Page 25 of Ashborne: Defiance

I shook the hissed words away as my body sparked and shuddered.

No!

I was running out of time. Running out of options. Running out of the will to resist.

Finally, finally, I had two of the longer straps free. I whirled, looking for strong tree trunks, close together and—

Desire. Need. Mate.

Must—

I pushed forward as if through mud to my waist. My feet and hands weighted. Every limb fighting me. Gritting my teeth, I made it to the trunks of two trees that grew from the same root in a V shape, reaching for the sky. With shaking hands, I reached around one trunk, hugging it, letting the rough bark abrade my cheek as I stretched to grab the end of the harness strap and pull it around, threading it through the buckle and jerking it tight so the leather grabbed and remained.

With a task to focus on, a bare sliver of sanity emerged.

Stiff-legged and heart pounding, I repeated the set up with the second strap on the other trunk of the tree, then stumbled to the center, not letting myself think. Refusing to remember. Resisting awareness of my dragon, or Grace, because everything in me roared for her.

But as I positioned myself between the two trunks, holding both straps, and struggling to create the slip knot on the thick leather not designed for such an intricate knot, I shuddered. Then froze.

My mind’s eye filled with a vision of Grace—arched, writhing, needing me. She gasped my name and cried out and—

A low, guttural growl rolled out of my throat.

Oh God. Her want burned. Her yearning fueled mine. She wanted me.

My body tensed, and I took a step, almost losing the battle for control.

‘Kham—’

‘Breathe, Voski.’

‘I can’t… I can’t…’

‘Your mate is a—’

I actually whimpered as I shut my mind to my dragon, but turning from him only brought me closer to her.

And I prayed for control. Clenched my jaw. Fought to form the knots at the end of each strap. Hands shaking so the straps wavered in the air as I pulled and measured, ensuring once the knots were closed, I wouldn’t be able to reach across to free myself.

At some point, as the dragons eased from their mating, Kham realized what I was doing, and leaped for me.

‘Voski! You don’t—’

I stood at the center of the two trunks, each trembling hand holding the loop of a slip knot, and hesitated when I felt another wave of want from Grace.

Oh God. Her want burned. Her yearning fueled mine. She wanted me.

‘Grace… God, Grace. I need you. Please. This is torture.’

I felt the joy leap in her. Felt the need, thrumming. Felt her hope.

And as I stood there, staring into the dark, in the precise direction in which she lay—knew if I only ran far enough, I’d run straight into her arms, into her body, into her, I groaned.

‘Grace… oh, Grace… please…’

I couldn’t think. Couldn’t allow myself to consider…

Swallowing convulsively, though it didn’t wet my throat at all, I lifted my hands and forced myself to slip each one into the loop I held on that side, until they fell to my wrists.