Page 47 of Flameborne: Chosen
“Bren, I… I apologize. I assumed you were in your room—”
“Please don’t!I’msorry!”
“You have no reason to be,” I said, clearing my throat. “I only came to make certain you’d received the clothes and food and—”
“Yes! Yes, I have. I did. I’ll dress now. Just a moment!”
Her hurried footfalls were softened by the straw on the floor, but Kgosi’s chuckles in my head were not.
I dropped my face in my hand and cursed myself for a fool. She was a woman, alone for the first time, trapped in a cell of a groom’s closet on the first night after her Choosing. Ofcourseshe sought comfort in her dragon. Didn’t we all? I’d left the barracks almost every night for the first month when Kgosi first Chose me.
‘I’m not sure if you’re aware, Donavyn, but it is unwise for your eyes to leave your head. I only mention it because you looked like you were in danger of it for a moment there.’
“Shut up,” I muttered.
Akhane fluttered her wings like she disapproved, but I wasmortified.And Kgosi was teasing? I clawed both hands through my hair.
‘You should have told me she was here.’
‘You didn’t know?’
‘That she washerein the stable? Not properly dressed? No, Kgosi, I assumed she was in the room.’
‘Ah. Well, no harm was done.’
‘No harm? I practically saw her naked!’
Kgosi’s eyes narrowed and he rumbled.‘I was under the impression you’d seen your females bare before. If you’re in need of advice for mating rituals—’
‘Kgosi,stop.This isn’t a joke!’
He rumbled again and ruffled his wings as he pushed to his feet, then shook like a dog the size of a cottage. I had both hands on my hips, my heart pounding, and wanted to simply leave. But it would be worse for both of us if I did, I knew.
“Please ask Akhane to pass my apologies on to Bren, and assure her I meant no disrespect.”
A moment later my dragon responded.‘She is aware and only wishes for you to know she didn’t attempt to trap you.’
I frowned. That thought wouldn’t have crossed my mind. Why would she think—
The creak of the door behind me skittered like an insect down my spine. I took a deep breath and turned, determined to keep my eyes firmly on her face—notblush like a schoolboy—and be so utterly professional she couldn’t possibly mistake any of my actions as even remotely inappropriate.
But the moment I looked at her—my expression carefully fixed so as not to belie any errant, er, thoughts—my heart sank.
She was wearing adress?
She hurried towards me, her feet sinking into the straw as she tried to trot, but her arms were bent up to braid her hair as she approached, and the dress she’d been loaned was low cut. With her arms like that, her chest pushed up straining against the neckline, and the swells of her breasts were pinched almost in half.
Hands reaching, filled with those soft, sweet rounds as she let her head loll back and I could taste that delicate skin at her thr—
“Shit,” I muttered, and squeezed my eyes closed, gritting my teeth and clenching my hands to fists at my sides as my body responded to hers and threatened to betray me. I turned to Kgosi before opening my eyes, pretending that I needed to speak with him to give my eyes a break. “Can you please pass through the herd that the acknowledgement will be pushed back an hour? Make certain they know the order comes directly from me,” I growled. Then braced myself and turned to face her. “This is… notappropriate,Bren,” I said as quietly and unemotionally as I was capable. “You areFlameborne.A soldier in training. You can’t wear a skirt that might tangle your legs, or clothing that would be easily torn by an errant spine if you needed to mount your dragon quickly.”
She stopped dead halfway across the stable. Thank God she’d braided down the length of her hair and her arms were no longer bent back. But now she looked horrified and scared.
I raised my hands, palms forward to reassure her. “It’s my fault for not ensuring they understood what you needed. I’m sure the women assumed it was a formal affair, and the dress would be appropriate for that. But the Acknowledgement ceremony isn’t so refined,” I said dryly.
Kgosi huffed.
“Have you eaten or—but no, of course not,” I muttered, hating myself for conjuring the images of her, sleep-rumpled and flushed, eyes hooded and—shit!I swallowed hard and took hold of myself. “We’ll pass the kitchens on our way to the Quartermaster,” I said through my teeth. “You can eat while we walk.”
