Someone snorted from nearby, and I whipped around in my chair to see Fallon standing there beside Cillian again with his arms crossed.
Rowen’s mouth fell open. “Uh....”
“I’m cleaning up a bit. We’ll let ye eat. Fallon, don’t disturb Vail with yer bullshite.” Cillian pointed at Fallon, who only scowled. Cillian and Rowen disappeared upstairs together fast, and I glanced at the blackness outside the windows.
My appetite had died with all the tension in the room, and I decided to put the pizza away instead of eating so it wouldn’t go bad. I dropped my slice to my plate and went about picking up the boxes. I stacked them together and took them to the counter near the fridge. Strong arms slipped around my waist and I was startled as I whipped my head around to glance over my shoulder. Cillian pressed a light kiss to my lips.
“I thought you were showering?”
“Something more important came up.” He turned me fast enough that I clutched at his shoulders to keep from falling on my ass, and he caged me against the counter with an arm on either side of me. The smile he wore was nearly frightening as he pressed his front tight to me. I sucked in a deep breath at the excited dick that brushed against my abs. Heat streaked through my stomach, and I found myself nudging my hips against his. It took almost no time at all for the pleasure to make me hard as waves of wonderful tension throbbed on my cockhead, and he growled out an approving sound.
My heart pounded as Cillian leaned in and captured my lips. I slid my hands up his shoulders and clung as he sucked and bit at my mouth. I had no idea how long that went on. Every so often we ground together without any real rhythm. It was strange, but I felt oddly grateful he’d kissed me again. I didn’t know him, not really, but I wanted his mouth on mine, and I loved the way his arms went around me, clutching so tight they almost hurt.
“Good, looks like ye changed yer mind about this only being a one-and-done,” Rowen said from somewhere behind us.
Cillian let me come up for air and turned us, bringing Rowen into view. He was wearing a pair of shorts and had a white towel slung around his neck. His hair was everywhere. Underneath the light I could see how red the damp patch of hair in the center of his chest gleamed, and I wanted to touch it. I wanted to kiss it, too. Maybe lick it. My dick pulsed and I rocked my hips, causing Cillian’s breath to catch.
Cillian flipped Rowen off and stepped back from me. I missed his heat immediately.
“What are ye going on about?” His lips thinned as he glared.
“Keeping him.” Rowen gestured at me.
“You... uh, want to do this again, then?” I asked hopefully.
Cillian grunted. “Aye, I want to fuck ye again. We’re fucking. Nothing else.”
I couldn’t stop myself from frowning. While I’d known he’d likely felt that way, it was cold and played into my worst fears, the ones that always told me loudly to concentrate on writing my next book, which I needed to wake up early to do before I taught classes tomorrow, rather than... worrying about not having a sex life. Or social life. Or anything that other people called fun.
Rowen narrowed his eyes and glared at Cillian. He dragged the towel from his shoulders and wound it around his left fist. “Vail’s an angel. Watch it.” He came over and punched Cillian hard on the shoulder with his towel-padded knuckles.
Cillian growled. “Why are ye doing this right now?”
“Because ye’re not feckin’ this up for us by being an arse!”
Cillian leaned close to Rowen. Whispering began between them, and it was clear they were arguing, fast and furious, even if I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I hated things like this and couldn’t stand fighting because the stress overwhelmed me quickly. I walked quietly past them and out into the hallway. The living room was easy to find, and Fallon lounged in there with his head resting back against a couch that was long enough to seat several people. Nervousness had a hold on me and I couldn’t shake it off, and I got the feeling that as long as Rowen and Cillian were at each other’s throats, I wouldn’t relax. My environment had always played a part in how I felt, more so than it seemed to for other people, and the energy they put off when they were being mean to each other was like fighting cats clawing under my skin.
“Can you take me home? Cillian said earlier if I wanted to leave that you could give me a ride.”
“Sure.” He smirked and hopped to his feet. Rowen and Cillian were getting louder as the seconds went by. I hated leaving but couldn’t stand the fighting. They’d found me once, so they would likely have no trouble doing it a second time if they wanted to see me. My contact info was on the university website after all.
And a small part of me wondered if they would take the time to even try. I couldn’t kill that negative voice. I didn’t have any good experiences to fight it off with, even though my ADHD coach, Justice, kept telling me I had to look on the bright side.
Fallon was happy to lead me outside to a silver Porsche Spyder I hadn’t been expecting. How I’d missed it on the way into the house, I had no idea, but maybe I hadn’t been in the best frame of mind. The top was down and I glanced up at the cloudless sky. I hummed at the low sports car, and he laughed as he opened the passenger door for me. I sat on the butter-soft leather seat, and he gave me a wink as he closed the door. In a matter of minutes we were speeding back toward the city, and all the aches and pains from getting beat up earlier settled in on me. I gave Fallon my address when we were stuck at a red light and he typed it into his phone.
In what felt like nearly no time at all, mainly because I’d been reliving being on my back underneath Rowen and Cillian earlier, he was pulling the Spyder into an empty parking spot on the street near my building. I stared up at the old brownstone. I loved my place because ivy covered the front and the man who owned the building wasn’t in a hurry to get rid of it. The greenery was why I’d rented here. It was like nature was doing its best to reclaim New York City, and I loved that.
“Is it okay if I walk you up?”
Fallon’s question startled me into looking at him. He flashed a soft smile at me.
“Yeah.” I ducked my head and cringed. “It would actually make me feel better. What if someone is waiting for me again?” Dread slithered through my stomach. Shit, I hadn’t thought about that before now.
“No one will lay a hand on you.” He didn’t sound mean, but he massaged his fist with his other hand in a way I knew he wanted me to think was funny—but he’d managed to remind me I had a very real reason to be concerned. Fallon stopped when I didn’t laugh and rested a hand on my knee. “I’ll keep you safe.”
True to his word, he spent the walk to the front entrance staring around the street and kept it up while I entered the pin on the keypad to open the front door.
“It’s nice having someone here while I get inside,” I said, smiling at him.
