My cock was reacting to her being so close; the smell of her the same as it had been years ago. I had thought about Oxford as soon as Vanessa had mentioned it. I hadn’t been there with Claire since before she’d gone silent on me and ended what we had. I had avoided the place to a certain extent because it did remind me of her. “I have to be,” I said. “And we were a long time ago.”
“Doesn’t feel like it.” Her eyes were open wider now. “Still feels strange to see you with my family and it feels awkward.”
“Why does it feel awkward?” My hands paused, holding her toes which were always cold.
“I don’t know,” she said, sitting up quickly and moving her legs from my lap. “I should go to bed. Busy day tomorrow.”
I said nothing, letting the night time fill the gap between us as she hightailed it out of the lounge, leaving the throw discarded on the floor. I cleared the room, straightening the abused cushions and putting the glasses in the dishwasher, and the empty bottles in the recycling bin. It wasn’t to Marie’s standards but if I didn’t occupy myself I’d would’ve followed Claire to her room and demanded the conversation we should’ve had thirteen years ago.
***
Killian
Fourteen Years Ago
“Do you think your sister’s okay?” The noise in the bar meant I had to shout to get Max to hear.
“Claire’s never been alright. I’ve told you how she used to properly try to kill me and Jackson,” Max said, passing over a ten-pound note to pay for our beers and eyed up the barmaid.
“I didn’t mean that. She’s got two rugby players circling her like vultures and she keeps looking over to us,” I said, ignoring the beer as I couldn’t take my eyes away from Claire, fighting the urge to go over and claim her as mine. “In fact, she’s just tried to walk off and one’s pulled her back. They look pissed up.”
Max turned away from the barmaid and looked at his sister. “Let’s go over. I know she won’t want me there and I’ll probably end up hitting one of them. Shit.”
I saw the same thing, one of the goons putting his hand on Claire’s ass. She shook him off and tried to move away again, but an arm came out to block her way.
“I’ll go. You stay here.” I shifted away from Max and paced over to where she was, her eyes locking with mine. It had been five weeks since I’d kissed her, five weeks of us sneaking off to cafes or for walks by the river or meeting at the library under the pretence of me showing her how to use it. Neither of us had tried anything more than a kiss, kisses that left her lips swollen and her pupils dilated and me with a rock-hard cock and blue balls.
“Killian!” she said as she saw me near. The two goons looked at me, their expressions turning wary. I had a good three or four inches in height on them and was wider and stronger. She pushed through the arm of one of them to get to me and moved into my chest, my arm automatically curling around her.
“The pair of you need to fuck off now before I tear a limb off you both,” I said, hearing Max shout something behind me. “If I see you near her again I’ll make sure you can’t walk properly for a month.”
They both glared at me and one of them turned to Claire. “Fucking tease,” he said. Before I could raise a fist, Max’s well practiced right hook made contact with his chin and knocked him flying into a table.
“Shit, man,” his mate said. “You didn’t need to do that.”
“We were watching you with my sister and saw her trying to get away from you, but you kept stopping her. I know who you are from the rugby team and the next thing I’m going to do is speak to your coach.”
The man on the floor started to get up, clutching his face. He looked at Max as if deciding whether he wanted to return the hit and then decided against it, walking out of the bar instead. His friend followed.
Max looked at me and walked over to where our drinks were at the bar. The stares that had fixed on us during the altercation had now moved onto something else. “You okay?” I asked Claire who was still nuzzled into me, her hand creeping under my t-shirt on my back.
“Yes. They were just being creeps. I would’ve been okay. Trust me, I can cause a scene,” she said, leaning away. “I have brothers. I know where to kick.” We walked over to Max, our arms still around each other which made him look at us curiously. I broke away first, calling over the barman and ordering a bottle of beer for Claire.
“Who were you here with?” Max said, passing me my pint.
Claire gestured to a group of girls stood in a corner, a couple of them looking over. “A couple of the girls from my halls and some of the hockey team,” she said. “I’ve only just got here. Those idiots came over when I was ordering my first drink.” A couple of her friends started to walk over to us and a few minutes later Max was chatting to a tall blonde who happened to be a geography PhD student.
We lost him three hours later as the bar became busier, students returning from Wednesday afternoon matches against other university sports teams and starting competing at drinking games. Claire’s friends were downing shots of tequila and a few friends of mine had turned up after being out rowing and joined them. We stayed close to each other, Claire chatting to her friends and mine and then coming back to me, smiling, trying not to touch.
“If we slip out now I don’t think anyone will notice,” she said, her hand on my forearm. ‘I’ve a ten o’clock lecture tomorrow and I could do with an early night.” She grinned wickedly at me, her hand then fitting into mine and pulling me to the exit.
Her speed increased as we headed into the night, the noise of the bar fading behind us. Claire laughed as we reached her halls of residence, her hair messed by the run and breeze.
“Are you going to walk me to my room?” she said. “I think you should.”
She moved in closer to me, her hands pushing against my chest, fingers running over my pecs.
My hands grasped her hips and I steadied her into me, the top of her head barely coming to my chin. She was so slight but not breakable. I’d learned in the last few weeks that she was as strong as steel, tempered with honey. “What do I get if I do?”
