Flame and Sparrow (Flame and Sparrow Duology Book 1)

by S.M. Gaither

“Probably because you’re both cantankerous, stubborn little assholes,” he added, after a moment of thought.

“See, and now you’ve ruined the moment.”

spoke to me first. Would you have preferred I offend one of your court?” “You had no problem telling me to fuck off on the day we met, as I recall.”

“And what feelings do you have about us now?” He dropped his gaze to my mouth as his tongue slid over his bottom lip. “What a dangerous question.”

“Answer it.”

He lifted his hand, trailed his fingers lightly across my cheek. “I don’t think you...

“Yes, I do.”

“I feel…” he replied, slowly, “as though someone should have taught you not to play with fire.”

“So let’s keep the danger in mind,” he murmured, “and please believe me, Little Sparrow, when I tell you that I could set fire to every inhibition you possess, and when we are finished it will only be you and I among the ashes. I will be the only thing you can think of, and it will not be disdain that you feel toward me, I can promise you that.”

“And now I feel like you and that dress should get out of my sight,” he said, “before we do something we’ll both end up regretting.”

A traitorous thought flashed through my mind before I could guard against it— I want to do regrettable things with him.

“I was thinking…” he continued, drifting closer, “…I have a favor I can call in from the God of Healing. And I believe it needs to be done. I’m tired of seeing you like this.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I might actually miss that smart mouth of yours while you’re gone.”

“Well, I would tell you to feel free to think of this mouth while I’m gone,” I said, “but I’m sure you were already planning to think about it.” His gaze finally fixed on me, burning with possibility and promise as he said, “Among other things.”

A monster, but a monster who had gifted me the sun. Who had offered me healing in every way he could after my trials…and then let me go when he saw no other way to aid in that healing. He was still the villain. I couldn’t forget that. It was just… In my head, I’d written our story much differently.

“Let go of her. Now.”

you ever touch her like that again, I will find you, and I will not simply remove your hands—I will carve them off in the most painful, gruesome manner possible.”

“But don’t worry: I’ll be sure to cauterize your wounds when I’m done.” A flame, wicked and blazing white, appeared in his hand. “I am a most generous god, after all.”

His voice lowered. Still annoyingly calm compared to mine, but clearly frustrated. “Tonight I just needed to make sure you were okay.”

“You should have let me kill the bastard,”

More than that, I wanted him.

“Sometimes we hold on to painful things, I think, because letting them go feels like letting go of the person who gave them to us.”

I froze when I heard Dravyn softly chuckling. “What are you laughing about?” “You have the look on your face.” “What look?” “When you’re curious about something, your forehead gets a very deep groove.” He pointed to his own forehead, trying to mimic it. “And your lips part, as if you’re trying to inhale it all in, in every way possible.”

“So perhaps I’ll just stand among the ashes with you,” he said, “and admire your work.” “I could allow that.”

But gods how I wanted to burn with him.

“You were ready for me.” His fingers trailed lightly across my ache, feeling the dampness that had gathered there. “And already wet, too.”

The evidence of my want for him glistened on his fingertips. He slipped that evidence into his mouth, sucking his fingers clean, one after the other.

“You look fucking beautiful in the firelight, if you weren’t aware.”

“Preferably on my face, while moving your hips like the proper fucking Wildfire I know you are.”

“And I do love that you’re already imagining me coming inside of you.”

“Don’t think of tomorrow then, miran-achth.”

“That word… You called me by it the night of my trial with the Star Goddess, too.” His body shook with quiet laughter. “Do you forget nothing?”

“What does it mean?”

“Can I keep at least one secret from your ever-curious mind?”

“I’ll figure it out on my own, ...

“That day…I could smell the fear on you. The blood. You could have given in—most in your position would have, I think—yet you stood in the rising flames like you still intended to set the world on fire, rather than letting it burn you down.”

I’d once told him I didn’t need him to burn the world down for me, but in that moment, I had no doubt that he would have done it—that he would have set fire to anything I asked, but never let the flames touch me.

“Relax, miran-achth. I’m fine.” “We’re done with secrets between us, right?” I asked. “I’m done with them,” he agreed. “Then you have to tell me what that means.”

“There isn’t an easy, direct translation into any other language…because it’s more like an idea. A feeling. We have a story in my old kingdom, that when the one you’re meant to be with enters the world, they steal a part of your soul with their first breath. “And you exist, missing that part, until they find you and breathe it back into you.

Miran-achth refers to the breath—the part that is missing. You can survive without it. Plenty do. But to have the missing piece is to breathe easier, more deeply. The first time the term left my lips, I wasn’t thinking of that story, really; I was only thinking of how relieved I was to have you back with me. How you had survived the trial, so I could inhale again.”

“A truth for a truth?” I suggested. He smiled at the familiar words. “Okay.” I took a deep breath and whispered, “I love you.”

“Hello, Wildfire,” he said with a smile.