Page 84 of Victoria's Discovery

Grinning, she wiggled and gushed, “Carvings, bed frames, furniture. Even metal work, if you’re into that. Weapons! I know we have the fabricators, but with all the people here that come from warrior cultures, I’m positive there’d be a market for hand-crafted weapons! The possibilities are endless. Oh! You could even—”

She didn’t get to finish because he lifted her onto his lap and kissed the daylights out of her.

There was a second of hesitation, of thinking she should pull back, that this would just add more confusion to her already very confused feelings, but it only lasted a second.

Moaning, she gave in and kissed him back.

Thorn deepened the kiss with a groan, pulling her closer with his huge hands on her ass. Unable to help herself, Victoria fisted his hair, moaning again at how unfairly soft and thick it felt between her fingers. Okay, yes, maybe some of it came from a possessive need to muss him up so everyone would know he’d been kissing her, but that could be her little secret.

Entirely too soon, he slowed then gradually pulled back. Opening her eyes, she stared at him from inches away, feeling his rapid breaths ghost over her swollen lips.

“I didn’t do anything brave,” she whispered.

He pulled back a little, a frown flickering over his brow. “Eh?”

“You kissed me. But I didn’t do anything brave.”

He couldn’t have looked more confused than if she’d suddenly began ranting about chocolate rivers and tiny orange men.

“Do you need to do something brave to be kissed?”

Then it was her turn to be confused. “I– I mean, don’t I?” Squinting at him, she cocked her head. “Isn’t that a custom of y’alls?”

He chuckled a little uncertainly. “No. What an odd custom.”

Gasping, she threw up her hands. “That’s what I thought! Wait, so, then whydidyou kiss me?”

He looked at her askance as though that was a trick question. When he saw she was truly confused, his expression went through a variety of emotions. Disconcertment, realization, self-depreciation, determination, and, finally, something soft that looked a lot like love.

Raising a hand, he slid his fingertip down the bridge of her nose, over her lips, then held her chin.

“Værsurféirdin—‘No translation.’”

Chuckling ruefully at the translator’s apparent inability to handle the word, he leaned forward to bump her nose with his before pressing the gentlest of kisses to her lips and whispering, “Can you not see I am besotted with you? My heart is yours, Vee.”

Victoria felt like the world came to a screeching halt at those whispered words.

Eyes wide, she pulled back to see him better, heart in her throat and an odd rushing sound in her ears.

“You like me? That’s what that means, right? That’s not just something y’all say to your friends or… ?”

He blinked, but he was smiling, if a little wryly. “No. My vow, I have never told a friend they have my heart. That seems an odd thing to do.”

Still not convinced, she cupped his cheeks and really looked at him, scrutinizing his expression as she pressed, “So what you’re saying is, you like me like a person likes a person when they want to have sex with them and spend time with them and maybe someday possibly marry them? Because if that’s what you’re saying, I need you to make that really clear right now, okay?”

His brows got higher and higher the faster she spoke. By the time she finished, he looked a little unsure, like he’d struggled to keep up with all that, but he was nodding.

“That was… I– yes.”

She narrowed her eyes.

More firmly that time, he repeated, “Yes. Sex. Mating. You, me, Thegan. Should he pull his head from his ass, even V—”

“Thegan likes me?” she interrupted sharply.

Thorn threw his head back and laughed, a deep, gravelly sound of delighted amusement. Bi-colored eyes sparkling, he met her gaze and shook his head.

“Gods’, female, but you are adorable. And we are fools.”

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