Each step he took felt like a drumbeat in my chest. People parted for him instinctively, drawn aside by the force of his presence. Shadows still clung to him, trailing behind like loyal pets.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said quietly.
I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. I just nodded and took his hand.
He led me away from the party, past flickering lanterns and murmuring guests. I barely registered Adelle makingbam-chick-a-wow-wownoises behind us. I didn’t even have it in me to be remotely embarrassed by her antics now. All I could think about was what was to happen next. Power thrummed through the air as Rune guided me through all the guests and then down the winding halls of the compound.
When we stopped just short of his door, there was a question on the tip of my tongue, I just didn’t know how to let it free.
“I wasn’t sure if I could do this,” he said, voice lower now, rougher. “Not just the speech. All of it. The throne. The weight.”
My brows furrowed as my heart pounded inside my chest. “Rune?—”
“But then I looked at you.”
He stepped closer, shadows curling like mist around his feet again.
“And I thought, if she’s here, I cansurviveit.”
All thoughts went right out the window as heat curled low in my stomach. Over and over again tonight, he’d gone out of his way to make his feelings known and all I’d done was stand there dumbstruck by it all.
I sucked in a breath. “I… I don’t know what to say.”
“I know this has been messy and complicated. But I meant what I said. The ancestors may have brought you here for the coven, but I know they brought you here forme, too.”
“I had no idea you felt this way,” I had hoped because even though he’d been distant, I found myself falling for him with every interruption in the library and all the lingering touches.
“You occupy all of my thoughts. I wonder what you’re doing all day. I want to speak to you, hear you laugh.” He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Ancestors, I want to hear anything about you all day long, and it’s messing with my head. I can’t do anything without you in the back of my mind, and it’s driving me nuts.” He ran a hand down his face and let out a nervous laugh. “I can’t even believe I’m saying this.”
He moved forward suddenly, his hands caged my face. “I want you more than I have ever wanted anything, and it scares me.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he continued. “This doesn’t feel so fake anymore. It doesn’t feel arranged. It feels…” The warmth of him enveloped me as he leaned in closer. He was now a hairsbreadth away from my lips, and during everything he’d said, somehow I’d ended up backed up against his door. “Fated.”
My stomach bottomed out. When his lips whispered over mine, I was lost and completely gone to the way he steadied me. The intoxicating scent of him wrapped around me as he pressed his lips firmly against mine—no longer hesitating.
His hands slid up, slow and sure, until they cradled my jaw, thumbs sweeping gently over my skin. I couldn’t tell where he ended and I began. Every rational thought dissolved.
Our lips moved in a quiet rhythm, exploratory and aching, like we were learning each other by touch alone.
My fists curled into the front of his suit, gripping him like he was the only thing tethering me to earth, and maybe he was.When his lips parted mine, heat pooled low in my belly. The first sweep of his tongue—slow and searching— had my legs nearly giving out beneath me.
His hand slid from my jaw to the back of my neck, fingers threading into my curls as he deepened the kiss. There was nothing hesitant now—just heat, hunger, and the kind of urgency that made my skin feel too tight.
I gasped against his mouth, and he took it as an invitation—his other hand sliding down, brushing over my waist before sliding back to lightly cup my ass. I shivered against the touch. I wanted more, so much more. My body arched into his to tell him exactly what Ineeded.
He groaned into my mouth. His restraint shattered. His hands gripped my hips, then slid lower, hooking beneath my thighs. The door opened behind me, and I wondered if his shadows were doing the extra work. I stumbled backward into his home, but somehow we still didn’t untangle from each other. With a swift, fluid motion, he lifted me and set me down atop the nearest surface in the entryway. The door swung closed on its own, and the lock clicked into place. Any other time, I would have been curious, but right now, all I cared about was what Rune was doing to me…My body.
The kiss turned hungrier. His tongue tangled with mine, his teeth grazed my bottom lip, and I melted beneath every touch like I was made of something far more delicate than flesh.
My dress rode up as he stepped between my legs, his palms dragging along my thighs like he couldn’t get enough of touching me. I gasped when his hand slipped under the hem, fingers exploring the soft, sensitive skin there—closer, but not close enough.
“Tell me what you want,” he murmured against the skin of my neck, lips brushing my pulse point.
“You,” I breathed. “Justyou.”
That was all he needed.
His mouth trailed heat down my throat, over my collarbone, his hands pushing the straps of my dress down my shoulders. The fabric slipped away like it had been waiting to fall. His lips followed its path, kissing the curve of my breast and then lower to my aching nipples. His tongue swirled over one before going to the other and giving it the same attention. My head fell back at the sensations curling within me. Each tug of his lips on my skin pulled a desperate moan from my lips.
