Page 14 of Rookie’s Redemption (Iron Ridge Icehawks #5)

Chapter Nine

Ryder

T he moment Mia's lips meet mine every ounce of my carefully controlled patience shatters like glass.

This isn't the gentle, testing kiss from the ice rink.

This is desperate, hungry, years of longing compressed into a single moment that threatens to consume us both. Her mouth opens under mine, and I groan low in my throat as our tongues collide in a frenzied dance that tastes like wine and forgiveness.

Jesus Christ, I've missed this. I've missed her.

My hands frame her face, angling her head so I can kiss her deeper, claim every inch of her mouth like it's my dying wish. She tastes exactly like I remember but better somehow, sweeter, more intoxicating than any victory I've ever tasted on the ice.

"Mia," I breathe against her mouth, letting my teeth graze her bottom lip.

"Don't stop," she whispers back, her fingers tangling in my hair, nails scraping against my scalp in a way that sends electricity straight to my groin. "Please don't stop."

Not a fucking chance.

I lift her without breaking the kiss, my hands gripping her thighs as her legs wrap around my hips. She's so goddamn perfect in my arms, all soft curves and warm weight pressing against me exactly where I need her most.

"I've got you," I murmur against her throat, tasting the rapid pulse point there as I press her back against the hallway wall, the tree in the window long forgotten. "I've got you, baby."

The wall gives me leverage to pin her there, my mouth finding hers again as I lick inside, tasting her tongue, consuming every soft sound she makes.

Her gorgeous dress has ridden up, the one that's been driving me crazy while she sat across from my parents, winning their hearts all over again, just like she did the very first time she met them.

I can feel the heat of her through the thin fabric of her underwear, pressing against the hard ridge of my cock through my jeans.

Fuck. I'm not going to last if she keeps moving like that.

"Ryder," she gasps, breaking the kiss to look at me with eyes gone dark with want and pure fucking lust . "I can't believe this. I never thought... I never thought I'd see you again. Not like this."

"I thought you'd never forgive me," I admit, my voice rough with emotion and arousal. "I thought I'd fucked it up too badly to ever fix."

"You did." Her hands cup my face, thumbs tracing my cheekbones like she's memorizing me. "But you came back. You really came back."

"It was always you, Mia." I press my forehead against hers, trying to catch my breath even as my hips press forward involuntarily.

"No matter where I was, what city, what team.

.. it was always you. Every goal, every win, every fucking championship, all I could think about was how empty it felt without you there. "

Her eyes flutter closed, and when she opens them again, there's something raw and vulnerable there that makes my chest tight.

"Show me," she whispers. "Show me all of this is real."

Christ. She's going to kill me.

I carry her down the hallway, my mouth never leaving hers, tongues tangling as I navigate around paint cans and drop cloths. The bedroom door is open, moonlight streaming through the uncurtained windows and casting everything in silver shadows.

The bed is just a mattress on the floor surrounded by boxes, but it's mine.

Ours , if she'll have it.

Not just this moment or this night, but this house. This disaster of a fixer-upper with its peeling wallpaper and creaky floors.

I bought it to be a home, not just a place to crash between games. I'll replace those warped floorboards, finish the kitchen she deserves, build a proper bedroom where this mattress sits abandoned on the floor.

And I'll do it all for her, if she'll let me. I'll frame that goddamn tree and nourish it until it blooms forevermore, because I've got all this, and I've got it for her.

I lower her gently, my hands already working at the zipper of her dress as she reaches for the hem of my sweater.

"You're so fucking beautiful," I murmur, peeling the emerald fabric away from her body, revealing pale skin that as smooth as the silk that falls away from it. "So goddamn beautiful, Mia."

The dress pools around her hips, revealing a black lace bra that makes my mouth water and my cock throb painfully.

Her skin is so damn perfect in the moonlight, and I can't resist leaning down to press open-mouthed kisses along her collarbone, biting and nibbling until she's moaning in my ear again.

"Ryder," she breathes, arching beneath me as my mouth moves lower, tasting the valley between her breasts. "I've missed this. I've missed you ."

Her confession makes something fierce and possessive roar to life in my chest.

Mine. She's mine.

I work my way down her body slowly, savoring every inch of soft skin revealed as I peel away layers. The dress goes first, then the bra, my mouth following the path of my hands as I worship her body like a man starving.

Her breasts are perfect, nipples already peaked and begging for my attention. I take one into my mouth, swirling my tongue around the sensitive tip as she arches beneath me with a broken moan.

"Oh God, yes," she whispers, her hands fisting in my hair as I lavish attention on one breast, then the other. "I've dreamed about this. About you."

" Tell me more, baby. Tell me everything."

She moans as I suck on her nipple hard. Those tiny black panties are next, and I peel them down her legs slowly, my mouth following the path of the lace as I kiss her hip bones, the inside of her thighs, everywhere except where she needs me most.

"Look at you," I whisper, settling between her legs and just staring for a moment. She's glistening with arousal, her pussy pink and swollen and so fucking beautiful. "Perfect. You're so fucking perfect."

Her breathing is coming in short pants now, her hands fisted in the sheets as she opens for me like a flower. I can see how wet she is, how her clit is already swollen and glistening with need, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to dive in like a starving man.

"Ryder," she whispers, her voice breaking on the word. Her hand goes to the back of my head, guiding me closer to her heat. "It's all yours, Ryder. Take what you need from me."

I feel like someone should slap my across the face.

This can't be real. It just can't be.

With a grunt, I lean down and taste her, my tongue sliding through her slick folds as she cries out and arches off the mattress.

She tastes like honey and everything I've been craving, exactly like I remember from our first time together, from all those stolen moments when we were young and thought we had forever.

I groan against her as her walls come tumbling down completely, just like they did the night I gave her my virginity and she gave me hers. The first time we made love, I thought I might die from the intensity of it.

As it turns out, she still has the same effect on me.

"Oh God," she moans, her hands tangling in my hair, gripping tight as her hips grind against my mouth. "Oh God, yes."

I lose myself in her, licking and sucking and claiming every inch of her pussy like I'm starving for it. Because I am. Eight years of fantasies and dreams and late-night longings can't compare to this—to having her writhing beneath me, moaning my name like a prayer.

I circle her clit with my tongue, feeling how it throbs under my touch, then slide lower to taste her entrance, fucking her with my tongue until she's sobbing my name.

Her thighs tremble around my head as I work her higher, alternating between gentle licks and firm pressure that has her grinding against my face desperately.

"Ryder, I'm... I'm going to..." She can't finish the sentence, her body drawing tight as I suck her clit gently before flicking it with my tongue.

"That's it, baby," I murmur against her, the vibration making her cry out. "Let go. I've got you."

Her orgasm hits like a thunderclap, her back arching off the mattress as she comes apart in my mouth, my name falling from her lips like a benediction. I work her through it, gentling my touch as the aftershocks make her shiver, lapping up every drop of her release like I'm dying of thirst.

When she finally goes limp beneath me, I press soft kisses to her inner thighs, her hip bones, working my way back up her body until I can capture her mouth again.

"That was..." she starts, then trails off, her hands suddenly urgent as they pull at my sweater. "I need to touch you. I need to see you."

Fuck yes.

She helps me strip off my sweater, her hands immediately roaming over my chest, my shoulders, tracing the muscles I've built over years of training. But when her fingers find the button of my jeans, popping it open with trembling hands, I nearly lose my mind.

"Mia," I warn, my voice strained as she works the zipper down. "Baby, I'm hanging on by a thread here."

"Good," she whispers, pushing my jeans and boxer briefs down my hips until my cock springs free, hard and aching and already leaking pre-cum. "I want you to lose control. I want you to need me as much as I need you."

She wraps her small hand around my length, and I nearly come right there, a strangled groan tearing from my throat as she strokes me slowly from base to tip.

"Christ, Mia," I gasp, my hips jerking involuntarily into her touch. "You're killing me."

"You feel so good," she murmurs, her thumb swiping over the head of my cock, spreading the moisture there. "I forgot how big you are. How perfectly you fit in my hand."

Keep talking like that and this is going to be over before it starts.

She leans up to kiss me, her tongue sliding against mine as she continues to stroke me, her grip firm and perfect and exactly what I need. I'm lost in the sensation, in the taste of her mouth and the feel of her hand working my cock, when she suddenly breaks the kiss and starts moving down my body.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck, no.

"Mia, wait," I rasp, catching her shoulders before she can take me in her mouth. "Baby, if you do that, I'm done. I won't last two seconds."

"But I want to taste you," she protests, looking up at me with those hazel eyes dark with desire. "I've been dreaming about having you in my mouth."

Jesus Christ, she's trying to kill me.

"Next time," I promise, pulling her back up to kiss her desperately. "Next time I'll let you do whatever you want to me. But right now, I need to be inside you. I need to feel you come around my cock."

She moans against my mouth, her legs wrapping around my hips as I settle between her thighs. The head of my cock brushes against her entrance, and we both gasp at the contact.

"Are you sure?" I ask, even though it's killing me to give her an out. "We don't have to—"

"I'm sure." Her hands frame my face, her eyes locked on mine. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life. I love you, Ryder. I never stopped loving you."

Mine. Finally, completely mine.

I sink into her slowly, inch by torturous inch, watching her face as she adjusts to my size. She's so tight, so perfect, like she was made for me and me alone. When I'm fully seated inside her, we both go still, just breathing and staring at each other like we can't quite believe this is real.

"It's really you," she whispers, her hands roaming over my shoulders, my back. "You're really here."

"I'm here," I promise, starting to move with slow, deep strokes that make her eyes flutter closed. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. Never again."

The fundraiser, the ice rink, the endless hours at the shelter—it was all leading to this moment. To her. To us. And there isn't anything I wouldn't do, any distance I wouldn't travel, any wall I wouldn't tear down to keep her in my arms.

Mine. Always mine.

I lose myself in the rhythm, in the feeling of being buried deep inside the woman I love, in the soft sounds she makes as I claim her completely. This is everything I've been fighting for, everything I've been dreaming of for eight long years.

And finally, finally , she's mine again.