Page 63 of Veiled Flames
The knot yields, his hands drop, and he backs away a few steps.
“Thank you.” I lift both hands to the bindings, and the night shirt falls to the floor as I quickly unwind the cloth around me.
My gaze drops to his breeches. At the sight of the very obvious bulge there, my mouth turns dry, and my eyes widen.
“Do you really believe I might die tomorrow?” I ask softly, not looking at him as I unwind the bindings.
“Maybe not tomorrow.” His voice is strangled. “But candidate training is grueling. Many die, even more desert camp or turn recreant, well before they come close to a dragon.”
“What does recreant mean?”
“Some candidates are accepted as an Oblate of Othrix and continue to serve here at camp, while completing their religious training.”
I nod. That is something I’d never do. And I certainly won’t desert.
His warnings about the challenges I face are daunting, but they don’t scare me enough to back down. Everyone underestimates me, and I’ve never been more determined to prove I can train with the rest of the candidates, even if I might not survive.
“If I’m going to die.” Turning to meet his gaze, I find a mixture of pain and need there. “Can’t we… Can we have sex one last time? Please?” I let the unwound bindings fall to the floor. “I don’t want to die with regrets.”
Saxon looks down. His body shifts, and I can only imagine that his rod is uncomfortable, constrained under those tight breeches while so stiff.
“Just one final time,” I say softly. “The last time we…I didn’t know it would be my last time—ever.”
He stares at me, and the creases on his forehead reveal his thoughts and desires, as clearly as the bulge pressing out from his breeches.
Twenty-Three
Saxon
Ineed this woman like air. It makes no sense how it’s happened so quickly, but I cannot deny it.
And if I’m fully honest, when I chose to enter her room tonight, I knew where this could lead. I might have entrusted Sallie the courtesan to deliver the corset as well as the tea. But no. Like a fool, I came myself, and now my body, my soul is screaming to do as she asks. To lie with her, to once again feel her sweet soft cunt tightly squeezing my sensitive hardness.
And she’s right. Unless I convince her to quit, this will be our very last time.
The first day of training is brutal, and typically culls the herd by half, whether it be through desertion, injury, or death.
And she won’t quit willingly. Not unless I reveal her sex to the others, something I’ve vowed not to do. As much as I wish she’d turn recreant, deep inside I know she’s too proud, too stubborn. She’ll continue with training until it kills her.
Again, I’m struck by how the qualities of her character that make me love her are the same ones that will keep us apart, the ones that will cause her demise.
And from my side, on the slight chance she does survive a few days or even weeks, I can’t risk anyone discovering my indiscretion—a high crime against my vows. The Head Klerick abhors me and is already looking for any excuse to remove me from my position. The way he eyes me at times… I live in fear that he suspects something about my past, about what I am. But I don’t have all those answers myself.
Already on thin ice, I’ll surely lose my post if the Klerick learns I’ve had sex with a candidate. I can’t let that happen. The stakes are too high, the ruptures in the veil increase every day, our numbers have dwindled, and I have more to lose than most. The vibrations inside me grow stronger each time the veil tears. I’m certain no one at camp feels the same pull toward the Darkness that I do.
Every bit of reason says I should leave this room, but I can’t. “One final time?—”
“Yes!” She reaches toward my rod, but I step back, shaking my head.
“Let me finish.”
She nods, an impish smile on her face. She knows that she’s won, but I must make one final plea for her to see reason. I tried last night but failed to make her choice crystal clear.
“I’ll once again offer you a choice, Rosomon. If you continue with dragon training, we willneverhave sex again after tonight. You must choose. Choose between me and becoming a candidate.”
She nods, but her expression doesn’t change. Not in the way I was hoping. Perhaps she doesn’t understand or believe me. I did show up here tonight, after all.
“I won’t change my mind again. Not ever. And if you choose dragon training…”over me, my heart stutters. “I won’t help you in any way. I won’t give you special treatment. In fact,” I narrow my eyes, “I can make your time here at camp very difficult.” I’ll say anything to get her to change her mind.
