Page 44 of A Fate In Moonstone

The seer turned and faded into the mist. The conversation was over.

Rune’s hands rubbed my back, and I curled into his arms.

“I understand if this is too much for you,” I croaked out. “We’re mates. I know what that means but we don’t know each other. It’ll be so painful, and the wait…”

In the blink of an eye, calloused fingers lifted my chin, and lips claimed mine.

“I’ve lived many years and there are few certainties in this life,” he said, voice firm and unyielding. “This bond between us is one of them.”

My heart skipped a beat.

He heard it and the corners of his lips lifted an inch. “I know your soul as well as my own. You are a warrior as I am. We are one, and I will wait for you, fight for you, with you.” The breath in my lungs stilled as he continued to dig his words into my chest like a weapon and claim my heart as his prize.

“One month.” He pressed a kiss to my lips with a smile. “One year.” Another kiss. This time I breathed him in, my fingers winding up his chest to snake through his black hair.

“However long it takes, my moon.”

I laughed. “My moon?”

How did this fierce male make me laugh this much? He was so scary, and yet so… soft.

“Yes, my moon.” He smiled against me, my laughter amusing him.

Whatever. Considering what the moon was to him, I didn’t push it. Hopefully, he’ll explain it one day. We’d have plenty of time to come once we made it past the next month.

“One month and you’re mine,” I said into his mouth.

We kissed for another minute or two, before I pulled back and rested my head against his chest once more.

“Tor is a good male,” I murmured. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Honorable, and I promise to wait before claiming what’s mine.” His hips shifted and I gasped. My hips rolled against him instinctively and his face lit up.

“This will be hard, won’t it?” I sighed and untangled myself from him to stand on my own.

Rune followed and caressed the side of my cheek.

“Think of it as sweet foreplay, my needy princess.”

I was needy, and this would suck in so many ways.

Rune gestured for me to walk out of the cave first and gave me one last kiss in the darkness before we separated to take on our roles in the public.

Sapphira of Crysia, future wife of Prince Tor, and sister-in-law to Rune.

What a mess.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Sapphira.”

My name floated from Nyx’s lips at my window to the little hideaway on the roof. I found this spot at ten years old. It quickly became my little safe haven when I needed a break. No one could see me, but I saw so much.

The people in town going about their business, my mother sitting in the gardens, her gaze always on the Hallowstags. I never knew why, but I assumed it was because she simply thought the sight was beautiful, or she was watching for threats.

Tor was hunting with my father. The two of them celebrating the engagement by shooting creatures together.

Then there was Rune.