CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Aelia was sick of feeling like this. Keeran had done something to her that night on the wall, and it had been all but impossible for her to ignore it. She didn’t know if he’d flooded her with so many hormones that he’d permanently altered her brain chemistry, or if it was just a side effect of the pair bond thing, but whatever it was, she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
She despised him for the lies, layering one on top of the other until she had no idea who the hell she’d been travelling with. He was just as much a stranger to her as he had been in Callodosis, only now he was the stranger who had led Beserkir right to her front door.
And yet, despite all that, every second, of every moment, was accompanied by the deep, yearning need he had awakened in her. She had tried her best to ignore it, refusing to give in to it, but here, buried in a cosy duvet… she couldn’t help herself.
The soft sheets pressed against her bare skin and she closed her eyes, trailing her fingers lightly over her stomach, the sensation causing her abdomen to clench in anticipation. She would allow herself this on one condition; under no circumstances would she think of Keeran. She would not think of what he’d done to her on that wall, the way it had plagued herthoughts every moment since, or how much she longed to see what else that other side of him could do to her.
Her fingers froze. No, she would not think about him, not now. This was to help her get himoutof her mind, not allow him to worm his way deeper into it. She needed to get this out of her system. Now.
She slid her hand between her legs and groaned at how wet she was, the lightest touch of her fingers against her clit making her gasp and throw her head back into the pillow. She couldn’t remember ever having been so aroused, despite, or perhaps because of the looming danger the following day held. Her whole body ached with a desperate need for release, and she couldn’t fight it any longer.
Her fingers brushed gently over her clit, and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out at the immediate pleasure that radiated through her. Why had she denied herself this for the last few days? It seemed so nonsensical now. What did it matter if he was the reason she felt like this? No one but her would ever know if she gave in to it, and surely something that felt this good wasn’t something to resist.
A low groan escaped her as she resolved to do this all night if she needed to, her fingers leaving her clit to slip into her opening. Her walls clenched around her, desperate for more than just her fingers, and the thought of Keeran’s cock rushed unprompted into her mind.
She worked her fingers into herself, adding a third to try and satiate the desperate need for more as she imagined Keeran pressed down on top of her, thrusting into her with enough force to send her mind whirling.
Her eyes flew open, and her lip curled in frustration. She wouldnotthink of him. She forced herself to think of previous partners, to try and remember some of the more exciting moments she’d shared with them, but they paled in comparisonto what Keeran had done to her. How he’d effortlessly given her the most bone-trembling orgasm of her life, as if that were just a taste of what he wanted to do to her.
Desire flooded through her at the memory of it, and her fingers took on a mind of their own, pumping into her with hard, delicious strokes. She remembered the way he’d read her body, his tongue exploring her every need whilst his fingers teased her pleasure to heights she hadn’t even known existed. Suddenly, she didn’t care that she was thinking about him, her mind turning to jelly as tension began to coil its way through her, desire washing away conscious thought until it was like he was there with her. His presence seemed to fill her mind, coursing into her in a way that had her crying out for more.
“Aelia,”she imagined him growling, his voice reverberating through her skull.
“Keeran,” she cried out in response, past the point of caring about the thin walls, oblivious to anything but the thought of him there with her.
“Wait for me, Aelia.”An image filled her mind of Keeran’s hand around his cock, her imagination working in overdrive as he stroked it from base to tip, the velvet head slick with his arousal.
Aelia moaned, her back arching as she slowed down. Her palm pressed into her clit with every thrust, but the thought of tasting him, of licking every delicious drop off him, was enough to send her spiralling. It took every ounce of self-control to slow her fingers, but even in her fantasy, Keeran’s tone didn’t allow for any disobedience.
The image flickered, but something inherent in her latched onto it, clinging to it, her teeth sinking into her lips with the strength of her desire to see more. His hand had gained speed, and his hips lifted slightly as if he were arching. Aelia panted as she watched the muscles of his forearm straining, theveins tracking up his arm popping, and she longed more than anything to have that hand back round her throat.
“Is that what you like?”his voice rumbled through her mind, sending a shock of pleasure shooting straight between her legs.“Then, by the time I’m done with you, my hand will be the only necklace you’ll ever want to wear.”
Aelia trembled, her chest heaving as his words sent her careening towards release.
“Please,” she breathed, entranced as she watched him, her hand picking up speed to match his. She heard him groan, his ragged breathing awakening something primal in her, and she gasped at the intensity of the tension that started to build inside of her.
“That’s it, ride your fingers for me.”
She didn’t need telling twice. She slammed them into her, deaf to her own cries, her attention fixed onto his as he pounded his hand over his cock.
“Come for me, Aelia, I want to feel you come for me.”
His words tipped her over the edge, freefalling into an abyss of pleasure so deep she didn’t know if she’d ever come out the other side.
“That’s my good girl.”
Aelia’s back lifted off the bed, her body writhing with the strength of the orgasm that rushed over her, intensified as she watched him reach his own release. His pleasure somehow merged into hers in a way that had her vision exploding with blinding white light.
Time seemed to stand still, her control of her body whisked away from her, and all she could do was ride it out. It seemed to take an eternity to pass, and simultaneously be over all too soon. By the time she regained control over her senses, her mind seemed suddenly smaller, empty.
Aelia opened her eyes, finding herself alone in the room, her breathing steadily slowing. She swallowed, the usual afterglow of an orgasm fading all too quickly as she realised her imagination had run wild with her. It had all felt so real, so wonderfully, intoxicatingly real, but of course it couldn’t have been.
She breathed a puff of air through her nose, feeling ridiculous. She turned onto her side to face the wall, rubbing her chest against the awful tugging feeling that refused to leave her alone. She tossed and turned for a little while, before wriggling closer to the wall. Only when she was pressed right up against it, was she able to finally fall asleep.
The next daypassed in a blur, with Aelia too nervous about the coming evening to pay much attention to Llmera. She walked the streets in a daze, trying to take it in, but the thought of breaking into the warehouse had her fighting down her panic every step she took.
