Page 107 of The Shrouded Queen
We made camp in a small alcove, Rade’s shield a glimmering door over the opening.
While I chewed on a bit of stale bread, Rade finally spoke. “Amunet…”
I paused.
“The whole point of taking on the Behemoth—the whole point of this entire leg of the Merging—is for our magic to meet. I don’t understand why your magic didn’t react to the threat of the Behemoth but”—a smile spread over his face—“youcancall it up.”
I nearly choked on the bread. “I can’t—”
“You can! That’s what this was.” He touched my forehead, caressed it with his fingertips. “That’s why your runes glowed, Amunet. Your power sensed danger and rose up to protect you.”
“Why now, and not with the Behemoth?” I’d actually been attacked by that creature, and my runes hadn’t so much as flickered.
“I’m not sure. Maybe because you were relying on my power? Or had already thought of another way around the Behemoth by biting it?” He shrugged. “Either way, it worked this time, I’m sure of it. And now that it’s awakened, we can acquaint our magic.”
“How?”
“Through our runes.” His beautiful face was alight with hope. I hadn’t even noticed that hope had dimmed after the Behemoth. The desperation, the pleading in those softly glowing eyes—his magic awake as he held the shield in place—made me lick my lips nervously.
I had no magic. He’d only be acquainting himself with the fading imprint of the Seer’s power. Still, the hope in his eyes blazed, and I whispered, “Okay.”
Rade shifted closer, turning his head to give me a full view of his red runes. Then he gently slid his hand behind my head and drew me in.
I let him guide me into his body, softly pressing my forehead to his temple, his thick black hair tickling my cheek.
At first, I thought the warmth of his skin was just a result of his being too near the fire. But it intensified, searing against my forehead, almost to the point of pain. I gasped and moved to pull away—
Rade dug his fingers into my scalp and held me in place. When he opened his eyes, they were beacons. And then there were matching points of green light on his cheek. From my eyes.
The heat softened. Became a delicate graze against my face. That heat was like a finger—like Rade’s fingers in my hair—exceptmore. So much more. Ordering each hair on my arms to stand at attention.
My eyes drifted shut as that heat traced each curve of my runes, drawing and redrawing them, before melting into them. And that melting sensation was… oh gods, it was the most delicious thingI’d ever felt. It trailed across my skin, my blood, each nerve, setting it all on fire.
Rade’s fingers in my hair were like an extension of that heat in my skin, which was traveling deeper, lower, and when his thumb idly rubbed the crown of my head, it was mirrored by the heat inside me. A sigh slid past my lips, and I didn’t even have the awareness to be embarrassed by it.
I fisted my hand in Rade’s shirt, just above his pounding heart, and nuzzled closer, smoothing my runes back and forth over his as he let out a low moan. Each pass urged that heat further into my core, until my toes curled. My fingers tingled as they released their death grip on Rade’s shirt, searching for his neckline, his skin, moving with a mind of their own.
The tips of my fingers brushed his chest, and his breath stalled.
I pressed my palm flat over his heart, gasping when I heard his pulse as clearly as if I had my ear pressed to it. Its rhythm echoed, throbbed beside my own.
Rade lifted his hand and slid it beneath my neckline, his callused palm scratching gently against the top of my breast as he settled it over my heart. Beating in unison, beating as one.
That heat inside me followed his hand, circled around my heart like a dog readying for sleep. With each pass, it twined tighter and tighter, my heart rate doubling with each orbit. That finger of warmth stroked the edges of my core, once, twice, until I was a throbbing ball of need. Then it pushed in, and I stopped breathing.
Rade growled in approval. “There you are.”
His words were an anchor to the outside world, offering a lifeline through the haze that had settled around me. I clung to them and peeled my forehead away, breaths jagged.
As soon as our runes were no longer touching, the heat receded. I could feel its absence like a physical thing.
Rade looked at me, face flushed and eyes heavy-lidded. I was sure I looked the same.
I couldn’t find my voice for several moments, the only sound the snapping of the campfire and our own heavy panting.
“What…” My voice cracked. I swallowed and tried again. “What was that?”
His chest heaved as he stared at me with those luminous eyes. “Our powers meeting.”
