Page 75 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

I stared into his brown eyes so deeply it was as though I’d fallen in. Whatever was happening between us no longer felt like a game. We’d left the board completely.

He finished rinsing my hair, waiting patiently as I scrubbed my skin for the third time even though I was bruised and hurt all over. Then he wrapped me in a fluffy black towel and carried me into the bedroom.

It was dark, seductive, and regal, just like him. I admired the hanging artwork, tasteful, miniature marble sculptures, and meticulously crafted wood furniture as he pulled a shirt over my head. It hung so low it was comical.

His bed was similarly ginormous. He lightly tossed me on the dark cloud of bedding, and when I giggled, he pinned me with a look that was nearly bewildered.

“Please, for the love of all gods, never stop making that sound.”

I closed my mouth. “Well, now I’m self-conscious.”

He turned away for a moment, giving me a view of his gloriously toned ass as he slipped into dry underwear and casual black pants. I probably should’ve averted my eyes, but it was hard to find that motivation when I was staring at a body that may have been carved by Lillian herself.

Rune turned and narrowed his eyes. “You’re not allowed to ever be self-conscious around me.”

“Yes, my lord,” I said with a mischievous smile.

His eyes flashed, a smirk forming. “I was about to tell you to also never, under any circumstances, call me lord. But then I realized I really rather like it when it’s coming from your lips. And I know it would infuriate you if I mandated you use such an honorific, which makes it all the more gratifying.”

Before I could say anything more, I lost my focus at his sudden proximity. He pulled me under the covers with him in a cocoon of silky sheets. In his arms, I felt nothing but warmth, his hold a reminder of his strength.

Rune was right. There was no safer place for me to be. If the king of the monsters had for whatever reason decided to protect me, then what was left for me to fear?

After a while, my tightened muscles loosened one by one.

“What were your parents like?” I asked him.

Rune was silent for a moment, and I almost thought he wasn’t going to answer me. After all, he’d kept all personal details about himself completely hidden from Valentin. All we had were rumors and myths, nothing ever confirmed. To the rest of the world, it appeared as though Rune had no beginning and no end. A prince of darkness who had been forged from shadow to lead a war against the born.

No one knew his origins or even his last name. And why would he tell me, a random human girl he’d just met?

But then Rune spoke.

“My dad was a drunk.”

I went utterly still, as if one move or noise would make him stop talking. I almost had the urge to hold my breath, too.

“He’d learned anger and violence from his own father. He terrorized our household. As soon as I was old enough, I made it my mission to provoke him, to redirect all of his attention from my mother and sisters to me. I made myself his preferred target, learning exactly how to get under his skin and keep him busy whenever he was in the mood to rage. Then, when I was old enough, I killed him. My mother never spoke to me again.”

Killed him. Goddess, that was intense.

“Your sisters?”

He swallowed. “I protected them the best I could until their deaths.”

“I’m sorry, Rune.”

He went silent, and I intuitively knew he had said everything he’d wanted to say for now.

I wanted to ask more. Like if his sisters had died of old age after he’d been turned or if they’d been stolen from him just like his childhood.

I wanted to know everything about him. Maybe if I knew his story it would make this inexplicable connection between us finally make sense. But most of all, I wanted to know him. I wanted to crawl deeper inside his mind and shine a light on all of his dark corners. It was a compulsion, a need. And unlike my long list of marks, it wasn’t because of any ulterior motives.

I would’ve wanted to know Rune even if I didn’t need him to find my sister. But, as his words sunk in about his family and his need to take care of me, I knew I’d finally reached the sweet zone.

If I asked him to, Rune would help me.

I took a deep breath, my fingernails digging into my palms. “I have a sister too.”

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