Page 17 of Twisted Play (Cruel Games #1)

TRISTAN

My dream girl tucked herself under my arm like she belonged there. I wasn’t stupid. I knew good girls like Eva didn’t date hockey players. If she was smart, she’d stay far away from me and any other player, but I sure as fuck intended to do my best to convince her otherwise.

Teasing Cole about her had driven the point home. If I didn’t make my move, she’d never know I existed. I’d been obsessing over her gorgeous curves, the way her green eyes tilted up when she smiled—when I earned one of her rare smiles—since she showed up to practice the week before classes started.

I shoved down the guilt at making a move on my best friend’s obsession. I liked her too, right? And he’d told me to go ahead—encouraged me, even.

“Bio-chem?” I asked her after a long, comfortable moment as we walked. “Are you pre-med?”

Immediately, I cursed myself for revealing how little I actually knew about her. Cole was the stalker—when he wanted to know something, he was like a dog with a bone, and I was sure he already knew everything about this stunning woman.

“I want to study sports medicine,” she said quietly. “What about you?”

“I need the piece of paper, but I intend to play for the NHL.”

Eva didn’t say anything. God, did I sound like a pretentious asshole? Was she regretting letting me walk her to the library?

“I’ll graduate with a degree in communications.”

When she didn’t shrug my arm off her shoulder, I counted it as a win.

“Why sports medicine?” I asked her, desperate for any sliver of information from this woman with sad eyes and an iron spine.

“My dad was a hockey player?—”

“Holy shit! Conrad Jackson!” I stopped in my tracks as I made the connection. I’d been too young to remember seeing him play, but he’d been a legend until he retired from the league due to injuries.

“Yeah, he got hurt pretty bad in a game and never recovered,” Eva said, continuing to walk. I hurried to catch up with her. “It’s been—” She squared her shoulders. “It’s been rough for him, and I can’t help but think that if he’d gotten adequate care, maybe he would have been able to keep playing.”

I didn’t know what to say. Noises of consolation? Affirmation? God, why was I so awkward when I liked her so much?

The library loomed before us, and I pushed forward to hold the door open for her. Her smile almost knocked me off my feet.

“Charmer,” she murmured .

“If it keeps you by my side where you belong, absolutely.”

Her smile turned into a quiet laugh. “Does that line work on all the girls?”

Yes. Cole and I had done our share of damage since the hockey program roomed us together as freshmen—the cocky son of a billionaire and the broke-ass son of Colorado cowboys.

“No,” I lied.

Eva pulled away from me with a sharp roll of her eyes.

“Okay, yes.” I grabbed her hand before she could move any further away. “I want it to work on you, though.”

“I don’t date.” She tossed her long red hair over her shoulder, apparently completely unaware of how fucking sexy a move it was. She held out her hand imperiously, one eyebrow raised. “Give me my books back, please.”

Instead of handing her bag over, I nudged her toward the elevator with my hip. “Third floor’s usually quiet.”

Her eyes widened with surprise. “Do you actually study?”

“Hey now,” I said, holding my hand over my heart, as if she’d wounded me with her words. “I do have to maintain my GPA to keep my scholarship and my place on the team, as do all of my teammates.”

To my delight, a faint blush spread over Eva’s cheeks and down her chest, and all I could think about was what it would look like spreading over the curves of her breasts, the pink nipples I was desperate to see, to wrap my lips around and?—

“Don’t look at me like that,” she said softly. “I said I don’t date.”

The elevator doors opened, and every lesson I’d internalized about permission and consent flew out of my head, driven out by my need to touch the goddess in front of me.

I crowded Eva into the elevator and against the wall, hitting the close door button before anyone else could join us.

“Then don’t date,” I murmured, running my nose along her jawline.

When she didn’t push me away, I pressed my cheek against hers, inhaling her citrus and vanilla scent.

The elevator dinged again, and I stepped away, delighted when she arched her body toward mine before she realized what she was doing. I twined my fingers in hers again and pulled her toward the row of tables hidden in the back corner, floor empty as promised.

“C’mon.” I pulled out a chair for her, then set her tote on the table when she sat down. “Study now, argue with me about how you don’t want to date me later.”

“It’s not about want, Tristan.”

If she wanted me even a fraction of how much I wanted her, I owed it to the both of us to see where it went, to push her until she dug in her heels.

So I turned her chair toward mine until we faced each other, our knees pressing together. She licked her lips, and I couldn’t resist for another second.

I slid my hand along her jawline until I cupped the side of her head and dragged her closer to me, waiting for her to pull back, for her to tell me she didn’t want this, to insist she didn’t date—definitely not fuckboy hockey players.

But she didn’t.

She just inhaled and dragged that pretty pink tongue across her pretty pink lips and fuck!

I couldn’t wait anymore. I’d intended to seduce her, gently building a sweet kiss until she melted under my touch.

Instead, my lips crashed over hers, desperate, tasting her fruity lip gloss, licking along the seam of her mouth until her lips parted for me on a soft sigh .

“Tristan,” she breathed, and I slid my tongue into her mouth, exploring every inch of her, using my grip on her jaw to position her head so I could devour her.

Eva whimpered as our tongues stroked together, a soft sound that curled in my chest and took up residence there, and I knew I’d never let her go.

I pulled her closer, shoving my knees between hers, then dropped my hands around her ass and lifted. Her lips never left mine, and she raised her hands to cup my face as I maneuvered her until she sat on my lap.

“What are we doing?” she breathed, parting her legs until she straddled me like I’d dreamed since she skated into practice wearing those leggings and an oversized t-shirt the week before classes started, her thick thighs jiggling with every movement, begging me to bend her over the side of the rink so I could sink my teeth into the juiciest ass I’d ever seen.

“Not dating,” I answered, capturing her lips with mine, pretending my thoughts were sweet instead of absolutely filthy, pretending I wasn’t contemplating throwing up her skirt and yanking her panties down so I could dive in and feast on every inch of her.

Her soft laugh vibrated against my chest, but when I shifted to accommodate my hard-on, she moaned into my mouth.

Tentatively, she slid her fingers to the back of my head until her fingers scratched at my braids, and I gave up any pretense of taking this slowly—not that I’d done anything but try and devour her since we sat down.

I squeezed my fingers into the flesh of her ass, the heat of her skin through the fabric of her skirt absolutely destroying me. Why had I waited so long to make my move? This woman was fucking perfect, like I knew she would be .

Eva shifted on my lap, gasping softly as she slid against my hard cock, only a few layers of fabric between us.

“That’s it, dirty girl,” I murmured. “Are you going to leave a wet spot on my sweatpants? Let everyone know how filthy you’ve been instead of studying?”

Eva whimpered and shifted again, her tongue meeting mine stroke for stroke as we made out in the middle of the fucking library.

I dragged my lips away from hers so I could kiss down her neck, nibbling until I found the sensitive spot behind her ear that made her moan.

“Shhhhh, sweet kitten,” I murmured against her skin. “Unless you want everyone else on this floor to know exactly what we’re doing.”

“We’re not doing anything,” she half-laughed, half-moaned, and I squeezed her ass again for the pleasure of digging into her flesh, hoping I’d leave bruises to remind her of this moment later on.

“Nothing at all,” I affirmed as I rocked her up and down. “There aren’t any students hidden in the stacks, listening to those adorable sounds you’re making. Definitely no teachers to tell you what a filthy, bad girl you are for riding me in such a public place.”

“I—I—Tristan!” she whispered, following my movements, moving her hips up and down the outline of my cock as if she were fucking me, no longer self-conscious about being caught in the library. “I’m going too—oh shit—oh my god—Tristan!”

Her breathing sped up, and she threw her head back.

“No, kitten,” I told her, and wrapped one hand in her hair, keeping the other on her hips to guide her movements as she rocked. “Eyes on me. I want you to see who’s making you come. ”

“Me,” she sassed me back. “ I’m making me come.” But she opened those lust-glazed green eyes and met my gaze as her breathing turned short and her lips parted and?—

I covered her mouth with mine as she exploded in my lap, swallowing her sweet sounds as she climaxed.

But I wasn’t done. I needed to see her fall apart again. And again. And again. I slid my hand between us, nudging her hips backward so I could tease her through the soaked lace between her thighs.

“Tristan?”

“Shhhhh, kitten. I’m not done yet.”

I shoved the fabric aside so I could stroke along her skin, through the short strip of curls, into her folds.

“I don’t think I can,” Eva murmured softly into my ear, still boneless. I thanked the lord she wasn’t protesting because I couldn’t have stopped my exploration if my life depended on it.

When I grazed her clit, she squeaked, and then she gasped, pressing her lips into my neck, the touch like a fucking brand.

“There we go,” I coaxed her as I circled her clit with my finger. Her hips moved in time with my hand, and when I slipped one finger inside her, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. She was tight and hot and soaked, and all I could think about was how she’d feel riding my cock.

Eva ground into my palm as I fucked her gently with my hand.

“Tristan,” she whispered over and over again, like a prayer, as if she couldn’t believe this was happening.

I slid a second finger inside her, and she fucking exploded right there on my lap, biting into my shoulder to keep her cries silent as I worked her through it.

“One more, kitten,” I promised her, circling her clit .

“It’s too much,” she whispered. “I can’t.”

“You can, I promise,” I vowed. I needed this, needed to see her fall apart, needed to give her this pleasure.

I captured her lips with mine as I slid a third finger into her.

Eva whined into my mouth, and I licked at her tongue, devouring her mouth as I stretched her with my fingers.

“So fucking gorgeous, so sweet and perfect.”

“I can’t,” she cried, and then I found that soft, spongy spot and curled my fingers against it. She detonated. “Tristan!” Her entire body seized and then curled forward against me, her pussy clenching rhythmically around my fingers. God, I didn’t deserve a woman like this.

“Gorgeous kitten, sweet kitten, filthy kitten, my perfect kitten,” I murmured in her ear as she collapsed against my chest, exhausted and mussed, absolutely stunning in her utter confusion.

She shivered in my arms, and I pulled her closer, wishing we were skin to skin, grateful for the gift she’d just given me and already hungry for more.

I’d have to disappear into a bathroom soon and relieve the tension, but Christ, it was worth it to see this woman fall apart on my lap.

Mine. The word pounded through my head with every thundering beat of my heart. This beautiful, brilliant woman who just fell apart in my arms—she was mine, and fuck if I was going to let her go.

Eva took deep shuddering breaths as I stroked her back, continuing to whisper praise in her ear, and she melted against me, nuzzling her cheek into the crook of my neck.

“I’ve never—I don’t—This isn’t—I don’t date,” she said into my skin, her words washing over me like a bucket of cold water. I couldn’t let this perfect girl go. I wouldn’t.

“This isn’t dating,” I reassured her, recalling her friend’s words from earlier. “This is me treating you like you deserve because I want to. Because you deserve it.”

“Multiple orgasms in the library are what I deserve?” She laughed, and the sound settled in my chest like warm honey. Eva didn’t smile enough, and I wanted more of it.

“For sure,” I said, adjusting her so I could kiss her temple.

She looked up at me, still soft and sweet from her orgasm, but a hint of her steel spine peeking through in her amused gaze. “Can’t complain about that.”

“Let me continue to treat you how you deserve to be treated,” I said, embarrassed that I was begging, appalled even, but absolutely determined to do whatever it would take to get Eva to spend more time with me.

“What does that mean?”

“Fuck if I know,” I admitted. “But I want to figure it out. Together.”

“Not dating,” she affirmed one last time.

“Anything but that, kitten. I promise.”