Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Aria
Once again she found herself awake at a ridiculous hour of the morning, unable to sleep. The conversation with Killian about his family kept playing over and over in her mind.
Being human is exactly the kind of weakness a man like me can’t afford.
She still wasn’t sure what he’d meant by that.
Rolling over, she tapped the screen on her phone and groaned at the bright white one-three-two glaring up at her.
Well, if she wasn’t going to sleep, she should do something productive.
Picking up her phone, she opened a search window and typed in what she wanted to know.
And got an immediate hit that knocked the air clean from her lungs.
Mob massacre. O’Rourke family devastated by shoot-out at local restaurant.
She’d known his parents had died years ago, but she'd deliberately avoided learning more about it. And now that she had…
Jesus, no wonder he was so overprotective. Losing not just his parents, but an entire generation of family like that, all in one fell swoop?
Restless now, she slipped from her bed and out into the hallway. The logical thing, the safe thing to do would be to go downstairs and fix herself a snack. Maybe some of the sleepytime tea Reagan had ordered for her.
But she didn’t want those things.
“Where’s Killian’s room?”
If her request surprised her guard, he didn’t show it. He simply gestured for her to follow him and led her down to another closed door.
She didn’t bother to knock, which was probably a bad idea, all things considered.
For all she knew, Killian slept with a gun beneath his pillow and surprising him in the middle of the night would end badly for both of them.
And yet, the danger of it sent her heart racing, her blood pumping wildly through her veins as she let the moonlight guide her to the giant bed in the middle of the room.
“What are you doing, princess?”
Lifting up the comforter, she slid into bed with him. “How do you know it’s me? You haven’t even opened your eyes.”
“Footsteps,” he murmured sleepily, reaching for her, his arm wrapping around her waist as he pulled her close to nuzzle at her neck in a move so shockingly sweet, she could hardly breathe.
“Sean is heavy-footed, which I need to remember to train out of him. Brody you can hardly hear unless you’re listening closely because he’s a fucking ghost. Reagan and you have a similar cadence to your steps, but her stride is longer. ”
“You recognize everyone’s footsteps?”
“Yes.”
Simple, and heartbreaking for it. Because he thought nothing of memorizing the sound of footsteps outside his door in case someone came for him, came for his family again.
His lips pressed against her throat, stirring the need that had gone dormant since their moment in his office, and she let her head fall back against the pillows as he slowly, leisurely kissed his way down her body.
“You haven’t answered my question, princess.”
“I don’t remember the question.”
“What are you doing here?”
She couldn’t tell him the truth. That she’d been looking up what happened to his family and she’d needed to see him, to touch him, to know he was still with her.
So she settled for half the truth.
“I never did get that orgasm after dinner.”
His laughter vibrated against her skin as he pressed a kiss to her stomach. “You never did tell me what I wanted to hear.”
Everything inside her quaked. “I forgot,” she lied, breathless.
“Allow me to remind you.”
With that same aching slowness, he tugged her shorts from her, baring her to his gaze. Dipping his head, he inhaled deeply, a low growl rumbling in his chest. “Fucking hell, you smell delicious, princess. I wonder if you taste as good as I remember.”
Pleasure shot through her at the touch of his tongue to her swollen clit. Arching beneath him, her fingers tangled in his hair as she cried out for him in the dark.
“God, yes. Just like that. A little harder.”
To her utter delight, he did as she demanded, pressing his tongue more firmly against her clit as he slid two fingers deep into her dripping pussy. And when those fingers curled, hitting the exact right spot inside her, she nearly wept at the tidal wave of sensation that crashed over her.
And then the asshole stopped.
“Tell me you understand that you are mine, Aria. That your body, your pleasure belongs to me and only me. Tell me that, and I’ll give you all the pleasure you can handle and then some.”
Was it really asking so much? After all, it wasn’t like there was anyone else in this prison with her she wanted to be with.
That’s not the real reason.
No, it wasn’t. Somewhere, deep in those dark parts of her she’d been taught were wrong and weak, she wanted this. Wanted to be taken over, to be owned by him in every possible way.
But giving him this small victory wasn’t giving him total control. Not really. She could give him this and still keep her soul.
Liar.
Again his tongue pressed against her clit, too light, too teasing to give her the release she craved. “Just while I’m here. Once it’s safe for me to go back home, we’re done.”
“Good enough. But you know what I really want to hear. Do you understand that while you are under my roof, you belong to me and only me? That I am the only person allowed to touch you, to pleasure you, and that I will destroy anyone who tries to take you from me?”
The fingers buried inside her curled again, flooding her with that same impossible pleasure. “Say it, Aria.” His voice softened, turned almost pleading, though the command was still there. “Tell me you’re mine. Tell me you’ll let me keep you safe.”
She was strong, but she wasn’t strong enough to withstand the most dangerous man she knew begging her to let him protect her. Not after what she’d just learned about his family. “Okay.”
“Say the words, princess. The ones you know I want to hear.”
Swallowing hard, she nodded, slowly, just once. “Yes… Yes, Daddy. I’m yours.”
Another of those low growls rumbled in his throat and then he was on her, devouring her with all the hunger of a man who’d been starving and was now presented with his favorite meal.
“Fuck! Killian! Please… I can’t… Please.”
He didn’t slow, didn’t so much as pause when she wrapped her legs around him, anchoring him to her as she screamed out his name. As the pressure inside her shattered, sending thousands of little shards of glass racing through her veins, slicing her open from the inside.
Even when she collapsed against the bed, drained and breathless, he didn’t stop.
“Daddy, please. I can’t. Not again.”
Lifting his head, his eyes met hers in the dark, and she knew then she would give him everything. “You can, princess. Because you’re Daddy’s good girl, aren’t you? At least here, in my bed, you’re my good fucking girl and you’re going to give me everything.”
Helpless against the truth of it, she surrendered to him, to his touch as he drove her ruthlessly up toward that shimmering peak again.
And again.
And again.
Until pain and pleasure lost all meaning and she could no longer tell one from the other. Until she was empty, drained of every thought, every emotion, everything that wasn’t him.
When that point finally came, he pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and the tenderness of it would have brought tears to her eyes if she hadn’t already wept from the overwhelming pleasure he’d just forced on her.
“Sleep, princess.”
And so she did. Because she was, despite herself, his good girl.
Aria
The days blended together, an endless stream of books and movies and such utter boredom there were moments she thought she might die of it.
Her mother called, twice, and she lied through her teeth both times, assuring her that she was still enjoying her job with Mr. Williams and that yes, she still wanted to stay in South Carolina.
She still hadn’t told her about the baby. Or about Killian.
And she sure as hell hadn’t told her that she was being held captive in a mob boss’s house while he forced unbearable amounts of pleasure on her.
After that night in his bed, Killian sought her out every spare second of his day, seemingly with the intention of making her come as often and as spectacularly as possible.
With his hands, his tongue, and enough toys to fill his own store, he took her to the brink of sanity and beyond more times than she could count.
Though not with his cock, which she could begrudgingly admit she admired, even if part of her was wishing he’d ignore that particular rule and just fuck her already.
Because between the hormones and the books she couldn’t seem to stop reading, she was on edge pretty much every second of the day.
But even with the endless orgasms, the cabin fever was clawing at her. And, as she’d discovered during her most recent doom scroll, the local author she’d become lowkey obsessed with was hosting a signing at a bookstore nearby.
She just had to convince the warden to give her a day pass.
Standing outside his office door, she dragged in a deep breath and reminded herself that he wasn’t a complete monster and if she just asked nicely, he would probably let her go.
Probably.
Ugh.
Annoyed with herself for acting like a child about to beg Daddy for a trip to the toy store, she squared her shoulders and turned the knob. “Killian, I need to talk to—”
The words died on her tongue when she realized he wasn’t alone. Brody and Murphy were both there, and they turned to face her as one. Seated behind his desk, Killian looked up, his lips curving up in a slow, knowing smirk.
“Need something, princess?”
She recognized that tone in his voice. And dammit if every single cell in her body didn’t immediately respond.
But if she let him distract her with orgasms again, she’d never get around to asking him what she needed to ask, and then she’d be stuck in this damn house the rest of her life waiting for him to fuck her.
No thank you.
“Yes, in fact, I do need something.” Ignoring the curious looks from his cousins, she forged forward. “There’s a book signing tomorrow for a local author I enjoy and I would like to go.”
Leaning back in his chair, Killian studied her, his expression carefully neutral. “Where is it?”
“A bookstore downtown. I can send you the address.”
“What time would you be leaving and what time would you be home?”
Blinking at him, she realized with a start she hadn’t expected to get this far this quickly.
She’d come in prepared to do war and here he was, being perfectly reasonable.
“It starts at two, so I’d like to be there early.
So… one-thirty, I suppose. I’m not sure how busy it will be, so I don’t know what time I’ll be home. ”
“You’ll be home by four, and you’ll call me if you’re going to be a minute later than that. Brody will accompany you.”
“Why?”
He raised a single brow, just a fraction, but it was warning enough. “Because I have an appointment across town, so I won’t be able to come with you.”
“What about Reagan?”
“She’ll be with me.” His lips twitched with clear amusement. “I promise Brody isn’t the bore he pretends to be. You might even enjoy yourselves.”
She glanced over at the giant redhead lounging in one of the visitor’s chairs, a bored expression on his face despite his cousin’s assurances otherwise. “If you say so.”
“I do. It’s not my intention to keep you from enjoying your life, princess. But for the time being, you don’t go anywhere without protection. So you either go with Brody, or you don’t go at all.”
It was a compromise and, if she was being honest, it was more than she’d expected to get from him.
Turning to Brody, she jerked her chin up in her best Queen of the Castle impression. “Be ready to leave no later than one-thirty. And ditch the suit, it’s too obvious.”
With that, she spun on her heel and swept out of the office, the sound of Killian’s delighted laughter following her all the way up the stairs to her bedroom.