Page 30 of Ashborne: Defiance

“No, I don’t. I don’t understand any of this. But I know I need to be close to you, and standing here is easier than being anywhere I can’t see you. And you’ll need help.”

His jaw rolled and he shook his head. “No, Grace. I’m not being noble. I’m telling you, it’s not safe.” The last two words were ragged, growled through his teeth and his body shuddered.

A surge of need rippled behind my navel.

His hands shot out, as if he’d grab me. I startled, but the leather straps caught him and he groaned, dropping his head again.

The dragons.

My mouth went dry as my mind flashed on that moment he’d first kissed me, and his hand slipping into my shirt—

“Grace! I’m begging you… I can’t do this!”

Dawn was rising, the sky turning rosy, the shadows gray instead of black—the dirt and scrapes on his cheeks coming into sharp focus.

I wanted to weep at the hunted look in his eyes, in the same moment I took in the way his shoulders strained against the leather of his jacket and his knuckles turned white because he clenched those straps so hard.

He was strong, and capable. And dangerous.

“Why would you—?” I whispered.

“It protects both of us,” he muttered.

“But, I can’t leave you here.”

“You have to.”

“But—”

“LEAVE ME!”

I flinched again, that dark little spot in my heart shriveling again. But even as tears of exhaustion and hurt welled once more, I saw the despair shadow his features, watched him deflate.

He dropped his head, his shoulders heaving. “Please, Grace. This isn’t a game. I’m trying to do the right thing… for you. For both of us. Please.”

A little sob broke in my throat as I nodded.

God was going to have a lot to answer to, for this day.

But as the sun broke over the mountains and the sky turned gold, as Vane’s breath became a rasp, and dragon song rose behind us, tangling in my heart and veins, there was an irresistible drive in me as well.

Without his permission, I cupped his stubbled cheeks in both hands, tipped his face up, and when his eyes fluttered closed on a groan, I laid my lips against his for one, pure, breathless moment.

“Mine,” I whispered on a half-strangled sob as his breath rushed out of him. “I’ll come back next time they sleep.”

When I straightened, his eyes were wide again, dark, and startled. But he didn’t speak. I kissed him once more, then let him go and backed up.

“I’ll find food,” I mumbled numbly. “And more water. Just call for me. I won’t go far. I can’t. I have to stay close. But I won’t… I won’t free you,” I whispered.

Then I turned and ran until I was deep enough into the trees that I couldn’t see him, and I could weep without a witness.

11. Fight to Win

~ VOSKI ~

I’d known pleasure could be torment—but only for the purpose of delaying fulfillment. I’d never imagined it would make me wish for death.

This pleasure tortured me as surely as an enemy. And far more successfully.