't think I'm strong enough to stop myself from doing what I want to do. From discovering if in real life your lips taste the same as in the dreams I've been having every night for the past week.”
“Declan…” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
“I care about you, my lady. More than I thought. And I want to kiss you. I'm dying to kiss you. But you have a betrothed. You…”
“Fuck my betrothed.”
“What?” he said, finally daring to look at her again.
“I said fuck my betrothed” she replied, closing the space Declan had put between them yet again until she was standing in front of him. “Fuck my betrothed” she repeated before cupping his face and kissing him.
She didn't have much experience in kissing and wasn't too sure about what she was doing, but he didn't seem to mind. The way his arms had wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer said it all.
“Better or worse than in your dreams?” she whispered against his lips.
“Better” Declan replied, the way his voice sounded, deeper than usual, making her feel a warmth that was spreading all over her body. From the tip of her ears to the tip of her toes. “Much better” he said before kissing her again.
