Page 32 of Fated for his Flame

“If you’re around,” I said, a shiver puckering the skin along my spine at the sudden intensity he was putting out. “But all he has to do is find me when I’m alone.”

“Then you won’t be alone until this is settled,” he said firmly. “I will keep you safe. No matter what.”

“Okay,” I said, letting myself be pulled into him, my head resting on his chest. His heartbeat was strong.

“He won’t go that far,” Silas said in a softer tone. “He knows better.”

“You think.”

He grunted. “True. I promise you, though, I’ll find a way to make it work. Make this work.”

This. There was a “this” now, between us. I smiled as I lay there on his chest, enjoying the closeness to him. His giant arms enclosing me in their grasp made me feel not just safe but something else.

“We should get going.” Silas abruptly pulled back, looking away.

He must have felt the moment shifting, too. The increase in tension as the silence intensified.

“Yeah?” I asked, getting to my feet as he hopped up.

A part of me was a little disappointed he didn’t push it further, but I knew it was for the best. Things were moving faster, and I needed a chance to collect my thoughts. To think about how to proceed and whether I was ready for more.

Physically, my body wanted it right then on the top of the hill with the surf below. But if there was a thing between us, I had to consider that as well. I was on a mission that could go for the rest of my life.

I needed to do it right.

“Big day tomorrow. More of that,” he said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction we’d come from.

“Another party?” I asked, not bothering to force myself to sound happy.

“Always more parties,” he laughed, stepping back to create some room for himself. “Better get used to it. We’re going to—”

Whoosh.

I blinked as he was suddenly cut-off midsentence. Then my eyes popped out of my head as I clued into the fact he wasn’t there.

“Silas?” I asked, looking around. “Silas?”

A dull thud from somewhere behind me was the only hint. I spun, looking down the hill at the shoreline.

Chapter Sixteen

Silas

The impact drove the air from my lungs as I sailed through the air.

No, not I. We.

While I convulsed, trying desperately to bring air back to my lungs, he threw me from his grip down onto the beach. I didn’t bounce, the wet sand sucking me in, keeping me in place.

A moment later, a wave washed over me, spinning me around.

“Silas!” a voice screamed from back on the hill.

I lifted a hand, trying to let Chloe know I was okay. Even if my lungs still refused to work. Bending over, waiting for the spasms to die down, I gathered my thoughts, forcing back the panic signal my brain was sending out from a lack of oxygen.

It would come. I just needed time to recover, and then I—

A dragon tail swept across the surf as it slammed into my legs, hitting me hard in the midsection. I flew parallel to the coast, skipping like a stone, before my leg caught, and I whipped over and down, planting face-first into a mixture of seawater and sand.

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