Page 43 of Flameborne: Fury
I couldn’t let any man do that to me again. I wasn’tthat girlanymore!
I wasChosen.I’d passed two of the trials. Soon it would be three. Donavyn had come to assess me, and instead…
My feet turned without my permission, pulling me back towards the sense of him. And even though I argued with myself, the moment I stood on the edge of that pool and saw him touching himself, his head back and throat bared, his body tense and thrumming…
God, Iwantedhim. I wanted him with a fire that wouldburn me from existence.
I knew I should fight it. I tried. But no matter how I questioned him, he reassured me—something Ruin had done in the early months, too,I reminded myself.
But then Donvayn, grieved by my fear, touched me with such tenderness his fingers seemed to stroke straight to my soul. And he stared at me with such pleading in his eyes, I was left breathless.
“Bren, I amhere.No regrets. You’re mine, and I’m yours. Please, tell me.”
“Tell you what?” But I knew.I knew.
“Who did this to you?” His tone promised volcanic rage towards the offender. “Who made you believe you couldn’t be wanted? Needed? Tell me. I swear, I will remove that bastard from this earth and make you safe if it’s the last thing I do.”
And I broke. Ibroke.
No man had ever asked me that. No man had ever cared enough tothinkit. Even my father spoke of those days as an accusation, and my mother as a shame.
I broke down. Fell into his chest, clinging, pleading with him not to abandon me. And he didn’t. He didn’t.
“Bren,” Donavyn rasped, one hand cupped over my head as he held me tightly.
“Bren,” Ruin said through his teeth, hands gripping my arms hard enough to leave bruises.
My breath caught, but Donavyn only squeezed harder. “I’m here. Tell me.”
“Stop being so fucking childish. I thought you were better than this—”
I squirmed, desperate to escape the memories, to return to that trembling bliss in Donavyn’s arms.
“No good man will ever want you—”
I pulled away from my father’s voice, turning my face from Donavyn when he caught me and leaned down.
“Tell me, Bren.Please.I’ll kill the bastard.”
I made myself look up, meet his eyes. Donavyn leaned down, holding my face with both hands, his intensity breathtaking. No derision. No shame. No turning from me… And in response, that place in my chest that heldhim,the part I’d been gripping, soothing, desperate to keep, bloomed open in the sunlight of his tenderness.
Frantic, I grabbed for his hair, holding him there when he tried to straighten, shaking my head. “I don’t ever want to go back to that, Donavyn,” I breathed, begging him to understand. “I want to go forward. With you. If you’re real, if this is true, please, don’t walk away from me—”
“Never,” he growled, his eyes flashing with the dark promise.
My sob of hope was caught by his deep, penetrating, devouring kiss.
I inhaled sharply, relief flooding my body when his arms circled me and pulled me tightly against his chest as he growled my name. We both trembled, fueled by the dragon’s mating. I wanted nothing more than to flee any darkness, including memories of my past.
Don’t ask me to talk about it. Don’t make me see the horror in your eyes.
But then Donavyn’s fingers gripped my hair and pulled my head back. My eyes flew open and I locked on, half-thrilled, half-frightened.
Donavyn loomed over me, his jaw tight, and muttered through clenched teeth.
“Tell me that you want this, or if you don’t,” he hissed. “I won’t hurt you, Bren. I swear it.”
“I want you,” I sobbed, almost laughing through my tears because it was so true. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.”
