ログインLuna went completely limp against his chest.
Her eyes rolled back into her head, her chin dropping heavily against her collarbone.Killian’s large hands clamped down on her shoulders. He waited for her to gasp, to flinch away from his touch, or to jerk awake. She did not move. Her body was entirely dead weight.He looked down at her face. The dim afternoon light caught the sickening, translucent pallor of her skin. The dark hollows beneath her eyes looked like freshKillian stared at him. The words seemed to hang in the freezing air between them."It presents like heavy metal exposure or a slow-acting synthetic compound," the doctor explained quickly, his hands shaking slightly as he opened a plastic package to draw blood. "It mimics severe fatigue and lethargy while it slowly attacks the central nervous system. I need to take this sample to the lab immediately to identify the exact toxin, but we have to stabilize her right now. Her organs are beginning to struggle."Killian slowly turned his head. His pale gray eyes locked onto the motionless body lying in his bed.His wife.Someone inside his house, inside his heavily guarded fortress, had been quietly poisoning his wife every single day while he was away. Someone had slipped a lethal dose into her daily routine—her water, her meals, her medicine.A cold, absolute stillness settled over Killian’s body. It was far more dangerous than anger. It was t
Luna went completely limp against his chest.Her eyes rolled back into her head, her chin dropping heavily against her collarbone.Killian’s large hands clamped down on her shoulders. He waited for her to gasp, to flinch away from his touch, or to jerk awake. She did not move. Her body was entirely dead weight.He looked down at her face. The dim afternoon light caught the sickening, translucent pallor of her skin. The dark hollows beneath her eyes looked like fresh bruises. She was freezing cold to the touch."Doll," Killian said. His voice snapped through the quiet room, a hard, flat command.Nothing.He scooped her up, lifting her fully into his arms. The realization of how frail she had become hit him instantly. She weighed absolutely nothing. He carried her across the thick carpet and laid her down on the center of the massive mattress. Her head lolled to the side against the dark silk pillows. Her lips were completely blood
I had barely seen Killian in seven days. He left the mansion before dawn and returned long after I had already surrendered to the heavy, unnatural pull of sleep. The only proof that he even existed in this house was the nocturnal haunting of his presence in the dead of night.I would be dragged out of a deep, dreamless sleep by the sudden dip of the mattress. The smell of cold night air, smoke, and his dark cologne would invade my senses. The burning heat of his massive body would slide into the bed behind me. His thick arm would wrap around my waist like a steel band, pulling my back entirely flush against his chest. I would feel his face bury into the crook of my neck, his rough stubble scratching my skin as he pressed hot, lingering kisses against the fading bruises he had left on my throat.I never fought him. I didn't have the strength. I would just lie there, frozen in his suffocating, possessive grip, until the heavy lethargy pulled me back under.I slowly pushed myself up from
A full week had passed since the trip to the underground medical clinic.Seven days of absolute, suffocating quiet.I sat on the edge of the massive mattress, staring blankly at the dark hardwood floorboards. The heavy velvet curtains were pulled back just enough to let the gray afternoon light filter into the room, but the faint sunlight did absolutely nothing to warm the freezing chill that had settled deep into my bones.My body was failing me.Over the last week, a deep, bone-crushing exhaustion had taken root in my marrow. It wasn't just the normal tiredness that came with fear. It was a heavy, physical weight that dragged my limbs down, making every single movement feel like I was walking through wet cement. I thought it was just the aftermath of the trauma. I thought my body was simply shutting down from the sheer stress of the forced marriage, the screaming, and the brutal reality of my new life.A soft, hesitant knock sounded at the bedroom door.I didn't have the energy to l
I sat rigid on the edge of the leather chair. Killian stood directly beside me, his hands in his pockets, his sheer size and lethal presence making the older doctor visibly sweat.The examination was incredibly invasive. The doctor used a thin, flexible scope to look down the back of my throat. I gagged slightly, my eyes watering, but Killian’s dark, unyielding stare kept me pinned to the chair until it was over.The doctor pulled the scope out and looked nervously at Killian."The vocal cords were dormant for over a decade," the doctor explained, his voice tight. "Because she did not speak for thirteen years, the muscles and tissues were completely unused. The sudden, extreme force of screaming has caused deep micro-tears and severe inflammation across the vocal folds."The doctor swallowed hard. "She cannot put any more pressure on it. If she forces her voice or screams again while the tissue is this raw, the damage could become permanent."Killian’s jaw locked. He stared down at me
The gray morning light bled through the thick velvet curtains, casting pale shadows across the hardwood floorboards.I woke up facing the dark wood of the headboard.I was completely trapped. A heavy, muscular arm was banded tightly around my waist, pulling my back flush against a solid wall of heat. Killian’s bare chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm against my spine.The memories of last night crashed into my skull. The study. The video call. The sheer humiliation of the strawberry juice dripping down my chin while he forced his mouth over mine. After he had finished feeding me, I had been absolutely terrified that he was going to take things further. I thought he was going to strip the black silk off my body and take me right there on the sofa to punish my defiance.But he hadn't. He had simply picked me up, carried me to this bed, wrapped his arms around me, and slept.Lying in the quiet room, a sickening wave of relief washed over me. I was thankful he had stopped. I hate
He jerked me forward, away from where I'd fallen, and started dragging me through the snow. His grip on my arm was iron, painful, completely unforgiving. I stumbled trying to keep up with his long strides but he didn't slow down, didn't adjust his pace, just hauled me along behind him like cargo tha
I woke to the sound of wind battering the cabin walls.The storm hadn't stopped. Snow pressed against the windows in thick white sheets. The world outside had disappeared completely.I sat up on the couch where I'd fallen asleep. My neck ached from the awkward angle. The fire had burned down to noth
The laptop chimed at seven in the morning.I was already awake, sitting on the couch wrapped in blankets, staring at the dying fire. The fever had broken during the night but left me hollowed out and weak, my body aching in ways that had nothing to do with the cold or the running through the woods t
Just for a second. Just to look back one more time.The fire had burned out completely, leaving nothing but cold ash. The couch where I'd slept. The table where we'd eaten in silence. The window where I'd watched storms and counted days and tried to remember who I was supposed to be.It was just a c







