CHAPTER 70

Faye collapsed breathless against Rune's chest. She straddled his hips as he reclined against the headboard. Her slender arms wrapped around his neck, holding him close. He teasingly shifted his hip to thrust into her, eliciting a moan from her lips. By the Darkness, how was he still hard? He'd kept her up most of the night. The man should be done.

"I'm hungry," Faye said, pressing her hands to his chest as she lifted off him— Surprised she made it off his lap. He'd pinned her to the bed the last time she tried to pull away. A predator intent on keeping his prey.

"You should go while I still have a hold on my instincts." His gaze dipped to her breasts as he licked the point of his fangs. "I have a mind to pin you to this bed until dawn."

Faye watched his mouth, debating if she really needed a break. Darkness, he was too alluring. So different from the man she hit with a candle holder weeks ago. He looked happy, content. It made her heart tighten.

Rune's words clicked in her mind and Faye glanced over her shoulder at the ever-twilight sky through the narrow windows along the far wall. "It never dawns here."

A wicked grin crossed his lips.

"No. I am starving and can't be sustained with blood like some people," she said.

He purred, leaning forward. "I will calm myself."

Faye wasn't sure how much she trusted his statement. He canted his head, peering at her with dark misted eyes.

She pointed at him and said, "Give me fifteen minutes before you start hunting me. I might bring food back to bed."

His grin lifted into a smirk. "I would like to feed you a great many things."

Faye imagined him gliding over her lips, remembering the feel of him stroking her mouth. Faye mentally shook herself and gave him a stern look. "Fifteen minutes." She got out of bed and picked the gray gown off the ground, laying it over the rumpled sheets. Then she went to his closet, stealing a robe.

She gave Rune a final look as she slipped into his robe. He tracked her movements but made no move for her. Satisfied she would be able to get something to eat before he came to collect her, she made her way to the kitchen.

Faye quickly collected a plate of cut fruits, eating a few berries.

Soft footfalls penetrated the silence. Faye gazed down the hall holding her plate. Rune stalked toward her. His pale blue eyes were different, his features tense. Anger seething from his gaze. Faye's brow lowered. His clothes were wrong, and his hair was pulled back, tied at the base of his skull.

A metallic sheen reflected over his shoulders. Two swords Faye realized. Floating behind him. She took a step back. "Rune?"

His image flickered and he reappeared in front of her, towering over her. He fisted her hair cruelly, wrenching her neck up as her back met his body. Pain radiated over her scalp and Faye stood on her toes trying to lessen the pressure.

The sword, cold and sharp, wedged under her chin. "Don't call me his name," a gravel filled voice grated against her ear. "Move and I will carve your head from your body."

Terror leached through her mind, giving way to panic, and Faye screamed, "Rune!"

The blade was so sharp she didn't realize it cut her until she felt the thin trail of blood slipping between her breasts.

Rune appeared on the opposite side of the kitchen, the island counter between them, dressed only in unfastened black slacks. He didn't look at her. Only canted his head at the man behind her as though he were inconvenienced.

The man shook her hard. Faye shrieked as the blade jostled against her throat. She grasped at the blade, cutting her hands as she desperately attempted to keep it off her neck.

Rune ignored her cries to fasten his pants. When he finished, he exhaled and said, "Would you be kind enough to refrain from slicing up my whore? I fancy her throat."

Faye froze at his dismissive words as the man tensed behind her. His fist tightened in her hair as he snarled, "Do not lie to me. I saw you with her."

A dark smile painted across Rune's aristocratic features. "And what exactly did you see frail-blood?"

Faye stood on her toes, pulling away from the blade. It lowered a fraction as the man grated, "You took Prinia from me solely because she was an Anarian. And now, you parade one of your own in front of all the realms."

Rune shrugged, "You could have paraded yours. I warned you not to marry her."

"I loved her!"

"Your pet was not fit for our court."

"She wasn't my pet!" The man took a ragged breath. The second came smoother. "You lied to save her. I would have done the same. Brother, I know you," the man said, dragging the blade tight to Faye's throat once more. She sucked a fearful breath, holding as still as she could.

"Then you should know better," Rune spoke casually as he pulled out a stool, dragging it loudly. He leaned over the counter selecting an apple before sitting down. Rune bit into it and gestured toward her. "Tell me she is not the very image of Sadi. Come now frail-blood. We both wanted to fuck her. Now I do." Rune smirked, tapping his temple. "Minus the Familiar madness."

The words hit Faye like a blow. Acute, searing pain tore at her heart as tears welled in her eyes. She was a fool.

"Your scent covers her. She reeks of sex." The angle of the blade curved down, no longer slicing against her skin.

Rune held up his hand, ignoring the man. A woman appeared next to Rune. She was petite, waves of her fawn-colored hair tumbling down her back. Rune's fingers traced past the woman's jaw into her hair.The same way he touched me,Faye thought as hot tears spilled down her cheeks.

Rune's indifference was the worst cruelty. He said he loved her. He served her. Rune turned the woman to face them and the blank stare of her vacant eyes jarred Faye from her thoughts.

The woman's irises were cloudy, staring off into the distance. Unaware of her surroundings. She looked empty. A body abandoned by the soul who once inhabited it.

"You confuse devotion with fucking," Rune explained, leaning closer to the woman to inspect her eyes. The corner of his mouth lifted as his eyes gleamed with perverse amusement.

He took a small bite of apple and removed it from his mouth, slipping it between the woman's lips. Her eyes never shifted as she dutifully chewed and swallowed. Rune raised a brow and said, "Have her trained quite well."

He didn't wait for a response, turning his attention back to the woman. Rune jerked her against him as he bit into the pad of his thumb. He gazed into her eyes the same way a lover might, his fingertips stroking behind her ear, following forward along her jaw.

His bloodied thumb brushed across her lips.

Bile rose in Faye's throat. Her mind screamed betrayal at the intimate exchange unfolding before her. The crushing feeling in her chest overwhelmed her, she scarcely felt the blade slack against her skin. Could hardly breathe.

The woman opened her mouth and closed her lips over Rune's thumb. He tilted his head back and groaned.

Hot tears fell from Faye's unblinking eyes. Betrayal and shame burned her. She desperately wanted to look away but found her gaze affixed.

The blade pulled tight to her throat, but Faye couldn't bring herself to care as her tears fell one after the other.

"I saw you," the man's voice waived for a moment before he continued, "You're lying. I know you love her."

"Love?" Rune laughed.

"Have you sunk so low, you now use their words?" Rune asked before hissing as his brow drew together in pleasure. He exhaled, meeting the man's gaze. "Does she suck on anything you put in her mouth?"

"Rune, stop. I'll kill her."

"I have a better suggestion." Rune stood, shoving the woman over the counter between them. Pinning her by the neck. "I shall keep your whore and you can keep mine. Trade for a week." Rune leaned forward looking into the woman's haunting face before lifting his gaze. "Perhaps two. Would you like a demonstration of what you smell on my whore?"

Black swept through his gaze and dissipated, as he gripped the woman's waist. His black-tipped claws pierced the fabric. A cruel smile played on Rune's lips. "Does she make any noise?"

The sword clattered against the floor. "Rune stop."

Faye crashed to her knees, and Rune was on the man the next instant. In a blur of motion Rune seized him by the throat. Faye flinched as his back slammed against the counter, cracking the wooden cabinet beneath it. Rune leapt up and braced a knee on the man's chest, still pinning him by his throat.

Faye retreated to the corner of the kitchen on unsteady feet, sobbing.

The man only narrowed his eyes, stretched over the counter next to the woman, who eerily remained as Rune left her.

They spoke in low tones that didn't carry to Faye.

A gravel filled voice said, "You can't hurt me more than you already have. You can't outrun a blood debt. I'll come for her. But I'll show mercy, I'll just kill her."

Faye jerked when the man spat in Rune's face. He and the woman vanished without a word.

Rune wiped his face, leaping down. His expression changed when he met her gaze. Anguished shadows filled his eyes. He reached for her. "Vsenia."

"Don't fucking touch me," Faye sobbed, slapping his hand away. Her stomach rolled, threatening to empty its contents.

"Alister needed to believe my words to keep you safe. Everything I said was a lie," he said. His expression pleading, begging her to understand. To forgive him.

Rune wanted Sadi. He didn't love her, she was just a body. Faye fled running to her sister's rooms as Rune called her name following her.