Page 113 of Flameborne: Fury
At some point I gathered her up and carried her into the trees. Kgosi had chosen this spot because I had a small treehouse here, a place I’d built years earlier, well before becomingCommander and having my own quarters. A spot I’d never told others about, and where I could find solitude when I was young and licking the wounds of this humbling career.
I doubted the little hut in the branches of the massive oak was still sound, and didn’t want to make her climb anyway. But it was in a pretty little clearing a hundred yards into the trees where a creek bubbled and we’d be hidden under the branches even if eyes passed overhead in flight.
I carried her there and settled us under the cover of a tree, near where the water gurgled and the grass grew under its shade. When I sat in the bowl of the roots, I held her to my chest, intending to cradle her. But the moment I sat down, she took a deep breath and straightened, not to pull out of my arms, but to see me.
I went still as she shifted until she straddled my thighs, her eyes red and shining. I dried her cheeks with my thumbs, but the tracks and smears where her tears had fallen remained. She barely breathed as she searched my eyes, then she lifted both hands to my face, stared deep into me and breathed out slowly.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her chin trembling, but not giving way.
I frowned. “Bren, you don’t have to thank me for being decent—”
“No, Donavyn. Listen to me:Thank you.I knew you were a good man. The dragons chastised me for not trusting you with this sooner. And they were right.Thank you.I don’t deserve you.”
I huffed and sat up straight, leaning right in, tempted to smile when she didn’t lean away, but held my gaze. “Thatis bullshit,” I muttered. “What you didn’t deserve was what that fucker did to you—what theyalldid to you. That was sick, and wrong. And I don’t ever want to hear you speak about it as a stain onyou,ever again. You walk tall, Bren. You stand proud. Youenduredwhat they did to you. They’re the ones who carry the burden of shame.”
Tears glistened, but didn’t fall, and she smiled. Watery, faltering, but she smiled. “Thank you.”
I held her face, desperate to help her, but so, so afraid of stepping wrong and sending her back into despair.
She seemed reluctant to speak too, but not shying from me. Not averting her eyes. She stared as if to convince herself I was real.
“Tell me,” I breathed, fingers curling into her nape. “Tell me what I can do. Tell me what you need.”
She kind of laughed. It was too high, and only a short huff, but her smile was genuine. “Don’t you get it, Donavyn? What I need isyou.”She tipped her forehead against mine and slid her fingers into my hair. “It’s you, Donavyn. It’sus.This bond. It’shealingme.You’rehealing me. I can feel it. I don’t know how, but I want more.”
Then she leaned in and kissed me.
I was humbled, and gratified, and little unnerved. I went still as a frightened horse for a moment, sucking in a startled breath. Then Bren went still, her lips still against mine. Her eyes opened, they were all I could see.
“Do you not want me anymore?” she breathed in a whisper so frail, it broke my heart all over again.
“Fuck, no, Bren!” I hissed, gripping her so she couldn’t pull away. “But after that, I don’t want you to feel like—”
“I need you, Donavyn. I need this bond. I need to remember that it’s not like that between us. It doesn’t have to be like that.”
“It willneverbe like that,” I growled.
Her eyes crinkled in a small smile. “Please.Show me?”
I stared half a beat longer, cupping her face in my hand. “Are you certain, Bren? I don’t want you to regret—”
“I’m sure. I want you. I want youalways.”
Her eyes shone, and the bond hummed. It was the truth.
I took her mouth softly at first. A featherlight kiss. A taste. Then I opened my eyes to check in. Her eyes had closed, but when I hesitated, she opened them again and found me watching her.
Her lips curled up in a smile and her fingers laced behind my neck.
“I love you, Bren,” I croaked.
“I know,” she whispered against my lips. “I love you, too.”
The dragons raised their groans when I kissed her again—a little stronger this time, though still softly. Tentatively. Hands on her back, I delved the sweet velvet of her mouth, measuring her at every moment—did her breath ease or catch? Did she tense or relax? Was she truly ready, or only trying to sootheme?
But then the bond began to glow…
46. Revealed
