Shadow of Thorns (Midnight's Crown Book 2)

by Ripley Proserpina

  Sylvain shrugged, a half smile on his lips. “Maybe. Don’t care. I’m in here, and you’re out there.”

  There was a rush of wind, tossing Briar’s hair into her face. Managing to scrape it back out of her face revealed only Valen remained. “Sometimes, little one, my brother must be taught a lesson in humility.” Someone kicked or threw something at the wall, because the sconces rattled. “It is good for Sylvain to be put in his place.”

  A roar shook the window frames before the door down the hall slammed shut.

  “That wasn’t very kind, Valen,” Briar said. “He’s worried.”

  It was Valen’s turn to shrug his shoulders. “He will be fine as long as one of us remains with you. He knows you are as safe with me as you are with him.” He began to ease onto the bed next to her, but paused. “Is it okay if I sit?”

  Briar lurched for him, grabbing his arm to pull him next to her. “You don’t have to ask, Valen. It’s always okay for you to hang out with me.”

  “I have to tell you something.” He stayed perched where he was, as if he was unmovable, even as she attempted to drag him next to her. Valen’s words were quiet, and the muscles beneath her palms trembled.

  She let her hand fall away. “And you’re afraid I’ll feel differently after you do.”

  He didn’t speak, merely nodded. He drew in a breath, and held it, like he was holding onto her scent in case it was the last time he’d have the chance to do so. And with that, she knew what it was he wanted to tell her.

  “You changed Annie.”

  He shot off the bed so fast, Briar couldn’t track him. One moment he was at the foot of the bed, the next near the window, and then she blinked and he was at the door. She sought him out at each brief stop, hoping each time he paused that he’d return to her. Finally, he knelt next to the bed. Swinging her legs around the side, she pushed herself between his arms where he rested them on the comforter.

  “Valen,” she said. His eyes were wide and frightened, and for just a second, she could see what he’d have looked like as a tow-headed boy. She smoothed her hand across his forehead and down his face, trying to erase the lines that bracketed his eyes and mouth. “Don’t be scared. I—” It made sense to her it would have been Valen who changed Annie. Sylvain acted impulsively, but Valen, he acted out of compassion and kindness. And he must have thought what he did was best for Annie, and his brothers.

  “She would never get sick. Never get old. And she was leaving us; I knew it. I saw the worry on my brothers’ faces, in their eyes. I saw Hudson struggle each time he embraced her and buried his face in her neck that he struggled not to bite her. To change her. Hudson…” Valen placed his hand on top of hers, linking their fingers before bringing it to his mouth. He trailed kisses along the back of her hand, down her fingers and to her wrist. “Hudson had enough guilt. But still—Briar—it doesn’t make what I did right. Because in the end, it was my actions that led to Annie’s death.”

  “When all you wanted was for her to live.” Briar twisted her hand in his and lifted his massive paw to her face. She flipped it over to place a kiss in the center of his palm. “I know, Valen. I know.”

  Slowly, like a bud rising from the earth, Valen stood, uncurling his lanky body. Briar had to tilt her head back to see the face of the giant who stood before her. The worried look was gone from his eyes, replaced with a heat that made her stomach clench in anticipation. Each movement he made was telegraphed before he made it. Like Hudson, he watched her for any indication she was uncertain, nervous.

  She wasn’t.

  And he was too far away.

  The soft mattress made her off balance as she stood, but at least this way she was eye-to-eye with the man. It was unlike Valen not to smile, especially to keep her at ease, but she knew the feeling. Her lips wouldn’t obey her when she tried to lift them. Instead, they trembled, because Briar had made a decision.

  She reached out and gripped his shoulders, then trailed her hands down his arms to his waist. Perhaps he thought she meant to steady herself, but that wasn’t her purpose. Sliding her fingers around his sides, she curled her fingers in his shirt and lifted.

  Valen’s body was nothing like she expected. Yes, she expected muscles. Valen was huge. But wrapped around his body were tattoos, some of them so faded they were a trace of blue, like rivers viewed from an airplane window. She’d never see him naked below the neck, though she’d seen the tendrils of color snaking from beneath his collar. It hadn’t hinted at the intricacies of images she’d find decorating his chest.

  “Valen.” Eager to touch him, she traced the path of ink. Beneath her fingertips, he shivered and gooseflesh erupted. “They’re beautiful. Even now…”

  “Twelve hundred years later…” he interrupted. Her eyes must have bugged out of her head, because his chest vibrated with a deep chuckle. “Give or take a century.”

  “Who are they?” she asked. Embedded in the swirls and knots were creatures. One was wolf-like, teeth sharp in an open muzzle. His ears stood up, alert.

  “He’s my namesake,” Valen said, stopping Briar’s hand where it traced the wolf’s teeth. “Vali. Son of Loki. He was murdered by Odin’s son, who then bound Loki to a giant stone with his entrails.”

  “Vali’s entrails?” Briar grimaced.

  “Yes,” he answered, but smiled. “My people’s stories never ended well for any of the gods.”

  “Another topic to research,” she muttered. “I want to know everything.” Briar glanced up. Valen’s smile was back, and it was both amused and indulgent. “I want to know you better, to know everything about your people and your history. But I don’t want you to be irritated with my million questions.”

  “Do you hesitate when you ask Hudson about science?” he asked quietly.

  Briar shook her head. Never. She never hesitated to bring up a topic or question to Hudson when it involved science.

  “Why do you think I would feel any less joy explaining things to you? Telling you stories? It would give me great pleasure to revisit my history, to make you part of it. It would keep it alive if you knew a piece of it as well.”

  He didn’t just mean where he came from; he meant all of it. A long-dead mother and father. Aunts and uncles. Tribespeople. Adventures.

  “I want to know it all.” Really and truly.

  Valen squeezed her hand and wrapped another around her waist. She had to catch herself on his chest, but immediately let her hand drop to the waistband of his jeans. Hovering, waiting, for a sign she could explore him beneath his clothes.

  With one finger, she hooked a belt loop and tugged his hips against her own.

  “Briar,” he whispered, eyes fluttering shut. She felt him, confined in his jeans, growing and lengthening. “What do you want? I need to know how far to go. What to do. I’m at sea. Anchor me.”

  Her face heated as the words she wanted to say ran through her mind. She would be brave and leave him no option of misunderstanding her desires.

  “Valen.”

  He squeezed his eyes tighter briefly before opening them.

  “I love you,” she said and was rewarded with a smile so large it reached his eyes. “I love you, and I want to be with you.” He continued to smile, fingers tightening on hers. But he didn’t say anything, and she was starting to get nervous. “Biblically.”

  Valen threw his head back and laughed. The sound was so loud and so joyous her anxiety disappeared immediately. “Little one…” He shook his head and slid his hands beneath her shirt. Without another word, he unsnapped her bra. Then he moved fast. Her shirt was off, followed by her bra.

  Then she was on her back, staring up at the man whose kindness and love was not only evident in his touch, but in every action, every decision, and every mistake he’d ever made.

  “Briar. I love you, too. And I want to be with you. I would marry you first if you wished. Whatever you want from me—let me give it to you.”

  Her throat tightened. “Just you, Valen. Just every part of y
ou, for forever.”

  “You have me.” He pressed his lips to hers, finally. His kiss was the embodiment of who Valen was—sweet, careful, honest. He didn’t hold himself back, but he still managed to make her feel adored.

  Briar parted her legs to wrap around his hips and cradle him even closer. He kept his weight off her, but she wanted it. With a squeeze, she encouraged him closer, and he acquiesced. His hips flexed between hers, but they weren’t close enough. The denim of their jeans kept them from truly feeling each other.

  “Jeans,” she whispered, and Valen moved to make them disappear. He was quick with his, so fast his fingers smudged, but he lingered over hers. “Valen.” She giggled, as he unzipped her. Each tine released its mate with a snick. He fisted the material at her hips, but before he pulled her pants off, he buried his face against her pelvis.

  Briar gasped. He’d pulled her underwear tight, but it had inched lower so his nose pressed into her skin. The sensation was incredible, and when his lips touched her a second later, she nearly rocketed off the bed. “Valen!”

  He peeked up at her before he went back to removing her clothes, over her hips, past her thighs, her knees, until she was completely bare to him.

  Her legs trembled with anticipation. Should she open them, encourage him back to her, or… “Feel, Briar.” His words sent his breath fluttering across her legs, and she squirmed. “No worrying.”

  She nodded, her hair making a soft rustle against the pillow, and then he was back. He kissed her again, not deeply, not at first. At first he explored her lips, sucking her lower lip into his mouth, tracing the curve of each one with his tongue. He pecked at them, sipped at them. Briar mimicked him, action for action. Maybe he was showing her what he liked, so she did the same, but when she nibbled on his lower lip with a quick, teasing bite, he moaned and she slipped her tongue into his mouth.

  Briar wanted to taste him. She wanted to absorb him. Her heart swelled with love for him until it was almost painful. She must have sucked in a breath, because he immediately drew back and studied her. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.” She nodded and reached for him, pulling his head back to hers so she could taste him again. Their tongues tangled, licking, sucking. His breath was her breath, and it may have all been in her head, but when she touched his chest, tracing the muscles, his heart seemed to be beating as fast as hers.

  Warm fingers slipped between her legs, teasing at her folds, and Briar’s legs fell open like a book. Valen drew away, gaze going between their bodies, watching as he slowly penetrated her with one finger.

  She didn’t think anything had felt so good as his strong hand covering her mound, one long finger dipping inside. Briar wanted him to feel as good as he made her feel, so she reached for him. She’d closed her fist around him when he added a second finger, scissoring them inside her, stretching and arousing her even further.

  “Valen.” She tried to stay quiet, to keep anything she said to a whisper, but she couldn’t be sure she had. Everything inside her was screaming to beg him to get inside her, to continue filling her up until they were as close as two people could be. “Valen. Please.”

  He withdrew his fingers, and then, eyes on hers, he inserted them into his mouth. Briar’s cheeks flushed; it was such an earthy, sensual move. Pink lips pursed around his fingers, and his cheeks hollowed out as he drew the flavor of her off his skin. “You taste like home,” he said. “The sea. Winter. Snow.”

  “I taste like snow?” she whispered, and he nodded. She continued to move her hands over him, exploring his length and girth. His skin was so soft, and she opened her hand to feel it against her palm. Gently, she closed her hand around him again, pointing him toward her core.

  Valen shifted, lifting himself onto his forearms before trailing his fingers over her temples and cheekbones. “Are you certain?”

  Briar nodded, hips lifting, searching for him. “Yes. Completely. Valen, I love you.” He closed his eyes and kissed her. His tongue stroked hers while he circled her entrance. Briar opened herself wider and touched his lower back, pressing to encourage him inside her. “It’s okay. Please.”

  With a smooth thrust, he pushed inside her, just a little and withdrew. The next time he thrust, he pushed a little deeper, giving her time to adjust. But he was moving too slow, and the next time he pumped, Briar met him. Flexing her hips toward him, she encouraged him to slide inside her even deeper, so deep he touched something inside her that had her crying out.

  Valen caught her cry with his mouth, swallowing the sound before he withdrew. He drove inside her again and again. Briar’s body undulated beneath him, like he was the moon and she was the sea, drawn higher and higher like the tide.

  He was everywhere. His taste was on her lips, his breath in her lungs. She was going to fly away, spin and crash if he didn’t anchor her. As if he felt it, Valen linked his fingers with hers, pinning her hands above her head while he changed his angle. He went deeper now, dragging across a place inside her that sent frissons of sensation from her core to her spine.

  It was all too much, too heady and electric for her to contain.

  “Briar,” Valen whispered. “Briar, I can’t hold back.”

  Briar kissed him, trailing her tongue along his teeth and felt the sharp ends of his fangs erupt from his gums. With a hiss, he jerked back, out of her body and away from her, slamming into the wall.

  The absence of him shocked her back from the brink of wherever it was she’d hovered. She sat up fast, heedless of her nudity, and started toward him, but he held out a hand.

  “Stay there,” he said, voice low and distorted. He kept his face angled away from her, toward the shadows.

  “Don’t hide,” she whispered. “Please.”

  “I can’t.” His voice was tortured. “Briar. I want to taste you so badly. I want to sink my teeth into your body while I fuck you so hard—”

  Briar couldn’t remember if she’d ever heard Valen swear before, but rather than disgust her, his words made her squeeze her thighs together.

  “What would happen if you did?” she asked. Would it hurt if he bit her? “Would you make me a vampire?”

  His head jerked up at that. “No,” he said, decisively. “No. I would never do that without asking. You’d have to drink my blood—”

  Briar knee-walked to the edge of the bed before settling back to her heels. “Come here.” Valen shook his head, but Briar held out her arms. “Please. I need you.”

  He paced, a quick flash of color from one side of the room to the other before he appeared in front of her, tall, pale, and erect. Briar reached for him again, stroking his erection. He’d softened somewhat, probably because he’d frightened himself so badly, but he needed to know; she wasn’t afraid.

  She released him and lay back, waiting. He stood there, staring down at her for so long she worried he’d run away again. When her hands twitched to cover herself, she fisted them in the sheets.

  “I want to bite you, Briar,” he whispered and placed his knee on the bed.

  “I know you do,” she answered and held out a hand.

  He took it, kissing her wrist, and lowered himself to one arm. “I want to taste your blood. To drink you.” He settled on top of her, and she squeezed his hips with her knees.

  “Valen.” His arm was close enough to her head she could turn her face and kiss him. She kissed his biceps, his elbow, his wrist. “Valen. You can bite me. Just don’t change me. Not yet. Not until we all talk about it again.” From her position, she could make out his throat as he swallowed. She kept her cheek against the pillow, neck exposed and kissed his arm again. “It’s okay. You have my permission.”

  Valen groaned and buried his face in her neck. He breathed her in and licked the cord in her neck. She thought he’d do it right away, but he didn’t. Instead, he trailed his hand to her core again and circled her clit. The sensation was different than the one that had nearly swallowed her whole earlier. It was more of a tingle, a concentrated spark that soon had h
er arching and thrusting.

  He gripped her hands, fingers wet, and kissed the back of her hand before sliding into her. They found their rhythm again quickly, but this time it was different. Hurried and frantic. Briar’s body was out of her control, she moved as she’d never moved before, chasing something that hovered at the edge of her being.

  Valen went back to her neck, nuzzling and kissing. His smooth teeth dragged against her skin, and her body tensed, waiting for the hot bite she was sure to come.

  But it didn’t.

  Valen released her hand and hooked his arm under her hips before lifting her up to settle her on his knees. It gave her a measure of control she hadn’t had before. From this position, she could lift and lower herself, change her angle and force him to rub in that spot that had nearly undone her.

  His breath panted against the hollow of her throat, and she threaded her hands into his hair, holding him there while she rode him wildly.

  She felt his lips, above her breast, sucking the skin into his mouth hard. Briar lost her rhythm as the elusive feeling she’d been chasing suddenly washed over her like a tidal wave. Breathless, she let it tug her under, rolling her until she was witless and disoriented. All she could hear was the roar of blood in her ears, and then, the sharp pinch of pain above her breast as Valen bit her.

  The wave pulled her under again, confounding pleasure and pain, but she let it toss her. There was something beautiful in surrendering to something bigger and more powerful than she was. Valen’s mouth pulled against her skin as he sipped at her, and she cradled his head to her as she slowly stopped rocking against him.

  As the last shockwaves rolled through her, Valen licked at her wound and drew back. His arms were tight around her back as he rested his cheek on her chest.

  But he wouldn’t look at her.

  “I love you,” she whispered, hoping he would hear everything he needed to in the words.

  He shuddered and held her even tighter. “I didn’t know it was possible to love someone this much,” he finally said. “How?” He drew back to glance up at her. “How did you wrap yourself so tightly around my heart?”