Page 103 of Emperor of Corruption
“Seventeen,” he whispers in my ear. “Just over ten to go.”
Dawn’s breaking across the sky by the time I hit twenty-eight. I’ve almost completely lost my voice, and my heart is racing so fast, I’m surprised I haven’t had a heart-attack. My mind’s a muddled mess, with my only thought being gratitude for the night being over… emphasized by the tiniest touch ofemptiness.
After nearly twelve straight hours of having Killian filling me, it feels wrong to be so empty. If I had any strength remaining, I’d berate myself for my idiocy.
“I knew you could do it,” Killian whispers in my ear, sounding exhausted, as well. “Good girl.”
I fall asleep to the feeling of him pressing kisses to my head and gathering me in his arms, wrapping me in his suffocating warmth, and obsession masquerading as protection.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Lyra
When I wake up again, the sun hangs low in the horizon. It’s afternoon, and my brain hazily registers that I have a plane to catch.
Killian doesn’t seem to be in any hurry. He’s sitting in bed next to me, one hand idly resting on my stomach, the other holding a file of some sort, reading. I yawn, stretching drearily, and quietly begin to shift away from him.
He throws me a vaguely amused look from the corner of his eyes. “No sense in that anymore, sweetheart,” he says. “You’ll be moving in with me this week. I plan on touching you often and in dirty ways that’ll make your head spin.”
A mixture of emotions tear through my system like a hurricane. Trepidation, fear, and anxiety are in the mix, but so is another, different,warmerfeeling that unnerves me more than the others combined.
“I never agreed to any of this,” I remind him, though my tone lacks any real conviction. If the last two months have taught meanything, it’s that Killian always gets what he wants, without fail. If he wants me, barefoot and pregnant, that’s what he’ll achieve.
My only recourse now is negotiation.
And the exposé.
“I didn’t ask for your agreement.”
Something unpleasant twists my chest. Something that feels uncomfortably close topain.
“Do you really care so little for my opinion?”
“On the contrary, I care very much for your opinion. I care more than I’ve cared about anyone’s in averylong time. Believe me when I say, this surprises no one more than it surprises me.”
I take a few beats to digest that. Killian is many things, but he’s not an outright liar unless he has a good motive to lie. Right now, there’s no reason for him to be anything but truthful. He’s gotten everything he wanted from me, and now I’ll have to carry his heir and take his last name—unless I find a way out. Why would he try to make me feel better about it?
He wouldn’t.
Still… “If you cared about my opinion, you wouldn’t constantly disregard my wishes and desires.”
Killian waves a dismissive hand. “I do that because you insist on putting us in a battle of wills—one you must know you can’t possibly win. And yet, you persist. It’s equal parts admirable and infuriating.” He sweeps his thumb over my belly button, and I shiver. “If you stopped fighting me and started workingwithme, however, you’d understand that there’s very little you couldn’t achieve while I’m backing you.”
“I can’t give into you.”
“Why?”
Because you’re a beast. Because you’ve hurt me more than I’ve ever been hurt. Because you remind me of how low and unimportant I am everychance you get.
I sum it up with, “Because that’d be betraying everything I stand for.”
Killian shakes his head. “No, it wouldn’t. You might find that you could have a lot of influence over me, Lyra.” His jaw ticks, informing me of his sentiments on that matter. “You shouldn’t, but you do. You should use that to your advantage. Make requests that don’t involve me letting you leave.”
“But that’s what I want above all else,” I whisper.
Killian’s eyebrows raise. He sets aside the packet of papers and rolls over to face me. His hand moves from my stomach to my waist, and he tugs me close.
“Is it?” he asks softly. “Is ittruly?And, if the answer is yes, have you thoroughly considered all the opportunities you’d lose if I let you go?”
