Chapter 18 #2
Maggie leaned against the wall, her legs suddenly weak. The fear she'd been holding back all day finally surfaced. Her hands started shaking. Her breath came faster. "They tried to kill me," she said aloud. The words shook from the shivers that grabbed her. "They actually tried to kill me."
Reece didn't deny it. Didn't soften it. He just stepped closer. "Yeah," he said quietly. "They did."
Maggie's vision blurred. Tears spilled over, hot and unstoppable. Her shoulders shook. The composure she'd maintained for hours shattered. Reece closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms.
She collapsed against him, clinging to his shirt, to his strength, to the solid reality of him. He held her tight, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other wrapped around her waist.
"I've got you," he murmured against her hair. "I've got you."
Maggie sobbed into his chest. All the terror, all the isolation, all the fear she'd carried alone poured out in harsh, shaking breaths. Reece didn't try to stop her. Didn't tell her it was okay. He just held on, anchoring her through the storm.
When the tears finally slowed and her breathing steadied, Maggie pulled back just enough to look up at him. His eyes were dark. Fierce. Protective in a way that made her chest ache. "You're safe," he said. "Right now. Right here. You're safe."
"Because of you," she whispered.
"Because you're strong enough to survive." He cupped her face gently, his thumb brushing away the tears on her cheek. "You didn't break, Maggie. You didn’t give up. And we’re going to keep fighting."
She believed him. More than that, she believed in them. Guardian hadn't stumbled into this. Guardian had been waiting for the right moment. And she was in that moment.
"Reece," she breathed.
He leaned down, his forehead resting against hers. "Yeah?"
"I don't want to waste this time."
His breath hitched. "Maggie—"
"We might not get another chance," she continued, her voice steadier now. "And I need you. I need to feel something other than fear."
His hands tightened on her waist. "Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything."
Reece's control shattered.
He kissed her. Hard and desperate and claiming. His mouth moved over hers with an urgency that stole her breath, his hands sliding into her hair, tilting her head to deepen the kiss.
Maggie kissed him back with everything she had. All the terror and relief and need poured into the connection between them.
They stumbled backward toward the bed, hands pulling at clothes, mouths never breaking apart.
Reece's shirt came off first. Maggie's fingers traced the hard planes of his chest, the muscles that had hauled her back from the edge. He groaned against her mouth, his hands finding the hem of her shirt and pulling it over her head.
"Your hands," he said suddenly, pulling back to look at the bandages.
"Don't care," Maggie said, reaching for him again.
"I care." He caught her wrists gently, carefully. "I'm not hurting you."
"You won't."
He studied her face for a long moment. Then nodded. "Tell me if anything—"
"I will."
They fell onto the bed together, a tangle of limbs and heat and desperation. Reece took his time despite the urgency thrumming between them. His mouth traced down her throat, across her collarbone, lower to her breasts. Every touch was deliberate. Every kiss seemed to be a promise.
Maggie arched into him, her bandaged hands fisting in the sheets when his mouth closed over her breast. Pleasure spiked through her, sharp and consuming.
"Reece," she gasped.
"I know." His voice was rough, ragged. "I know, baby."
The rest of their clothes disappeared in a blur of movement and need. When Reece finally settled between her thighs, when she felt the hard length of him pressing against her, Maggie's breath caught.
"Look at me," he said.
She did.
His eyes were dark, intense, filled with something that went beyond desire. Beyond need.
"I almost lost you," he said roughly. "I can't lose you."
"You won't." She pulled him down, her mouth finding his. "I'm right here."
He entered her slowly. So slowly it was almost torture. Maggie's body stretched to accommodate him, the burn and fullness stealing her breath.
"Okay?" Reece asked, his voice strained with the effort of holding still.
"More than okay." She shifted her hips, taking him deeper. "Move."
He did.
The rhythm started slow. Controlled. Each thrust measured and deliberate. But control didn't last. Not with everything they'd been through. Not with everything they felt. His pace increased. Harder. Faster. Desperation driving them both.
Maggie wrapped her legs around his waist, meeting him thrust for thrust. The pleasure built with devastating intensity, coiling tighter and tighter in her core.
"God, Maggie," Reece groaned. "You feel—"
"Don't stop," she gasped. The heat and feeling of him inside her drove her insane with desperation. She needed to reach that release. "Please don't stop."
"Never." He shifted the angle slightly, and she cried out, her back arching off the bed. "That's it. Let me hear you." She did. Every sound she'd been holding back poured out. Every gasp and moan and plea.
Reece's control seemed to fray completely. His movements became harder, more urgent, driven by something primal.
"Mine," he growled against her throat. "You're mine, Maggie."
"Yes," she breathed. "Yours."
The words seemed to push him over the edge. His rhythm broke, became erratic, and desperate.
"Come for me," he demanded. "I need to feel you come."
Maggie shattered almost on command. Her orgasm tore through her with devastating force. She cried out his name, her body clenching around him, pleasure crashing through her in waves that left her shaking.
Reece followed her over, his own release ripping through him with a hoarse shout. He buried himself deep, his body shuddering against hers. They collapsed together, breathing hard, hearts pounding with breathless gasps for air.
For a long moment, neither of them moved. Neither of them spoke. They just held on to each other.
Eventually, Reece shifted, rolling to his side and pulling her with him. Maggie curled against his chest, her body still trembling with aftershocks.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"Better than okay." She pressed a kiss to his chest. She was falling for this man. How did she explain that to him? She had no clue. "That was …"
"Yeah." His hand stroked down her back, gentle and soothing. "It was."
They lay there in the darkness of the unoccupied room, wrapped around each other, safe for now.
Darkwater believed they were asleep in their own quarters.
But right now, in this moment, she had him with her, and she relaxed for the first time since she entered that maintenance bay.
And he was her savior, her friend, and her lover. She would never ask for more.