Page 78 of Fire of the Fox

“To you. You aren’t Land Fae, so you don’t understand.”

I stared into his eyes, my heart sinking with dread. He wanted my dear friend dead, and it didn’t matter what I said. She was Water Fae, so that was reason enough for him. He wanted every Water Fae gone, despite who they were. Or so he said. But how true was that?

Swallowing hard, I gazed into those amber eyes I’d come to love so much. Ones I knew belonged to a man who was capable but scared of love. “What if I were Water Fae? Would you want me dead, too?”

He seemed thrown off guard by my direct question. His wide eyes were locked with mine for a few endless moments. After seconds of silence, I was going to repeat my question, but finally, he looked away from me with a bitter frown. He stood up and said, “You aren’t Water Fae, so it doesn’t matter.”

Anger ignited my veins like a match being thrown into a tub of kerosene. I wasn’t going to let him dodge my question this time. As he started for the door, I threw off the blankets. I braced myself for what was probably about to hurt and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Pain ricocheted up my limbs, but I ignored it as I stood up to go after him. As soon as I tried taking a step forward, the ache in my abdomen became too much. My knees gave out just as Rune looked back at me from the door.

Before I could collapse, Rune was at my side, keeping me from smacking into the ground for the dozenth time tonight.

“What are you doing?” he said, his tone a mix of urgency and firmness. “You don’t need to walk yet.”

“Then don’t walk away from me,” I demanded as he carried me back to the bed. My arms were tight around his shoulders, and I rested my head in the warm crook of his neck. With a heavy sigh, I repeated softly, “Don’t walk away from me.”

He carefully laid me back down in the bed. He guided my head to the pillow, but I kept my eyes shut and turned away from him. I was tired of this game where he refused to reveal anything about his feelings. The walls around his heart were tall and steep, but I was trying my damnedest to mount them.

He pulled the covers back over me, and when I expected him to leave, he surprised me by crooking his finger under my chin and tilting my face up. My eyes shot open, and our gazes locked. For once, his expression was undeniably clear. There was an immeasurable amount of affection buried in those depths, and it was directed right at me. “I’m not walking away from you. I just don’t like the answer to your question.”

A sinking pit formed in my stomach. I swallowed hard and confirmed, “So you would kill me.”

He frowned, his face torn. “No. That’s why I don’t like the answer. I’ve never hesitated when it comes to killing Water Fae, but if you were one—” He paused, looking down at me with soft eyes. He shook his head and finished, “I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you, let alone kill you.”

My heart took flight on the wings of relief at his words. Here we were, a girl and a boy, pretending at love but somehow actually falling in head first. I was supposed to find him infuriating, and he was supposed to find me impossible. And while we definitely did, something heated and alive still managed to blossom between us. He was my greatest ally, my constant supporter, and I was the girl changing the way he looked at the world. This wasn’t a confession by any means, but it was the most honest he’d ever been about how he felt.

I wasn’t the only one falling in love.

Rune was, too.

He must have realized how open and vulnerable he was being, because he quickly pulled away his hand and turned to look anywhere that he could, except at me. He cleared his throat and said, “You get some sleep. If you need anything, I’ll be in the living room.”

He turned for the door, so I frowned. “You’re sleeping in the living room?”

He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Yes. Why?”

A wave of guilt washed over me. I was essentially kicking him out of his room, even after he’d helped me.

“You don’t have to sleep in there. There’s enough room for us both to sleep here. I don’t mind.”

A seductive smirk pulled at his lips. “Don’t tempt me. I know my limits, and being in the same bed isn’t a good idea.”

My body heated with need at what his words implied. Suddenly, all I wanted was for him to crawl beneath the sheets with me and show me what it meant for him to lose control. Our intense kissing session was still fresh in my mind. It left me feeling raw and antsy. He had to be feeling that way, too. The thought was quickly crushed by the logical side of me. With the shape I was in, I needed to rest, not test Rune’s boundaries or my own.

Swallowing hard, I cleared my throat. “Fine. You sleep in here. I can sleep on the couch.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry. I’m fine on the couch. I want you to sleep in here. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I put my injured girlfriend on the couch to sleep?”

I blushed and gave a small laugh. “Okay. I owe you, though.”

“You don’t owe me anything. Just rest and get better. That will be enough for me.”

His words made me warm inside. He was so different now than when we’d first met. He was far more open and honest at times, and I enjoyed seeing that side of him. It was hard to think that the man who tried so hard not to care about others cared about me so openly.

I couldn’t help but wonder what we’d be like if our relationship were real. No pretending for the sake of maintaining his freedom and closed-off lifestyle, no spending time with him in exchange for money. If we had more time, could things become real? Because time was slipping by. It had already been nearly two months, although it felt like a lifetime.

I wanted two more months with him.

I wanted always with him.

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