Page 88 of Braving the Valley

"One day after I brand you," he whispers against the curve of my ear, "you're going to look like a queen, baby girl,my queen."

Then he steps in front of me, facing me, and flattens his lips to mine.

EPILOGUE

GABE — FOUR WEEKS LATER

Kill leans against the stone wall behind him and stares at me, his golden hair colored orange and yellow by the flames.

"This is fucked," he says as Saint slips an arm around Willow's chest, pulling his girlfriend back against him as he dips his chin to press a kiss to the crown of her head.

It's definitely fucked, but it's no more fucked up than the shit either one of these assholes has done. I defend my honor. Well, really, I defended Avery's honor because there's a decent chance that I'm going to have to wrestle her like a greased pig to get this done, and I don't need my stupid friends making it even harder.

I point two fingers at Kill as I fiddle with the iron bar, kneeling to roll it in the flames.

"Stop being all holier than thou, you damn deviant," I tell him. "Everyone knows what you get up to inside the mausoleum. If you took a black light in there, the fucking thing would glow like Chernobyl."

Saint barks with laughter while his girlfriend makes a wheezing noise that tells me she didnotknow about Kill's extracurriculars.

Whatever.

Saint can explain that to his girl later.

Speaking of Saint, I set him in my sights next, moving my two fingers so they point at him.

"Stop laughing, you dick," I tell him. "You make your girl wear a collar like a dog and we both know you two played hide the sausage all over Cross's body after you knifed him."

How the fuck else did they both get covered in that much blood? I thought Kill was going to cream himself when they climbed through the window that day.

It's Avery's turn to gasp now, and when I look back at her, she's paler than usual.

Oh shit. Guess she didn't know that. I add it to the list of shit to talk to her about when she's returned to a normal color.

Saint lights up, bringing his cigarette to his lips before he turns his head and blows the smoke away from his girl's face. His blue eyes look almost clear beneath the flames as I reach down and roll the poker into the fire again.

"Bro, if you mention fucking in front of my girl one more time," Saint tells me, fire playing hide-and-seek across his inky hair, "then I'm going to know what it's like to fuck in your blood too."

I ignore his pussy threat and roll the poker once more, the flames heating my face as I do.

It's beautiful, the way they dance for me, sending their golden shadows stretching across the floor. I feel it tug at the back of my brain and whisper at me to come closer.

Fucking gorgeous.

It takes me a long moment before I tear my gaze away and give him a look that says, come at me, bro. I might bleed, but you'llburn. My attention returns to my Firefly, and if she was any paler at the moment, she'd need a transfusion.

Shit. Is she still hung up on the blood play?

"Cross deserved it," I tell Avery by way of explanation with a wink.

Well . . . by the looks of it, I can schedule that transfusion now. Which one of these bastards is a universal donor?

Willow nods, backing me up as Saint plays with her hair, twirling it around his finger.

"He was a bad man," she tells Avery. "He assaulted a lot of girls, me included."

Avery sucks in a breath. "I'm so sorry," she breathes.

Saint makes a sound like he's going to explode, probably because he's actually about to explode.