The block of flats was in darkness when Liam dropped me off. He idled by the curb with the engine running, and I looked at him funny wondering why he hadn’t driven away.
“There’s no way one of the boys isn’t sitting with her. After what happened tonight, Danny wouldn’t let her go home alone. Might as well give the poor bugger a lift rather than let him walk home in the rain for his trouble,” he explained.
“You’re a good man, Liam,” I said, and meaning it, as I reached into the window the window to shake his hand. With a nod of thanks to the other guys, I left them with Kieran, who was still bitching about his wet clothes and walked up to our place. Twisting my key gently in the lock so’s not to wake Em if she was sleeping, I walked in to find Earnshaw sitting in the chair reading one of Em’s books. She was curled up in the middle of the bed wearing one of my hoodies, her hair fanned out in a golden halo behind her.
“How’s she been?” I asked him.
“Not good,” he replied. “She stayed at the gym for a few hours but eventually Danny wanted to lock up and I offered to walk her home. She’s barely said two words all night,” he told me. I nodded my head, acknowledging that I’d fucked up much worse than I thought by leaving her.
“Liam’s downstairs. He’s gonna give you a lift home, and thanks for staying with her. I appreciate that,” I said.
“No problem,” he said as he put on his jacket.
“So do I still have a job or have you killed Frank?” he asked me.
“Unfortunately he’s alive and well, so it’s back to work tomorrow.”
“Not that I have anything but disgust for the fucker, but I’m glad to hear it.”
“See you tomorrow then,” I said.
“I’ll be there,” he replied. Looking briefly in Em’s direction, he added, “I hope she’s okay.”
My stomach turned over slightly at the thought she might not be. “Me too,” I replied, knowing I couldn’t promise anything else.
When he’d gone, I locked up, took a quick shower, and after grabbing some clean boxer shorts, walked over to the bed. She looked like a goddamn angel lying there, and I wanted to wrap my body around her, protecting her in the most basic of ways, so I did.
She stirred, her behind brushing against my cock, and immediately I was rock hard. I twisted slightly so she didn’t feel it, knowing that she didn’t need that shit from me after what she’d been through tonight. She turned over restlessly to face me, and I felt a pang of guilt at disturbing her. A part of me willed her to wake up because I was fucking needy enough to want to know whether I had her forgiveness. I held my breath as her eyes fluttered open.
“Are you all right?” It was the first thing to come out of her beautiful mouth. Frank had attacked her again, and it’s me that she was worried for. Lifting up one of her tiny hands, I ran her fingers through mine, playing with them. “I know I’ve made you some promises that I’ve done a piss poor job of keeping, but that don’t mean I ain’t gonna keep trying for the rest of my life. So don’t give up on me okay?”
“What happened?” she asked, her body tense as she waited for my confession.
“We went to his house, and I roughed him up. He pushed me into losing my temper and I held a knife to his throat.”
“You didn’t…” She sobbed, grabbing me tightly, like she was afraid I was gonna be dragged away from her. “I wanted to, so fucking badly. It would be over then, and you wouldn’t be afraid anymore. But you’d lose me too, and I couldn’t have that. So I didn’t. We’re gonna get a restraining order, and I’ve warned him what will happen if he comes back. Don’t think he’ll listen, but if he likes being my punching bag, then I’m happy to keep my fist well exercised.”
She closed her eyes, rested her head against my bicep, and sobbed some more.
Grabbing her, I hauled her into my chest, wrapping my arms around her. “Shit, I’m sorry, baby. I’m so fucking sorry. Sorry for leaving you when you needed me, sorry for not being there in the first place. I didn’t think you’d want me to kill Frank but I can’t have you living in fear. Tell me if I did the wrong thing?” I begged earnestly. She was my fucking compass, and I needed to know what she was thinking. When she finally stopped crying, she wiped away her tears and held my face between her damp hands.
“You’re a good man, O’Connell. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel any different. You did the right thing not killing him. I don’t want that. I don’t care about Frank. I care about you, and I don’t want you to have to live with that. But I don’t want any life that doesn’t have you in it either. One day he’s going to mess up and land himself back in prison. But from now on, we put all this shit behind us. We have an amazing life ahead of us, and I want to start living it. Okay?” she told me.
“Okay, baby. We’ll be careful. I need to make sure you’re protected, but we look forward and not back.”
She gave me a wobbly smile as she turned her back on the last few shit-filled months. Looking at that gorgeous face, her cheeks soft from the tears, I couldn’t help moving in for a kiss. I should have known that once would never be enough. Her lips parted slightly on a gasp and I thrust my tongue into her mouth, her sweet taste making me even harder.
Weeks of not being able to make love to her came crashing over me. I wanted her everywhere. In me, over me, under me. I wanted her so fucking badly I could barely see straight. Running my hands up her silky thighs, I could feel the heat of her core long before my fingers reached their destination. I pulled one leg to wrap around my waist, leaving a gap in her shorts just big enough for me to slide my big fingers through her crease into her core. She cried out, her spine rigid, as she clenched and tightened around me. Needing both my hands I stripped her to expose her fucking gorgeous breasts. Her nipples puckered expectantly, and I lifted one breast to my mouth, sucking at the nub as she twisted and moaned at my touch.
“No, we can’t,” she groaned as she arched her back to bring her body closer to my mouth. “The ban,” she said on an exhale.
“Fuck the ban,” I told her. I focused my attention on her neglected breast while moving my finger up inside her. She struggled to talk, and I knew she wanted to argue with me so I moved it in and out of her slowly. Her body knew what it needed, and her hips moved to ride me. I want to be buried deep inside her so fucking badly but patience and discipline made me wait. After all the shit I’d put her through, I needed to make her feel good before I came.
“No, really. We can’t. You have the biggest fight of your career in a few weeks. I can’t jinx it,” she protested, pulling away from my kiss. I moved my hand away from her again and gripped her hips tightly as I bent to rest my forehead between her breasts. Danny had made her so fucking superstitious about this stupid sex ban. It was all bullshit, of course. She was all the motivation I needed to beat this guy, but if there was one thing I knew about Em, it was how stubborn she was when she made up her mind about something.
“You’re going to fucking kill me. You know that, right?” I told her.
“I’m pretty sure that no one ever died from blue balls,” she giggled.
“They have. It’s just that the victims’ families’ are ashamed of it so they tell people it was a ‘heart attack’ or some shit like that.”
“Well, if you do die of blue balls in the night, I promise I’ll tell people the truth, maybe set up a blue balls support group,” she joked.
“I can show you lots of ways to support my blue balls,” I told her as I nibbled at the corner of her mouth. Working my way down her jaw, I buried my head into the crook of her neck and inhaled, the scent of vanilla making me even harder. A thought occurred to me, and I braced myself up on my forearms to look into her eyes.
“Is this really about the fight? Because if you need some time after what Frank did, then that’s fine, Sunshine. You just tell me, and we can wait until you’re ready,” I reassured her.
“It’s not, O’Connell, believe me. I want nothing more now than for you to bury your cock deep inside me and let me ride it until Christmas,” she said “But Danny believes that the ban helps you fight better, and I believe in Danny.” I dropped my head back into her neck with a groan.
“What?” she asked.
“Two things. One, don’t say “cock” anymore. My dick twitches every time that word comes out of your pretty pink lips. And two, please don’t mention Danny in the same sentence as my cock. You can’t know how fucking wrong it feels to have that old codger’s face pop into my head when I’m hard as a fucking diamond.”
She collapsed against me in a fit of giggles, and I laid my head on her chest as she played absentmindedly with my hair, letting the sound of her laughter seep into my soul. However much I might regret not taking Frank out, I know I would never have this amount of peace with Em in my arms if I had.
That alone made it the right decision. I was a violent man. Throwing punches and taking hits would always be part of who I was. But for her, I had to choose a different path. Because at the end of the day, I’d be walking toward Sunshine. And that was a journey always worth taking.
* * *
We slept late into the next morning, and nobody came to wake us. If Frank had given me up, the police would have been beating down the door long ago.
“Shouldn’t you be at the gym?” mumbled Em, her hair sticking up all over the place adorably.
“I think we should call off the Temple fight,” I told her.
“Why?” she asked sitting bolt upright in bed.
“I’m fighting in a matter of weeks, and I’m nowhere near ready. Plus Frank isn’t going anywhere, and I know we agreed to move forward from that,” I said putting my hands up in surrender. “But I still need to keep you safe and I can’t do that from the other side of the world.”
“No,” she said decisively, climbing out of bed.
“What do you mean, no?” I asked, pulling my T-shirt over my head.
“I meant exactly what I said. You are not calling off this fight. This will make your career, and if you drop out at the last minute, you’ll destroy it.”
“That’s exaggerating a bit…” I was six feet five inches but she stopped me in my tracks as she looked at me, stark naked with her hands on her little hips and one eyebrow raised. She didn’t say anything, but knowing she’d made her point, she carried on walking to the bathroom. Jeez, my stubborn woman made me all kinds of fucking hot.
“Fine! So my career would take a hit, but what do you propose we do about Frank? I leave for training camp in the US in a couple of weeks. You’ve got exams in two. How am I supposed to fight when I’m worrying about you here all alone?” She turned on the shower, drowning out my voice.
“Emmm…?” I pleaded, and she kissed me then climbed into the shower.
“Trust me, I’ve got an enormous brain. I’ll think of something. Now get dressed. You’ve got a lot of work to do, and I need to have a word with Danny.”
Rolling my eyes, I did as I was told. Despite all my protests, I knew she was right. Em wanted me to fight, and I wanted to win. Having made my peace with the part of myself that needed revenge, I was ready to show the rest of the world what I was made of.
* * *
The guys were all congregated in the office eating bacon sandwiches when we arrived.
“Here you go, darlin’. I saved you one,” Danny said, handing Em a wrapped sandwich.
“Where’s mine?” I asked.
“You’re in training,” Earnshaw pointed out, “or are you?”
“I am,” I replied with a smile.
“So what’s the plan?” Kieran asked with a mouth full of food.
Em took charge. “O’Connell’s fighting this guy, and he’s going to win. For the next couple of weeks, he lives here unless he’s sleeping, and the same goes for me. I’ve got exams in two weeks, and I’ve missed a lot of school lately. So if it’s okay with you, Danny, I’m going to use the office to study while O’Connell’s training. Heath, do you think you’ll be able to pick me up in the mornings on the way in? I know O’Connell won’t want me walking in alone, and I don’t fancy coming in at the crack of dawn with him,” she said.
“Happy to,” he answered, licking sauce from his fingers as the soggy meal started disintegrating into his hands.
“What about your shifts at Daisy’s?” I asked her.
“I’m going to ask Mike and Rhona to share my shifts between the other waitresses until the fight is over,” she answered.
“Honey, he wins this fight, you won’t ever need to waitress again. You could be a kept woman,” Earnshaw said. He grinned, oblivious to the slashing across the throat gestures Kieran and Tommy were making, telling him to quit it.
My little hellion turned to him, her hands on those cute-arse hips of hers and informed him, quite matter-of-factly, that she had no interest in being any such thing. “Besides, we don’t abandon out friends. Mike and Rhona have been good to me. I’ll keep waitressing as long as it takes them to find a replacement, even if we don’t need the money.”
“Em never thought too seriously about what I could potentially earn in the future. We never had anything, and we were doing just fine. If Earnshaw made a little money for us from sponsorship, so much the better. But it wouldn’t change who we were, and I fucking loved that.
“What do we do about Frank?” Tommy asked. “He ain’t just gonna disappear ’cause Con gave him a scare.”
“Keep your eyes peeled,” Danny replied. “If you see him, take a picture on your phone, or make a note of the date and time. I called the copper this morning who helped us find Em. He’s one of the good guys and would love to nail Frank to the wall. Don’t think he’s a big lover of dirty coppers either. So as of now, he’s putting together a harassment case so we can try and get a restraining order. Everything goes to him.” We nodded in agreement, the boys too busy stuffing their faces to say much.
“Well if that’s decided, then you’d best get your lazy arses out into that gym and do some work. Con, you’re a feckin’ long way from where you need to be, and we’ve practically no time to get you there. So what are you waiting for, feckin’ Christmas? Get to work,” Danny barked. Leaning around him to give Em a quick kiss before he slapped me, I legged it to get changed. I was hungry like I’d never been hungry before, and today was a brand-new day.