Lachlan gripped my hips as I took him inside me to the hilt. My heart and soul and body were so fucking full—with him. With this amazing vampire who not only understood me but challenged me, pushed me, made me better, stronger.
“Lachlan,” I moaned again, rocking against him faster and faster.
“Valor,” he growled, meeting my pace with thrusts of his own, hitting those deep places inside me that made me see stars.
Emotion swelled and stormed me, threatened to bring tears to my eyes as we crashed together again and again.
Each thrust, each roll of my hips brought me closer…
I folded myself over him, my sensitive breasts against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight as I moved on him slow and hard. And I turned my head, exposing my neck to him.
“Are you sure?” he asked, and those tears filled my eyes. He always gave me a choice.
I nodded, unable to find a steady voice to answer him—
He sank his teeth into my flesh, and I came with the onslaught of pleasure that poured through me. Ecstasy rushed through my blood, filling his mouth as he sucked and tugged at the wounds he’d made. My body quivered around him as he sucked and thrust in unison, pounding into me so deliciously hard I almost forgot what I needed to do.
I continued to move with him, ensured he stayed at my neck, fully ensnared and distracted as I reached with my free hand over the side of the bed.
The ring of iron clinking against the bed railing sounded just as he came inside me, still sucking at my neck so hard I came right with him. Both of us falling over that edge so hard and fast he didn’t have a clue yet what I’d done.
He flicked his tongue over the wounds in my neck, helping to seal them. My head spun as I shifted atop him, drawing up enough to look down at him.
Lachlan reached for me, but his hands met resistance, and he tilted his head. His eyes flicked between me and the iron chains around his wrists, his brow furrowing. “Valor,” he whispered. “I’m all for chain games, but iron…you know what it does to my power.”
I let the tears fall down my cheeks, then hurried off of him. “Of course, I know what it does to you, Lachlan,” I said, trying to force steel into my voice. It didn’t work. I could barely hold back the desperation and agony storming me.
“Valor,” he growled, yanking against the chains.
I hurried into the clothes I’d hidden on the other side of his nightstand—a pair of black leather leggings, a long-sleeved black thermal. Clothes to hide me when night came in a few minutes—the assassins had planned or fought or strategized throughout the day about the upcoming rescue mission, and so had I. I slipped into a good pair of worn boots, and then shifted to face him.
Betrayal clung to his features, that and undiluted rage.
“You asked me if I understood,” I said, sucking in a sharp breath as I neared the bed. “Asked me if I could possibly fathom how hard it would be for you to have me in harm’s way.”
He visibly swallowed as I leaned over him. I settled my hand over his muscled chest, right over his heart.
“I do understand, Lachlan. Because I love you.” The confession left my lips on a long breath. “Not just because you’re my mate, either,” I continued. “I fell for you even when I hated you. Fell for your strength, your gentleness, your ability to understand me even when you hated me too. I fell for the Lachlan that made me laugh to keep me from succumbing to panic. I fell for the highlander who didn’t treat me like a piece of glass despite being human. I fell for you, Lachlan, over and over again. And being mates? That’s just a bonus.”
“Valor,” he groaned, yanking against those chains. Already I could see the iron doing its job, weakening him.
“I’m sorry,” I said, truly meaning it. I hated seeing him like this. Every instinct in me cried out to help, to protect, to save. “I know my brother better than you do,” I said. “And he’ll do anything to hurt me, make me suffer. Taking you, harming you…killing you…” I swallowed hard around the words. “That would ruin me. I wouldn’t survive it, Lachlan. But you? You’re so much stronger than I’ll ever be. And I can’t…won’t lose you.” I leaned over him, crushing my mouth against his in a desperate kiss before jerking my head back. I spun on my heels, rushing out the door.
I closed it behind me, the breath tight in my lungs.
“Valor!” Lachlan screamed so loud I swore the foundation shook.
I closed my eyes against the pull in my heart to turn back around and set him free. He was safer this way, protected. I had designed that facility. Could hopefully find a way in. And I alone could face my brother, could get into his head and stop him. It had to be me.