Chapter 24 Rune #2
Soft ember-light lanterns hung from the ceiling with enchanted fire. Three monitors were set up in the corner with a desk chair. His bed was in the center, and it was huge, covered in deep red blankets. A wall of windows looked out over the glowing capital on the free wall.
“Koa, your room is stunning.” I walked over and sat on his bed.
“Thanks,” he murmured, joining me on the edge of it.
Our thighs touched, and it was enough to send the matebond humming like a struck chord.
My fingers brushed the blanket. “Your family is amazing,” I said softly. “They’re so warm and fun. It felt like home the second I walked in.”
He sucked in a breath, the sound sharp. “That’ll mean everything to them,” he whispered. “And it does to me, too.”
I turned toward him fully. “Koa, I get why you went undercover. I would’ve done the same for any member of my family. You and I are a lot alike. You were trying to protect your family and save your dad. It was brave.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I didn’t know if I could ever prove his innocence. I never thought I would see the day my dad was home and we ate dinner as a family. He met you.”
“But you did save him,” I said. “And I’m so proud of you.”
The tears in his eyes caught the glow of the lanterns. “I’ve admired you for so long,” he confessed, voice cracking. “Before the matebond. Before I even understood why. You were everything I wasn’t brave enough to reach for.”
“Koa…”
“And when the bond snapped,” he breathed out, shaking his head. “I was so damn happy I thought I’d combust, but I felt hopeless too. Because I couldn’t protect you in that moment. I felt you slip away, and the humans dragged me out before I could even fight back—”
I grabbed his hands. “You didn’t fail me.”
“But you saved me.” A tear trailed down his cheek. “You were taken into that facility, and you didn’t just save me. You saved so many others.”
“And I would do it again,” I replied. “But more importantly, I am so glad you weren’t permanently injured while they had you.”
The bond surged between us with raw desire.
He exhaled shakily. “Rune, little vixen, you don’t know what you do to me.”
I leaned in. “Then tell me.”
“I’ve never been the best with words.” He cupped my face and pressed his lips against mine. The kiss was slow at first, but the more desire that pooled into the bond, the more needy I felt. It sent a molten wave of desire rushing through my every nerve.
He pulled back just enough to breathe, his lips brushing mine. “Oh,” he whispered, dazed. “That’s…that’s really good. Your lips are so soft.”
A laugh bubbled up from my throat as I pushed gently until he was on his back, stunned and flushed.
Then I slid my hands under his shirt. “We’re bonded, but I haven’t been able to really explore you.”
“R-Rune?” he stammered, eyes wide.
“Don’t worry,” I murmured, leaning down to kiss the hollow of his throat. “Your family totally knows not to bother us.”
I stripped him slowly, and I didn’t stop until he was fully naked. I teased every inch of skin I exposed with my lips, watching him shiver under my touch.
He sat up, breath ragged, and cupped my jaw with trembling fingers.
“Your turn,” he whispered.
“I’m yours, Koa,” I told him. “You can get me naked whenever you want.”
“Oh. Okay.” His hands moved shakily, peeling away my clothes piece by piece as though each layer was something important. He didn’t rush or tear even a piece of fabric. He traced every new part of exposed skin with his fingertips, and it sent heat streaking straight to my core.
When I was bare in front of him, he stopped moving altogether, his eyes raking me over. His breath hitched.
“Rune…” His voice came out in a plea. “You’re—Fates, Rune. You’re perfect.”
“Koa,” I leaned in and whispered against his mouth, “I want you.”
His forehead rested against mine, breath shaking. “I want you, too. Do you trust me?”
“Always,” I murmured.
Blue flames rose from his fingertips in a gentle glow before spiking brighter. When he touched my skin, it burned as if he were branding a promise into me.
Pleasure rippled through me as I arched into him, the warmth licking over my spine, making my aphrodisiac venom pool hot and sweet under my tongue.
“Koa—” I gasped, clutching him as his flames wrapped around both of us, cocooning our bodies in heat.
He held me tight. “I’ve wanted this since the moment I met you. Since you watched me die and revive naked. Since you trusted me. I need you. Desperately.”
His hand reached between my legs and cupped my soaking pussy. The flames licked over my clit, and I bowed into him with a strangled moan.
“Take me, please,” I moved my leg over him, straddling him on the bed. “Please, Koa.”
“I’m pretty sure I would give you anything you asked for,” he said roughly, gripping my hips and sliding us up his bed until my hands found purchase on the bed frame. “You never have to beg me.”
He brought his hips up, impaling me from below. His cock slid inside me easily from how wet I was, but it seared my walls as he sank deep. His flames were hot, but it felt amazing. His blue flames lit me up from the inside, licking over my skin and pinpointing over my nipples.
The sensations were indescribable.
Every pump of his hips upward was hard, and the matebond seared me with an onslaught of pleasure.
Koa’s moans mixed with mine as he fucked me, and I gripped the headboard, screaming every time he bottomed out. I wound tighter and tighter until the pleasure turned to agony in the best way.
My pussy spasmed, clenching down on his cock as an orgasm shattered me. “Fates, Koa!”
“Rune,” he moaned, continuing to let his magic slide over my skin as he thrust into me.
It was too much.
I squeezed the headboard too hard, and it splintered just as he came inside of me.
One large, sharp piece of wood from it exploded downward into Koa’s skull through his eye socket.
Horror enveloped me. “Koa!”
His resurrection was immediate.
I felt his body turn to ash as his flames turned from blue to red, and he reincarnated beside me on the bed. He blinked at me in confusion for a moment before glancing at the piece of wood and back at me.
“Oh, my Fates, I am so sorry,” I said in horror, pushing off what was left of the bedframe and falling back onto my ass.
His cum leaked from between my thighs, and his gaze zeroed in on it.
“It’s fine,” he rasped. “I, uh, that was amazing. The rebirth, not so much. I’ve never came while I died before.”
He burst out laughing, and I couldn’t stop myself from joining him.
“I’m still so sorry,” I gasped between laughs.
He lit up the pieces of wood and burned them without touching his bed. “Don’t be. I’m in love with you,” he blurted.
My eyes widened, and I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him on top of me again. “I love you, too.”
He pressed his face into my neck and breathed. “It’s been so long since I’ve had you to myself.”
“I don’t think you ever have,” I admitted softly.
Heat still shimmered off my skin in gentle waves, like Koa’s flames had sunk beneath the surface and decided to stay. My muscles felt so loose as I inhaled his scent.
Koa was breathing hard, and the last flickers of blue healing fire curled harmlessly across my back. His flames didn’t shove ecstasy through me. Instead, they soothed, settling into a low, comforting warmth.
I didn’t even realize I was trembling until his hands slid to my hips and steadied me.
“Rune,” he whispered, “are you okay? I’m sorry for dying the first time we’ve ever been intimate.”
I shook my head, kissing his head. “You’re fine. I promise. Never had that happen before.”
“I hope not.” He huffed a laugh, soft but shaky, and fell off me before pulling me into his chest. “I haven’t ever done that before.”
“I hope not.” I giggled.
The matebond hummed faintly, satisfied.
“I love you,” he said, the emotion flaring in the bond.
My chest tightened as I curled closer, draping my leg over his, and tracing my fingers over the warm lines of his collarbone. “I love you, too.”
“I’ve dreamed about what it would feel like to be with you finally,” he murmured. “To be with you like that. But the real thing…” His hand slid through my hair. “…it’s better than anything I imagined.”
I pressed a kiss to his chest. “I love you, Koa. It was perfect.”
He pulled me under the blanket fully, tucking me against him.
“Stay,” he whispered.
I buried my face in his chest as exhaustion won out. “I’m not going anywhere.”
His arm tightened around me, and I fell asleep with my phoenix mate for the first time by ourselves.