AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His soft laughter glided over her skin as he leaned back. “Lesson first.”
Faye reluctantly released him and nodded.
“Shielding yourself is simple. I will teach you different shields and how to apply them to others or spaces at a later time.” Faye nodded and Rune continued. “Draw your power to you and let it overflow, spilling past you.”
Faye concentrated, studying his shoulder. Her power loomed far beneath her, but like her shards it felt like a piece of her. She took a breath summoning it. Her magic curled slowly, lifting higher, rising to her body. Cold pinpricks covered her as it flowed past, coating her. A black mist edged in purple tendrils flashed over her then faded.
A flick of dark power sizzled at her arm. Her misted shield set aglow where Rune’s magic touched her shield.
“It looks like the Darkness itself.” He lowered his hand, running a finger along her arm. Her shield glowing to life and fading away in the wake of his touch.
“How do I drop the shield?”
He smirked. “Relax. Let it fall from you.”
Faye closed her eyes. Her magic felt fluid and malleable. Eager to obey her will. A breath passed through her lips as she let her shield slip away. It dissipated fading the same way Rune’s veined, misted shadows slipped to nothing as they swayed over the tops of his cheekbones.
Strong hands closed over Faye’s hips, pulling her closer. Faye sighed, lifting her chin as Rune’s lips met the hollow of her throat, giving him more access.
“I worried it would take you hours to relax enough to drop your shield.” Another kiss under her jaw. “Or did you hold the shields around your mind to torment me?”
Faye gazed down at him. “You deserved it. So upset to be paired with a mortal peasant.”
He held her closer, brushing his fingertips over her back in long soothing strokes. “I regret tarnishing our beginning. I should have recognized the gift fate placed before me.”
He gazed up at her. His yearning evident in his pale blue gaze. Darkness, she loved this man. Faye ran her hands through his hair and rested her forehead against his. “You can spend the rest of my life making up for it.”
Rune shifted, gently laying her on their bed. He leaned over her, his lips settling over hers in a soft kiss. When he pulled back Faye didn’t see hunger or need in his expression. Reverence filled his gaze, and Faye’s chest tightened at his words.
“I will worship you for the rest of mine.”
Faye groaned when Rune slipped from the bed, taking his warmth with him. Morning came entirely too quickly. She glared in the silent-walker’s direction when the water spray in the shower started. Rolling over she clutched Rune’s pillow close, breathing in his scent of amber and sandalwood. She closed her eyes letting the fall of water fade to the background.
Fingers brushed through her hair, and she pulled the blankets tighter around her, needing a few more hours. She cracked her lids begrudgingly and gazed up.
Rune smiled down at her; a towel wrapped around his lean waist. “Damian is in the courtyard if you were meaning to join him this morning.”
“You kept me up too late,” Faye grumbled.
Rune laughed softly, “At someone’s insistence.”
“Did he ask you to get me?”
“No, I hear him every morning.”
Every morning he and Sadi stayed in the north wing. “Sadi’s a bitch.”
“She’s protective of her court.”
“Of you, more like. I didn’t see her coming to Lyssa’s defense.” Faye glanced away remembering Rune’s words.Tell me she is not the very image of Sadi.The wounds she received that night were still raw, and Sadi’s behavior did nothing to soothe that pain. “She acts like you wereromantically involved.”
“Vsenia.” Rune lifted her in his arms, pulling her and the blankets onto his lap. He held her close, stroking her hair. “Sadi came to court after she invoked her blood. In the seventeen centuries I have known her, I have never touched her in that way.” Rune kissed her brow. “You are the only one I desire.”
Faye leaned against Rune’s chest, pulling the blanket tighter around her. “You were the High Queen’s consort, and you didn’t desire her either.”
“Lyssa was not the High Queen when I served as her consort. It was… complicated.” Rune leaned back, searching her eyes. “You told me once you preferred honesty to flattery. Does that still hold true?” At Faye’s nod he continued. “Lyssa’s mother Belind ruled our court. Lyssa made a formal petition to Belind requesting I serve as her consort. This type of request is done publicly. I was quite surprised when I was summoned before the court.”
Faye’s expression contorted in revulsion. “She forced you to be her consort?”
