Page 18 of Princess of Vengeance

“I’m fucking close,” he pants. “Just a little more… fuck…”

His body tenses, and he comes with a hoarse shout, his release flooding into me. His fingers never stop working my clit, drawing out my pleasure, and I whimper as a rush of aftershocks makes my muscles spasm.

But as I’m riding the waves of my orgasm, the strain on my body becomes too much. My side explodes in pain, like the knife is tearing through me all over again, like a fucking lightning bolt striking me. My vision whites out, and I feel myself falling into darkness.

The last thing I hear before everything goes black is Atlas’s panicked voice, calling my name.

7

QUINN

I wakeup to voices and the beginning of what’s going to be a killer headache, but I have no idea how long I was out. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes based on the warm aftershocks still tingling through my body and the still-way-too-sharp pain in my side.

“…tore at least three of her stitches,” Killian’s low voice rumbles above me. His fingers press gently at my bandages. “For fuck’s sake, Atlas.”

“Don’t start,” Atlas growls, but I can hear the guilt in his voice.

“Why not?” Nico cuts in, sharp and irritated. “This is, what, the second time you two have tried to fuck yourselves to death? First after we got you back from Ambrose, and now with her sporting these fucking stab wounds?”

“I said don’t fucking start,” Atlas snaps. “She needed?—”

“Oh, she needed your dick that badly?” Killian is as exasperated as I’ve ever heard him. “More than she needed her wounds to heal? That’s fascinating. Tell me more about your magical healing cock.”

“Fuck off,” Atlas mutters, but he’s taken his tone down a couple of notches.

“We can’t leave you two alone for ten fucking minutes,” Killian continues, his fingers still methodically checking my bandages. “I think next time I’m gonna tie you both down. Separately.”

“Like that would stop them,” Nico says with a snort. “They’d probably chew through the restraints to get to each other.”

I blink my eyes open, squinting against the light. “You know I can hear all of this, right?”

Three pairs of eyes snap to my face. Atlas looks guilty, Nico looks annoyed, and Killian just looks done with all of us.

“Good,” Killian says flatly. “Then you can hear me tell you that if you tear these stitches again, I’m sewing Atlas’s cock to his fucking leg until you heal.”

“You wouldn’t.” I almost catch myself cracking a smile at the mental image before another jolt of pain makes me think twice.

He arches an eyebrow. “Try me, siren. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you alive.”

“He would,” Nico confirms, crossing his arms. “And I’d help him do it.”

Atlas moves closer, and I can see every ounce of guilt and worry in his expression. His hand brushes my arm, tentative in a way that’s so unlike him it makes my chest ache. “Fuck, vicious. I’d cut my own dick off if it meant?—”

“Let’s not get crazy,” I interrupt, managing a weak smile. “Temporary dick suspension is enough.”

But he doesn’t smile back. “How bad is it? And don’t fucking lie to me.”

“I’m okay.” When his jaw clenches, I add, “Really. I am.”

“You were supposed to tell me if it hurt.” The accusation in his voice is dulled by the sheer amount of concern underneath.

I meet his eyes steadily. “I wanted it to hurt.”

Understanding passes through the room. Killian’s expression shifts, and some of the irritation fades as he looks between Atlas and me. Even Nico seems to relax a little.

They get it now. They would have done the same thing if I’d asked, and we all know it.

Killian breaks the silence after a moment. “Well, nothing is torn too badly. Most of the bleeding has already stopped.” He glances at Atlas, clearly trying to ease some of his guilt. “She probably just passed out from the endorphin crash combined with the pain spike. It happens sometimes when people push their bodies too far, too fast.”

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