The Taste of Winter Citrus Chapter 2

The pressure deepened, reckless and starving. I thrashed against the pillows, turning my head violently from side to side to break the seal, but my strength was laughably outmatched. The weight pinning my shoulders felt like solid iron.

I strained to pierce the veil of black, catching only the faint, broad outline of broad shoulders, the faint silhouette of a jaw.

Nothing identifiable. No distinguishing feature to betray which one had lost his mind.

Before the panic could completely swallow me, the dull rap of knuckles against wood split the silence from the hallway. Thomas, the head butler.

"Miss Shannon? Are you awake? The estate lost power, and we just wanted to..." Footsteps shuffled out in the corridor. "Ah, young sir. We were concerned Miss Shannon might be disoriented in the dark. We brought an emergency lantern."

"Mmh—!"

I tore a frantic, muffled cry through my teeth.

Instantly, the suffocating grip vanished.

The mattress shifted as the weight peeled away into thin air. There was a flurry of hurried, muffled footsteps—whether inside the suite or outside in the corridor, my buzzing ears couldn't decipher.

Freed, my chest heaved in ragged, violent gasps. I lay paralyzed on the sheets for ten, maybe fifteen seconds, my heart hammering against my ribs like a caged bird.

Then the brass handle turned, and the heavy bedroom door swung wide.

A blinding halo of flashlight glare cut through the darkness, fracturing the shadows across the ceiling.

Shaken to my core, I pushed myself up against the headboard, only to freeze.

All three of my brothers were stepping across the threshold together.

Three tall, impeccably composed silhouettes, their faces bathed in the cool light of their phone screens. Not a single tie skewed. Not a strand of hair out of place. Not a breath out of cadence.

If my swollen lips weren't still throbbing with the phantom burn of that kiss, I would have sworn I had imagined the whole terrifying episode.

Mason, the eldest, stepped up to the edge of the bed first, his dark brows drawing together in quiet concern. "Shannon? You all right?"

I dragged the back of my sleeve fiercely across my mouth, the metallic taste of adrenaline sharp on my tongue. With all of them staring down at me, the words died behind my teeth.

No. I am very much not all right.

I just wanted to know which of these three lunatics had crept into my room to ravish me in the dark.

Ping!

A synthetic chime rang out inside the marrow of my skull.

Warning: Target psyche destabilized. Core narrative corrupted.

New objective unlocked: Pacify the corrupted brother and restore storyline trajectory.