Page 63 of Whispers of the Water

“Many,” he said with a firm nod.

“I say you have quirks, just like anyone else.”

“Quirks?” He cocked a brow at me, as though trying to weigh whether or not to be offended.

I nodded. “You’re hot-headed, but you’re passionate. You only lose your head when it’s over something you genuinely believe in and care about.”

He tilted his head side to side as he thought about it. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

“You’re possessive and territorial, but it comes from a place of love. You’re protective, loyal, and thoughtful.”

“I don’t like people messing with what’s mine.”

“And sure, you’re not always the best at expressing how you really feel verbally, but I can still tell. It’s in your eyes.” I slowly traced a finger over his brow. “It’s in the tilt of your lips.” My finger trailed down his cheek and grazed lightly over his bottom lip. “It’s in the way you say things. So, even when you can’t say something, I still know.”

His gaze changed then. All of the doubt disappeared, and instead, a warmth blossomed within his golden eyes. A smile slowly lit his face as he squeezed me against him. “Do you know then?”

“Know what?”

He cupped my cheeks and tilted my face up toward his. His words were a whisper against my lips. “That I love you.”

My heart swelled with euphoria like a match suddenly catching fire. Hearing the words leave his lips was like finally stepping out into the sun after months of complete darkness. Warm, blinding, and exhilarating. Four words had never managed to steal the air from my lungs like those. Four words had never been so powerful.

An uncontrollable grin spread wide on my face. My eyes slipped closed, and I leaned in to his touch. “I love you, too.”

His mouth crushed mine, and his hands moved from my cheek and into my hair. With the admission of his feelings, it was like any restraint he used to have disappeared. He was done holding back, which was evident in the way his lips claimed mine, the way his tongue slid along the seam of my mouth, and the way his hands grabbed at my body. He was hungry for me, and a needy shiver traced along my spine as I thought about what was to come from his unhindered fervor.

“I want you,” he bit out against my mouth.

His tongue flicked against mine, and I gasped into his parted lips. “Then have me.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, he didn’t hesitate. His lips were back on mine, and he pressed his weight into me, pushing me backward. I worried about tripping or falling over the balcony threshold, but Rune’s guidance kept me upright as I walked backward into the room. One of Rune’s hands stayed buried in my hair while the other slammed the patio door closed behind him. He grabbed at my dress, pulling the material up and over my head.

His eyes traced my skin for only a moment before his lips reclaimed my own. The tips of his fingers drew a dizzying trail of fire up my waist, over my stomach, and across the fabric of my bra. Need pooled in my middle, and I grabbed at his shirt, yanking off the annoyance. His bare chest stole my breath, looking just as magnificent as it had the first time I saw his firm torso. His maker had been good to him.

“I want you naked underneath me,” Rune growled against my throat. His lips trailed my neck, and I let out a gasp as he bit down on my earlobe. He made quick work of removing my bra as I twitched under the throbbing between my legs.

I fought to catch my breath before pulling his mouth back to mine. He ran his hands down my wide hips, and as he passed lower, his fingers slipped into the band of my underwear. Once beneath the fabric, he sank to his knees and took the clothing with him until the panties were pooled at my ankles with him staring up at my naked body.

I bit my lip under the intensity of his stare, and liquid heat slicked its way across my middle. I stood before him while still wearing my Fox Fae illusion, exposed and breathless, and he knelt there, worshiping me with his gaze. His eyes glimmered in awe as he beheld me, as if I were the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. If the fire in his gaze didn’t tell me all I needed to know, the hard mass needing to be freed from his pants certainly did.

“You are perfect,” Rune said once his gaze found mine.

“So are you.”

His fingertips skimmed across my bare skin, starting at my ankle and moving up my leg. The pad of his finger slipped in between my thighs and swiped slowly across my sensitive clit. I gasped at the jolt of pleasure that shot down my spine, and my legs shook as I fought to keep standing. Rune’s eyes never wavered from my face, and his chest rose with a sharp inhale as he watched my reaction.

“Tell me what you want,” Rune commanded, his voice husky and deep.

What I wanted was him. All of him. We’d finally confessed how we felt. I wanted to experience him fully, with no boundaries left between us, but I knew I couldn’t ask for that yet. He’d been honest with me tonight, but I was still hiding a huge part of myself. Until I came clean with that news tomorrow, I didn’t want to cross this line. It felt like doing so would be a betrayal or almost like I was taking advantage of him. It was still his birthday, and I refused to ruin or complicate it with my truth.

Since this was a day all about him, I said, “I want you to teach me what you like. I want you to show me what you enjoy.”

A devious and wicked smile, one promising unimaginable pleasure, graced his lips. “There’s so much I’d enjoy doing to you. But something does come to mind. If you want to do it.”

“I want to.”

With a new kind of fire settling in his eyes, he got to his feet. My heart thundered in my chest as he placed his hands on my hips. I thought he was going to guide me to the bed, but instead, he pushed me toward the cushioned chairs in the small seating area. I swallowed hard under the intensity of his glowing eyes, and his hungry gaze followed me as I sat on the edge of the plush chair. He sank to his knees in front of me once more, putting us at eye level, and I thought I might come undone right there with how heated I got under his arousing gaze.

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