Page 83 of An Oath at Midnight

“It’s the sound…the song, we sing to our mates. It comes from within us, pure instinct. Wild crows obviously can’t kiss, so they nuzzle each other, and our people, being closer to our crow, do both, we sing and nuzzle our females to show affection and to let them know how much they’re loved.” Bram had always done it, pressed his face to my neck, nuzzled me. I hadn’t known the significance. He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Our songs, they’re incredibly intimate and something we don’t do in front of others. No two songs are the same. It’s something just for the two of us.”

My heart clenched. “Was last night the first time you’ve done it?”

“It’s the first time I’ve allowed myself to do it. I’ve wanted to, more times than I can count, when I was alone with you, but I wanted you feeling what I was when I finally allowed it to happen.”

My eyes drifted shut as I fought back more goddamn tears. Just thinking about the last six years, the pain he must have suffered thinking I’d never want him the way he did me, it hurt to think about it. The guilt was unbearable. He was my familiar, my best friend, my everything, and I’d hurt him.

His warm palm pressed against the side of my throat, his rough-skinned fingers curling around the back before he drew me down. His forehead touched mine. “Mags, look at me.”

I did as he asked, blinking down at him.

“Don’t,” he said roughly.

“But I—”

“You have nothing to feel guilty about.”

Like he always had, he was able to see what was in my heart. “I hurt you.”

He shook his head. “We hurt each other.”

He gave my throat a light squeeze, and the heat between my thighs intensified.

“How can we have a moment’s regret when it all led to now? To this moment.”

He was right, regrets were pointless. “We may have taken the long route, and yeah, there are a few more hurdles to jump, but the happily ever after is right there on the horizon,” I said and gave him a wobbly smile.

“It’s right fucking here, right now.”

The door banged open in the living room. “Rook’s inking, get your ass up,” Payne called through the door. There was a pause. “Morning, Magnolia.”

For once there wasn’t even a hint of resentment in his tone. Even when he’d tried to hide it for Bram’s sake, I’d heard it, or seen it in his eyes.

“You’ve got five minutes,” he added, then the door closed behind him.

It took some serious convincing, but I eventually managed to drag Bram out of bed. Yes, I wanted to stay right there, but I also didn’t want to piss off his brothers. They’d pretty much despised me since Bram found me. I thought I might finally have their respect, and I didn’t want to mess that up again.

Bram grumbled as he pulled on jeans. He didn’t bother with a shirt. I’d seen him bare chested more often than not over the years, but now, it was hard for me to keep my hands off him. I guess that wasn’t new either. But now it was heightened, like to the millionth degree.

My jeans were ruined, so I had on a pair of Bram’s track pants. I was swimming in them, they looked ridiculous, but the sexy, smoldering smile Bram gave me when I tugged them on, yeah, I’d wear them every day to get that smile.

We walked out, and Rook was bent over Payne, who sat with his elbows resting on his knees while his brother inked another marker on the side of his head.

I glanced up at Bram. “Why do you do that?”

“To count our kills. It’s always been done among our warrior ranks. Originally, it was to show our enemies we were not to be fucked with. Now it’s mainly to uphold traditions.”

My gaze automatically went to Bram’s head. He’d collected more than a few. “And I guess it still warns off your enemies?”

He bared his teeth in a wicked smile. “We don’t have any, Mags, we killed them all.”

Talon laughed, the sound lifting the hair on the back of my neck. “The ink’s also laced with their blood. We carry in our skin a part of every soul we send to the afterlife. It’s the price we pay for embracing what we are.”

Okay, that was intense. I turned to Bram, and he was watching me closely. Did he think I’d judge him for it, judge his people for something they’d been doing for probably thousands of years? I felt the opposite. Taking a life meant something to them, and they carried it with them the rest of their lives. I gave his hand a squeeze.

Payne stood, drawing my attention back to the scene in front of me. Bram’s oldest brother gave me a chin lift. “You’re looking better this morning, and you don’t stink of demon.”

“Why, thank you. I feel a lot better.” That was as much of the touchy-feely stuff as I was gonna get from that particular male. Talon was grinning at us, and Rook said nothing, which was standard for him.