Page 29 of Killian's Vengeance

I yelped and swatted him on the arm. “You’re absolutely no help,” I grumbled, rubbing my posterior. It was still a bit tender after yesterday and last night. Just thinking about last night had my cheeks burning as I remembered all the things I let Killian do—begged him to do.

“What are you thinking about?” Killian asked, eyeing my bright cheeks intently.

“What? Nothing,” I blurted out.

He gave me a lurid smile. “Don’t worry, I already know. Don’t play poker, Willa. This face,” he said, rubbing my cheek. “It’s like an open book.”

I flushed even more and decided to ignore him. Instead, I focused all my attention on texting Vanessa back.

Willa: Vanessa, I’m so sorry!! I have been dealing with a situation bc of my sister. It has been a total mess! Please forgive me!! I will call you and update you on everything soon, I promise.

I immediately saw the bubbles pop up that indicated she was typing. I cringed as I imagined how pissed she was going to be at me.

Vanessa: WILLA! WTF????? You can’t respond to a text bc your twat of a sister? Did she have you chained in a basement somewhere?

I snorted at her response. She was closer to the truth than she realized, except it hadn’t been Lily who’d had me chained in a basement. It had been the guy I’d had sex with last night—my kidnapper. Jesus, I was going to need all the therapy when this was over.

Killian shot me a curious look at my laugh, and I turned the phone for him to read her response.

Killian shrugged uncomfortably, then broke out into a half grin. “Your friend is pretty smart. Don’t worry, next time I chain you up, you’ll love it,” he whispered in my ear, giving me another little pinch on the butt.

I frowned at him, for some reason, his comment bothered me even though I’d laughed at Vanessa’s inadvertently accurate text. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d just seen Lily, my sister, standing idly by while I was being abducted in her place or that during my time chained to the bed, I truly thought I was going to die. It left me feeling disoriented and thin-skinned at being teased about something so traumatic and so recent. “You know, you shouldn’t make jokes about that. I was really scared when I was chained in that room. I thought you were going to kill me.”

Killian looked distinctly uncomfortable at being reminded of my mistaken identity. He frowned at me. “I thought you understood that it was all a misunderstanding.”

While I knew I was being inconsistent as fuck, he was also being a little insensitive. I mean, I understood he meant no harm to me, but he did harm all the same. Was he really this dense? Yes, probably.

“Just because I know it was a misunderstanding, which, by the way, is the understatement of the century, doesn’t mean that I’m just completely over it,” I said sharply.

Killian rubbed the back of his neck, wearing the look of confused exasperation that men had probably worn for centuries, but before he could reply, another highly attractive, very muscular, heavily tattooed man walked through the open doorway. He was smirking and looking at Killian, so he’d likely overheard what I had just said.

“She’s pissed already, Kill? Sounds about right for you.”

“Fuck off, Logan.” Killian flipped him off, then pulled me into the hallway. “Look, Willa, I know the way we met was...unfortunate,” he finished awkwardly. “But, especially after last night, I figured you understood that I didn’t grab you and do that shit to you on purpose.”

“I do understand that. I just…sometimes this whole situation makes me feel like I’m crazy. What the hell am I still doing here? Why am I talking to you? Why did I have sex with you? What is wrong with me?” I blurted out, my doubts, fears and reservations exploding like fireworks in my mind and barreling out of my mouth.

Killian looked genuinely flummoxed, but I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t know how to answer my questions or because of the emotionally loaded direction I had steered the conversation.

Instead, he scowled. “You’re here because your sister is a lying, vicious bitch who set you up to take the fall for her bullshit. You’re here because she can’t be trusted not to do to you what she fucking did to Mac. Say what you will about me, Willa, but what your sister did is far worse.”

Even though I knew he was right, maybe because he was right, I couldn’t help lashing out at him. “You’re at fault, too, though. I told you I wasn’t Lily, but you didn’t believe me.”

I knew I was beating a dead horse here, that we’d already hashed this out, but I couldn’t help myself. I was filled with so many confusing, contradictory emotions, I was having trouble sorting it all out in my mind. Watching that video of Lily heartlessly watching me take the fall for her actions, knowing it could possibly—probably—result in my death had me suddenly spinning out.

“Are you fucking serious, Willa? I explained all that. You think I get off on tying up innocent women and hitting them with a whip?”

“Well, I know you’re into the tying up and hitting them part!”

He jerked his head back, seemingly surprised at my jab. I was surprised, too. It was a pretty low blow. Then, his eyelids dropped half-mast and a sensual smile crossed his lips. “Are you going to tell me that you’re not into it? Because I remember differently.”

I swallowed and stepped back, hitting the wall, and he saw it for the weakness that it was. He stepped toward me, his arms rising up to cage me against the wall. His clean scent washed over me as he dipped his head, his lips hovering by my ear. “Are you going to tell me you didn’t like when I pinched your clit, or spanked you, or fucked you so hard you were screaming?”

I started to get heated, both emotionally and physically, but I was still trying to resist some of the uncomfortable truths he’d thrust into my awareness since meeting him. Truths about my sister, truths about myself. But there was something in his tone—smugness. He sounded so superior about me and my reaction to him, I had to rebel. I put my hands up and pushed him slightly away.

“That doesn’t matter! You should still show some sensitivity,” I said, folding my arms over my chest.

His scowl returned. “Look, Willa, I realize?—”

---