Jovana Mason may be the Wyren heir, but she left dragon politics and her throne behind her. She chose to live a normal life among humans rather than subject herself to the heartache of a love betrayed—a love she’d abandoned a decade earlier. But when an unexpected death calls her back to the world she despises, she has no choice but to ally with the one man she’d sworn never to trust again—the only man who could set her blood aflame. When treachery runs deep and enemies are everywhere; will Jovana stop listening to her head and start trusting her heart?
In this scene, Jovana has just returned from seeking out the help of another Master named Marek. Rezin, her ex-lover and the current Master under her father, is furious that she’d go to someone else instead of him. Their anger and resentment for each other reaches a pinnacle point that boils over into unrestrained passion.
Blood Aflame
An excerpt
Rezin paced the grand hall, his shoulders tense, muscles straining against his fitted, black T-shirt. Jovana could tell he wanted to rip the clothes from his flesh and shift. His dragon’s wings soaring through the air would calm him. He didn’t stop moving as she entered. Without casting a glance at her, he spoke.
“What the hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?”
“Nothing was going to happen,” She said. She didn’t need a babysitter or a hero. He was overstepping here, just like he used to.
“You forget who you are, Jovana . . . what you are.”
“I forget nothing, Rez.”
He stopped pacing and looked at her, his eyes dark with fury. “Nothing? You’ve never been the na?ve one. This is ridiculous, especially for you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you upset because I didn’t come to you, on my knees, begging for help?”
“You should have come to me.” He kicked the chair beside him and it skid across the floor.
“You’re not that man in my life anymore.”
His jaw hardened and the past rose to the surface, filling the air with too many unspoken words.
“No, you’ve made that very clear.” His eyes didn’t leave hers for a full thirty seconds before he took a deep, slow breath. “Marek is only trying to use you. Don’t you see that?”
“He wouldn’t be the first.”
“Dammit Jo, this is serious.” He slammed his hands down, palms flat, onto the enormous oak table between them. “You’re putting everything at risk. I’ve told you to let me handle this.”
“You forget yourself, Rez. My father was the Headman, not yours. I’m within my rights to take the lead on this—on everything.”
“I thought you walked away from it all. Now you want it?”
There it was again.
This question always hung between them. He still believed she had walked away from him for the wrong reasons, convinced it was her ambivalence to rule that had made her doubt him.
“No, I don’t. But I’m not leaving until I find out who murdered my father. I’ll do anything and everything I have to do to discover the truth.”
“Anything?” He stood upright, and his hands gripped the edge of the chair in front of him. The wood cracked under his strength. “Like give yourself to a man who seeks nothing more than the throne you hold? A man who could never truly love you.”
“This isn’t about love,” She said.
A surge of anger ripped through Rezin, and his dragon eyes roared to life inside of him.
“What exactly did the two of you do?”
“I talked—he listened.”
“Marek isn’t the sort of man to give his ear freely. What did you give him to make him listen?”
She knew it was his claim over her that fueled his aggression and not love. He was angry at the idea of someone else drinking from the same cup as him. It was a common trait among all male dragons, but the agony of their broken past left Jovana with a desire to torment him further.
“You shouldn’t ask questions that you won’t like the answer to.”
“You’re making a mistake,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.”
“Marek will make you promises he can’t keep. He seeks the glory of being Headman for himself. Not his clan or anyone else.”
She was so sick of men and their lies. Her father, Rez, Marek. They all lied to get what they wanted and manipulated everyone around them. So why was it different when it came to her?
She shook her head in disbelief. “And you’re so different? You’ve always taken what you want, from who you want, when you want. You don’t give a damn about me or any other woman. It’s about you. Always about you.”
She knew immediately Rezin hadn’t missed the insinuation. He knew what she implied; he’d never truly wanted her. He’d used her.