Page 94 of Fire of the Fox

I waved a dismissive hand. “No, no. I’m fine. Better than fine. I’m swell.”

Cocking a brow, amusement glittered in his eyes. “Swell?”

I nodded, which I’m pretty sure ended up looking like an out-of-control bobblehead. “Yessir. Swell.” Dipping my head, I stared down at his other hand, which rested on his thigh, close to me. I swallowed my nerves and reached forward, tracing each finger like I was sketching it out for a painting. “Did you mean what you said?”

“When?” He flipped his hand over at my tugging, letting me trace small lines into his palm.

“When you said you cared about me.”

He was quiet, but I heard him take a sharp breath. Meeting his eyes, heat pooled deep in my belly. There was a raw desire burning bright in his eyes, and I felt that same need all the way to my very core. I’m not sure if it was the alcohol or if I was feeling brave today, but I was tired of trying to deny what I was feeling. I was tired of lying to myself about how I felt. I gave in to that need we both had.

Leaning in, I pressed my lips softly to his, and he groaned as I swept my tongue in and placed my hand on his chest. His arm around my waist tightened, pulling me flush against him, and I deepened the kiss, begging for all of him. His taste, his breath, his touch. I wanted it all.

Gripping the back of my neck, he urged me closer, and the urgency in his touch had me aching for him. In one swift motion, he had my sweater up and over my head, and he discarded the material somewhere behind the couch. His hungry gaze trailed from my lips, down my neck, over the swells of my breasts, and back to my eyes.

My cheeks warmed, and excitement curled in my stomach. I didn’t care about the embarrassment of being seen in my bra by him. I was too caught up in Rune and the way he looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

I crushed our mouths together again, my inexperienced fingers fumbling to get his shirt off as smoothly as he’d removed mine. His tongue swept against my own as he grabbed at my hands. I was about to protest until I realized it was because he was taking his shirt off for me.

It was my turn to study his bare skin. I’d seen him shirtless before, but I wasn’t able to openly take in my fill then. I made up for that now. His sculpted chest and stomach felt like pure gold under my fingertips, and a new hunger brewed inside me.

“Rune,” I cried breathlessly, reaching my hands up into his hair and grinding against the hard mass in his pants.

His cheeks flushed, and he quickly pulled me firmly against him as he got to his feet. His mouth was on mine without another second’s hesitation, and he held my legs around his waist as he headed for his room.

I was breathless with my heart hammering in my chest as Rune sat me on the edge of his bed. His warm hands moved from my hips, up my sides, and across my back. In one single move, he unclipped my bra with one hand while using the other to pull it off.

Blushing, I went to cover my bare chest but stopped when he got down on his knees in front of me. I was dizzy from all the emotions rushing through me, but more importantly, I was breathless from Rune and what he managed to do to me with his gaze alone.

“God, you’re perfect,” Rune whispered.

He leaned forward and placed small, feather-light kisses along my collar bone, trailing lower until he reached my breasts.

My eyes slipped shut, and I bit my lip to keep my gasp of approval at bay. Suddenly, I felt his canines scraping teasingly across my sensitive skin, and when I opened my eyes, he was in his Fae form. A wicked and seductive glint was in his eye, and I was desperate to give into his beast.

Coaxing me out of my jeans, he pushed me gently back against the bed. His tongue traveled up my cleavage as he got on his hands and knees over me.

I shuddered and was unable to contain my whimper.

That sound triggered something in him because he leaned down and kissed me with an all-new desire.

His hands ran up the inside of my legs, spreading them apart so he could settle in between them. My skin was on fire everywhere he touched me, and my breathing was becoming erratic in anticipation of his fingers and caress. A sweet heat pooled in between my legs where his hands rested on my inner thighs.

“You drive me crazy,” he groaned, grabbing my hands and pinning them above my head.

His lips burned a trail from my mouth to my neck and down to my peaked nipples. The tip of his tongue swirled around the sensitive pink bead of my breast, and I moaned under the jolt of hungry need building under his mouth.

“You’ve got it backward,” I said breathlessly. “You’re the one always driving me crazy. I can’t get you out of my head.”

He sucked at the puckered tip of my breast, and his hand swiped in a teasing trail down my slick middle of my panties. “Do you want me out of your head?” His lips tickled the skin around my beaded nipples, and the warmth of his breath sent goosebumps dancing along my arms.

I shook my head, throbbing for him in desperate need. “Never.”

I sucked in a breath and held it as his fingers rubbed in a slow, tantalizing caress in between my legs. Turning my head to the side, I arced my back into his touch. My breathing had become labored at the work of his hand. Never had I felt something so hot and frustrating all at once. The piece of clothing separating his skin from mine was an annoyance I wanted gone. I needed to feel him.

Sensing my need, he glanced up at me from where he kissed my breast, and with a seductive smirk, his lips moved down my stomach. I clutched the blanket beneath me when he reached my panties. His tongue barely brushed the material where his fingers had been working, and it sent a tremor through my body.

“Please, Rune,” I begged. “I want you.”

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