"What makes Henry so special?"
Jarrett sighed. "It's better if you don't know."
"Then why should I trust you?"
"You can honestly deny the knowledge.”
"I could lie."
"There are ways others will know if you speak the truth or not. Skilled in torture, they take pleasure in other’s pain."
Tressa folded her arms across her chest. Jarrett had been inching ever closer and she wasn't sure how much he could see through the water.
"Lies keep us from fully reaching our potential. If you're not encumbered by Henry's truth, then you can focus on your own lies."
"I have no lies."
"Just unspoken truths." Jarrett's eyes fell to her shoulders. "I've studied fighting since I was a young boy. Combat revolves around what you cannot see. If you only trust what your opponent shows, the battle is lost before it is begun."
Jarrett's hand floated on the water, only inches from touching her. Tressa didn't flinch. Weakness wouldn't give her away today.
"And with you, there is a secret. Something you don't want anyone to know. Something my father died to protect. What is it?"
"I have no secrets. I came here to fight for a place in the Black Guard. I won it. There is nothing else to know."
A smile spread across Jarrett's face. He was amused. Tressa was not.
He shrugged, turned, and began moving back toward shore. "Just don't let the other men catch you out here alone."
The water lapped against his back. Then the top of his hips. And touched the arse Tressa had spied through the bush yesterday. Still clean. And firm.
She blinked, reminding herself she was a man. Or at least pretending to be one.
Jarrett pushed the excess water off of his legs with his palms. Tressa's heart pounded. He stood there completely naked and unashamed. Of course he did, though. He thought Tressa was a man too, and he probably assumed she wasn't looking at him. Religion and all that.
Jarrett pulled his breeches and shirt on, covering the stolen view. He sauntered over to Tressa's pile of clothes. He picked up the fabric she'd been using to bind her breasts.
"No, you don't have any secrets worth keeping, do you?" Jarrett looked at her, letting the fabric fall between his fingers to the ground.
Tressa said nothing. She made fists and kept them steady at her thighs. If she had to defend herself nude and soaking wet, she would be prepared.
"I had hoped you'd work with me on your own accord. I wanted to create a bond between us." Jarrett shook his head. "I need another fighter on my side to protect Henry. One who won't hesitate to step into the shadow of darkness. Unfortunately you didn't listen to reason, so now I'll have to blackmail you."
Jarrett turned back to Tressa.
"I hope you don't mind, sweetheart. I won't tell the other men they have a woman in their midst as long as you do exactly as I say."
Instead of cowering before Jarrett's threats, she decided to make some of her own. Warm air brushed against the water dripping from her skin as she made her way back to shore.
Tressa knew weakness would only get her killed. Leo taught her that. So she stood in front of Jarrett, completely naked. "You tell anyone I'm a woman and I'll slit Henry's throat while he sleeps."
Tressa expected Jarrett to laugh. Instead his face remained serious. "I will accept those terms, but they go both ways. Now what is your real name?"
"Max is all you will ever know. Now go while I get dressed."
"I'll stay a bit up the path and make sure no one else comes upon you as I did."
"I highly doubt anyone else will wake up early from their precious nap to take a bath." Tressa mumbled as she pulled on her breeches and then began to wrap the binding around her chest. It was hard enough to do alone, much less while Jarrett looked on unashamed. "You followed me here."
"And it's a good thing I did. We share a common goal."
Tressa grunted. She pulled the binding tight and reached awkwardly to her back to tuck in the excess.
"You need help with that?"
Tressa glared at Jarrett.
"Just trying to help." There was that smile. She wanted to wipe it from his face.
"I can manage just fine on my own, thank you. I thought you were going to wait a bit up the path while I dressed." She yanked her shirt over her head and punched her fists into the sleeves.
Jarrett looked at the ground, then back at Tressa. "I suppose I got distracted."
She expected a wink, but it didn't come. The man was infuriating and impossible to understand.
"Don't count on it happening again." Tressa scooped up her pack and slung it over her shoulder.
"You might want to find another place to be this evening," Jarrett said as he followed Tressa up the path.