And in those final moments, as that cliff-edge beckoned, his touches grew tender. He lifted his head to watch me, marveling, calling me forward.
My body twanged like a bowstring and I cried out—a high keen that sang with the dragons. Donavyn threw himself over me, taking my mouth to swallow the cry, his body seeking, driving for my core. And when he finally shook and arched, he made no sound bar a low, devastating moan that vibrated in my chest.
Donavyn held me so tightly I couldn’t breathe. Didn’t want to.
We hung there together in the throes of bliss, the moment crystalline in its clarity, as if we stood in the light of heaven.
Then, held by God Himself, we sank slowly, tenderly, back to reality.
Sweaty, panting,bewildered,I lay under him, gasping.
Donavyn had buried his face in my neck. His shoulders rose and fell, heaving with his breath that thundered over my collarbones.
Neither of us spoke for a moment. I shook from head to toe. Hummed with the incredible release he’d drawn from me.
But I knew…I knew.
And when he finally gulped at the air and braced an elbow on the bed like he’d push up, though he only cupped the hand over my head and kissed my neck, I clung to him even harder so he wouldn’t leave me.
It was in me to flee the conviction, to avoid the weight of whatever had driven him to me for a few minutes longer. To simply wallow in this.
But I knew. He needed me. And I him. And whatever had happened,weneeded to face it.
So, the moment I could get a hand under his chin, I pressed him up and made him meet my eyes.
“What happened?” I asked him. “I can feel you, Donavyn. What’s going on? It’s more than the dragons. You’reafraid.”
He nodded slowly, his eyes growing sad, though the spark of our love still burned in them. He cleared his throat and stroked my hair back with his thumb.
“It’s time,” he graveled as if the words were dragged from him.
It took me a moment, then I went still.
He nodded again. “Tonight, we fly.”
“Tell the truth… until you can’t.”
—Shadowfang Precept
47. On Mission
~ DONAVYN ~
Except for the occasional groan from the dragons, the camp was silent. It would be dark for hours yet, but that was what we needed. We had to return before first light to ensure Lady Faye didn’t know we’d left. Though, the chances of the self-indulgent woman emerging from her furs before the breakfast fires wafted scents over camp wereextremelyslim.
Thoughts of her made my lips pinch thin. She’d been a thorn in my side for nearly a week, with her constant questions and attempts to flirt—not to mention slowing us by her late appearance in the morning, and bemoaning her exhaustion at night. While we made excellent time on dragons—her trip in a carriage would have taken a couple of weeks, while we could fly it comfortably in five days—we would be sevenshorteneddays in the air before we landed. And I hadn’t even had a chance to utilize that time. Her insistent attention interrupted my covert conversation with Bren.
Thank God for the bond. Without that, these precious days of travel would have been wasted. I’d planned to drill her with information from Fyrehold. Unfortunately, we’d been forced to have those conversations in our minds in snatches, constantly interrupted by the Lady Faye speaking with me.
The night we left Vosgaarde, in front of the king and queen, Faye had insisted on riding with me andshowing me the way to her home.It was a simmering frustration, knowing Bren and I could have had these days together if the vulture wasn’t with us.
‘You are unkind, Donavyn,’Kgosi murmured in my head.‘The Lady Faye takes great delight in your company. The women of your kind seem to appreciate your form. I, too, am baffled by this, but we will consider it a blessing of God, and move on.’
I huffed, but kept my thoughts to myself. It was too early to match wits with the Primarch.
He and Akhane were curled together at the edge of the clearing where we’d camped, just an hour’s flight out of the city, though our Lady Faye didn’t know that. We would take a wide flight path to ensure she didn’t suspect we’d held back. I’d needed to take this outing before we arrived.
The tent flap twitched, then Bren appeared, mouth downturned, and tugging at her skirt as she straightened and threw a small bag over her shoulder.
