Page 53 of Ashborne: Defiance

I was skeptical. But in truth, I’d thrown my own self-discipline out the window, ripping into her like that. Until we were in Vosgaarde and she was acknowledged, I was the closest thing she had to a superior officer. I should have been calm. Shown her the error, and firmly impressed the gravity of the situation on her.

Instead I’d laid into her like she was a child.

‘You dishonor your rank and your mate,’ Kham sent sharply.

I hunched, wanting to reject the reprimand, but I knew he was right. About the rank, anyway. ‘She’s not my mate.’

Kham huffed, but I made myself face her and raked my hair back from my face. “I shouldn’t have been so aggressive. I was angry. You did the wrong thing. But I was wrong to attack you like that. I understand,” I added reluctantly. “I’ve worked in the court and dealt with nobles a great deal. I do understand the undercurrents of your world,” I said. “I won’t take you back to them. You and I are flying to Vosgaarde. I don’t yet know if Bren and Donavyn are safe—I pray they are. But they aren’t here, and there’s only one way to find out where they ended up. We’ll have to ride together. I don’t have another harness for Koa, and you can’t ride safely alone yet anyway. So, I have a change of clothes for you—get rid of those, they stink. There’s food and water in the bags, as well. We can eat and drink when we’re flying.”

Her head came up and her eyes widened. “We’re flying? Now?”

I nodded. “There’s no choice. The Fyrehold court thinks you fled. They haven’t connected that with me or Vosgaarde. We need to keep it that way. We have to get you out of here and pray it will be as you said. That he’ll break the contract with your parents and leave it at that. It’s scandalous right now. But there’s nothing we can do. We need to ride.”

She took a tentative step closer, then another. “We’ll fly? You and me? Together?”

I nodded, but let my expression turn firm. “For the rest of this trip, you don’t mount until I tell you, and you use my technique, even if it feels harder. You listen to my instructions. We have days of travel ahead of us. We might as well use it for training. But the important thing is that we get out of this kingdom while no one is looking for me—or connecting you with Vosgaarde.”

She nodded quickly, then swallowed. “What about your brother?”

“He’ll follow in the next day or so. He’s going to make sure there’s no reports of my appearance, or us leaving together. And he’ll pull a few, final threads in case we can find out what happened to our friends.”

“Bren and Donavyn.”

I still hadn’t told her that I knew Bren had returned home alone, and on purpose. My suspicion wouldn’t allow it.

Kham growled. ‘She is Flameborne. She can be trusted with a simple truth that would allow her to sleep easier.’

I grunted, but didn’t answer.

Grace sighed. “I pray they’re safe.”

Her plaintive tone and slump to her shoulders seemed like a show, but I didn’t say so. I was too busy checking Kham’s harness and bolstering my own courage.

I had to prepare to fly. In just a few minutes we would leave, and I’d spend the next week with her in my arms. Nestled between my thighs.

I swallowed a groan of pain. This would be pure torment.

I should have known the moment I saw her sneaking through the forest. Trouble always started with women—especially women of high birth. Clearly, God was punishing me.

As I turned my back to give myself a few blessed minutes without the sight of her, I sighed.

If the Creator was displeased, I was more than willing to learn the lesson to make it stop.

Just please… make it stop.

19. In the Air Tonight

~ GRACE ~

“Give yourself a moment to catch your breath if you need it.”

Vane’s words were toneless, but his breath fluttered in my ear and my skin pebbled from my neck to my knee on that side. I prayed he didn’t notice.

He’d shown me how to use the mounting strap to walk up Kham’s side. And at first, I was delighted—I had enough strength in my arms to get to the top of the massive dragon’s leg before I needed to pause for rest.

But I hadn’t counted on Vane following me—right behind me. The heat of his chest at my back, his thighs under my seat, his hands gripping the strap under and above mine as he used his body like a safety net, ready to catch me if I fell.

I was breathless from the climb, but also because that trilling coil of pleasure reappeared in my chest and made my body ache.