So that time, when he stopped, he had to support her head to talk to her. His hand cupped her cheek, stroking her tenderly, and when she forced her eyelids open, the monster in his eyes looked back at her with warm satisfaction.
He pressed his lips to hers, so gently.
“We’re a team,” he whispered against her mouth. “Promise me.”
Aelia nodded frantically, her voice barely more than a whimper. “I promise.”
“Do you mean it?” he urged, reaching his hand between her legs once more.
“I do,” she breathed.
“Good girl.”
His mouth slanted over hers as his fingers worked into her, one hand fisting into her hair to pull her close, the other slamming into her so hard her whole body rocked with the force of each thrust. This time he didn’t stop, and she found herself almost wishing he would as the pleasure spiralled tighter and tighter inside of her, every muscle in her body tensing in anticipation of the torrent of sensation that threatened to slam into her. And yet it kept building, the intensity growing. A spasm of fear spiked through her, unsure she could take it, unsure she could stand it.
When it finally broke, she screamed, trying to pull away from Keeran, but he kept his mouth firmly locked onto hers, as if the sound was his and his alone. It was the most earth-shattering, bone-breaking, eye-watering, life-altering, out-of-body orgasm of her life, and all she could do was cling to him and hope she survived.
Something in her chest ripped open, filling her with a warm golden light. It knotted itself together, winding out of her and reaching towards Keeran. The waves of pleasure slowly subsided, but the insistent pulling in her chest did not.
Panic took over, and she pulled away from Keeran, eyes dropping to where her hand clasped at her sternum. The golden thread was invisible yet real, intangible yet undeniable.
After a few moments, it began to fade, coiling back into her chest until it disappeared altogether.
Only then did she become aware of Keeran watching her.
“Did you—” she stammered. “Did you see that?”
Keeran shook his head, his eyes back to brown, and filled with such sadness she flinched. He lifted her off the wall, sliding her slowly down the length of his body until her feet reached the floor, never once taking his eyes off hers.
Her legs wobbled under her, threatening to give way. Without hesitating, he hooked under her knees and swept her into his arms. He sank down by the fire, keeping her tucked close against him, his arms firm and unyielding around her, as if he never wanted to let her go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Her heart had calmed down enough that she was no longer worried that it would give out on her, and yet something had changed in her chest, a pulling sensation that had her wanting to lean in as close to Keeran as she could get.
She rubbed at her sternum, trying not to panic. That couldn’t have been some kind of sex fuelled hallucination. She’dfeltit.
Her eyes narrowed, a memory swimming to the surface of the only other time she’d felt anything like it. It had been the first time she’d seen Keeran, when he’d been performing in Callodosis. There was one unignorable common denominator there, and when she raised her eyes suspiciously, it was looking right at her.
“Say something,” he said, almost pleadingly.
“What was that?” she whispered.
“Which part specifically?”
He had a point. Was she referring to the fact that he’d pinned her on a wall, used sex to punish her, given her an orgasm that had altered her perception of pleasure, or the fact that it seemed to have triggered some kind of… she didn’t even know how to describe what she was feeling now, a tether, an ache? Whatever it was, he was undoubtedly at the other end of it.
“I felt something…” she spread her palm over her chest. “I can still feel it.”
She was too scared to care how crazy she sounded, and something in his expression made her think he knew exactly what she was talking about. Her mind flung the memory of his eyes at her, black as pitch, staring up at her. There was something he wasn’t telling her, something he hadn’t wanted her to see.
“Did you do something to me?” she whispered, hating how small and frightened she sounded.
Hurt ripped across his face, and for once, he couldn’t hide it. His torment took over his features, flooding her with guilt that she’d been stupid enough to suggest as much.
“No,” he said, averting his eyes, hiding something from her.
She twisted in his arms, trying to make him look at her. “What aren’t you telling me?”
