Chapter 131 Before the Storm

Chapter 131 Before the Storm
Rune POV.

We couldn't stop Marcus from leaving. Watched him run north to Viktor at dawn. Carrying every defense plan we have in his cursed mind.

Now, alone in our chambers as night falls, Logan and I both know: we might not survive this.

Thirty-two days until the blood moon eclipse. Thirty-two days until Viktor uses everything Marcus told him to destroy us.

The day has been chaos. Evacuating children and elders to Silverclaw territory. Relocating supplies to secondary positions Marcus didn't know about. Changing guard rotations. Shifting defensive plans. Scrambling to make his intelligence obsolete.

It won't be enough.

Viktor now knows our original strategy. He'll adapt. Anticipate. Counter every move we make.

We're fighting blind while he sees everything.

Logan sits on the edge of our bed. Still in his training leathers. Staring at nothing. He's been silent for the past hour.

The room smells like him. Pine and snow and something uniquely Logan. Candles flicker on the windowsill. Cast dancing shadows across stone walls.

I sit beside him.

"Viktor's playing games." Logan says finally. Voice rough. "And we're just reacting."

"Running behind. Always two steps slow."

We're both too wired to sleep despite the exhaustion. Too aware that everything changed today.

"We might die." I say quietly.

Logan doesn't deny it. Doesn't offer false comfort.

"Yes." He turns to look at me fully. "We might."

Neither of us cries. This is just acceptance.

We might not survive the blood moon eclipse. Might not win this battle. Might die trying.

That's reality.

But sitting here, looking at him, ice-blue eyes reflecting candlelight, jaw tight with tension, hands clenched into fists, I refuse to let that reality be our ending.

"Then let's make sure we die happy." I reach for his hand.

Logan looks at me.

"Make love to me. Like it's the last time."

"Because it might be."

"Because it might be. And I want to remember this. Want you to remember this. Want to create one more perfect memory before everything goes to hell."

Logan stands. Pulls me up with him. His hands frame my face. Tilt it up to meet his gaze. Rough calluses against my skin. Warmth seeping through.

"Not despair. Defiance."

"Exactly. We might die. But we're going to live first. Thoroughly. Completely."

He kisses me. Soft at first. Then deeper. His tongue slides against mine. Tastes me.

When he pulls back, his eyes are dark.

"I want to remember every inch of you." Logan says quietly. Reaches for the hem of my shirt. "How your skin feels. How you taste. How you move."

He lifts my shirt over my head. Pauses to trace the curve of my collarbone with his fingertips. Then his tongue.

"You taste like salt here. Sweat from today's training."

His hands move to my pants. Unfasten them. They slide down my legs. He kneels. Unlaces my boots one at a time. Hands linger on my calves. My ankles. The arch of my feet.

"Your skin is softer here." He kisses the inside of my ankle. "Delicate."

When I'm finally naked, standing before him while he's still fully clothed, I feel cherished.

His eyes trace over me. Not just lustful. This is memorization.

"My turn." I reach for his shirt.

I undress him with the same care. Each piece of clothing reveals more scarred, muscled flesh that I trace with my fingers. My mouth.

The scar on his ribs from the assassination attempt. I kiss it. Tongue traces the raised line.

"I love this scar. How you got it protecting me."

The mark on his shoulder from childhood training accident. I trace it with my fingertips.

"This one too. It's part of your history. Part of what made you who you are."

The curse mark that's faded but still visible on his chest. I press my palm against it. Feel his heartbeat race beneath.

"And this. Your burden. Your strength. Your reason for everything."

When he's finally naked, we stand facing each other. Both bare. Both vulnerable. Both absolutely present.

Logan's hands slide into my hair. Tilt my head back. He kisses me. Deep. Promising everything.

Then his mouth moves. Down my neck. Pausing to suck a mark into my collarbone. Across my shoulders. Teeth graze sensitive skin that make me shiver.

Down to my breasts. Taking his time with each one. His tongue circles my nipple before he sucks it into his mouth. I gasp. Arch into him.

"Your skin tastes like honey here. Sweat and sweetness mixed."

Lower. His tongue traces the line of my ribs. Counts them with kisses. "You arch when I touch you here."

Lower still. Across my stomach. Circles my navel with his tongue. "Gasp when I bite here."

He demonstrates. Teeth sink gently into the soft flesh of my lower stomach. I gasp. Hands fist in his hair.

Down to my hips. His mouth hot against the sensitive hollow. "Tremble when I kiss here."

And I do tremble. Legs shake as his mouth moves lower still.

"Logan." I breathe.

"Memorizing you. Every response. Every sound. Every way you react to my touch."

Then his mouth is on me. Hot. Wet. Devastating.