Page 55 of Flameborne: Chosen (Emberquell Academy #1)

Our bodies pressed together until there was no space, the sweet slide of her lips, her tongue, the clawing of her fingers in my hair, and feminine sigh that lit up my insides like sunlight all conspired the shred the last threads of my control.

I devoured her, trembling, grasping, panting—

Somewhere in the stables a pail clanged and reality crashed back in .

I stood in a stable kissing Bren , pinning her to my chest where she dangled, her breath growing ragged.

I was her General. Her Commander . I was the one who’d ordered the men to treat her as a sister and nothing more.

I had always despised the King for using his position to tempt sexual partners. How was this any different?

A still, small voice screamed an answer to that, but I tore out of that kiss, sucking in a breath as, stomach roiling, I took hold of her hips and put her back on her feet, pushed her away, stumbling back as she staggered in the straw then blinked, struggling to focus on me.

Her eyes were glazed.

She was still drunk.

And I’d kissed her.

Oh fuck.

“I’m so sorry,” I said hoarsely. “I didn’t… I shouldn’t have… that was never—”

My mind went to war with my body as her gaze cleared—then clouded with fear rather than lust. I tried to find the words to say that I had never wanted her. Would never… but my body made the thoughts a lie. I couldn’t get them past my throat. I spluttered and gaped and…

Bren blinked again and finally focused. Then her eyes went wide and she clapped her hands over her mouth. “Donavyn, I wasn’t—”

I waved her off. “I don’t know what got into me. I would never—”

“I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I was the one who—”

“Please, forgive me,” she breathed.

“You have nothing to apologize for!”

“You can go. I won’t go anywhere. Except to bed. Alone, I mean. I wasn’t—”

“Of course. No. Yes. Absolutely. I wasn’t—you do that. I’m so sorry, Bren,” I babbled miserably as she stumbled backwards, her eyes round with shock.

Cursing myself, I turned for the door, stumbled, clawed both hands into my hair—then drew up short as I came face to face with my dragon who stood between me and the stable door, slow tendrils of smoke curling from his nostrils.

‘Donavyn? Are you well? You seem flustered.’

I gaped at him. ‘Flustered isn’t even close. That doesn’t begin to—’

‘I told you it would be better if she was there for it as well.’

My jaw dropped and my hands fisted at my sides. It was the closest I’d ever come to slapping the smug smile off my dragon’s face. And he didn’t even have a smile.

‘You are not funny. Not even a little bit, Kgosi.’

He huffed a laugh, those tendrils of smoke becoming short plumes. But that only made my ears heat as I stormed past him and yanked the door open to get out of the stable—but jerked to a halt when her room door slammed closed.

I went still at that sound, consumed with the memory of her staring up at me, then pulling me down, the taste of her—

“Fuck!” I hissed the word through my teeth, threw the stable door closed, then stormed down the aisle, my boot heels ringing on the flagstones.

‘The strong language seems unnecessary.’

‘If you aren’t going to help, then you keep your smug, horny mouth closed.’

‘We don’t use our mouths for that part.’

‘God help me—’

‘He already has.’

‘I swear, Keg, if you don’t be quiet I’ll… I’ll…’

‘What, Donavyn?’ Kgosi asked solemnly, all hint of his teasing tone gone. ‘What will you do? Be forced to face the truth?’

‘Truth? What truth? You think I don’t see it, Keg? Stop looking so smug—you think I don’t see that I’m not the man of integrity that I’ve worked to be? That I can’t be trusted the moment I’m forced into close proximity with a vulnerable woman? Trust me, I see it!’

But Kgosi didn’t respond.

Scowling, I stormed down the main aisle of the stable, praying I didn’t run into anyone coming back from a late patrol, or a stableboy on rounds. Praying no one would see the flush in my cheeks or the tightness in my groin. The way I had betrayed myself and my rank and—

‘You are a man of integrity, Donavyn.’

‘I just betrayed every vow and code to which my position is held. I was one step away from tearing her clothing off and taking her on the spot.’

‘Perhaps that is what—’

‘Do not finish that sentence.’

But Kgosi’s low rumble wasn’t the teasing huff I expected. He growled as if he were angry.

‘Stop panicking and think, Donavyn. You have met a fork in the road. Which path will you choose?’

‘A fork? There is no fork! There is no choice! I cannot—’

‘Every step, every moment, every word is a choice—one among thousands. Whether you allow yourself to see them or not. Whether you feel forced to one, or resistant to another, they are all choices, Donavyn. All branches from the Creator’s vine.

You are not caged. You have many choices. Do not tell yourself otherwise.’

‘Choices? The only choice in this moment is to leave her, or go back—and that is no choice. Not for a man of honor!’

‘Of course it’s a choice—’

I stopped walking, stunned and turned back to face the direction of the stable. ‘Are you telling me to have a tryst with a Flameborne? ’

‘Of course not,’ he growled.

‘Then what—’

‘I’m saying you have the choice. Many choices. Many more than it seems you are willing to admit.’

I gaped into the dark stable, shaking my head.

I’d been making choices for weeks to keep myself from touching her, to avoid breaching the boundary that I just plowed through like Mont on his way to an argument.

I’d been aware of the problem and resolved to be its solution.

Yet, all it had taken was one undefended moment, one touch from her…

Cursing under my breath, I turned on my heel and stormed towards the main entrance, the Academy buildings, and my quarters. Because no matter what my dragon might say, while a multitude of choices might exist, there were very, very few that could be taken with honor.

I may have failed both her and myself tonight. But I would not do it again.

‘Thank you, Kgosi,’ I sent before I moved out of range.

‘For what, precisely?’

‘For not corralling me. For allowing me to see why I made the choice. You were wise not to dictate to me what I should or shouldn’t do.’

He didn’t respond immediately—probably because he was thinking about how much he’d like to dictate to me. But I waited patiently.

‘Well then, thank you, Donavyn.’

I frowned. ‘For what?’

‘For reminding me why the Creator placed us in your lives. I grow more convinced every day that without our guidance the human future would be very, very dire indeed.’

I hacked a laugh at his joke.

It seemed a little odd that he didn’t at least huff.

Haughty bastard.