Page 40 of Charged By the Razorbacks
Jarek found himself watching her more than the weapon.
The way she moved without hesitation. The way every motion had purpose behind it, no wasted energy, no second-guessing. Her hair had come loose again, dark strands falling around her face as she turned, catching the light with every shift.
And her body—yeah. Still a distraction problem. Not because it slowed her down. Because it didn’t. She moved like every curve, every line was part of the motion, not something she worked around.
He dragged his attention back where it belonged before she caught him staring.
“All right,” he said after the next pass. “I’ll admit it.”
She glanced at him. “Careful, don’t hurt yourself.”
“This has its uses.”
“There it is,” she said.
Aleksy set his sai down more deliberately when they finally stopped, his attention still on her. “It forces discipline.”
Tamsin nodded. “Exactly.”
Jarek dropped his onto the mat. “Which is probably why I am struggling with it.”
She huffed a quiet breath that might have been a laugh.
The space settled then, the edge of training easing into something looser, something that sat between them instead of pushing them apart.
Jarek rolled his shoulders once, then looked at her properly.
“You’re enjoying this,” he said.
She didn’t deny it. “I like teaching people who can actually learn.”
“Lucky us.”
Her gaze shifted between him and Aleksy, something more deliberate settling there now. “Can I ask you something?”
Jarek tilted his head. “You’re going to anyway.”
She ignored that. “Can I see them? Your boars?”
Jarek’s attention narrowed slightly as he glanced at Aleksy. His expression didn’t change much, but Jarek knew him well enough to see the hesitation.
“They’re not subtle,” Jarek said.
Tamsin’s brow lifted. “I did not think that they would be. I’m okay with that.”
He studied her for a second. “You say that now.”
She stepped closer, not crowding, not pushing, just holding her ground. “I know what you are. I’m not asking blind.”
Aleksy met her gaze. “Knowing isn’t the same as seeing.”
“No,” she agreed. “It’s not.” A pause. “But I’m still asking.”
Jarek exhaled slowly, reading her, looking for any sign she didn’t understand what she was asking for.
He didn’t find it.
“All right,” he said.
