Page 83 of Queen of Anarchy (Dirty Broken Savages 2)

“Are you okay?” she murmurs.

I nod against her leg. “Everything feels different now, but it’s not bad.”

River hums and scratches at my scalp. “More intense?”

“Yes.”

And of course she understands. She seems to understand so much, even things I would have said I wasn’t sure I wanted her to understand. Now that she knows basically everything, it makes me want to open up to her more, which isn’t something I’m used to.

“You know,” I begin, speaking slowly as my mind forms the words. “My brothers have called me Priest for years, but it’s not exactly an accurate nickname. I never took a vow of celibacy or anything. I wasn’t purposefully trying to avoid sex. I just… didn’t want anyone. I couldn’t feel that. I didn’t desire anyone. Until now.”

I can hear and feel it when she inhales sharply at that. I kiss her thigh again and look up, meeting her dark blue eyes. I’m not sure what she sees in my gaze, but I don’t look away. I mean every word, and I want her to know that.

“What’s your real name?” she asks quietly after a moment.

“Daire.”

“Daire.” She repeats it, and I feel something go tight in my body just from the way it sounds in her voice. No one has called me that since Jade. Not really. It sounds odd, but not bad. Like so much of this.

River slides down off the piano, careful not to bump the keys, which I appreciate. Straddling me on the bench, she settles herself in my lap, wrapping her arms around me. Her body is soft and yielding against mine, and I’m caught up in the way she smells, the way she feels. Everything.

I tip her face up to mine and lean down to kiss her, not insistent or heavy like last night, but soft and exploring. Trying to learn her, learn what makes her feel good.

She makes quiet noises into the kiss, sounds of contentment and desire, but she doesn’t push for more either.

I can feel my body responding to her closeness and the weight of her in my lap. Just a stirring in my groin, a low throb of desire. I know that even though I managed to come last night, it’s going to be a while before I can just get it up and keep it up on command. It’ll probably be a process.

And at the moment, I’m fine with that. I’m not in a hurry to rush things, and it’s nice to kiss River with no other goal but this.

She pulls away when she needs to breathe, resting her forehead against mine. Neither of us says anything for a long moment, just soaking up the scent and feel of each other.

Then River gets up and turns around on my lap, facing the piano.

“Will you teach me how to play something?” she asks.

It’s a surprising question. I wouldn’t have thought she was the type to care about playing music, but I guess the same thing could be said about me.

She leans back against me, and I tuck a tiny smile against her hair.

“Okay,” I tell her. “Put your hands on the keys.”

She does, resting her fingers on the keys in approximately the position she saw mine in before. Her fingers are long and delicate, elegant in an odd way. Chipped nail polish and all.

I adjust them a bit closer together, then put mine on the keys as well, weaving them between hers. I tap out a few notes in a short melody, simple and quick.

“You try now,” I murmur to her.

She does pretty well, matching what I played and then turning her head to look at me.

“Good. Now this one.”

I add a bit more to it, weaving the notes together.

This one is a bit harder for her to mimic, and she stumbles over the last three notes. I readjust her hand and help her through it again, until she has it down.

“Now the two parts together.”

We go through the sequence again and again, until she can do it without me guiding her. I smile at that, letting the sound of the simple tune wash over me. It’s a little haunting, but mostly just bittersweet, a minor chord that resolves on an uplifting high note.

River plays the melody, and I add to it, building it into a song.

Our song.

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