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She gasped and choked, clutching at her throat. Her amber gaze flared even wider as she jerked and toppled sideways.
“Runa!” I caught her.
She moaned and fought to get free.
I let her go, watching helplessly as she crawled away, hovered on all fours, then vomited violently onto the ground.
Zetas raised her horned head and Syn yawned from where she was snuggled up with the huge wolf. Both predators watched Runa retching with pity in their matching yellow-glowing eyes. Last night they’d had no choice but to let us be together. But now, they didn’t seem to care.
Crawling toward her, I stroked her back and gathered her tangled white hair, keeping it away from the mess she’d made. Not that much came up. I doubted she’d eaten since we left the Nhil camp yesterday, and after such a long walk, terrible hunt, and what’d happened between us last night, she had nothing left.
The only mess that marked the dirt was the same sickening red-black sheen of my blood.
Blood that she’d swallowed.
Blood that her body had rejected just like Solin had said it would.
Groaning in pain, she tumbled forward.
I caught her again, gathering her close, drawing her into my arms.
With a soft shudder, tears broke her eyelashes and rained down her cheeks. “I’d hoped...I truly hoped.” Turning into me, she crawled onto my lap and buried her face in my neck, crying quietly. “I can’t stay betrothed to him, Darro. Not after this. Not after us.”
I pressed a kiss to her clammy forehead. “I know.”
I didn’t know what else to say.
The fear of what I would’ve seen in the dewdrop if Runa hadn’t woken me hovered in my thoughts. Pelle, my annoying moth, had said it was now inevitable. That nothing could stop the future.
But...Runa had been bound to Aktor for a reason. Was it selfish of me to hope that reason would be stronger than the consequences of what we’d done last night?
“It’s okay, Runa.” I kissed her gently, rocking her on my lap. “I’ll figure this out. We still have a few weeks. Everything will work out...you’ll see.”
She raised her head; her tear-glossy eyes met mine.
She didn’t speak, but the tension between us sprang into feverish awareness.
My body hardened.
My hands turned possessive.
My chin dipped down just as hers tipped up.
We shuddered with identical moans as our lips met, and we sank into a kiss. The flavour of my blood on her tongue added a raw debasement to our affection, feeding a flash of heat between my legs.
No wolf or lynx tried to bite us.
No elements hissed in our ears.
I groaned as her tongue slipped hesitantly into my mouth.
I shifted her, spreading her legs so they fanned out on either side of my hips.
The heat of her settled over my rapidly hardening flesh, and I kissed her deeper, sucking on her tongue, licking up the remnants of my blood.
Diving a fist into her hair, I tugged her head back, nipping my way down her throat. I sank my teeth into the swell of her breast, cursing the firebrand above her heart.
Her fingernails sank into my shoulders. “Darro—”
I angled her over me.
I shuddered as her hot wetness—
“Oh, by the fire! I’m so sorry.”
Runa froze in my arms, plastering her nakedness against mine as if she could hide what we’d been about to do. What we were on the precipice of doing.
Swallowing a frustrated growl, I looked over my shoulder.
Niya.
Of course.
Exhaling heavily, I cradled Runa tight, gritting my teeth as her wetness welcomed me to thrust. “Hello, Niya.”
The Nhil woman’s dark skin flushed, and her eyes stayed resolutely on the ground. “Morning, Darro.” She flicked a look at Runa with a hint of a smile. “Morning, Runa.”
Runa’s tension melted, and her lips stretched into a prideful grin, not caring she was caught. “Morning, Niya.”
Niya shifted on the spot, letting out a relieved breath as Syn trotted over to her and licked her hand. She scratched the lynx, using her as a distraction as Runa remained stubbornly on my lap even as I tried to ease her off to cover her with her calfskin.
Her eyes met mine.
Her hot wetness rocked cruelly against my painful hardness.
I growled low, digging my fingers into her hips. Pressing my lips to her ear, I whispered, “Stop that. Unless you want your friend to watch me rut into you like a helpless savage.”
A shiver ran down her spine.
With eyes glowing with need, she pecked my cheek and looked back at Niya. “You’re looking for me, I presume.”
Niya kept ruffling the lynx. “You said you’d be quick.”
Runa slung her arms over my shudders, twining her fingers in my hair. “I got a little distracted.”
“I can see that.” Niya stood and clamped her hands together. “Solin instructed me to find you. We’re leaving soon. You need to, eh...get dressed and join us.”
“We’ll be there soon,” I said with clenched teeth, willing my body to behave.
