“We don’t have enough time. Do we?” I got distracted as I watched him read the instructions for the hair color with a serious expression on his face. He drew his eyebrows together as he swept eyes over the instructions.
Something about him reading how to use the hair color filled me with warmth. Slowly, I smiled and reached for the bottle in his large hand. One squeeze from him and the chance of refreshing my hair color was out the window.
He dodged my outstretched hand with a chuckle.
“We have enough time. The others are looking for Hegnan and Rekja. As long as you’re with me, you’re safe,” he answered and worked off the bottle’s cap. His gaze landed on me, shining with amusement. “I want to do it for you, if you don’t mind.”
I blinked. “You want to color my hair?”
Rune smiled. “Yes, beauty. I want to help you and have some part in this. Like I told you, I think it’s cute you color your hair.”
“You color your hair? Cute.”Rune’s amused voice when we first met whispered in my mind.
Butterflies flapped around in my stomach as warmth bloomed in my chest. I nodded and bit my bottom lip to hold back the grin that started. I didn’t want him to see me smile like an idiot over something so small like that.
He drew me in for a kiss with his large hand on the back of my head. It wasn’t a long one as much as I wanted it to be. Instead, he gave me a hard peck with a rumbling laugh that went straight to my pussy. Rune pulled his lips into a smile against me before he offered me one last kiss and stepped back.
“You don’t smile like an idiot. You smile like I’m the sun peeking through the stormy clouds. I want you to express yourself however you want around me.” He flicked his blue eyes over my face bunched his dark eyebrows together. “I’ll never leave you what you’re afraid will happen.”
I swallowed hard and averted my gaze.
Rune cupped my cheek, bringing my attention back to him. He held a serious look as he bent so we were nearly nose to nose.
“Nothing will happen. You won’t lose me, and I vow we’ll never be separated.” The wordagainwasn’t said but hung heavily between us.
The dull and gray looking In-Between flashed in my mind, throwing me back to when I was there. With it came my fear and desperation while I called out for Rune. I didn’t want to be anywhere without him. I couldn’t bear the thought of him dying and in the In-Between or anywhere else without me, so I held an intense desperation for him to live. To never get hurt again. And for me to not die and be taken away from him.Again.
He closed the small distance between us and kissed me, starting off sweet, then turning into something harsher. My hands went to his shoulders, holding onto him and needing his warmth. Needing the reminder that I was here. That he was here. And everything was okay... for now, at least.
I wasn’t sure how long we got lost in each other, but it was enough to make me go breathless. I ended it as I leaned away from him with kiss-swollen, parted lips. Our foreheads touched, and my eyes stayed closed as I worked on evening my breaths. I wasn’t sure if our kisses made me pant or my crippling fear of being separated from the other half of my soul. The man who completed me and made everything okay.
My fingers curled into the soft skin that covered his hard muscles. Rune made no sound of protest as I felt the pinch of my nails in him like it was happening to me instead.
He moved us until my shoulder bumped gently into the cool rock. I felt him shift, and in a quick flash, I saw through his eyes as he placed the bottle of color down. When his hand was free, he wrapped me in his arms and held me against him. His hard body met my soft, pliant one that complemented us so perfectly together. Being folded in his arms was like two puzzle pieces put back together and finally whole.
He stroked my hair as I clung to him, soaking him up while I held back the turbulent emotions that rose in me.
Why was I always so weepy? Why was I always a hot fucking mess?
Rune’s arms tightened around me. “I thought I lost you,” he whispered.
I went rigid in his hold.
What was he talking about? When did he think...
Rune leaned back while he curled his fingers under my chin and tipped my head back to meet eyes with him. His were back to the familiar ocean blue but held shadows of his pain that became mine too.
“When you died... I died with you. It was only a matter of time before I met you on the other side, after I killed everyone.”
My breath caught in my chest as I widened my eyes.
An image of the world on fire and everyone dead after Rune unleashed hell because of me played in my mind. Somehow, I even made out the faint screams of the last few people suffering from the remaining short seconds they had left. Through it all, I saw Rune’s normally gentle look toward me replaced with fury, with his lips curled in a snarl. His bright eyes were with his rage and despair. He had an otherworldly presence, wearing different armor with a gold and red glow around him. He held his sword in a striking motion to some unfortunate man on his back in the middle of the street, eyes wide as he watched the gleaming blade strike him with a killing blow.
It had to be my overactive imagination. Rune wouldn’t kill people out of cold-blood. He wouldn’t slaughter the world with hatred in his eyes, which were normally full of adoration.
“I would,” he answered, with no smile or teasing tone he so often used with me. He was serious and watched me with the same deep, seething eyes I imagined. They held a faraway look while, at the same time, staring right through me and into my soul. Like he saw the real me. His fingers tightened on my chin before releasing me and dragging the tips along my jaw and into my hair. He was gentle as he played with a few locks, and his eyes followed every movement.
Slowly, he met my gaze again as he said solemnly, “The only reason the realms aren’t destroyed is that you’re alive. You’re the reason everyone is still breathing and waking up for a new day. I had planned to hunt down those who were responsible first, but I couldn’t bear the thought of not being with you sooner. So I was going to decimate all the realms because whoever is after you would die with the rest of these pathetic sacks of meat.”
