Page 46 of Bewitched By the Voodoo King (The Bewitching Hour #7)

Rune’s shadows wrapped around my ankles as we walked back to his room. I didn’t want to be without him again. He soothed something in my heart and body that I never knew I needed. His hand stayed rooted at the small of my back as we walked back in comfortable silence.

When he unlocked his door and we walked through the threshold, heat coiled low in my belly.

I wanted him so badly it hurt. He’d been through so much, and all I could think about was taking care of him.

I wove my fingers through his as I led him to the bathroom.

My fingers itched to take care of him in ways I’d never done before.

I wanted more than physical; I wanted this connection with him.

Shallow cuts marred his arms and cheeks, and I wondered what all he’d gone through in the swamp dealing with Babette. That would come later. Right now, he needed me.

I grabbed a rag from the cabinet and ran the hot water over it before I returned to his side and started cleaning the mud and grime from his cheeks.

The more I cleaned, the more cuts and bruises I uncovered.

My fingers traced over the marks with reverence as my magic reached out to heal him.

With each brush of my fingers, the warm glow within me smoothed his skin, healing the lacerations.

My touch lingered over each wound even after they were gone, unsure of how to let him go.

“I’m nasty,” he protested as I began to unbutton his shirt and push it from his well-rounded shoulders. His body was a masterpiece that I was anxious to uncover. “You don’t have to do this, I’m fully capable.”

Though the words were spoken in strength, I could see the exhaustion weighing down his limbs.

I knew he could still take care of himself, but I wanted to see him taken care of.

Plus, there was a need within me to see that he was unharmed.

I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew he was completely healed before my eyes.

“You’ve carried enough on these shoulders, let me take on some of your burdens.” I pressed a kiss to his now unmarked jaw. “After all, I’m your wife. Or did you forget?”

A chuckle stirred in the back of his throat, and before I could protest, he had his arms wrapped around me and we were both under the hot spray of the water, clothes be damned.

I didn’t know how the water had turned on, and I didn’t care.

All I could think about was the way he was looking at me, with heat and hunger like never before. “I could never forget.”

With a deafening riiiiip, he tore my shirt down the middle.

I couldn’t have told you if it was a favorite of mine or not, because all I wanted was for it to be free from my body.

We fought with the wet fabric until we were both breathing hard and just a few inches apart.

There were still bruises and scratches along his body, but with every touch from me, they healed before our eyes.

He dragged his nose up the side of my neck, and I shivered into his touch.

“You’re mine, Maple. Not because of a contract. Not because of this coven but because you chose me and I chose you.”

It was all I needed to hear as I grabbed his face between my hands and yanked his mouth to mine.

It was all-consuming, and with every swipe of his tongue on mine, I only unraveled further.

The kiss only grew more desperate as we stood under the shower spray, water streaming over the both of us.

I could hardly think straight. I didn’t know how we remained upright.

His rough hands trailed down my body as he backed me up against the cool tile wall.

Rune groaned into my mouth as my hands skirted over his now, thankfully, bare chest. He shucked off his wet pants quickly; I tried to pull away to get a glimpse of his glorious body, but he pulled me back into another searing kiss.

I wanted nothing more than to touch him and make him mine.

All I wanted was for him to take more. But instead, he broke the kiss with a ragged breath and rested his forehead against mine.

Our chests rose and fell rapidly as we stared at each other.

“I want you,” I whispered just a hairsbreadth from his lips. “I need you.”

I pulled his hand in mine to my bare hip and hoped he got the point. He shook his head and scooped me up in his arms. “Not here. I want you spread out beneath me, where I can see every inch of you.”

His words only made me dizzier with want. If he didn’t hurry, I was going to die of need.

He didn’t bother with a towel as he walked us out of the bathroom, the shower still going, and water dripping from our bodies.

My legs wrapped tight around his waist on instinct, the hard heat of his body making me forget how to breathe.

He kicked the bedroom door wider, laid me onto the sheets, and hovered over me.

I arched into his touch and kisses, desperate for more.

When his hands traced my ribs, I shivered, not from cold but from the way his touch lit up every nerve inside me.

I tangled my fingers in his locs, pulling his mouth back to mine, desperate and aching.

My nails grazed his damp skin, and his muscles flexed beneath my touch like he was holding himself back by sheer willpower.

“Rune,” I breathed against his lips.

When his hand skimmed the inside of my thigh, I shivered so hard it felt like my bones rattled.

But instead of rushing, he slowed, savoring me, drinking in every sound I made as if it was the only thing keeping him alive.

Rune’s hand slid higher, his fingers brushing the edge of my core, and I gasped against his lips. My body arched for him, hungry and desperate, but he held himself maddeningly still.

“Say it again,” he rasped, his voice like rough velvet.

“Rune,” My nails bit into his shoulders. “I need all of you, Rune.”

His control snapped. With a growl, he spread me wider beneath him, his shadows curling around my wrists to pin them against the sheets. The sensation sent a shiver through me, equal parts restraint and devotion, like he couldn’t stand to let me go.

“Look at me,” he demanded.

I forced my eyes to stay open as he slid down my body, kissing every bare inch of me.

When his mouth closed over my breast, I nearly came undone, back arching as he teased mercilessly, shadows tightening around my wrists in warning.

“Patience,” he murmured against my skin, though his own breath came ragged, as if he was holding on by a thread.

When his fingers finally pressed into me, I cried out, my legs trembling against his hips.

He worked me open with care, stretching me, coaxing me, while his other hand cupped my face with tender care.

Every thrust of his fingers was a claim, every kiss an oath.

I was a shaking and trembling mess beneath him.

I shattered around him once, then again, but he didn’t stop.

He carried me through each wave, drawing it out until tears burned the corners of my eyes.

My golden magic was a sparkling sheen across my skin.

Only then did he pull his fingers free from me and line himself up with the center of me.

I squirmed against him, desperate for more.

He was slow at first, letting me adjust to his size before he slammed all the way home, and I saw stars behind my eyes.

The sheer size of him stole the breath from my lungs.

He was not my first, but he was certainly the biggest.

I whimpered, arching up, trying to take him even deeper. Shadows slid along my wrists, anchoring me as if he feared I might fly apart. He drew back and thrust again, harder this time, and the sound that tore from my throat was pure surrender.

“More,” I begged.

That was all it took. He began to move, slow at first, each deliberate stroke stretching me wide before he drove harder, deeper, until the rhythm stole every coherent thought from my mind. My legs locked around his waist, pulling him closer, urging him to never stop.

Rune bent low, his mouth crashing against mine, swallowing my cries as his hips snapped against me. His hand caught my jaw, tilting my face so I couldn’t look anywhere but at him. “Eyes on me, Maple. Always on me.”

“Yes,” I gasped, even as pleasure tore through me and his thumb found the center of me, between us.

I screamed his name as I shattered again, the force of it leaving me boneless against the sheets. But Rune didn’t stop—he drove me through it, his own moans growing rougher with each thrust.

The sound of our bodies meeting, the slick slide of skin against skin, the tangled mess of shadows and light sparking around us—it was enough to make me climax again.

When he finally came, it was with a shuddering groan, his body locked tight against mine as his release ripped through him.

His shadows snapped free from my wrists, wrapping around both of us instead, cocooning me in his dark embrace.

I clung to him, gasping, our foreheads pressed together as if we could breathe for each other.

For a long moment, the world was nothing but the thunder of our hearts and the aftershocks of magic still crackling in the air. His weight pressed me into the sheets, grounding me, claiming me as surely as his body had.

Rune’s lips brushed mine, soft now. “I never want to let you go.”

His words melted through me, more potent than any magic.

I buried my face into the curve of his neck, breathing him in.

His chest rose and fell against mine, still ragged, but his touch gentled as he stroked a wet strand of hair back from my cheek.

He traced the line of my jaw, the hollow of my throat, as if relearning me in the silence that followed.

“Do you know what you’ve done to me?” Rune murmured, his voice rough. “You’ve turned me inside out; I don’t even know who I am without you.”

“I can’t believe any of this is real.”

His fingertips brushed up and down my bare spine as our breathing slowed and sleep started to take hold of us both.

“It’s real,” he whispered, brushing his lips over my temple. “You and me. Nothing else matters.”