“I didn’t want to pull you away from being here with the others to celebrate. There was no mission and no need for you to be with me when I left for pleasure.” Going there wasn’t for pleasure at first, but it certainly ended with it.
Locking eyes with him, I noticed the frown pulling at his full lips. His finger rubbed over the lip of his horn as he held it up with his elbow still resting on the arm of the chair.
“Where you go, I go,” he said simply.
A soft smile made its way to my face.
“I wasn’t charging into battle. I wouldn’t pull you to my side simply for pleasure.” He’d probably rather have another woman warm his bed. One who wasn’t feared by everyone and wouldn’t risk harming everyone if she lost control of herself in him.
His eyes darkened like they did a few minutes ago. And exactly like they did in the fields of Dreyma as his dream self was settled between my legs and working his erection into my untouched cunt.
Slowly a mischievous grin spread across his face, his dimples peeking through the shadow of his few days’ growth.
“Oh, but you could. Any pleasure with you would be an honor.” He chuckled as my cheeks heated and tingled with the blush.
I didn’t know what to say. Only he could pull off saying these things to me. No one else ever spoke to me like this about such private matters. And maybe that was why I was falling for him and longed for him to be mine.
But taking him and making him mine wouldn’t be fair to his other half. Even if I had a chance with him and he reciprocated the feelings, his soulmate was waiting for him, and I couldn’t keep him away from her. I’d heard the rumors of how painful and lonely it got the longer they didn’t find their other half. Guilt always filled me every time I overheard it.
So I drank my mead to keep myself from saying anything and embarrassing myself further.
“Don’t be shy,” he said with a laugh. He squinted his dark-blue eyes in amusement as he raised his horn to me in a toast. “You have needs too, and they must be met. If no one else is satisfying you, then I’d be honored to be the one to have you screaming just from my mouth.”
My stomach fluttered, and my core grew wet while my bundle of nerves throbbed. The memory of his dream self touching me set me on fire.
There was no way he meant what he said. And if he did... he had a soulmate.
Shaking my head, I grabbed the pitcher of mead with a trembling hand and poured more into my horn.
“And they’re being met,” I lied, which burned on my tongue and tasted like ash. “The night is young, and I believe you owe me still from the last time we drank and played our favorite game. Unless you wish to try to beat me again to earn yourself a reward?”
His face brightened, but his eyes stayed dark with a secret that I, for a moment, thought about giving in to and finding out what he was thinking.
“Oh,” he said with a husky laugh. He leaned forward and reached a hand out to cover mine holding the pitcher. “I’ll win this time. But there is a different reward I want this time.”
ChapterFourteen
“Get up and prepare.”
I startled awake, then relaxed. The memory of a voice saying something faded until I couldn’t remember what it said. A steady thump of a heartbeat calmed me and was the first thing I heard as I rose from the depths of my dreams. Even breaths were the next thing I registered as I fluttered my eyes open.
Fingers tenderly played with my hair at the back of my head in continuous strokes. The other hand caressed gentle circles on my back. I was still lying on my stomach on top of Rune, who at some point ditched his armor and shirt so I could rest my head on his naked chest. His heartbeats were steady and strong, relaxing me into him. I didn’t want to move off him because of how much listening to him soothed me.
My mind wasn’t a calm place for me. But laying here with Rune, I didn’t feel an ounce of anxiety or fear. My dream could’ve played into it too. But this was the first time I’d woken up with Rune still with me.
Dawn light streamed in from a window behind my turned head. Birds sang from outside, spreading their joy that I didn’t feel. Somewhere in the little cottage, I made out the deep timbres of voices with a soft feminine voice.
Harper.
I needed to make sure she was okay before I talked Rune into taking her back home. If anyone could find a way to make sure she was safe back in my realm, it was him. I couldn’t watch another friend suffer and die.
“Morning,elskan mín.” Rune’s voice rumbled in my ear, making me melt more into him. I closed my eyes, letting out a small sigh as his fingers played with my hair while his other hand rubbed down to my lower back and cradled me to him. “What did you dream about?”
The dream played through my mind. Some of it already ebbing away so I couldn’t remember. My heart raced, and all the emotions from it came back stronger. The lust I had toward the unnamed man in my dream surged through me, making me wet.
The reminder of his hand on mine while he filled my cup with mead made my heart race exactly as it had in the dream. And the feel of him between my legs from the mirage in the flower field made my core spasm around nothing.
His face wasn’t clear at first. Only pops of blue and brown came to me. But he had the same smile as...
