Keira
His side of the bed is cold and empty when I reach out for him.
Flashes of what we did together through the night hit me. From his hand at my throat to the way he fucked me hard then slow, and after his arm rested across my waist holding me in place next to him.
I push the duvet off and sit up.
“Saint?”
I listen for him, holding still long enough to catch a noise.
After a beat, I get out of bed because nothing comes, and I notice that he’d folded my clothes on a chair in the corner of his room.
I stare at them in a daze before picking them up and heading into the bathroom.
The mirror catches me as soon as I move inside. Sex has left my hair tangled, my lips slightly swollen, and a red mark is just visible above my collarbone.
Cold water spills over my hands but does nothing to settle my wild pulse.
Saint Tallon is a man who could break my heart.
I brace against the sink and close my eyes for a beat, steadying myself before washing and dressing.
It doesn’t matter how much I fancy him if he still sees me as a piece to move on the board.
Morning light streams across the kitchen counter in pale strips. A glass sits by the sink, untouched.
The rest of the cabin looks exactly as it did yesterday, as if nothing had happened here at all.
I go to the fridge, grab a bottle of water, and drink some.
The thought of making myself a coffee feels too domesticated. I’d be acting like I’m his girlfriend who just spent the night and can phone for a taxi whenever I want.
He probably expects me to stay inside and wait for him to decide, but I want to know now.
The front door opens with slight resistance, the wood catching before it gives. Fresh heath air stings my cheeks.
My attention moves across the fields full of cattle, scanning the fences, the shadows between the trees, then searching the distant yard for a glimpse of him.
I head for the barn, even though I suspect he’s in the main house, plotting and planning my father’s downfall.
The enormous doors are already open.
Sera stands halfway down the aisle, working hay into one stall with slow, even movements. Daylight pours through the slats, catching her face, and this time I see it all.
The thin slice at her lip has dried darker at the edge, the bruising along her jaw messier looking, and when she angles her head at the sound of my footfall, it shows black blobs like fingerprints on her throat.
“I’m going to make a coffee,” I say, making a point not to stare as I move past her. “Want one?”
She pauses, the fork resting against the ground before she nods once. “Sure.”
I head toward the small staff room where Saint had finger-fucked me, the memory feeding the ache in my core.
Inside, I flick the light on and fill the kettle, setting it to boil.
Sera follows in behind me and reaches for the milk carton left out on the counter. She unscrews the cap, lifts it to sniff it, then sets it back down.
I glance at her. “Did my brother really do that to you?”
Her gaze darts away instead of answering, catching somewhere past my shoulder.
“You look a bit like him,” she mutters.
“I take after my mother.” I shrug. “Fionn’s more like my father.”
Her head turns at the mention of him; her eyes are sharper than before.
“Don’t say his name around here.”
I don’t argue. The reaction is already there, written in her locked shoulders and the way her focus slips for a second.
“If he hurt you, Sera…” I keep my voice even. “I’m really sorry.”
“You’ve nothing to apologize for.” She spoons coffee into the mugs. “I see things with my own eyes, Keira.”
The kettle clicks off, and I pour the water, steam rising in the fresh air.
“Saint’s inside with Ma,” she says when I slide her a full mug. “Telling her how it is. He’s always done his own thing. And this time, she’s pissed.”
“What’s he saying to her?”
She lifts the mug and blows across it before taking a small sip.
“Saint’s never been in love before.” Her gaze drops to the coffee. “So, she’s taken it bad that her golden boy picked a Harrington.”
My heart rate speeds up and the skin on my neck turns pink, creeping up to my cheeks.
The sound of boots echoing from the barn carries into the small room. I angle toward the door as Saint appears.
My pulse kicks hard.
His expression sits tight across his face, his coarse-haired jaw set, a hardness in place that comes from contained anger.
I smile anyway, and his mouth twitches. Just enough that the line softens for a fleeting instant.
“Everything okay?” I ask. “Are you about to tell me I can go home?”
His chest lifts with a deep inhale as he stands there, considering me next to his sister.
“We need to talk in private,” he says.
I nod once and set the mug on the counter, the heat still sitting in my palm as I follow him out.
When we’ve cleared the barn, he holds his hand out and waits. “Take it.”
I step into him and slot my hand in his, almost grinning when he curls his fingers with mine and holds on tight.
The walk to the cabin stays silent, his confident gait unhurried, mine matching without thinking about it. Inside, he lets go and closes the door.
Turning to face me, he flips his cap off and tosses it. “Your da signed.”
I suck in a breath, the news slamming into me.
“So, it’s over. I’m free to go?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “If that’s what ya want.”
“This isn’t really you letting me go, right?” I fold my arms across my chest. “You got what you wanted, and now you don’t need me anymore. That’s all.”
My father signed.
The land belongs to Saint now.
This was always going to end here.
He shrugs out of his jacket, walks to the door, and hangs it on the hook. When he turns to face me, there’s a darkness behind his eyes that has my veins running hotter.
“Keira…” The way he says my name, in that thick, gravelly voice, makes my skin tingle. “I got the land, but you’re what I want. I know you have to leave without being held.”
I nod and press a hand to my belly. “It’s better if I go now. That way no one can accuse you of anything.”
When I take a step toward the door, he backs out of the way, and my throat tightens.
“Do you think we’ll see each other again?” I whisper.
“I’ll make sure of it.”
When I reach the door, his hand closes around my arm, and he spins me into him. The moment our chests collide, he kisses me, his mouth warm against mine.
“You don’t have to rush off just yet, do ya?” he says against my lips.
“No,” I smile. “I suppose I don’t.”
His mouth crashes onto mine again. One rough hand fists my jumper, yanking it upward.
He pulls it over my head and drops it on the floor. His palms are hot as they rake over my skin, cupping my breasts so my spine arches.
The thought of walking away without being this close to him makes my chest ache.
I need this man.
Need his touch burned onto my skin so I’ll still feel it when I’m miles across the heath.
He strips my jeans off with impatient hands and drags my panties lower in one rough pull.
The second I’m naked, he drags off his holster, tears his T-shirt over his head, revealing hard inked muscle.
After his belt buckle clangs open, I push his jeans to his ankles, urgency bubbling in my veins when his full, hard cock bobs against his abdomen.
He doesn’t give me time to touch it, lifting me clean off the floor and carrying me across the cabin.
My ass meets the cool kitchen table when he sets me on the edge and forces me onto my back with a hand to my chest.
“This is how it should be,” he rasps, voice dark and filthy as he drags two thick fingers through my soaked folds. “You. Naked. Wet. And your greedy little cunt begging me to fill it.”
I moan as he pushes two fingers in deep, curling them hard against that spot that makes my toes curl.
“Say it,” he demands, leaning over me, teeth grazing my nipples. “Tell me you need my cock more than ya need to go home.”
“I do… I need you.” I gasp, hips rolling against his hand. “Please… I need you inside me before I—”
“I’ll fuck you so deep you’ll feel me for days. You’re not leaving until I’ve ruined ya for anyone else.”
He pulls his fingers out, lines up the thick head of his cock, and pushes in with one devastatingly slow thrust. The stretch is intense, burning so good I cry out, my thighs coming up to my chest.
“You feel that?” he growls, voice rough with restraint. “My cock throbbing inside ya? This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
He moves with long, powerful strokes that drag against every sensitive nerve, slow enough to feel every thick inch pulling out and slamming back in.
“I fucking love knowing you’ll stand before your da later with my cum inside you. You’ll remember who fucked ya…who you really belong to.”
The table creaks beneath us. I cling to his shoulders, gasping into his neck as the ache coils tighter and tighter.
He grips my jaw, forcing my eyes to his.
“Look at me while I take ya.” He kisses me. “You hate how much you need it, don’t ya? And you love knowing how you’ve tested me this whole time.”
His pace stays controlled until my vision sparks and my inner walls clamp around him. I’m lost in the sensation, infatuated and terrified by how much I crave our connection.
He leans closer, tugging my lower lip before soothing it with his tongue.
“Come on my cock, Keira Harrington. Let me hear you fall apart for me…because the second you leave, we both know we’ll be counting the minutes until I fuck ya again.”
The slow, relentless drag of him inside me pushes me to the edge.
“Fuck yeah,” he growls low against my throat, voice ragged. “You’re so fucking close—I can sense it. Come all over my cock. Fucking claim it.”
I can only whimper, eyes fluttering shut as the pressure builds in my core.
“Look at me,” he demands, gripping my jaw. “Eyes right here when you come.”
The intensity in his dark green eyes, the raw need, the possession, shatters me. My orgasm crashes through me, and a broken cry tears from my lips.
My body bows against him, thighs locking tight, heels digging into his ass.
“Fuck—that’s my girl,” he groans, voice breaking. “Squeezing me so goddamn tight—shit—”
He drives all the way in one last time and stays there, hips grinding against mine as he comes hard, thick pulses of heat flooding me.
His cock throbs inside my spasming walls, filling me while we ride it out together, foreheads pressed, breaths mingling in harsh pants.
He stays still, his cock twitching with aftershocks, my pussy fluttering around him as we both breathe hard.
The second my body relaxes, he leans in and kisses me. I melt into the slowness of it, my chest aching because I don’t want this to end.
I don’t want my father coming between us and his mother ripping us apart.
When he finally pulls away, his lips brush mine with every raspy word. “You can leave, but you’ll come back, princess. Or I’ll hunt ya down again.”
“What if I don’t like it here?”
He thumbs my jaw and offers me the hottest grin I’ve ever seen. “You like being right where you are now. The rest is just bullshit.”
His phone rings from his jeans strewn near the door.
He curses under his breath and sighs. For a second, his forehead stays pressed to mine, cock still buried inside me, then he pulls out in one slow drag.
I prop myself up on my elbows as he strides across the cabin, naked and unashamed, muscles shifting under sweat-slick skin. He pulls his phone from the pocket of his discarded jeans and answers.
“Yeah?”
He listens, shoulders tense, free hand flexing at his side.
The conversation is one-sided and brief.
When he ends the call, he grips the phone in his hand and stares at me.
His eyes are dark, but now there’s a dangerous edge beneath the lingering heat.
“Your brother is in my fucking yard.”
My chest tightens. With Sera here, this could be the start of a war, not the end.