31. CHAPTER THIRTY
Iwasn’t quite sure what to do about the situation in front of me.
Enzo was wailing on Richter, his fist and Richter’s face bloody as they grappled on the floor, a rip appearing down the back of Enzo’s suit jacket as he drew his fist back again.
Did I break them up? How the hell was I supposed to do that?
I could feel his rage down the bond and taste the coppery scent of blood in the air, but still I stood frozen watching it all happen.
Then my eyes were drawn to the camera that was just above our heads and that seemed to break through the confused haze that had come over me.
“Enzo,” I began, hurrying over to them and grabbing his arm before he could land another blow.
He growled at me, his eyes wild.
“Enzo,” I repeated, much louder this time. “We need to go. Now.”
My tone didn’t leave any room for the alpha to disagree, but I still had to half drag him away from the groaning Richter.
I glanced at the man one more time, feeling absolutely nothing but pity for him. This would be the thing that got him booted off of the team, I could feel it in my bones, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Tugging Enzo away from the scene of the fight, I hurried down the hallway as fast as my feet could carry me.
We needed somewhere private where we could lay low until Artie and Leith came looking for us. They must have felt what I had ricocheting down the bond like bullets—but I couldn’t feel anything anymore. The adrenaline running through my body made everything feel too bright and cold as I found a storage closet and pulled Enzo inside of it with me.
Once the door was safely shut behind us, I whirled on him. “What the fuck did you do that for?”
Enzo seemed taken aback by my anger as he shrugged out of his mangled suit jacket and dropped it on the ground. “What do you mean? He was manhandling you right in front of me.”
“I was taking care of it—you shouldn’t have gotten involved, Enzo. You risked your job doing that. How is it supposed to make me feel if I was the reason that you lost your dream job because of this?”
“And just stand by and wait until he broke your fucking wrist? Look at it, Ciara, he was two seconds away from snapping it like a twig,” Enzo snapped, lifting my hand so that we could both see the dark ringing bruise already starting to form.
“I don’t need you to protect me. I’ve been doing a good job all on my own for twenty-six years.”
Enzo’s jaw tensed and he pointed a finger at me. “And therein lies the problem. You’re not alone anymore and yet you still act like it’s you against the world.”
I felt him mentally yank on the bonds like he was pulling on the reins of a horse. “This means you are never going to be alone again. We’re tied together forever, Ciara Callaghan.”
We stared at each other for what seemed like ages, but must not have been more than a few seconds before Enzo cursed under his breath and crossed the small space in one long stride.
Hands gripped my shoulders, giving me a yank until I collided with his chest and our mouths tangled together in a toe-curling kiss.
The first kiss we’d shared had been confusing—like the both of us were trying to confirm that we were attracted to each other. It had been a test, one that we had passed and then tried to forget all about.
This one, however, was full of the sort of hunger that I was briefly worried would burn us alive with the intensity of it.
And then it just got hotter.
Enzo’s growl of need made me shiver as his hands tore at my clothing, pulling the sweatshirt over my head and tossing it into one of the dark corners of the closet. His fingers slipped into the waistband of my leggings and I stopped him for a moment, my head spinning with how fast things were moving.
“Are you sure?” I rasped, my voice a whisper hanging in between us. “There’s no going back from this.”
Enzo didn’t answer me verbally, but I felt another yank down the bond before he flooded my senses with exactly how he was feeling.
Affection, need, worry, anger for me, and more filled my brain.
It was all I needed from the alpha and I gripped the front of his dirty white button down and pulled him back down to me.
Clothing was shucked away in a blink until Enzo was pushing me up against one of the half-empty shelves and using it to help prop me up before he pushed inside of me without any preamble.
“Shit, maybe I should have stretched you a bit,” he groaned as we stood stock-still until the burn of tightness ebbed away and was replaced by a pleasantly warm feeling, like the embers of a morning fire just waiting to be stoked by a fire poker.
For reference—I was the fire and Enzo was the fire poker.
“I don’t think I could have stood it,” I mumbled, wrapping an arm around his neck to help steady myself as we stared at one another as if we were both awed by the sensations we were feeling.
Who would have thought two months ago that the man I couldn’t stand to be around because it felt like he could see right through me, would be knot-deep inside of me as we had sex in a supply closet.
Enzo’s fingers dimpled my hips as he slowly withdrew his length and made both of us gasp as he slammed deep inside again.
“Focus on me, Ciara,” Enzo reminded me, his brows drawn together with concentration as we moved together. “Only on me.”
I couldn’t have thought about something other than him even if I tried. His tangy, slightly bitter cranberry scent surrounded us and made my head spin with only him. Only Enzo.
The shelves shook as we hurried to the finish line, a box of something crashing to the floor as Enzo let out a strangled noise.
“I want to knot you so bad,” he groaned, even going so far as to reach in between us and grip the swollen ring of flesh like he was afraid of it accidentally slipping in.
“Later,” I promise on an exhale before dragging him in for another kiss, jerking as his thumb began to rub steady circles on my swollen clit.
Enzo’s mouth pressed into my ear, his teeth grazing over the sensitive shell. “Come for me.”
His words were a mix of a plea and an order and my body shuddered with it. Burying my face in his neck to muffle the scream bubbling up in my chest, I came.
My legs twitched around him as he continued to thrust inside of me until he eventually wrapped his arms tight around my torso and followed me over the edge with a sharp intake of breath.
And then there was darkness.
When I came to we were laying on the floor together, Enzo’s hand tracing letters into my sensitive skin.
Looking over at him, I found him staring up at the ceiling with a pensive look on his face.
“Do you regret what we just did?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
If he did, I wasn’t sure how I’d ever recover from it.
But Enzo just shook his head.
“No, never,” he whispered. “Though I do wish we’d been able to do this anywhere but in a supply closet.”
A breathy giggle left me as I looked at our surroundings. “In a way it’s sort of perfect, isn’t it?”
We’d started in a closet, it only made sense that we took the next step in one.
“No, I had a whole plan. I was going to ask you out on a date today after you got off the ice.”
Sitting up at my elbow, I shot him a surprised look. “Was that why you were there? Artie wouldn’t tell me.”
Enzo’s lips pulled up into a wry grin. “He and the others helped me to plan it. Made me feel like an asshole because I don’t think I ever planned a good date with Artie before because we just sort-of came together and skipped a bunch of dating steps, so I promised to take him out next week after what was supposed to be our first date.”
“I didn’t mind this—but you can tell me what you were planning anyway.” I had to admit that I was curious what the male brain trust that was the rest of my pack managed to come up with.
“Well, Leith found a really nice restaurant on the waterfront, Italian of course,” Enzo began, gesturing at himself. “And then Artie and Wiz came up with the crazy idea of indoor skydiving. I wasn’t sure if I was going to go that route, I think I was saving it in case our date went to shit and I needed a no-talking activity.”
We both shot each other a knowing look. As much as we liked one another, even I could admit that our personalities tended to clash at the best of times.
“And what was your part of the plan?” I prodded, knowing he had to have something to do with the crazy scheme that they’d all cooked up.
“Mine?” Enzo asked with a breathy laugh. “Mine was to go on a walk to where you punched me in the throat.”
“That’s… ah… romantic?”
Enzo’s eyes danced as he pulled me in for a quick kiss, his lips nearly distracting me from the conversation until he spoke again.
“I was going to apologize for being such an unbearable ass and ask you if you wanted to start over with a clean slate—as my girlfriend and packmate.”
My heart gave a girlish pitter-patter and it must have shown on my face because Enzo smirked. “Romantic enough for you?”
I nodded, my fingers splaying out on his bare chest. “I mean, it’s got nothing on a closet confession, but I would have said yes either way.”
Enzo opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance as the door to the closet was unceremoniously yanked open.
“You two have got to stop doing illicit things in the closets of this place,” Artie said, his nose wrinkling as he smelled exactly what we’d been up to.
Leith was hovering just behind the omega, a stupid grin on his face as he took in the scene in front of him.
“How’d you find us?” Enzo grumbled as he sat up and snagged his ruined shirt off of the ground.
“I followed the bond to where the sensation of two people shagging was the strongest and ta-da! Wouldn’t you know it the two of you are having sex in a supply closet—again.” Artie was scolding us, but even I could feel the sheer delight oozing out of the omega.
“We’ve only had sex in a supply closet once—the first time was just kissing,” I mumbled sheepishly as I pulled Wiz’s sweatshirt on again.
“Yeah, and that’s real rich coming from you, omega, considering you fucked her in a shower here.”
Artie’s spine straightened and he let go of Charm’s harness in order to cross his arms over his chest.
“I was in heat, so it’s different,” he sniffed, pointing his nose up with mock-snobbishness. “And you’re not going to want to put that shirt on—Leith?”
Leith tossed a duffel bag into the room. “There’s some of my clean clothes in there, they should be only a little bit large on you.”
“Why do I need these?” Enzo asked, pulling a t-shirt out and tugging it over his head.
“Because,” Artie said as he reached out to help me to my feet so I could get my leggings back on. His nostrils flared at the scent coming off of me and he looked about thirty seconds from pulling his own clothes off and joining us, and then he cleared his throat. “We’ve been called up to Colt Stone’s office. Apparently, someone decided to bash a certain hockey player’s face in and run from the scene of the crime. Also, you better use some of that descenting spray in the bag unless you want everyone knowing you two beat up a fully grown man before fucking in a closet.”
Enzo froze mid-pulling up the too-long sweatpants Leith had loaned him, his eyes wide.
“Oh shit.” The words slipped out of me before I could catch them as I began to dig in the bag for the aerosol spray that would get rid of the smell, my mind already racing in all of the ways that we were in trouble.
“What were you thinking?” Alexei snapped as he stood behind Colt and yelled at us. We were all sitting in chairs in front of the incredibly fancy desk that I was pretty sure was from some palace in Europe and cost more than a Ferrari.
Truly, we looked like a bunch of school children being scolded by their principal as we sat in a line with Richter nursing his already-swollen face with an ice pack a few feet away. They’d even found Wiz and sat him on the end and I knew the poor man was confused by the situation at hand because he’d been getting some extra ice time after practice, oblivious to the hallway fisticuffs that had occurred while he was happily skating away.
“I wasn’t thinking.” Enzo was apparently trying for honesty as he sat forward, still looking rumpled from our foray in the closet. “I rounded the corner and he was yanking her around like a ragdoll.”
“And I could have handled it myself, truth be told,” I began, nearly yelping when Enzo gave me a gentle kick and shot me a look. “What? I thought we were being honest here.”
“Not helping,” he bit out under his breath as we turned back to the group on the other side of the desk.
Aurelia was, thankfully, downstairs for her physical therapy appointment. That meant that it was just the dads, Colt, and Hideo looking at us like we’d broken every rule in the book.
“You should have diffused the situation and come straight up here to report him,” Colt said, resting his chin on one hand as he looked at the four of us and then over at Richter. “He could press charges against you, Enzo.”
“And I’m going to,” Richter hissed, speaking for the first time since we’d filed in and sat down.
“Not if you ever want to play for another team in the NHL you’re not.” Maxim’s voice was stony as he dropped a thick file folder on the desk. “You were under contract, so we had to let some shit slide which pissed me off to no end to do, but assault of a woman on camera will get you blacklisted from the league and you’ll be lucky if they let you skate for some Podunk local team when I’m done with you.”
I could count on one hand all of the times that I’d truly seen Maxim angry. While Alexei tended to be the more hotheaded of the twins, it was the older of the two that one had to look out for.
“And count yourself lucky that it was Enzo that happened upon you manhandling my daughter and not me. If it had been me you would have left in a body bag,” he finished.
The threat hovered in the air, turning it almost icy as Colt put his head in his hands as he was probably trying to crunch the numbers of a potential lawsuit thanks to the crazy family that he’d married into.
Richter at least had the sense to shut up and sit quietly after that, slumping in his chair and putting the ice pack on what I hoped was a broken nose.
Colt took control of the meeting, clearly seeing that if he let Maxim and Alexei handle it, then shit would hit the fan sooner rather than later. “We’ve been considering a trade for a while and I think it’s high time to expedite that process. I hear Miami is nice, maybe it’ll be good for you to have a fresh start.”
Richter gaped at him. “Miami? But that’s across the country and she’s my scent match!”
Leith’s shoulders bunched and he looked as if he was about to stand up and finish what Enzo had started. Artie’s and my hands shot out to cover the alpha’s clenched fists and I could feel Artie trying to soothe him down the bond as we all glared at the alpha who was looking at me like I could help him.
I turned to him with a glare. “You smell like boiled, rotten eggs that were left out on a hot sidewalk. Just because you keep repeating that we’re scent matches doesn’t make it true.”
Someone in the room coughed and it took me a second to realize that it was Hideo trying to hide his laughter behind his hand.
“But—” Richter began to sputter, causing the beta to jump into action.
“Come on, Richter, let’s get that paperwork started and if you’re good maybe I’ll take you to get that nose reset.” Hideo gestured to the door and the player begrudgingly stood up, shooting us one last glare before following Hideo to his office.
Colt turned back to us. “Now, what the hell am I supposed to do with you five?”
“Let us go with a light scolding and a job well-done for stopping a predator?” I tried, hoping that Colt would just let this go.
Unfortunately, my brother-in-law was a bit of a stickler for the rules. “And I should just overlook the fact that a violent fight took place in the halls of my complex?”
“…yes?” I looked up at Maxim and Alexei for help, but they looked anywhere at me because they knew and I knew that they would fold as soon as we made eye contact.
“Colt, you can’t seriously tell me that you wouldn’t have done the same if it had been Aurelia instead of Ciara,” Enzo argued, sitting forward in his chair.
Colt sighed. “I couldn’t tell you what I would or wouldn’t have done, but I do know I would have at least been a little more discreet. You pummeled the guy in clear view of the camera, Enzo, making it really hard for me to punish him the way I want to.”
“So… what I’m hearing is that next time I beat someone up I shouldn’t do it in front of a camera?” Enzo’s grin was positively feral as the two alphas made eye contact.
“As your boss I have to tell you that if you do that again then I will be forced to fire you, but as your brother-in-law I can tell you that he deserved every single punch you landed. Please don’t be any more of a headache for me than you five already have been, okay?”
We all murmured our agreements and everyone started to file out of the room.
“Ciara?” Colt’s voice stopped me before I could follow. “A word?”
Begrudgingly I turned and headed back to Colt’s desk.
“Now, I know this whole pack thing is new to you and you’re doing a pretty good job of it from where I’m sitting, but please stop having sex on Complex property. I already got rid of the footage of you two going into that closet, but for the love of all that is holy you are driving me insane trying to cover for you all of the time.”
My face flamed at the frankness in his tone. “You got it bossman, no more sex inside of the complex.”
Words I never thought I would say to my boss-slash-brother-in-law.
“Though I would like to point out that I am not the only one having sex in this place.”
Colt frowned with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“You put a bunch of hot athletes all under one roof, Colt, did you seriously think people weren’t going for a ride in the showers and other nooks and crannies you’ve built into this place? I know for a fact that you’ve also broken that rule.”
Colt’s face flushed and he glanced over at the framed picture on his desk of a smiling Aurelia. It was clear he knew exactly how I’d come by that information. “Your sister overshares too much.”
“My entire family overshares—just last week Thea made a joke about what noise the dads make when—”
Colt cut me off by clapping his hands over his ears. “Okay! You’ve said enough now please go before you scar me more than a stray IED ever could.”
“I win,” I sang before turning and leaving the office with a skip in my step.