Chapter Eight

DEEP brEATH.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

I shook my hands as if I was trying to release the lingering tension and emotions from the meeting I'd just left. Every muscle in my body was coiled tightly and burning with stress, and I rotated my neck and shoulders in a futile attempt to expel the growing strain.

"Bria, wait."

I turned to see Rune jogging down the hall. He caught up to me, and the moment he reached me, he gripped my hand and pulled me through the nearest door—another meeting room from the look of the massive table.

Rune shut the door behind us and reached forward to cup my cheeks. "Bria, you are amazing."

I gave a half-hearted, humorless laugh. "I don't feel so amazing right now."

"That's exactly how that asshole wants you to feel. He wants you to feel beaten down and unsure so he gets his way. Don't give him that power."

I gripped Rune's forearms tightly, and feeling his warmth seep into my palms grounded me like an anchor in the raging sea.

I fought to hold on and not drown in all the chaos I was feeling as my gaze burned into his. "Tell me I'm fine."

His thumb stroked my cheek. "You're fine, Princess."

"Tell me I'm doing the right thing."

"You are absolutely doing the right thing."

"Tell me I'm not hurting you by asking for Water and Land Fae to get along," I whispered.

His eyes widened slightly, and slowly, he asked, "You're afraid you're hurting me by trying to end the war?"

I sucked in a breath and squeezed him harder. "I'm afraid I'm hurting you and every Fae involved by asking that."

"Bria, what you're asking is what we all need . Our Kingdoms, both Water Fae and Land Fae, have been broken, hurting, and angry for a long time. It's time we settle things once and for all, and I'd much rather do that with as little death as possible than by annihilating one another. What you're asking of all of us will be hard, maybe even impossible, for some, sure, but my God , life will feel so much better than it does now. I want to live in the world you envision. Not the one Angus does."

I held Rune's unwavering gaze, and as his steadfast determination showed through, I found myself nodding. This wasn't a mistake. This wasn't some scheme on my part to hurt Water Fae like Angus thought. This was a chance for people to finally heal from old wounds alongside one another.

"Thank you, Rune," I whispered, pressing my face against his solid chest.

"For?"

"For believing in me."

He crooked a finger under my chin to tilt my head back far enough to place a kiss on my forehead. "Always," he said against my skin.

A shiver ran down my spine as I felt the promise in that one word all the way to my very core.

He wasn't going anywhere. He was going to stand beside me, and when I felt myself losing footing amidst it all, he'd be there to hold my hand and keep me firmly planted in place.

Rune pulled back to look down at me, and my heart skipped when I saw that familiar playful smirk. "Think we can charge that guy with treason for speaking to you that way?"

Laughing, I patted Rune's chest. "I doubt it. It's fine, really. I wanted him to tell me his honest feelings, and even though it's beyond messed up, I can see where he's coming from. He wants revenge for his lost loved ones, for all the Water Fae who have died. I think in his own warped way, he truly believes that war is what's best for Water Fae."

" Revenge ," Rune repeated. He said the word slowly, like he was almost afraid to utter its syllables. His fox ears flattened, and his amber eyes clouded with thoughts far from here. "Vengeance is a drug. It's like an odorless, tasteless poison that spreads through your body, and before you realize you've been infected with it, it's too late. All sense of yourself, your morals, your humanity vanishes. It's a dark and angry state, and while it can feel good in the moment, it will break you in the end. Revenge isn't the answer here."

I kept my mouth shut and let his words hang in the air between us. Brushing my fingers through the ends of his shoulder-length white hair, I said, "You know from experience."

Sadness swarmed his eyes. "Unfortunately, I do. I killed a lot of Fae while fueled by it. Some who probably weren't even deserving of such a fate. It's something I try not to think about but regret all the same."

I swallowed hard. "Was it after your dad died?"

He mulled over the question for a moment. "I think part of me was fueled by a need for vengeance even before that, but it was definitely amplified after he was killed. His murder spurred me to kill more than I care to admit, but at the time, I couldn't stop. I blamed every Water Fae I came across for his death, and all I could think about was hurting as many as I could. I kept thinking if I took just one more life, he'd somehow come back. But that's part of the poison that is revenge. It lies to you. It feeds you this false sense that vengeance will restore what you've lost, but it can't. Nothing can. So then you're just left even emptier than before with nothing but that poison to choke on, and it … it never leaves you."

My chest constricted, and my mouth seemed to fill with sand. The rawness in his confession lanced my own heart with pain. "If it doesn't go away, where is it now?"

He took my hand and pressed it to his chest. "It's still here. It will always be there, trying to rear its ugly head, but it's become easier to ignore since something far stronger moved into its place."

"Which is …"

"You," he answered without hesitation. He gently brushed his thumb across my cheek. "My love for you is what fuels me now, and it keeps the monster tucked away."

My smile came before I could help myself, and a dizzying warmth that only Rune could give me flooded my body. I'd never get tired of all he stirred up in me. He was my drug, my poison, on which I'd happily die. There was a time when I couldn't stand this man, yet here we were, about to take on an entire Kingdom together. And there was no one else I'd rather face that unknown with.

I cupped the back of his neck. "I love you so much , Rune." I pulled his face closer to mine for a kiss. It was just meant to be a quick peck, but as soon as his soft lips grazed my own, I needed more.

I deepened the kiss, and it was clear from his groan that he was eager to do the same. His tongue urged my mouth open, coasting teasingly along my own. His firm body pressed into me, and he didn't stop pushing against me until my back bumped into the table.

"Take your pants off before I rip them off," he growled.

Breathless, I did as he said and shimmied out of my leggings and panties. He didn't hesitate a moment longer. He gripped me around my thighs and planted me firmly on the table, spreading my legs apart as he sank to his knees.

His eyes drank in the sight of my parted folds, and need pulsed like a heartbeat where he stared. I desperately wanted him, and impatience had me shifting and leaning back on my elbows to expose more of myself to him.

"Holy fuck ," Rune grunted before darting forward.

His tongue was like a viper striking, and it struck true with ease and precision. My head fell back, and I hissed in a strangled reach for air. Heat and pleasure enveloped my wet, aching pussy, and I fought to keep from crying out as his tongue flicked enticingly against my sensitive bud of nerves.

"Feels good," I gasped, falling all the way back against the tabletop.

"Tastes fucking divine," came his muffled response.

His tongue beckoned me closer to the edge of something violently delightful, and the sensation only got stronger as he pushed one large, long finger inside me.

My back arched, shoving his face and finger further into me. His digit sank deep before pulling out to the tip, only to dive back in again, while his tongue continued its fierce then gentle dance along my clit.

"Close," I moaned, shoving my hands into his hair. " So close."

He groaned against my flesh, the vibration only serving to spur the tingling tightening in my core to coil faster until all I felt was a blinding jolt of pure pleasure. I let out a choked cry of release as my entire body shook against the waves of ecstasy crashing over me.

It was while I shivered from the mind-numbing orgasm that Rune shot to his feet, shoved his pants down far enough to free his cock, and sank into my dripping wet folds in one fluid motion. His mouth was on mine in a heartbeat, and I kissed him hungrily as his hips drove his dick in and out of me like a madman chasing his prey.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered against my lips as he pumped into me.

I gave a breathless laugh only for it to sound more like a moan than anything. "You always say that."

"Because it's always true. You're gorgeous. You're gorgeous like this, half naked and spread out on a table for me." He punctuated his words with a deep, agonizingly wonderful thrust. "You're gorgeous when you're in absolutely nothing." Another deep-seated push. "You're gorgeous when you're in your favorite leggings and sweatshirt." He groaned as he pumped hard and fast. "Always. Beautiful."

I felt the familiar pulsing of a building orgasm, and my hips began to meet Rune on each thrust as I rode dangerously close to yet another rush of exhilaration.

"C-Cumming," I gasped.

My muscles tightened as the heat flared between my thighs then exploded like a bomb detonating. Rune gasped and made shallow thrusts as he followed me into that place of satisfied contentment. I fell back onto the table, and Rune hovered above me on his forearms.

As we both fought to catch our breath, he pressed his forehead to mine. We stayed just like that—him buried inside me, my arms wrapped around his shoulders, our heads pressed together, breathing each other in—for several minutes. It was the safest and most at home I'd felt all morning.

I tilted my chin up enough to plant a small kiss on the tip of his nose. "I like this meeting much better than the other one."

He chuckled, which only served to make my core spark with a fresh wave of desire since he was still inside me. It was that moment he pulled out, though. "Don't worry. I plan to do this in every meeting room." He paused. "Actually, scratch that. I plan to fuck you in every room here, period ."

He tugged his shirt off as he straightened and handed it to me to clean up with. Once I was done, he took the material to do the same.

"I'll hold you to that," I snickered.

I watched him wipe the cum coating his shaft, and I thought back on the handfuls of times we'd had sex—all unprotected and all after he'd discovered I was Water Fae.

"Is that why you've never worried about wearing a condom?" I asked, nodding in the direction of the hallway. "Because Land and Water Fae can't have kids?"

He finished cleaning and adjusted himself back into his pants. "They can have kids. It's just extremely unlikely. Us being different Classes of Fae is basically as good as a condom as far as preventative measures go. Since we're both clean on top of that, I never saw the point."

I nodded and let his words sink in. Kids between us were most likely not an option. I wasn't ready for kids by any means, and Rune didn't even want any. But having that option decided for us instead of being able to make it ourselves left me feeling oddly bitter.

Shaking the thought away since none of that mattered right now anyway, I placed my hands on my hips and glanced at the door. "This morning has already been productive as far as shitty conversations go. I think I'm gonna go ahead and knock out another crappy meeting while I'm on a roll."

He cocked a curious brow at me. "What conversation is that?"

"One that will probably be more of an interrogation, honestly. I'm gonna go pay a certain traitor a little visit and finally get my answers from him."

Realization dawned on him, and his jaw immediately hardened. "Ahh. Do you want me to go with you?"

I waved the suggestion off. "Considering you always end up beating his ass when you two are together, I'm gonna say no. You go hang out with everyone and see how they're all holding up here. I'll have Imani or Dallas go with me."

He reluctantly nodded and followed me to the door. "Okay. I just hope you get at least one good swing at him."

Laughing, I shook my head. I rarely ever resorted to violence, but I wasn't going to throw out that possibility for this meeting. I mean, given our history, who knew what would happen.

Just as Rune and I started to part ways, he grabbed my hand and pulled me in for one final kiss. He smiled down at me. "While you're there, tell Dax I said fuck off."