Chapter 28

Keir

Several chapters later, I needed to use the restroom, but the bathroom door was still shut, the shower still running.

What the fuck was taking her so lon—

If I'd been breathing any harder, I wouldn't have heard it.

A moan.

A tiny, breathy, desperate moan came from the bathroom— my bathroom.

I fought the urge to call out her name and risk spooking her. Once I reached the door, I flattened my ear against the surface. I could hear it all better now: the buzz of a toy, her heavy breathing, her groans. She was trying so hard to be quiet, that was evident, perhaps with her hand over her mouth, judging from the muffled noise.

The buzzing stopped.

"Fucking hell," I heard her mutter, followed by a light thud as what I'm guessing was her head hit the wall. After a few seconds, the buzzing started again, and she went silent.

I stayed put, waiting for her final act, feeling ravenous for her lusty moans. After a long, unbearable minute, I still hadn't heard a peep from her, nothing except that faint buzzing sound.

"Lillian?" I called out to her as I rapped my knuckles against the door. "You okay in there?"

Still nothing.

"Lillian?" I asked again, a bit louder, worry etching its way into my voice. Why wasn't she answering me?

I'm fucking broken , I heard her say in my head. I can't fucking do it .

Lillian? Are you okay?

I heard her gasp, then a thump followed by an even louder buzzing noise.

Fuck it, I thought to myself as I tried to open the locked door unsuccessfully. I growled before ramming into the door, forcing it to give way, and stumbling into the bathroom.

She yelped and tried to cover her tiny, exposed body with her even tinier hands. The sight would have been cute if she hadn't been fucking naked in my bathroom, a crimson color spreading all over her face and chest, even creeping down the valley between her breasts.

"Keir!" she scolded.

The vibrator, barely three inches long, danced across the floor as we stood frozen, eyes locked on each other. It was the loudest fucking noise I'd ever heard in my life.

I cleared my throat, trying my hardest to shove the amusement down. "You going to get that?"

Her attention left me long enough to locate the vibrator before giving me a curious look as she huffed. "So you can get a free peep show?" Her head gestured down to her nakedness.

"Nothing I haven't seen before, princess," I threw back at her. "That's fine, though… I'll grab it."

"No!" she shouted as she bent down to scoop up the toy, giving me the peep show she'd been hoping to avoid and turning it off before returning her hands to form makeshift clothes.

I grabbed a towel from the hook and handed it to her, which she grabbed with way too much force as she wrapped it around herself.

I rolled my eyes as she attempted to hide the little toy beneath her towel. "Again, nothing I haven't seen before. Where did you even get that thing?"

"The twins got it for me in case you tried to cockblock again." She sized me up. Me . "They clearly know you well."

I put my hands on my chest and held an imaginary wound. "That's the thanks I get for trying to help you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't remember asking for your help in that department."

My lips curled up in a smirk. "Maybe that's where you've gone wrong, princess. Perhaps you should ask me for help in that department."

She blushed even harder, and I tried to reel the flirting in, needing to repair my quickly depleting self-control.

"I assure you, I really was just trying to help," I pleaded my case, throwing my hands up in surrender to further prove my point.

"I can assure you, I need no help, especially from you."

"You're clearly frustrated."

"I wonder why…"

She was so fucking snarky. She wouldn't dare speak to me like that if she felt my hand across her ass, punishing her for her attitude.

"I'm sorry." She gave me a sideways glance. "I mean—okay, I'm not actually sorry for the alleged ‘cockblocking'." She rolled her eyes, another item on her list of offenses. "But I don't want you to go to bed like this. We'll never get the rest we need with you all wound up."

"Then let me go back to the twi—"

"No," I barked. "No," I repeated, softer. "We are not getting them involved. The night will never end if I let you go to them.'

She put her hands on her hips, bringing the vibrator back into my line of sight. "Then what am I supposed to do, Keir?"

I gestured to the toy in her hand. "Isn't that what that's for?"

She huffed, as if I'd just said the most stupid thing ever. "Yes, but…"

"But what?" I prodded when she didn't finish her sentence.

She cast her eyes down, shoulders slumped. "I can't."

"You can't," I parroted, starting to piece the puzzle together. "Hmmm… ‘I'm broken'," I repeated to her.

"Fuck… I can't have a private thought with you around," she said with much less anger than I'd expected.

Part of me felt guilty, knowing she didn't enjoy the way I was in her head all the time, but another part of me didn't care, knowing it was the only special thing I had with her.

A beat of silence passed.

"You're not broken."

She stared back at me, her eyes welling with tears. "You have no fucking idea…"

I took a big step in her direction. "I have every idea, Lillian. Every. Fucking. Idea. You are not broken. You are so fucking remarkable." I licked my lips as hers parted, vulgar thoughts filling my head of what I'd do with them if I had the chance. "That's why I spilled their blood for you. That's why the men who hurt you are dead by my hand. That's why they will never hurt you ever again." I took another step, trapping her against the bathroom counter.

"Keir…" she spoke with a sharp inhale at my words.

I hadn't meant to say all those things, to tell her I'd save her a million times over if I had to. To remind her she wasn't broken to me.

"I can help."

Her mouth fell open. "W—what?"

I swiped my tongue across my bottom lip, contemplating taking back my offer, but before reason could take control of my mouth, I said, "You need to get off, and I think I've proven I can get you there very well, as I am sure you recall. So let me help you."

"You want to help get me off?" I nodded, and she swallowed, looking away as she considered my proposal. After a few seconds of thought, she looked back at me, standing taller than before. "And after?" I furrowed my brows. "If we did this, do you go back to being the cold, hard-headed asshole like you always do?"

Shit . She had me by the fucking balls, but she was right. Every time we got close in any capacity, I shoved her away. There was no reason for her to think this time would be different. But should she? I mean, why would tomorrow be any different just because I gave her the best damn orgasm of her life? Why would I give her any hope of that? Was I actually planning on being the doting… boyfriend she'd turned my brothers into?

"Lillian…"

"Of course," she scoffed at me. The eye roll that accompanied her words pissed me off more than I'd ever admit. "I can't do it, Keir. I can't let you touch me like that and then…" She searched for her next words. "Pretend like nothing happened." Her eyes were glassy as she looked back up to me, hand over her heart. "It would change everything for me. I can't do it if it changes nothing for you."

Excruciating silence blanketed us. I wanted to walk out of the room and pretend like none of this happened, but I also wanted to throw her up against the wall and have my way with her until she was screaming my name.

"I'll take that as my confirmation." She scowled.

I closed my eyes and sucked in a big breath, hoping some sense would enter my brain and force me to walk out of this stifling situation so I could breathe air that wasn't sexually charged. As I let the breath go, I opened my eyes to find her slumped, her chin trembling. Her lips opened and closed again.

I hated seeing her like this.

"Fuck it." I closed the distance between us to stand before her and released the shadows I'd been holding back for her sake. They began to close in around us, removing her opportunity to escape me. "Tell me you want this, princess," I growled as my shadows crawled along her body, teasing her goosebump-covered flesh, my hands itching to do the same.

Her eyelids drooped, and she let out a whimper. "Keir…" My breathing halted as I waited for what came next. She had all the power right now, but there would be no turning back if she gave into this, into me. I tried to tell her that with my eyes, though, not sure I could speak the words that would give her an out, a small part of me afraid she might take it.

She licked her lips, and I wanted to claim them for myself. I wouldn't, though. If she agreed to this, tonight would be about her pleasure, not mine. If I dove in now, neither of us would come up for air, at least not in time for her trial tomorrow. I couldn't do that. I would give her what she needed, and then we would go to bed, and that would be that. We could deal with the rest later.

Fuck , what was taking her so long to decide? Was she really considering saying no? Had I botched this thing for us after all?

"I want it." Her towel dropped, and I could see all of her, every delectable inch of her skin I'd been dying to taste. "I want you."

I searched her eyes for a mere second before grabbing her hips and lifting her. Once she wrapped her legs around my waist, I took her from the bathroom to our bed.

I kept one arm wrapped around her back, holding her to me while I brought my free hand up to brush her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into my touch. As gently as I could manage, I laid her on the bed. Her hips moved to grind against my cock, which was stiff and throbbing, begging to be buried inside her.

I groaned and put my hands on her hips to steady her, reluctantly pulling myself away from her warmth. "Princess…" A blush rose to her cheeks as she bit down on one of her fingers. "Come sit between my legs," I instructed her as I removed my shirt and climbed onto the bed, leaning against the headboard.

She made quick work of my command and was soon on her knees, bouncing nervously as she faced me. It was an intoxicating sight.

Lillian… on her knees… for me. The best part? It was of her own free will. She wanted this, wanted me . She'd been so fucking patient with me, and I was going to give her a taste tonight. One little taste.

"Turn around. Lay back on me." I helped her get into position so she was facing away from me, her tight little ass fitting perfectly between my thighs. My body felt like it had been lit on fire, and I lost my breath momentarily when I pulled her down against me so her back rested against my bare chest. I rubbed my hands up her arms, savoring this moment between us. I'd touched her before, but never like this. This felt… different.

Her breathing was shallow, and she sat eerily still, as if she thought she'd scare me off if she moved. I brushed her hair to one side and watched my shadows dance across her neck, sweeping across the pale skin I so desperately wanted to suck into my mouth and mark as mine.

"Oh, fuck…"

I was lucky she was facing away from me, or I might've swallowed her words with my lips, sealing our intertwined fate forever. I had to be smart about this—go slowly for her, for me.

My cock was ready to explode just having her body against mine like this. I'd jacked off so many times to the thought of her, but it was nothing compared to having her in my arms, ready for me to touch her, please her.

My shadows were crawling over her skin, rounding her breasts and teasing her hard, pink nipples. She arched into them, wanting more. "I'm going to make you feel so good tonight, princess." I moved my hands to her bare hips, rubbing the area with my thumbs, dying to venture lower and touch her pussy. "Tell me how you like it. What makes you feel good? I want to know how you touch yourself. I'll make it a hundred times better," I whispered in her ear.

"I—uh…" She took a calming breath, gathering herself, but I made it even more challenging as my shadows pinched her nipples, making her gasp. "I don't really know. I don't—I've never really…" She trailed off.

I dug my fingers into her harder than intended, and she jumped.

"Lillian," I said sternly. "Please tell me that's not true. You've never… touched yourself? Pleasured yourself?" I found the idea insane. She was a fucking sex fiend, a temptress with maximum power, impossible to deny for long. She'd never gotten herself off on her own?

She remained quiet.

"Back at the cabin, when I…" I shook my head, disappointed in myself. "I forced you to touch yourself, Lillian. Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you stop me?"

She turned her head so she could see me. "I didn't want you to," she whispered.

I grabbed her chin between my thumb and forefinger, holding her gaze, searching for the lie in her words, but I didn't find any. She'd wanted it back then, and she wanted it now.

And I'd fucking give it to her.

I wrapped my shadows around her legs, binding them to mine so she couldn't close them unless I let her. She shuddered in my arms, her breath coming out in tiny whimpers. My shadows continued their paths up her arms, taking hold of her hands.

"Keir…"

"Shhh," I said to her. "We'll do this together this time. You'll tell me what you like, yeah?" She nodded, her eyes half-lidded as her right hand moved over her dripping cunt. "You're such a good girl, princess." I kept her chin between my fingers, not wanting to miss the show we were about to put on.

I'd touched many women before—I was not inexperienced in that category—but I'd never touched anyone who meant so much to me. I wanted to make her feel good while giving her the power over her body she desperately needed.

Her left hand was lifted to her breast, forcing her to knead it as her other hand dipped into her pussy.