Eight

Rose, for a second, could not believe what she was doing; kissing a man who claimed to be a werewolf. 

But her insanity did not matter when their kiss filled her soul with a thrill she always thought she would never experience. To avoid ruining that moment, she gently slid her hands into the man’s soft hair and allowed the rest of her body to lean into his sturdy frame while their lips continued to communicate fiercely.

“Rose…” Rune groaned when he ended the kiss to her dismay. 

“Please…” Her brows knitted. “Don’t stop.” She was afraid she would go back to being miserable. 

“I can do more?” he asked. “Are you sure?” 

Rose was not a child. She was aware that doing more would lead to her losing her virginity. But, wasn’t it high time that happened? She was not sure what was going to happen to her from that moment on, but one thing she learned from her marriage to Richard was to never let go of chances to do things she wished to do. 

Would she be cheating on her husband by sleeping with Mr. Rune? Maybe.

Did she care? No. Richard had hurt her enough. She needed to start healing one way or the other. 

So, as she cupped the man’s face to peer into his magical eyes, she silently implored him to help her not regret what she was about to do and begged God to help and forgive her. 

“I have got you, Rose,” he answered, and she silently appreciated him even though his timely response to her thoughts still weirded her out. His arms circled her waist, and after seconds of calming her tensed body with simple massages, he said, “When you learn to lean on me,” he kissed her forehead. Her insides felt warm, “I will be here to hold you. And,” the next kiss fell on her cheeks, “when you find the strength to love again, I want to be the one you are looking at.” 

“And?” She wanted to hear more. His words were as good as making love to her. 

“When you love, I will do everything to ensure you do not sniff regret in any form.” Her eyes closed as he ducked his head so that the sides of their faces were pressed together. “Today, Miss Rose, I make that promise. I swear on my soul, and I swear on you. I will never break that promise.”

“Rune…” Was she dreaming?

“Yes.” He moved his head, and she saw the smile in his teary eyes. “Call me any time, any day. I will answer you. My dear mate, that is my promise to you.”

At this point, Rose’s emotions could not take it anymore. She burst into tears, showing how saddened and happy she was to finally hear such words. 

As she bit into her lip to hide her ugly cry, she held the man’s face again and took a good look at him. 

“You must be a good dream,” she whispered. “Before I wake up, I want to enjoy this moment more.” She was now more comfortable with the thought of giving her virginity to the man whose words she believed because of the tranquillity she felt because of him. “You can do more, Rune. Touch me. Make me feel the love I deserve.”

As he nodded, Rune wiped some of her tears and lifted her off the ground in bridal style. 

“I plan to do just that,” he said, moving away from the ocean toward the house. 

By the time they reached the porch of the cottage-like building, their lips were already engaged, and at intervals, Rune toured parts of her neck and ears to her delight. With her feet kicking in the air, she enjoyed the simplicity of his touch and returned them by planting some kisses on his face.

“I don’t think I can wait for us to go inside,” he groaned when her lips pressed against his jaw while he nuzzled her neck with her breath.

“But it would be too exposed,” she said, trying not to giggle. 

“No one else is here but us.” His eyes teased her. “This is my property. Any other person would be a trespasser.”

“But…” She glanced at the open space. “It would be a little weird.”

“You like the thought, don’t you?” He caught the little smile on her face. 

“Nuh-uh.” She liked it a lot. 

“Trust me a little, Rose,” he said as he converted how he held her so that she was straddling him. “You will enjoy being out with nature. Sometimes indoors is boring.”

“You sound like you have done this a lot of times.” Rose realised she should have questioned his sexual history. 

“This is my first time.”

Their new position made it easier to look into his eyes while her upper body struggled with being close to his body. 

“You are not lying.” She found it odd. “This is really your first time?”

“Why would I lie about that?” He seemed confused. “If I have had sexual encounters before, I would say it. As I said, you are my mate. You are the only one I am meant to make love to.”

He was starting to sound too good to be true. 

“Wait…” Her head tilted to the side. “You said you used to be an Alpha King.” Rose was yet to fully believe all that. “Did you not have a queen or something like that? Did you rule by yourself?”

“I had a Luna Queen.” He nodded. “But we never shared a bed.”

“Uh…” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

“That is fine.” His lips scrunched. “We should take a break for now, should we not?”

“Oh.” Rose realised she killed the mood. “Uhm-”

“Let me cook you a meal. I should have offered that before offering to make love.” He laughed, and his legs walked to the door. “Silly me.”

Rose joined his laughter. She was hungry and thirsty, yet she was more concerned about sleeping with a man. Maybe killing the mood was for the best.

She had not healed from being held captive by Richard, the least she could do before sleeping with Rune, was to eat well and regain the strength lost while she was unconscious. 

After doing that, she could revisit the idea of having sex with the man. From there, she would find ways to sort out her messed up life. And while doing all that, she would carefully depend on the man whose promises she still chose to trust were genuine. 

[break]

“I don’t stock much food here. I could only cook this much,” Rune said as she walked into the small kitchen.

Rose hung the towel she used to dry her face on her shoulder, and she moved closer to see what he prepared. 

“Ouu…” The plates set on the small table in the middle of the room were filled with all sorts of nutritious side dishes, two bowls of soup and a massive plate of rice in the middle. “This is more than enough.” She looked up at him with a smile. “Thank you, Rune.”

He nodded, his lips flicking with unintended sexiness. “Was the shower relaxing?” He observed the towel wrapping her wet hair. 

“Very.” She sat at the set table.

“I left fresh clothes on the bed. You didn’t see them?” He sat down too. He made sure he was close to her. 

“I actually dressed in the bathroom and rushed out because my stomach was starting to growl.”

“The aroma of my meals must have seduced it,” he joked.

“It was,” replied Rose, who reached for a spoon. “I can’t wait to dig in. I am very famished.”

“Take your time.” Rune removed the towel from her shoulder. “Don’t rush. When you are done, put on the new clothes. I will cream your hair, and you can go to sleep. Okay?”

Like a child, she nodded while her inner mind acknowledged the affection she was being shown. 

After she had eaten a few spoonfuls, she asked, “Are you not going to eat?” 

“I was appreciating how you have not attempted to run away from me. It must have been difficult to listen to a stranger who spews about mates and being a werewolf.”

“I am too trusting, aren’t I?” She handed him a spoon. She needed him to eat so that she could be sure that she was not eating poison. Yes, she realised that possibility late. But it’s better late than never. 

“The way I see it, you don't trust me,” Rune replied after drinking some soup. “You are simply following how you feel, aren’t you?”

“Something like that. That is the reason I wanted to sleep with you. Your presence is just so… nice yet uncomfortable at the same time.”

“Wanted? You no longer want to sleep with me?” She almost coughed out the rice in her mouth. With smiles in every wrinkle of his face, he reached to wipe something from the side of her lips. “I hope my presence continues to be nice and uncomfortable.”

“Rune…” She shifted closer once she recovered from the earlier gag, the chair beneath her screeching for a second. “Are you really a virgin?”

He chuckled. “Is it hard to believe?”

Her head nodded as fast as it could. “You are a fine man. You have a fine body. If you grew up as a pure human, you’d have a lot of women around you. You would have surely slept with one or two.”

“Huh…” His eyes held hers, and he said with seriousness, “That does not sound appealing. But then, I noticed that some of the humans live like that. They have sex with people they are not committed to. That is an odd way to live.”

That statement reminded her of Richard and the filthy video he subjected her to. 

With a smile that struggled to remain firm, she looked away from Rune and added, “You are right. It is not appealing.”

“Rose?” It seemed he detected the change in her emotions. “Did my response overstep?”

“No.” She shook her head and stuffed her mouth with another spoon of food.

“You are not looking at me anymore.”

“It’s just…” She struggled with her response even though she had swallowed that spoon. “My husband… He…”

“Did he do that?” he asked. “Did he have sex with people he was not committed to?”

“I…” She tried not to rouse her sorrow. “Can we not talk about that now?”

“Certainly. I am always here when you are ready to share that part of your life.”

She finally looked at him. “You…” 

“Me?” His brows jerked.

“You are too good to be true.”

“What part of me?”

“Every part. Your entire existence.” Her heart heaved with an unfamiliar feeling. “I do not know what to do if this turns out to be a dream.”

“We kissed,” he simply pointed out. “Isn’t that enough to tell you that it is not a dream?”

“You said you are a werewolf. That alone makes it feel like I am living some sort of temporary fantasy.”

“But…” He frowned. “I don’t want to be temporary. I want to be permanent in your life.”

“Things like that…” She groaned as her left hand pulled at her hair. “Saying things like that makes this too good to be true.”

“Rose.” He gently held her chin to make her look at him. “Do not compare me with that filth you once called husband. Please, don’t. I understand it won’t be easy for you to believe my intentions and promises, but know this and know it now; I am not that man and will never be that man.”

“I-”

He stood up. “I think we should not push it back anymore.”

“H-hold what back?”

“Making love.”

“But-” She glanced at the meal.

“We will reheat it.” He walked to the cabinets and pulled out a netted food cover. After shielding the meal from outside factors, he held out his hand. “Let me show you how serious I am. I will give myself to you. I would like you to do the same.”

Rose attributed the back and forth of their words to a lack of proper action. So, she decided not to hold back again with meaningless debate. She held his hand and let him lead the way to the bedroom. When they barely got past the door, he cupped her butt cheeks and slowly rubbed his lips against her nape. She knew then that there truly was no going back from that moment.