Chapter 21 #2
His free hand lifted the fabric of her top up her thigh, higher and higher, the ache in between her legs throbbing as he drew closer to where she needed him most.
He froze, realising how little she was wearing under the shirt, and groaned deeply into her mouth, grabbing her bare arse and drawing her into him, pressing the hard length of him against her.
His kiss deepened, possessing her as his grip on her throat tightened slightly, pulling her mouth harder into his.
She longed for his touch, her body already trembling, and she moaned pleadingly.
He released his grip on her arse to hook under her thigh, wrapping it around his waist and lifting her off the ground.
The hard stone of the wall behind them slammed into her back, the bite of it only heightening the need she felt coursing through her as his hand drifted to cup between her legs.
His smile darkened as he felt how wet she was, how desperately ready she was for him.
Aelia’s fingers clawed into his shoulders, the fabric of his vest bunching under her grasp, her mind unable to think of anything other than his hand. With one leg still wrapped around him, she lifted herself up onto her toes, pushing herself into him pleadingly. He was so torturously close.
Keeran pulled his face away, watching her reaction as he gave her what she needed, his thumb circling that most sensitive spot with the gentlest of touches.
A predatory smile played on his mouth as her head dropped backwards against the wall, her eyes closing as his fingers teased her.
Aelia wasn’t aware of her grip tightening on his shoulders, she didn’t see the thrill her nails caused burn brightly in his eyes, all she could think of were those fingers.
Pleasure began to build over her like a haze, the need for more, for him to fill her, to fuck her.
She needed it, she needed more. A whimper escaped her, her breaths coming in shallow gasps as she clung to him.
He read her mind, her body, and plunged his fingers deep inside her.
Gone were the gentle touches, the soft strokes of his thumb.
Now his fingers slammed into her hard enough to make stars dance behind her closed eyes.
She cried out as the haze thickened, and he caught it with his mouth, devouring her moans of pleasure as he took her closer to the edge.
The promise of release built inside her until she could feel it on the horizon.
The heel of his hand brushed that bundle of nerves each time his fingers filled her, and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out again.
Keeran noticed her restraint and growled, pressing his mouth into hers and prioritising her clit, focusing on the friction he knew she craved until she moaned into his mouth uncontrollably.
He swallowed the sound greedily, his approval rumbling in his chest.
Release rushed towards her, threatening to wash over her, and she reached down, wanting to feel the hard length of him in her hand as she came.
Keeran went rigid at her touch, his fingers halting.
Confused, she opened her eyes and flinched at the wall of control suddenly in his, the muscle in his jaw feathering with forced restraint.
But he must have noticed the hurt in her face, something flickering over his before the wall he’d thrown up melted as quickly as it had appeared, replaced with a resolve she didn’t understand.
Before she could think anything else about it, his strong arms scooped her around him, lifting her off the ground, his warm hands gripping her arse as she wrapped her legs around him, the wetness of her pressing into his abdomen.
The hunger in his eyes told her he was aware of it too, that he knew the friction of his vest against her was delicious torture, just enough to tease, not enough to build.
She couldn’t look away, their eyes fixed onto one another as he lifted her off him and on top of the ruined wall, the muscles of his arms bulging.
Aelia looked down at him from her perch and couldn’t breathe at the heat that blazed in his eyes.
There was no hint of the restraint that had been there moments ago as he placed a hand on the inside of either thigh.
His eyes locked with hers as he opened them, spreading her legs wide to reveal the glistening warmth between them.
Then and only then, did he tear his gaze from hers, looking greedily at what waited for him at eye level.
He had never looked as predatory as he did then; she’d never seen him so unleashed, the power in him darkening his eyes, turning them so black they swallowed the light.
She didn’t need to remind herself that this was what she had wanted, her whole body throbbed with need at the sight of him so raw, so himself.
She lifted her shirt higher, offering herself to him with a shift of her hips.
Keeran needed no further encouragement. His fingers squeezed into her thighs as he lowered his face towards her. He ran his tongue up her in one breathtaking sweep, as if he couldn’t wait to taste every inch of her, and the growl that escaped him sounded more beast than man.
He pulled away, shutting his eyes to savour her taste for a few rapid heartbeats, swallowing with a throaty moan. And then he feasted on her in earnest. There was no other way to describe what he did. He feasted, as if he were a man starved.
All thought of self-control was forgotten as his tongue set to work.
She wasn’t even aware of the cries that escaped her as he set about discovering what she liked, playing and flicking and sucking until she quivered on the wall, only his grip on her thighs keeping her from falling as her body turned to liquid.
Her hips ground against him with a mind of their own as her pleasure coiled tightly, on the brink of exploding through her, so close her entire consciousness held its breath. And at that exact moment, Keeran pulled away.
Aelia gasped at the absence of his tongue, the need inside her desperate and frenzied.
But when her eyes jumped to his, her heart twisted in her chest. She’d seen glimpses of the darkness in them, seen the black overtake the rich brown of his irises, but this was something else.
Keeran was gone, and the creature looking out at her from the obsidian depths of his eyes made her blood run cold.
“You already told me once you would work with me,” Keeran said, his voice dark and gravelly, “that you would stop insisting on doing things your way.”
His thumb brushed over her clit with firm, deliberate strokes, sending tremors of pleasure up her spine. The shock of his eyes had brought her down from the brink, but just a few passes of his thumb had her biting down on a moan.
“And then you go and do it again today, putting yourself in harm's way because you won’t stop to include me in your decisions.” It wasn’t Keeran talking.
There was nothing familiar in the menacing growl of his voice, but as his thumb worked over her, she found it difficult to care.
“So you have no one but yourself to blame for this.”
Aelia barely had time to register what he’d said before his fingers slid into her.
She felt herself clench involuntarily around them, her body needing him in a way she’d never experienced before.
He curled his fingers inside her, hitting something that had a delicious ache building within her in mere moments.
He settled into a rhythm, curling his fingers towards him over and over until her head hung back, her mouth dropping open in a silent cry of previously unknown pleasure.
Then his tongue got involved.
In seconds, she was close to the most earth-shattering release she’d ever felt. It rippled through her, building to the point of breaking, and then he stopped again.
Aelia groaned, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she tried to stop him from pulling away, but to no avail.
“How can I protect you if you keep doing things like this?” Keeran tilted his head as he looked up at her from under his brows, no hint of playfulness in his expression, and Aelia’s stomach flipped nervously.
He wasn’t teasing her for fun, for any sense of enjoyment.
This was her punishment, and by the look in his eyes, he was going to make her pay.
“I... I’m sorry,” she stammered, heart racing.
“So you’ve said.” Keeran bent to kiss the inside of her thigh, tightening his grip on her possessively. “But you apologised last time too, and it didn’t stop you tearing off without me today. There could have been anything waiting for you over that hill. Anything.”
The hand holding her let go, making her cling to him for fear of tumbling backwards off the wall.
“Hang on tight, Aelia,” he said, with a wicked smile.
His mouth latched onto her clit and sucked, sending her eyelids fluttering closed at the wave of bliss that washed over her.
His fingers followed, slipping into her and curling up to match the rhythm of his tongue.
The fabric of his vest bunched in her hands as she cried out, her legs wrapping around him to try and pull him closer.
She felt his satisfied smile, but he didn’t change his pace.
Instead, the fingers of his free hand slipped under her shirt to gently push her back, before his fingers trailed down her stomach with the lightest of touches.
Her muscles bunched under them, and her neck dropped back as she lost herself to the sensations building within her.
When he reached her pelvis, he pushed down with the flat of his hand, pressing against the relentless curling of his fingers.
Her world realigned, pleasure she hadn’t known existed coursing into her as his fingers fucked away her sanity, as his tongue devoured her inhibitions. Her legs shook, bliss wracking her body until she thought it would break her, until she forgot who she was.
She wanted to scream when he stopped the next time, pulling his mouth from her and leaving his fingers motionless, ignoring the way the walls of her clamped around them desperately.
“I wonder how long it will take for you to learn your lesson?” he asked, rhetorically. “I wonder how long it will take before you break.”
Her heart was already thundering in her chest, her breathing uncontrollable and ragged.
An icy shiver of fear flooded her veins, his words making her wonder how long he planned to do this to her.
Her whole body was already trembling like one giant exposed nerve, every touch, every sensation sending her whirling.
The answer came in time.
Over and over again, he took her close to the edge, each time more intense and spine curling than the last. But he stopped just as release was about to crash over her, scolding her as he waited for her to come down.
She cursed him, begged him, cursed him again, but it made no difference.
He edged her until her heart thundered so loudly in her ears she was sure it would give out on her, until her need was so intense she felt like she would buckle under the force of it.
And there was nothing she could do to stop him.
She was stuck on the wall, his hulking form blocking her escape, with nothing but a sheer drop onto rubble behind her. She was utterly at his mercy.
And she’d fucking agreed to this. She’d asked to see his dark side, like a fucking sadist.
Sweat glistened on her skin, sticking her hair to her face, her cheeks hot and burning. Her muscles gave out on her, leaving her half draped over him.
So that time, when he stopped, he had to support her head to talk to her. His hand cupped her cheek, stroking her tenderly, and when she forced her eyelids open, the monster in his eyes looked back at her with warm satisfaction.
He pressed his lips to hers, so gently.
“We’re a team,” he whispered against her mouth. “Promise me.”
Aelia nodded frantically, her voice barely more than a whimper. “I promise.”
“Do you mean it?” he urged, reaching his hand between her legs once more.
“I do,” she breathed.
“Good girl.”
His mouth slanted over hers as his fingers worked into her, one hand fisting into her hair to pull her close, the other slamming into her so hard her whole body rocked with the force of each thrust. This time he didn’t stop, and she found herself almost wishing he would as the pleasure spiralled tighter and tighter inside of her, every muscle in her body tensing in anticipation of the torrent of sensation that threatened to slam into her.
And yet it kept building, the intensity growing.
A spasm of fear spiked through her, unsure she could take it, unsure she could stand it.
When it finally broke, she screamed, trying to pull away from Keeran, but he kept his mouth firmly locked onto hers, as if the sound was his and his alone.
It was the most earth-shattering, bone-breaking, eye-watering, life-altering, out-of-body orgasm of her life, and all she could do was cling to him and hope she survived.
Something in her chest ripped open, filling her with a warm golden light. It knotted itself together, winding out of her and reaching towards Keeran. The waves of pleasure slowly subsided, but the insistent pulling in her chest did not.
Panic took over, and she pulled away from Keeran, eyes dropping to where her hand clasped at her sternum. The golden thread was invisible yet real, intangible yet undeniable.
After a few moments, it began to fade, coiling back into her chest until it disappeared altogether.
Only then did she become aware of Keeran watching her.
“Did you—” she stammered. “Did you see that?”
Keeran shook his head, his eyes back to brown, and filled with such sadness she flinched. He lifted her off the wall, sliding her slowly down the length of his body until her feet reached the floor, never once taking his eyes off hers.
Her legs wobbled under her, threatening to give way. Without hesitating, he hooked under her knees and swept her into his arms. He sank down by the fire, keeping her tucked close against him, his arms firm and unyielding around her, as if he never wanted to let her go.