“Let’s talk about it later.”
“Okay.” The drugs in his system made him more biddable than usual. Also a little spacey. He gave me a beatific smile. “I bet she made a beautiful dragon.”
“What happened to your arm, Uncle Ben?”
“Aaah …” Daddy tried to kill Mummy and Uncle Ben got in the way? Stumped for an answer, Ben looked at me.
“We might save that for later too, when Uncle Ben’s not so tired.”
“Okay.” He laid his head back on my shoulder.
Ben caught my hand in his. “It’s good to see you. Both of you.” His eyes searched my face. “I’m so sorry.”
I squeezed his hand. “I know. I’m sorry too.” For the things I’d called him, for the way I’d reacted. For the separate hells we’d both gone through in the past seven months.
“Are we … okay?”
There was a strange lightness in my heart, something I hadn’t felt in so long I’d forgotten what it was like. I had my son back, I had a guy prepared to throw himself in front of a killing blow to save me—a guy who, even as beat up as he was, still looked pretty damn good with his shirt off.
The strange feeling was happiness. I reckoned I could get used to it.
“Oh, I think we’re a little better than okay.” I set Lachie gently on his feet, then leaned in and kissed Ben thoroughly, deep and long. Everyone said dragons had strong sexual appetites. As soon as those bandages came off, Mr Stevens would be finding out just how strong.
He grinned up at me. “Okaaay!”
THE END
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed Twiceborn, please take a few minutes to leave a review where you bought it. Your feedback helps other readers find the book, and I would be very grateful for your assistance in helping to spread the word.
Kate’s story continues in The Twiceborn Queen, available now on Amazon. Book 3 will be called Twiceborn Endgame. Sign up to my mailing list and get it for only 99 cents. You’ll have a window of 24 hours once the book goes on sale. After that it will go back to regular price, so make sure you open that email as soon as you see it.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to my trusty team of beta readers: Mal, Peter, Geoff and Chris. Your help and encouragement was invaluable. Thanks also to my editor, Eliza Dee, and to my family for putting up with being ignored for long stretches of time.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marina Finlayson is a reformed wedding organist who now writes fantasy. She is married and shares her Sydney home with three kids, a large collection of dragon statues and one very stupid dog with a death wish.
Twiceborn, Book 1 of The Proving trilogy, is her first novel.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR