LOGINChapter 44: Shared Release
The room was still thick with the scent of sweat and sex when the full weight of what had just happened settled over us. Callan lay on his back, chest heaving, one arm thrown over his eyes as if he could block out the world. I was sprawled half across him, my head on his shoulder, legs tangled with his. Neither of us had moved to clean up yet. The link was quieter now, but it thrummed with a new depth steady, constant, almost alive. EveChapter 44: Shared Release The room was still thick with the scent of sweat and sex when the full weight of what had just happened settled over us. Callan lay on his back, chest heaving, one arm thrown over his eyes as if he could block out the world. I was sprawled half across him, my head on his shoulder, legs tangled with his. Neither of us had moved to clean up yet. The link was quieter now, but it thrummed with a new depth steady, constant, almost alive. Every heartbeat, every breath, every flicker of emotion passed between us like water flowing through an open channel. I could feel his exhaustion. Not just physical. The kind that came from years of holding everything together with sheer willpower finally giving way. And beneath that exhaustion was a strange, fragile peace. He had broken tonight. The proud, emotionally guarded captain who had stormed into my hotel room with blackmail and icy commands had
Chapter 43: The Captain BreaksThe silence after my father’s video call was deafening.Callan’s heavy breathing filled the room, his chest rising and falling against my back. The dent in the wall where he’d slammed his fist still stared back at us like an accusation. His knuckles were already bruising, but he didn’t seem to notice. The link between us was a live wire his rage, my anxiety, and something much deeper twisting together until it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.I turned in his arms, searching his face. The man looking back at me wasn’t the cold, disciplined captain who had once blackmailed me in a hotel room. This was Callan stripped raw eyes stormy, jaw clenched so tight the muscle jumped, shoulders rigid with barely contained violence.“Callan,” I said softly, reaching up to touch his cheek.He caught my wrist, grip bordering on painful. “Don’t.”But he didn’t let go. Instead, he backed me
Chapter 42: Father’s AssessmentThe video call request came through at exactly 9:00 PM.My phone lit up with the unknown number, the screen flashing like a warning siren. Callan and I were still tangled in the sheets, skin cooling from the intense round we’d just finished. The link hummed between us, warm and sated, but the moment I saw the notification, tension snapped back into both our bodies like a rubber band.“It’s him,” I said quietly, sitting up against the headboard. My voice sounded steadier than I felt.Callan’s jaw tightened. He moved behind me, chest pressing to my back, one strong arm wrapping around my waist in a possessive hold. The contact helped, but the link carried his cold fury straight into my veins.“Answer it,” he ordered, voice low and rough. “We face this together. No secrets.”I hit accept.Harlan Rhys’s face filled the screen. My father looked every bit the powerful Hall of Famer silver hair p
Chapter 41: HeadlinesThe leaked photos were everywhere.By the time we dragged ourselves out of bed the next morning, my phone was blowing up with notifications. Twitter, sports blogs, NHL gossip accounts everywhere I looked, there were grainy but damning shots from the charity gala. Callan’s hand low on my back. The way we leaned into each other while talking to sponsors. That charged moment when he’d told the reporter we were “exploring something.”The headlines were ruthless:“Thunder’s Captain Lachlan and Rookie Star Rhys Spark Romance Rumors”“First Openly Gay Power Couple in NHL History? Sources Say Yes” “From Ice to Fire: Brooks Rhys and Callan Lachlan Heating Up Off the Rink”I scrolled through them in silence, stomach in knots. The link pulsed with shared tension my anxiety feeding into Callan’s controlled fury and back again in an endless loop.Callan stood behind me, shirtless, reading over my
Chapter 40: Losing ControlThe hotel room door slammed shut behind us with enough force to rattle the frame.Callan didn’t even give me time to drop my bag. He spun me around and shoved me back against the wall, his big body crowding mine, still buzzing with leftover post-game adrenaline and the fresh dose running hot through both our veins. His mouth crashed down on mine hard, demanding, almost angry. The link exploded with it: raw hunger, frustration, and that deepening terror neither of us wanted to name.I kissed him back just as fiercely, fingers digging into his shoulders. The taste of salt and victory still clung to his skin.“You almost cost us the game tonight,” he growled against my lips, hands already yanking at my shirt.“I felt your fear,” I shot back, voice breathless as I tugged his belt open. “Every hit you took, I felt it. How the hell am I supposed to stay focused when your panic is screaming inside my head?”Ca
Chapter 39: Fear on IceThe arena lights were blinding, the crowd a roaring wall of noise that usually fueled me. Tonight, it felt like static in my veins.Game night against the St. Louis Blues. High stakes, divisional rival, packed house. I was in net for the Thunder, pads strapped tight, mask down, trying to lock into that cold focus I’d perfected since I was a kid. But the new dose from earlier was still burning through my system, and the link with Callan was wide open hot, restless, and far too sensitive.Every time he moved on the ice, I felt it.Not just the usual echo. This was sharper. Deeper.Midway through the second period, the Blues’ enforcer delivered a clean but brutal hit on Callan along the boards. The crack of pads and the jolt of impact slammed through the link like it had happened to me. My glove hand jerked involuntarily. For one terrifying heartbeat, I felt Callan’s spike of pain and raw adrenaline as if it were my o







