Page 97 of Flameborne: Chosen

‘Are you certain, Keg?’

‘I am.’

We flew on for a couple of minutes. I’d been thinking about her standing up to me, fists balled at her sides, her teeth bared. Defiance didn’t cover it. I chuckled, shaking my head. If I could find that kind of fire in half the men—

‘Is that admiration I sense in you, Donavyn?’

‘Admiration for her courage—not her conduct.’But I still smiled.

Kgosi made a low humming noise and I felt the mischief rise in him.

‘Oh no,’I sent, shaking my head.‘Don’t you try to get clever. We have to keep a very tight lid on this. The last thing I need is for rumors to circulate that I’m offering the only female special treatment.’

‘But it isn’t true. You would have taken mercy on a male also!’

‘The truth is, I wouldn’t have threatened such an inexperienced male with a tribunal unless he remained in defiance. I was overly protective. Because she seems so frail.’

‘Is that truly the only reason, Donavyn?’

I frowned.‘What do you mean?’

Kgosi huffed again.‘What was it you said to me that day she was Chosen? The comment about the females, when they admire my form… isn’t she too young for you?’

I coughed and spluttered and almost fell out of my seat.‘That isnotwhat is happening here. And you arenotfunny.’

‘Unsurprising, as I am rarely things I have not attempted to be,’he said airily.

‘Keg, shut up.’

Thank God, for once he did.

But sadly, that just left me alone with my very uncomfortable thoughts and arguing with him in my mind.

28. Too Close

SOUNDTRACK:Daylightby Tommee Proffit and Sam Tinnesz

~ BREN ~

“Fuck!” I punched the air in frustration and the movement sent me swinging erraticallyagain.Akhane crooned, sending a rush of reassurance through the bond, but I was livid.

I’d almost had it!

I watched sullenly as Donavyn and Kgosi landed in the clearing next to where Akhane stood very still because I was still swinging on that safety strap and needed some help to get down because the climbers’ clutches I used to get up and down to mount stayed at her withers until the mounting strap shook out. Sometimes they fell to the bottom, other times they stayed up at her withers. Either way, until Donavyn lifted me off the strap and they were within reach, I was stuck once I fell.

“This is so embarrassing,” I muttered as he trotted across the fieldagainto climb the mounting strap and pull my loops down.

“Humility is a Furyknight’s crown,” he said, then grinned.

I scowled. “You say those things a lot, but I seeverylittle evidence of it in the ranks.”

Donavyn grasped the mounting strap and clambered up Akhane’s side so effortlessly it simultaneously made me want to cryanddried my mouth. It was warm tonight and he wore a sleeveless shirt tucked into his leathers. His biceps bulged with every grasp of the strap in ways that made me think of laying between braced arms and—

He reached the top in seconds and tugged the loops out of where I’d tucked them, letting them slide all the way to the ground, then offered me an arm.

“What—?”

“The only downside to those loops is that you’re relying on them. What happens if you’re thrown free in battle and they’ve slipped down. There are so many scenarios in which you might find yourself without them, Bren. The stronger your arms, the sooner you keep yourself in place in a launch, and the less you’ll need them.”