Chapter 11 #2
I turn around and there she is, framed in the doorway. She's still in the sundress she wore to the game, with a sweater pulled over it now, and her hair is falling in loose waves around her shoulders. Her makeup is smudged, just a touch, under her eyes.
She's been crying. It fucking breaks me to see her like that.
"Hey." My voice comes out rough. "Are you alright, Ace?"
"Me?" Her eyes go wide. "I'm fine. Security took my statement an hour ago. One of the ushers showed me where the families wait, but you never came out. So I went looking. I think I'm technically trespassing at this point, but…"
“Look,” I rake a hand through my hair. "I'm sorry if I scared you out there. I saw him grab you, and it didn't look like anyone else was going to step in."
“You've never scared me, Cillian.” She lets out a soft, shaky laugh. "I just... I'm terrified for you. This is bad, isn't it?"
“Yeah, it’s bad.” I shrug, walking over to her. "Best case, they see the footage of what he did to you and knock it down to a handful of games. Worst case, they make an example of me and I'm done for the postseason."
"The rest of the postseason," she breathes. "Cillian. That's the entire playoffs."
"Yeah, Ace. I'm aware."
"I should have shoved him off." Her hands are moving in frantic gestures. "I just froze, and if I hadn't, you wouldn't have had to?—"
"Stop." I reach out, my fingers closing around her hand before she can spiral any further. "Margot, look at me. That man assaulted you. There's no version where this is your fault. Every choice I made out there on that ice was mine. This isn't on you."
"Still." She shakes her head, slowly withdrawing her hand from mine. "This is a mess, and I don't have the first clue how to fix it."
"It's not on you to fix, Ace. I'm the one who did it and I'll face the consequences. I hate that I've put my teammates in this position, but I don't regret the act itself."
She presses a hand to her forehead and turns away from me, taking two steps down the empty hallway and then back, like she can't quite figure out where to put herself.
"I just… I can't believe you." She actually looks pissed off now. "How are you so calm right now? This is a huge fucking deal!"
"Calm?" A startled laugh escapes me. "Ace, I've spent the last three hours losing my mind in a conference room over the fact that I just blew up our entire season. Trust me, I'm drowning in guilt for letting the squad down. But what's done is done, and I'll handle the fallout."
"Then why?" she bursts out, her voice echoing. "Why would you do something so completely reckless? You have a Cup to win and a team, and you might have ruined all of it just because some drunk asshole touched me."
"I think it's pretty fucking obvious why, Ace." I hold her gaze, the truth sitting heavy between us.
"No. It’s not obvious." She glares at me, a flush of color hitting her neck. "Literally anything else was an option. I was rattled, but I wasn’t in real danger. And now?—"
"I'm not claiming violence is the answer to everything,” I cut in, “but for men who think they can assault women? Yeah, I'm okay with them catching a fist for it. It's a fucking disgrace that no one else around you stepped in."
"Even if that's true, you could have called an usher or something." She shakes her head, frustration practically radiating off her in waves. "I just don't understand why you made it so personal."
Looking down at her, I can't believe I was ever blind enough to miss what was staring me in the face.
"You know exactly why it was personal." I take a step closer, half-naked and dripping and beyond caring. "Don't pretend you don't. You've known for weeks. You just won't let yourself say it out loud."
She lifts her chin. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Liar."
I take the final step until there's no room left to breathe, the heat of her body radiating against my bare chest, close enough that one deep breath from either of us would close the distance.
Water is still dripping off me, tracking down my chest, and her eyes follow one drop before snapping back up.
"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel this," I say, low. "Tell me, and I'll back off right now. I'll never bring it up again."
Her eyes stay on mine, but she doesn't step back.
"Cillian," she breathes, a whisper that could be a plea for me to stop or a desperate invitation to continue.
Her gaze drops to my mouth, and I lean in until I can feel her breath against my skin. Our eyes lock again, a match for the fire currently consuming my blood.
Fuck it.
I pull her in, my mouth crashing against hers, and she gasps into me and then she's kissing me back just as hard.
I pull her body against mine, one arm wrapping around her waist, my tongue sweeping deep, and her hands come up and lock around my neck, hot against my damp skin as the rest of the world disappears.
I've spent weeks imagining what it would feel like to finally kiss this woman, but the reality is so much fucking better than the fantasy.
"Are you sure you want this?" My breath is ragged, my fist still buried in her hair, and thinking straight is a distant memory. "Tell me to stop and I will, Ace. It'll kill me, but I will."
"I don't want you to stop." Her voice has gone husky, barely a whisper, and her fingers dig into my shoulders like I might be the one to leave. "Cillian, I swear to god, if you stop touching me right now?—"
That's all I need. My mouth is back on hers and she meets me just as hungry, fisting her hands in my wet hair, and I walk her backward step by step until her shoulders hit the wall and she gasps.
My hand slides down her thigh and I hook my fingers in her underwear and drag it down her legs.
She kicks it aside without breaking the kiss, and I pull back and drag my mouth down her throat, her chest, her stomach, feeling her breath stutter under my lips the whole way down, and I sink to my knees on the concrete in front of her and slide her dress up.
"Cillian." She's breathless, looking down at me with wide eyes. "What are you—oh!"
I grip her thighs and heave her upward, hooking her legs over my shoulders until she's spread wide against the wall.
I bury my hands in her ass to anchor her there, and god help me, I could spend a small lifetime exactly like this.
One of her hands grabs for my hair while the other slaps flat against the concrete behind her, her fingers scrabbling for something to hold.
I seal my mouth over her pussy, the rest of the world falling away as I finally give in to the starving, greedy need I've been white-knuckling for weeks.
"Oh my god, yes, yes," she moans, her head falling back against the wall.
She tastes better than every fantasy I've run through my head, sweet and hot and intoxicating. I've been half out of my mind for her, desperate to have her like this, and I have never in my life needed to make a woman come as badly as I need to feel her shatter against my mouth right now.
She moans above me, her fingers tangling deep in my hair, pulling with a desperation that vibrates through my entire frame. I wonder briefly if any staff are still in the building, but I’m too far gone to care. Let the whole world find us. I wouldn't stop now if the roof collapsed.
"Oh god, yes," she gasps, and I can feel her getting close, her thighs starting to tremble where they're clamped around my head, her whole body drawing tight.
"Fuck, Ace." I growl it against her skin, and she jerks against my mouth. "Look at you, coming apart for me. I knew there was something filthy buried under all that buttoned-up politeness."
"Cillian," she whimpers.
I look up, holding her spread against the wall as I work her pussy with my mouth, and the sight of her nearly ends me. Head thrown back, throat bare, completely undone. The most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on, and I'd happily live out the rest of my days right here on my knees for her.
She's panting, right on the edge. "Cillian, I'm—I think I'm?—"
"Give it to me, sweetheart." I seal my mouth over her clit, working my tongue in the exact rhythm that has her shaking. "Be a good girl and come for me. Right fucking now."
I need to feel her break more than I need my next breath.
"YES—"
Her cry echoes as she shatters, her thighs locking tight around my head while she pulses against my tongue in heavy, rolling waves of release.
I work her through the aftershocks until the last shudder leaves her.
Then I press a slow kiss to her inner thigh before easing her legs down, letting her feet find the floor.