Page 85 of An Oath at Midnight

Then I walked around him to get on his lap. If my job was to distract him, I’d need to be able to look into his eyes, so I straddled his spread thighs, and he looked at me in a way that sent a tremor of pleasure down my spine. His brothers were still silent and not even trying to pretend they weren’t watching us.

I took his strong jaw in my hands. “Ready?”

His hands slid lightly up my thighs and rested on my hips, careful of my scars. “Yeah.”

Payne grunted, the sound one of approval, but I didn’t look his way or at Rook when he stepped up with the tattoo gun. I kept my eyes on Bram. He’d trusted me with the truth, with all of him, and I didn’t want him to regret it. I wanted him to see that I loved all of him, even the part of him that was a predator who needed to hunt and kill.

“Say his name,” Payne said.

Bram said the name of the male he killed, then the buzz of the gun started. Bram held my eyes as Rook pressed it to the side of his head. The only sign that he felt it was his lashes fluttering a couple times. I ran my fingers over his stubbled jaw, then leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. His hands squeezed my hips, and he kissed me back, slow and easy, and I kept on kissing him as Rook inked his new marker.

Someone cleared their throat a little while later, and I realized the buzzing had stopped and Rook had stepped back. I smiled against his lips. “I’m proud of you,” I said. “Proud to be yours. I love every bloodthirsty inch of you.”

He grinned.

“Never seen anyone covered in more blood than you, little witch,” Payne said.

“Truth,” Talon said and laughed, and Rook actually smiled, well, kind of. His lips twitched.

“I’m no crow, but if I was, I’d probably have more markers than you,” I said to Payne.

He smirked. “Sure you would, short ass.”

Was Bram’s surly brother actually teasing me?

I took Bram’s jaw and angled his head to the side so I could see the new marker. “Do you remember them all?”

“Yes,” he said.

I traced one above his ear. “Was this the first?”

He nodded.

“Who was it?”

He took my hand away and cupped my jaw. “Brody.”

I stared into the dark depths of his eyes.

“I collected some of his blood before his body was taken away, because I knew I wanted to carry him on me. I wanted to look at it and remember the way it felt to snap his fucking neck. The way his body looked crumpled and lifeless on the ground. He was the first marker I got Rook to do. He’s the kill I’m most proud of. I’m only sorry that Clayton isn’t beside him.”

I was breathing heavy, my heart pounding. Everything he said, I felt it, deeply. It didn’t scare me, it turned me on. I squirmed on his lap. “Bram…”

“Hang on tight,” he said and stood. His wings unfurled and I quickly locked my arms around his neck before he shot upward, higher, right up to the crows’ lookout, high in the trees.

We landed and I released him, looking out at the view. I turned back, and Bram advanced. He backed me up against the railing, grabbed it each side of me, so he wasn’t touching me, but caging me in. I looked up at him, and my breath caught.

“Don’t want to push, Mags, and I’m not asking for more than this, but I need to own that mouth,” he growled. “I need it. Right the fuck now.”

I needed it too. I rested my hands on his chest and lifted to my toes. “Take it.”

With a snarl, he kissed me hard, his tongue delving deep. Still, he didn’t touch me, even lost in his hunger. What he’d just done, getting the new marker, my acceptance, my pride in the male he was, had affected him, deeply. But he wasn’t the only one. His body trembled and he was hard, straining against the front of his jeans, I felt it when he brushed against my stomach.

He’d made me feel good last night, he’d made me come, and I wanted to do that for him as well. I wanted to show him how much he mattered, how much I wanted him. I tugged open the button of his jeans, then slid down the zipper.

His hand covered mine, and panting, he lifted his head. “You don’t need to—”

“I want to. I want to touch you,” I said and shoved his jeans lower. I pushed my hand down the front of his underwear, and a shuddering breath burst from him when I lightly gripped his cock.