Page 16
“It’s pretty nasty,” he shivered, grinning, and then his smile faded slightly as something took over inside of him.
If she liked him aggressive, he was going to test the waters just to be sure.
He brushed her hair back with his hand and turned her face up slightly to look at him as he spoke, straig ht from his soul, speaking tenderly as if he had a private thread connected to hers.
“I want to see your hair spread out across a pillow, to breathe in your perfume, and to see you reaching for me…” his voice trailed off as her lips parted in the sweetest way.
“I want that too,” she replied softly, her voice catching and thick with feeling as his heart soared. “And I like this side of you very much, so let me see it a little more, Liam.”
He tilted his head, eyes locking on hers, as something tender played at the corner of his lips. She liked him taking charge and speaking up – well, he could certainly do it if she looked at him like this.
“Oh yeah?” he teased easily, trying to charm her.
“It’s very attractive,” she admitted with a small, shy nod, the sincerity of her words stealing his breath. He felt stripped bare and seen in a way that made his soul ache even as he smiled. He leaned closer, his voice low in case any of the guys were standing outside of the door, listening.
“It’s nice knowing you find me attractive,” he murmured softly, that flirtation still there but softer now – vulnerable. “What else turns you on?”
Before she could answer, the plane jolted hard, sending them both rattling into the present – and the bathroom wall. Her eyes met his, nodding.
“No turbulence,” she replied, and he saw the flicker of fear in her attempt at wry humor. That look was enough to say everything that needed to be said between them.
I like this – but we need to buckle up quickly.
The connection was there between them – steady, solid, and he wasn’t going to let her slip away from him again now that the awareness was there between them. Once they went back out there, he knew that untouchable mask would slip back into place .
He didn’t ask for permission. Didn’t need to.
He was blocking the door, and if the plane sent him flying into a wall, he’d deal with the concussion.
It wouldn’t be the first one he’d had – but kissing Ashley would be worth it.
He leaned in, pressing his lips to hers.
That kiss turned into minutes that swelled, blurred, and folded into a warmth between them.
He felt her sigh, the tremble in her hands, and when he pulled away, they were both breathless.
She bit her lip, and he saw the shimmer of emotion in her eyes as her whole being thrummed with awareness. Her body, heart, and soul were there, shining and thriving in that simple kiss between them.
“Just like that,” she breathed, imparting some unspoken knowledge between them, and he nodded as if to say, ‘ I hear you ’ in response.
That was all the praise he needed.
A s Liam stepped out of the cramped airplane bathroom, his hand brushing lightly against Ashley’s as they reentered the aisle, a rush of reality hit him harder than the altitude ever could.
The world hadn’t paused for them – every face was looking up at them expectantly, knowingly.
The cabin lights buzzed quietly overhead, and the familiar low hum of flight surrounded them—but it couldn’t drown out the sounds that were waiting.
His team all thought that Liam had just had sex in the airplane bathroom with his wife, and it was written over every single face – some a mixture of disbelief, some stunned, and there was plenty of leering and grinning .
“Mad props to our captain, y’all…”
Acton’s voice broke through the quiet with a thunderclap of amusement, loud and teasing, cutting straight through the gentle fog of Liam’s contentment. They hadn’t had sex at all, but there was indeed a precious connection no one was going to sully or ruin.
Liam’s stomach tightened instantly as he watched his teammate spin, grinning like a fool, throwing fist bumps to a few of the others with an exaggerated flair.
That knowing look in his eyes—one Liam had seen more times than he could count in locker rooms and victory celebrations—struck him wrong here, now, with Ashley only a few steps away.
“I didn’t think the boy scout had it in him. I’m impressed.”
The comment was meant as a joke, a jab in good fun—but it hit like a blow to Liam’s ribs once more.
He glanced quickly at Ashley, saw her soft smile falter just slightly, the pink rising in her cheeks blooming despite the brave calm she tried to maintain.
She was trying to be gracious, to pretend it didn’t matter. But he saw her. Really saw her.
And it mattered to him.
“Hopefully, she is too,” came Larsson’s wife’s voice, half-teasing and certainly unfiltered. It should’ve been nothing, but the words hung in the air. Even the goalie started chuckling beside her until she swatted at him to hush. It was light-hearted, it was playful, but it was still too much.
Liam’s jaw tensed, his entire body pivoting at that moment.
He’d let them joke before. On the bench, in the locker room, and even in interviews sometimes.
But not now. Not when his wife—the woman he cared for more fiercely than he ever thought possible—was at the center of their amusement, the butt of their jokes .
“Enough.”
His voice came out like steel, low and cutting, silencing the laughter with its sheer intensity.
He didn’t shout. He didn’t need to. The tone alone was enough to make heads turn.
As Ashley gracefully slid back into her seat, Liam’s eyes lingered on her, watching as she avoided the glances, her face glowing with that same quiet grace he was falling in love with.
But beneath it, he could still see the shadow of discomfort, and that was something he couldn’t tolerate.
No one— no one —was going to make her feel less than cherished.
“You can say what you want to me on the ice,” Liam said, voice calmer now but no less firm, “but have the decency to act like gentlemen in front of my bride. ”
He stood tall, drawing up to his full height as he looked over the group.
Ashley glanced up at him then, her eyes catching his in a moment that felt like the world paused again, just for a beat.
The gratitude in her gaze rocked him to his core.
It was fierce and tender and awed, like she hadn’t expected him to step in—not like this.
That expression, that look of hers, it was everything.
Liam’s heart thudded harder in his chest. He’d do anything to protect that light in her eyes. He stepped closer to Acton, laying a hand firmly on the man’s shoulder with the same authority he used on the ice.
“And I was bouncing ideas off of my wife,” he added, tone lightening just enough to make it clear the moment was moving on, “asking her if she thought you should start tonight or not… so I’d definitely leave her alone if I were you.”
He saw it then—the shift in Acton’s expression, the glance at Ashley, who raised one perfect eyebrow in response and very deliberately crossed her legs away from him be fore picking up her Kindle with all the grace of a queen dismissing her court.
It made Liam want to laugh, but he kept his face straight, leaning in just slightly to whisper the final blow.
“You know the rules,” he murmured. “Happy wife, happy life… so while I’m the team captain? I take her input seriously, and you should too.”