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“You’d better.” I kissed him again—then started to move.
Pleasure welled up in my core, and his eyes were like lightning. I touched his cheek.
“Even if you’re hurt—do you think you can still come?”
“I’ll manage?”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“If you stop moving those hips, I swear to god, Erin, I will pin you down and fuck you senseless.”
“Promise?”
He grinned, and I kept going. My breath came faster and faster. The thought of him taking me, holding me down, ripping into my pussy with a wild strength and fury, taking his pleasure from my body—
I threw back my head. We moved fast together, a blur of wetness and bliss.
I came with sparks and thunder. He growled and came between my legs, filling my orgasm with an incredible thrill.
I collapsed for a second time. He held me tight, and I didn’t think I could move, even if I wanted to.
He kissed my hair and hugged me.
“When I heal, are you going to start sleeping somewhere else?” he asked quietly.
“No,” I said.
“Good.”
We lapsed into silence, and I pressed myself closer.
I didn’t know when this happened—when our fake arrangement began to feel real.
But it didn’t matter. This was my reality now. Redmond, in my arms, breathing slow and even.
The man that nearly died to keep me safe.
The man that took my virginity.
The man that would give me so much more.
I squeezed my eyes shut, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was in the right place.
Until I heard a sound in the other room.
Chapter 24
Erin
“What was that?” I sat up, covering my breasts with my arms.
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t know, but I didn’t like it.”
The sound came again. It was muffled, but distinct.
A man groaning in pain.
“Stay here.” I got out of bed and dressed as fast as I could.
“No,” he said, pushing aside the blankets. “You’re not going alone.” He tried to stand, but I held him back.
He glared at me, but I didn’t let up. “You can’t even overpower me right now. What do you think you’re going to do out there? Bleed on our enemies?”
“Don’t be a dick. I can still shoot.”
“Stay here. I’ll check it out and come back, I promise.” I tugged on my shirt. His lips were a hard, angry line, but I didn’t wait for him to argue.
I pushed him back onto the bed and he began pulling on his boxer briefs and his sweats. I wondered if he really was going to run out there wearing nothing but the bandage on his chest.
I slipped out of the room and shut the door behind me.
The living room was dark. It was later than I thought. I’d been in that bed for at least a couple hours—how the hell had it been a couple hours? It felt like either a lifetime or the space between a heartbeat. I walked softly forward, and paused, staring at the door.
It was partially open. Light spilled in from the hall and something red stained the carpet.
“It’s okay. I promise.”
My hands flew to my mouth. I screamed, but stifled the noise.
James stood near the couch. He was grinning wildly, his eyes manic and big. Blood covered his shirt and his face and matted his hair, like he’d spread it all over himself. He looked unhinged and crazed as he stepped closer.
He gripped a long, sharp knife in his right hand. It dripped with gore.
“What did you do?” I asked him, stepping back.
“Please, don’t move,” he said, coming closer. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, but Redmond is harder to kill than I thought.”
“Redmond is—” I stopped myself and stared.
Everything snapped into place.
The ambushes. Someone leaked information to Cosima—that was the only way to explain how she’d gotten the drop on us multiple times. Someone in our inner circle, someone that knew our movements.
“It was you,” I said quietly.
“Cosima made me a deal. She said I could have you if I helped her kill Redmond. She’d spare your life, and I’d make you understand. You see it, right?”
“Why?” I choked out the word. I was betrayed and hurt, but most of all, I was angry.
“We want the same thing. Don’t you get it? Maeve’s empire is there for the taking, and there’s nobody in this world that deserves it more than you.”
“Redmond’s going to give it to me, you bastard,” I said with more anger than I should have. “He’s helping me.”
“He’s corrupting you.” His face twisted into a psychotic grimace of rage. “You shouldn’t be anywhere near that peasant. Me and you, we would be perfect together. We’re from the same world. We’re so much alike.”
“I’m nothing like you,” I said, shaking my head furiously. My knees shook, and I looked around for some help or escape, but there was nowhere to go, and the only backup was dead.
