Page 98 of Edge of the Wild

But.

Rune’s face twitched.

No. Not an involuntary twitch. He suppressed a smile – barely. But she saw the quick flicker of his lips, and heard the forcefully slow breath he took afterward.

He wasn’t really asleep.

The big faker.

She tamped down her own smile, turned to Hilda, and said, “Do you think it would be possible to get some tea?”

Hilda stood with a nod. “I’ll go and ring for it. And then we’ll see about getting you to bed.”

“Wonderful.”

When Hilda was gone, Rune’s eyes snapped open. “Did she leave?”

She snorted. “I think you heard that she did. Why were you pretending to sleep?”

He grinned, full and true this time, and only winced a little as he sat up. “So she would leave.”

She chuckled. “Why?”

In a flash, his expression turned serious. “Because I wanted to apologize. Formally.”

She didn’t have to ask what for. She groaned. “Rune, why does it feel like all we do is apologize to one another, when we haven’t done anything wrong?”

His brow furrowed; he looked troubled. “Well. I don’t…” He bit his lips, nostrils flaring, clearly frustrated.

Again, she thought of Amelia, of her sister’s brave, bold insistence on loving for the sake of love, and not merely for duty. Love had never been a consideration for Tessa…not until now. It hadn’t ever seemed to matter so much. She had admired the young lords back home, like Reginald, and heartily believed her mother that, so long as he was handsome, and fair, and of her station, she would learn to love whoever they matched her with, over time, just as Katherine herself had done. She’d never thoughtI don’t care about responsibility, I just wanthim.

Not until now.

She took a deep breath and said, “Honestly, Rune, I don’t know why you’d want to apologize for this morning, becauseIwas the one who kissedyou.” She could feel the heat in her face, but she refused to parse words or look away. If she wanted to emulate Amelia, then she had to do it all the way.

Rune’s brows flew up. “I…” He gaped a moment, then gave himself a shake. Put on a determined face. “I should never have–”

“Stop.” She laid her hand over his, where he was fiddling with the edge of a blanket. A darted glance over her shoulder proved they were still alone, and the door was still shut. When she faced him again, he was frowning, a panicked sort of light shining in his eyes. She thought she understood, that she’d been feeling the same sort of panic, that fluttering in her chest. “Right now, while we have the chance,” she said, pulse drumming in her ears, belly clenching, but determined to speak her mind, finally. “I want to clear the air. I want to say this, and I would like you, please, to be honest with me.

“I kissed you because I wanted to. And, in the interest of honesty, I’d like to again – only I’d like to stay conscious this time, and I’d like for you to kiss me back, and for us to keep kissing–” She broke off because her face was flaming, now, pulse like war drums in her ears. Took a deep breath. “Maybe you don’t feel the same way, but I think you do. And maybe – maybe it’s absolute folly to say any of this aloud, because I am supposed to marry Leif, and I don’t want to disappoint him – or hurt him in any way, and I know it’s entirely unfair to even be saying this when he isn’t here to defend his own honor, and I do care for him, I like him, but, Rune–”

His finger landed against her lips, and silenced her. His eyes sparkled, and his expression could only have been described as wondrous…wonder touched with something that shocked her a little, in a good way. Reciprocation, she thought. Want.

He leaned in closer, finger still against her lips, keeping her silent when she would have protested that he might hurt himself that way. Closer, closer, until she could feel the heat of his unsteady breath on her face, and his hair swung forward and tickled at her throat.

When he spoke, his voice was rough in a way she’d never heard him sound before, but low, and serious. Strained. “My family isn’t going to let anything awful happen to your family, no matter who you marry, or if you marry at all. Uncle loves Oliver, and he will march to Drakewell himself to defend it, I can promise you. And I–” He swallowed. His finger slid down, so his curled knuckle supported her chin. “I don’t want you to marry Leif.”

She leaned in to close the last distance, at the gentle insistence of his knuckle, but he was most definitely the one doing the kissing this time.

It wasn’t a shock, like it had been that morning. No blue light crowded her vision; that new, strange weight in the back of her mind didn’t roar up and overtake her.

But the room did seem to spin a little, and her breath came quick and short as Rune slanted his mouth over hers, and slipped his tongue between her lips.

Tessa opened for him, and he cupped her cheek in the whole of his palm and delved deeper, tongue hot and shocking as it traced the contours of her mouth. It was so intimate: the wet slide, the rasp of his stubble on her chin, the press of his nose against her cheek, and the heat of his breath, too. She hadn’t ever thought that kissing would feel so much like drowning.

Or that she would enjoy it so much.

She had the sense of a lamp being lit inside her; a warm glow, a heat, a light. It chased through her limbs, and settled warmest in the pit of her belly. Her thighs trembled, and she wanted to press them together. She wanted…she didn’t really know what she wanted, aside frommore.

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