Page 55 of One Good Puck (Denver Bashers #5)

Abby

“ I ’ve never done this before,” I say, breathless. “I’ve never been so turned on after sex that I immediately wanted to go again.”

Intensity flashes in his eyes. “This is more than just sex for me, sweetness.”

Emotion bubbles up inside of me, lodging in my throat.

“It’s more for me too,” I say.

This is deeper, more intense. I feel it everywhere—in my heart and my body and my soul.

This is love.

Yeah, it’s filthy and hot, like every other time we’ve been together. But knowing Gavin loves me brought it to a different level—a different dimension.

I ride his hard cock slowly, savoring the way he stretches me out. I press my palms on his chest to steady myself. His massive hands wrap gently around my wrists. His touch is warm and comforting and everything I need.

My brain is operating in a blissful pleasure haze. I gaze down at him and take in the intensity in his ocean eyes. He’s looking at me like he’s in awe—like he’s in love .

My heart skids in my chest as the pleasure hikes up inside of me. Tingles fly across my skin, and my clit throbs.

I’ve never been able to come this quickly back-to-back during sex.

But with Gavin, it’s different. I feel his love for me in the way he looks at me, the way he holds me, the way he kisses me.

He leans up and captures my mouth in a desperate kiss. Softly, he teases my clit with his thumb, and my thighs tense and tremble.

“I can’t get enough of you,” he growls against my lips. “I crave you.”

“Me too,” I cry out.

I crave Gavin’s body, his voice, his heart, his everything.

“Come all over me, sweetness.”

That’s all it takes. Those growled words are what drive me to the edge. I explode, my pussy tensing around his cock. Orgasm crashes into me so hard and so fast that I fall over onto his chest.

Those big, warm hands brace me. They hold me up.

He’s got me. He’s always got me.

Emotion rises up my throat as I moan and whimper and cry out. He kisses me hard, growling in my mouth and tensing underneath me, filling me up.

I collapse onto his chest, panting as I catch my breath. I’m dizzy, my skin is hot, and I’ve never, ever felt this safe, this happy.

I lean up to look at him. “Hey,” I say softly.

The corner of his mouth hooks up. “Hey.”

Slowly, he lifts me off of him, then lays me on the bed.

“Stay there.” He hops up and pads to his bathroom, returning a few seconds later with a wet washcloth.

He cleans me up, then tucks me under the covers .

When he crawls into bed with me, he spoons me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He presses his nose against my neck and inhales deeply before kissing the hinge of my jaw.

“Stay with me tonight?” he asks.

I close my eyes and smile. “Yes.”

He kisses my hair and whispers, “I love you so much.”

“I love you so much, too.”

In this moment, everything is perfect.

I fall asleep, wishing it could last forever.

Music blasts through the arena during warmups.

I look down at Emma, who’s standing up, excitedly bouncing around, wearing her bedazzled Bashers jersey. When Xander skates by, he waves at her. She beams and waves back.

That anxiety knot in the pit of my stomach eases when I see how happy she is. It’s been a few days since her dad threatened to take me to court for custody of her. I met with Gavin’s lawyer friend, who reassured me that I had everything in place legally to keep Emma with me.

As comforting as that was to hear, I still can’t shake the dread lingering over me. I haven’t heard from Levi since that awful phone call, and part of me wonders what he’s going to do.

I push the thought out of my mind and refocus on being happy for Emma.

I haven’t told her anything about Levi’s threats because I don’t want to scare her.

She beams up at me. “Mom, I waved at Xander! And Gavin! ”

I smile at her. “That’s nice, honey.”

She waves at Gavin again, who’s standing in the Bashers box, observing the guys warming up. He waves back, the corner of his mouth quirked up in a small smile. He looks at me and winks. I smile. Warmth and comfort pool at the center of my chest.

Gavin’s been amazing. Every time I start to stress or vent about Levi, he listens patiently. Then he hugs me and promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep Emma safe.

He’s been my rock through all of this. He’s been by my side, comforting me and taking care of me through it all.

Warmup ends, and the teams get ready for puck drop at center ice. The Bashers are playing the Nashville Wolves tonight, and they’re a top-ranked team, so it’s a fierce game from the start.

Our seats tonight are behind the Bashers net. We watch as a Nashville player in possession of the puck skates toward Blomdahl. Before he can take a shot, Xander checks him into the boards. The loud crash startles me and Emma, who jolts back, her eyes wide.

“Whoa,” she says.

Dakota, Maya, and Bella, who are sitting next to us, chuckle.

“Pretty tough stuff, huh?” Bella says to Emma. She nods.

Halfway through the first period, Emma pulls on the sleeve of my jacket. “Mom, I have to pee.”

I take her by hand and lead her up the stairs to the nearest restrooms. On our way back to our seats, she points at the concession stand.

“Can I have some cotton candy? Please?”

“I thought you said you didn’t like cotton candy anymore. It made you sick, remember? ”

She shakes her head. “No, I like it again.”

I chuckle. “Okay, but we’re getting you a small size. Too much will give you a tummy ache.”

We get in line at the concession stand. When we get to the front, I order cotton candy and a hot dog. I hand the hot dog to Emma.

“You need something in your stomach other than sugar,” I tell her.

“Can I put extra ketchup on it?”

“You can put all the ketchup you want on it as long as you eat it.”

She skips off to the condiment stand a dozen feet away. I stand off to the side of the line and wait as the concession worker finishes bagging up our cotton candy. He hands it to me and I thank him, then head for the condiment stand to meet Emma.

But when I look up, she’s not there. I glance around the crowded area, looking for her blonde ponytail and the pink bedazzled number seven on her jersey, but I don’t see her.

A flicker of worry hits me, but I shove it back. She probably just walked off for a second.

I notice a concession stand worker refilling the napkins at the condiment stand.

“Excuse me, did you see a little girl here a minute ago? She’s blonde and wearing a Bashers jersey with pink rhinestones on it.”

The young guy nods. “Oh yeah, she was here a second ago. She just walked off with her dad.”

I lose all the breath in my lungs. “W-What?”

The concession worker frowns at me. “Are you okay?”

I shake my head, dropping the bag of cotton candy as panic rockets through me.

“Where did they go?” I ask .

“I’m not sure. That way, I think.” He nods toward the stands. I run off and look in every direction for her, but I don’t see her. I race down the stairs and scan the seats for her, but there are too many people.

“Emma!” I yell out. No answer. “Emma, where are you?”

Half the fans turn to look at me. The other half ignore me and keep watching the game.

I run back up the steps, my heart pounding, tears burning my eyes. My throat is aching to let a sob loose, but I can’t break down. Not now. I need to keep it together so I can find Emma as soon as possible.

“Ma’am, you dropped your cotton candy.”

I spin around and see the young concession worker run up to me.

I shake my head. “I need your help. That man you saw my daughter with? It’s her estranged father. He doesn’t have permission to be around her. He took her. He kidnapped her…”

My voice breaks as dread slices through me. The concession worker’s eyes go wide. He leads me back to the concession stand.

“Curtis, we’ve got an emergency,” he yells to one of the workers. “Her daughter’s been kidnapped. Alert security now.”

Around me, people are staring and whispering. I try to speak, but I can’t. I’m crying too hard.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. When I turn around, I see Dakota.

“Abby, what’s wrong?”

“Emma’s missing. H-Her dad showed up and snatched her when I wasn’t looking.”

Dakota’s mouth falls open. “Oh my god…” She grabs my ha nd right as a trio of arena security guards walks up to where I’m standing.

The concession worker steps over and tells them what happened.

One of the security guys grabs his radio and says to lock down the stadium. Then he turns to me.

“Ma’am, we need a physical description of your daughter so we can look for her,” he says.

“She’s seven years old with long blonde hair. Same color as mine. Her hair’s in a ponytail. She’s small for her age, about forty pounds.” My voice shakes as I try to stop crying. “She’s wearing a Ryker St. George Bashers jersey. The number seven is covered in pink and red rhinestones.”

The security guy relays what I’ve said over his radio.

“Can you pull up a picture of her on your phone and show it to him?” Dakota says gently.

Guilt rattles me for not thinking to do this sooner, but my panic-riddled brain isn’t thinking straight. The only thought that processes in my mind is that I need to find my daughter.

I show him a picture of her on my phone. He asks me to text it to him so he can send it to all the security guards and officers on duty in the arena.

When I look up, Dakota is on her phone. “Hey, Ingrid. We have an emergency. Emma is missing. Abby’s ex showed up and took her when she wasn’t looking.

If I send you a photo of Emma, can you send it to the guys who operate the Jumbotron so they can put her image on the screen to alert everyone in the stadium to be on the lookout for her? ”

I squeeze Dakota’s hand, grateful she thought of this.

“I’ll text it to you right now. Thanks, Ingrid.”

Dakota hangs up and texts the photo to Ingrid. That’s when I realize how hard I’m shaking, how fast I’m breathing.

I look around the crowded stadium, at all the people walking by, hoping with every fiber of my being that I see Emma. But she’s not here.

My head starts to feel heavy. I hear another security guard say something about the arena being on lockdown. Maya and Bella run up to me. I register the worried look on their faces, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. Dakota starts talking, and they turn their attention to her.

I want to scream and cry and run and punch a hole through the wall. I want to go back in time ten minutes ago and not let Emma out of my sight.

I want this nightmare to end. I want my daughter back.

But I have no idea how to make that happen.