Turned out being in love had made me goddamn weak.
Swallowing back my rage, I snapped, “Go to my safe and then you’ll owe me a fucking apology.”
“We’ll see.” The guy snorted. “You two stay here. Watch them. I’ll go see if he’s telling the truth.”
“Fine.” The copper-haired one nodded. He crossed his arms, his gun dangling mockingly in his hand. “We’ll just have a nice chat while we wait.”
Eleanor almost slipped from my grip, her legs finally giving out. I clutched her close, my belly tense and leg pounding with pain.
Shit, I need them all to go.
She’d reached her limit. Her heat scoured my spine. Her lewdness and longing made my own spring fierce and greedy. I couldn’t get her off this island, but I could help her escape it through an orgasm or two.
Would she cope waiting a bit longer? Would her heart remain intact?
Pika flew in through the open sliders, his glinting green feathers snapping with temper. He squawked, stealing the attention of the two men while the third rolled his eyes and headed to the door they’d broken down.
Eleanor quaked behind me, her gaze tracking Pika as he flew wildly around the room. She hissed between her teeth. I didn’t know if it was in grief for Skittles or the unravelling of her self-control.
Her weight became heavier as she tried to slither to the floor.
Pika cawed and fluttered to the rafters, glaring at me with disapproving black eyes, almost as if he knew what I’d bribed and why.
If I had spare energy, I’d give him the finger—for his judgment and the fact that he hadn’t stayed away like I’d hoped.
Eleanor groaned, jerking in my hold and falling backward. I spun to catch her, ignoring the two men and their guns watching our every move.
My heart fisted as her face scrunched up in agony. Her hands balled and wedged into her chest as if the elixir had formed a nucleus directly behind her ribs. Her skin gleamed with seawater and sweat, her hair tangled and ropy over her arms and shoulders.
She looked as if I’d caught her in a fishing net and dragged her from the deep. Dragged her into a world where she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t function, couldn’t survive.
Fuck, I’m so sorry, Jinx.
Letting her fold to the floor, I glowered over my shoulder at the two remaining mercenaries, my eyesight flickered and faltered. “Do you give me your word that you won’t interfere while you wait for your bribe?”
They snickered as Eleanor lost another element of her control, her hands splaying from fists to squeezing her breasts. “Dunno, depends how much of a show we’re about to get.”
“Vow you won’t touch her, and I promise I won’t kill you.”
The copper-haired one raised his gun. “Yeah, good luck trying to kill us, mate.”
“I killed four of you with my hands tied. I wouldn’t fucking push me where this woman is concerned.”
Looking back at Eleanor, her skin pale and washed out, her lips bright red from being bitten, her nipples peaked, and lust gleaming on her inner thigh, I pushed damp hair behind her ears and cupped her cheeks. “I’m going to keep you safe; I swear it.”
Her eyes flashed open with grey lightning bolts. If her body didn’t portray her need, her gaze was excruciating hunger. “Sully…”
Her hands landed on my wrists as I held her cheeks. Her touch was fire, her skin was fire, her very fucking soul was fire, and I threw myself into it. If she could survive what I’d done to her, then I could survive taking care of her.
With a heart-breaking groan, her hands slipped from my wrists and slid down her front. She hung her head in utmost shame, burying her face into my palms as she lost the final battle and reached to administer self-pleasure.
I caught her hand.
Not to prevent her from a release she so badly needed, but to protect her from the motherfucking bastards behind me.
“Come on.” Hauling my rapidly failing frame upward, I bent and somehow found the energy to pick her up. Hoisting her higher into my arms, I glared at the two men. “Stay there.” Not waiting for their reply, I strode into the master bedroom.
I tripped as my leg reminded me that stitches, glue, and nanobots couldn’t repair a harpoon hole in just a few hours. That I was pushing myself to a limit I might not return from.
The bed beckoned.
The moment Eleanor noticed it, she bucked in my embrace. “Yes, oh, God. Please. I need it. I’m not feeling…” Her eyes snapped closed before flaring wide again. “It hurts, Sully.”
Fear filled me. “Hurts? What hurts?” I almost dropped her as she spasmed again.
“Everything.” She stiffened as her fingers pinched her nipples and her legs scissored in my hold. “My blood, my breath, my heart.”
“Your heart?” I laid her gently on the bed, my voice snappish with worry. “What’s wrong with your heart?”