Black Briar Read Online Free PDF Page A

impenetrable and it came with a heavy cost. Even with the magic twine, she was still forced to sear the wound closed with two acidic droplets of dragon’s blood just to make sure the fresh knitting wouldn’t rip it open with his first sudden move.
     
    Flesh sizzled and the gargouille’s biceps flexed. Otherwise, he remained entirely passive as the scent of sulfur bubbled from the slated black and brick red lead droplets.
     
    She quickly dabbed the area clean with a Neverland cotton ball pinched between her scissors. “Don’t wash the area with anything other than the antiseptic and healing ointment I’m going to prescribe for you. Don’t cover it with anything either. I’ll also write you a prescription for the pain—”
     
    “Pain is nothing.” Tendrils of black hair cut across his sharp face. It was cast in shadows, eyes burning in the blackness. Immolation. Heat. He had no eyelashes, and the skin around each eye was crevassed and cracked with crystal silver scales. “The other medicines are sufficient.”
     
    Her grip tightened around the bloodied scissors. “We’re finished here.”
     
    There was no answer. A pin could’ve dropped and the landing would’ve been a bomb.
     
    His gaze landed on her mouth, eyes dark and glittering. “Am I am sufficient…for you, Sybille?”
     
    Sybille’s eyes clung to his handsome corded neck. Once upon a time, she used to leave every inch of that throat covered in love bites. Bruised suckles. It was the only way to keep herself from screaming when he had her pressed up against the wall in the back of Club Brimstone. Skirt riding her thighs, legs wrapped around his waist as he fucked her, slowly grinded and rocked in and out of her sopping wet center to the heady rhythm of music neither cared to hear anymore.
     
    She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but Nova…
     
    Witnessed everything with reverence. Patience.
     
    Rain, fireworks, midnight mass, or temple prayer, it didn’t matter what it was. He was the kind of creature who stood in the middle of the hurricane’s eye, marveled at hummingbirds sucking nectar from flowers, and couldn’t look at the ocean without losing himself completely. Looking into those eyes was like peering into stain glass windows. It was seeing the world through color for the first time, and marveling at the absolute wonder of it.
     
    Well that was all nice and swell but the truth of the matter was the world was a hideous, cruel, and vile place. That wasn’t a jaded perspective. It was an honest one. Cruelty was everywhere. It didn’t matter how many kittens and shirtless wonders came traipsing and trolling along—when you were done scrapping the sugar-frosted bullshit off your good crystal ball, the crust of life was pretty much shit wall to wall. Even in the depths of Nova’s eyes—even in those majestic windows—there were demons lurking behind the colored panes.
     
    Everyone had demons. She did, too. And no, she really didn’t have the time to deal with anyone else’s. She could barely dodge her own bullets. All of which was precisely the reason she didn’t bother with his type, or any type for that matter, for very long. Sybille was not looking to be saved. If there was to be any goddamn saving, she’d do it herself. Right after she finished conquering the known world, goals neatly divided on many, many Post-Its.
     
    All she cared about was waiting for the end and making sure that she did something worthwhile in the meantime. If “The End” was quick and painless, that was appreciated. If it wasn’t, oh well.
     
    “Dru is probably waiting up for me.” Refusing the gargouille a passing glance, she snapped off her soiled gloves and started heaving medical supplies into the caverns of her medical bag. “Get the hell off my bench. I have to fold it.” She wiggled a finger at her bag. “Won’t fit otherwise.”
     
    He didn’t budge. Not an inch. Nova’s regard seared across her skin, touching her neck, her