Bliss shattered through me and I stilled over Killian before I shuddered around him on a broken cry of release.

The air whipped around me as I found myself flipped onto my back on the bed with my hands held at either side of my head. Killian caught the waves of my orgasm, driving into me in hard, fast thrusts. I felt the heat catch hold of the sparks of my climax until it blazed bright into another orgasm.

“Oh my God . . .” My head fell back on the pillow and I lost sight of the ferocious look on his face as he slammed into me.

“Oh fuck,” he cursed gutturally. “Fuck, Skylar!” His hips stilled and then his body jerked hard as his cock throbbed and swelled inside me. I felt the warm rush of his release and his hands eased their grip on my wrists as he relaxed into me.

A too heavy but delicious weight.

I rubbed my foot along the back of his muscular calf. “You have a problem with control,” I teased, my voice sounding smoky, lazy.

Killian lifted his head, his features slack with relaxation. “You fucked me the way you wanted to fuck me and I fucked you the way I wanted to fuck you. Fair is fair.”

I grinned because he had a point. “Okay.”

He gave me a quick, sweet kiss and then rolled off me, throwing his arms behind his head. “It’s been some day.”

It had been. After their visit to the record label, I said goodbye to Micah and Brandon, sad that I couldn’t see them to the airport. We promised to check in with each other and they promised they’d have Austin get in touch with me as soon as he was back in the land of modern technology.

“‘In the Wind’ sounds amazing.”

It was weird being proud of a song that was written with so much pain, but I did feel proud of it. Still, I needed Killian to know that’s not how I felt anymore. “I wrote a new song yesterday.”

“Aye?”

“Mmm.” I turned my head on the pillow to look at him. Was there ever a time in my life when this man wasn’t beautiful to me? I reached out and drew my fingertips along his jaw.

He side-eyed me curiously. “Can I hear it?”

“Yes.” I sat up and shimmied off the bed. I disappeared into the bathroom for a brief cleanup, and then I sauntered out into the living room with a swing in my hips.

“You’re going to sing naked?” Killian called after me, the sound of the bedclothes rustling in the background as he got up.

The apartment was warm and no one could see us up here, so I didn’t see the point in putting on clothes when I was impatient to sing my song. Part of it was nervous anxiety. I wanted to do this before I lost my nerve.

I sat on the chair and crossed my bare legs with my guitar on my knee as Killian walked out of the bedroom in his boxers. At the sight of me, he lounged against the wall with his ankles crossed. Although his posture was relaxed, his expression was dark, devouring and filled with emotion. His voice was hoarse as he said, “This image of you right now will be the last thing I remember the day I die.”

I smiled softly as my chest filled with love. “Yeah?”

Killian nodded, so serious. “Yes.”

For not the first time, I almost blurted out that I loved him. Then I realized after I stopped myself that it didn’t matter because the song I was about to sing was pretty much a love letter.

I strummed the opening chords, the sound light and upbeat. In my head, it was a melody that would crescendo with the chorus but I couldn’t achieve that with my acoustic. That didn’t matter in that moment.

All that mattered was singing to him.

“I was concrete standing still,

Cemented heart, bricked-over soul.

But there were cracks I couldn’t see,

Through them my song called out.

“The river heard me and it came for me.

“I was cold there forged in stone,

And you were colder on your throne

Of freezing waves that flooded me out,

To free my song upon you.

“The river heard me and it came for me.

It rushed me on toward a waterfall.

“I feel the wind on my skin breathing,

My heart is beating to the feeling.

I catch my soul as I free-fall,

Then your arms close tight around me

Right before we land.

“I’m alive and it’s all your fault,

Blood is pumping, burning hot.

Worse, I’m growing addicted to

Being awake, being with you.

“The river heard me and it came for me.

It rushed me on toward a waterfall.

“I feel the wind on my skin breathing,

My heart is beating to the feeling.

I catch my soul as I free-fall,

Then your arms close tight around me

Right before we land.

“You’re in my heart, you’re like a beat.

You’re the air I drink in breaths.

You’re the flood that set me free.

The waterfall I’d gladly drown in.

“I feel the wind on my skin breathing,

My heart is beating to the feeling.

I catch my soul as I free-fall,

Then your arms close tight around me

Right before we land.

“The river heard me and it came for me.

Now my song belongs to it.”

My fingers almost slipped from the strings as I finished, realizing what I’d put out there. The silence that rang through the apartment didn’t help with the sudden wave of uncertainty that knocked me back in the chair.

I couldn’t look at him.

It was like being foggy-minded with desire, having sex, and then realizing it was a mistake as soon as it was over.

What if I’d blown it with too many feelings?

“Skylar.”

Reluctantly, I drew my gaze from the floor to him. He was standing straight, no longer leaning against the wall, and my breath caught at what I found in him.

Shaking, I lowered my guitar carefully and got up to cross the room. His gaze dropped hotly down my body before coming back to my face as I halted before him.

Killian crushed me to him and kissed me breathless.

I held on for dear life, hoping the fierce desperation of his kiss meant I was not alone in my feelings. When he finally let me up for air, I said dryly, “I take it you liked the song?”

He cupped my face in his hands and whispered, “I loved it. I . . . I love you.”

My knees almost gave way, the emotion that rolled over me was so powerful. My arms tightened around his back and I pressed as close as I could to him as I whispered against his lips, “Thanks for not leaving me hanging too long. There was a moment there I thought I might have to jump out the window when I thought you didn’t feel the same way. I didn’t really want to do that butt-naked. It’s cold out.”

Killian gave a slight shake of his head, his lips twitching with amusement. “I feel the same way. Never fucking doubt it.”

Then I realized I hadn’t actually said the words. “If you didn’t get it from the song, I love you.”

He grinned, rubbing his nose against mine. “I got that.”

I kissed him again, pouring my heart and soul into it until Killian impatiently lifted me up into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist and held on as we stumbled and kissed our way back into the bedroom. He dropped me on the bed, managing the feat of climbing over me and removing his boxers at the same time.

“We need to put it on the album.”

Happier than I ever thought possible, I beamed. “Really? You like it that much, huh? I can feel my ego swelling.”

“Mine is swelling too,” he murmured wickedly, and then kissed me as he slipped his hand between my legs.

I gasped against his mouth as his thumb caught my clit. “I’m so . . . oh God . . . so happy you liked it.”

“I fucking loved it,” he growled against my lips. “I want it immortalized and when it’s time,” he pushed his fingers inside me, working me until my hips undulated against him and my pants of need filled the bedroom, “everyone will know that Skylar Finch wrote it for me.” He paused, drawing my focus from impending orgasm to his face, to his utter seriousness. “I know I don’t yet, but I’ll do everything in my power to try to deserve you.”

And as we fell together, loving each other more honestly than we ever had before, the darkest corner of my mind whispered to me. I had to force its thoughts back into the shadows, hoping that those fears never came true.