Page 27 of Quiver

“Why didn’t you go?”

“Meh”—Fletcher waved her off—“Bordeaux in winter isn’t my idea of a great vacation. Ryder has to work around his kids’ school schedule. I can go anytime.”

“When was the last time you went?”

She shrugged, not wanting to admit she hadn’t gone since her parents had moved. “The point I was making is everything my mom does is about trying to assert absolute control. On horseback, we embrace the uncontrollable and learn to shift and bend and flow with the elements.”

“Plus movement, right?” Kylie edged closer. “Your mom could hold so still she looked like a statue. She didn’t even breathe.”

“Exactly, which is why she could get the arrow right up to her face, but if you try to do that on a galloping horse, you run the risk of impaling yourself in quick order. You want to learn to shoot quickly, and instead of not moving, you time the shot to make the most of the momentum you have within the movements.”

“But wouldn’t at least having an arrow rest allow you some baseline to use?”

“Undoubtedly,” Fletcher admitted, “but at the times throughout history when mounted archery was used in war, those features weren’t standard. Modern mounted archery as a competitive sport tries to capture that spirit of skill and craftsmanship.”

“I thought you were all just trying to look like medieval badasses.”

“No, you’re trying to look like a badass. I actually am one.”

Kylie shook her head. “Talk is cheap, Bouchard.”

Without even a single, fully conscious thought, Fletcher’s reflexes kicked in, and she lifted the bow in one hand while simultaneously pulling an arrow from the quiver strapped to her thigh. She had it nocked in a second, and then with a slight twist of her torso, she aligned her extended arm across the front of Kylie’s chest, inches below her chin, drew, and released. A zip, a whoosh, a thud, and it landed at the center of the target she hadn’t even been facing.

Kylie’s lips parted slightly. Then she bit the bottom one as if to hold something in.

Fletcher arched an eyebrow with a hint of smugness. “You were saying?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“That’s a rarity.”

Kylie’s green eyes swept quickly over Fletcher, from head to toe and back up again. “So are you.”

She warmed under the favorable appraisal. It was the first unburdened compliment Kylie had offered in over a decade, and her body threatened to react the way it had when she’d been younger, dumber, and more easily aroused. Thankfully, even if she hadn’t gotten better at controlling her physical responses, she’d at least become more adept at hiding those impulses until she managed to crush them, and this time she already had her favorite coping method in her hand.

Snagging another arrow, she let a different kind of muscle memory take over, and landed a second direct hit less than an inch from the first.

“Okay, okay.” Kylie reached for the bow again. “You’ve made your point … two rather sharp ones. Now it’s my turn.”

“No, it’s not.” She refused to hand her any tools of the trade she clung to in this moment. “We’re done for today.”

“Bullshit.” Fire built in Kylie’s voice. “I’ve only been here an hour and a half, and I haven’t even loosed a single arrow. It’s day four, Fletcher. We need to move faster.”

“You always want to rush everything.”

“You never used to mind that personality trait.”

A surge of memories hit her like a slap in the face, the two of them crushing together, clutching, ripping at clothes under hot breath. She took a step back and closed her eyes, willing her brain to summon different images, like taillights fading at the end of the driveway. That had happened just as fast and felt just as disorienting as the others. “Maybe I should have.”

Kylie sighed. “Are you going to punish me every time you recall some perceived slight?”

“Perceived?” She shook her head as anger rushed up to supersede all the other emotions.

“Yes, perceived. If you want to rehash a few things, I’ve got as good a case as anyone for not leaving well enough alone.”

“No.” She clenched her teeth. “Not if we want to keep doing this.”

“Okay, then let’s do the damn thing we’re here for.”