Chapter 35
Gray
I’m flushed and self-conscious when me and Ash sit down at our table twenty minutes later. We found a supply closet and slipped inside for some privacy, but the door to the closet didn’t lock. We were far enough away from the ballroom that we didn’t think we’d be disturbed, though.
Ash crushed his mouth onto mine as soon as he closed the door and started to pull my dress up, but I stopped him.
I could see he was agitated by the encounter with Kaladin, and I wanted to reassure him.
His look was anxious when I pushed him against the shelves, but he swore under his breath as I went to my knees in front of him, unzipped his pants, and took him into my mouth.
He tried to put his hands in my hair, but I pulled them away to keep him from messing it up, and he gripped the storage shelves instead.
He only let me work him a minute or so before he pulled me to my feet, though. “I’m coming in your pussy, not your mouth,” he’d said.
Then he turned me around and, as promised, hiked my dress up over my hips. Seconds later, he had a condom on and was fucking me hard against the wall of the supply closet.
“Do you feel the plug?” he asked breathlessly. “Because I do.”
It had taken everything in me to stay quiet. I could indeed feel his cock rubbing against the plug in my ass through the thin wall between them, and it drove me wild. I came in record time, pressing my lips together to hold in my moans.
When we were done, Ash opened the door a crack and checked to be sure the coast was clear. It was, and we slipped back into the ballroom, hoping no one noticed us missing.
Back in our seats for dinner now, Celena thumps down next to me.
“I can’t believe none of the players will take a chance with me as long as that asshole has staked his claim,” she says.
“None of them?” I ask, a little surprised. Celena is beautiful. Like, drop-dead gorgeous. I can’t imagine anyone turning her down.
“None of them,” she confirms. “I nearly had one of the rookies on the hook, but his friend pointed out that Kingston wants me, and I’ve never seen a man backpedal that fast.”
She looks across the way, and I follow her gaze to where Kingston sits a couple tables over. The corners of his mouth turn up ever-so-slightly as he looks at her.
“I’ll be right back,” Celena says as she rises and heads toward him.
I try to grab for her hand but miss, and I can only watch as she beelines for his table. She stops in front of him, and he looks up at her. She says something to him I don’t catch, then she drops the hotel key card he gave her into the glass of amber-brown liquid he’s drinking.
The people at Kingston’s table look scandalized, and I hear one of the other players, possibly Fig, say, “Oh shit,” from somewhere off to my left. For his own part, the expression on Kingston’s face doesn’t change as Celena turns on her heel and stalks back to our table to sit down.
“Um…everything alright?” Ash asks her.
“Perfectly fine,” she says, taking a sip of what looks like a new glass of champagne. “Just wanted to return his key card, since I won’t need it.”
The three of us look over at Kingston, who pulls the card out of his drink, raises the glass toward Celena, and takes a sip.
Celena just turns to me. “So where have you been?”
I shrug. “Just…mingling.”
She narrows her eyes. “You’re flushed. What are you…” Her eyes widen again as she looks at me. “The two of you were off fucking somewhere, weren’t you,” she says in a low voice, just so I can hear.
“What? No. Why would you think that?” I sputter, but even I can hear the lie in my denial.
Celena gives me a ‘Don’t bullshit me’ look, and I relent.
“Fine, yes. We talked to Mr. Kaladin, and Ash was wound up after that, so we found an empty supply closet, and…”
I let her fill in the blank.
She smirks knowingly at me. “You little slut. How was it?”
I glance around to be sure no one else is listening. “Why has no one told me about the joys of anal plugs before now?” I whisper.
Celena barks out a laugh, drawing Ash’s attention as well as that of a few other people at our table. There are one or two Hydra per table so other guests get a chance to hobnob with the players. Ash is the only player at our table.
He looks at me and Celena questioningly, and Celena waggles her eyebrows at him.
“Shit,” he says.
I give him an apologetic look. “She saw that I was flushed and guessed,” I say softly. “It’s your fault for making me come that hard.”
He shrugs, conceding the point.
The rest of dinner is fairly uneventful.
I end up getting drawn into a conversation with one of the men at our table, a state congressman I think, about my research.
As usual, it starts with me having to justify the importance of the topic, but once I’m done, he seems convinced I’m doing the Lord’s work.
Celena has since wandered off again, possibly to retry her luck with some of the Hydra after her public rejection of Kingston’s advances, so Kelsier takes her seat when he comes by. The music has turned from ballads to dance songs, and people wander onto the dance floor.
“How long are we expected to stay at these things?” Ash asks him.
Kelsier looks at his watch. “I’d give it another half hour before you try to slip out,” he says. “The rookies have to stay until the major VIPs leave.”
“Have you seen Celena?” I ask Kelsier. “I’m just wondering if she’s had any more luck with the players since her little display with Kingston.”
Kelsier gives me a doubtful look. “Yeah, she may have rejected him, but that look on his face said he hasn’t given up yet, and until he does, no one will go near her.”
I look around. “Where is she anyway?”
“I think I saw her wander into the poker room,” Kelsier says.
I jerk my eyes back to him from scanning the room.
“Poker room? What poker room?” I ask urgently.
Kelsier points to a door off the ballroom where a few people move in and out. “The games are an additional fundraising activity,” he says.
I look at Ash in panic. “You didn’t tell me there’d be gambling.”
He frowns. “I didn’t think it mattered. They announced the games would be starting while you were arguing with the congressman about trash talk. Did you want to play or something?”
I shake my head. “No, Celena has a gambling problem,” I say. “That’s why she couldn’t come to the club with me that time. She tries to stay away from it, but – shit!”
I shoot out of my chair, and Ash and Kelsier are half a second behind me as I head for the door to the poker room.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Ash tries to reassure me, his long strides helping him keep pace with my short, quick ones.
I don’t answer as I step into the poker room and look around for Celena. I find her at a table with three other people in the back right and head straight for her. I slow my pace for just a moment as I recognize the large form of Kingston sitting across from her, then I double-time it.
“Celena!” I call as I come around to stand next to her. Everyone at the table looks at me like I’ve gone mad, and I try to calm myself. “Ash and I are leaving soon,” I say as calmly as I can muster. “You should come with us. We can give you a ride home if you’re not good to drive.”
Celena doesn’t take her attention from Kingston, whose eyes also seem locked with hers across the table.
“I’m not going anywhere until I finish taking this asshole for all he’s worth,” she says, her eyes still fixed on the goalie.
I look down at the table. Celena has a decent pile of chips in front of her, while Kingston’s pile appears to be dwindling. Still…
I bend down next to Celena and turn my head away from the other players so I can whisper to her.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I ask her. “Maybe you should-”
Celena turns to look at me. “I’m not leaving.”
I sigh and stand up. Celena is a grown woman and can make her own decisions. I won’t force her to leave, but I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well.
I step back to watch the end of the hand.
“Call,” Kingston says, pushing part of his last few chips into the pot.
“Show your hands,” the dealer says.
I look at the row of five cards on the table. There’s a pair of deuces showing, and the rest is a whole lot of nothing.
Kingston turns his cards over. He has a Jack and a seven. The Jack does nothing for him, but his seven, along with the other seven already showing, gives him two pairs.
Celena smiles as she turns over her cards. A three and a deuce. She has three of a kind, which wins the hand.
I let out a small breath. Maybe things will be okay this time. Celena’s almost done finishing Kingston off, and then we can get her out of here.
The dealer collects the cards and sends them through the shuffler.
“They need to leave,” Kingston tells the dealer as he points to me, Ash, and Kelsier. “We can’t have them giving her signals.”
I let out an indignant noise. “I would never-”
“Even unconscious ones,” Kingston cuts in.
“Sorry, ma’am,” the dealer says. “He’s right. If you’re not playing, you need to go back out into the ballroom.”
I look desperately at Celena.
“Go,” she says. “I’ll be fine. This won’t take long.”
I don’t move, but Ash slips an arm around my waist to steer me away.
“Come on,” he says softly. “There’s nothing you can do.”
Ash and Kelsier escort me back into the ballroom, and I head straight to our table to chug the remaining wine in my glass. Ash slips his arms around me and pulls me close when I set the glass back down.
“You okay?” he asks.
I nod. “If you want to go, I can catch an Uber home,” I tell him. “I just don’t want to leave until I’m sure Celena won’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you do,” he says. “Why don’t we dance?” He grins. “We can recreate that night at the club.”
I smile despite myself. “That night got us in trouble, if you recall.”
He shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know. Things didn’t work out too bad.” He leans down and kisses me lightly on the lips. “Come on. Let’s dance. You need to take your mind off the poker game, or it’ll drive you crazy.”
“I’m going to go mingle some more,” Kelsier says. “You two are so sweet it’s making my teeth hurt.”
Kelsier turns and heads off, and Ash takes my hand to pull me onto the dance floor. Reluctantly, I let him lead me out, but it takes me a while to get into it. Ash dances around unapologetically, twirling me and being a goofball until I finally relent and start dancing with him in earnest.
I keep an eye on the poker room, but it’s a long time before I finally see Celena stalk out. Nearly an hour according to the clock on the wall.
I stop mid-dance and head straight for her, Ash right behind me.
“Celena, are you okay?” I ask, throwing myself in front of her. Ash is there a second later.
Celena pulls up short, and she looks furious. Not good.
Instead of answering me, she looks at Ash. “Your goalie is a giant fucking asshole,” she tells him, just short of shouting.
Ash chuckles. “Yeah, we’re aware.”
“Celena, do you-,” I start to ask, but she cuts me off.
“Don’t worry,” she says, “I didn’t overdo it. Not too much, anyway. I’m fine. I’m just pissed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I look at her for a long moment, trying to decide if she’s too angry to drive, but her outburst at Ash seems to have vented some of her rage.
I nod, and we hug before Celena stalks off toward the exit.
“Ready to go?” Ash asks me.
“More than ready,” I say.
He slips his fingers through mine, and we head toward the door.
“More than ready is what I like to hear,” he says.
“What?” I look up at him, and he’s grinning. “Oh!” I say, finally getting the innuendo. I wasn’t thinking about sex, but I am now.
“Maybe my girlfriend will invite me in for a nightcap,” he muses.
I roll my eyes. “A nightcap? Does anyone say that anymore?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know, but it sounds more polite than saying, ‘Maybe my girlfriend will invite me in to fuck the hell out of her.’”
“Touché,” I say. “Seriously, though. I’m not complaining, but have you always been this horny?”
He chuckles. “This horny? No. I mean, yeah, I’ve always had a pretty healthy sex drive, but I’ve never been as horny as I am with you.”
I stare at him as we walk. “Is that true?”
His face goes serious. “I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t. For Christ’s sake, Gray, my subconscious sent you a dick pic the night after I met you.”
I laugh. “Your subconscious was trying to send your ex a dick pic.”
“My subconscious knew exactly what it was doing,” he insists. “It was trying to tell me something that I was too dense to get at the time.”
I stop walking, and he does too.
“You’re really that attracted to me?” I ask. Celena would chastise me for even questioning this, but I can’t help it.
Ash stares at me for several seconds, then narrows his eyes. “Why are you questioning this?”
I shrug, trying to play it off. “I don’t know…I just…,” I say, trying to search for a way to explain that doesn’t sound completely neurotic. “The jock and the nerd only end up together in movies,” I say finally. “It doesn’t happen in real life. We just have so little in common…”
He stares at me another few seconds. “That’s really what you’re worried about?” he asks.
I give him a half-hearted, one-shoulder shrug.
“First of all,” Ash says, grabbing my shoulders, “I told you in your office, I love that you’re smart. It gets me hard to watch you argue circles around people who try to challenge you.”
My mouth falls open, but I’m not sure what to say to that.
“Also,” he says, giving me a small shake to emphasize his point, “you are a beautiful fucking woman, and when your intelligence isn’t getting me hard, then the way your breasts bounce is.
Or the way your hips sway when you walk.
Or when you part your lips and run your tongue along the bottom one.
” He runs a hand through his hair. “Jesus, Gray. You have a thousand things you do that turn me on so much it hurts.”
It’s my turn to stare. “You really want me that much?” I ask.
Ash takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilts my head up so I have to look into his eyes. “Yes, baby,” he says with conviction. “And I need you to start believing that.”