“See you in a few hours,” she said and left the room.
Rune’s fingers circled my upper arm, his touch sending zaps through my body. I responded by shuddering and growing wet. With Rune, I expected him to chuckle and make a dirty joke about it.
“Come,elskan mín,” he said instead, which held a double meaning.
Dirty man.
ChapterTwenty-Five
In order to give us some privacy, Rune had me sleep in a separate room with him. He helped me remove my armor so I could sleep a little more comfortably. But I noticed him hesitating and knew he was thinking like a commander or warrior, going through all the possibilities of what could happen if I slept without the protection. But with a soft touch from me and a kiss, I convinced him to let me go without it.
I curled up with a small blanket tucked around me that he found along with another in the abandoned house. The other went to Harper to keep her warm too, since the temperature dropped with the thunderstorm.
It was weird how humid it was earlier in the day, but as the storm moved in, it became chilly. Back in my realm, the muggy humidity created the thunderstorm and lasted through it. Once it was passed was usually when the temp dropped. Especially at night.
The soothing sounds of raindrops pattering on the roof and low rumbling thunder helped me relax. But it wasn’t enough for me to fall asleep. Not without the medicine I had forgotten to pack. It took till now to remember again I had forgotten to pack the most important thing that I wanted while jumping from realm to realm.
Rune stroked over my arm and down to my stomach. He took his time as he rubbed in circles and slipped his hand under the hem of my shirt. The rough pads of his fingers and palms sent goosebumps and zaps through my body. I leaned back into him with a sigh while clenching my thighs together.
“What do you need to help you sleep,elskan mín?” he murmured into my ear. His warm breath fanned against me, hardening my nipples until they literallyached.
“I take melatonin, but I forgot to pack it. So I’m not sure,” I mumbled with a heavy sigh and shifted closer to him. He groaned when my backside wiggled against his crotch, where I felt he was already getting hard. His fingers curled into my soft skin for a moment, then relaxed and he began tracing his fingertips along my belly.
I was dying to know what he was thinking and why he was taking so long to respond before he huffed a laugh. A fond memory I couldn’t catch passed through his mind, filtering through our link.
“Just the same,”he thought to himself. I tensed and snapped my eyes open. Rune caught his slip-up and backpedaled.
“Elskan mín, I love you, and I love you for you. You’re my universe and the very air I breathe. There isn’t anything about you that will ever turn me away. Please listen to me, beauty. In your last life, you had the same issues with sleeping, and I find it ironic.”
I tried to calm my heart and stop my thoughts from going a million miles a second. I couldn’t seem to catch all that was going through my head. But the only ones that I could catch were,“He doesn’t want me.” “He only sees her.” “We’re not the same... right?” “Would he want me if I weren’t her incarnation?”
“Isa.” Rune turned my head with his fingers curled on my chin. He made me look at his shadowed face. His stare was heavy and deep enough that I felt it in my bones and it made my stomach flip. “Follow your gut, beauty. Don’t listen to the lies of your spiraling mind. Listen to your heart.Our heart.”
I swallowed hard and nodded.
He was right. He loved me. I told him it was hard for me to accept who I was in my past life, but he promised to help me. I had to let him do that.
Closing my eyes, I released a shaky breath. When I calmed down, I relaxed into his arms again.
“Thank you,” I whispered, not sure why I was thanking him. But I felt the need to tell him that.
He clicked his tongue and rubbed his knuckle along my jaw and cheek. “Don’t think anything of it,elskan mín. You’re my other half, my heart, and my soul. I’ll always be here for you and help you with no expectations.”
Tears stung my eyes as I smiled, basking in his words of affirmation. I wasn’t ever good with my words and always seemed to find myself stuck more in my head than being able to communicate out loud. But he was worth everything to try to change that.
“You may not expect anything in return, but you still deserve the world too. You’ve gone out of your way for me and have been my rock to lean on. And I love you and appreciate you. But from what I know about you and what little memories I have of you, I do know that you’ve been strong for way too long. You’ve gone so long without me until recently, and I can’t imagine the pain you’ve been going through alone.” I turned my face toward him with thick emotion clogging my throat. Rune went still, holding his breath as he watched and listened to me. “Lean on me too, Rune. Let me protect and comfort you. Let me burn the world down for you.” The last confession slipped out; I didn’t know where it came from or what made me want to say it.
“Gods, Isa,” Rune whispered on a shaky breath. He swept down and captured my lips with his, but it was different this time around. It was sweeter but still hungry. His tongue slipped into my mouth, and I tasted the salt of tears.
I made Rune cry.
My hand came up, and I tangled my fingers into his hair at the back of his head. I offered my love and comfort through my touch and kisses, hoping he’d feel it through the touch alone. But if all else failed, he knew because of our link.
At some point, our lips stopped greedily moving against each other, and we held onto each other, breathing one another in. I kissed away the few tears still lingering on his cheeks, relishing that I comforted him. That it was me who kissed away his tears this time.
“Close your eyes and try to sleep, beauty. I’ll be here when you wake up,” Rune murmured, his voice thick.
I knew he was concerned about me getting rest because it was important to me. When you had insomnia, it became almost an obsession to try to find time and ways to sleep. I had trouble falling asleep, and even though I couldn’t fall asleep without help, I still got upset when I couldn’t. Because sleep, of course, waseverything.