Chapter 22

"Hello! Looks like we all made new friends on our first day. Strange, but I love it." She said smiling at the whole table.

Her platinum blonde hair was cut into a short bob and a messy fringe covered her forehead. Natalie had the body that would put most models to shame. She stood almost six feet tall and had a lean and curvaceous build. Her defined waist, toned arms and legs, formed a well-sculpted figure. She wore a cropped red top and her jeans hung low on her hips. Her plump lips matched the color of her top, making her blue eyes stand out even more.

"Won't you introduce me, Khai?" She asked sweetly as she took a seat next to him. Ana watched as she picked up the juice he got for himself and took a sip, staining the glass with her lipstick.

"I don't see why I should." Khai's tone was indifferent.

Her face fell ever so slightly before she donned her usual smile. "Well, I know I can do it myself." She rolled her eyes at him playfully. "I'm Natalie Vilmot, it's a pleasure meeting you all."

She held out her hand, waiting for someone to go next. Meghan quickly shook it when she saw George about to reach for her hand. "I'm Meghan Bryant. This is my boyfriend George Nicklaus and she's our best friend Anaya Willow."

"George, Meghan." She nodded. Her eyes moved to Anaya, who felt uncomfortable almost immediately.

"And Anaya Willow. You went home with Khai after my party at Chelsea Spot." Her smile grew wider, like she was hinting something.

Ana's face turned beet red at Natalie's blatant words. She opened and closed her mouth, unable to say anything. Thankfully, she heard Elliot come to her rescue.

"Yeah, Khai told me he dropped you to your room when I met him at the dorms. A true gentleman." He casually brushed off Natalie's comment and gave Ana a kind smile.

"I heard poor Aaron threw up after kissing you Nat." Austin said, beaming at her.

"That's an understandable reaction." Khai gave Natalie a smug smile.

It was Natalie's turn to go red, but this time, it was because she was fuming. "No such thing happened. I didn't even speak to Aaron at the party." She shot a menacing glare at the three men and then proceeded to bang her palms on the table. "Anyway, I'm late for class."

She walked away from the table, not wanting to embarrass herself further. A rush of hatred for Anaya shot up within her. On her way out, she spotted Sean Perkins leaning against a wall. She said nothing, but grabbed his arm and walked out of the dining hall. If a suggestive comment irked that reaction from Khai and his friends, Anaya Willow needed to be destroyed.

*****

As breakfast ended, the group started to hurry back to their respective classes. Ana was fighting to stay awake. Although she wanted to get good grades, her next class where she was studying herbs was not as interesting to her as elemental magic.

Khai saw her stifle and small yawn and rub her tired eyes. "Do you want to skip training today? You seem tired." He said.

Ana waved her hands and smiled. "I'll eat lunch in my room and take a short nap. I want to train."

"Okay. I'll come to get you at 2:00 then." He eyed her skeptically, but agreed.

Ana listened carefully as the grey, curly haired teacher explained how the leaves of the sacred Azadirachta Indica could be used to treat wounds.

Adele Sage was their Herbology teacher, short, gentle, stout, reminding one of a warm hug. She wore earth tones and her face was smeared in mud here and there from handling plants all the time. Meghan considered here a personal idol and read her research like a bible.

To Ana's relief, she took rigorous notes on her laptop, capturing every word that came out from Adele. By the end of the class, Ana could barely keep her head up. Khai made sure she had an extremely heavy breakfast, guessing that she might skip lunch. She hauled herself back to her room and collapsed on the bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

When she woke up, the sun was almost setting. With a jolt, she sat up, cursing herself for not setting an alarm. Her mood grew sullen as she realized she missed training that day. She grabbed her phone to apologize to Khai for her tardiness, when she saw a message from him.

'Meghan told me you were very tired, thought I'd let you sleep in. Leave me a message when you wake up.'

Her heart melted like butter at how he cherished her. She felt like life was playing a cruel joke at her, not allowing her to be with him freely. Hatred for Sean consumed her and an anger she has never felt all her life gushed through her like a flood. Dismissing his wretched face from her mind, she replied to Khai.

'I'm up. Sorry for sleeping in.'

Khai replied almost immediately. 'See you in fifteen.'

She jumped from her bed and grabbed some workout clothes from her closet. She fixed her messy braid into two French braids that fell to her sides and washed her face so she wouldn't look so puffy. Minutes later, Ana was ready for Khai. She checked the time and still had about ten minutes before he came to get her. Deciding to wait for him downstairs, she rushed out of her room and turned to the hallways.

Khai was standing by one of the pillars a few feet outside her room. He straightened himself, surprised that she stepped out earlier than she was supposed to. Mortified that she might see through his desperation, he rubbed his jaw aggressively, attempting to hide his red face.

Ana was just as surprised as he was. She rushed to him in light steps, smiling in excitement. "I was just coming down to wait for you."

He smiled back at her and took her water bottle from her. They made their way downstairs and started to walk towards the training grounds.

"Did you rest well?" He asked.

"Mhmm, I'm sorry for sleeping in."

"You already said that." He laughed lightly. "You can't train if you're tired from the get go. It's better this way."

"Are we practicing what we did yesterday?"

"No, we'll warm up, do some cardio and I'll teach you something new today. It's a technique to escape your opponent and knock them out as quickly as you can."

"Sounds dangerous."

In a few minutes, they stood on the other side of the training field, at the same spot that they trained the previous day. It was darker that day because the sun had already set, but Khai turned on the flood lights on the field so there was plenty of visibility.

"Okay Ana, now pay attention. I want you to permanently memorize what I teach you next."

Ana's brows furrowed in concentration as she gave him a curt nod. Khai sucked his cheeks in to fight a smile at how adorable she looked. He continued, wondering if it would ever get easy training her without showering her in kisses.

"There are five serious pressure points, where if you hit someone with all your strength, you could knock them out. The temple, the jaw, the throat, the solar plexus and the groin. I'll teach you how to attack each one, but what you need to remember is to use the soft part of you hand, like the sides of your palm to attack the hard parts and a hard part of your hand, closed fist, to attack the soft parts. Got it?"

She nodded in understanding. They spent the next thirty minutes practicing how to attack these pressure points. Khai noticed how hard Ana was trying, but he was still worried because he knew she was too frail to hurt anybody.

"That's enough for today. I have ranger training in thirty minutes so lets stop now."

Almost relieved, Ana started to walk back to her room with him. She felt better than she did yesterday because she was well rested. As they reached her room, she wondered if it was okay to ask Khai if they could eat dinner together.

She was mustering the courage to speak, when she heard him ask. "Is it okay if I come in for a bit?"

Excitement surged through her as she nodded, opening the door for them to step in. "Do you need some water? Or snacks?" She asked.

"No, just sit down. I'll help you relax so your muscles don't hurt tomorrow."

Ana's face flushed as she heard him, but she quietly sat down, almost looking forward to his touch.

Delicious sparks coursed through Khai fingers and he started to knead Ana's nape. Her skin was softer than velvet and she felt heavenly under his touch. He gloated when he saw her skin tingling at his touch.

As he ran his hands down the sides of her neck with light pressure, he noticed the small mole where her jaw connected to her ear. An overwhelming urge to kiss her there swept through him and he bit his tongue to hold himself back, effectively drawing blood.

Silence enveloped the room as he continued his massage, moving from her shoulders to her arms. Ana's breathing got heavier as his hands moved lower down her back. The room started to heat up and both Ana and Khai were lightly sweating. When he used his thumb and knuckles to knead the small of her back, she felt herself go wet between her thighs and an involuntary moan escaped her.

Khai gulped loudly when he heard her moan. He was enjoying touching her, but he had the sudden urge to stop before she jumped her like a feral monster. They jumped collectively when his phone rang, thanking the gods for the intrusion.

Khai swiftly turned around to hide his erection while he answered the phone. Ana rushed to her bathroom, muttering something about brining them some water.

"Training starts in three minutes. Where are you?" Elliot asked from the other end of the phone.

"I'll be there, see you."

Ana handed him a bottle of water and Khai emptied the whole bottle in one go. They muttered good byes to each other as he rushed out. He hoped Gordon would make him run fifty laps around the field so he could let out all the pent up energy inside him.