My heartbeat ticks up as I struggle with the traitorous way my body reacts to his attention. I swore I’d never let another man have power over me, yet here I am, unable to look away.
Just then, The Punisher comes out of the locker room and stops beside me. He presses a large hand against my lower back and leans down, his hot breath in my ear. “Offer still stands to come home with me, pretty lady. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Unlike when Killian touched me in the hospital, this time I freeze. Pressure builds in my chest.
He removes his hand, but he’s still in my space, leering at me and I can’t get a breath. “Cat got your tongue, sweetheart? I can think of lots of things to do with that tongue.”
My vision narrows to a black tunnel. Panic is sending alarms blaring through my nervous system. The world feels like it’s tilting, and I’m going to slide off at any minute into the void.
Killian is suddenly there. He steps between me and the Punisher and gently pushes me behind him. He’s glaring at the man he just beat the snot out of.
“Touch her again and your boxin’ career will be over permanently,” Killian says. His tone is quiet and deadly.
There’s a mixture of rage and amusement in The Punisher’s one-eyed gaze as it flicks back and forth between me and Killian. He raises his hands and takes a step back with a dark chuckle.
“Didn’t know.” He winks at me. “Have a good night, Doc.” To Killian he says, “We’ll meet again, Irish. I want a rematch.” Then he shoulders his bag and walks away.
Killian grabs my hand and pulls me through the doors of the locker room, causing me to stumble behind him. What the fuck?
He flips the lock and corrals me up against the lockers. The gleam in his eyes is feral, the tangy mix of sweat, blood and beer invading my senses. He’s not touching me, but he’s got a hand on either side of my head, keeping his body a hair’s breadth away from mine. His breath is even and warm against my mouth.
“Just breathe,” he whispers.
I stare into his eyes, finding myself mimicking his rhythm and my chest loosens. My shoulders unknot.
I wonder what he’s thinking. I still see the anger burning like a hot green fire. I betrayed him after all. Almost got his father killed. Kept information from him. But there’s also need, desire and self-loathing in his gaze. And then I know. He’s as conflicted as I am. Knows he should stay away from me, just like I should stay away from him. But reality is more complicated.
Someone tries to get into the locker room, rattling the door and then pounds on it.
“Feck off!” Killian yells, keeping his burning eyes on mine.
“What are you doing?” I whisper once I’m finally breathing normally. I’m beginning to ache. Beginning to wish he would close the distance between our mouths and let me taste him, feel that piercing caress my own tongue. I just want to losemyself in him, in his arms. I remember what it felt like on The Lucky Sinner, and I want that again. I want it so much it hurts.
Still holding my gaze, his right hand slips into the front of my yoga pants. I gasp.
His eyes flutter closed as he pushes two fingers inside me. His expression softens into something that looks like a druggie getting their fix.
My hands fly up and grasp his rock-hard biceps, clinging on for dear life as he pumps his fingers deep and fast, his thumb putting pressure on my clit. The erotic sounds of my wetness and my soft pants fill the space. My legs are trembling. I hold on tighter as he curls his fingers and hits my G-spot with skilled precision. My orgasm is building quickly.
“Killian I’m going to—” I don’t get to finish that thought because his eyes fly open and his mouth slams down on mine, stealing my words, my breath, my sanity. With his tongue in my mouth and his fingers deep inside me, I detonate around him. Sounds come from me that I don’t recognize, moans and breathless pleas as I slowly drift back to earth.
“So bleedin’ responsive,” he moans into my mouth. He waits until all the tremors are finished before sliding his fingers out.
My body arches forward against my will, needing more of him as I press my core into his erection. I am completely untethered from the world right now, probably couldn’t tell you what day it is. The only thing I want is this man inside of me.
Thank God he pulls away and saves me from myself. “I’ll be in the shower.”
I feel his absence immediately as he disappears around the lockers. I fall back against them in a daze, staring up atthe flickering fluorescent light, the shock setting in. What am I doing? Killian is dangerous.
But deep down I know he wouldn’t hurt me. Not on purpose anyway.
The shower turns on. He’s giving me a choice. Do I join him?
God, I want to. With a groan of frustration, I start to pace and think. If I do, then what? We get each other out of our system and then go back to our own lives? Go back to resenting each other? I’m leaving anyway, right? After I get Rona and Celia out of Tampa, I’ll never see him again. So, why not have a good experience of sex to take with me? It can’t cancel out what Michael did to me, but I am enjoying being touched again. Maybe this is a gift of healing I shouldn’t pass up.
I begin to bite my thumbnail as I tune into my body, how amped up I am, with my pulsing core and soaked panties. God, the man is infuriatingly talented with his hands… and his tongue. I whimper as I remember how hard he was when I pressed myself against him.
And then I stop and glance up. I didn’t hear the shower stop and now Killian is standing there in nothing but a white towel slung low on his hips, his arms crossed, watching me with an amused gleam in his eyes.
