11. Maple
ELEVEN
MAPLE
Maple stood at the tall windows of her guest suite, her palms pressed against the cool glass as she gazed out at the sprawling canyon landscape that stretched endlessly beyond Rune's fortress-like mansion.
The morning light painted the red rock formations in shades of amber and gold, but she barely registered the breathtaking view.
Her mind was consumed by the memory of last night—the explosive passion on the dining room table, the way Rune's hands had claimed every inch of her skin, and then his devastating retreat.
He looked at me like I was poison.
The thought twisted through her chest like a blade.
She'd replayed that moment a hundred times since dawn, searching for some clue she'd missed, some explanation for why he'd fled after what had felt like the most profound connection of her life.
The way he'd touched her, moved inside her, whispered her name—it had felt like recognition, like coming home to something she'd never known she was missing.
Breakfast had been torture. Sitting at that same mahogany table where they'd made love, trying to make polite conversation with Ben while her body still hummed with the memory of Rune's touch.
Every time she'd glanced at the spot where he'd laid her bare and claimed her, heat had flooded her cheeks.
Ben had noticed—he always did—but she'd deflected his curious looks with talk of the claim marker and their next steps.
Coward, she told herself. You've never been afraid of hard conversations before.
But this was different. This wasn't about archaeological theory or academic debate. This was about the way her soul had recognized Rune's, the way her body had responded to his touch like it had been waiting for him her entire life. And then he'd run.
Sleep had been impossible. She'd tossed and turned for hours before finally retrieving the claim marker from its treasure chest beneath the bed.
The moment her fingers had wrapped around the warm red stone, peace had settled over her, and she'd fallen asleep cradling it against her chest. When she had woken up this morning with the artifact still in her hand, she'd realized it made her feel more stable, complete, and closer to Rune somehow.
What's he so afraid of? she wondered.
Movement in the sky caught her attention, pulling her from her thoughts. Three massive shapes soared through the canyon air with predatory grace, their scales glinting like jewels in the morning sun. Dragons. Real, living dragons cutting through the desert sky as if they owned it.
Even after everything that had happened, seeing them in their true forms sent wonder cascading through her chest. One was deep emerald green with wings that seemed to shimmer with their own light.
Another was burnished copper, smaller but no less magnificent.
The third was silver, its movements liquid and precise.
They're so beautiful.
These weren't the monsters of medieval folklore or the sanitized creatures of modern fantasy films. These were apex predators, ancient and powerful, moving through their domain with casual dominance that spoke of millennia of evolution.
Part of her wanted to grab her phone and take pictures, to document this impossible sight that no human archaeologist had ever witnessed.
The door to her suite opened without a knock, making her jump. She turned to find Ben approaching the windows, his expression a mixture of awe and lingering disbelief.
"Wow," he breathed, following her gaze to the dragons circling in the distance. "That's pretty wild. I still can't believe we stumbled upon a hidden dragon world."
The casual wonder in his voice broke something loose in her chest. Before she could second-guess herself, the words came tumbling out.
"Well, what's more wild is that I apparently stumbled upon something much more significant than just dragons.
" She turned to face him fully, her eyes bright with a mixture of vulnerability and determination.
"Rune told me last night that I'm his fated mate.
That's why the claim marker reacts to just me.
And then I pressed him for answers, and he shut down, and I pressed harder, and then we kissed, and then we may have had sex on his dining room table. "
Ben's eyebrows shot toward his hairline. He let out a low whistle that echoed through the spacious suite.
"Wow, Maple. That is not like you at all." His tone held no judgment, only genuine surprise and concern. "Whatever is between you two must be pretty intense."
Heat flooded her cheeks as memories of the night before crashed over her—Rune's hands tangled in her hair, the desperate hunger in his kiss, the way he'd filled her so completely she'd forgotten everything.
"Well, it doesn't matter because Rune bolted afterward like I was some kind of poison," Maple said, her voice catching slightly. "And now I'm afraid he'll never speak to me again, and I'll have to abandon this magical place and him before I really even got to experience any of it."
The confession hung between them, raw and honest. She'd never been one to bare her heart so completely, but something about this place, about what she'd discovered, made pretense impossible.
Ben studied her face with the same careful attention he applied to fragile artifacts. "Well, I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but the one thing I can tell you with certainty is that, based on the interaction I just had with him, that man is completely head over heels for you."
Her eyes widened, hope and skepticism warring in her expression. "How can you be so sure?"
"Maple, I may not know a ton about fated mates, but I'm a man, and I know when a man is completely obsessed and emotionally unraveling over a woman.
" Ben's voice carried the weight of personal experience.
"I felt that way when I first met Jackie—like I knew how badly I wanted her but was terrified of what it meant, terrified she didn't want the same things. "
"Well, it's something a lot more than just fear of intimacy or fear of rejection," Maple said, wrapping her arms around herself as if she could contain the ache in her chest. "It's like he's afraid of love itself."
Through the window, the dragons had disappeared beyond the canyon walls, but their presence lingered in her mind—wild and free. Everything Rune seemed determined not to be.
Before Ben could respond, the sharp sound of the mansion's front door slamming echoed through the corridors below. The noise reverberated through the ancient stone walls, and Maple's heart leaped into her throat.
He's back.
She could feel him through the bond now, closer and more present than before. His emotions were a storm of frustration, protectiveness, and something that felt close to desperation.
"I need to go talk to him," Maple said, her voice suddenly steady with resolve. "I need to set the record straight."
Ben nodded, understanding flickering in his eyes. "Go. Go work it out with him."
Without another word, Maple rushed toward the door, her heart pounding as she prepared to confront the dragon who had claimed her body and then fled from her soul.
Maple's feet barely touched the polished floor as she rushed down the guest wing corridor, her heart hammering against her ribs.
I'm not letting him run from me again.
She rounded the corner toward the main corridor at nearly a sprint, her mind focused on one thing: intercepting him before he could lock himself away in his private chambers and leave her with nothing but questions and the memory of his retreat.
But as she turned, a wall of solid muscle and heat crashed into her with the force of an avalanche.
Rune.
Her feet left the ground as the impact sent her backward, but before she could hit the floor, his powerful arms wrapped around her waist and hauled her against his chest. The movement pressed every inch of her body against his, and heat exploded through her veins like molten fire, shooting straight to her core with devastating intensity.
Their faces were inches apart, his breath warm against her lips.
His blue eyes had darkened to midnight, flecked with gold that seemed to burn as he stared down at her.
The hunger in his gaze was unmistakable, raw and desperate, matching the ache that had been building in her since he'd fled last night.
For a heartbeat that stretched into eternity, she thought he might kiss her.
But then his jaw clenched, and he straightened, pulling her upright with careful precision before releasing her. His hands lingered at her waist for just a moment before he stepped back, putting distance between them that felt like a chasm.
"We need to talk," she said, her voice breathier than she intended.
"We have a problem," he said at the same time, his tone clipped and businesslike.
Maple's stomach dropped.
Here it comes. He's going to tell me to leave.
But instead of the rejection she expected, Rune said, "I found out that Bram did rebury the claim marker a century ago, and then released a rumor about something being in the area.
Throughout the past century, it clearly circulated, and that's probably how you came across the rumor in your line of work. "
Relief flooded through her so suddenly her knees nearly buckled. He wasn't sending her away—at least not yet. But his words sparked another realization, one that made her cheeks burn with embarrassment as she thought about how she'd actually discovered the rumor.
"How did you hear about this rumor?" Rune continued, his piercing gaze fixed on her face. "Maybe that will help us pinpoint who's after the claim marker too."
Maple felt heat crawl up her neck. The truth was mortifying—hours spent scrolling through obscure online forums, diving deeper and deeper into fringe theories and conspiracy discussions.
She'd told herself it was research, but really it had been desperation, a grown woman chasing childhood fantasies through the dark corners of the internet.