Firedrake - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,51

helping her rise while Mace stood and folded the tarp they’d used for cover. Drake saw the instant Krysta realized Mace had witnessed their kiss as color flooded her cheeks.

The dragons stood, going off in search of water and perhaps something to nibble on while the humans readied themselves for the journey ahead. Drake felt them leave, but didn’t spare a glance for anyone but Krysta.

“Let’s just forget it, Drake.”

He bowed his head, never taking his eyes from her. “As you wish.”

“There’s a little left for breakfast,” Mace said, moving to place his pack between them. He straightened and yanked Krysta into his arms, planting an almost bruising kiss on her parted lips. Drake half expected her to floor him, but instead, she responded, sinking into the knight’s kiss with what looked like genuine abandon.

Dammit. Drake felt a little of what Mace must’ve been feeling a few minutes ago. Regret that this woman would choose another, envy at the way she was kissing Mace, but Drake also felt the anger he’d expected. It wasn’t anger directed at her for choosing Mace, but rather anger at himself, that he couldn’t be a part of their pleasure. Now that was odd.

Drake squatted by the pack and busied himself with the rations Mace had brought. There wasn’t much left, but it would do until they could find a town or time to hunt. He concentrated on that problem rather than the unsettling thoughts watching Mace kiss Krysta had stirred up.

He heard them break apart and couldn’t help but look up, disappointed to see the same dazed look on Krysta’s lovely face. She responded to Mace in much the same way she’d responded to Drake, though he knew she’d have decked anybody else who dared to kiss her without invitation. She wasn’t easy. Far from it.

Drake expected Mace to be wearing a smug grin, but as usual, the knight confounded him. Mace looked…vindicated was the only word that sprung to mind. As if he’d just proved a point of some kind, and Drake was half-afraid he knew just what point Mace had wanted to prove. Nellin and Jenet wanted to be together. Mace was bonded to Nellin and would therefore have to accept the man Jenet chose as her knight to share a wife with. Mace seemed to want to prove the point that not only would Krysta be compatible with both of them, but that Drake would be a good choice as Jenet’s fighting partner for that reason.

Drake knew it was all too neat and tidy. For one thing, he’d make a terrible knight. For another, the Mother of All only knew if Krysta wanted to be shared between two knights. She seemed to like both of them well enough, but on a permanent basis? Who knew?

Drake shook his head and set to eating his meager breakfast as Mace did the same. He could feel Krysta watching them both, but he didn’t have any answers for her, so he kept his eyes on his food and his thoughts to himself.

Krysta couldn’t believe it. The two idiots were posturing over her again. Pawing her in the early morning, to prove something to each other. Damn them!

And she’d fallen in with their plans, meekly accepting their kisses and even enjoying them. Had her brains taken a holiday? What was she thinking?

Obviously she wasn’t thinking, or she would’ve kneed them both in the balls and have done with it. She wasn’t any man’s plaything. Sure, she’d already bedded Mace, so he’d probably expected a kiss, but that…assault…he’d just made on her person was far from a good morning peck. And Drake—well, she didn’t know where the ballsy bard got the notion he could kiss her like his last breath depended on it, but being honest with herself, she admitted she’d enjoyed every last minute of it. The man knew how to kiss. As did Mace. Dammit.

It was annoying to find they’d only been kissing her to prove some kind of manly point to each other. She grabbed her ration of food and ate breakfast quickly, saying not a word.

She mounted Nellin with Mace, still not speaking to anyone, but over the hours of flight, her anger mellowed. After a while, she found she could actually laugh at their theatrics. They were such men. Competing over the silliest things. This morning it had been her. She shrugged inwardly. She had to forgive them. After all, they were only living up to their nature.

She wasn’t quite sure when