Page 3 of Flameborne: Fury
I fled like the coward I was.
2. Enter Darkness
~ BREN ~
Donavyn Arsen, famed General of the Furyknights, and Dragon Battle Commander of Vosgaarde fled my presence like a child caught stealing.
He threw one desperate glance over his shoulder as he rounded the corner out of the doorway that was tall and wide enough for his massive, black Primarch dragon to move through. But the moment his eyes caught mine, he jerked into the aisle, his boots thudding away on the stone floor. And I heard his words in rhythm with them.
Ashamed. Dishonor. Don’t know what got into me…
Thud, thud, thud…
My ribs caved in, curling, cracking, puncturing my heart.
He’d kissed me like he’d die without me. Then remembered how broken I was, and was ashamed of himself.
Leaning back on the wall, I clapped a hand to my mouth to cover the sob that broke in my throat as all the fire and joy that had rocked through me when he wanted me suddenly turned to cold, hardshame.
I shouldn’t have told him I’d given myself before. Shouldnever have offered that to him. No honorable man understood—
My father’s words, spoken in anger, echoed as loudly as Donavyn’s boots.
No good man will ever want you.
I was already intimately acquainted with disgrace, but to my surprise it wasn’t the shame that threatened to crack my heart in two. It was grief.
I wanted Donavyn. Powerfully.
I’d admired him. Felt the attraction and shaken it off. But now that he’d touched me, now that I’d seen his eyes burn and heard the gravel in his voice when he was no longer a General but only a man. Now that I’d heard him growl the things he’d do to me, Iwantedhim. I wantedhim.
His strength. His kindness. His humor. His steadiness. The way he’d stared. The way he’d kissed. I thought—
I broke away from the thought, stumbling gratefully towards the door at the back of the stable that opened into the little room intended for a stableboy. The room he’d generously given me on that very first day, just a few months ago, when no one had ever conceived of a femaleChosenby a dragon. When they’d had nowhere to put me. When Donavyn and Kgosi, his dragon, and the Primarch of the herd, had offered me that room so I’d have privacy.
Right now, I needed the dark embrace of that little space to hide me from any eyes that might grow curious. But the ache in my gut wouldn’t leave me. I’d really thought—
No. It didn’t matter what I’d thought. All those compliments, all that confidence, all the ways he’d urged me to bemorein the past few months, it was all a lie. When he’d kissed me, he’d known. And he’d regretted it. I had been stupid—foolish—to believe a man like him could want me.
I paced my little room trying to calm my racing heart, told myself to be grateful that he’d stopped. At least he had that muchhonor—not giving in and taking me when he didn’t truly want me. I should admire his restraint. There’d been no mistaking his arousal.
But it was cold comfort.
My chest knotted and squeezed.
Ashamed of himself. He said he wasashamed.
God, I wanted to be sick.
Instinctively I reached for Akhane in the bond, and to my relief she’d come back into range.
‘What is it Little Flame?’she asked, alarmed.‘What pains you?’
I didn’t have it in me to hide, or lie. So, I opened my mind and told her.
‘Donavyn kissed me. Then regretted it. I’m so embarrassed Akhane. I feel sick.’
I’d never heard the sound that rolled in my head then.‘I’m nearly there, Bren. Bring your things. I’ll take you to the pools to bathe.’
