Page 26 of Crown of Lies

“It’s always my business.”

There’s that certainty again, that absolute sureness that makes me want to lash out. I hate how affected I am by his closeness, by the warmth of his hands brushing my skin.

“What, are you jealous or something?” I force a mocking laugh, raising an eyebrow at him.

Yeah, I’m deflecting. Deflecting as hard as I fucking can.

“No. I’m not jealous.” Killian’s tone is flat, devoid of any inflection or emotion.

Those four words punch me in the gut, knocking the wind out of me. He’s not jealous. Which means he doesn’t want me—not anymore, not after everything. The realization stings more than I want to admit.

I swallow hard, trying to ignore the pang in my chest as I force a derisive laugh. “Good, because I don’t regret it. In fact, I needed it. So damn bad.”

Killian’s jaw tightens almost imperceptibly, but otherwise he shows no reaction. Undeterred, I continue, my voice taking on a taunting edge.

“Ever need sex so bad that it’s all you can think about?” I pause, watching him closely for any flicker of a reaction. “As much as I hate Nico, I was wet for him. Soaked through my panties.”

Nope.

Still nothing.

Fuck it. I’m just going to ask. “So you don’t care that he fucked me so hard I was screaming his name? That I couldn’t even think of anything or anyone else? That I couldn’t even close my?—”

I break off with a hiss as he presses an alcohol swab against my bullet wound.Hard.

Our eyes meet, and there’s no question that the pressure was intentional, just like everything else Killian does.

The alcohol swab moves again, a slow trail of fire across my skin. I grit my teeth, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing me flinch a second time.

But it’s not just the pain making my breath come faster.

The memory of Nico’s hands on me comes rushing back, vivid flashes playing through my mind. The way he pinned me against the wall, his muscular body moving against mine in a frenzied, insistent way. The feel of his hot mouth on my lips, my jaw, my neck.

The thick length of him sliding into me, filling me completely as his teeth grazed my sensitive skin.

A shudder runs through me, and Killian’s gaze drops briefly to my breasts. There’s no way he hasn’t noticed the way my nipples have hardened. I should feel embarrassed, ashamed at how viscerally the memory affects me. But there’s a reckless part of me that wants to push this further, to see just how far I cango before the man in front of me snaps. Before his cool mask of indifference cracks.

“He fucked me so good,” I breathe, holding Killian’s stare. “Took me right to the edge over and over until I was begging for it.”

Killian tears open another alcohol swab and presses it against a cut on my collarbone that I didn’t even know was there. I barely manage to keep my reaction in check this time, but my back still arches slightly, and I know I must be grimacing.

And that’s when I feel it—the first flutter low in my belly. The unmistakable tingle of arousal sparked by the heat from his touch, the hint of pain, and the memory of coming so hard that the whole world faded away.

Now Killian is just watching me squirm as he sets every nerve ending in my body on fire.

Fuck.

I try to tamp it down, to push away the feeling threatening to overtake me. But with every brush of his fingers, every scorching trail left by the alcohol swab, the pleasure builds. It coils tighter and tighter, until I’m clenching my thighs together, fighting a losing battle.

“Look at me,” Killian demands, his voice a low rumble.

I shake my head, keeping my eyes averted. I can’t. If I look at him now, he’ll see it. He’ll know exactly what he’s doing to me without even trying.

His fingers curl under my chin, tilting my face up until I’m forced to meet his piercing green stare. In that endless moment, the world seems to stop. There’s only the rapid thump of my pulse, the shaky rise and fall of my chest, the heat simmering between us.

And then it hits me—a wave of pure, shattering ecstasy that rips through my body with brutal force. A choked gasp escapes my lips as the orgasm crests, every muscle going taut. Killian’seyes bore into mine, watching every flicker of reaction, every tremor.

I try. Fuck, I try so hard to keep my expression neutral, to hide what’s happening. But it’s impossible to mask the pleasure sparking through my veins, lighting me up from the inside.

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