my hips over his. I loved this. Loved how close we were, how there was no end to him or beginning to me. There was just us.
Killian’s rhythm changed. Those easy glides were replaced with shorter, jerky movements. “Imogen.” His voice was pleading, begging me for something only I could give.
It was as if my body knew what he was asking. The heat between my legs got even hotter. The throbbing like a pulse that ached.
He was thick and so hard, but I was exactly the right fit for him. Pressure built. I was on the cusp of release; I just needed him to push me there.
Killian groaned into my mouth, then bit down on my lower lip, and I was gone. He pulsed inside me, over and over, and I throbbed around him.
It went on, and I never thought it would end. When it did, I was breathless and so was Killian, but he still kissed me. Eventually, those kisses became lazier and we were happy to breathe in each other’s scent.
We stayed like that, him inside me, me wrapped around him, until we fell asleep.
Killian
A crow cawed outside my window, waking me from a sound sleep. I blinked as a high, constant note began to sound. It started low, right beneath my awareness, so I had a brief, blessed second to appreciate the beauty of the girl who’d forgiven me and then brought me more pleasure than I’d ever experienced in my life. Imogen slept in my arms, her wild red hair splayed over my pillow and arm.
Then, the sound exploded. It was so loud, so shrill, I couldn’t ignore it. The note wasn’t just in my ears; it vibrated through my entire head. Knives stabbed the back of my eyes and pierced my eardrums.
Make it stop. My stomach rolled with nausea, and I curled into a ball.
“Killian?” I barely made out Imogen’s voice as she touched my back.
The soft pressure burned as if she’d touched my skin with a branding iron, and I flailed, panicked. “Don’t touch me!”
All of my focus went inward. One breath. Another. I just had to survive this pain.
Someone lifted me from the bed, and I opened my eyes in surprise. Ronan and Flynn had me in their arms and carried me toward the bathroom. Each beam of sunlight sizzled into my eyes and went right to my brain. I shut my eyes again. The light. It was too much. It was pinpricks and needles and shards of glass, so I shut my eyes again.
Was this it? Was this where I died?
“He’s burning up.” I wasn’t sure if Imogen was speaking, or if I heard her in my head. Burning up. That was a good description. My body and my brain were on fire.
“Get him in the tub.”
Ice cold water covered my head, and I sucked in an involuntary breath. Liquid filled my lungs, but I stayed beneath the surface. Hands gripped mine, trying to pull me out, but I locked my legs against the sides of the tub. It was better under here. Cooler. Calmer.
Except for the sound, which redoubled.
I was yanked from the tub and slammed onto the floor. My lungs expanded. Coughing and spluttering, I writhed on the floor.
The sound grew in volume, a crescendo of pain that was going to end with my brains all over the walls.
And then it was over.
Like the cool water, the silence was absolute and suffocating.
My body shook, nerves firing, as if I was still under attack. I blinked at the light as my vision cleared. Imogen held my head on her lap while Ronan pinned down my arms and Flynn my feet.
Ronan’s nose was bleeding and he was soaked. Wet strands of hair mixed with the blood dribbling over his lips.
I did that.
Flynn wasn’t in much better shape. He was soaked to the bone as well and out of breath. The buttons on his shirt were missing, and he had a bruise on his cheek like I’d clocked him with my fist or elbow.
If I did that to my brothers, what had I done to Imogen?
Fearful, I tipped my chin to stare into her face. Her hair was wet, the curls dark red spirals that lay over her white, freckled shoulders. She was naked—I’d never been injured enough not to notice something like that—and shaking.
“Did I hurt you?” My voice sounded like I’d swallowed glass, which made sense considering I’d just been stabbed with it, over and over.
She shook her head, but on