Enemy Within Read Online Free

at him. She clamped her jaw shut and advanced the ground he’d offered.
    “Out of practice?” He opened his defenses, daring her.
    She accepted, ignoring the taunt. She had no intention of explaining that she’d had a hard time keeping up on weapons practice while a prisoner of war. Her attack wavered, but she pulled it together and forced him back a step to avoid her blade. He drew her in and then pushed her back, like a teacher hearing lessons. She ached to wipe that smile from his face.
    “Point,” he said, nodding at her chest.
    She glanced down. The bastard had sliced clean through her jacket and the buttons of her shirt. A shiver ran through her. One millimeter more and she’d be bleeding, probably on the floor. A slice like that one took enough control and skill to scare her.
    “Lesson one,” he said. “Watch the man wielding the blade, but never lose sight of the business end.”
    Lessons? Or something more? From the shock of physical awareness twining through her blood, she suspected they were no longer discussing energy blades.
    Snarling to cover the grudging admiration at Seaghdh’s skill welling up within her, Ari charged him. He did not retreat. They locked, body to body, blade to blade. Feeling the leashed strength coiled in him, she knew instantly that she’d made a mistake, one that in any other circumstance would have been fatal. Scorched where their bodies strained against one another at chest and hip, she struggled to control the rush of yearning crashing her defenses. What was wrong with her?
    She met his hooded gaze. Desire glittered in the golden depths of his eyes. Pleasure rocketed through her, almost painful in its intensity. She’d forgotten what it felt like to be appreciated as a woman and the want in his eyes, shadowed by surprise, took her breath away.
    He smiled in pure masculine satisfaction.
    Ari whispered a curse.
    His gaze dropped to her mouth and the fire flared in his eyes. He whipped his off hand around, grabbed her by the hair, and fastened his mouth on hers. She tasted exotic spice and the faint trace of salt. Fire shot through every fiber to her core, urging her to melt into him. Before she could rouse the least bit of bracing rage, he released her and danced away. She wiped a sleeve across her mouth, as much to erase her mortifying lack of alacrity—she should have shoved her blade through his chest—as to obliterate the feel of his lips on hers.
    His men guffawed.
    “Lesson two,” he said. “Never offer what you cannot afford to lose.”
    She’d lost everything that had mattered the day the Chekydran had captured her. She’d be damned before she’d let a too-handsome pirate destroy her self-respect. “One to zero,” Ari countered, pressing her voice and her body under iron control before coming back to center.
    Seaghdh’s men stood relaxed, grinning, eyes dancing. The glimpses she caught of her father’s crew showed green faces and averted eyes. Except for Pietre. He watched with spiteful vindication in his face. Her father wore a patently neutral expression, one she knew all too well. It masked a wealth of disapproval. Her heart froze. The damned pirate making her look like an imbecile must be having the time of his life. She glared at him.
    Cullin Seaghdh returned to center to tap her blade with his. Ari met his gaze and paused. A grim light in his eyes belied his taunting smile. Was it possible he wasn’t enjoying belittling her in front of his men and her family? Or was it possible she was getting to him? His gaze still centered on her mouth. Maybe she had another weapon in her arsenal after all.
    Buoyed by the possibilities, she lunged.
    He gave her the point. Her blade grazed the shoulder of his jacket and shirt as he turned aside. Practice jackets had notoriously weak shields at the seams. The blade had no trouble penetrating. She pulled up short as the fabric of his shirt split. More charity. She hadn’t counted on it. Ari stumbled past him,