Heartless Hunter (Crimson Moth, #1)

by Kristen Ciccarelli

He let go of her hand, falling quiet. When her giggling subsided, she looked over to find a thoughtful expression on his face. “Your laugh is like a fuse,” he said. “It lights you up.”

Rune’s heart thudded. No one had ever told her that before.

“Rune,” he said, pupils dilating. He looked hungry suddenly. Like a man who hadn’t eaten in years. “Less talking.”

“I remember the sound of your laugh,” he said as the back door of the house came into view. “It pulled me like a magnet toward the beach, where I found the most beautiful girl in the world standing on the shore.”

“When I saw Alex at your side, I knew exactly who you were: Rune Winters. The girl Alex never shut up about. A girl who was entirely

off-limits, because my little brother found her first.”

“That’s not the way friendship works,” she said, turning back to him. “Alex didn’t find me. He doesn’t own me.”

“I thought you were dead!” she managed between sobs.

His hands found her waist, holding her lightly. “And that … upsets you this much? The thought of me dead?”

“Gideon, the thought of you inside that building … it felt like being held underwater.” She lowered her gaze to the pulse at the base of his throat. “Like being starved of air.”

“That might be the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“You have never been more beautiful than this moment.” The words made her pulse kick. What?

“You’re exquisite, Rune.” She swallowed. I am?