Page 12 of Storm of Stars (Pride of Praxis #2)

She smiled, but it was gentle, understanding. “Just to me,” she said, pressing her hand to my cheek. I leaned into her touch, feeling the warmth of her palm spread through me, grounding me in the present.

“You might be the only one of us with a chance of actually placing in this trial,” she said lightly, a teasing edge to her voice that didn’t quite mask the admiration behind it.

I snorted, my mouth curling up into a half-smile. “Not if I don’t remember how to play.”

She shook her head softly, her hand brushing against mine, sending a jolt of heat straight through me. “Music is a part of you, Briar. Anyone who watches you can tell that.” She smiled softly. “You know you hum when you’re thinking.”

“I do?” I asked.

She nodded. “Your eyes sort of glaze over and you look off into nothingness, and you hum. Or if I’m lucky, you’ll sing a little.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “It’s peaceful.”

“It used to come so easily,” I replied softly, looking longingly at the guitar in my hands.

“It’ll come back to you.”

Her hand was warm against mine, and I let my fingers curl around hers instinctively. My pulse quickened, and I found myself leaning into her presence, even if only for a moment, before the reality of the trial came crashing back into my thoughts.

“What are the others planning to do for the show?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from the sudden tension rising between us. I could still hear the muffled voices of the others in the living room, plotting their next moves for the performance.

Bex let out a soft laugh, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Well, Thorne’s going to recite a poem he wrote. One he swore wasn’t explicit or about me.”

I raised an eyebrow. “But it totally is, right?”

She let out a huff of laughter. “He rhymed ‘your deep hole’ with ‘my large pole,’” she said flatly, and I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“That definitely sounds like Thorne,” I said, still chuckling.

“Ezra says his talent is putting up with Thorne,” Bex added with a smirk. I nodded in agreement.

“That does take a certain level of skill,” I said with a grin.

“But really, I think he’s a little less focused on planning anything,” Bex continued, rolling her eyes in mock exasperation.

I tilted my head, watching her as she spoke, feeling a pull in my chest that I didn’t want to name. “What about you?” I asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear her say it.

She shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t really have any talents.”

I couldn’t resist teasing her. “I dunno about that. We all heard Zaffir in the shower the other day. It sounds like you have at least one talent.”

Her skin flushed, the pink spreading across her cheeks in an instant, and I felt a surge of satisfaction from the effect I had on her. A temptation, raw and unfiltered, rose within me, but I reined it in.

She sighed, rubbing her temples. “Let me rephrase, I have no talents I can show on a stage in front of cameras and a live audience.” We both laughed then.

I fell silent for a moment, watching her carefully, my thoughts spinning. The idea of her voice joining mine in song had lodged itself in my mind, and it wouldn’t leave. “Sing with me,” I said finally, the words tumbling out before I could stop them.

She blinked, clearly taken aback. “What?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

“Sing a duet with me,” I repeated, my heart pounding at the thought. “I’ll teach you the song Pa used to sing to me. We can sing it together. Or we could write something else. I think it’s... something we could do. For the trial.”

I could feel her eyes on me, searching my face, trying to read the sincerity behind my request. The thought of our voices intertwined in harmony, of sharing something so vulnerable and real, made my chest tighten with longing.

Her gaze dropped to her hands, fingers nervously picking at the edge of her sleeve. She sighed, and my heart stuttered in my chest. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” I asked, my voice softer now, coaxing.

“I don’t know how to sing,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

I blinked, the shock of her words sending a ripple of confusion through me. “You don’t know how?”

She shook her head. “I’ve never tried.”

The weight of her confession settled heavily on me, and I felt a sting of regret, like I’d failed to notice something so important about her until now. “Not once?” I asked, my voice almost a whisper.

She shook her head, the vulnerability in her expression pulling me closer to her than I had been before.

“Then let me teach you,” I offered, my voice soft yet full of intent.

“The trial is tonight, we don’t have time,” she said, shaking her head, but there was a flicker of hesitation in her eyes.

I set the guitar aside, then slowly sank to my knees in front of her. Her gaze followed every movement, her breath catching in her chest as I moved closer.

“Briar, what are you doing?” she asked, her voice a mix of uncertainty and something else I couldn’t quite place.

I met her eyes, my heart pounding in my chest as my fingers hooked in her waistband and pulled her pants down her legs until she was bare to me.

“Maybe you just need a little incentive,” I whispered, my eyes catching on her glistening center. She was already so wet for me. I pressed forward, tossing her legs over my shoulders. She fell back onto the bed, her elbows holding her up.

My breath dusted over her core, but despite how badly I wanted a taste, I didn’t move. “Sing for me, Hollis,” I demanded quietly.

She sighed. “I…can’t…” she replied.

“You can if you want me to taste you,” I challenged tracing a light touch along her inner thighs. She groaned, as her whole body reacted to my touch.

“Briar-” she begged.

“Sing it,” I commanded.

I felt her struggle between her desire, and her uncertainty.

“It’s just us, Hollis. Open your mouth, and sing.”

She began with a soft hum, gentle and cautious, like testing the waters.

Then, barely above a whisper, she breathed out a few words, so quiet I almost couldn’t hear them over the frantic beat of my heart.

I froze, the sound sinking in as I recognized the melody.

It was the song I sang in the Wilds. She had remembered it.

Her voice, light and ethereal, wasn’t perfectly controlled, but there was a raw beauty in it that made my chest tighten.

I listened to her sing, breathlessly, as her core pulsed before me.

“That’s it, baby,” I praised before pressing my tongue against her clit, then her opening, swirling my tongue around her center like I was playing her body like an instrument.

She gasped, her song giving way to soft moans.

Her taste exploded on my tongue and it was divine.

I wanted all of her, but we had a lesson to finish.

I pulled back, leaving her gasping beneath me.

“Keep singing,” I demanded.

She groaned. “Briar-”

I slid a finger into her tight core and she bucked against me with a loud gasp. When I pressed a thumb against her clit she arched off the bed, pressing her core into my hand. It took all my willpower to keep from moving my hand, from pulling her pleasure from her body.

She knew what I was doing, knew that I wasn’t going to move until she gave me what I wanted. Finally, broken between soft moans, and desperate wimpers, she sang. The words of my song on her tongue as her body sang on mine.

She continued the song, softly and broken, as my fingers and my tongue worked in tandem to bring this beautiful perfect girl to the edge of desire.

Her body thrashed under my hold as her climax neared.

I pressed my hand against the lower part of her stomach as my mouth ravaged her core.

When her song stopped, and a desperate scream of pleasure ripped from her throat, I tasted her release on my tongue.

A taste so uniquely and perfectly her, I never wanted to forget it.

“That is my new favorite song,” I whispered against her skin.

I languidly drank up her release, not willing to waste a drop of it, and she gripped my hair, trying to pull me off her sensitive core.

She slid off the side of the bed, kneeling in front of me, her eyes locked onto mine with a raw intensity.

Like she couldn’t hold back any longer, she cupped my face in her hands and kissed me with a hunger that felt desperate and untamed.

A soft moan escaped her as she tasted herself on my tongue, and her body pressed into mine, urgent and electric.

Her hands ripped at my clothing, in a storm of mindless desire, until we were both kneeling naked before each other.

Her fingers danced along my skin, and I felt my blood sing beneath her touch.

She trailed a finger down my stomach until she brushed along my clit.

Briefly, teasingly. I moaned, pulling her lips to mine again.

She continued to drink from my lips as her fingers slid through my slick center. When she finally slid her fingers into my wet heat, I cried out into her mouth. My body was hers to play.

“Your turn to sing for me,” she whispered against my lips. Her fingers pressed into me as her thumb circled my clit, drawing euphoric passion from every part of me.

She pressed her hands against my shoulders and I let her lead me to the ground until I was laying on my back on the hardwood floor.

The chill of the panelling was a cooling balm to the heat of the moment.

She continued pressing her fingers into me as she hovered above me, my every nerve ending was thrumming in harmony with her.

When she withdrew her fingers and slid them into her mouth, I groaned, a guttural, ferocious sound.

She moved reverently, slowly, keeping her eyes on mine as she lifted my left leg and slid hers beneath it. Gently sliding her body closer to mine until our bare centers pressed against each other. My head fell back at the first slide of her pussy against mine.

“Hollis-” Her name, almost like a vow, fell from my tongue as my mouth fell open.

I gripped her legs tightly, pulling her body tightly to mine as we moved our hips against each other in sinful dance. Our cries of pleasure spilled from our mouths in a dark delicious harmony, creating my new favorite song.

I met her eyes, as she circled her hips against mine. Her clit pressed and slid against mine and I hoped she saw the truth of how I felt about her in my gaze. It was a slow, languid dance, one that felt real, honest, and raw.

When our breaths started coming more rapidly, and our bodies heated as we chased release, I kept my eyes locked on hers.

She was everything I hadn’t even known I was missing, a force that filled the empty spaces I’d grown accustomed to.

Her body, when it pressed against mine, seemed to fit so perfectly, like two puzzle pieces finally locked in place.

The rhythm of her heartbeat matched the pulse of my own, and I felt it deep inside me.

I never realized how much I needed her until she was standing right in front of me, her energy lighting up everything around us. And in that moment, I realized I didn’t care what the future held or what battles lay ahead.

All I knew was that I wanted to face them with her by my side.

My head fell back as my climax found me, and she followed me into the storm of ecstasy and passion.

When our bodies were spent, tangled in the soft aftermath of our joining, I felt her shift, slow and tender, until she nestled herself beside me.

She moved with such quiet grace, curling against my side like she was meant to fit there.

Her head found its place on my chest, her soft dark hair brushing against my skin as she settled in.

We didn’t need words, just the steady rhythm of our breathing filling the space between us.

It was slow, languid, a dance of hearts finding their natural cadence.

Each exhale seemed to echo the calm of the other, a silent symphony of closeness that wrapped around us.

I could feel the weight of her in the best way, the softness of her body against mine grounding me, making the world outside seem so far away.

“Sing with me for the trial,” I whispered, my voice barely more than a breath. She lifted her gaze, her eyes meeting mine with uncertainty.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to mess up your chances of keeping that guitar this time,” she cautioned, a slight tremor in her voice.

I smiled softly, the tension in my chest easing. “I have a feeling, no matter what place I get in this trial, you won’t let them take it from me again.”

She smiled, her lips brushing mine in a gentle kiss. “Yeah. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we’ll stop them from taking anything from anyone ever again.”

“Luck’s got nothing to do with it, Hollis,” I whispered, my heart pounding in the quiet space between us. “If we succeed. If we finally finish what my Ma started. It’ll be because of you.”