Page 40 of Bonds of Pain
Her back arches involuntarily, her body betraying her mind’s commands.
“Three...”
A whimper escapes her lips as her control fractures.
“Two...”
I feel her begin to pulse around me, her orgasm crashing through her despite her best efforts to hold it back.
“One.”
The glare doesn’t leave her eyes, even as moans in completion. “Cillian!”
“Fuck, Maya.” The surge of pleasure as I reach my own release is all that keeps me from strangling her. “I hope you’re working that little joke out of your system, because it really isn’t funny anymore. You’re staying on this knot until you tell me what I want to hear.”
The knot has us tied together face-to-face, close enough that I don’t miss the sarcastic lift of her brow as if to say who’s joking?
“Cillian,” she calls out loudly again, voice clear and deliberate.
Logan freezes above me, his eyes widening in shock. The mattress shifts as Cillian stirs behind us.
For fuck’s sake, can’t a guy enjoy an afterglow for a few damn minutes? “What are you doing, Maya?”
“If I’m yours, and he’s yours, then maybe we should stop pretending we’re not all in this together.” She meets my gazewith open challenge as she raises her voice to near shouting. “Wake up, Cillian. I need you.”
I’m almost impressed with the underhanded tactics.
Fine. Round one went to me and now she wants to go best out of three.
As his head slowly raises from the pillow, I brace myself to face the next phase of this game.
Chapter Twelve
CILLIAN
I’ve been awake for at least twenty minutes, listening to their exchange with growing annoyance. Logan’s cruel taunts, Maya’s defiance, the sound of flesh against flesh. It’s all quickly becoming the unwelcome soundtrack to this ridiculous tale of woe.
Whether she realizes it or not, Maya’s side of the bond has been wide open for most of it. The emotional extremes of pleasure and rage are enough to obscure any knowledge of her thoughts. But I feel every sensation she does and the reactions she doesn’t want to acknowledge.
Every unwanted touch that makes Maya’s skin twitch sends a corresponding shiver down my spine. Every surge of anger that flows through her veins pounds in my temples like a second heartbeat. I can taste her revulsion mixing with unwanted pleasure, the confusion of a body responding while a mind screams in protest.
I planned to lie here feigning sleep until they finished, then slip away to my room before either of them noticed me. It’s whatI’ve always done, disappear when Logan brings his conquests to bed. Fade into the background like the good little guard I’m supposed to be as he rubs my face in my own unwillingness to let him touch me when I have enough wits about me to resist him.
This last—and only—heat was a one-off. It won’t ever happen again. I’ll never willingly let Logan touch me for as long as he treats our bond like an afterthought or a tool he can use for his own benefit.
But Maya apparently has other plans.
“Cillian! I need you!”
Her voice cuts through the air like a blade, leaving no room for pretense. I could ignore it. I should ignore it. But the desperate pull of the bond makes that impossible.
I raise my head slowly, finding Maya’s eyes locked on mine over Logan’s shoulder. The sight of them joined together should disgust me, but instead, a complicated tangle of emotions rises in my chest—jealousy, desire, and a protective instinct so fierce it nearly chokes me.
“What the hell are you doing?” Logan demands, his voice rough with irritation. He’s still buried inside her, his knot keeping them locked together in the most intimate way possible.
I sit up fully, careful to keep my expression neutral despite the storm raging inside me. “She called for me. What did you expect me to do? Ignore her?”
Logan’s golden eyes narrow. “Yes, actually. That’s exactly what I expected.”
