Court of Claws (Blood of a Fae, #2)

by Briar Boleyn

And this was a woman I could tell I would delight in infuriating with every opportunity. If only I could spit in her eye and tell her so to her face.

“Is that an invitation?” Draven said lightly, his green eyes flickering over me briefly.

Draven had already been an intimidating man. And that was when I simply believed he was a royal guard. Assassin turned royal guard turned abductor.

“I really doubt Draven would knock,” I muttered to myself as I strode back through the dining room. “Knock the door down, yes. Knock politely, no.”

“You can choose to think of me as your enemy all you like, but I’m going to protect you whether you like it or not.”

I had not fought for the seat. I had meekly stepped aside. I had always believed there was no other choice. And now? I was done with being meek. I still had no use for thrones.

I lifted one of the books. But then I thought of the damage it might do if I threw it. To the book, not to Draven. I had my respect for the written word to consider.

If he had said “Paramour” I would definitely have thrown a book. Respect for the written word or not.

But I had assumed Draven would always be able to do anything I needed him to. Protect me, protect anyone. And I had to give him credit. He had tried. With a pang, I realized he probably knew I blamed him. And he hadn’t shirked the blame. He had accepted it as if it were his due.

“Thank you,” I managed. “I suppose I’ll go and read for a while then.” And plot Draven’s downfall and my imminent escape, even if I had to climb out a window.

“But you,” he continued, ignoring me. “I will never apologize for saving you. I will never fucking regret coming for you. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. So don’t ask me to say sorry. Don’t expect me to. And don’t you ever, ever fucking say you didn’t deserve to be saved again, do you hear me? Listen to me clearly, you are worthy. You deserved saving. You deserved much more.” A dark look came over his face. “So much more than I’ve given you.”

“Yes, thank you, Odessa, for caring so very much about my whereabouts. I thought you were a warrior but I see I have mistaken you. You are simply a paid snitch,”

“I do like you, Morgan. Why the hell would I have saved you otherwise?” He began striding out of the temple. “There’s something about you. You’ve got... grit.”

His green eyes gleamed as they met my own. “You request a favor, my sweet?”

“Scars of battle.” Draven shook his head, his expression wry. “You’re right. I didn’t understand. You fought that fucker and you won. In a sense, his name is a sign of your victory. You’re still standing. While he...” He trailed off. “Is lying in an unmarked grave? Or at the bottom of a lake?” I guessed.

But I find it heartening that such violence is in you.”

He looked wicked and handsome and fine.

To my horror, I realized I was aroused. Aroused by this man covered in blood, fresh from battle, with his naked blade still gripped in his hand.

“Is that an order?” “I can make it one if you like.” He smiled sensuously.

I gave a little nervous laugh and Draven smiled slightly, his beautiful lips turning upwards like a radiant arc of light.

“Just go back to being plain old us? You, grumpy Draven and me, angry-at-you-forever Morgan?”

“You have the most beautiful laugh, you know. You rarely use it, but when you do...” He took a breath and to my shock I felt him tremble. “It shakes the world. My entire world.”

“Your hair is like liquid moonlight, a crown fit for a goddess.”

All of this. The court. The throne. Bringing you here. I know I can never convince you, but it is all for you. What I do is for you, always.”

But I see you, Morgan Pendragon. I see you truly for everything you are and everything you will be and I claim you as mine.”

He was Kairos Draven. My enemy. My protector. Sometimes something close to a friend. Sometimes the man I wanted to stab while he slept.

His lips crushed mine, like cinnamon and rose petals, like a smoky burst of ash and pine. His taste and scent encompassed me, overwhelmed me.

My hunger for this man left me reeling. His scent enveloped me, musk and leather and beneath it all the lingering hint of blood. He was the most dangerous temptation I couldn't resist.

How quickly infinite pleasure could turn to infinite pain.

I didn’t want to think of Draven’s bloody team. Because I actually liked them. I liked his friends. Even if I hated that soulless lying bastard.

“They just left out the whole part about how our brother had already murdered Kairos’s wife.”

Shocked? I was stunned. What was worse than stunned? I was thunderstruck. Why hadn’t he ever told me before?

What part of ‘I hate you and want to stab you in the face’ do you not understand?”

I didn’t want any more of his fucking fake compliments. My heart couldn’t take it.

Like a deadly viper, Draven could be deceptively beautiful when he wanted to be.

“Fuck,” Draven said for a third time. The crude word was like poetry coming from his lips. “This is a very bad idea.” “What is...” I started to say. And then his lips descended on mine, crushing them mercilessly.

He was every contradiction, soft and hard at the same time, brutal and yet gentle.

“Now be a good girl,” he murmured, as his hands came down to caress my thighs.

We were poised on the edge. I knew soon there’d be no going back. In some ways, stabbing him would have been easier.

Vesper and I had never gotten quite this far. Now I realized that was a good thing. Better that I’d saved myself for the dark, deceptive assassin prince instead who had lied and told everyone I was his mistress. Much better.

To him, Morgan was his legacy. To me, she was my whole world.

He could be a ruthless bastard. He was capable of lying, manipulation, and murder. But he also inspired loyalty. He believed in protecting the weak. He could be generous and kind.

In a split second, my heart was in my throat and the world around us had melted away.

At times, I had wanted to kill this man. And yet I couldn't seem to live without him.

I was trapped in this palace, but worse, Draven was trapped inside of me. He was in my heart. In my very soul. Cracking me into pieces. Shattering the girl I once used to be. Creating me anew.

I kissed him as if no one was watching us, as if we were the only two people left in all of Aercanum.

I looked down and realized that somehow in the last few minutes, Draven’s hand had become intertwined with mine.

Morgan Pendragon is far from insignificant. She's a force of destiny and you would do well not to trifle with her or ever let her name cross your lips again.”

“Now get the hell out of my home before I show you just how badly this little group of misfits can fuck you up.”

“He basically said I was going to send us up in flames,” I muttered. Draven’s lips twitched. “Well, you haven’t so far.”