by Mara McQueen
Yes, Olivia had thought that. Stupid brain.
"Are you okay?" Kieran asked, and Olivia hated the hesitation in his voice. She must've looked deranged. Who brought a weapon which could shatter knees into the shower with them?
"Yes," she lied and ran a hand down her face, willing the adrenaline to stop coursing through her.
"Olivia," Kieran began again, tone not leaving any room for argument. "Are you okay?"
"I—" Olivia took a shaky breath. She gulped and shook her head. No, she wasn't okay.
Before she could say anything else, Kieran stepped into the shower, perfectly-pressed suit and all, and engulfed her in a powerful embrace. God, it felt so good to have his arms finally wrapped around her. To feel his soothing heartbeat pressed against her pattering heart.
She collapsed into his reassuring embrace, hiding her face in his chest. With him by her side, the shadows weren't that threatening, her thoughts less haunting.
"You're getting all wet," she mumbled against him as his expensive shirt got soaked through.
"I'm not going to melt. My clothes won't either."
Well, a girl could hope, couldn't she?
He gently lifted her chin, until those wolf eyes of his, bright and unrelenting, found hers. His gaze searched her face, as if wanting to map every freckle, every eyelash, every curve.
"I'm sorry," he whispered at last, his hot breath ghosting across her lips.
"Because I attacked you?"
"Because you almost lost your life at Bolton Manor." He sighed, voice turning icy. "I should've protected you. Nan, too."
"Hey." It was her turn to cup his face, willing that small touch to say all the things she couldn't. "It wasn't your fault. None of it. And I think we're remembering last night's events very differently. You do remember you standing there with a gun and yanking Emma off me, right?"
He clenched his jaw. "But you shouldn't have been in danger in the first place."
"But I'm standing here now because you saved me. We're all alive because of you."
He nodded, but the shadows still clouded his gaze.
"I'm serious, Kieran. Stop blaming yourself." She pushed against him. Even stuck a self-righteous finger in his face. "If you don't, I'm walking out of here."
Finally, a ghost of a smile pulled at his inviting lips. “Are you threatening me?”
“Is it working? Because then yes, I totally am threatening you and not bluffing. At all.”
Kieran chuckled low in his throat and tightened his hold on Olivia’s waist, bringing her back into his warm embrace. A comfortable silence settled over them.
Olivia never wanted this moment to end. This embrace, the two of them looking at each other as steam clouded around them, water running down Kieran’s gorgeous face. He was so calm, even after everything they'd gone through.
She circled his shoulders, resting her hands on his neck, trying to stand up on the tippiest of toes to get close to him. “Are you okay?”
He leaned down until their lips were barely a breath away. “I’ve had too many years of training not to be.”
Olivia's fingers dug into his skin. This dangerous man had an even more dangerous job, taking down the worst—and most powerful—people in this world. Kieran might have spent the last months cracking their most devious secrets, but now that he was free of Bolton Manor, he was going to hunt them down.
His life would be on the line. Olivia could lose him at any moment.
That thought sent a searing pain through her chest. The breath of distance between them became too much. She wanted to get lost in him until they didn't know where one ended and the other began.
She raised herself up, claiming his lips in a fiery kiss. She wanted to drink him whole, explore every inch of his body and sear every moment into her mind.
Kieran tightened his hold on her, palms gliding across her wet skin. Past her shoulder blades, down her back, igniting her skin. Each of her fears melted as Kieran’s lips sought hers desperately.
Olivia tugged at his soaked clothes desperately. She wanted to feel him, all of him, with no barrier between them.
But Kieran had other plans. His mischievous fingers dug into the soft flesh of her thighs and hoisted her up in one go, not breaking the kiss, like she weighed nothing.
Olivia wasted no time in wrapping her legs around him, bringing him impossibly close. But instead of stepping forward and molding her back against the shower wall, Kieran turned.
He carried her back into the room, the fiery trail of kisses he left down her neck promising wicked things.
CHAPTER 4—EXPOSED
Before Olivia could get her bearings, lost in the myriad of sensations only Kieran could ignite in her, he'd carried them to the glorious windows overlooking the boardwalk outside.
Olivia's wet, naked body glided on the glass. If the windows hadn’t been tinted, her ass would’ve been completely exposed if someone bothered to look up. But she didn't care. All that mattered was that Kieran wouldn't stop kissing her. Ever.
His ravenous lips wouldn't leave hers, even as his hands snaked all around her body. No small feat as her legs were still wrapped around him, her entire weight between him and the hard glass behind her.
But Olivia wasn't one to be outdone. Her shaky fingers tugged on his tie until she ripped it off, spraying drops of water everywhere.
Just as she was about to start tackling the maddening buttons of his shirt—the traitors shielding Kieran's glorious wet chest from her gaze—the man of her dreams lowered her legs gently to the ground, disentangling himself from her arms.
She huffed indignantly. "If this was your idea of teasing—"
The rest of her words died on her lips as Kieran swung them around so that Olivia was facing the windows and he had his back pressed against them.
Then the devilish man got down on his knees. He looked up at her with the most devious smile gracing his face.
"I just wanted to be sure you enjoyed the view." He winked and then slowly—so achingly slowly—snaked his fingers up her calves, past that point on the back of her knees that made her tremble, and hiked her right leg over his shoulder.
Now Olivia was completely exposed. She steadied her arms on the glass or else she would melt in his arms.
Her entire body flushed as Kieran rubbed his cheek against her thigh, closing his eyes.
"You planned this, didn't you?" she asked, gulping down air, trying to cool down the fire raging inside her. "The hotel room with the big windows, for everyone to see."
"Are you accusing me of something, Miss Abbate?" He peppered small kisses up her thigh, gaze never leaving hers. "I was only thinking about your love for architecture, nothing more."
Bless him and his depraved mind. But...God. There were people below, strolling around. None of them could see them, of course. But the thought of it? It drove Olivia wilder than she’d ever felt.
And once Kieran's ravenous mouth found her center, she stopped caring altogether. She threw her head back, almost toppling over.
But Kieran's powerful hands held her steady, even as she chuckled low in his throat. "Steady, there. We wouldn't want to attract attention, now do we?"
No, they definitely didn't. But she couldn't help herself. Her entire body was on fire, her greedy hands searching, seeking any contact with him.
She tangled her fingers in his hair. He growled deliciously against her. Then she made the mistake of looking down at him.
He was watching her intently, hungry eyes taking in every reaction, every haggard breath.
"Don't look at me," he whispered, his hot breath against her skin absolutely sinful. "Look outside. Look at all those people going about their business—"
His voice had turned into a low growl and if he didn't stop talking, Olivia would implode.
"—living their mundane, uninteresting afternoon, while you're here, above me, losing your goddamned mind."
She did as instructed and dared a look outside while he drove her body to the br
ink. The moan that escaped her throat was otherworldly.
His touches got more urgent as Olivia's hips started rolling shamelessly against him. She couldn't stop even if a fucking helicopter would've been swirling around right in front of them.
"What if they see us?" he went on, torturing Olivia's body and mind. "Think they would condemn us?"
Olivia tried to nod, she did. But she couldn't control her own damn body. It was in Kieran's control now, undulating to his words alone.
"They might." He nipped her thigh, even as his hands dug into the small of her back. "Or they might imagine themselves in our place. Finally finding bliss."
"Please," she whispered. Her fingers strained against the glass, trying to hold on to something, anything, as her thoughts swirled out of control.
"Please what, Olivia?" He stilled, looking up at her, the picture of innocence. But she saw the devil glint in his eyes. He knew what he was doing to her and loving it.
But Olivia was past the point of caring. "Don't stop."
"I wouldn't dream of it." He leaned against her again, but stopped a breath away from her. "Are you sure, though? I wouldn't want to impose."
Olivia sent him a murderous look. It was all the encouragement he needed.
He ignited her body anew, his touches more urgent. His moans melted in with hers, driving Olivia insane.
She couldn't take this. Her body would shatter from the pleasure.
Finally, when the pressure turned unbearable, Olivia screamed. He was right. They were in bliss.
But she barely got off her high when Kieran got up and pressed his chest against her back. His hot, unsteady breath grazed her neck as he thrust inside her.
Olivia was trapped between his hard body and the unmoving glass. She never wanted to escape.
His body glided against hers. Fast. Faster. Olivia never wanted it to end.
His hands roamed over her chest, caging her to him, as his gaze found hers in the reflection.
"Look at us," he said, rough voice completely unrestrained. She did. It was the most beautiful, wild thing she'd ever seen. "Look at you. Completely at my mercy."
Olivia shuddered with pleasure. God, the things this man could do to her.
"Do you like it?" He nipped gently at her neck, hands encasing her to his chest.
"I love it," she gasped. "I fucking love it."
"Good." He tilted her chin toward him, locking eyes. "Because I'm never letting you go."
Their lips clashed in a feverish kiss, as if they wanted to devour each other's soul and never part again.
Kieran molded his body to hers and gently bit her shoulder, and Olivia was lost. She threw her head back, a shameless moan rising from her throat. A breath later, Kieran growled into her shoulder, arms tensing around her.
A perfect moment. Together.
They both sagged against the window. The cool glass sobered Olivia up.
She couldn't believe she did that. This man made her lose all logic and reason. And now she wanted to do it again.
"Are you tired?" he whispered against her lips in a raspy voice that sent tingles through her still shivering body.
Now that she had Kieran in the room, she wouldn't waste another second. Sleeping could wait. She shook her head, nuzzling his neck. His arms felt so secure, like he could shield her from anything.
"What did you have in mind?" Because his mind came up with the most delicious, depraved ideas, and Olivia wanted to enjoy each of them.
"Something absolutely scandalous."
CHAPTER 5—SCANDALOUS
"Your idea of a scandal is taking a stroll out in public?" Olivia asked, biting into her deliciously fluffy pretzel. Hey, a girl worked up an appetite when doing acrobatics pressed against a window.
The warm night breeze dried her free locks, ghosting across her skin. The sunset had vanished over the horizon, replaced by lights from the pubs and restaurants overflowing with people and laughter.
Those who didn't enjoy being so close to the ruckus strolled on the bank of the river, just like her and Kieran. It was the perfect summer evening. Olivia never wanted it to end.
"Think about it." Kieran licked his almond ice-cream, sending dangerous, dangerous thoughts into Olivia's mind. "People can do whatever they want behind closed doors, scandals are only born when others find out about it. You need people to have an outrage."
"I don't know who's going to be scandalized about us walking, though. I know you spent a lot of time at Bolton Manor, but things have changed out in society. Nobody's going to faint because I'm here with you without a chaperone."
"I don't know. That old lady almost dropped her pretzel when we passed her."
That's because she'd been shamelessly eyeing Kieran like he was the dessert she'd been waiting for all her long life. In fact, a lot of people strolling around them turned to look at Kieran. And who could blame them? The man was a walking example of perfection.
But each time someone glanced his way, Olivia's unease grew. Back at Bolton Manor, she'd been afraid Kieran would forget about her as soon as he stepped back into the real world. She'd known he was a catch, but she hadn't expected everyone to fawn over him. She'd told herself the waitress at the pub had been an exception. Apparently not.
"I didn't even get to ask you," she said suddenly. Anything to keep those maddening thoughts at bay. "How's your grandmother?"
"Bossing everyone around, as usual," he said with a small smile. "The doctors still don't know what Emma had been drugging her with, but they say she's all clear. And let's just say my associates happened to stop by and look into some charts and files. She can leave the hospital tomorrow."
Tomorrow. That one word speared her. He'd be leaving tomorrow, too.
Kieran must have been thinking the same thing, because he walked closer to her, shoulder to shoulder. "I also stopped by Underwood's room. He's doing okay, complaining about his pillow. Doctors said he's in the clear, too, should be out in a week. Martin and Sarah said to give you their best and a hug. I think I already did that, though I don't think that's exactly what they'd meant."
Olivia's cheeks flushed and her gaze jumped toward the hotel windows before she could stop herself. Yep, someone standing right here could have definitely seen them if they'd squinted real, real hard and the windows hadn’t been tinted.
"And on the gossip side of things, Addie broke up with Darryl. He might be going to jail for accidentally helping Emma, but he's so stupid, the judge might take pity on him."
"Not that he should." That lump of a man might've not known he was smuggling Emma's drugs into the manor, but he was still a louse.
But Kieran shrugged, of all things. "Honestly? I don't care what happens to him as long as I don't have to share the same room with that waste of good oxygen ever again."
"What's this? The prince of vengeance is showing mercy?" She narrowed her eyes at his ice cream. "Is that thing laced with something?"
Kieran laughed low in his throat, but it had an edge to it. "I'm saving all of my revenge for one person and one person only."
The powerful, nameless man who'd instructed Emma to slowly poison Mrs. Bolton's mind and incriminate Kieran. The one Kieran wanted to hunt down.
"Isn't it enough that we're all safe?" Olivia whispered, more to herself than him.
But Kieran heard. He always heard everything.
He stopped suddenly, pulling Olivia toward him until they were standing face to face.
"Until that man's dead or crying in jail about never seeing the sun again, we're not safe," he said, suddenly serious. "He will try to finish what he's started. I need to finish him first."
Damn this man. “What if you get killed? Who’s going to protect Mrs. Bolton then?”
And how would Olivia ever—ever—recover if she lost Kieran?
“Good to know you have so much faith in my abilities,” he said and laughed, completely carefree.
Olivia glowered up at him. “I’m serious, Kieran.”
He sighed,
his smile vanishing. “I have people in place to protect everyone in case something happens to me. But nothing will happen. Don’t worry.”
Easy for him to say. “Wouldn’t you worry if I went off gallivanting to deal with a madman that not only has the money and connections to hire an assassin like Emma, but to also hide himself?”
Kieran’s gaze darkened even as his face remained as impassive as ever. “If you truly believed you’d be able to accomplish it, then no, I wouldn’t worry,” he forced out, jaw clenching.
“Bullshit.” As if Olivia didn’t know what kind of man she was dealing with. Kieran-goddamn-Bolton couldn’t rest until he solved everyone’s problems and protected them. And Olivia had a damn hard time letting people help her. With anything. What a pair they made. “You’d try to convince me to let you deal with it.”
“Fine,” he bit out. “I’d be worried out of my mind. But if you really believed in it and yourself, I’d trust you’d know what you were doing and wouldn’t try to talk you out of it.”
Olivia sighed, averting her gaze to the calm river. If only her fears could disappear downstream as easily. “So nothing I’ll say will change your mind now, will it?”
“Not this time, no,” Kieran whispered. "Olivia, look at me."
She did, but rolled her eyes for good measure. But once their eyes connected, she was lost in that deep bright gaze of his that sought out her soul, but didn't give away any of his thoughts.
"I'm going to be okay. And once I'm done, we're going to finally be able to have as much time to ourselves as we'll like. I promise."
Her heart tugged at the thought. She wanted it all. Wanted all of him. Forever. But voicing those thoughts wouldn't help them, not right now. And their time together was slowly ticking away.
But oh, how she wanted to say everything bubbling inside her soul. All the longing. All the passion. All the dreams. And he was in every single one of them.
Olivia felt a deep, gashing need to lay all her feelings out in the open and hope Kieran felt the same. Hope he'd fallen in love just as fast and irrevocably as her.
The words almost—almost—slipped off the tip of her tongue. But Olivia swallowed them down at the last second and, instead, took a great big lick of Kieran's ice cream.
