Page 45 of Ecliptic

“N-no, please. I’m f-f-fine,” I said, rolling away as Maddock loosened his grip to tug off his top. He handed it to Rowen and yanked me back towards him.

“Shut up, Keira, and let me help you,” he grunted as he pushed my shirt up and slammed my bare back against his chest. I sucked in a strangled breath as his skin touched mine, and the frozen tundra of my veins sighed in relief. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t deny the heat of his body, yet still, I repelled his touch in every way.

Maddock snaked his hands through the front of my shirt, his knuckles grazing my breasts as he banded his arms across me. A familiar light shivered against me. Not just from my front where Rowen was, buteverywhere. The thief behind me was forcing my body to bend to his will as he used my stolen gift against me.

Desire flared between my thighs, and I arched my back. “Rowen,” I moaned, hating that my body was begging for more than just warmth. “I need you.”

A strangled moan vibrated through him. “I know. It’s all right. I’m here.”

“Please, touch me,” I begged, hating the arms that held me. My mind was dizzy, and my body scrambled. The right thoughts weren’t wired to the right actions, but there was nothing I could do.

“I can’t, my flame. Let Maddock help you,” Rowen choked out, and I heard the strike of his blade against a whetstone.

“I’m s-so cold,” I stammered, my hips bucking for friction and warmth.

Maddock held me tighter and groaned as if he were the one in pain. “Rowen, I can feel her suffering. Do you need me to . . .”

“Don’t even think about it. Rub your hands on herlimbs. Get her blood flowing,” Rowen demanded, and Maddock complied, running his hands all along my body.

My breath hitched as Maddock’s palms traced along my arms, chest, and stomach. Though his hands were a meager substitution for what I really needed, I found his touch not entirely unpleasant. In fact, it might have feltnice.

I wanted to reject the feeling because I knew it was a stolen emotion. But if I didn’t relent to Maddock’s help, my organs would shut down, and I would die anyway.

I stopped fighting as Maddock eased me into a comforting lie. I despised that his hands were soothing my desperate need.

My body betrayed me as my eyelids turned heavy.

“You did so good, Keira. You can rest now,” Rowen said as a burst of flames danced along my frozen limbs.

Hearing Rowen’s command and unable to resist a moment longer, I let myself fully drowse off into Maddock’s embrace.

After some time, I heard my soul flame’s voice through the crackling fire. “Wipe that smirk off your face, Madds.”

“You know I could lay her down the other way, right? Chest to chest. Or completely naked,” he said, gripping me tighter as I tried to squirm away, unamused by his suggestion. “They say that works best.”

“It would be in your best interest to concentrate on keeping her alive,” Rowen said in a menacing growl. “You’re holding my only reason for existing in your arms. If she dies, you die. If she loses a single finger or toe due to the chill, I will hold youpersonally responsible, and you will lose the same in kind. Her fate is your fate.”

Maddock’s mouth snapped shut. He lifted my wrist to his mouth and blew warm air on my numb fingers.

Rowen wasn’t easily provoked, but the anguish in his voice was unmistakable.

Maddock stopped the puffs of air he was peppering along my neck and hands and raised his head. “That pain on your face, it’s how I feel every waking moment. It’s slowly eating me alive.”

“Good,” Rowen seethed like a bloodthirsty dragon. “It is no less than what you deserve for your thievery."

“You are just as much to blame for this. How dare you let her enter the crevice all those months ago? What were you thinking? There was a monster inside, waiting for her. Waiting to take her body. If she were mine, I would have never let her out of my sight,” Maddock said, running his hands all over my frostbitten flesh. His thumbs grazed against my breasts, hip bones, and thighs. Despite my mind bellowing to resist, my rebellious body curled deeper into his warmth.

“You think I wanted to? She asked me to trust her, and I did. But before she requested that of me, she tried sneaking off to help you.”

“Really?” Maddock asked, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Yes, but luckily, she isn’t as sneaky as she thinks. And in the end, it all worked out for the best, didn’t it? Because without you, we both would have died today.”

Maddock brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I can only touch her like this because I stole from her, violated her. It’s only because of my most heinous actions that I get to feel something this beautiful. She may have only just gotten to know me, but I’ve known her . . .felther for months. I’m disgusted withmyself, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right. I will return all I stole.”

All he stole?

“You will. Because if you don’t find a way to give her back what’s rightfully and cosmically hers, I will gladly watch as she kills you.”

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