Page 95 of Fire of the Fox

His canines were careful as he latched onto the fabric. He shook his head once to the side, tearing them from my body.

Biting my lip, I watched him as he hovered back over me. The shredded, pink material hung from his mouth the way a fox’s prey might.

Tossing the panties aside, he ran his fangs over his bottom lip. “You have no idea what you’re asking.”

I reached up, trailing my hands over his chest and up onto his shoulders before finally cupping his cheeks. Again, I whispered, “I want you, Rune. All of you.”

“What if you regret it?”

I pulled him down to me, kissing him tenderly, telling him with my touch that regret wasn’t possible where he was concerned. He pulled back only enough to breathe and rest his forehead against mine.

Swallowing hard, I met his eyes. “I love you.”

The golden light in his eyes flared, and his entire body seemed to spark before the light slowly died out. He gave me a small smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I don’t think we should do this.”

A sharp pain filled my chest. “Why? Did I do something wrong?”

He gave a humorless, almost sad laugh and brushed the hair back from my forehead. “Of course not. I just don’t feel right taking something so special from you after you’ve been drinking. I’d want you to have a clear mind so that you don’t regret it later.” His thumb brushed across my cheek and caressed my bottom lip. He met my eyes as hopelessness etched its way onto his mouth. “You’re saying things you don’t mean. I don’t want to do something to you that you don’t mean, either.”

“But—”

He leaned down, kissing me one last time, and something about that kiss felt final. It left a sting in my gut and an ache in my chest.

“Get some sleep,” he whispered against my lips.

He stood and pulled the covers over my bare skin. I was so stunned and embarrassed, I didn’t even follow him out of the room. Tears pooled in my eyes and slipped out the corners.

I hadn’t said anything I didn’t mean.

I loved him.

Why couldn’t he see that?

Chapter Forty

AWKWARD DIDN’T EVEN begin to describe the air between Rune and me the next day. We could barely look at each other, and talking seemed to be a foreign concept at this point. Even Akira picked up on the weirdness, watching both of us over the rim of his coffee cup.

Bassel collapsed on the couch next to Akira, yawning and ruffling his long hair. “So,” he started, smiling at Rune and me. “Did you two kiss and make up?”

My cheeks flushed, and I wanted to bury my head in the sand. Kiss. Why’d he have to phrase it like that? Who even came up with that expression? Whoever it was, I hoped they got ten thousand paper cuts.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Rune answered, meeting Bassel’s smirk with an icy glare. Rune turned to me, and my heart pulsed when our gazes locked. “Do you want to spar today?”

It took a second to find my voice, but finally, I nodded. “That sounds great.”

“She’s mine when you two get back,” Akira grumbled. “We’re doing nails since we didn’t get to yesterday.”

After getting changed and grabbing some waters, Rune and I headed to the private sparring ring we’d been using. The car ride made me restless and jittery. Being so close to him after what happened last night was hard on my scattered emotions. It wasn’t the fact that we’d come close to going all the way. It was the fact that I’d told him I loved him. In my slightly intoxicated state, my barriers were down, and I’d actually said the words. Yet he didn’t say anything. Instead, he thought I was saying things I didn’t mean. It made me hesitate when it came to us. Was he deflecting how I felt because he didn’t feel the same way? Or did he really think I was confused and couldn’t love him?

“What do you want to start with?” Rune asked once we were at the training facility. “Hand-to-hand? Leg work? Defense?”

“Actually, I kinda wanted to start with something a little different.”

He quirked a curious brow. “Go on.”

Pulling out the book I bought, I held it in front of my face. Peeking above the top, I smiled. “How about a reading lesson?”

“That’s Kushagra Kumar’s book. When did you get that?”

---