Page 42 of Tender Thorns
“Gods, that’s…cruel.” Her nose wrinkles up. “He can’t control it at all?” She looks to me for answers.
“No, and I don’t know anyone who would be willing to let him try.” I shrug.
“I could,” she offers way too quickly, and I’m reminded why I didn’t want him to know what she is.
“No!” Her wide eyes lift to mine, and it’s only then I realize I’m standing. “I can’t risk him hurting you.”
“He wouldn’t. No one’s power has ever affected me—well, not really in the way it’s intended to, except maybe yours, but you’re…or you think you’re my?—”
“Mate. Iamyour mate, Briar, but so is he.”
BRIAR
“What did you just say?” I squint at him and rub the hollow near my ear.
“You heard me, but I’ll repeat it if you need me to. The demon is also your mate.” Ziv doesn’t look pleased. As a matter of fact,he looks like he just sucked on a lemon. His face is all pinched and twisted.
I start to scoff, but it ends on a dry laugh. “You’ve got to be joking.”
“If only I were.” Ziv drops back down on the lounge and rubs his temple. “I thought about killing him,” he admits with little emotion, “but he keeps making himself useful, and I couldn’t risk hurting you.”
“You’re really not joking.” My legs feel a little wobbly. I think I need to sit down.
“He doesn’t know you’re a void. That’s the only reason I left you alone with him, because I knew he would do anything to make sure you didn’t touch him.”
“But the fact that I am a void, or whatever, is exactly why he could touch me,” I argue, feeling strange about this conversation. “I mean, if he wanted to.”
Ziv gives me a droll stare. “He hasn’t touched anyone without killing them in over a decade. I think he’d be willing to fuck a leper if it were an option.”
“I never pretended I was anything special, but a leper?” That one kind of hurt. “And who said anything about…” I can’t bring myself to say what he did.
“That was not a comparison to you,” he deadpans. “It was a statement of fact. Besides, you are?—”
“We were talking about Kage,” I interrupt.
He speaks over me anyway. “Breathtaking.”
I get butterflies in my stomach, and it’s not even from what he said but how he said it, like he really believes it. I don’t know how to respond, so I just keep my mouth shut.
“I can see you don’t believe me,” Ziv announces with a quirk of his eyebrow. His voice is lower again, smoky like a whisper but not quite. Intimate is the word that comes to mind, and I like the sound of that.
“I’d be a fool to argue with you. You’re a fine male, the strongest, and—” I lick my lips, trying to muster up the courage to continue.
“And?” he prompts when I don’t speak fast enough for his liking.
“And you smell really good. Anyone would be lucky to have you court them.”
“I’m not courting you, little flower.”
I feel embarrassed by his apparent rebuff, but he’s not done talking.
“Courting is for those who lack the will to possess, and you seized me the moment you took a breath in my presence. What Iwilldo is worship you, protect you, and train you so I know I will never lose you.”
My legs finally give out. Thankfully, I land mostly on the cushions. In a blink, Ziv is leaning over me, his eyes searching mine. “You’ll get used to it,” he states in a no-nonsense tone.
I smile—I can’t help it. His eyes drop to my mouth only a second before his lips follow suit. He tastes me with small, teasing swipes of his tongue before he slides deeper into my mouth, daring me to tangle my tongue with his. It’s not until I feel his hand curving around my ribs to my back that I realize he’s lifting me off the pillows and bringing me closer to him.
With very little effort from me, our positions flip, and I somehow end up leaning over Ziv. His hand remains on my back while the other slides into my hair, guiding the kiss. The need to keep him, to do anything I can to make his promises real, drives me to slide my hand down his neck and onto his chest. The feel of him beneath me is like nothing I’ve ever known. There isn’t an inch of him that isn’t perfection, honed with strength and vitality, and it sings to me, or maybe it’s what he said and the fact that he’s my mate, my match, draws me to him.
