I was struck silent, blinking owlishly at my beautifully intelligent woman.
“You cannot be angry with me,” Faylinn snipped eventually. Fire and heat ignited her own fury so that it sparkled in her eyes like flames.
“Oh, I can be as angry as I want, my love. Iamangry, furious even. But that is only because I care for you, love you. I’m incensed that you shut the Bond down during this, that you refused to let me experience it with you. I trust you, Faylinn, more than I trust anything or anyone else. If you say the information was worth exchanging your life, worthdyingfor, then it is as you say.”
“Then why are you angry?” she whispered. My face had slowly lowered toward hers as I spoke, and our mouths were now a centimeter away; her warm breath fanned over my lips with each word spoken.
“Because you refused to let me be with you,” I growled. “What don’t you understand, Faylinn? I amyours, you aremine. If you are to die, then I am to do. It. With. You. You leave this Bond open”—I plucked it, feeling it reverberate in my chest—“for the rest of our days. I want to know every thought, every emotion, every feeling that you have. Every pain-filled second and every moment of elation. There are no secrets I want to hide from you, nothing I don’t want you to experience with me. Do you not feel the same?”
Faylinn’s eyes widened the more I spoke. She blinked rapidly at my confession,her hands tightening over mine as our chests sawed in synchronized, uneven breaths.
“I love you,” I raggedly and rawly admitted. “Deeply, ardently, with every fiber of my being.”
“Rohak,” she whimpered. But I felt everything she left unsaid. The Bond flooded with so much emotion, so much love and dedication that it overpowered any residual fear-based anger. My muscles shook with restraint, knees nearly buckling from the realization that whipped through my consciousness.
How I could have ever thought this woman cold, unfeeling, with misappropriated intentions, was a regret I’d live with for the rest of my days.
Gods, I was an imbecile. Faylinn’s intentions were always good, always pure.Iwas the one who tried to sully them. Even now, she tried to protect me, to erect a wall between us for whatever noble reason she felt was necessary to put off completing the Bond with me.
Fuck her good intentions.
“Fuck it,” I growled, pulling her head to mine, our mouths meeting in a fevered clash of tongues and teeth.
Despite my declarations and Faylinn’s reciprocated feelings, there was nothing soft about this. We would have time—eons, if I had any say in the matter—to make sweet, soft love. I’d worship every part of her body, caress every inch of skin until I was burrowed beneath so deeply, she could never unroot me. I would worship her and only her until we were melded completely, existing as one as it always should have been.
But right now, I needed tofeelher. Needed to satiate the feral animal that beat in my chest, threatening to explode from my skin completely in an effort to get to her.
My fingers dug into her curls at the nape of her neck as I pulled her ever closer. Faylinn’s hands still covered my own, her nails digging into my skin as she scrambled to get closer. Our chests were pressed flat together, our inhales and exhales synching until we breathed as one. Her chest stuttered as my tongue plunged into her mouth to tangle with hers. I greedily swallowed each whimper, each moan, as if they were the only thing I needed to survive.
It wasn’t far from the truth, in actuality.
All I needed in this life was her—my Rune Master, my Bonded, my Faylinn, my love.
I sucked her bottom lip into my mouth, biting down harshly until I tasted blood as it oozed from the reopened cut. Groaning at the taste of her, I lapped at the incision, soothing the sting with my tongue.
One of my hands released from her hair to trail down her back until it rested on her ass. I cupped one cheek in my palm, groaning at the contact, beforeaggressively pushing her hips into my own. Flush together, Faylinn moaned when my erection pressed against the apex of her thighs, already warm with arousal.
“Are you ready to complete the Bond, my love?” I whispered against her lips in between savage kisses. Faylinn panted in response, her eyes closed and head thrown back in ecstasy as I trailed my mouth down her neck to her exposed collarbone.
Her hands found purchase in my hair, gripping the strands and pulling hard to direct my head where she wanted. I laughed against her skin, nipping lightly at her neck before pulling back to gaze into her eyes, hazy with lust.
“Rohak? Why did you stop?” she said, somewhere between a whisper and a whine. It was a tone I’d never heard her use before, and it was one I would relish, especially because it was just for me.
“Tell me you’re ready to complete this Bond, Faylinn,” I said seriously. “That being with me, sharing the rest of our lives together, is what you want.”
The fog cleared from her gaze for a moment as her eyes bounced between mine, as if she were searching for her answer in the depths of my gaze. All she would find there was deep resolve and unrestrained want.
I loved this woman, had for quite some time, and wanted nothing more than for her to feel the same. The Bond flickered to life, pulsating with unfettered joy as the most brilliant smile split across Faylinn’s face, lighting her from the inside out.
“Yes, Rohak. Yes, this is what I want,” she said.
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than I pressed my lips to hers once more, pushing all of my joy, desire, and want into one deep kiss.
My hands worked quickly to pick her up and carry her to the bed. I was thankful that the cottage was one small room with the bed nearby because, while I would doanythingto put my cock inside her, our bodies were currently running on straight adrenaline and would definitely need to rest and recover when we were done.
We fell against the bed together, the mattress groaning with our combined weight and hurried motions. Faylinn’s head fell back against the pillow with athumpas I pressed myself above her.
“Off,” I panted, pulling at her tunic. “This needs to come off.”
