Page 29 of Fated for his Flame

“I don’t obey humans,” Seth spat in response. “Or the clowns who comport with them, for that matter.”

My hand came up, fingers splayed across Silas’ chest as he stepped forward with an audible snarl.

“Don’t let this pissant get under your skin,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear. “He’s just jealous your date is more attractive than his.”

I fixed Mattias with a glare as I spoke, picking him out of the crowd simply because I knew who he was.

Seth stepped forward abruptly, moving so fast I flinched, until he was a foot or two away. “Watch your tone. This is a gathering of superiors. Your kind isn’t welcome here.”

Casually putting his hand around my waist, Silas moved me behind him, sliding slightly to his right as he did until he was directly between Seth and me, blocking my view entirely.

“You should go,” Silas growled. “Before this turns ugly.”

I peered around his shoulder, wondering just how much stronger Silas had to be to take on seven all by himself. Could he be that much better? It seemed far-fetched, but there was just so much I didn’t know about dragons.

Seth, for his part, looked less confident than before. His eyes darted past Silas and into the room behind us.

“You won’t always have your sycophants around to defend you,” he spat.

Confused, knowing he couldn’t mean me, I turned to look behind me, and my eyes widened. At some point, the rest of the partygoers had taken notice of the terse confrontation going on at the doorway, and a double-handful of males, including Silas’ brother, Caleb, had detached themselves from the crowd. The meaning of that was clear to anyone.

Silas laughed. “Please tell me you’re smart enough to realize the absolute irony of that statement,” he said, pointing out who Seth had arrived with. “I’m not the one who was too afraid to come alone.”

Teeth bared but unwilling to push the challenge any further, Seth snapped his fingers, and his entourage moved aside to let us pass. The fury burning in his eyes warned us that whatever that was, it wasn’t over. We were going to see more of him. Of that, I was certain.

For now, though, we were free to go.

Walking smoothly, unhurriedly, Silas led me to the landing pad. I tried to hang back to give him room to shift, but he shook his head, instead pulling me close until I was standing facing him, my feet literally on top of his.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Wings split from his shoulders, stretching wide, and a smile spread across his face.

“Uhhh,” I started to protest, reminded of the first time we’d tried this move.

“Hush,” Silas said, and with a powerful sweep of his wings, we shot up into the air.

The sudden jolt of movement sent me lurching into him, my body melding itself to his as we smoothly ascended into the sky, both of Silas’ arms wrapped around me.

We burst through some low-hanging cloud cover, and above us, the night sky twinkled brilliantly with the light of millions of stars. There we hovered, spinning very slowly as his wings beat just hard enough to keep us aloft.

“You were impressive back there,” Silas rumbled, lowering his chin to start down at me.

“You approve?” I asked, unable to look away. There was something about his expression, about the look he was giving me …

Something had changed, but I wasn’t picking up on it.

“Oh, yes. That was perfectly dragon-like of you. The insult. The spine. Perfection,” he said with a broad grin. “The look on his face is one I won’t soon forget.”

“Okay,” I said tightly, my blood starting to race the longer I was pressed against him. His firm muscles taut under his shirt. Hard pecs. Coiled steel cable in his arms. Rippled stone for his abs. It was beyond impressive.

It was intimidating.

“I will remember that as much as I’ll remember something else.”

“What’s that?” I asked breathlessly, looking up into him.

“This.”

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