Page 104 of Blood Fist

And oh, it was like the first time Brune saw Ridan. There was no battle to send his heart racing, and yet it galloped in his chest, anyway. Back then, he hadn’t known why he was so drawn to Ridan, but now he knew. Now he knew it was because he belonged here, with his knuckles pressed against Ridan’s chest and their breaths mingling.

He’d never kissed anyone before, but it didn’t seem to matter. Even when their teeth clacked together, or their noses got in the way. The spark that danced between them didn’t dim. It burned hotter when Ridan’s free hand slipped along Brune’s shoulder, fingertips dragging along the beads of his necklace. They slipped under the cord, palm grasping his neck asthey tried to close what little distance remained between them.

Brune couldn’t find any air. The only thing he was breathing in was the sweet spice coming from Ridan. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to continue exploring down his neck or stay right here, drowning in his omegas scent and the flavorful softness of his lips.

With a pinch to his neck, Ridan pulled back. He was panting, thin lips swollen from kissing and eyes dilated. It was the most beautiful thing Brune had ever seen, and with space, he could finally detect a new scent in the space between them.

Untangling his tongue, Brune tried to speak. “Ridan I?—”

But then the omega was gone. He pushed himself to his feet, taking off at a run. But he wasn’t heading back toward the clan, but toward the darkness beyond.

Agonizing pain twisted in Brune’s chest and he had to fight the urge to croon, to beg his omega to come back to him. Not to bruise the delicate petals in the garden of Brune’s heart.

Several paces away, Ridan stopped. Twisting so he could look over his shoulder at Brune, he smirked. Then he chirped.

It was a wholly omega sound. One Brune had never heard in his life, but his alpha knew what it meant.

Chase.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

DIVINITY

A branch ripped past his face. The last remaining leaves clinging to weak stems pulled free in the tangles of his hair. Stinging pain whipped across his face, but Brune didn’t notice, only turning his head enough to protect his eyes as he thundered forward. He left a trail of dirt kicked up behind him, the smell of exposed undergrowth following him like a shadow.

None of that was enough to draw his attention away from the slender back racing away from him. Ridan was agile, bolting around trees and changing direction in quick succession. His footsteps were so light he hardly made footprints on the peaty forest floor.

Brune was not fast. His lumbering steps were more likely to shake trees loose than dart around them. But what he lacked in speed, he made up for in motivation. His long strides ate up the distance between them, keeping him just on the tail of a heavenly cloud of pheromones that grew stronger with every step.

Without their weapons, the two were light. It was a contest of speed, and even though Ridan should haveleft Brune far behind, it was obvious he was content to linger just out of reach. Just enough to taunt the alpha.

And alpha, he felt. Brune didn’t think he’d ever been more in tune with his secondary gender. He didn’t even feel tired as he ran, his entire focus on the omega in front of him. Nothing else mattered but catching him, pinning him to the ground, and making him his. His gums ached with the need to bite down, to hold flesh still so he could claim.

All his doubts, his lingering fears, were smashed in the presence of his alpha. Their positions in the clan, the threat of war, even Brune’s self-doubts fizzled away the moment Ridan challenged him.

Brune crooned, voice low and warbly as it rattled past his extended fangs. Ridan faltered, eyes flashing as he glanced over his shoulder to look back at the chasing alpha. His misstep brought Brune close enough to grab him. His fingertips just barely skimmed Ridan’s tunic, the fabric tearing as he pulled him to the forest floor.

They fell in a tangle of limbs. Brune took the brunt, pulling Ridan’s lithe frame to him as his back struck a root. It would bruise tomorrow, but for now, the warmth of his omega in his hands was the only thing he could feel.

Ridan yowled at the feel of arms tightening around him, squirming with his lips pulled back to expose his little omega fangs. Brune wanted to lick them. Having his tongue torn in two might even be worth it. He tried to soothe the feisty omega as best he could, with teeth snapping in his face and throaty growls echoing in his ears. A single attempt at a croon had Ridan’s knee digging into his stomach. Brune’s flinch of pain had Ridan wiggling free, rolling away in a flurry of dead leaves.

Following, Brune was up on his knees as his omega pausedbeside a tree, chest heaving under his gaping shirt. His cheeks were flushed, lips slick with spit, and eyes so dilated they were nearly black. For a moment Brune feared he’d made a mistake, that Ridan had not wanted him to chase. But then his lips curled ever so slightly, a silent taunt before he took off again.

And Brune chased. How could he not? Even when his throat ached, and his lungs felt as if they were filled with arrow tips. A stitch raked down his side, and his legs felt so heavy he might as well have been slogging through the swamps. He ran until the trees parted to a small clearing. No bigger than the tent he shared with Niklas; it was bathed in moonlight distorted by spindly naked branches.

Ridan jogged into the center before turning on his heel and surprising Brune by launching himself into his arms. He caught him as they fell—this time not in a tangle of limbs and gnashing teeth, but in a gentle drop to the ground beneath them. Ridan rolled them so that Brune’s bulk pushed him into the soft earth, his arms splayed out on either side of him.

For a long moment, that’s all they did. Their heaving chests gasping for breath in different rhythms and their lips parted, eyes scanning every inch of each other’s faces as if they were looking for the man beneath the beast. Because that’s what it had been. The chase was their subgenders—primal and instinctual. But this was different. The blood rushing in their veins had slowed, giving way to reasoning. For either of them to pull back, cough an apology, and disappear into the darkness. Never to mention this again.

Whatever unspoken thing they found in the other’s eyes had them reaching for each other. Within ‌a heartbeat, they were kissing, Ridan’s arms twining around Brune’s neck as he pulled him closer.

They’d kissed before, but this was different. Before had been tentative, a gentle press of lips just to see if they could. A kiss, as beautiful as any, but nothing like this. This was a kiss not borne of hesitation or concern but of pure want, of a desire that bled straight from the soul like a wound neither of them wanted to staunch.

It was a new sensation for Brune, but he suspected even if he’d kissed a thousand other lips, none would compare to Ridan’s. Not that he would ever dare. To even mention his kiss and another in the same breath would be a crime.

Because no one smelled like Ridan—that peppery sweet scent that clung to Brune and somehow dulled his senses, yet made every inch of his skin as alive as the spring grasses. They wouldn’t feel like him, warm and strong, fingers digging into the back of his neck as he clawed to close the distance between them as if it had personally offended him.

Ridan made the sweetest sounds underneath him. Little pants of breathless desire that sometimes tinged close to a whine, only to be bitten off as if he were trying to hide his want. Parting his lips, Ridan didn’t invite Brune in so much as demand his tongue meet his own. When their tongues brushed in a dance he seemed to know without ever having been told, he groaned into the kiss.