Page 132 of Boundless

My body melted onto his when he wrapped his arms around me from behind and pulled me back. I rested my head on his shoulder and let him trail kisses all over my cheek and temple while he rocked us slightly to the sides.

Through half open eyes, I looked at the sunlight still, as it grew stronger, brighter, chased away the few clouds that had gathered as if to welcome the sun.

Their time was up.

Now, so was mine.

“I don’t want to go.” Five words that were truer than most things I’d said in my whole life.

I didn’t want to go, to leave this place at all. Rune’s arms. His company.

A kiss on my temple, and he pulled me to his chest harder, wrapped his arms around me tighter. “I know.” And he also knew that I had to, just like I did.

“It’s almost over,” I whispered, stunning my own self every time the thought crossed my mind. “You’re king, and Hil is in his place, too. So is Lyall.” No matter how big of an asshole he was. “Now it’s just…me.”

“It is,” Rune said, resting his cheek against mine as we stared out at the sun turning the sky a deeper shade of blue with every passing second. “Soon everything will fall into place.”

My eyes closed. It felt like I was being stabbed in the chest over and over again. “How can you say that? You’re king and I will be queen, if that even works—and Maera told me, Rune. Maera told me that we could never be together.”

A kiss on my temple again. “Did she now.” It wasn’t even a question.

I leaned back as far as he’d let me, which wasn’t much, really—and I absolutely adored that—but I had to look into his eyes. They were all shades of indigo, with those silver circles all around his pupils that really did look like maps to me now.Mymaps. My way home.

God, he was so beautiful under fresh sunlight like that, that I had to take a moment to look at him, touch his soft cheek.

“Sunlight looks good on you.” Maybe just as good as darkness.

“Youlook good on me,” he said with a grin, turning to kiss my fingertips. “You’re my sunlight, wilding.”

“So why aren’t you worried?” Because he obviously wasn’t.

“I’m never worried when you’re safe,” he told me. “And you shouldn’t be, either.”

I closed my eyes, pushed his arms off me and moved. I just needed to move. “So we’re just…what, we’re going to break up now? Is that it?”

Within a second, he was in front of me again, his hand around my chin, his eyes darker than they were just a moment ago.

“Just so we’re clear, now and until the end of time—that isnotan option,” he said, his voice dangerously low, caressing my ears, soothing the pain in my chest. “It’s not a possibility. Do you understand me?”

Fuck, yeah, I understood. “Yes,” I breathed with barely any voice.

His lips sealed mine for a hot minute. “Good. Now, I want you to stop worrying. Can you do that?” My mouth opened. “For me?” he added.

Unfair.

“I want to. Just tell mehow.” I held onto his arm and rose on my tiptoes, brought my lips in front of his. Everything was easier when our lips almost touched.

“We’ll figure it out.” He moved suddenly, put his arms under my body and pulled me up within the second. My hands locked around his neck as he brought me closer until we were face to face again. “Whatever it is we’ll need to do, we’ll do it. It will be easy, I promise.”

He promised.

“Easy.” It seemedimpossibleto me.

“Easy,” Rune repeated with a smile, then kissed the tip of my nose. “Sleep with me for a little while, Wildcat. The day has barely started.”

He took us to the bed again, that monstrous thing that felt exactly the right size when he was with me.

“Yes, Mr. Moody,” I muttered, eyes closed, my arms wrapped around his neck when he lay me down on the pillow so that heknew he wasn’t allowed to let go of me for even a second, but had to hop onto the bed on top of me right now.