Page 110 of Fractured
“I know, Wildcat. It’s not fair to you.”
“I’m an actualvesselfor half the soul of a dead queen—and it’s not even funny anymore. It’s just…insane.” My voice rose with each word, and even though we were alone, I still flinched at the echo of my words.Insane-insane-insane—like saying it once just didn’t cut it.
“The dead queenI,apparently, really killed. Let’s not forget that.” He sounded almost sad when he said that,but his smile didn’t falter. Pretty sure it was for my benefit.
I could have laughed. Closing my eyes, I leaned in and kissed his lips, holding his hands on my face still. “This is some soap opera shit. I fall in love with the guy who killed a woman whose split soul somehowlives within me.If anybody heard me say those words out loud at home, they would laugh in my face, and probably institutionalize me.” Or, you know, just continue to call mecuckoo.
“I don’t know what that is, but I do like the beginning of that second sentence,” Rune said, and my heart broke all over again.
“We’ll have time to talk about soap operas and institutions,” I whispered against his lips. “Right now, I just want to know how you are.”
“I’m perfect,” he said without missing a beat. “You’re here. I’m perfect.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut. “I didn’t look for you right away when the Ice Palace let me go.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Rune said, leaning away from me for a second to look at my face. “Lyall had eyes on me the whole time. He’d have seen you if you’d come after me.”
Right.The prince I came all the way here to fuckingsavewas still looking for me and he was still trying to get Rune killed for whatever fucked up reason.
“The stars know what they’re doing,” he said, and I laughed a little—how could I not?
“You meanthosestars?” I moved to the side to look beyond the water falling, and I was mind-blown at the view all over again.
“Notthosespecifically,” Rune said, putting his arm over my shoulder. “But Reme and Emer—they do.”
“Can we see them from here?” I wondered.
“No, I don’t think so. Unless you want to getveryclose to the edge.”
“Yeah, no thank you. I’m fine right there,” I said, just the idea giving me a sense of vertigo. “I’m cool with not seeing the stars who’ve somehow fucked my life up beyond recognition in a matter of weeks. I amfine.”
“Yes, you are, wildling,” Rune said with a grin, and with his fingers under my chin, he turned my head to kiss me.
I got that he was trying to distract me, to give me a break from my own self, but damn, I was a willing victim.
“That stubble looks really good on you,” I whispered. “Maybe you should keep it.”
“As you wish,” he said, and he slid the tip of his tongue over my lower lip, igniting me from within.
“Rune,” I whispered, my need for him growing the tighter he held me against his side and kissed me.
“We have time, Wildcat. Let’s not think right now,” he said, and that did sound a lot like fucking heaven, but…
“We need to find a way back to the Neutral Lands. We need to leave. Lyall is after us and we’re in the Midnight?—”
“Hush, wildling.” He kissed me harder. “Don’t think. Breathe with me.”
How could I say no?
The last time we’d been together had been in a cave. It had been at least seven days, but to me it felt like I hadn’t seen him in months. So, when he pulled me to him and we were chest to chest, lips touching, arms around one another, I melted into him like I was made for that very thing.
Rune deepened the kiss, and his tongue in my mouth did wonders to erase every fear, every doubt, every bit of confusion that had been building up in me while we’d beenapart. Everything from the moment I thought he’d stabbed me in the chest became undone under the soft pressure of his kisses. He handed me his very soul with every movement, and when he touched me, it felt like he pulled me out of a shell I had no idea I’d been in.
Then we were moving.
Rune pulled me as he walked backward, and I forgot all about the fact that we were in a cave, and the ground was uneven. He must have been seeing somehow though, because his step didn’t falter, and his foot didn’t catch on a single piece of rock, and neither did mine.
The sound of water pouring filled my ears. Suddenly he spun me around, put me against the wall, and it was smooth against my back, not a single sharp edge bit into my skin. My eyes were closed, mind completely lost to his kisses and the touch of his hands as they roamed up and down my body.
