“I’ll claim you right now, Meryn,” he rasps, the words interrupted by the curling of his muscles as he buries himself inside of me. “You’re all mine,” he hisses as his hips maintain their merciless pace.
“I love you,” I whimper, nodding. My body rolls against his, meeting every thrust of his hips with my own. Trying to pull him deeper. Trying to reach that screamingly silent place again, where there’s nothing but Killian’s body tangled with mine.
“I want you to come around me, kitten,” he says. I nod weakly, too distracted by the sight of our bodies moving. But he lets out a discontent sound and closes his hand around my throat, placing gentle pressure on the sides and forcing me to look into his eyes. “Let go.Now.”
It happens instantly. Everything inside of me tightens. My mouth falls open, but the scream is silent this time. I don’t have the breath for it.
Satisfaction floods Killian’s gaze as I start to feather around him and contort, clenching into a vise-like grip. He shudders in response. The snap of his hips as he takes advantage of my tightness feels like praise. He’s wild inside of me for a few more thrusts. Unleashed.
And then comes the rush of hot warmth, the spill of him. His muscles tighten beneath his clothes as he sinks as deep as he can.
Claim me, he said. I cling to his shoulders because if I don’t, I’ll dissolve into sweat and satisfaction.
We fall still save for the heaving of our chests. There’s an ache in my body from the roughness of it. I love it. My hands smooth over his shoulders and up to his neck, into his hair.
“Killian,” I breathe. There’s a dumb smile on my face when he lifts his head.
He soon mirrors it. “Fuck,” he rasps, and I laugh.
But when the levity fades, his smile falls. “I…” His brow knits. “Meryn, tomorrow you?—”
I press my thumb over his lips. “It’s okay,” I whisper.
He doesn’t believe me. Can’t. But he still gingerly picks me up off of his desk. I wrap my legs around his hips and let him carry me to his bed. “I’m not done with you yet. I can’t be,” he whispers against my bare shoulder.
I kiss his neck and nod. “Okay.”
“Once more, and I’ll let you sleep,” he promises.
I guide his face up and kiss him slowly. “Once more,” I agree.
“Well,” he smiles quietly, “maybe two, for you.”
I grin as he tosses me onto his bed. Afterward, I fall asleep quickly, listening to his heartbeat beneath my ear. It’s adreamless sleep that takes me, quieted by the weight of his arm across me and the exhaustion from such good sex.
A scream echoes in my ears, jolting me awake.
I think, at first, that it isn’t real.
Maybe it’s my failure coming back to haunt me, the shriek that I didn’t hear that night when I should’ve been there to protect Saela.
Glancing around the dark room in terror, my heart slams through my body. My surroundings return to me as sleep falls away.
There’s a push against the barrier in my mind; Anassa’s been woken by my fear. I push back, letting her know I’m safe.
Killian is dead asleep, breathing slowly. “Hey,” I beg, jostling him.
He grunts and peels his eyes open. His hair is wild and his lids are heavy. “What? Meryn?”
“Did you hear that?” I demand. It echoed through the halls. It sounded too real, too close.
Killian blinks slowly at me. “Hear what?” he asks, sleep crackling in his voice.
“There was a?—”
Another scream shrieks through my bones. I flinch, and goosebumps streak over my bare skin.
Horrifyingly, Killian doesn’t even slightly react. He sits up, concern pulling him towards wakefulness. But his attention is entirely on me, not towards the door where the sound came from.
