Fighting Chance (Rock Hard Gym Book 5)

by Ember-Raine Winters

“Well, I’m sorry to have to cut our time short tonight. I’ll see you for lunch tomorrow, Cece. And Connor,” he waits for Connor to meet his eyes. “We’ll finish our conversation later.”

  With that my father heads out, leaving us alone. Well, alone with Theo and Marcus.

  “What conversation is my father talking about?”

  Connor picks up his fork and begins eating his steak. He takes a few bites and I’m beginning to think he’s not going to answer. I can feel my alarm growing at the possibilities of what my father could have said to Connor earlier.

  “Don’t worry, Freckles.” Connor reaches over and takes my hand in his. “Your father isn’t anything I can’t handle. He just wants to protect you. And since I don’t plan on letting anything happen to you, I think we’ll get along fine.”

  He squeezes my hand and uses his grip to pull me closer. He kisses me gently, a lingering caress on my lips, only pulling away when Theo clears his throat.

  “You have a death wish, boy. I don’t know if that makes you stupid or brave.”

  Connor’s eyes sparkle with mischief when he tells Theo, “I’m stupid in love, and if that doesn’t make someone brave, I don’t know what does.”

  I think I just fell a little harder for this man.

  Wait. Did he just admit he loves me?

  Chapter 21

  Connor

  Ceara looks at me with shocked eyes as Theo shakes his head scoffing at what I’ve just said. Pulling her hand up to my lips, I place a sweet kiss on her wrist. Marcus grumbles as he leaves the room shaking his head at me as he does.

  Was the comment cheesy? Yes. Was it completely and totally true? Abso-fucking-lutely.

  “Connor?” Ceara’s eyes shine with tears and my heart sinks down to my toes as I pull her close and cup her cheeks with both hands.

  “What’s wrong, Freckles?” I wipe at her cheeks tenderly with my thumbs. I’m trying and failing to figure out what I said that upset her. I don’t ever want to make her cry. Theo is eyeing me with reproach, but he doesn’t say anything or move toward us. He seems content to just see how things play out.

  She smiles through her watery eyes and I’m confused all over again. “I’m not upset. These are happy tears.” I blow out a relieved breath and lean in to kiss the tip of her nose.

  “Let’s finish eating and go back to the tree house.” I wink at her and a pretty blush creeps up her cheeks. I love seeing her reactions to me. She’s so fucking beautiful and she doesn’t even know it, which only makes me want her more.

  It’s quiet after that as we make quick work of our food. I can’t wait to be alone with her again. I need to be reassured that she’s still with me. I need to hold her in my arms.

  Ceara is adorable as she wipes her face with her napkin and sets it on her plate. “Let’s go.” She pulls me up from my seat surprisingly easily and drags me out the glass doors leading to the back yard.

  Pulling her back, I wrap my arms around her waist as we stop next to the tree. Cupping her cheeks in my hands, I look into her gorgeous blue eyes. “I meant it, you know.” Tilting my head, I brush a soft kiss over her lips never expecting my innocent girl to grab me and deepen the kiss the way she does. My mouth devours hers as I back her up against the tree and she moans into my mouth. “Not here. Daddy will kill you.” She kisses me quickly before extricating herself from my arms and turning to climb the ladder as if the hounds of hell are on her ass.

  Adjusting myself in my jeans, I follow closely behind her, watching her perfect, perky, little ass as she climbs. It’s so gorgeous my mouth waters with the need to bite it. What the hell is wrong with me? I’ve never been like this before. We just had sex last night, but my overactive sex drive seems to need it more and more the longer I’m in Ceara’s presence.

  It’s a matter of seconds before I’m pulling myself into the small space and see Ceara. She’s leaning back on her elbows with her long legs out straight in front of her. It’s the perfect position for me to crawl my way up her body.

  Ceara smiles shyly and I wonder what there could possibly be for her to be shy about as my hands roam up under her T-shirt to feel her creamy skin beneath my rough palm. The feeling is perfect, and my hands move higher to cup her breasts over the thin lace of her bra. Holy hell, I’m fucking rock hard and panting for her.

  This girl owns me, body and soul. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.

  Once I’m above her caging her in with my big body, I bring my mouth down to her exposed cleavage. Ceara moans wriggling her body beneath mine and brushing against my raging hard-on. “Fuck, baby. I’m too close already, if you keep doing that there’s going to be an embarrassing mess in my pants,” I pant between kisses.

  A giggle turns to a moan as I tweak one nipple between my fingers and scrape my teeth down the hollow of her throat. “Oh, Connor, quit teasing me, please.”

  She squirms again and brushes over my hard length causing a groan to be released from my lips and my hips buck in earnest. Ceara’s back arches but with the small cramped space I know there’s no possibility of relief in here.

  Unbuttoning her jeans, I slowly slip my hand into her panties and what I find there has me groaning again. She’s drenched and all I want to do is rip the pants from her body and feast on her, but that will have to wait since this cramped space would be more awkward than sexy.

  Her back arches off the floor as I slip a finger inside her. Watching her as she moans in my arms almost has me coming in my damn pants, but I barely manage to hold myself in check. Ceara’s writhing beneath me as I slowly push my finger in and out of her as my thumb rubs quick circles over her clit.

  Sliding her shirt up over those gorgeous breasts, I know what I have to do to send her crashing over the edge and I grin as I take her nipple into my mouth and she screams my name. Shit, that might have been a terrible idea.

  Chapter 22

  Ceara

  I scream Connor’s name as my orgasm takes over my body. He lifts his mouth from my breast but keeps his finger inside me slowly pumping in and out.

  “Shh, Freckles. You need to be quiet. I don’t wanna die tonight because your Dad caught me with my hand in your pants.”

  I giggle at him, until I realize that scenario could actually happen. Thank God my father had to leave on business, a dead boyfriend and being locked in my room for the rest of my life does not sound appealing.

  I try to push Connor away, because my father may be out for the night, but his men are not. The only ones I trust not to say anything are Theo and Marcus, but I know just because they won’t freely give my secrets doesn’t mean they won’t spill if my father confronts them.

  Connor doesn’t let me go, choosing instead to insert another finger. The tighter fit doesn’t work; there’s no room for him to move his hand and the pressure isn’t enough.

  “Connor,” a frustrated whine follows his name from my lips, and he leans in and presses his mouth to mine, his tongue slipping inside when I moan.

  He takes his hand from my jeans and begins to push them and my underwear down my legs, not once letting his lips leave mine. My jeans are just below the curve of my ass when Connor pulls away.

  “Flip over, Freckles.”

  I obey without question, brushing his big body as I twist mine until I am on my stomach. I feel Connor moving against me, before I hear a zipper and the crinkling of a wrapper and I shiver at the thought of Connor inside me again.

  Connor presses open mouthed kisses along the back of my neck as his hands rub circles over my ass cheeks, gripping and pulling with each caress.

  “God, Ceara. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough you. You make me wish I was a better man; one whose past isn’t likely to get him killed.”

  I open my mouth to tell him that mine is worst, that living with the head of the Irish Mafia trumps anything we’ll find about his mother, but he grips my hips and notches his tip to my opening, slowly pushing inside. Our position and the cramped space make for a tight fit, the feel of
him sliding in and out in small strokes almost as intense as our first time.

  It takes several small strokes before Connor is fully seated, his harsh breaths puffing the hair by my ears as he tries to hold still, allowing me to adjust to his size. I’m still sore from last night, but the pain isn’t a deterrent.

  “Move Connor, please.”

  “Dammit, I’m not going to last long. You’re so fucking tight around me right now.”

  His hands clench on my hips in a bruising grip as he pulls out and slams back in. My body sliding along the wooden floor of the treehouse when he repeats the move over again. My moans mix with his curses and I feel one hand smooth from my hip over my stomach and down to the curls between my legs. He begins a rough circling motion and my inner muscles squeeze around his cock causing him to lose his rhythm.

  “Fuck. I’m close. I need you there, Cee.”

  His fingers go from circling to pinching and I feel my orgasm rising to the surface, ready to explode any second. His mouth finds the bend where my shoulder meets my neck and he bites down before sucking a mark into my skin, and my body detonates.

  Connor jerks as his own climax claims him and he fills the condom with a groaned, “fuck” before he collapses on top of me.

  “Shit. If my past doesn’t kill me, I think you just might. But don’t worry, Freckles, it’ll totally be worth it.”

  My laugh shakes both our bodies and pushes Connor from my body. He quickly removes the condom tying it off and tossing it to the side, before adjusting both of our clothes.

  “Come on, let’s go inside and find a bed.”

  “Connor, I don’t think--”

  “Relax, Freckles. I meant for sleep.”

  I smirk. “And I was going to say that I don’t think my father will like us sharing a bed in his house.”

  “Too bad. I’m not sleeping without you.”

  “Connor.”

  “I’ll take care of your father, trust me. I’ve dealt with much more dangerous men in the ring. Your father doesn’t scare me.”

  I let Connor lead me down the ladder and back to the house, but I can’t help wondering if Connor can really hold his own with my father. Big Tom Kennedy is dangerous in a way that doesn’t involve fists and fights. No, he chooses bullets and death to teach his lessons. I can only hope he doesn’t feel the need to give Connor one of those lessons.

  Chapter 23

  Connor

  The same dream assaults me like it always does. Only this time after the gunshots and the scream, I make my way into the living room. Blood is everywhere and I cry as I try to wake my mommy up.

  A man’s voice startles me and I jump. I’ve never seen him before and I try to back away. He doesn’t look like a nice man.

  “Connor? It’s okay, I’m gonna take you to your family. C’mon, boy.” He holds out his hand to me, but I shake my head. The man huffs out a breath and pulls a phone from his pocket barking something at whoever answers. I don’t catch any of it as I continue to shake my mommy. Her eyes are open, but I can’t get her to answer me.

  A wail explodes from my chest as I lay my body over hers, begging her to wake up.

  Strong arms lift me and throw me over his shoulder. I kick and scream as the man takes me from my house and out to a vehicle depositing me inside and slamming the door behind me. I don’t care. I want my mommy, and somehow, I know nothing will ever be okay again.

  I wake up with a gun in my face and don’t even think before I grab his wrist twisting until the gun falls from his hand. The man yelps and it takes a second before the realization hits.

  I just assaulted Ceara’s father. Holy fuck, I’m in trouble. Tom’s face starts to turn purple with rage and I flinch. “Sorry, old habits.” Waking up with a gun in my face had happened more times than I care to admit.

  “You have a habit of waking up with a gun in your face and attacking the man whose house you’re staying in?” I nod because there had been many times when Uncle Ricky got too drunk and I’d had to disarm him. Like I said, before Max, my life sucked. “You need to come with me. I’d rather not wake Ceara.”

  Tom shoots me a pointed look before he makes his way to the bedroom door. Grabbing the gun from the bed, I make sure the safety is on and follow him out of the room.

  I barely have the door closed before he is slamming me against the opposite wall and placing his meaty arm against my throat.

  “You have a lot of guts kid. I don’t like it. If I catch you sleeping with my daughter in my house again, they’ll never find your body,” he sneers at me. I still have the gun held loosely in my hand, but I don’t dare threaten the man with his own gun, plus I hate guns.

  “With all due respect sir, I love Ceara and we are both adults.” I eye him with hostility. He barks out a menacing laugh and although I’m putting up a good front, I am scared. The man obviously doesn’t hear the word no very often and certainly not from some nobody like me.

  “She hasn’t told you who I am?” Tom’s brows scrunch down a bit and he releases some of the pressure on my throat.

  “Who you are?” I question, even though I’m sure that he’s dangerous. Do I really want to know how dangerous he is? No. Not really. Between the goon squad and the Irish brogue, I have a good idea, but things like that are better left unsaid.

  “Good girl.” He smiles but still gives me the evil eye. “I want you out of my house and out of my daughter’s life. The next time I have to tell you won’t be so pretty.”

  “With all due respect, what you’re asking me to do is the exact thing you and Seamus already warned me of doing. I refuse to be the one who hurts her. I love her and I would rather die than hurt her.” Holding the gun up, I hand it back to him and walk back into the bedroom, but this time I grab a pillow and find a spot on the floor.

  *****

  Sleep doesn’t come and it has nothing to do with the hard floor. I’ve slept on my fair share of floors. It all has to do with the dream. I’d never remembered that much of it before. Was it real or is my brain just making things up to fit the pieces together?

  It seems the closer I get to the truth, the more my memories are starting to surface. Only, I don’t know which of them are real and which I made up. Is the Irish accent the guy had in my dream a clue to what we are dealing with, or is it just a product of my current environment?

  Something Tom said the day before is starting to make more sense. He knows all about my mother’s disappearance but he’s not telling. If I want answers, I’m going to have to get them myself.

  The sun is rising and sleep won’t be coming, so I decide to go for a run. I don’t have access to a gym like I do at home but running is a good way to calm my nerves as well.

  Pushing myself up from the floor, I make my way quietly from the room trying not to wake Ceara and head down to the yard. Stretching, I almost don’t hear the person coming up from behind me until he’s there.

  Markus, the more stoic of the two bodyguards sidles up next to me clapping me on the back. “You’re not leaving?” His eyebrow shoots up in question.

  “Not a chance, just going for a run to clear my head. You wanna go?”

  “Nah, just making sure I don’t have to kill you for breaking that little girl’s heart.” The thinly veiled threat isn’t what I’d expected, but not a surprise. I had been threatened by just about everyone in the house and I’ve only been here for less than 24 hours.

  “Never gonna happen. It’s cool though, you probably couldn’t keep up anyway.” I laugh, clapping Marcus on the back and taking off at a dead sprint. Running definitely helps me clear my head.

  Chapter 24

  Ceara

  I wake alone in my bed. Worried about Connor being confronted by my father, I rush through a shower and pull on a pair of jeans and a sweater in an emerald color that matches Connor’s eyes.

  I open my bedroom door intent on searching for Connor and am greeted with Theo standing guard.

  “What are you doing? I’m in the house, isn’t t
his overkill?” Their bodyguard duties have never extended to when I was home, my father insisting that the estate was the most secure place I could be.

  “Your father wasn’t happy to find your young man in your room this morning.” Theo’s facial expression, a sneer and narrowed eyes, tells me he agrees with whatever my father’s reaction had been.

  “Theo, why don’t you like Connor?”

  “Cece,” Theo lets out a long sigh. “It’s not that I don’t like him, it’s more that I can see the issues his past can cause.”

  I narrow my eyes at Theo. “And what exactly do you know about his past?”

  Theo glances down the hall toward my father’s office and back to me. “Nothing that you need to worry about, Cece.”

  I want to question him some more, but we’re interrupted by Connor appearing at the top of the stairs. He’s drenched in sweat and missing his shirt. He nods at Theo before turning to me and smiling.

  “Hey, where did you go?”

  I see a flash of anger that he quickly hides, forcing the smile back on his face.

  “I went for a run. I needed to clear my head. And now I need to shower so we can get on with our research.”

  He slips by me and into the bathroom, and a few seconds later I hear the shower turn on.

  I turn back to Theo with a glare.

  “I know Connor has a past and I know that somehow it’s connected to New Eden and possibly my father, but he is a good man and I will not let either of you push him away from me. If you know something that would save us time in searching…”

  I trail off giving Theo the option to fill in the blanks.

  “Fine. But you can’t let your father know you know anything. And I think I should tell both of you together, with Marcus. Your father had an early meeting and won’t be back until this afternoon. Meet me in the dining area, I’ll make sure breakfast is ready and grab Marcus.”

  I nod my head in agreement and watch Theo march off down the hall.