Page 17

Chapter Sixteen

GREYSON

Stella: Hey, I’m gonna need to take a raincheck for tonight. Daycare is sending everyone home early, so I have to go pick up Harper in an hour. The babysitter canceled for tonight, and Eva is out of town. Plus, everything is starting to close, and I now need to go shopping with a toddler.

Stella: Our first hurricane and I don’t even have batteries for the flashlight.

It would be a lie to say that I felt anything other than disappointment while reading the texts. My date with Stella was what got me through this long stretch of away games. Now a damn hurricane is ruining my plans.

“All right, boys, it’s official,” Coach James says as he enters the locker room. “The hurricane approaching just got kicked up to a category five. It’s expected to make landfall tomorrow afternoon, so tomorrow’s home game against the Nighthawks will be rescheduled.”

A collective sigh of relief comes from everyone around me, my own joining the group. We’ve all been anxiously watching the progression of the latest storm that’s about to hit us. The city has been preparing. Most of us volunteered in our downtime before practice today and yesterday at local shelters or hospitals to help set up. However, since this is Stella’s first season living in Florida, it doesn’t surprise me that she isn’t fully prepared.

Combing my fingers through my sweat-soaked hair, I try to ignore the quiver in my stomach at the thought of Stella and Harper alone in the storm. The guys start talking about camping out in Reid’s living room since he’s just outside of the city and more inland. No matter how hard I try to focus on getting cleaned up and what I need to do now that tomorrow’s game is canceled, my thoughts keep drifting back to my girls.

By the time I’m in my car to go home, I realize there’s only one thing that’s going to calm my nerves. I shoot off a text to the guys that I won’t make it to Reid’s and head to the store.

It takes me longer than I anticipated, but two hours later, I’m knocking on Stella’s door and holding my breath. Stella opens the door, Harper hot on her heels, and I’m left breathless at the sight of their smiling faces.

“Greyson…What are you doing here?” Stella asks, bending down to scoop up Harper.

I hold up my arms, which are full of bags. “Heard you needed some batteries.”

Harper’s eyes widen comically. “That’s a lot of battries.” She butchers the word adorably.

“I may have also found some snacks and toys…” I whisper and she squeals in excitement. Looking back at Stella, the surprise on her face has me momentarily wondering if I overstepped. “I also have some water bottles in the truck. And I grabbed sandbags and rope for your patio furniture in case you didn’t have those already.”

Stella’s eyes bulge, her face paling as she glances over her shoulder toward the back of her townhouse.

“I didn’t even think about that,” she murmurs and I shrug when she faces me again.

“Luckily, this isn’t my first hurricane.”

She steps aside, motioning for me to come in. I beeline for the kitchen table and set the bags down.

“Why don’t you start unloading this while I grab the rest of the bags and supplies?”

“There’s more than this? What’d you do, buy the whole store?” She sets Harper down and they both start poking through the bags.

“No, that would be crazy,” I say, backing away toward the door. “But I didn’t know what things you needed or what Harper likes, so I shopped with the thought process of better safe than sorry.”

It takes two more trips for me to bring everything in, but I can’t bring myself to admit that I might have gone overboard.

While Stella unloads the bag of fruits onto the counter, I snatch up two of the bags from my last trip in and crouch down to get Harper’s attention.

“These two are for you.” Extending the bags toward her, I hold my breath as she rushes over and takes the lighter one from me. I was expecting her to take it and run off, only to be surprised when Harper grabs my hand and drags me with her. She stops us in front of the ottoman and sets her bag down before patting the open spot beside it for me to set mine down.

Harper places her hands on her hips and assesses both bags before launching forward and dumping out the contents of the lighter bag.

“This one first,” she declares while already sifting through the contents. She picks each item up with an equal amount of enthusiasm, running off to show Stella the new coloring books, unicorn crafting kit, and the few games that claimed to be age appropriate for her.

When she’s finished going through each thing, she looks at the bag that covers the bigger item.

“There are two things in here. Since you won’t be able to play outside tomorrow, I thought these would help,” I say, moving the bag closer to her and helping her take the toys out. The first one is a unicorn-themed arts and crafts project. There’s painting involved, and I forgot to ask Stella if that was okay beforehand, but when I spot her hovering off to the side with a smile on her face, I’m relieved to see no hints of frustration.

“What’s that one?” Harper asks, her words not forming fully but sounding adorable.

I hold up the toy that I couldn’t resist buying. “In this box, there’s an egg. And with the key, it will hatch a unicorn.”

“Can we open it now?” Harper gasps, sliding onto the ottoman and staring up at me with beautiful blue eyes. I know in this moment that there is no possible way I would ever say no to this girl.

“Absolutely.” I glance over my shoulder at a misty-eyed Stella. “As long as all the refrigerated things are put away so Mommy can watch it hatch too.”

“You need help, Mama?” Harper asks, turning to her mother. Stella pushes off the wall and comes to sit on the floor in front of me.

“Nope. Let’s see what this hatching unicorn is all about, baby girl.”

Once the toy is done going through its whole production filled with flashing lights, music, and a little smoke, Stella and I leave Harper to play with the new unicorn.

Stella stops beside the table, shaking her head as she looks at the bags still on it.

“There’s no convincing me that you didn’t buy out the whole store.”

I barely hold back my grin and shrug.

“Like I said, better safe than sorry.” I move to go around her, resting my hand on her hip as I pass. “I’ll go check on your patio furniture and then come help put the rest of this away.”

The wind is already picking up, making me glad that I had hauled the sandbags back before getting distracted by Harper’s goodies. I make quick work of weighing the furniture down and stack the extra bags in a barrier around the door in case water levels rise.

Tampa Bay hasn’t actually been hit directly by a hurricane in over a hundred years. Usually, the eye of the storm shifts hours before landfall, but with the trajectory of this one, it will still be close enough to do some water and wind damage.

Once I feel confident that her stuff isn’t going anywhere, I head back inside to give Stella a hand. We fall into a silent pattern of me unloading things on the counter while she puts everything where they belong.

When that’s done, I stand awkwardly in the middle of her kitchen.

“I’ll get out of your hair. If you need anything, tomorrow’s game got canceled so I can be here in fifteen minutes, weather pending, of course.”

“You could stay for dinner.” Stella bites her bottom lip and points her thumb toward the fridge. “I was gonna warm up that pizza and toss together a salad. I know it’s not the same as the date night you were expecting but?—”

“A night spent with both of you sounds perfect.”

“Thank you for carrying her up here,” Stella whispers, carefully closing Harper’s bedroom door behind her and motioning for me to follow her back downstairs. Once we’re in the living room, she speaks at a normal volume.

“And for going shopping so I didn’t have to.”

I shake my head. “You don’t have to thank me for showing up for you and Harper.”

“Yeah, actually, I do.” She smiles, but it lacks any happiness. Dropping to the couch, she keeps her attention on me. “I’ve gone so long with being in charge of making sure we have everything we need. I know you want to be a part of Harper’s life and that you want to help us. But I’m not going to take your presence for granted, and I sure as hell will make sure you know I’m grateful every time you do show up.”

Sitting down beside her, I take her hand carefully and hold her gaze. “I don’t just want to be a part of Harper’s life. Yes, I’m going to jump at every opportunity you present me with to be here for her, but she’s not the only reason I’m here, Stella. I’m here for you.”

“I know. You said that last time.” She ducks her head and fidgets with her fingers. “But, Greyson, I need you to think about this. You have a busy schedule with hockey alone. Add on making sure you get time with Harper? I don’t expect you to make me a priority on top of?—”

“Fuck that,” I interrupt. Gently, I pinch her chin between my finger and thumb, forcing her to look at me. “Yes, hockey season is busy. It leaves very little free time, and it can be brutal. But the time I’m not on the ice? You can bet your perfect ass that I want to spend every free second with you just as much as I want to spend it getting to know my daughter. I love hockey. I’m damn good at it. However, you are my priority.”

Her eyes drop to my lips, and I have to stifle a groan.

“Baby, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m gonna kiss you again.” My voice is low and gravelly, but all I can focus on is remembering what it felt like for her lips to be pressed against mine. “You said I lost that right, though, and I want you damn sure that I earned it back before I do.”

Stella bites her bottom lip, peering up at me through hooded lids.

“That was before we knew the whole truth,” she whispers.

“True.” I lean in and kiss the corner of her mouth. “But if you let me kiss you now, knowing everything we both do, I might never stop.”

She pulls back slightly, and my hand finally drops from her chin. Stella watches me for a moment, searching for something in my expression, and I sit still. Let her see every emotion I’m feeling right now.

When she finally speaks, I feel as if I’m going to burst from my skin.

“Kiss me, Greyson.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I grumble before diving in.

Our lips meet and everything but the feel of her melts away. I wasn’t lying when I told her that kissing her was second nature. But now that her plump lips are moving against mine, I realize it’s so much more than that.

There’s a rightness that settles between us, guiding us back into familiar moves even while our bodies have grown and changed. I groan at the thought of relearning the dips and curves that make up the version of Stella that brought our daughter into this world.

With one hand on her thigh, my free one traces up the side of her face where I gently trace my thumb over her cheek. Stella moves quickly then, taking it as an invitation to deepen the kiss. Her leg swings over mine until she’s straddling my lap. I run my tongue along the seam of her lips, begging for her to let me in, which she does immediately.

Stella shifts her hips tentatively, grinding herself against my achingly hard cock. I grip her hips, taking control of her movements, and urge her not to stop.

Warmth spreads down my spine, my tongue clashing with hers for dominance, and when a little moan slips from her throat, I almost combust.

Tightening my hold on her and not daring to break the kiss, I push forward and lift slightly. Stella squeals in surprise as she starts to fall backward, legs wrapping around my waist and hands grappling for purchase on my shoulders. I drop her on her back on the ottoman and her surprise turns to a moan at the new position.

Her hands find the hem of my shirt, slipping beneath the fabric and up the bare skin of my back. I press my length against her core, savoring the feel of her clinging to me before finally breaking the kiss. I pepper her chin and neck with open-mouthed kisses, and her thighs clench around my waist, refusing to let me go even as she tries to pull my shirt off.

“Tell me I can taste you,” I groan into her chest. “Let me make you feel good. Please, baby.” I rub my hands down her thighs, guiding her legs from my waist, and push back to rest on my knees between them. I pause there, watching the way her breasts rise and fall quickly.

Stella nods, that beautiful flush spreading up across her golden cheeks.

My shirt is caught on the muscles of my chest, and I do us both the favor of removing it now. Just as I reach for the waistband of her leggings, Stella pushes up to rest on one elbow, making me pause.

“What’s that?” she asks and I don’t have to follow her stare to know what she sees. I take her free hand in mine and guide it to my chest, just above my heart.

“What do you think it is?” I ask, stifling a moan as she traces over the tattoo.

“It looks like”—she pauses, her shining eyes meeting mine—“our mountain?”

“It is,” I say simply, taking her hand and guiding it to the outlined stars at the peak. She traces the stars, connecting them with her finger, and I see the moment it clicks for her.

“That’s my star sign. It’s a Scorpio.”

“Yeah, baby. It’s you,” I tell her, wrapping my hand around her wrist and placing a kiss gently on her knuckles. “You have always been with me. And I don’t just mean the ink on my skin. You engraved yourself into me. Every time I look at the night sky, I see the stars and think of you. Even on a cloudy night, when the stars are covered and dimmed, I know they’re still there. We might not have been together these past few years. But I knew you were out there and that’s what kept me going. For a while, after I lost you, I was moving purely out of spite. To prove to the memories that haunted me that I didn’t need you. But now I realize that was all a cover. You made me who I am. Like the stars need the sky, I need you. I always have. I always will.”

Stella launches herself at me and if it weren’t for the couch behind me, I would be flat on my ass. She kisses me with an eagerness that draws mine back to life. With her cradled in my arms, I move us both until she’s spread out back on the ottoman. She whines when I finally break the kiss, and it makes my chest puff with pride knowing that she’s just as affected by the chemistry between us as I am.

I waste no time in shimmying her leggings and underwear down her luscious thighs and discarding them somewhere behind me. Her legs fall open, and there’s no containing my groan at the sight of her beautiful pussy.

“Fuck, Stells. Look at you,” I praise while bending forward to kiss the inside of her thigh. I wrap my arms under one of her legs and hook it over my shoulder, spreading her even wider.

I had imagined that the first time I got my hands on her again, I would take my time. That I would get her fully naked and memorize every single change to her beautiful body.

However, with her cunt glistening in front of me, all my plans go out the window.

I dive in, reveling in the moan she gives me in response to my tongue sliding up her lips.

“I’ve missed those beautiful sounds you make. Now give me more,” I demand.

Stella listens, pretty sighs and breathless gasps escaping as I devour her.

My cock presses painfully against my jeans, and I reach down to undo the button and zipper, elevating some of the pressure. I squeeze myself while dipping my tongue inside her core.

“Greyson,” Stella pleads, and I give her exactly what she needs.

Swirling my tongue around her clit, I slowly press a single finger inside her. The feeling of her pulsing around my digit is so intense, I have to pause and take a deep breath. It’s just my finger inside her, but my body is responding as if it doesn’t notice the difference between that and my cock. Stella gyrates her hips, fucking herself on my finger, and it’s enough to get me back on track.

“You’re so goddamn perfect,” I say while working a second finger inside her. Her walls clench around my fingers, a shocked gasp escaping. “That’s it, beautiful.”

I thrust my hand, focusing my tongue back on her clit, and crook my fingers inside her, searching for that rough patch of nerves. The second I find it, her sighs turn to frantic pleas as she chases after the building release.

The familiar tingle of my own oncoming release builds at the base of my spine, but I ignore it, not wanting to miss a single second of her orgasm.

Stella lets out a sound that’s cut off by her slapping her hand over her mouth.

I pull my fingers from her and lightly slap her clit.

“I’ve dreamed of those pretty sounds you make for fucking years, baby. Don’t you dare stifle them now. Let me hear you.”

It only takes a few more intentional thrusts before she’s falling apart with my name on her lips. I swallow down her release, refusing to let a single drop go to waste, and don’t stop until she’s pushing my face away from her sensitive clit.

I kiss her thigh, then her hip before slowly sinking to sit back.

“Holy shit,” she says, her voice scratchy and breathless. She grins down at me, crooking a finger for me to come closer.

Ignoring the discomfort in my boxers, I lean forward and meet her for a lazy kiss.

“What about you?” she asks and I smirk down at her.

“Don’t worry about me, baby. Let’s get you cleaned up.” I push to my feet and extend a hand out for her.

“But I want to make you?—”

“I already did,” I tell her unabashedly. Some guys might be embarrassed by blowing their load in their boxers without even being touched, but I can’t find it in me to feel anything but euphoria right now.

“What do you mean…” Stella trails off, her eyes widening when she finally notices the wet spot on my boxers. She looks up at me, mouth gaping like a fish. “But I didn’t do anything.”

“I beg to differ,” I scoff, dropping my hand and bending to scoop her up. She lets out a yelp and wraps her arms around my neck. “You have so much control over me that hearing you say my name as you came was all it took to set me off.”

Kissing her lips, I start toward the stairs.

“It was the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Stella nuzzles into me, burying her face in my neck. We’re almost to her room when she finally speaks up again. “Do you have to leave right now?”

Pushing her door open, I grin down at her. “I’m here until you kick me out, baby.”