Page 41 of Actions and Reactions (All It Takes #5)

I have to laugh again. No problem is too big for the likes of Gab Darnell.

I smirk down at my phone, pleased with how things went with the team, and delighted at Vinny’s reaction.

I can’t freaking wait until he’s done with practice.

That genuine impatience tells me I’ve healed more than I thought, because right now, finding an empty room for him to ravish me in is more important—a lot more important—than hockey.

“I don’t wanna know what all that’s about.” Gab waves a hand at my face in the elevator.

“It’s his Vinny smile,” Annie informs her, super helpfully.

“So you two are back, then?” Her small smile tells me she’s happy about it.

“We are.” I pretend I’m not blushing— a-fucking-gain .

“Good.” And that’s all that needs to be said.

We spend the next two and a half hours brainstorming about what Annie can do, and Gab asks her question after question. I already knew Annie was majoring in communications, but something lights up in my brain when she talks about a workshop she did with her college’s radio station.

“What about podcasts?”

“What about them?” Gab asks, locked into the conversation.

“I’m just thinking out loud here, but you could enroll into a course or back into college and get back to work on getting your degree while you work on a podcast and get firsthand experience.

I’m remembering those times when I was teaching you and Consuelo everything about hockey.

That could be a cool hook, someone teaching Annie—who knows nothing about hockey—everything about it. Maybe when the playoffs start.”

“And you have an idea for who that someone could be?” Gab muses. “Santa and Charlie?” The tilt of her head tells me she doesn’t think this is a terrible idea.

“No, I was thinking about Dad and Hulk.”

“But they already have a show.”

“They’re gonna cancel their contracts,” I tell her, knowing it’s going to stay between us. “They’re sick of the network’s handling of information about the players’ lives as entertainment for the masses.”

“I get that, but I bet they could convince Eagle’s stepdad to give them a slot in his network if they want.”

“They won’t do that.” I shake my head. “Dad and Hulk don’t want Michael to think they’re using him or anything.”

Gab hums thoughtfully, and all the while Annie watches us, chewing on her bottom lip.

“What do you think?” I ask her.

“I’d have to learn a lot pretty quickly, but I have a vague idea of podcast production.

I wouldn’t be able to produce it by myself, obviously.

When do playoffs even start?” The way she asks.

.. I have to laugh because I think she’s not even sure what the playoffs are.

Which is exactly what I’d like for this.

“Late April, so we have more than four months. But you could do a segment with them and help out with the production. I think Dad and Hulk would love this idea, and they’d love to have full control in a way they never have. Besides, you can do it all from here while they’re in LA.”

“Before we get into that, why don’t you call your Dad and Hulk and ask them if this would be something they’d like. And Annie and I can research what programs would fit for her to get back to school.” As a true mom would, she gives Annie a stern look. “You’re going back to school.”

Annie doesn’t seem to mind the tone, so we all get to work.

“I feel bad,” Vinny murmurs from the passenger seat.

“About what?” I keep my eyes on the highway but reach to take his hand.

“Leaving Annie with Mom and Gab.”

I scoff.

“Please, she’s delighted. Didn’t you see her face when she met Lyla? And when Gab offered to let her stay for their slumber party?”

“I did, but ...” He trails off and sighs.

“She’ll be fine, and I asked her about a million times if she was sure, so trust me. Now, where are we going, your place or mine?”

“Mine.” His suddenly gravelly voice sends shivers down my spine. “It’s closer.”

I’m glad to hear he’s as desperate as I am.

I’ve been dreaming about this for months now, and I know we still need to talk about a lot of things, but first, I just really need to kiss him, touch him, feel him inside me. Just thinking about what I want him to do to me has my cock hardening.

We don’t speak any more on the drive, or in the elevator, or when we step into his apartment .

I walk straight to his room and don’t need to look back since I can feel him behind me. I stop at the foot of the bed and turn to see he’s already taking off his shirt while toeing off his shoes.

I’m hypnotized by every inch of skin he uncovers, and the sudden need I have to taste his skin, kiss every part of his body, it’s debilitating.

“Take off your clothes, Si,” he mutters darkly, then walks away to the bathroom. I see him take off his pants before I snap out of my stupor when he disappears around the door.

I’ve never undressed faster.

Vinny’s already inside the shower when I get there, and he pulls me in, kisses me senseless, and doesn’t let up.

Not while he blindly reaches for the shower gel and slathers it all very inefficiently over my back.

Not when he starts teasing my entrance.

Not when he preps me with one finger, then two.

I feel his thick, hard dick pressing against my lower abdomen all that time, and I can’t always control my hips, so I rub my own erection against his leg.

He has me acting like a damn animal in heat and I don’t mind it one bit.

The bathroom is so full of fog I can barely see the tiled walls by the time I can’t take it anymore and bark at him.

“Bed. Now.”

We dry off haphazardly, then his lips are on mine again, keeping me imprisoned by how expertly he turns off my brain .

Then he pushes me onto the bed, and I only care because he’s no longer in touching distance, but he fixes that quickly enough.

He straddles my waist. His cock rests just against mine, and he pins my wrists by my sides. Then he just stares at me, wonder filling his green eyes in a way that leaves me breathless.

“Oh, fuck yes, Vinny.” I throw my head back as much as I can when he grinds down on my dick. The friction is fucking perfect.

He latches his mouth onto my throat, right where my pulse is, then moves lower, then lower. Right when he’s at my bellybutton, he lets go of my wrists, and I can’t hold back the whine.

He looks up and freezes me with his stare.

“You want me to keep holding you down, Si?” The devilish smirk that takes over his mouth is enough to make my mouth water, and his raspy voice makes my dick twitch.

“I do,” I confess.

He looks surprised for a fraction of a second and then he springs up and runs to his closet. He moves so fast I only see what he’s grabbed when he’s straddling me again. It’s a dark green tie.

“Thank god I have an iron bed frame,” he mutters, then shuffles forward until his dick is just out of reach of my mouth.

He distracts me when he yanks my arms up and ties my wrists with the tie around one of the bars .

“Does it hurt?” he asks softly, caressing the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist.

“No,” I whisper.

“Good. Just tell me if it gets uncomfortable.”

Vinny leans down again and kisses me softly. Slowly.

Now that I know I won’t be able to move my hands at all or grab onto Vin, the need ramps up and I feel a drop of precum slide around the head of my cock.

He kisses down my body like he’s worshipping it, and I promise myself that one day soon I’m gonna do the same to him.

I think I’m finally going to get some relief when he’s at the trail of hair that leads directly to my desperate dick, but he ignores it completely and goes down my leg.

Like that first time, he kisses all my scars, and since it’s the day for it, I smile at yet another miracle.

I appreciate him doing that, and what it means—he accepts me as I am, the same way he always has.

“Vinny,” I whisper. “Please just fuck me already.”

“Whatever you want, Si.”

He pulls back and lets me fold my legs. I rest my feet on the mattress and he goes right in with fingers and tongue. He picks up where he left off in the shower and thrusts two fingers into me.

“More,” I moan, my back arching from how good it feels to finally have him—any part of him—inside me again.

He gives me one more finger and I can only take it for a minute .

“Now, Vinny, just get inside me now.” He pulls back, stretching toward the bedside table, and I shake my head in desperation.

“No condom, just you.” He looks back, almost alarmed, so I explain.

“You know I’ve never been with anyone but you, and I got a look at your physical from three weeks ago and broke about a million rules, so I know you’re clear.

Just get in me.” Yeah, I might’ve used Gab’s laptop for something other than research, sue me.

I don’t care because his look of wonder is back.

“God, Si, I really fucking love you.”

“Because I break the rules?” I ask, just to tease him—it’s only fair, he has me tied to his bed and is toying with me like I’m his prey.

He chuckles lightly while he coats his dick with more lube.

“No, because you’ll only break the rules for me.”

His eyes connect with mine and I know the truth now.

“I’d do anything for you.”

I get it then, why he did what he did, why he said what he said all those years ago, and I know I would do the same today.

“And I’ll do everything for you,” I promise.

It feels more important than a promise, and when he kisses me and I close my eyes, I see it, I live it.

I know exactly what our future looks like, and I want nothing more than to enjoy every second until it gets here and every second after.

He slides into me slowly, a total contrast to the way his mouth devours mine, but Vinny has always been full of contrasts.

He shows his brute force when, after he slides out just as slowly, he plows into me. My whole body slides up the bed, and he shows his finesse in the wicked way his tongue plays with mine.

His hips move in perfect symphony with his mouth and he plays me like a well-tuned instrument, handles my pleasure as expertly as he handles the puck, and I’ve never been closer to heaven than when he pulls back and groans loudly—just as promised.

“Fuck, Si, you feel so fucking good around me. So hot and perfect.”

“For you,” I agree. “Just for you.”

“Mine,” he growls, and thrusts hard once, twice, hitting my prostate without mercy.

“Gonna come,” he warns, then he kneels up, stops for a moment as he spreads my legs open wider, and places my thighs over his. He pulls my hips up and keeps me there, half suspended in the air with one hand, and circles my dick with the other.

He looks like a god kneeling up, his abs contracting with every movement of his hips, and it’s the best porn ever. His jaw clenches as his eyes shine bright with every ounce of pleasure he’s giving both of us.

It takes three pumps of his hand and five hard thrusts into me, and when I feel him spill inside me, I know in my heart this was always the way it was supposed to be .

Him and me, together.

Everything we’ve been through, all my actions and reactions, I can’t regret any of them, because they’ve brought me to this moment.

Where nothing else matters.