Page 59 of Veiled Flames (Destiny of Dragons #1)

He turns back toward me. “I want you to know that I’ve changed. That I’m changing.” The sincerity in his eyes is palpable. His hope.

“My time here at camp has transformed me,” he says.

“Sax—the dragon masters have taught me much. I’ve learned that cruelty isn’t a sign of strength, but a sign of weakness.

” He takes a deep breath. “I’ve learned that true strength isn’t demonstrated through physical power or hurting others.

” His head drops forward. “I thought I’d tamed my fury. ”

I lick my lips. My heart has opened far more for this man than I thought possible, and I feel his pain as if it were my own. “You can’t expect to reverse a lifetime of experiences over a few moon cycles.”

“I should have better contained my anger.” He tugs on his hair. “I might have truly hurt you.”

I shake my head. “But you didn’t hurt me.

Focus on that.” I still believe, deep in my soul, that nothing Tynan did to me tonight was fueled by cruelty.

Perhaps right after I taunted him. But after that, I feel certain he was aware of what he was doing, and that he ensured he did not take it too far.

Nothing he did—not even the sharp smacks to my bottom—seemed intended to hurt me.

My body heats, reminded of when he spanked me like a naughty child. His strikes caused a hot sting and yet somehow aroused me. And I’m certain those few strikes were nothing compared to the pain that Tynan has endured at the hands of others.

“I hate your father for what he did to you.”

His eyes narrow, but then he shakes his head as if trying to rid himself of whatever thought crossed his mind. His hand trails up and down my back and over my backside, and I shift one of my bent legs over his lap.

“Father only did what he was taught. As did my grandfather before him.” He draws a long breath, his chest rising against me.

“The most confusing thing is, I don’t hate them.

” His glance rises toward the ceiling. “I love my family. I love my kingdom and will defend it to my death. I do resent how I was treated whenever I showed my true—” He stops himself.

“Who in Othrix’s name knows my true nature? Not me.”

Up to tonight, Tynan has presented himself as self-confident to the point of arrogance, and I love to see his self-questioning side.

“I haven’t known you for long,” I say softly. “But I believe I can see your true nature.” I press my hand against his chest. “Your heart is good. Your soul is pure.”

He shrugs. “You only say that because your heart is pure.” His fingers slide from my bottom and slip between my legs. Finding my dampness, his fingers gently play there, almost absentmindedly as he looks into my eyes.

“Perhaps only goodness can see goodness?” I smile. “Perhaps you and I both see the other’s true nature.”

His fingers stall. “Did your father punish you as a child?”

“ Punish me?” I think of the times I was scolded or spanked for disobedience. It was never my father who did it. It was typically Nurse. Sometimes the other servants when I was young. “My father rarely acknowledged I was alive.”

He turns my gaze to meet his. “How could he ignore you? You’re his eldest. His only daughter.”

I shrug. “He wanted boys. Heirs. And after my mother died…”

He kisses my forehead. “That must have been hard.” His fingers restart their idle fondling between my legs.

“I barely remember her. And you lost your mother too.”

He nods. “I never knew my mother.”

“Did she die in childbirth?”

His eyes cloud as he shakes his head, but he doesn’t tell me more.

While he continues to play in my folds, his other index finger draws a line down the center of my nose and grazes over my lips.

“It’s funny,” he says. “I spent my childhood fighting to escape my father’s attention, whereas you craved attention from yours.”

“That’s very true.” I shift against him, and the trainer moves inside me. I’ve become so accustomed to it, I’d forgotten it was there. And my ability to tolerate it inside me this long, raises my hope that I’ll be able to mount a dragon.

Using my hand on his cheek, I draw Tynan’s gaze back to mine. “You rode a dragon today!”

Pure joy spreads on his face, as if he’d forgotten. “That I did.”

“What was it like?”

“That’s what I came here to talk to you about.” His arm pulls me closer, and the fingers between my legs continue to slowly stroke.

I look up into his eyes, as joy and excitement radiate in powerful waves that erase all my sadness about how he was raised. How I was raised too, even though our upbringings were clearly so different.

“When I was up in the sky.” His voice soars with excitement. “I felt so alive, so connected to my dragon. His name is Xendus, by the way.”

“A male.”

He nods. “While up there, I wanted to fly with Xendus forever, but at the same time, I wanted to get back to the ground.”

“Why?”

“So I could see you. So I could talk to you. Hold you.” His fingers still, resting over my entrance, and then start to stroke again.

My heart pounds and expands.

“But there was a rupture in the veil,” he says, “and my priorities shifted to duty.”