If he drank too deeply, he might lose himself.
Then he might never stop.
And that terrified him.
Because the desperate and dangerous urge toconsumeher surfaced from the depths of him.
He lifted his mouth slowly, breath unsteady, eyes burning brighter than they should.
Alora gasped for breath, her head hanging back. She would never understand what she had just done to him. She shivered, teetering on the edge, begging for more.
Rune would give her enough.
He twirled his tongue over her clit and whispered one word into her mind.
Come.
The command released whatever held her back and Alora spasmed against his mouth with a scream. She came apart, trembling against his mouth as the purest nectar spilled down his throat. He groaned at the taste of her, it sent him into a frenzy as he drank in every drop with a frantic need.
Caution fled as he ached for more, but Alora clutched a handful of his hair and yanked him back. She had somehow managed to free one of her hands.
“Wait…” Alora gasped. “I think I’m going to faint.”
He chuckled, licking his lips. “You are not allowed to fall apart on me yet, songbird. I intend to make you scream more than once tonight.”
But even in the dark he could see the soft bruises beginning to bloom on her skin from how hard he held her.
It served as a reminder take it slow with his delicate little wife.
Rune released the bindings from Alora’s wrists, catching her as she fell against him. Her legs had no strength in them. He held her as she shook, though whether from fear, lingering ecstasy, or something else entirely
But he wasn’t finished with her yet. Far from it.
Her palms pressed against his chest—weakly, uncertainly. The bond jolted with her bewilderment as she looked at him, the storm in her veins matching his own. At first Rune thought she saw him for what he was, but his glamor had already fallen into place.
“Your burns…” she whispered. “They’re gone.”
Rune looked down at himself, finding all the sun scorched burns had healed completely. Much quicker than normal.
She had healed him somehow.
Her skin glittered with light, the paths of her markings entwining over her entire body. It was devastatingly beautiful. Like a constellation of stars.
He cupped her chin, tilting her face toward his. “You’re a miracle.”
Then he hauled her mouth to his. They collided like fire and storm, ruin meeting resurrection in the shape of a kiss.
It was not soft. It was not slow. It wasferal.Alora crashed her lips into his like she meant to break something. Maybe him. Maybe herself.
Rune growled a low, guttural sound that came from somewhere unholy. His shadows erupted, twining around her like silk and smoke. Her kiss tasted like rebellion. Like hope. Like ruin made soft and warm in his arms.
The bond surged there beneath the surface. It had always been there, quiet and patient beneath his skin. But now it roared.
She was his.
His.
The shadows echoed it. His soulscreamedit. Demanding he make her completely his. But with this, he would take his time.
