Free Jude Stephens by Touch of a VAmpire

out.
    My training? I wondered if that meant more of his
passionate kisses? I was beginning to get nervous. Grabbing some
decidedly unappealing clothes I ran into the bathroom to get
dressed for what I was sure was going to be yet another harrowing
day in my life.
    I walked out into the cool morning air glad I had
worn sweat pants and a hooded sweatshirt and sneakers. Let’s see if
Mr. Kama Sutra would want to proceed with my lessons with me
looking like Rocky Balboa!
    Cheve was talking with another man, but when he saw
me he nodded to the man and walked over to me. He looked at my
attire and I felt no small amount of satisfaction. My bubble was
burst when he said, “Good…that is perfect for our run before
breakfast.”
    “ Run?” I asked stupidly. “What did
you say about a run?”
    “ We’re going for a run before
breakfast.” He repeated slowly as if I were addled.
    “ I heard you. I just thought that
my training was going to be more like last….” I trailed off
embarrassed.
    He leaned in close so that he was mere inches from
my face. “Are you missing my kisses, Orenda? If you’d rather we go
back to your bed, I can certainly oblige.”
    “ NO! That’s not what I meant and
you know it. I didn’t know there would be any other training that’s
all.”
    “ We have many types of training
that we will be covering including strength and endurance in both
mental and physical forms. By the time we are finished you will be
a Sensay to be reckoned with.” He actually spoke those last words
with a bit of awe.
    I rolled my eyes but said, “Which direction are
we
    heading in?”
    Three hours later I was begging the Gods to kill me.
My lungs burned, my legs ached and I was drenched in sweat.
    “ I can’t do this anymore. Can I
rest?” I panted while letting my body collapse to the
ground.
    “ We are almost back at the
village, but I guess we can stop for a few minutes.” Cheve sat down
next to me and offered me a bottle of water from his
backpack.
    I took a long swallow of water. “Will we be doing
this every morning?”
    “ Yes. We will be doing a 5 mile
run before breakfast. Then we will have 2 hours of self defense
training, followed by some strength training, and after lunch we
will have your mental training. We will work a few hours on
controlling your reactions and a few on fine tuning your abilities.
Then after dinner you will do some metaphysical training with
Onatah followed by and hour of astral projection with
me.”
    I stared at him. He had surely lost his mind and I
told him so. “You’re nuts. How can I possibly do all of that in one
day? I’m exhausted already.”
    “ That is the point of training,
Orenda. You will become stronger everyday. Today’s run took us
three hours. In a month we will be able to cut that in half. In two
months you will be able to do it in an hour.”
    I groaned. Two months of this training? I surely
wouldn’t survive. I was never one to exercise much. I joined a gym,
but like half the people in the world, I went only a few times. I
went only at the beginning of the New Year when I would make a
resolution to get in better shape. The only thing I had going for
me was that I tended to eat right and there were days at the
hospital that I used to work my butt off.
    “ Time to get moving,” Cheve said
as he stood and offered me his hand. I ignored his hand and pushed
myself up.
    Cheve sighed but didn’t say anything. He turned and
began jogging once more. I may be stuck with him as my trainer but
that didn’t mean we had to be friends. I still think he’s kind of
rough around the edges.
    We got back to the village 15 minutes later and
Cheve said, “Go take a quick shower and meet me back here. We’ll go
have breakfast with Onatah.” With that command he strode away.
    “ Yes sir, right away sir.” I
mumbled.
    Mark took that moment to stride around the corner.
“Did you up and enlist this morning? Because if you have then I’ve
got to tell you that I hope it