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SOLACE

The puck slid across the ice in front of Huxley Radfield like the damn thing was made of candy floss. I set myself to defend the signature slap shot he’d set up. Despite the action in front of me, my mind kept drifting to the pretty little dark haired temptation working in the main office who shouldn’t be such a distraction. And yet, she was.

“Heads up, Hunter!” Coach yelled.

I heard him a fraction too late. The puck slammed past me into the net before I managed to raise my stick.

I swore liberally at myself while nodding to my captain. “Great set up, Hux. Saw it coming, but I know your style.”

“Pity you didn’t do anything about it.” He removed his helmet, and frowned. “That obvious?”

“Yeah, but I’ve been playing side by side with you for three years, my man.”

He nodded, his mouth set in a tight line. “If you see it, so will the opposition. Try to keep an eye on the puck and out of whatever pussy you were daydreaming about, alright?”

Ah, fuck .

I cast Hallie as far to the back of my mind as I could banish her for the moment, apologizing liberally to the girl I’d harbored a long running dark as fuck fantasy for, and promised myself I’d notch it up a level soon. Getting close to her earlier in the week brought out something in me I hadn’t felt for a damn long time.

Maybe I’d come to the end of my long tease with myself. Maybe I’d broken my own rules by touching her.

Maybe I was full of shit.

“Bring your worst, Cap.” I tightened my pads, nodding to Coach.

He watched me without smiling.

Damn. I had to prove my worth to both of them today. My little playtime would have to wait. I had a job to do first.

* * *

My muscles ached after the beating I gave myself on the ice, but Hux never got another goal past me for the rest of the session. I’d suitably redeemed myself in both his eyes and Coach’s, though I hadn’t yet forgiven myself for the slip. Now the rest of the team—and all but one person—had left for the night, I was free to let my mind run through all the things I wanted to do to the girl I’d banished from my mind earlier.

Hallie Newman had no idea the effect she had on the entire office. She was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen, and prettier after the sun set when everyone vacated the office for their pithy lives for the night.

That dark head of curls held not only my attention, but every eye in the team and over half the WAGS who usually paid less attention to others than anything else. Their pretence at vagueness was limited to the range of their significant other, and not an inch further—until it came to Hallie.

On a bet, it’d be because I’d taken an interest and shown her attention. I should have been more wary of the predators she went out of her way to protect herself against. The way she curled in on herself at her desk even when I was there, like she expected me to either ignore her or go along with the whole bullshit act, set something alight low in my gut.

Hell, I hadn’t had the foresight to realize how bad the bullying got until I watched Mindy demean her in front of me, like she was the office joke.

Not on my fucking watch .

And I’d been watching little Miss Hallie since the day she arrived in the Chimera’s office months ago. The marketing pleb in her words, who thought no one saw her. But I noted the hours she worked late, even if her boss never did.

What she didn’t know was that I then waited for her to leave and shadowed her to the bus stop. Every single night. It became my new routine, instead of heading to the club with the rest of the team who typically got drunk off their asses and laid by whichever puck bunny was available if their chosen WAG wasn’t in attendance. I hated that culture with a passion and refused to participate, preferring my own stalkerish tendencies for company.

Which made tonight exceptional as I decided to wait beside the front door after I locked up for the night until my pucking little prey decided to pack it in and emerge from the building. While she took her sweet time, working through whatever it was she needed the quiet hours for, I rested my head back against the wall beside the door and planned out my approach.

Well, hers, because I’d be the first thing she saw the moment she stepped out into the night. I didn’t peg my little Hallie as a screamer, but I was ready for that too, prepared to wrap my hand around her mouth and pull her into my body until her chest stopped heaving, and the muffled sounds eased.

Just the thought of her struggle made me hard. I swallowed back the need to yank open the damn door, storm into the office and find out how well the two of us fit on her desk. No, waiting was sweeter. The tease left the sort of edge I craved, what I ached for. Getting off meant nothing without it.

Fast satisfaction and then…what? Nothing. No more than a drunk puck bunny in a back alley.

No, taking Hallie would be a slow process. Tease and back off. Tempt her and see how she reacted, all the while heightening both our arousal. I was far from immune to the way she responded to my touch at her desk a few days before. This morning’s training session ended in a shit show where I couldn’t focus on anything but her no matter how much I denied the vision of her.

I might have redeemed myself to Coach, but Shannon Incarsen owned my ass, the moment he and Hux turned their backs. Thankfully he was the only one who noticed my distraction for the rest of the training session.

I sank into my headspace for tonight as lights flicked off inside. Hell, I could almost scent her before she appeared, only a thin wall separating us, though she didn’t know I waited on her yet. Good.

Her hand pressed to the glass door, pushing it open as I slipped my hands into my pockets, leaving my eyes half open, savoring the moment.

Cue scream in three, two, one…

“Jesus fucking Christ–” she muttered, slapping my chest with her habitual stack of manilla folders I swore she’d pulled straight out of the nineties. “The hell are you doing out here, stalking me?”

I snorted and stared down at her, leaving my eyes half lidded. “Exactly that, beautiful. Stalking you.” I pulled one hand from my pocket and traced over her parted lips that looked too much like an invitation I wanted to take. I kept expecting some rebuke, but nothing came from her lips except a soft breath that brushed my fingertips. “You have a filthy mouth, you know that? I think I like it.” My cock twitched as my chest ached. “Violent and sassy. Two of my favourite things.”

She glared at me and pulled her head away, retreating as she headed toward the bus stop and dismissed me. “Whatever. Go home, Solace. Are you drunk?”

I loped along beside her, keeping pace easily as her shorter legs took two steps to my one. “I don’t drink. You know that.”

A small noise I instantly loved escaped her. “Yes, I know that,” she admitted in a voice that carried, even though I suspected she didn’t intend that to happen. “What are you doing?” She stopped walking and turned to face me.

“Damn, girl. You’ve got some reflexes.”

I pivoted just in time to prevent from overshooting her position and grazed my palm over her elbow—not exposed, because hardly any of her could be seen. I always loved that about her. Unlike the regular WAG crew, Hallie kept herself covered up. It just made me want to peel those layers of clothing from her body to get to the soft, sumptuous curves underneath, and she had plenty of those.

Or maybe rip her layers right off.

Yeah, that’d be more fun. See if she made more of those little sounds.

“Stop chasing me.” Exasperation creased her brow as she started walking again, a touch slower this time.

I knew she wasn’t a fast walker, because I kept pace with her most nights. Just…not this close.

And being this close was a heady damn thing.

“I wanted to walk you to your bus.” I shrugged like it was a normal thing. Not stalkerish at all.

Which, of course, it wasn’t.

She rolled her eyes. “I knew you were there, Solace. When you walked behind me each night. Every night. You’re not half as stealthy as you think.”

I coughed into my fist. “Well, shit.” I risked a look at her sideways. “You angry with me?”

Hallie let one shoulder rise and fall. “I mean, as long as you’re not beating the crap out of me and loading me into the back of your trunk and towing me away, I guess it’s kinda sweet. Like I felt safer knowing you were there.”

That one earned her a choking sound like a dying fucking llama. I hadn’t realized anyone saw me that night. Hell, she could have gotten herself hurt or worse if our vandal had a crew about and I hadn’t been there to handle him.

“Jesus, girl. Beautiful, smart, and ballsy. Is there anything you can’t do?” I stopped and gripped her upper arm, pulling her to face me sharply as I frowned. When she didn't struggle, I yanked her into my chest because I needed her to know I wasn’t half as safe as she seemed to believe. “Actually, scratch that. Do you really think telling someone you saw them attack another man when you’re alone at night with no one damn well around is smart? There’s no one fucking well here, Hallie.” I gestured to the sparsely lit area around us.

It was one of the reasons I spent the last months following her at night. One of. The rest weren’t half as chivalrous.

She shrugged. Shrugged. “Probably not.”

My grip tightened as I arched over her. “You should be screaming,” I warned her softly.

Hallie stared up at me, her dusky pink lips parted the way they did at her desk. I wanted to bruise them with my mouth, push my tongue inside and find out how wet and hot she was.

Catalogue her taste.

“I didn’t think you’d want someone noisy,” she whispered.

My cock thickened painfully in my jeans. “So if I pushed you back against that building and found all those soft, sensitive spots on your body I’ve fucking dreamed about, what sort of noises would you make for me then, Hallie?” I growled, pulling her flush against my body so she could feel every tortured inch of my need.

Her breaths came fast and shallow, matching my own pants. Fuck, we were both halfway gone already. This was beyond dangerous, and not part of the plan at all.

“You’ve dreamed of me?” she whimpered, confusion twisting her plump lips.

Pressure built in my chest that matched the rumble of her bus rocketing along the street adjacent to us. I could put her in my car and take her home, but that would be a terrible fucking idea right now.

“Go, Hallie. Run,” I murmured. “I'll wait, make sure you’re safe.”

She shook her head, blinking slowly at me as the world seemed to register back at her, and then her feet were moving as she flurried toward her bus, her hand raised as she called out. The vehicle slowed. She climbed on, her arms wrapped around herself and her collection of ever present folders she clutched like a shield that wouldn’t protect her from me or anything else.

I watched her move halfway along the bus, staying exactly where I was, though she never looked back as she found a seat and sat with her back to me. I kept watching until I couldn’t see her anymore, then pulled out my phone and used the number I stole from the office when she first arrived.

Solace: Tell me when you get home or I’m coming to find you.

I waited a solid minute for a reply and when there wasn’t one, I sent the next message.

Solace: I don’t play games, Hallie. I need to know you get home safe.

The next ten minutes were utter torture as I perched my ass on the hood of my car and waited, flipping my phone over in my hand. Finally, a message buzzed through. Certain she would tell me where to go, I found myself looking at a forlorn, gray cat adorned with wet whiskers.

Hallie: I fed the one thing in my life that cares for me. Satisfied?

Solace: Far from it. But it’ll do. Show me your bedroom.

Hallie: Lacking spank bank material?

Solace: That mouth will get you into trouble tomorrow, beautiful.

The next message was a picture of the cat on a queen sized bed with plain white pillows and a gray and white coverlet.

Hallie: That’s all you get. Don’t be pushy .

Solace: I appreciate the gesture. And the pussy.

Hallie:

I laughed outright. The sound echoed across the empty parking lot.

Solace: I earned that. Goodnight, Hallie. I’ll be in early tomorrow.

Hallie: Goodnight Solace.

Hallie: Thank you for following me. I did like it.

I closed my phone, grinning like a fucking idiot as I climbed into my car, lapping the city once before I headed home and showered in cold water. My hand stroked myself to a denied orgasm that left me sagging against the icy tiles in a hot mess as I thought of the girl who faced me despite her fear and didn’t run.

Maybe she should have run. We’d see if she did tomorrow.