Empire of Flame and Thorns (Flame and Thorns #1)

Chapter 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

M y chest heaves. Lying on the grass, I stare up at that strange ceiling of thin round tree trunks above us while I try my best to drag air into my lungs and piece my mind back together. Next to me, Draven does the same. And his chest heaves as badly as mine.

“Fuck,” he presses out between deep breaths.

“Yeah,” I reply.

For a while, we just remain there, lying side by side on the thick grass. The river continues gently flowing past a few strides away.

“That…” Draven begins eventually.

Was absolutely fucking mind-blowing , I finish in my mind. It was, by far, the best sex I’ve ever had. Draven wasn’t kidding when he said that he was going to ruin me. I don’t know how I’m ever supposed to fuck someone else after this. How I’m supposed to just forget what his hands felt like on my body. How his cock felt inside me. How he managed to wring every drop of pleasure from my soul.

But I can’t say any of that out loud.

So instead, I finish his sentence with, “Never happened.”

Tilting his head to the side, he looks over at me. For a fraction of a second, I swear I can almost see pain flicker in his eyes. But it’s gone so fast that I’m starting to doubt that I ever saw it. And when he speaks, his voice is calm and composed.

“Agreed,” he says.

Sitting up, I plaster a smile on my face and force a joking tone into my voice. “After all, what happens in the magical forest, stays in the magical forest.”

He lets out a short laugh, but it sounds as forced as mine. “Exactly.”

Suddenly feeling incredibly awkward, I clear my throat and then push to my feet. Then my gaze darts towards my clothes, and my heart leaps into my throat.

Shit. My plan. I need to leave. Now. Before he figures out that I have stolen the ring.

Draven lets out a soft groan as he climbs to his feet as well. I hurry over to my clothes and start putting them on as fast as I can without it looking too suspicious. Hoping that he chalks my jerky movements up to awkwardness after the abrupt end to our intimacy, I yank my shirt over my head and pull my pants up before I sit down to put on my boots.

The ring presses into the sole of my left foot as I put the boot on. I need to remove it before I start running, but first, I need to get out of sight.

“I need to pee,” I announce.

Draven heaves a deep sigh. “And I need to clean off my armor.”

My gaze flits towards where he dropped his armor earlier. Satisfaction shoots up my spine. This is perfect.

I managed to wash off my shirt before we got distracted, so it’s already clean. And it’s even almost dry. But he went straight into the water, so his armor is still covered in green slime.

“That’s why you should have done it before you decided to fuck my brains out,” I say, making sure to keep that neutral teasing tone in my voice. As if everything is normal.

He shoots me a pointed look from over his shoulder. “Yeah, well, it was very difficult to concentrate on anything when you were looking at me as if you wanted to fuck my brains out.”

Heat sears my cheeks.

Using that to my advantage, I clear my throat and pretend to be even more flustered than I am. “Yes, well… Anyway, I’m going to go pee.”

Before he can reply, I turn around and hurry straight into the woods.

As soon as I’m out of sight, I crouch down and unlace my boot. Pulling out the ring, I slip it onto my finger and then lace my boot back up again. Splashing sounds come from down by the river. I cast one last look towards it, even though I can’t see anything through the trees.

And then I sprint away like the little thief I am.

My legs are still wobbly from the intense orgasms that Draven wrung from my body, so I almost stumble over a root as I dash across the grass. Channeling my magic, I throw it out towards that cluster of impatient sparks that I felt earlier. They’re still there.

While drawing in deep breaths to steady my pounding heart, I run with everything I have towards it.

Eventually, the ground starts sloping upwards.

A jolt of anticipation shoots through me.

My muscles shake with exhaustion as I dart uphill.

An opening appears up ahead. The river, which has picked up speed from a downhill angle, rushes fast now as it’s forced over the small hill and up through that hole. Keeping close to the side of it, I duck my head and run through as well.

The twisting thorn forest appears around me.

I whip my head from side to side. Based on the position of the sun, it’s already late afternoon. Just as I estimated, it took almost an entire day to reach the city from the position deep in the forest where all of this started.

To my left, the river crests the tiny hill and rushes downwards on the other side.

Hope sparkles through my chest as I spot the city wall through the trees. But the cluster of impatient sparks is coming from the fields between the city and the Golden Palace, so I take off through the woods and towards that spot instead.

My heart thumps excitedly in my chest.

But somewhere deep inside, there is a sharp jabbing pain that refuses to go away. Because I can’t help but feel guilty. Guilty for tricking Draven. Guilty for fucking him and then just leaving. Guilty for pretending that it meant nothing to me, when in reality, it flipped my entire world upside down.

That guilt and pain twist inside my chest like thorny vines. I shouldn’t have slept with him. I shouldn’t have crossed that line. We’re enemies. We will always be enemies. He has been actively trying to ruin my life and get me kicked out of the trials from the day he saw me on that field.

And even if we could put that behind us after I win the Atonement Trials, it won’t change what he is and what I am. The commander of the dragon shifter army and the fae rebel who is trying to destroy everything he is protecting. It would never work. We would never work.

We’re on opposing sides in a conflict that has spanned millennia. Whatever we could have been was doomed from the start. So I should never have crossed that line. It would have been better to not know what it feels like to have him. Because now, I don’t know how I’m supposed to forget.

My feet pound against the ground as I sprint towards the edge of the woods.

A jolt shoots through me as hints of people become visible through the trees. Afternoon sunlight glints against two pairs of silver wings. Excitement pulses through me.

This is it. Just a little farther, and then I’m going to win the Atonement Trials. I’m going to be given winner status and permission to leave the Seelie Court and be given funds to set up a new life in the world outside. I’m going to be able to start building a network of rebels in the human cities and coordinate a real resistance. I’m going to make a difference. I’m finally going to matter and I?—

A body slams into me from the side.

Air explodes from my lungs as I crash down on the ground with a heavy body on top of me.