But what happens next genuinely shocks me.
“I know you’re innocent,” he says, his voice softer than moments ago when the doctor and guard were here. My lips tremble as I look up at him.
“You–you do?”
This better not be another trick. Another one of his methods of pulling me apart.
He nods, and hope lights within me like a lighthouse shining into the night.
“And it’s my fault, Alice,” he sighs. “You’ve been sent here by someone with a grudge against me. To set me up. To cause me to fail.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
He reaches out, placing a soft hand against my bruised arm. But this time, it doesn’t hurt. His touch is so soft, like a feather caressing my skin.
Competence. So much authority. Strong hands igniting my nerve endings with heat, sending a flush up my neck to my cheeks.
“You don’t have to understand, Alice,” he says, his voice low. “Just know that I believe you and I will protect you.”
Finally. Someone believes me!
I almost can’t believe it. A single tear falls from my eye, but Killian wipes it away, shaking his head. “No. Don’t cry, Alice. Everything will be all right.”
He leans in, and the tension in the room snaps. The match lights, and a fire begins to burn in my chest. I look up at him, and he pushes me down on the bed and mounts me, one knee on either side of my face.
A timid gasp escapes my lips as I look atit—the unmistakable bulge of arousal between his legs. The seams of his pants about to burst. The teeth of his fly spreading apart.
“Those are the things Icando for you, Alice,” he says. “But what Ican’tdo is continue to restrain myself.”
“Killian…”
“As warden of Last Rites, I should punish you for causing a scene today.” He extends his tongue and licks his lips, eyes flaring like hot sparks. “But I’ll take mercy on you, Alice. Your punishment will be…”
His voice trails off as he drags his gaze across my body, making me aware of every tiny inch.
“Pleasure.”
He said it. And I know what he means. I know what he wants. And it scares me almost more than those men in the yard did today.
My chest heaves as he unbuttons my jumpsuit, letting my breasts spill out against the cool air. His face lights up as he leans down and puckers his lips, taking each nipple into his mouth and sucking, straddling the line between gentle and rough.
I‘m losing control. The feeling pries my jaw open, and I gasp, my hands gripping the mattress as he continues down, tugging at the dirty fabric that conceals the rest of me.
“I’ve tried so hard to control myself, Alice,” he mutters, almost like he’s talking to himself. He reaches the V of my legs and pauses, like a man about to leap from a bridge. “But with you, it’s impossible. You had me crawling around on the floor, breaking my own rules as warden…and now I simply can’t hold back any longer. But you know that, don’t you?”
What? What is he asking me? His question shocks me, but at the same time, it cracks something open inside me where an answer was hiding. Something I’ve known for a while now but didn’t have the courage to confront.
Killiandoescare for me. That’s why he threw the guards out of the room for my examination. Why he placed me in solitary—so I wouldn’t be near the other men. Why he rescued me and has me here now alone.
The realization rocks me to my core. My cheeks prickle with excitement as I manage to nod.
“Yes. I know.”
A look comes over him, like two puzzle pieces falling into place. And with a firm and final tug, he strips me of my jumpsuit and I lie naked beneath him.
The third time…
His dominance and authority are so attractive. I notice for the first time a hint of gray near his temples and realize just how little I know about this man.
