Page 16 of Calling of the Crown

A shiver ran down my spine as I felt the promise in that one word all the way to my very core.

He wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to stand beside me, and when I felt myself losing footing amidst it all, he’d be there to hold my hand and keep me firmly planted in place.

Rune pulled back to look down at me, and my heart skipped when I saw that familiar playful smirk. “Think we can charge that guy with treason for speaking to you that way?”

Laughing, I patted Rune’s chest. “I doubt it. It’s fine, really. I wanted him to tell me his honest feelings, and even though it’s beyond messed up, I can see where he’s coming from. He wants revenge for his lost loved ones, for all the Water Fae who have died. I think in his own warped way, he truly believes that war is what’s best for Water Fae.”

“Revenge,” Rune repeated. He said the word slowly, like he was almost afraid to utter its syllables. His fox ears flattened, and his amber eyes clouded with thoughts far from here. “Vengeance is a drug. It’s like an odorless, tasteless poison that spreads through your body, and before you realize you’ve been infected with it, it’s too late. All sense of yourself, your morals, your humanity vanishes. It’s a dark and angry state, and while it can feel good in the moment, it will break you in the end. Revenge isn’t the answer here.”

I kept my mouth shut and let his words hang in the air between us. Brushing my fingers through the ends of his shoulder-length white hair, I said, “You know from experience.”

Sadness swarmed his eyes. “Unfortunately, I do. I killed a lot of Fae while fueled by it. Some who probably weren’t even deserving of such a fate. It’s something I try not to think about but regret all the same.”

I swallowed hard. “Was it after your dad died?”

He mulled over the question for a moment. “I think part of me was fueled by a need for vengeance even before that, but it was definitely amplified after he was killed. His murder spurred me to kill more than I care to admit, but at the time, I couldn’t stop. I blamed every Water Fae I came across for his death, and all I could think about was hurting as many as I could. I kept thinking if I took just one more life, he’d somehow come back. But that’s part of the poison that is revenge. It lies to you. It feeds you this false sense that vengeance will restore what you’ve lost, but it can’t. Nothing can. So then you’re just left even emptier than before with nothing but that poison to choke on, and it … it never leaves you.”

My chest constricted, and my mouth seemed to fill with sand. The rawness in his confession lanced my own heart with pain. “If it doesn’t go away, where is it now?”

He took my hand and pressed it to his chest. “It’s still here. It will always be there, trying to rear its ugly head, but it’s become easier to ignore since something far stronger moved into its place.”

“Which is …”

“You,” he answered without hesitation. He gently brushed his thumb across my cheek. “My love for you is what fuels me now, and it keeps the monster tucked away.”

My smile came before I could help myself, and a dizzying warmth that only Rune could give me flooded my body. I’d never get tired of all he stirred up in me. He was my drug, my poison, on which I’d happily die. There was a time when I couldn’t stand this man, yet here we were, about to take on an entire Kingdom together. And there was no one else I’d rather face that unknown with.

I cupped the back of his neck. “I love you so much, Rune.” I pulled his face closer to mine for a kiss. It was just meant to be a quick peck, but as soon as his soft lips grazed my own, I needed more.

I deepened the kiss, and it was clear from his groan that he was eager to do the same. His tongue urged my mouth open, coasting teasingly along my own. His firm body pressed into me, and he didn’t stop pushing against me until my back bumped into the table.

“Take your pants off before I rip them off,” he growled.

Breathless, I did as he said and shimmied out of my leggings and panties. He didn’t hesitate a moment longer. He gripped me around my thighs and planted me firmly on the table, spreading my legs apart as he sank to his knees.

His eyes drank in the sight of my parted folds, and need pulsed like a heartbeat where he stared. I desperately wanted him, and impatience had me shifting and leaning back on my elbows to expose more of myself to him.

“Holy fuck,” Rune grunted before darting forward.

His tongue was like a viper striking, and it struck true with ease and precision. My head fell back, and I hissed in a strangled reach for air. Heat and pleasure enveloped my wet, aching pussy, and I fought to keep from crying out as his tongue flicked enticingly against my sensitive bud of nerves.

“Feels good,” I gasped, falling all the way back against the tabletop.

“Tastes fucking divine,” came his muffled response.

His tongue beckoned me closer to the edge of something violently delightful, and the sensation only got stronger as he pushed one large, long finger inside me.

My back arched, shoving his face and finger further into me. His digit sank deep before pulling out to the tip, only to dive back in again, while his tongue continued its fierce then gentle dance along my clit.

“Close,” I moaned, shoving my hands into his hair. “So close.”

He groaned against my flesh, the vibration only serving to spur the tingling tightening in my core to coil faster until all I felt was a blinding jolt of pure pleasure. I let out a choked cry of release as my entire body shook against the waves of ecstasy crashing over me.

It was while I shivered from the mind-numbing orgasm that Rune shot to his feet, shoved his pants down far enough to free his cock, and sank into my dripping wet folds in one fluid motion. His mouth was on mine in a heartbeat, and I kissed him hungrily as his hips drove his dick in and out of me like a madman chasing his prey.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered against my lips as he pumped into me.

I gave a breathless laugh only for it to sound more like a moan than anything. “You always say that.”

---