He was shocked, excited, curious, and freakin’ turned on. I wasn’t sure why he’d be turned on until I remembered our earlier activities that ended up in a long sex frenzy.
Harper didn’t really give many details about what she saw except the major one of lightning. It was enough for me to envision seeing it arcing around us in some field with a storm that was out of this world. The same one I saw earlier in some weird type of memory. I didn’t want to linger on that and make it into something it wasn’t.
The realm I ran into during the jacked-up blizzard wasn’t normal like the ones from my realm. So I could only imagine the thunderstorm she described and how crazy it would be. Just like the one I saw earlier... No. It wasn’t anything.
When I didn’t say anything fast enough, Harper chuckled, embarrassed, and waved her hand.
“I know, it’s crazy. Maybe it’s not even real, and I’m just going crazy with mixing things up.”
I quickly shook my head and placed my hand on her shoulder.
“No, you’re not! I believe you. God, I believe you. With everything that’s been happening, I don’t even think there’s anything that isn’t possible.”
She smiled and rolled her eyes as she leaned her head on the wall we sat against. Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes for a minute and sighed. The dim light from the lamp cast shadows on her, making her tanned skin darker but her hair lighter in spots. Another faint glow came from her that wasn’t normal.
I opened mouth but couldn’t say anything. I blinked rapidly when it was gone, and she sighed, then chuckled softly.
“God, it feels so good to finally tell someone that,” she said as she peeked at me from the corner of her eye with a small turn of her head. “It’s been eating at me. And seeing those goons really freaked me out.” She cocked her head to where the other men were. Her soulmates.
Which reminded me...
“Did anything happen between you guys?” At her confused look, I explained, “You’re not fighting them and demanding they take you back home.”
That reminded me a lot of how I reacted when I wound up in a new realm and out of my element. I was a bit jealous that she was handling it better than I did. It seemed like every five seconds I was having a meltdown and was constantly in tears over everything and everyone.
My cheeks heated.
That was still me and my reactions to everything. My emotions were all over the place, and because of the connected link with Rune, I wasn’t numb and cold. I had to go through all the overwhelming emotions. And I wasn’t sure it was something I wanted right now because it was too much.
I was too broken, and it hurt so freakin’ badly.
The whisper of Rune’s knuckles dragged over my cheek to my jaw. His lips brushed my temple as he comforted me.
“I’m here. Stay with me,”he murmured, holding me here in the present so I wouldn’t spiral into the past.
I blinked, and somehow through our link, I felt myself reaching out to Rune and gripping onto him to keep me here. It was the oddest sensation, like I shoved my hand into a wall of Jell-O and wiggled my fingers until they brushed him. When I felt the briefest warmth from him, I strained to grab him. He closed the small space between us as he reached out and circled my fingers with his.
It was all through the link. And it was so... weird. But that didn’t last long as something in me clicked. Like another piece of the puzzle coming together and getting me closer to being whole. It became normal. Natural. And likehome.
Harper snorted and huffed a laugh, pulling my attention from Rune back to her. She shook her head and rested her elbow on her bent knee as she fingered the hair at the side of her head. She narrowed her eyes back toward where the guys were before she glanced at me with a softer expression.
“Nothing’s happened.”
That was it? That was all she was going to say?
I leaned into her slightly, wanting to know more but not wanting to prompt her. It wasn’t my business, and I didn’t want to pry. But I was dying to know. I wanted to make sure she was okay and not distressed in any way. I knew Rune said they wouldn’t ever hurt her because she was their soulmate, but Harper’s feelings were more important to me.
My mouth had a mind of its own and didn’t follow what my brain was set on.
“Are you okay? They’re not... They haven’t...” How did I put it? How did I ask her if they...
Harper’s hazel eyes widened, and her mouth parted as she twisted toward me. Her hand rested on my shoulder, and she shook her head, sympathy shining in her eyes in the little light from the camping lantern.
“Oh. No... no, no, no. Isa, they haven’t touched me. I’m okay.”
Swallowing down the thick emotion, I nodded and smiled. Rune’s mental hold on me helped, but at the same time, I suffered through the intense emotions. He took the brunt of some of it, but it was still unbearable for me.
Harper tilted her head slightly, sweeping her gaze over my face, which I was sure showed everything I felt. I watched her as it finally clicked why I got so upset a few times since we ran into each other in Walmart.
