Witch Untold by Debbie Cassidy

Chapter Four

Isat on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket even though I wasn’t cold. Leif had thrust a mug of tea into my hand because, yeah, that solved all problems.

My fingers were back to normal, and so were my eyes according to Tor, but the way he was watching me, all wary and tense, told me he was ready to leap on me if I did any weird body-morphing shit.

“Her eyes changed?” Leif asked for the third time.

“Fucksake, Leif, do not make me repeat myself,” Tor snapped.

This has to be something to do with the virus.

All eyes went to Rune.

He padded closer and peered up at me. You say a voice helped you, an unnamed entity. She helped you burn the virus from your body, but she must have had to do something for that to happen. Maybe she changed you.

“What the fuck do you mean?” Tor asked.

Leif sucked in a breath. “He means on a genetic level…” He parked his butt on the edge of the coffee table opposite me and leaned forward, elbows braced on knees, hands clasped. “It makes sense. This entity must have changed you somehow to enable your body to fight off this infection.”

“That makes no sense,” Tor said. “No one is immune to the virus. It affects outliers and humans.”

All outliers we know of. Rune blinked calmly. But we don’t know everything.

“Then we find out,” Tor said. “You have a contact at the Magiguard, right?”

I nodded.

“First thing tomorrow we get in touch. All they’ll need is a blood sample.”

This had happened earlier, and I’d brushed it off as a trick of my mind. The aftereffects of almost dying from an ancient virus, but now…

Fuck. Now, there was no way I could pretend this wasn’t real.

There was something wrong with me.

* * *

It was almosttwo in the morning by the time I climbed into bed. Rune hopped up after me and lay beside me, his golden eyes gleaming in the moonlight streaming in through the windows.

It’ll be all right.

His honey tones were a soothing presence in my mind.

“You can’t know that.”

This entity wouldn’t have saved you just to hurt you, would it? What impression did you get from it?

I snuggled into the covers. “I don’t think it had nefarious intentions, but then I was trapped in my head with a crazy virus out for my blood. I mean, I could have imagined the whole thing.”

You don’t believe that.

I sighed. “No.” I turned to face him, reaching out to stroke his ear. “I hate this. I hate waiting, for Jasper and Conah, for tests, just waiting.”

You’re a creature of action.

I smiled. “Yep.”

Like to be in the thick of things?

“That’s me.”

His tone dropped. You like to take charge, don’t you, Cora?

There was a sensual quality to his voice now. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine he was beside me, not in wolf form but in his human form.

“I do like taking charge, but sometimes I like to be dominated.”

Is that right?

His voice was an intimate rumble, caressing my senses and drawing me closer. I sank my hand into the fur at his neck.

“Keep talking, Rune.”

What do you want me to say.

“Tell me what you’d do, right now, if you could shift to human form.” Some might think the question cruel, but fuck them, Rune had a right to fantasize with me, to connect this way and play. We needed to find our own way to be intimate even if it couldn’t involve skin on skin, lips and tongue. “Tell me.”

Silence greeted me, pregnant with anticipation, and then, It’s late. You should sleep.

Fuck. Had I messed up? “Are you offended?”

No, Cora.His voice was forlorn and wistful. I’m just not that strong. He nudged me with his nose. Close your eyes, beautiful.

I obliged, snuggling down and throwing my arm over him. The steady rise and fall of his back and his even breath lulled me into sleep.

The crashof waves filled my head. A gust of wind blew my hair into my face. I brushed it back to take in the stormy gray sky and the figure standing several meters away with his back to me, watching an angry sea that stretched out to the horizon.

Broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist above a pert ass and long, powerful legs encased in snug denim, topped with sexy black biker boots with ornate silver buckles. Long golden hair floated back in the breeze. My heart stuttered.

I knew this form.

I’d seen it in photographs.

I was dreaming.

Dreaming about Rune.

For a moment I was rooted to the spot, meters away from the man I’d only ever known as a wolf. My third mate who’d been forced onto the sidelines ever since we’d met.

Finally, my feet carried me toward him. Toward the cliff edge where he stood, watching the sea churn and batter rock. I took it slow, afraid that if I moved too fast the dream would shatter, and he’d be ripped away from me.

I was a couple of meters away when his shoulders stiffened, and he turned to face me.

I knew that handsome face. The winged brows, straight nose, and mischievous features. I’d seen those full lips smile, showcasing even, white teeth. I’d studied the column of his neck, head tipped back as he laughed with an abandon that made my heart ache to laugh with him. Haley had sent me the photographs, and I’d pored over them for hours.

“Rune?” His name was a whisper that hung between us, pregnant with expectation.

His eyes widened. “Cora…I’m dreaming.”

Oh, fuck, that voice paired with the face was almost too much for me. Damn, my mind was good. “No, I’m dreaming.”

His brow furrowed slightly, and he took a step toward me. He was tall, like Tor, but with more of an athletic build. The build of a sprinter, or a swimmer, or a mix of the two, and oh, God, he was close now, so close I could feel the heat beating off his body.

He plucked a tendril of my hair and rubbed it between his forefinger and thumb. “This feels so real.” He scanned my face, confusion painting his beautiful features. He looked like a Viking, powerful, golden, and perfect. “You feel”—he traced my cheek with his fingers, sending tingles down my neck and across my chest—“so fucking real. I prayed I’d dream of you.”

But this was my dream, not his, and it was the weirdest dream ever. “Rune, this is my dream. You’re in my dream.” And I was arguing with a creation of my own mind. I reached up to skim his jaw with my fingertips. Stubble grazed my skin. “Fuck, that feels too real.”

He inhaled sharply and the corners of his mouth dimpled. “What if it is?”

“What?” I locked gazes with him, stepping closer so I had to lift my chin to look at him.

“What if this isn’t your dream or mine,” he said. “What if it’s ours.”

Oh, shit. Could it be? His fingers brushed mine and we both looked down at our hands before lacing them. His skin was warm. He was real. This was…real.

My gaze shot up to lock with his again. “Rune, I don’t get it. How is this possible?”

“I don’t know.” A smile lit up his face, and his hazel eyes seemed to glow with joy. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. Whatever this is, I’ll take it.” He cupped my nape with his free hand, fingers sinking into my hair as he tipped my chin back with his thumb. “I’ll take it.”

Our mouths hovered mere centimeters apart for several heartbeats before meeting on a soft sigh. The kiss made my heart ache and my eyes sting. The salty tang of the sea clung to his lips and the electric aroma of the angry ocean wreathed him. I parted my lips, desperate for more. Desperate for him, for this connection. My chest heated as the threads that bound us vibrated and thrummed in approval.

He deepened the kiss, mouth skating over mine expertly to evoke tingles that skimmed across my cheeks. A moan slipped between us, his or mine, I wasn’t sure, because my pulse was thundering. I slipped my hand from his and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my torso to his, breasts flush against his pecs.

He pulled back slightly. “Cora…Fuck.”

Fuck? Oh, God. We could do that here.

His eyes widened as he came to the same conclusion, and then my hands were at the hem of his tee, eager for skin on skin.

The sky rumbled. Lightning flashed.

Cora?

I opened my eyes to a white-washed ceiling crisscrossed with beams. “Fuck. Or not, in this case. Urgh.” I turned my head to lock gazes with Rune’s wolfy form.

His golden eyes were bright, body heaving as if he’d just completed a sprint. I registered the flutter of my pulse, erratic and excited.

“Rune…I was dreaming…”

So was I, Cora. So was I?

What the actual fuck?