Chapter 81

Eleanor:

I lay beside Killian, despite not actually wanting to in fear that I would hurt him, as he held me to his chest.

The man didn’t seem to care about me hurting him right now; he just wanted me to lay on his arms.

“Malyshka,” he whispered, catching me off guard and I looked up at him, ignoring the pain and shame that I felt at the fact that another man had touched me. And though I knew that it was not something that I did willingly, it was still something that really hurt me.

“Yes?” I asked, and he tightened his grip around me before kissing my temple. 

I didn’t even know how I managed to shoot Elton, but I knew that I was scared and that the one thing that I didn’t want was for him to taint my bond with Killian’s. 

“You’re quiet.” He said, and I looked down at his chest, ignoring the clench that I felt at the sight of it. I knew that it was normal for him to go through such things, but I also knew that as his mate that I couldn’t help the pain that I felt seeing it.

“I saw you laying in your blood before dragging you to the house,” I said, putting my hand on his chest for a second, running my finger on it. I was careful not to hurt him, and he took my hand in his, taking me by surprise before he gently kissed my palm.

“And yet, you saved my life,” he said, making my chest ache. I didn’t even know the amount of strength that I had until it happened.

“I was scared,”

“That didn’t stop you,” he whispered, pushing me away gently to look him in the eye. My eyes welled up with tears and he ran his finger over my cheek before kissing me gently. “You still tried to save me, and you still did. You were in pain, and yet, you did not stop for a second to save me.”

“Killian…”

“I couldn’t save you when you were dealing with the pain,” he said, stopping me. “I felt your cries of pain, and yet, I couldn’t save you. I know that you are going to tell me that I was shot and that I was drowning in my blood, but I still couldn’t fight back to save you.”

“It would have been physically…”

“I should have assigned men to be able to keep the area protected and guarded,” he said, taking me by surprise. “There are too many options that could have been done, Eleanor. There are so many things that I should have kept in mind to take my precautions, but I didn’t. You faced the pain because I didn’t keep in mind that…”

“Kilian, stop.” I said, stopping him. 

“Then I don’t want you thinking that you are any less than a hero.” He said, looking me dead in the eye. “Someone, I don’t know who, must have been the one to give the information of Elton about where you are, and though I have no one in mind about who it could be or the reason behind it, I am going to find out. But I am going to need you to stop looking at yourself as if you have sinned because you have no idea how much I value you and what you did.”

Tears fell from my eyes and Killian wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest, hugging me tightly. “I love you, Eleanor, and I give you my fucking word that I am going to avenge you. For now, we know that Elton is going to be scared of the two of us.”

“You, you mean?”

“You fought him back, El.” He said, his voice softening, making my heart swell. “And whether or not you want to admit it, I am going to tell you, the man is going to put a question mark and an underline of fear under your name.” 

I looked him in the eye before slowly leaning in to connect my lips with his. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me back, deepening the kiss before he hissed in pain. He pulled away to look me in the eye, and I frowned in pain for him.

“It seems like I am going to have to learn how to control my instincts a bit more than I would like to.” He said, and I laughed before he pulled me closer to kiss my forehead. “Yes, that is the beautiful laugh that I want to hear, malyshka.” 

I purred in response, and the purr that came from him was one that I never heard. He ran his finger over my cheek, making my heart swell, and he smiled. 

“Thank you for this, Killian.” I said, choosing to be honest about how I was feeling. “Thank you so much for what you just did to me and the words that you just told me.”

“You don’t need to thank me for this, malyshka.” He whispered, making my heart swell. “I am deeply in love with you,”

“I love you too,” I said, leaning in to kiss him. He went to deepen the kiss, however, I bit his bottom lip before pulling away to look him in the eye. “I think that the two of us just agreed that you need to control yourself to ensure that you don’t end up getting hurt.” 

“I tend to have a hard time in doing so,” he said, making me laugh. “You know, you tend to be have the tendency to seduce me,” 

“I did not aim to seduce you, but if I managed to do so when you are in your weakest state; then I should be proud.” I teased, and he chuckled before wincing. I could tell that the painkiller’s effect was wearing off, and that he was going to need an extra dose in a bit. “I’ll get the nurses, then we can try getting you out of bed for a while, how about it?”

Killian nodded in response and I smiled before getting out of bed. His next words taking me off guard, making me blush as he spanked my butt.

“And you are surprised when I say that you have the tendency of seducing me,” he said, knowing that I grew shy. “I’ll be waiting for you when you come back…”