The sheer force of her movement caught Arnav completely off guard. For a moment, he didn’t move and didn’t even try to stop her. A part of him wanted to see how far she would go, how much she could strike, wondering just how strong his wife truly was. Arsene had once warned him, half-jokingly, that Raellyn wasn’t some fragile flower that she had trained in combat, she could defend herself and that she could hold her own. but Arnav had never taken it seriously. Certainly not enough to believe he’d be outmatched by a woman.
“Ahh!”
The cry tore from Raellyn’s throat as her own momentum betrayed her. She stumbled, nearly falling at his feet. Arnav let out a chuckle, sharp and unkind, but the laugh barely left his mouth before—
Smack.
The sound of the slap echoed through the room like a gun
