She walked her fingers up his chest, twining her hands behind his neck. “My dark fey’s protecting me again?”
He dragged his gaze to her face. “It wouldn’t be the first time. I did try to safeguard you below.”
“You were so fast against Desh! And you’re a lot stronger than I thought. Which is saying something since I saw you drop a building when I spied on you.”
He’d never scented her when she’d watched him—because she’d been air. “My strength comes with age. In the Lore, old man means strong man.”
“I feel your strength when I’m inside you. Possessing you gives me a high.”
“You’ve done it to me more than once?” It struck him. “In Tortua.”
She nodded. “I wanted to make sure I had an out if you tried to gank me or something. So I found an in.”
“Why would you ever materialize? You’re invincible as long as you’re intangible. Why not go twenty-four hours a day?”
“I like having a body.”
He would like having her body as well. “Have you possessed others when they have s.e.x?”
She grinned. “Oh, yeah.”
He clutched her closer. “Do you make them do things?”
“I’m a voyeur only. I try not to make sh.e.l.ls move. Messes with their minds.”
“You don’t say.” His jaw was sore from his own hits. “I had no idea why I was punching myself in the face. And then to step off the ledge?”
“I usually can’t sense anything inside a sh.e.l.l, but I tasted your fear and felt your heart thundering. Sorry I scared you.” Just as her delicate fingertips had climbed up, they began to trail back down.
“What’re you doing, Josephine?” He barely recognized his voice. G.o.ds, she made him feel reckless. And exhilarated.
Young.
“It’s like I’ve got you cuffed. You can’t escape my clutches.” Her hand dipped to the waist of his trews, then inside. She gasped to find his c.o.c.k erect and aching for her attention.
“Why would I ever want to escape?” he asked, hissing in a breath when she thumbed the crown in a mind-numbing circle.
She moaned, her nipples hardening against her shirt. He needed to touch her too! Battling his fear, he released the chain and rewarded his palms with plump flesh.
FORTY
I would kill to take you,” Rune murmured, nuzzling her ear. “I’d f.u.c.k you right here.”
He cupped Jo’s t.i.ts, getting so caught up he seemed to have forgotten all about the drop below. “You really would?” She shivered when he swept his thumbs across her nipples.
“Say the word. Though I wonder if I could last long enough to get you ready.” His brows drew together. “That’s another sentence I never thought I’d say.”
“Get me ready?” Next to his bowstring, his shirt opened into a V, revealing damp skin and that rune on his chest. She wanted to trace it with her tongue.
“You’re so tight, Josie. I’m going to do everything I can to keep you from hurting.”
She grasped his d.i.c.k at the base. Couldn’t fit her fist around it. “I take your point. But you don’t have to worry about how tight I am”—she leaned in to kiss that rune—“because I won’t sleep with you unless we’re monogamous.” She darted her tongue to his skin. He tasted delicious, the salt of his clean sweat making her moan.
She wanted to keep kissing down his torso, to the rune around his navel. Then head lower to the hot, swollen part of him that pulsed in her palm. When she stroked him, he rocked to her grip.
“You’re a wicked little tease.” He tweaked her nipple, drawing a whimper from her. His other hand dipped down her front.
“Tease? You haven’t seen anything. What if I used telekinesis to stroke you?” She moved her hand on him. “You could be standing across the room, and no one would see I was jerking you off. You’d never know when to expect it.”
His eyes lit with excitement. “I want this!”
Then stick around. “Soon. It’s still kind of new to me. I just learned how to do it at your place.”
“Is that why you destroyed everything?” He started unb.u.t.toning her jeans.
“Partly. Plus I was jealous.”
He unzipped her, then grazed his fingertips above her thong. “I knew it.”
“Is it so bad to want this”—she squeezed his d.i.c.k—“all to myself?”
His nostrils flared.
“And then you could have me exclusively too.”
“I want . . .” he trailed off. “d.a.m.n it! Mortals approach.”
The mountain was teeming with them. With a last stroke that made him shudder, she drew her hand from his pants.
He cursed under his breath, then zipped her back up.
“Rain check?”
“The second time you’ve asked for that today,” Rune said. “Will mine or Desh’s be honored first?” Totally jealous!
He could deny it all he wanted to. h.e.l.l, he was even trying to deny her feelings. Schoolgirl crush? Bulls.h.i.t.
She gazed up at his penetrating eyes—glowing magenta in the sunlight—and things grew clear. The facts: He’d pleasured her more than anyone ever had, and his expression promised more soon. He was the strongest male she’d ever met, the smartest, the most accomplished. Taking his blood made her feel connected as never before.
She knew from his memories that when Rune loved, he loved deeply.
Why wouldn’t she want him for her own?
He and Josephine sat on a bench, watching the sun begin to set, and even Rune could admit the sight was a spectacle. Maybe she was making him see the worlds anew.