Samantha Young - Blood Past

Val had seemed grateful for the gesture anyway. Her fingers had brushed Eden’s knuckles gratefully before Tobe had turned to draw them into the restaurant argument.

More than ever, Eden had wanted to pummel something the next day as everyone else enjoyed a Sunday of rest. She’d thought Noah would be on the same page. Instead he had suggested they do something else, one of his favourite pastimes. Swim. It hadn’t been what Eden had had in mind but she hadn’t been swimming in a while. Borrowing a suit from Tobe, she had followed Noah to this old historic building that was now a swim centre. Eden had felt a little nervous as they wandered off in the opposite directions to the requisite changing rooms. As she’d slipped on Tobe’s modest swimsuit, she had suddenly realised that Noah was going to see more of her than he ever had before. And she of him. First out of the changing rooms (that had been a surprise), Eden had gazed at the high arches over the pool, the beautiful light filtering in from the glass ceiling. The place had been quiet and so tranquil she’d immediately felt her body relaxing. Overcome with the feeling, she’d slipped into the lukewarm pool to begin slow laps without Noah. As her head had bobbed up again she’d almost coughed down chlorine as Noah had appeared, striding casually towards the swimming pool. She’d let her feet touch the bottom of the pool and had tried to smooth her expression out.

Wow.

Noah in swim shorts.

Some people looked vulnerable when almost naked. Not Noah. He’d somehow looked even taller than normal, his upper body lean but sinewy. He was pure muscle. Eden had watched him with pleasure as he’d moved, so languid and graceful. She’d followed the ripples of muscle on his abdomen to the sexy cut of his hips and her mouth had gone instantly dry. She’d been so glad she didn’t blush outwardly, ‘cause on the inside her brain had fried.

Not having seemed to notice her ogling, Noah had slipped into the pool with ease and challenged her to a race. They’d done that (Noah had won) and then continued doing lengths. After a while, Eden had stopped to relax and float by the edge of the pool and Noah had swum over to join her. For a minute or two they had bobbed together and then Noah had finally cleared his throat. Eden had quirked an eyebrow at the noise, suddenly nervous about what he was going to say since he was so clearly nervous about saying it.

“Does this… does this mean…”

“Does this mean what?” Eden had asked warily.

He’d shrugged. “I don’t know. Does this mean I’m forgiven? That you forgive me?”

“Oh,” she had replied softly, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. She had forgiven him right? She understood now, right? She’d thought about waking up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, Tobe peering down at her in concern. She’d been having nightmares about Stellan’s death these past few nights. Replaying it over and over.

But that wasn’t Noah’s fault. Not really. It was Romany’s though. Eden just had to keep separating Noah from Romany and they’d be fine. It was just… taking some time.

Eden had sighed and finally looked him in the eye. “I’m getting there.” He’d nodded, his expression so careful Eden hadn’t been able to tell if he was pleased or dis pleased. “So, not to shoot myself in the foot here but why did you decide to try?”

“Because… I know how the whole Ankh thing works now. I know that that feeling of duty and responsibility to your job is compelling.” She had snorted. “I also know how hard it is to say no to Cyrus, and how deep the connection to him is. I guess I’m just realising what a difficult position you were in. And I’m getting there.”

A silence had fallen between them and for once it hadn’t been their usual easy kind.

Irritated by it, Eden had sought to dispel it. “So… swimming, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s a great way to stay in shape and it’s relaxing too.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Not when the boy you’re swimming with looks like yo u, she’d thought. “I used to swim in our pool a lot.”

At the mention of her family the horrible silence had fallen again.

“You wanna grab something to eat?” Noah had asked suddenly, seeming as desperate to get away from the silence.

At her enthusiastic yes they had gotten out of the pool and changed, heading off to find somewhere to stuff their mouths so there was a legitimate reason for the taciturnity. They had found a quiet little pub that served big platefuls of comfort food. Noah had tried to talk her into having the national meal — haggis, ‘neeps and tatties — but Tobe had already told her what Haggis was ( gag! ), and she didn’t like turnips, so all she’d be left with was a plate of mash. Eden had opted for a burger and fries instead and took notice that Noah had followed suit, avoiding the haggis too.

Despite the silence that had befallen them at the swim centre, Eden had desperately pushed past it.

Relaxing, she had asked Noah about his life. As the meal had worn on she’d found herself moving closer to him until they were huddled together in the corner of the pub as Noah told her about life during the fifties and sixties, how the 70s had been such a great era for music and film, the cities he’d been to — Paris, London, Budapest, Sydney… — about all the amazing things she had yet to see and learn.

“What about my mom?” Eden had finally asked, now that they were so comfortable again.

Noah had smiled at her, his expression warm and caring. “Merrit was amazing. I met her a few times when I was younger because Dad and Cyrus have always been such good friends, but in the early eighties my parents made a couple of bad investments and we lost everything. We moved in with Cyrus and Merrit so my dad could get back on his feet and after your mom… well Mom didn’t want to leave Cyrus all alone in that big house… and we haven’t left since. I could have gotten my own place, I guess, but I like being around them all.”

“So you lived with my mom for a while?”

He had nodded. “She was amazing, Eden. You could talk to Merrit about anything and she always had your back. Kicked my ass a few times for…” Noah had suddenly trailed off, seeming embarrassed.

Eden had been able to guess why. “For being a player.”

He’d thrown her a sheepish look that had been so adorable she’d foolishly wanted to curl into him.

“Yeah. Merrit was a good person and a great warrior. But she also didn’t beat around the bush. She just said it how it was which was kind of a shock for my mom sometimes. They had a few heated discussions over what was proper language for a lady.”

That had made Eden laugh.

Noah had stopped her with a penetrating look. “She was beautiful too. You look like her a lot. I can’t imagine what it means to Cyrus to have you in his life.” Having felt her throat begin to close with grief, Eden had glanced away quickly, willing her tears to recede.

“Eden.” Noah had placed a warm hand over hers and she’d felt his rough touch like a shiver of pleasure down her spine. “I am so sorry for not telling you who I was. For blindly following orders. I am so sorry I did that to you.”

After a tense moment Eden had glanced up at him. She’d given him a watery smile and had whispered, “I forgive you.”

“Eden,” Cyrus snapped bringing her back to the present. “I have a sword pointed at you. Will you please focus.”

It didn’t matter how distracted a person was, when Cyrus used that tone of voice you snapped to attention. Eden shook off the weekend and began listening as Cyrus and Noah demonstrated fighting with the Kopis. It was a frantic, close quarter fight and for a moment Eden was lost in the grace of their movements. Cyrus instructed as they fought, swinging the Kopis in a semi-loop around his head so that it came down towards Noah with the full force of his upper body strength. Noah countered the move, and soon began a hissing of metal on metal as they fought one another off in a flash of figure of eight movements. After each demonstration, Eden took a turn, starting off tentative until she felt comfortable in her own skin with the sword. Cyrus said many of the Neith began their sword training with wooden swords but he didn’t believe that was necessary for her. It put the pressure on but Eden was determined, and like all things that involved fighting and self-defence, she picked it up like she had been doing it for years. Soon, they moved from the weightier Kopis to the Lakonian and Persian short swords, from those to the Katana (Samurai), from the Katana to the Broadsword, from the Broadsword to the Longsword.