Page 46 of Wild Bond

My mind was telling me this was a bad idea, trying to remind me who this man was that was kissing me so passionately and whose large, hard body it was that felt so good against mine. It yelled at me that this could never work, that I was nothing but a thief, a gutter rat, and this man was one of the most powerful men in all the kingdoms.

But then my back pressed further into the wall, and his large hand fisted tightly in my hair. I groaned, quickly losing any train of thought as my knees nearly gave out from under me.

His other hand found its way under my cloak and grasped me tightly around the waist. His warm thumb rubbed over the bare skin of my side where my top had ridden up.

I was painfully aware of every movement he made as he slid his hand up slowly, that thumb grazing the side of my breast.

I gasped sharply, pulling away slightly.

He took advantage and lowered his mouth, licking softly at my hammering pulse. I felt him inhale against my skin and groan, “You always smell so incredible. Like fresh air and jasmine. Innocent yet sultry. The combination drives me insane.”

His words set me on fire, and I felt slightly mindless and out of control as I finally let myself touch his stubbled jaw. I reveled in the raspy feel of it against my skin, then fed my fingers through his lush dark hair and pulled his mouth back up to mine.

I kissed him this time, inhaling his growl of approval as our mouths and tongues danced together, I wrapped my arms around his neck and couldn’t seem to get close enough.

It was sometime later that he broke the kiss, his forehead dropping to rest against mine. “We have to stop,” he breathed harshly. “This isn’t the place for this.”

For a moment, his words didn’t register in my mind, I was too busy watching those perfect lips move as he spoke. But then our surroundings began to seep back in, and I regretfully remembered where we were.

He was right. This was not the place. I nodded faintly and he stepped away.

Instantly, I missed his warmth.

“We should go,” he said. Then he smiled wickedly, “Oh, and thanks for these.” He flashed something silver before my eyes before it disappeared back into his cloak.

I was still catching my breath against the wall, and it took my kiss-addled brain a moment to understand what I was seeing.

The lock picks.

Realms! Blast him!He had stolen back my lock picks. To be fair, they were his to start out with, but possession was nine tenths of the law and all that.

“That was low, even for you!” I called after him, seeing as he had started walking away and was already at the head of the alley.

He didn’t even glance back, and I could hear the cocky smirk in his voice as he called back, “Are you coming?”

I couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across my face in the darkness before I straightened my cloak and followed after him.

Thenextthreeweekswere full of nothing but training, studying, and more training. I could hardly move without some part of my body aching. I still went to class with the hatchlings every day and learned about all things dragon and the history of the dragon riders.

I also spent several hours a day training with the prospects. There had been no further confrontations with Daisha, though she still inexplicably hated me and glared at me whenever possible. Except for her, I had begun to enjoy pitting myself against the other trainees. I usually partnered with Con or Nesenya and had even started eating with them and a few of our fellow trainees at mealtimes. The others still treated Con like a pariah, but I didn’t let that stop our growing friendship.

Sometimes I even ate with the younger trainees for the noon meal—since the younger trainees didn’t stay for dinner or in the compound overnight unless they didn’t have homes or parents to go home to—and had way too much fun. Declan and his crazy dragon Izzy were fast becoming two of my favorite beings in Baldor.

My flying training had temporarily been put on hold. Rake had left the capital with Naasir the morning after our night at Sal’s Tavern for parts unknown. Apparently, he was on an assignment for the queen, or so Dembe had told me that first morning. I hadn’t seen him since and had no idea when he would be back.

I was disappointed and could at least admit that to myself. Skye was as well, since that meant we had to wait to go flying together. A large part of me was also relieved. I had no idea how to act around Rake after our kiss in the alley. My attraction to him was ridiculously strong, and he sure wasn’t helping matters by encouraging it at every turn. And despite all the reasons why I knew I shouldn’t pursue anything further with him, my head and my heart didn’t agree. I was beginning to wonder if I even had a choice at this point. I liked being around him. I likedhim. He was surprisingly fair and kind and had a quick wit and sense of humor that matched my own. He was a patient instructor, and I felt alive when I was with him. But I had to protect myself. This space and temporary reprieve were good. Hopefully by the time he got back, the walls around my heart would be firmly in place again.

I still began every morning training one-on-one with Dembe, and this provided ample distraction. I loved sparring with him, because he had a unique, unpredictable style of fighting. I never knew what he was going to throw at me. I was still dismal with a sword, but more and more my skill with daggers was returning, along with my strength and stamina. Some days we fought hand-to-hand, others with weapons. Sometimes we didn’t spar at all, and he had me run or perform endurance drills.

After one of these sessions, I usually wanted to send him to one of the Dark Realms, and I told him so with the most imaginative language possible. But he would just grin that wide grin of his and tell me to go again. And as much as I despised running, I knew my health was improving.

Almost two months of good food and hard training had worked its magic on my body. The hollow, gaunt look had left my features, my hips and breasts had filled out, and my hair had never been so clean and shiny.

Zade had shown up a week ago and taken me and Skye to meet The Tower blacksmith and tanner to have Skye fitted for a saddle. He was a burly man with the biggest arms I had ever seen, and Zade introduced him as Neskel. After asking permission, the man had climbed up on Skye’s back and draped a massive piece of tanned and leathery animal skin over her back. He then began muttering under his breath and frantically making marks all over it with a piece of chalk. When that was finished, he then took my measurements twice and then shooed us out, saying my saddle would be “ready when it was ready”. Zade explained as we walked away that Neskel was always like that when he was working on a project. Not only did he make the saddles for new trainees once their dragons were large enough, but he also forged the dragonscale armor riders received once they passed the trials. Neskel was not a rider himself, but his son had been before he and his dragon had perished in the war.

This morning, however, I was running late. Skye had kept me up last night, showing me each of the “shinies” in her makeshift horde. Her horde being a rag-tag pile of stolen junk she had collected that now sat in the corner of our room. It contained everything from jewelry to rocks to buttons. She even had an expensive looking knife with a gold-inlaid handle, a belt buckle, and what I thought was a stopper to a perfume bottle.

Gemma had been teaching us in class about dragons’ obsession with treasure, and shiny objects especially, and how that led dragons to seek out and collect these things wherever they found them. This instinctual need started when they were hatchlings and only grew as the dragon matured to adulthood. Gemma explained that our dragons would be extremely possessive of the items in their hordes. She also said that if our dragons ever chose to share their hordes with us, it was a great honor and a testament to the bond and our dragon’s trust in us.

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