Page 104 of Flameborne: Chosen

Without my permission, my fingers clawed into the sensitive skin of her neck. My thumb slid under the point of her chin, lifting it. Her breath caught and that hope in her eyes turned to heat.

She swallowed and the feeling of her skin moving under my palm was so sweet, I groaned and dove to open my mouth on that delicate skin, tasting the salt there as she inhaled sharply and her back arched—

‘Well, it’s about time, God you humans are slow to—’

I woke with a start, sitting up in bed, blinking, chest heaving, cock aching and hard. It took long seconds to remember where I was—my own apartment—and that it wasn’t our training session the night before.

It was a dream.

It was just a fucking dream.

Slumping back on my pillows I groaned and covered my face with my hands as the images from that dream—the soft rounds of her body, the sights and scents, the little sounds in her throat—

I cursed and threw the blankets back, throwing myself out of bed and stomping towards the water closet. I needed a cold bath and a good meal and to look into the sunlight and let the dream fade. There was nothing good to come of letting my mind gothere.

Teeth gritted as I stomped for the door, I forced my mind to the problem of the dragons’ low mate pairs and subsequent dwindlinghatchlings. We hadn’t had a new dragon in over a year, and there were only a dozen incubating when there should have been twice that.

‘Good morning, Donavyn.’

‘Don’t be cheery with me. I haven’t forgiven you for your teasing last night,’I grumbled in return.‘Putting ideas in my head and—’

‘How did you sleep?’

The question was so casual, so indifferent. So suspicious.

I’d just stepped into the water closet, but I froze in my tracks, instinctively turning to face the stables where I knew Kgosi lay. Alongside Akhane.And Bren.

‘Was thatyou?You could see my dream?’

‘I can see any thought in your head if I choose to, you know that Donavyn.’

‘You could see what I was dreaming. And youinterrupted?’

There was a low rumble from my dragon I couldn’t quite interpret.‘I believe the first time your lips touch Bren, she should know that it’s happening.’

Electric heat crackled through my body. I jolted at Kgosi’s mention of mekissing Bren,as if that weren’t a preposterous suggestion. As if it were nothing more than a stupid fantasy of a young man with a crush. As if it weren’t utterly improper. Anoffense.

Then I remembered who I was talking to. My dragon was wise, and strong, and worthy of following. He was also sly, sarcastic, andshamelesswhen it came to teasing.

Relief and disappointment washed through me in equal measure. I hacked a humorless laugh. “Never,” I muttered, then took a deep breath.‘I suppose I should thank you for not allowing me to wander down a pointless, foundationless, idiotic trail like that, but,boundaries,Keg.’

Kgosi huffed in my mind.‘You’re just grumpy because you were thwarted.’

I bristled and turned back to the water closet to pour the night-chilled water from the pitcher into the bowl to splash it on my face and chest. The frigid shock did an excellent job of calming my body as I gritted my teeth against the icy cold.

‘I’m not angry. I’m just tired. We were out late last night and—’

‘And what, Donavyn?’

‘Nothing. We were simply out late.’

‘And your sleep was restless,’he rumbled.

I wanted to curse again. I couldfeelhis smile. Feel hisknowingin the bond. But as irritating as it was, it also made me sweat.

‘Please, don’t tease, Keg,’I muttered in the bond.‘I can’t afford this kind of distraction. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us. She’s clearly been wounded and is only just beginning to trust me. It’s natural that the way we’re thrown together would develop intimacy. But I don’t want to worry her. I just need to keep a tight leash on myself, that’s all.’

‘Yes, Donavyn. Of course. Because you’ve alwaysthrivedwhen anyone seeks to restrain you.’