Page 20

Despite Rowen’s warning, the hand remained. “She’s not breathing.”

“You will let go of her,” Rowen said venomously, “if you enjoy your limbs attached to your body.”

The grip left me with a sigh. “From the blue tinge of her lips, I’d say it’s been some time since her last breath.” The voice was Maddock’s. That sly bastard must have followed us here even after I told him not to. “What do you plan on doing? You can’t touch her, and her time is running out.”

“Just let me think,” Rowen pleaded desperately.

“She doesn't have time for that. Listen, I know how to help with water in the lungs, but I’m going to have to touch her. Can you handle that, or do you need to look away?”

“If you can save her, then do it.”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Do it now!” Rowen roared.

Warm lips crashed against mine, forcing breath into my lungs.

Two quick puffs of air were pushed down my throat as my nose was pinched tight.

Suddenly, Maddock’s hands gripped my bodice, and the sound of ripping fabric shattered the deafening silence.

He threw my vest off me, baring me in my white undershirt.

His palms landed between my breasts, performing chest compressions.

“What are you doing?” Rowen barely choked out.

My body shuddered beneath Maddock’s forceful pumps. I tried to remain present, but I could feel myself drifting farther and farther away. “Back off if you want her to live,” he snarled before putting his lips back on mine.

The tortured groan that escaped Rowen wasn’t lost on me, and my heart ached for his helplessness.

The relentless pressure at my sternum intensified, and a cry formed deep within my chest. I fought to let the cry out, to let Rowen know I was still with him.

Maddock pounded on me with his palms, his attention shifting between my mouth and the space between my breasts.

The cry was working its way up my esophagus, cresting over the curve of my tongue. Almost there, yet so far away.

My awareness was down to a pinprick of light, and it was fading by the second. Desperation raked through me to pull away from the darkness, but its claws were in me too deep. I wanted to scream.

The cry was right behind my teeth. So close .

“Breathe, dammit,” Maddock grunted as the weight on my chest continued, and it felt like I was about to crack. Everything had gone black. My time left on Luneth was down to seconds.

“The Light,” Rowen choked out desperately. “Her Light. You’ve used it on her before. Do it again!”

Foreign fingers splayed at the swells of my breasts and with a violent pump, a jolt of electricity shot throughout my body.

“Come on,” someone said, their voice filled with urgency as more Light coursed through me.

My back arched painfully off the ground as a lightning bolt surged through me once again.

“Keira. Stay with us,” a voice pleaded .

Another thunderclap went through me and light flashed behind my eyelids.

Finally, my cry broke past my lips, but it wasn’t a cry at all. It was the water lodged deep within my lungs. It spurted out of my mouth as my eyes flew open, and I gasped, drawing in desperate breaths of air.

Maddock rolled me over to ensure the water didn’t fall back down my throat, then settled me against his weight.

In shock and not quite thinking clearly, I reached for Rowen.

Maddock grabbed my wrist and held it still. “Are you insane? You can’t touch him. You nearly killed him with that little unconscious blast of yours.” His eyes bore into me with a palpable intensity, his chest heaving in exhaustion.

Frozen to the bone and feeling so, so tired, I lifted my blurry gaze to Rowen. He emitted a choked sob of relief when our eyes collided and blood dripped from his nose.

I had done that to him—caused him to bleed. He was lucky to be alive. The thought made me sick to my stomach, but it was Rowen who looked ill as his gaze lowered, locking on Maddock’s hands giving me the support he couldn’t.

“Your hands and mouth are one thing, but I’ll kindly ask you to take your eyes off her,” Rowen growled, the tendons in his neck straining. “If I have to ask again, I can assure you I won’t be as polite.”

Wrapped in Maddock’s embrace, I followed his stare down my body.

My bodice was gone, and the thin shirt covering me was practically see-through.

It was so soaked, everything was visible: the exact contours of my breasts and the stark contrast of my frozen pink nipples.

“I t-t-told you not t-to follow us,” I stuttered between weakened breaths as my body shivered uncontrollably. “I-I…said I would k-k-kill you.”

“Let me save you now so you can kill me later. ”

“Hold her up for me,” Rowen ordered over my shoulder. “We need to warm her.”

Without question, Maddock propped me up within his hold, and I whimpered as my stiff limbs were forced to move. Rowen’s hands lowered to my stomach as his black-tinged fingertips gripped the wet fabric around my waist and pulled it up my torso.

Maddock’s hands made adjustments on my bare skin while Rowen removed my top. I was too frozen to help, so the men moved and adjusted me like a doll, working together to strip me of my wet clothing.

Rowen’s eyes traced over my exposed breasts, his gaze darkening when it came upon Maddock’s fingers wrapped firmly around my ribcage.

In one swift tug, Rowen removed his shirt and pulled it over my head. The residual heat from his clothing seeped into my skin, and I hungrily accepted his warmth however I could get it.

Maddock’s hands slipped out from underneath Rowen’s shirt yet remained on me for support.

Suddenly, a surge of heat exploded in my chest, triggering a shock to my system.

My frozen blood pumped into motion like sluggish ice, tearing my veins from within.

But then, the warmth spread throughout my body like molten gold.

A cry escaped my mouth in pain—or was it pleasure? The warmth disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving only pain, yet the phantom touch of pleasure still rippled through me.

“What’s happening to her?” Maddock asked, drawing me in and taking my weight as I fell back and cried out again.

“Fuck,” Rowen ground out, his voice strained. “She nearly drowned in glacial waters. I’m trying to warm her through our bond, but I pushed it too fast. We will need to bring her temperature up slowly.”

“N-no. Rowen. Don’t stop,” I gasped, needing my soul flame to ignite me from within, to touch and kindle the frozen fire inside me. “I’m c-cold.”

Rowen’s voice broke. “I must, my love. It is sending you into shock.”

“She’ll never get dry in those pants,” Maddock said over my cries.

Rowen huffed in agreement. “Lean back with her.”

Maddock obeyed, and even though my body was numb, I felt his heart pounding against my back.

Rowen yanked off my boots before his hands flew to my abdomen, undoing the front lacings of my pants.

He worked my leggings open, and heat shot to my belly as I ached for his adept fingers to touch the parts of me he was exposing. “Can you lift your hips for me?”

I tried to arch up, but my body was too heavy, too frozen, and I slammed back to the ground with a frustrated groan. The heat Rowen sent through our soul flame bond ignited other parts of me that were starving for warmth. The cold penetrated deeper into my bones, and my flame flickered dangerously.

If Rowen didn’t stoke the small fire soon, it would perish. I would perish.

A worried conversation transpired over my shoulder. “Lift her for me.”

Before I could object, Maddock’s arm scooped beneath me, the flat of his palm landing at the base of my spine. He pushed my lower body up in a slow, painful thrust, offering my hips to Rowen.

Rowen carefully tugged my pants and underwear over the slope of my ass, his breath skittering through the gap in my thighs and right to my center.

An exhausted moan, laced with aching desire, escaped my lips, and my neck tipped back against Maddock’s shoulder.

His warm breath fanned across my collarbone as Rowen bared me beneath his powerful, shirtless frame.

“You’re doing so good, Keira. We’re almost done,” he said, making sure his shirt was low enough on my thighs to keep me covered as he shucked my pants off my ankles.

I whimpered.

This was the most excruciating kind of pain. My soul flame stripping me down yet unable to touch me. To hold me. All the while, I lay braced in the arms of the man I hated.

“Her lips are still too blue,” Maddock warned, lowering my bottom to the ground.

“Give me your shirt. You’ll need to warm her with your body,” Rowen stated with a calm yet pained grimace.

“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, but everywhere .

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 her limbs . 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 felt nice .

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 you personally 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 .

. . felt her for months. I’m disgusted with myself, 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.”

“I know, and I will welcome it.”

Satisfied that Rowen would aid and abet me in murder, I let Maddock’s warmth seep into my bones and lull me to sleep.