Chapter 37
37
Three Weeks Later
RAINE
I step inside our new rented house and turn on the light before hanging my raincoat on a hook. “Killian?”
“Yeah.” He joins me in the foyer, which is a lot cleaner than when I left in the morning for production meetings.
“What’s going on?” I gesture to the floor. “What happened to the boxes?”
“Broke them down.”
My brows rise. “You put everything away?”
“Yeah.”
He flicks off the light, dropping us into darkness. The light in the living room is off, too, and the blinds are closed.
My heartbeat quickens. “What are you doing?”
“Come in.” Taking my hand, he guides me into the living room and stops in the middle. “Wait here.” He walks across the room and flips a switch, causing hundreds of tiny white lights to appear. Strands of lights cascade in a canopy from the center fixture out to the walls .
My breath catches. The effect is completely magical.
Moving to the coffee table, he winds a new snow globe to life. As the snowflakes fall, a golden light on a bronze movie projector flickers in time to tinkling music. When I lean closer, I realize the glittering flakes aren’t snow; they’re tiny pieces of celluloid film.
“Oh, my God. That’s so cool.” I lift the globe and shake it, then peer inside, watching the film float through the solution.
After a moment, I clutch the snow globe to my chest and look around. My gaze travels along the lit strands, admiring the way he’s used clear hooks that disappear, so the lights look like they’re floating.
I turn my smile to him. “I love all of this.”
I only mentioned fairy lights once when discussing decorating an area to use for indoor vlog videos. I’d been referring to a corner of our home office. This is far more elaborate. And at the center of the house. It implies something important. Killian may pay the rent, but he wants every inch of the house to be my home, too.
Keeping my eyes locked on his, I walk toward him, beckoning for him to lean down. He does and the kiss I give him quickly turns heated.
Killian sets the movie projector globe on the coffee table.
“Where did you find it?”
“Didn’t. Got it made by a husband and wife team on Etsy who create custom pieces.”
I gasp softly. No wonder it’s perfect. “That’s amazing, you probably should’ve held on to it until Christmas or my birthday. It’s a really special gift.”
He shrugs and then picks me up and carries me to the couch. After he drops me onto it, he hauls off his shirt.
There’s a bandage on his bicep that causes my brow to furrow.
Sitting up, I point. “Did you hurt yourself while training?”
“No.” He unbuttons his jeans. “Get undressed.”
Still frowning at his arm, I kick off my shoes and slide my stretch pants down. “So, what happened?”
“Finished off your mark.”
I suck in a breath, realizing the bandage is over the old scar. “Let me see. ”
He shakes his head as he pushes his jeans and boxer briefs down. “Later. When it’s healed.”
As soon as my shirt is off, and he lies down on the couch with me, my fingers grab the edge of the bandage and peel it up.
There, over his muscle, the skin has been sliced and taped back together. The lines, new and old, form the shape of an R .
“Oh, Killian. What have you done?”
The lines are perfectly straight.
“I told you I was gonna do it.” His mouth sucks on my neck as his hand reaches between my legs.
“Did you do that to yourself?”
“No. War helped me out.”
“What did he cut you with?”
“Razor blade.”
I gasp. Both from shock and the two fingers he pushes inside me. “It wasn’t necessary, but…” His breath is hot against my skin. “I like that you have it.” My eyes shift from the mark to his eyes.
His mouth curves into a small smirk before he turns serious. Pressing my knee against the back cushion to open for him, I stare up into his eyes. Without missing a beat, he replaces his fingers with his cock.
“Mmm.” He kisses me again as he starts to thrust.
I angle my hips, so his pelvis grinds against my clit and then I arch my back.
Killian alters his rhythm, starting off slow until I begin to groan and pull him closer. Then he pins my arms overhead and fucks me hard and deep.
When I come, he gets even rougher, pounding into me mercilessly until I cry out as he’s coming.
Afterward, we sink into the couch, panting for breath.
With his face half buried in my hair and a couch cushion, he murmurs, “We could make a sex tape. Bet it would set a vlog record for the number of hits.”
I laugh softly. “We can’t do that. If your naked body was in the frame, no one would even notice the pretty fairy lights you hung for me. ”
His chuckle is pure magic. “Right. Wouldn’t want to upstage the light show.”
“Hey, I was thinking?—”
Sudden pounding startles us and causes our heads to jerk toward the front door.
“What the fuck?” Killian says with a scowl as he pushes up and stands.
The pounding stops and then resumes as he’s pulling on his jeans. I start to scramble into my clothes, too.
He grabs a gun from the drawer in the coffee table that I didn’t even realize was there. My jaw drops, but I continue dressing.
He glances back at me as he strides to the front door. “Stay back. If I make a fist with my left hand, that’s a signal for you to go into the bedroom and out the window.”
“I—”
“Take my keys,” he says, nodding at where they rest on the coffee table.
My heart hammers. I can’t help him if there’s someone dangerous at the door, but I also don’t want to leave him. His suggesting I take his Corvette to escape is an ominous sign. He doesn’t let anyone drive his car.
The knocking resumes as I pick up Killian’s keys with shaky fingers.
He reaches the door and looks out. “What the fuck?” His arm drops to his side, the gun pointing at the floor.
Killian yanks the door open, but I can’t see who’s there. “What happened? You’ve been shot?”