Page 36 of Storm of Stars (Pride of Praxis #2)

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

Bex

Briar stepped toward me in the hush of the tent.

The plan was made. The waves were set.

Tomorrow, the first wave was going to infiltrate Praxis. Hopefully.

“You look nervous,” she said softly, stopping in front of me. Her fingers lifted to gently cradle my chin, and I leaned into her touch without hesitation.

“Aren’t you?” I asked.

She shook her head once, slow and certain. “I’ve made peace with the risks. I’m ready.”

“Consider me jealous,” I murmured.

Her thumb brushed across my skin, and my whole body lit up beneath her touch.

“I guess, if I’m being honest…The only thing I’m nervous about,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, “is that if anything happens to us… I won’t get to do this again.

” She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Or this.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek.

“Or this.” Her nose skimmed the column of my throat, and I let my head fall back, breath hitching.

“Or this,” she added, as her fingers traced a slow path along the edge of my stomach, teasing the skin at the band of my pants.

Butterflies took flight low in my belly, wings brushing every nerve ending. I closed my eyes, anchored in her warmth, in the way she touched me like we still had forever.

Even if tomorrow said otherwise.

“Briar…” I whispered. “These tents don’t lock.”

“Then I guess we’d better hurry,” she replied breathlessly as her hand dove down past the waistband and panties, her fingers instantly finding my eager center. I groaned at the first swipe of her fingers against my clit.

“Well, well, well, Hollis,” she said, teasingly dancing a finger through my wetness without dipping into my core. “Are you ready for our next duet?” Her lips found mine just as her fingers slid into my pussy.

I cried out and her mouth drank it up.

Her thrusts were calculated, deliberate, and punishing. I felt my knees giving out beneath me as I clung to her shoulders for support. Her fingers played me like an instrument only she knew how to master and I was completely lost in the sensation of her.

“I need you,” I whispered against her mouth.

“You have me,” she answered, pressing her thumb against my clit which toppled me over the ledge and into a quick eruptive orgasm.

My hands dug into her shirt as I fought my body’s urge to collapse. She held me around the waist as her fingers stilled within me, soaking up the last of my climax.

“More,” I whispered, breathless, fingers curling around the waistband of her pants.

Briar glanced quickly toward the tent’s entrance—just a flicker of caution—then her eyes snapped back to mine, full of heat. Without a word, she guided us to the far side of the tent, slipping behind the makeshift table stacked with crates and maps.

She lowered me gently to the ground, the world narrowing to the two of us, hidden behind strategy and plans, hearts pounding louder than any war drum.

Then, with a look that could burn down empires, she slid her pants down, her eyes never leaving mine.

I followed her lead, slipping my borrowed clothes off my body until we were both bare below the belt. She pressed a hand against my shoulders and slowly led me to lay on my back. The soft, chilled ground comforted me against the raging heat of her touch.

She crawled over me slowly, deliberately, until her hands were braced on either side of my head, caging me in. Her eyes found mine, those deep, earthy brown eyes, the color of soil and warmth.

I reached up, brushing my fingers along the curve of her cheek, tracing the shape of her jaw, the warmth of her skin.

Her dark hair fell in soft curtains around us, framing her face like something sacred.

She looked down at me with a wonder that stole the breath from my lungs, like she couldn’t believe I was real.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” I whispered.

Her eyes shone, glassy with emotion, and then, with a teasing smirk, she said, “Clearly you’ve never looked in a mirror.”

Then she lowered her core to press gently against my leg. The moment I felt her wet center slide along my sensitive skin, I felt a long satisfied groan tear from my throat.

“I want you to come all over me, Briar,” I whispered, tangling my hands in her hair.

She smiled down at me as she moved her hips.

Slow at first, I felt her body trembling with each slide of her pussy against my skin.

Her thigh pressed against my throbbing clit, still reeling from the last climax, but with every movement of her body, I felt my pleasure crest.

“Fuck,” she breathed, her eyes falling shut.

“That’s it, baby. Use me,” I ordered.

Her eyes snapped open and she met my gaze.

There was an inferno within them. Quickly, she pulled my leg up so that it rested on her shoulder, opening my core to her completely.

This time when she slid her core against my body our clits met and both of us cried out at the sensation.

She was done taking her time. She pistoned her hips eagerly and passionately, her fingers dug into my thigh as our slick centers slid against each other.

We exhaled in harmonized passion as our bodies danced to the music we made together. My head fell back and my back arched as my eyes fell closed.

I felt her hand cup my cheek and I opened my eyes to find her staring down at me. Her hips were moving slower, more languid. Savoring.

“Love really isn’t a strong enough word for how I feel about you, Brexlyn Hollis,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to my leg as her hips rocked against mine.

“Maybe you can write me a song,” I replied back in breathy disjointed words as my second climax began cresting in my lower belly.

“Only if you sing for me baby,” she said, picking up her pace. I felt my core tighten in anticipation. The pleasure building and building beneath my skin.

“Oh fuck, Briar.. I’m close…” I cried out.

“That’s it, Hollis. Sing for me,” she grunted as she slid against me. The friction, the love, the words, it was too much and I felt my orgasm crash into me drowning me in nothing but her.

And I fucking sang for her in a beautiful symphony of pleasure and love.

Her breath hitched and her body stilled above me as she found her release. We sat there, bodies joined, for a few more minutes as our breathing returned to normal. When she slid off of me, she smiled sheepishly as she handed me my pants.

A few minutes later, we were dressed again, clothes rumpled, hair messy, hearts still racing in that strange in-between space where adrenaline hadn't quite faded and reality hadn't fully returned.

I shifted on the ground beside her, stretching out until we were lying on our backs, shoulder to shoulder, staring up at the inside of the tent.

The canvas overhead was dim and still, lit only by the golden flicker of the waning sunlight filtering through the flaps of the tent, its glow softening the edges of the night.

We didn’t speak for a while. Just breathed.

Eventually, I nudged her with my elbow and turned my head toward her. “So… when were you planning to tell me you’re secretly a military genius?” I asked, teasing just enough to make her smile.

She chuckled, eyes still on the ceiling. “Genius is a stretch. More like… I’m good at strategy. Seeing how things fit. Edgar and Devrin did most of the heavy lifting.”

“You’re being modest,” I said. “You’re kind of miraculous, you know that, right?”

She turned her head then, met my gaze fully. No sarcasm, no deflection. “Thank you,” she said, soft and honest.

Silence settled in again, heavier this time, more thoughtful. The kind that seeps into your bones when the future is close and terrifying.

“So… it all starts tomorrow?” I asked, already feeling the pressure creep back into my chest, the same tension she’d helped ease away minutes earlier.

“Technically tonight,” she said, her voice quieter now.

“First wave goes in during the early hours, before sunrise. If they can clear the perimeter, jam the sensors, get us those blind spots…” She exhaled, dragging a hand across her face.

“Then wave two will follow tomorrow morning. Then when wave three takes the guard towers….”

“We go in,” I finished for her.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “That’s the goal. By this time tomorrow night, we’ll either be standing inside that Show Center… or….”

“Or we will have failed,” I finished again.

I swallowed hard, the weight of it settling in my chest like a stone. Twenty-four hours. One day. Just long enough to imagine everything that could go wrong.

She must’ve felt it, my spiral creeping in again, because she shifted, pressing her arm against mine more firmly, fingers brushing mine until I instinctively laced them together.

“Hey,” she said gently. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Worry yourself into the ground before anything’s even happened.” Her thumb moved across my hand in slow, steady strokes. “We’ve planned this. Edgar’s been preparing for this for years. And whatever happens tomorrow… we face it together.”

I looked at her again. Her face was calm, but not emotionless. There was a flicker of fear in her eyes too, she just wore it differently. Braver than me. Or maybe just more practiced at hiding it.

“I really want to believe that,” I admitted.

She squeezed my hand. “Me too,” she whispered.

I didn’t say anything after that. Just held her hand. Let the silence return.

Outside the tent, the wind shifted. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear laughter.

“We should go find the boys,” Briar said, pushing herself up with a soft grunt and brushing loose strands of hair from her face.

Her voice was calm, but there was something else behind it, something heavier lingering under the lightness.

“They’re gonna want to spend as much time with you as possible before we go marching into the gates. ”

I nodded, but didn’t move right away. The idea of spending time with my Wildguard, all of them, hit my brain like a spark to dry tinder. A wave of wicked, wildly inappropriate thoughts flashed through my mind before I could even attempt to shut them down.

Briar, ever the people-reader, caught the shift in my expression instantly. Her lips curved into a knowing smirk.

“You’re picturing all of us at once, aren’t you?” she added over her shoulder, casting me a sly wink.

My face went up in flames. “Briar,” I hissed, scandalized and way too flustered to pretend otherwise.

She just laughed, a low, wicked sound that made my blood burn, and tossed a look at me like she already knew exactly what kind of chaos she’d stirred.

“Come on, let’s go see if Edgar has a soundproof tent.”