Page 47 of Flameborne: Fury
I shook my head. No wonder Ruin had admired him. By comparison, Ruin had played at heroism, telling me stories about the things he did in training and should be admired for. Some of them things I’d now done and achieved myself! Yet, I’d gobbled up his tales and been left staring at him with awe, and no little fear. Because,why would such a man care about me?
I wrinkled my nose, but still the feeling wouldn’t leave me. I’dknownI was nothing next to him.
Then I blinked.
I was nothing next to Ruin. And Donavyn was so much more—
It was a measure of how gently he held my heart that when Donavyn moved quickly, rolling me to my back, bracing over me, staring me down, I didn’t flinch.
My heart beat faster though.
“You’re doing it again,” he said darkly, leaning over me, his expression grim.
“Doing what?”
“Thinking.Thinking things that make you feel small. I know this has something to do with a man, Bren. I’ve seen your fear, and I loathe it for what it means must have happened. You’re safe. Tell me. Get it off your chest. Let me share the burden. I’m your mate. You’ll never be safer with anyone than me.”
He’d startled me, moving like that, pinning me down. But my heart raced with thrill as much as fear. His eyes looked dark in this moment, his pupils black. The deep gravel of his voice promised hellfire on any man who’d hurt me. But he didn’t know the man was a Furyknight. He didn’t know what I knew. He couldn’t. He was toogood.I’d seen him live, watched him carry himself for months.
But now, I was in hisheart.
With a deep breath to settle my nerves, I reached one hand up to place it right at the center of his chest. Felt theboom boom boomof that huge, fearless heart under my palm. And I asked myself a question.
Was he strong enough to hear this?
My soul cried,yes.But my mind…
I swallowed hard. “How are you so good?” I whispered.
He frowned. It wasn’t the response he’d expected. “Bren, I’mnot.I’m often wrong. You’ve seen me lose my temper—”
“But you’re good at your core. You’resogood. You do what’s right even when it isn’t easy, and you teach others to do thesame. You choose good for others, even when they don’t choose it for you. You live with honor, Donavyn. I knew that—I’ve seen it. But now I canfeelit.” I let my fingers curl into his warm skin, let him feel the rush of warmth and safety and need he inspired in me.
He grunted, then sat back on his heels like I’d shaken him.
“I’m glad that’s what you see. What you feel,” he said softly. “Hopefully, it will make you come to trust me.”
“I do!”
His lips thinned, but he nodded. “To a point,” he said grimly. “That’s true. But I want you to trust me witheverything, Bren. How can you heal from a wound if you can’t even speak of it?”
I wanted to shrink from his gaze, those gorgeous eyes, so intent they seemed to strip my skin from my bones and reveal my insides. And in the same breath, something deep within me pushed me forward.
Iwantedto tell him. I wanted to see him take it. I wanted to see him solve it. I wanted to see him still want me in the wake of that.
Was it even possible?
I closed my eyes and let myself feel his big, beating heart and swallowed hard.
I wanted to believe it was. “Do you really want to know? Or—”
“I want to know, Bren. Let me carry some of the weight you bear.”
My eyes stung and my throat wanted to close. I took a deep breath and stroked his chest. “Okay,” I whispered. His eyes widened and his lips parted, but he didn’t speak. I swallowed hard. “Can we walk, though? I think it would be easier to say if I’m… moving.”
Because suddenly, that weight in the pit of my stomach had returned. The dread. But I wanted to give it away. I wanted to give it tohim.
He nodded. “I understand. Let’s walk.”
