Page 97 of Branded (Breakers Hockey)

Twenty-Six

Jules

You fill every room you’re in with all that bright inside you.

How did I respond to that?

Not with tears.

Not like I was doing in that moment, the burning beginning in the backs of my eyes, a prickling moving forward, surrounding them on all sides as moisture pooled, and blurring my vision and…

Letting go.

The dam had broken, and the tears escaped, clinging to my lashes, dripping down my cheeks.

And then there were warm arms around me.

And maybe that was why I found that I could cry.

Because I knew those arms would catch me, would wrap around me, would hold me tight, whisper kind words to me, would wipe my tears.

“It’s okay, gorgeous,” he murmured, smoothing his palm up and down my back, tugging me against him, holding me so tight that one second, I felt as though I were crumbling to pieces and the next moment, I was put back together, the cracks filled in with superglue. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Which was what I was afraid of.

Because he wasn’t telling me to not cry, wasn’t telling me to stop.

He was letting me lose it while he held down the fort.

While he held me together.

That was what finally made my tears dry up, finally had me stepping outside of that beauty he’d just given me, and back into reality.

A breath. Two.

“Sorry,” I whispered. And then I was reaching for my cheeks, wanting to wipe the tears away.

But he beat me to it, gently brushing the tears from my face, and then leaning forward, his head dropping, he kissed the skin beneath my eyes, kissed away the remnants of my waterworks.

And just that quickly, I was ready to start sobbing all over again.

Luckily, I wasn’t a total melting pot and despite his beautiful words and his gentle touch and the fact that right then he cupped my cheek and told me, “Let it out, gorgeous. I’ve got sisters, and I’m used to tears,” I managed to pull it back together.

A nod, remembering what he’d told Ethan in the park. “You have two sisters.”

“Yup,” he said on a beleaguered sigh. “Both younger.” His lips twitched. “Needless to say, I’ve waded through my fair share of drama and tears.”

“I always wanted a big family,” I whispered.

“It’s great,” he said, the truth in the frankness of his tone. “Even with a pesky annoying younger brother and two baby sisters who spent their formative years hogging the bathroom.”

I felt my eyes go wide. “You’re one of four? ”

A grin that made me want to taste his smile.

“Trust me when I say it’s both fun and torture and”—he wrinkled his nose and that might have been the cutest thing I’d ever seen—“maybe a little more on the torturous side because my parents are in love.” Humor twinkling in those green eyes.

“And by in love, I mean in love. They hold hands and make out and I swear to God, I’ve seen them sneak off in the middle of a party to go find a closet. ”

My mouth dropped open.

Cas ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “Yeah. I know.”

I giggled. “That’s amazing.”

“It is,” he said softly. “But it’s a bit of a curse.”

That was…weird. “Um…why?”

“Because they set this standard for me. They showed me what I want to find in a relationship, and it’s so fucking great and perfect and”—a sigh—“it’s also been impossible to find.” Another brush of his thumb over my bottom lip. “At least, until I walked into CeCe’s and saw you.”

I sucked in a breath, decided that I couldn’t touch that, not if I didn’t want to end up in tears again. “So, you want to settle down?”

Which wasn’t much better to ask.

Because—with his fingers on my skin, with his body close—it implied too fucking much.

“Yeah, gorgeous,” he said. “I want to settle down.”

And the undertones in that… fuck . They hit hard and heavy and deep and fuck, they made me want all the things I shouldn’t.

Again. Which was why I was standing with my body pressed to his from chest to thighs, Cas’s arm around me, his other hand on my face, stroking my skin. All that wanting. All that buried need.

All that stupidity.

Step away. I should step away.

It was late and cold, and I was wrapped in a pair of masculine arms when I should be in my car, driving away from the temptation of Cas.

A brush of his fingers across my cheek, sliding up toward my temple, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

An ear he bent toward.

An ear he whispered in.

“You, gorgeous. I want to settle down with you.” His tongue flicked out, grazed my earlobe, making me shiver. “Just in case that wasn’t clear before.”

My chin dropped to my chest.

“Fuck it,” I whispered.

Fingers tracing the shell of my ear. “What’s that, sweetheart?”

“Fuck it ,” I whispered again.

“Jules?” he asked, concern entering his tone.

My head shot up. I rose onto tiptoe.

And…I gave in.

Arms around his shoulders, my body pressed tightly against his. So tightly that my nipples were happy being in contact with his chest, that my skin tingled just from feeling the heat of him, the strength of him.

“Jules?” he asked again, his hand flexing on my jaw, confusion in those striking green eyes.

And…

I. Gave. In.

Lifting higher, slanting my mouth across his.

Fuck. It.

Because that was good. That was fucking perfect.

And just like before, there wasn’t the slightest bit of hesitation. Our lips met and our bodies knew exactly what to do. It was almost as though we were made for each other—a thought, when combined with Cas’s talk of settling down—that burned through me.

Wanting.

More wanting.

Fear in my belly. Indecision in my mind.

But then Cas’s tongue was sliding along the seam of my lips, silently asking me to open, and I did open.

My mouth, my mind, my heart .

Because the touch was so gentle, because he was holding me close and tight and carefully .

Because he made me feel and…because he made Ethan smile.

Heaven help me.

But I opened.

In the physical world, his groan rumbled through my body, teasing my nipples, sending a gush of moisture between my thighs. One sound, one touch, one kiss, and I was mush, my knees shaking, my legs jelly, my body leaning heavily against him.

Something that wasn’t exactly conducive to kissing the man who was so much taller than me.

Something that became a nonissue when he lifted me up and set me on the hood of my car. Suddenly, my back was on the cold metal and my front was pressed to his hot, hard body, and…

He took off the kid gloves and really kissed me.

Tongue and teeth and hands stroking all over my body, up along my side, dancing over my ribs, tracing the bottom curve of my breasts, then down again, spreading my thighs, stepping between them, and giving me a whole different kind of hot and hard.

Unfortunately, not all the hot and hard I wanted because just as my legs wrapped around his hips, just as my hips began rocking, pressing myself against all that hot and hard, Cas reared back, breaking the kiss.

“ Fuck,” he growled, bracing himself on one hand next to my shoulder, head hanging, lips swollen, and hair mussed.

I lifted a trembling hand up to my own lips, still able to feel his mouth on mine, able to feel his hands on my body. “Did I—” I pressed lightly, sucked in, and released a breath. “Did I hurt you?”

His head tilting.

His gaze coming to mine.

Then he gently peeled my hand from my lips and brought it…

Oh.

He brought it to the hot and hard currently straining against the fabric of his pants. “Oh yeah, gorgeous. You hurt me.” A nip to my bottom lip. “Because you kissed me like that, and you didn’t do it while you were naked.”

I sucked in a breath.

But he was already pushing off me, hauling me to my feet, bundling me around the front of my car and to the driver’s side door.

A moment later, I was inside on the seat, and he was pulling the belt across my body.

Click.

His hand on my cheek. His lips brushing mine. His eyes locking with mine, molten and swirling and making my mind go hazy with need all over again. “You working tomorrow night?”

I focused on the words, managed to nod.

“I’ll come by for dinner.”

More focusing. More nodding.

“Ethan with the sitter?”

“No…uh…”

Shit . I’d forgotten that Mary had a date the following night. I was supposed to have called my backup sitter.

Fingers on my cheek. “What’s the matter, sweetheart?”

“My normal girl has a date tomorrow,” I whispered. “I forgot that I was supposed to call my backup sitter today and?—”

“I’ll watch him,” he said instantly.

I blinked.

“What time are you on at the bar?”

“Um…”

“ Gorgeous .” A thumb running over one cheek. “What time are you working tomorrow?”

“Six to close,” I whispered.

“I have practice tomorrow. Bring Ethan to CeCe’s. I’ll meet you there. He and I will eat dinner together and hang out with you for a bit and then I’ll take him home and hang at your place until you get home.”

“Um…”

A tug on a strand of my hair. “I’ll be at CeCe’s at six tomorrow.”

“Um…”

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”

He straightened, closed my door.

And then he walked away.

And then…I drove away.

Because I couldn’t sit in my car, staring at where Cas had disappeared.

Not for more than a few minutes, anyway.