Page 5

Chapter Five

ZACH

H er tone leaves no room for argument. She’s done being teased, and she’s ready for me. I reluctantly remove my mouth from her, loving that I’ve got her halfway to coming again so quickly.

I hold her hips where she’s sitting on the edge of the counter with her legs spread open. “Don’t move.” Then I reach down and quickly locate my wallet in the pocket of my pants, and pull out a condom.

“Let me,” she says, holding her hand out for the foil packet.

I watch her tear it open, then I step up between her legs and she reaches out, gripping me with one hand while she positions the condom at my crown and rolls it down my shaft. I’ve never seen anything hotter than her hands on my dick, until she positions my head at her entrance and scoots her ass forward on the counter so I’m pressed up against her entrance—and that, by far, is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.

She leans back with one hand behind her on the counter, wraps her other hand around the back of my neck, and says, “be gentle.”

I slide into her slowly, carefully watching her face for any signs of discomfort. But she just grips my dick from inside her and growls, “not that gentle.” And as I slide fully into her, she closes her eyes and lets out a contented sigh followed by “so good.”

“Hey,” I say, reaching out and cupping her jaw. “Eyes on me while I’m inside you.”

Her eyes fly open in response and a feline-like smile spreads her lips. “Yes, sir.” Her tone is light and she’s joking, but damn if it doesn’t do something to me to hear those words fall from her lips.

I grip her hips, spreading my fingers across the smooth skin of her ass, and pull her forward so I’m as deep inside her as possible. And as I pull back, thrusting into her over and over, all I can think about is how I want to own her pussy—I never want anyone else to feel her from the inside, because she already feels like mine.

“Holy shit,” she whispers a few minutes later, and the way her eyes roll toward the ceiling, I know how close she is to coming again. I stop moving and her eyes fly back to mine. “Don’t stop now,” she insists.

I hold her hips still even as she tries to move, seeking the friction of my dick on her inner walls. “I’m not ready for this to be over,” I tell her.

Her fingers tighten around the back of my neck. “I thought the whole multiple orgasms thing was a myth, and now I’m pretty sure it’s not only possible, but about to happen for me. So don’t you dare…fucking…stop.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I say, and her laugh makes her entire body shake, the movement reverberating down my dick so that I couldn’t stop myself from fucking her if I tried. “Multiple orgasms, coming right up.”

And then my hips are meeting the back of her thighs as she pulls her knees up to my rib cage and leans back on her elbows. “Fuck, yes,” she whispers. “Oh my god.”

The sight of her like that, her tits bouncing with each thrust, her heels on the edge of the counter, her full pink lips saying my name as her eyes widen in surprise, and then her muscles spasming around me as her orgasm hits and she screams out—this is the girl of my dreams.

I don’t stop until her orgasm ends and her body practically goes limp. And then I pull out of her, lifting her off the counter and turning her back to me as I place her feet on the ground, her long legs spread and her ass tilted up as I bend her over the counter. Goosebumps erupt across her back as her chest hits the cool stone, but then I push into her, loving the way the moonlight streaming through the second story windows allows me to watch our bodies meeting.

But I’m too far from her, so I lean down, resting an elbow next to her so my chest presses against her back. “Tell me how you want me to finish you off.”

“I’m half dead,” she says. “I don’t think I have another orgasm in me.”

“The fuck you don’t,” I growl into her ear, as I take my free hand and bring two fingers to her mouth. She pulls them in greedily. “That’s right,” I say, “suck those fingers like you’re sucking my cock.” The way I have her pressed between me and the counter while I’m inside her ensures I feel her resulting moan with my entire body. She circles my fingers with her tongue and sucks them into her mouth until they hit the back of her throat, her tongue runs along the length of them as she sucks on them again and again. “Good fucking girl,” I say in her ear, and her muscles clamp around my dick with those words of praise.

I pull my fingers from her mouth and slide my hand along her hip and across her lower abdomen until my fingertips meet her clit, and then I’m rolling it back and forth, circling it with gentle pressure. She lifts her head, turning to find my lips with hers. The kiss is rough and desperate, and her hips start to move rhythmically against mine as our tongues tangle and my fingers glide over her clit. Her apartment is filled with the sound of our bodies meeting, her soft moans of pleasure, and the growl I let out when she pulls her lips from mine to whisper, “Yes, Zach, like that.”

And then I’m sinking my teeth into her shoulder, nipping gently as I trail my lips along her trapezius on my way to her neck where I run my tongue along the cords of muscles there. “Oh fuck,” she whispers, her back going rigid as her next orgasm comes on suddenly.

I grip her hip as I increase my pace, determined that we finish at the same time. The sensation at the base of my spine spreads like lightning up my back, down my legs, and into my balls. I pour myself into her as she screams, “Yes, oh my God, yes!”

And as I watch her writhing beneath me, her body overcome by pleasure, I can’t help but growl out “Mine.” Because no one has ever seemed more perfect to me than she does at this moment.

* * *

L ight is already streaming through the windows when I wake up and panic, thinking I must have overslept. I grab my phone off the nightstand, and thankfully, my alarm isn’t set to go off for five more minutes, so I slip out of bed, grabbing my boxer briefs as I go. When I return from the bathroom a minute later, Ashleigh’s sitting up in bed with the sheet wrapped around her chest and anchored under her arms. Her eyes are wide as she stares at her phone screen.

“What’s going on?” My voice is scratchy from lack of sleep.

She looks up at me and her eyes are full of tears.

“Oh no,” I say, crossing the room quickly and kneeling on the bed next to her. I cup her face in my hands, wanting to fix whatever’s wrong. “What happened?”

“My funding came through. I’m officially going to get my PhD.”

“That’s amazing.” I use my thumbs to wipe the tears that stream from the corners of her eyes. Why is she crying? “You never told me where you’re going.”

“MIT.”

I sit back on my heels, my hands dropping to my thighs, and stare at her. “Are you for real?”

She tilts her head slightly to the side as her eyes slide up the length of my body and land on my face. “Yeah, why?”

I pray that when I break this news, she’ll feel the same thing I’m feeling—hope.

“You’re going to be in my city. Well, you’ll be in Cambridge, on the other side of the river from Boston, but still?—”

Her eyebrows are furrowed together in confusion. “I thought you lived in Toronto?”

“I grew up in Toronto. When I was nineteen, I moved to Philadelphia, and I’ve been in Boston for about six months.”

“Why’d you move to Boston?”

“I got traded. I play for the Boston Rebels.”

I’m completely unprepared for the way she draws back in horror, whispering, “Tell me you’re kidding.”

“No, why?” I didn’t want her to like me because I played hockey, but I wasn’t expecting her to have this kind of adverse reaction, either.

“I don’t date hockey players.”

“As a general rule? Or because of a bad experience?”

“Yes.”

“So you’ve dated a professional hockey player before—” I don’t know what to do with this jealousy coursing through my veins. Of course she’s dated other people. But someone I play against? Or maybe even worse—with? “—and the experience was bad enough that it’s turned you off hockey players forever?”

She presses her lips between her teeth and nods. “He was fucking terrible.”

I already want to kill him and I don’t even know who he is.

“What happened?” My words are gentle even though every muscle in my body is tense with the need to pummel this guy. And I’m known for not fighting.

“Imagine being constantly cheated on and belittled. He also used his size to intimate me into backing down every time we had an argument. Even though he never hurt me, I never felt safe with him.”

“Ashleigh,” I say, reaching out and running my knuckles down her bare arm and lacing my fingers through hers. I’m relieved when she doesn’t pull away. “You know that just because he played hockey and was an asshole doesn’t mean all hockey players are assholes, right?”

She looks away, and I hate that her view of me has changed so drastically because of the sport I love.

“Have I, at any point, made you feel unsafe or made you feel like you can’t trust me?”

She shakes her head no as she looks back at me, locking those beautiful blue and green eyes with mine.

“Because I’m not that kind of guy, and I think you already know that,” I say. “I want to stay and talk more about this, but I can’t be late to practice. Can we meet up, maybe for lunch?” It would have to be quick, but I should be able to make time in between practice and my routine before the game.

“My shift at the Science Museum starts at 11AM, so I don’t really get a lunch break. I’d suggest dinner, but…”

“I have a game,” I finish when she trails off. “And then we’re heading straight to the plane and flying home.” Normally I don’t mind our overnight flights back to Boston. The airplane is comfortable and I can fall asleep anywhere, and it’s nice to wake up and be home rather than wasting a day traveling. But right now I’d give anything to be spending one more night here.

We stare at each other for a moment, and I’m relieved to find that she looks sad at the prospect of not seeing me again. It’s a nice contrast to the look of horror she had a moment ago.

“I have some time off around Christmas,” I say. “Maybe I can come back here and see you. It’s only a couple weeks from now. And then you’re moving to Cambridge, when? In like a month?”

“Yeah, most likely.”

“This wasn’t just sex for me, Ashleigh. And I think you felt more, too. Just tell me this isn’t over,” I say, desperate to know I’ll see her again and not caring if I come off as needy. I don’t want to leave any room for her to question how I feel.

She pauses and my heart sinks, but then she says, “We’ll figure it out. You have my number.”

“Come to the game tonight,” I say, squeezing her hand.

“Zach,” she says, and I can tell she’s declining the invite in the way she says my name. Then she shakes her head and says, “My ex will be there.”

“Who is he?”

“Like I’d tell you when you’re about to play against him.”

“I just want to know whose ass I need to kick.”

“See, that’s the thing about hockey players. You think everything can be solved with a fight.”

“I meant I was going to kick his ass by outskating him. If you want to know what kind of player I am, you should do a quick online search. I think you’ll see that not fighting is kind of my brand.”

She rolls her eyes like she doesn’t believe me. “I’ll do that.”

The shrill sound of my alarm fills the space and we jump apart. “I really have to go.” I’m sure she hears the regret in my voice—I don’t want to leave but there is no way I can be late to practice.

She tilts her head up and gives me a kiss. “Good luck tonight. Don’t be a stranger.”

As much as I hate walking out her door and up the driveway to get into the car I ordered, I leave filled with hope. I’ve never once met someone who I had such an instant connection with, and I think it’s possible that this thing between us is just the beginning.

I hop in the back of the car and as the driver heads toward my hotel, I pull out my phone.

Zach

How do you feel about spending Christmas in Seattle?

Mom

Why Seattle?

Zach

I just met someone special. I want to see her again. And I want you to meet her.

Mom

Woah. That’s a huge thing to drop in a text this early in the morning. Call me and we’ll talk about it.

Zach

I’ll be home tomorrow. I’ll call you then.

Mom

Okay, love you. Good luck tonight. I’ll be watching like always!