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Wrapping a fresh, dry towel around myself, I step out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. A shiver overtakes me as the sudden change in temperature chills my bare flesh.
Movement from the corner of my eye startles me, drawing my gaze to the small seating area where a man sits with his back to me, dirty blond waves loose from their braids.
“Bloody fucking hell, Rune.” His presence catches me off guard, and I clutch the towel tighter. “What are you doing in my room?”
The sun rose over an hour ago. He should be amid his daysleep. Has he been sitting here waiting the entire time?
“I came to ensure you’re all right.” He is suddenly standing right in front of me, his chest in my face so close I have to tilt my head back to look up into the hazel depths of his concerned gaze.
That catches me even more by surprise.
“You were wiped out yesterday. Finn and I checked on you off and on, but you were down for the count.”
I don’t remember that, but it doesn’t surprise me. Despite my annoyance with the whole situation, Finn and Rune are trying.
“You seem agitated,” he says, reading my expression. “Is everything all right?”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind.” I meet his concern and try not to squirm under his watchful eye.
“That’s to be expected.” Rune’s gaze becomes intense, like he’s contemplating something.
“Why aren’t you tucked in for the day?”
Rune doesn’t answer right away, which is unlike him. Usually, he blurts without thought, so his contemplation makes me wary.
“Fintan was able to find you in the bayou because he has your blood in his system. I was thinking about that and figure it would be good for me to have the same advantage.”
The intensity in his hazel eyes is both alluring and unsettling, and I’m torn between caution and a strange sense of fascination. “So, this is solely about being able to find me and keep me safe?”
He fidgets under the weight of my question. “Not solely, no.”
Seeing such a massive beast of a warrior rendered unsure pulls me in. Who am I kidding? Everything about Rune pulls me in.
Even as his fangs extend and poke out from his full lips, I lean forward involuntarily, as if the tether of the unity bond is shortening and drawing us closer. “Could you also be a bit jealous that Finn has fed from me, and you haven’t?”
The fury of Rune’s tantrum by the pool comes to mind and while my moment with Finn was wonderful, I didn’t mean to hurt Rune or make him feel left behind.
“Fintan is charming and calming, I get that,” he says, taking a step back. “But just because he can express himself better doesn’t mean that I’m not right there—that I don’t want you too.”
His admission inspires something hot and languid to curl in the pit of my belly. It would be so easy to give in to what he wants—what we both want. I long to feel the sharp sting of Rune’s fangs fade to euphoric bliss. It’s carnal. It’s undeniable. And as crazy as it seems, it’s natural.
He is my unity mate.
A shiver runs through my towel-wrapped body as I remember how it felt to have Finn drink from me. I didn’t expect a vampire feeding on me to be so…sexual.
I had expected pain and panic. In reality, it was intimate and lit me up from the inside out. It was everything, and I want that again.
I swallow hard, forcing myself to take a step back as a pang of unease courses through me. If Rune wants to complete our unity bond, he could just take what he wants, regardless of my answer.
But he hasn’t. He’s asking.
“How will strengthening the bond between us affect Finn? Has there ever been a unity bond between more than a single witch and a single vampire or werewolf?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” he says, his gaze narrowing in on the rapid pulse now hammering through my jugular.
“What if you completing our connection severs the one I have with Finn?”
His gaze hardens. “What if it does?”
