Page 85 of Rune’s Solace

“No, you don’t.”

Before I could answer, she took hold of my wrist and brought my hand the rest of the way to her face herself, settling my palm against her cheek like there had never been any question whether those hands belonged there.

There wasn’t a thing in this world that could’ve prepared me for what that did to me.

Her skin was warm.

Alive.

That was the word my mind kept giving me, over and over, no matter how many times I tried to move past it. Alive in my bed, alive under my hand, alive and looking at me with those violet eyes while my heart tried to beat its way through my ribs.

I swallowed and ran my thumb carefully beneath the bruise. “Jaw hurt when you open?”

“A little.”

“Teeth?”

“Fine.”

“Headache?”

“Yes.”

“Nauseous?”

“No.”

“Dizzy?”

“Not anymore.”

“You black out?”

“I don’t think so.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I got hit, Rune. My memory of the experience isn’t exactly organized alphabetically.”

I shut my eyes Bad idea. The room came back before I’d even finished the breath, his hand around her throat, her face, the sound that had come out of me when I saw her on that floor. I’d spent a lifetime learning how to keep myself cold when cold was useful, but there hadn’t been a cold place left in me when I came through that door.

“Hey.”

I opened my eyes. Amy was watching me, and the fact that there wasn’t any fear in her face nearly did me in worse than if there had been.

“I’m okay,” she said.

“Don’t.”

Her forehead creased. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t tell me you’re okay because you think I need to hear it.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re not okay.”

“I know.”