Page 80 of Lifebound

“Well, I did. I told everyone about him, but nobody believed me, just my mom. I have the scar and everything, but the doctors did blood tests on me and the results came back clean. No sign of any venom, so they just thought I was lying.”

“Seelie magic heals fully. They couldn’t have found any trace of it no matter what tests they ran. You carry the scar because you’re mortal. Had you been fae, it would have disappeared completely,” Rune said.

My ass was sliding more and more to the side, and I was uncomfortable as all hell, but I still didn’t move. Just sat there and sniffed him and looked at the birds made of white light flying ahead of us, leading the way between the large trees.

“Does all fae magic heal?” He’d told me about fae powers the night before, but I wanted to make sure.

“Not all, just Seelie. I can heal from venoms, too, but not in the same way. I can sort ofdeactivatean animal’s venom in a body.”

I closed my eyes when my ass slid farther to the side.

“Stop the horse.”

“What?”

“Just for a second. Stop him.”

By some miracle, Rune didn’t argue. He just pulled the reins and the horse stopped walking with a weak neigh. When he did, I moved.

Holding onto Rune’s arms, I spun around, put my legs on either side of his, and wrapped my arms around his waist. I rested my head on the crook of his shoulder and hid my face under his chin again.

There.So much better.

Except Rune could have turned into a piece of rock.

It occurred to me that I should have maybeaskedhim if I could sit like this.

“This okay?” I mumbled when he refused to say anything because I didn’t want to move again. This was comfortable. I could hold onto him with such ease, and my legs were over his thighs and my ass was no longer sliding to the sides. Granted, my very center was pressed against his dick, but…he wasn’t hard. And I was far enough away that I wasn’t rubbing against him.

Fuck, I needed to be able to close my eyes for a minute without fearing I’d fall off.

“Fine,” Rune finally muttered, and the horse started to walk again—faster than before.

I’d gotten comfortable so I wasn’t holding on as tightly as I should have, so I started to slip to the side when the horse took a turn. But before I could scream, Rune’s arm wrapped around my side and held me in place. Secured me to his chest. Covered half my body with the cloak.

I let go of a long breath and my very soul rested.

Perfect.It was perfect here.

Rune let go of me again, and I almost complained, but then he just put the hood over his head and wrapped that arm around my back once more, covering my side. Giving me warmth. Safety.

I slept right there with a smile on my face.

But what feltlike mere minutes later…

“Wake up, Wildcat. We have company.”

twenty-one

My eyes popped open.My legs and arms were around Rune, his arm across my back, keeping me up. If he hadn’t, I realized, I’d have fallen because I’d completely let go of my body while I’d slept.

It had been dark then, but now there was light. The sky was blue, the trees around us fewer than before. The horse we were on was still walking, slowly now, and Rune’s heart was beating steadily. I could tell because my cheek was basically pressed to his chest.

I leaned back, suddenly aware, my mind flooding with thoughts and memories and emotions.

“Shshhh,” Rune whispered, and I immediately stopped moving again, tried to look around as well as I could. He grabbed the reins of the horse with both hands, and I locked mine behind his back so as not to slip off the saddle.

When I looked around us a second time, I leaned up and whispered in his ear, “There’s nobody there.”

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