I drank him indeep. He was safe.Whole, though his arm was wrapped tight in a bandage. He’d broken the bone, I remembered. I had heard the snap of it.
I felt a distant squeeze on my hand and out of the corner of my eye, I watched Hukri and Tess leave us in peace. They shifted around Wrune to leave thevolikithough he didn’t even seem to see them. He was only looking at me.
And when we were alone, he strode forward, his footsteps quick and light.
“Wrune,” I whispered, feeling a smile begin to break over my face though I had the strangest sensation that I was about to cry as well. “Wrune.”
“Mina,” came his growl, deep and guttural and rough and husky.
Just from his voice alone, I heard the strain that this week had been on him. It made my throat tighten, wishing I could take that strain away.
He caught me up in his arms. Unlike Hukri, he didn’t seem to believe I would break. He embraced me tightly and I embraced him right back with every bit of my own strength, feeling the tears pool in my eyes but I willed them away. I knew he didn’t like to see me cry, though these were happy tears. Tears ofrelief.
Digging my hands into his hair, I turned his head. His hand slid under my jaw, cradling it gently as he lifted my face.
Then his lips met mine. I dragged his scent into my lungs, finding peace and comfort and desire and warmth in his kiss.
It was soft at first. Soft and deep and mind-meltingly wonderful.
“I’ve missed you,” came his whisper, peppering kisses over my face, the bridge of my nose, my cheekbones, my eyelids. “Vok, how I’ve missed you,rei kassiri.”
Rei kassiri.
Then his kiss returned to my lips, dragging me in deep as one of my hands clutched his hair and the other was steady on his thick shoulder.
I wasn’t worried I would fall. He would never let me fall and so I gave myself up to him. I gave into him. Then again, I felt him giving into me too.
The longer he kissed me, however, the more I sensed his need. His need to make sure I washere. Alive. With him.
What had he thought while I slept?
What terrible things had gone through his head?
“Wrune,” I whispered, pulling back, placing my hand on his lips when he moved to kiss me once more. “Tell me.”
As if he knew what I asked, he bit out roughly, “Youdied.”
My breath hitched.
“You died right in my arms,” he rasped out.
And I had never seen Wrune cry but right at that moment, he was the closest to tears I thought I would ever see.
Hearing the anguish in his voice nearly undid me.
His hand stroked through my hair and he took a steadying breath. He didn’t close his eyes, he didn’t look away. He met my gaze fully. Head on.
“You died and I thought I’d died with you,” he continued. “For that brief moment, when your heart no longer beat, I felt my soul wither. I felt darkness. Unlike anything I’d ever felt before.”
My vision blurred. Taking his hand, I led him to our bed. I wanted to hold him. I wanted him to hold me too.
And only when I was wrapped in his arms did he seem to relax. Ever so slightly. A long, deep sigh threaded up his throat but his grip on me never loosened.
“I’m here,” I told him, pressing my hand to his chest, leaning up on my elbow so I could press a kiss to his cheek, to his jaw. “Wrune, I’m here.”
“Are you?” he rasped, looking at me. “Because it feels like a dream. It is the only thing I’ve dreamt of when I’ve slept. You coming back to me.”
My lips trembled.
