I can’t think. All I can focus on is sensation and the release that’s hitting me like a drug, way before my climax is even here. My head bumps against the wood behind me. My wrists are screaming in blissful pain. My legs are spread so wide that my muscles are straining and protesting.
And the sight of Killian’s body moving over me, muscles rippling and sweat beading on his chest, is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
That hungry, dominating look in his eyes is mine for the rest of fucking time.
It goes on until my entire body throbs with the rough rhythm of it. Moans are pouring from my throat. He continues to pound into me until the whole world starts to churn and ripple around me, like our bodies are sending reverberations into the air.
I try to warn him that I’m about to tip over the edge, but words won’t come.
This is momentary, total obliteration at his hands.
He’s right there when I need him, his mouth claiming mine in a dizzying kiss and his fingers pressing down on my clit firmly. I’m helpless against it. Everything tightens.
He groans as I come around him. His fingers don’t stop, though, stroking me until it’s too much.
And I scream. I screamloudly, the sound high and so laden with pleasure and release that I can’t believe it came from my own throat.
I’m so lost to it that I struggle to pay attention to Killian’s climax. I want to watch it because he’s always so beautiful when he unravels. But all I can really focus on is the pulsing throb of his cock and the various little pains around my body that make me feelhadin an indescribably perfect way.
He groans above me, hips falling still. He doesn’t withdraw, though, choosing to remain close as I twitch with little aftershocks. We stay like that for a while, my wrists still bound, his head on my shoulder, our chests heaving.
Eventually, though, he lifts himself up on powerful arms and meets my eyes. “Got the scream out,” he says.
I laugh and realize that he’s right. I’m so unburdened. So relieved. And maybe it’s just the heady post-sex feelings talking, but I don’t care right now. He wasright. It’s what I needed.
He grunts as he withdraws from me. “Let me fix this, kitten.”
If I were actually an alleycat, I would’ve started purring right then and there. Because he reaches up and gently unfastens the belt, brings my red and swollen wrists to his mouth, and trails kisses over the agitated skin.
“Thanks,” I breathe.
His answer is to take my engagement bracelet between his teeth and bite, his eyes darting up to mine. I grin and turn my hand to pull him in. He lets me, and he lets me kiss him, too, soft and slow.
He leaves my side only to fetch something to clean our bodies, then we lay down together to rest. My head is clear. I feel stronger than I have in days. I curl against his side and sleep, glad that I have someone who understands me the way he does.
I wake late in the night to a gentle knock on my door. I lift my head, instantly alert. Killian sleeps right through the sound, his bare body shining in the moonlight from my window.
I let myself hesitate only long enough to gently stroke my fingers through his hair. Then I leap to my feet and slip quietly into my clothes. I ease the door open slowly, peering around it.
Venna is there, her face worried. Before she speaks, I lift a finger to my lips to silence her and glance behind me meaningfully. I step outside and tap the door shut quietly.
“What is it?” I whisper.
“I found something,” she tells me. “You need to come with me. Now.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Ifollow Venna without question, without hesitation. The urgency in her eyes is contagious. As we move quickly through the castle halls, nervous energy riots through me. “Venna, where?—”
She makes a short hissing sound and presses her pointer finger to her lips to silence me. I nod to tell her I’ve understood, then do my best to quiet my footsteps. It’s difficult, with the echoing hallways and vaulted stone ceilings. Venna moves almost entirely silently—like Kryptos are taught to do—only occasionally causing slight creaks as she pushes a door open or a brief rustle as her clothes shift.
Realizing that we’re doing something dangerous, I partially lower the barrier to me and Anassa again. If something goes wrong tonight… she needs to know.
I try to predict the route we’re taking through the castle, but it’s impossible. We move in random directions, turning right three times before doubling back in the other direction. After a while, I realize what this is. Her urgency. The need for silence. The indecipherable route.
These are the movements of a prey animal, deliberately complex to evade capture. She’s worried we might be followed. Seen. There’s danger here.
My suspicions are confirmed when the open hallways of the lower castle turn to servant passageways. I have to duck low under the door frames. The entrances and exits are much too small for the average Bonded’s height. My trembling nerves heighten further when we take a sudden left and slip into an even narrower tunnel.
