Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
CILLIAN
I ’ve been awake for at least twenty minutes, listening to their exchange with growing annoyance. Logan’s cruel taunts, Maya’s defiance, the sound of flesh against flesh. It’s all quickly becoming the unwelcome soundtrack to this ridiculous tale of woe.
Whether she realizes it or not, Maya’s side of the bond has been wide open for most of it. The emotional extremes of pleasure and rage are enough to obscure any knowledge of her thoughts. But I feel every sensation she does and the reactions she doesn’t want to acknowledge.
Every unwanted touch that makes Maya’s skin twitch sends a corresponding shiver down my spine.
Every surge of anger that flows through her veins pounds in my temples like a second heartbeat.
I can taste her revulsion mixing with unwanted pleasure, the confusion of a body responding while a mind screams in protest.
I planned to lie here feigning sleep until they finished, then slip away to my room before either of them noticed me.
It’s what I’ve always done, disappear when Logan brings his conquests to bed.
Fade into the background like the good little guard I’m supposed to be as he rubs my face in my own unwillingness to let him touch me when I have enough wits about me to resist him.
This last—and only—heat was a one-off. It won’t ever happen again. I’ll never willingly let Logan touch me for as long as he treats our bond like an afterthought or a tool he can use for his own benefit.
But Maya apparently has other plans.
“Cillian! I need you!”
Her voice cuts through the air like a blade, leaving no room for pretense. I could ignore it. I should ignore it. But the desperate pull of the bond makes that impossible.
I raise my head slowly, finding Maya’s eyes locked on mine over Logan’s shoulder. The sight of them joined together should disgust me, but instead, a complicated tangle of emotions rises in my chest—jealousy, desire, and a protective instinct so fierce it nearly chokes me.
“What the hell are you doing?” Logan demands, his voice rough with irritation. He’s still buried inside her, his knot keeping them locked together in the most intimate way possible.
I sit up fully, careful to keep my expression neutral despite the storm raging inside me. “She called for me. What did you expect me to do? Ignore her?”
Logan’s golden eyes narrow. “Yes, actually. That’s exactly what I expected.”
“That’s not how this works,” I say, my voice steadier than I feel. “You know that.”
Maya reaches out a hand toward me, her eyes pleading. The bond between us pulses with her desperation, her need for comfort amidst violation.
“Don’t,” Logan warns, but it’s too late.
My fingers intertwine with hers, and the connection sparks like electricity. Through our touch, I feel everything—her fear, her anger, her determination not to break despite everything Logan has done to her.
Pheromones fill the air like a drug, our combined scents saturating
“I’m here,” I say softly, just for her.
Logan’s jaw clenches so tight I can hear his teeth grinding. “This isn’t a fucking threesome invitation.”
Maya stares at me with wide guileless eyes, but I sense the darker intent behind the bond. She might as well be screaming in my ear just how much the hurt Omega inside her believes our Alpha deserves to be punished.
The bond between us urges me to please her, regardless of whatever our personal feelings might be for each other. It’s a tickle at the back of my skull, a barely audible whisper in my ear that is nothing like the aggressive command I get from Logan.
It helps that our baser urges are in perfect agreement, at least in this moment.
“Isn’t it?” I raise an eyebrow at Logan in unabashed challenge. “You’re the one who commanded me to sleep in your bed.”
Through the bond, I sense Maya’s distress like a physical ache. Her emotions flood through me. Desperation, unresolved pleasure, and a fierce desire to be free of Logan’s embrace. His knot keeps them locked together, her body trapped beneath his even as her mind screams for escape.
I glance between them, understanding instantly what she needs. The bond between us pulses with her silent plea, stronger than any spoken words could be.
“Logan,” I say, my voice deceptively calm as I move closer to them on the bed. “I’m going to help her.”
“She’s fine. She isn’t in pain,” he growls, still lost in his post-orgasmic haze. Maya’s eyes meet mine, wide and pleading. Through our connection, I feel the stretch of his knot inside her, the way she wants nothing more than for it to deflate so she can get away from him.
“She still wants help,” I murmur.
I don’t miss the way his hands clench on his hips, the instinctive urge to rip her away that he suppresses. The Alpha in him doesn’t want to share because some part of him sees me as a threat.
Maybe he should.
I feel a flash of hurt at the inherent rejection, but it’s quickly followed by simmering anger. He thinks he can keep me removed from this. My Alpha thinks he needs to protect my Omega from me.
Regardless of what I feel for her on my own, the thought of it is infuriating.
The look of entreaty on Maya’s face and the desperation I feel from her through the bond is all the permission I need.
The memory of her during our heat, before Logan’s forceful arrival, is visceral enough to send a lick of fie curling up my spine.
She helped me then, I might as well return the favor.
I couldn’t protect either one of us then, but I can help get her what she needs now.
I shift on the bed, positioning myself beside them. Logan watches me with suspicious eyes, his arm tightening possessively around Maya’s waist.
“What are you doing?” he demands.
Instead of answering, I maintain eye contact with Maya as I lower my head.
Logan’s protests die on his lips as I press my mouth to Maya’s stomach, just above where they’re joined. Her skin is hot and slick with sweat, tasting of salt and something uniquely her. I trail my lips lower, my tongue tracing patterns on her sensitive flesh.
“Cillian, enough,” Logan orders, though it lacks the force of a true command.
I ignore him, focusing instead on the soft gasps coming from Maya as my lips trace the bud of flesh just above where they’re joined. I can smell them both now, the musky scent of their coupling, and it should disgust me. Instead, it ignites a primal feeling inside me.
“Cillian—“ Logan begins, but cuts off with a groan as my tongue darts out to trace the stretched skin of Maya’s opening and catches the swollen edge of his knot.
Maya’s back arches slightly, her movement restricted by the weight of Logan’s body.
“She needs to come, so this knot doesn’t last all damn night,” I say to Logan, my breath hot against Maya’s sensitive flesh. “Just let me help.”
Before he can respond, I lower my head again, my tongue circling Maya’s swollen clit. Her body jerks in response, inner muscles clenching involuntarily around Logan’s knot. He hisses at the sensation.
I work my tongue with deliberate precision, knowing exactly how to bring her to climax quickly. Through our bond, I can feel every lick, every stroke as if it were happening to my own body. I know when to press harder, when to ease back, reading her responses with perfect clarity.
Logan watches with hungry eyes, his initial resistance melting into fascination. His hands grip Maya’s hips tighter as I continue my ministrations, his breathing becoming ragged.
“Fuck,” he mutters, eyes glazed with renewed desire.
Maya’s breathing quickens, her hands fisting in the sheets. I can feel her building toward another orgasm, her body tightening with each stroke of my tongue. This time, I know it will serve a purpose beyond Logan’s satisfaction.
“That’s it,” I murmur against her heated flesh. “Let go, Maya.”
Her thighs tremble as I increase my pace, my tongue flicking rapidly over her sensitive bud. Through the bond, I feel the moment she crests the wave, her body convulsing with pleasure she can’t fight.
As she comes, her inner muscles clench rhythmically around Logan’s knot, the intensity of her orgasm finally forcing it to deflate. I feel the exact moment when the connection between them loosens, when escape becomes possible.
Logan groans, arms shivering with the effort to keep hold himself up. I give him a nudge that is less than gentle, and he collapses at Maya’s side instead of fully on top of her.
Maya is too smart to scramble back against the headboard like a panicked animal, but she makes a slow withdrawal and pulls her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her knees.
We stare at each other for a long moment. From the look on her face, I already know that when her mouth opens, she is going to say something she probably shouldn’t.
Before she can, her stomach growls loudly enough to rival an Alpha’s.
“Hungry?” Logan asks, entirely unnecessarily.
“You did send her to bed before dinner,” I can’t help but remind him. “Omega pussy is all fun and games until you let it starve to death.”
Logan’s expression darkens, but he still levers his hulking form out of the bed and stomps to the door, still entirely naked. “I’ll get something.”
“Or dehydrate,” I add to his stiffened back. “Don’t forget fluids. Half of her body weight’s worth of slick is soaking into the mattress. She’ll dehydrate completely at this rate.”
The slam of the door is his only response.
When I finally turn back to her, Maya watches me with a careful gaze.
“Thank you,” she says finally after a beat of silence.
“You’re welcome,” I reply shortly. “Do you need anything else, or are you done using me for the night?”
I don’t necessarily expect her to deny it, but I’m still somewhat taken aback by the brief smile that twists her lips.
A flash of something playful is there and gone in her eyes. “You noticed that, huh?”