Rookie Rules. Red-Hot Trouble: Hockey Sports Romance (Standalone Reads) (Hot Ice Book 8)

by Lily Harlem

  I pulled in a breath. I hadn’t finished. “And the last picture. Nathan, she barely looks legal.” I pointed at the slim young girl with her arm linked with his.

  “She isn’t legal, and any guy who even thought about having a go would find themselves kicked into next week.” His tone was steely. “That’s my niece, Jennifer. I had premier tickets to Under Attack, and she’s a big fan of science-fiction, so I took her. She had a ball dressing up for the red carpet, happened to be her birthday, too, which made it doubly special to make the trip from Toronto for a night out with her favorite uncle.” He chuckled. “She’s great, turning out to be a very smart young woman with her head screwed on.”

  “Your niece.” I stared at her and noticed there was a family resemblance in the angular shape of Jennifer’s chin and nose.

  “So you see.” He slipped his cell away. “What you read was some reporter generating a story, putting two and two together and making five.” He turned me to face him again, his hands gentle on my upper arms. “If there was another woman in my life, if I was dating some one else, I wouldn’t have asked you out, Sophie. I’m not a two-timer.”

  “So why does my brother think you’re trouble?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “He does?”

  “He likes you, of course he does, Ben likes everyone. But he warned me off you.”

  “Ouch, that hurts.” Nathan frowned.

  “But why would he do that?”

  He sighed, then, “I guess I deserve it.”

  “Why? I thought you just told me it was all fake news.”

  “Before I met Wendy two years ago, I was enjoying the attention being a pro athlete gave me…with the ladies, you know?”

  I raised my eyebrows. So he had been a player who’d chased after rink bunnies.

  “What can I say? I’m a guy, I like women, and I like sex, too.” He grinned suddenly. “You want to know a secret?”

  “Go on.”

  “I haven’t…you know…done it since my divorce.”

  “Really?” Did I believe him? A guy as pumped up on testosterone as Nathan?

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “I guess it rocked my confidence. I realized I needed sex to be with the right person, not a one-night stand. I wanted to be intimate with someone who I could trust, admire, let in here.” He tapped his chest.

  “I find it hard to believe a man like you hasn’t had sex in all that time.”

  “A man like me?” He stepped closer. “What does that mean?”

  “You know…hot.”

  “You think I’m hot?” He smiled, and small creases around the edges of his eyes darted outward.

  “You’ve got a mirror, right?”

  He scraped his hand over his stubbled jawline. “I always thought I should shave more often, get my haircut more, you know. But I get busy with training. I guess this modern male grooming thing isn’t for me.”

  “I like it, your stubble, your hair.”

  “You better than like it, you just said I was hot.” He slipped his arms around my waist and tugged me close. “I like that you think that about me.” His voice lowered. “I like it a lot.”

  I snatched in a breath. Being pressed against him was intoxicating. It made everything else fade away.

  “And for the record, I think you’re real hot, Sophie, and in that dress…the way it hugs your ass, damn, it makes me want to get up close and personal with you…” His hands drifted from the small of my back to my butt. “Up close and personal with your ass.”

  “Nathan!”

  He grinned. “You can tell me to take a hike or give me a slap, but damn, I want to kiss you again, and touch you…I really wanna touch you.”

  I swallowed and looked up into his eyes as I rested my hands on his hard chest. “I like you, Nathan, but I haven’t got time or the emotional energy to get messed about. With me, what you see it what you get, and I need that in return.”

  “I figured that.” He lowered his head. “And for the record, honesty is at the top of my need list, and from my recent experience, so is not getting messed around.” He paused. “So can I kiss you now we’ve got that straight?”

  I stretched upward and set my lips on his.

  He instantly took control, tugging me closer he slanted his head and gently stroked his tongue into my mouth.

  I moaned softly as our chests touched. I’d never been kissed this way. There was something electrifying about it. All the small hairs on my body were reacting. My skin was super-sensitive and my heart thudding.

  He pulled me closer still, his hands splayed on my buttocks.

  I looped my arms around his neck, completely lost to the moment. All my fears about other women had evaporated; he’d shown me his vulnerable side, confided his hurt and his past. I wanted to make him feel better…hell, I just wanted him.

  “Oh God,” he moaned, kissing over my cheek. “You’re something else, you know that.”

  I tipped my head and gave him access to my neck. “Nathan.”

  He brushed his lips over my ear, his breath hot and loud. “I want you so bad.” He found my mouth again and fed me another pantie-dampening kiss.

  I found myself being stepped backward, until the sofa hit the back of my legs. His arms were around me, his body looming over me as he tipped me low, lower still.

  Sinking into the soft cushions, he pressed down, his mouth not leaving mine and his hands skimming the dips of my waist.

  “Nathan, we can’t…”

  “Sweetpea, you’re all I’ve thought about for days, and as consenting adults who’ve just admitted we find each other hot, I’d say we really, really can.”

  I clenched my internal muscles. Thoughts of being naked with him, getting my hands on that hot body was all-consuming and tempting beyond belief. “Yes, but not…”

  He caught my mouth again and his big hand covered my right breast.

  I groaned. His touch, even through clothing, was making me mindless with want. I explored the contours of his back, the gutter of his spine, his wide shoulders. His damn polo was in the way, and I wanted to feel his flesh.

  He rucked up my dress, his hands sliding up my thigh, his fingertips sneaking toward my panties.

  What the hell am I doing?

  “No, please, Nathan, not here.” I pushed his chest and squirmed.

  “We can be quick.”

  “No, I really don’t want to.”

  He lifted his head and stilled. “You don’t want to at all or you don’t want to here?”

  “Here. I can’t. This couch is where my brother sits and reads his magazines, watches sport on TV.” I paused to catch my breath. I was breathing fast. “I can’t…fuck on it.”

  The frown over his brow dissolved, and in it’s place a grin appeared. “I like how you say fuck.”

  I giggled. “Fuck. Get fucking off me and we’ll go somewhere else.”

  “Okay, sweetpea.” He lifted up, catching my hand. He stood, tugging me up with him.

  Quickly, I straightened my dress, glancing at the door. “Anyone could come in, and the curtains are open, too.”

  “It was the right call.” He pushed his hand through his hair. “So your place or mine? I’m about ten minutes away.”

  “And I’m twenty, so let’s go to yours.”

  “I like the way you think.” He straightened his polo then took a step toward the door, wincing.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, just got a space issue in my pants.”

  Again I giggled.

  “Hey, it’s not funny. In fact, it’s damn uncomfortable.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re lucky you don’t have this type of problem.”

  “I guess I am.” My gaze drifted to the impressive bulge in his denims, and a shiver of desire wound up my back and tightened my belly.

  It was Christmas Eve, and I was going to get what I wanted…him.

  He set his hand on the door. “My truck is parked out the front to the right. It
’s a red Toyota. I’ll wait in it for you.”

  “Okay. I’ll make my excuses and leave as soon as I can.”

  “You’ve got five minutes, then I’m coming to get you.”

  “I’ll be as quick as I can. I need to say goodbye to—”

  “Five minutes, otherwise I’ll walk back through the front door and throw you over my shoulder. It’s no odds to me who sees that.”

  From the expression on his face, I had no doubt he’d do just that. And the thought of being upended and marched out of Ben’s party like some woman being captured by a Neanderthal didn’t appeal. “Five minutes. Got it.”

  “Good.”

  Chapter Seven

  Exactly six minutes later, I climbed into Nathan’s red truck.

  “I was just about to come get you.”

  “I’m here now.” I clicked my safety belt into place. “Drive.”

  “Sure thing, sweetpea.” He revved the engine and pulled away. “What did you tell Ben?”

  “That I had a headache. He told me off for overworking.”

  “I think that might be something he has to do a lot.”

  “I guess.” I paused. “But I’m not likely to change any time soon.”

  “I hear you.” He reached over and set his hand on my leg. “But you’re not on duty tonight, and tonight is Christmas Eve.”

  I rested my hand over his; his palm felt so hot on my skin. “Tonight I don’t want to think about work at all.”

  “I promise you won’t.”

  Ten minutes later, Nathan slowed at a huge set of metal gates. He flicked a switch on a remote, and they swung open.

  “Nice,” I said as he pulled off the road and onto a long gravel driveway.

  He glanced in the rear-view mirror, watching the gates close again.

  “Have you lived here long?”

  “About three years. Bought it after I started playing for The Vipers. I knew it wasn’t a team I’d be leaving in a hurry.”

  “It’s nice to find something you’re so content with.”

  “Content, yeah…but it’s crazy sometimes. And it’s fast and competitive to the extreme. I guess I work hard but I also like to play hard.” He pulled up at a huge front door and killed the engine. “What about you? You play as hard as you work, too?”

  “I don’t get the chance to play very often.” I didn’t like admitting that, but he might as well know the truth.

  “You’ve got the chance now.” He flashed me a grin then opened his door and climbed out.

  Within seconds, he was helping me out of the other side and ushering me up four wide stone steps.

  Anticipation spun inside me. My nipples were tight, and my panties damp. Adrenaline was circulating, speeding up my heart rate and tensing my muscles.

  Nathan unlocked the door and pushed it open. He gestured for me to step in.

  The hallway light was on, and whilst he fiddled with a security alarm, I admired the elegant entrance.

  It was huge with a wide staircase, black and white tiled floor, white walls, and a shiny round wooden table set beneath a funky art deco ceiling lamp.

  “Nice,” I said, dropping my purse onto a navy-blue velvet chair.

  “The designer did it, but you know, I like it.” He shut the door and turned to me.

  A predatory look crossed his face as he allowed his gaze to slide down then up my body. I couldn’t suppress a shiver of longing. And what exactly did he have planned that would mean I didn’t think of work all night?

  “Where were we?” he asked, one side of his mouth curling into a grin.

  “I think…” I slid my hand to the hem of my dress and tugged it to expose my inner thigh. “You were just here.”

  “Fuck, you’re right.”

  Suddenly I was in his arms again, and he was kissing me with even more passion than he had before.

  I was aware of us moving, and then the table behind me.

  “Like this.” He gripped my waist with both hands and lifted me onto it.

  The wood was cool on the backs of my legs, and he pressed me backward, his kisses still intense. I clamped my thighs to his hips and pulled him closer so I could feel some of his weight. “I hope this table is sturdy,” I managed.

  “Yeah, I’m sure it is.” He slipped his hand between our bodies and tugged my dress upward farther. “But it’s real old.”

  I closed my eyes and arched my neck as he kissed my jawline. “How old?”

  He yanked my panties to one side. “Sixteenth century.”

  “What? We shouldn’t…oh…” He’d driven two fingers into my entrance, his way eased by my arousal.

  “Damn, you feel as good as I knew you would.” He pushed higher, his thumb catching on my clit. “And I want to see you go wild.”

  “So fuck me.” I gripped his face and made him look at me, even though it was hard to think straight with his fingers inside me. “Now. Fuck me now.”

  He groaned, and I knew he liked my dirty talk. Then he removed his fingers, and I whimpered at the loss, even though I’d told him to do it.

  He fumbled with the button on his jeans, then shucked at the material, grunting.

  He was still over me, filling my vision. I didn’t see his cock as he released it but I was aware of the tip nudging my pussy.

  I felt deliciously wanton and feminine. I was giving into temptation and my desires. Being true to my erotic self and taking what I needed. I felt so alive.

  “Oh God,” he groaned, pushing forward.

  I gripped his polo, then suddenly wished it wasn’t there, so dragged at it.

  In a second he’d whipped it over his head, and his hot, hard shoulders were there for me to cling to.

  He cupped my right breast with one hand and slid the other around my neck, holding my face to his.

  “Damn! I should get a condom,” he said against my lips.

  “I’ve…I’ve got contraception covered.”

  “And I’m clean as a whistle, full check over last month.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Jeez, I think I may have just died and gone to Heaven.” He pushed in, parting my delicate internal muscles.

  On and on he went.

  I held my breath, trying to relax for him, but also loving the dense filling sensation. It had been so long since I’d had sex.

  I found his lips and kissed him. He plunged his tongue into my mouth and held me firm, entering me deeper. The sensations reached a point where I couldn’t concentrate on anything else, and when he ground his body over my clit, I cried out and bucked my hips for more.

  “Fuck yeah,” he gasped. “That’s it, isn’t it? Just there.”

  “Yes!” I shifted my legs, locking my ankles in the small of his back. “Just there.”

  He began to thrust, shoving me up then down the polished table. It creaked, and the legs scraped on the hard floor.

  We both ignored it.

  “More,” I said, the pressure building in my clit. “Give me more.”

  “You got it.” He upped the tempo, even though his pace was already frantic. He was breathing hard, grunting each time he hit full depth.

  I closed my eyes and surrendered to the climax hurtling toward me. “Don’t stop.”

  “Not…stopping.”

  I curled my toes, dug my fingers into his shoulders, and held my breath. The sweeter than sweet moment before release held me hostage, then as he pounded in harder than before, I cried out and came. Powerful orgasmic spasms took control of my pussy and pleasure spiraled outward, through my limbs, and over my nerves.

  “Jeez,” he gasped. “I’m coming.”

  I didn’t answer. I slid my hands to his ass and gripped his taut buttocks as he shunted in and out of me.

  Then he froze. A long, low groan growled from his chest and throat, and he buried his face against my neck.

  I pressed my lips to his soft hair and clenched my internal muscles around his cock. His groan extended, and he pushed in higher, as if he couldn’t get deep
enough.

  “Nathan,” I said, panting for breath. “That was…” I slid my hands up his bare back, enjoying the thin film of sex sweat there. “Incredible.”

  “Tell me about it.” He lifted his head and stared down at me. “I can’t remember when…fuck…you and I fit so well, you really are a wild thing.”

  I grinned and pushed his hair back from his face. “You made me that way.”

  “If it’s true, it’s a fact I’m particularly proud of.” He kissed me, his chest pushing over mine.

  After a few moments, my legs began to ache being wrapped around him. I wriggled and loosened my grip.

  “Sorry, I’m crushing you.”

  “I’m okay. But maybe we should get off this old table before we really do break it.”

  “Yeah.” He straightened but stayed buried deep. He looked down at where he filled me. “But I’m gonna want to do that again soon, okay?”

  “I won’t complain, but perhaps in bed.”

  “I have a few of them.” He slipped from my pussy and dragged at his pants.

  He still appeared very erect, his glistening shaft rising up from a dark tangle of pubic hair.

  “Here.” He reached for my hand. “Be careful.”

  I slipped to my feet, aware of my panties, which had been hauled to one side, riding back into place.

  “You hungry?” he asked.

  “No. I ate earlier.”

  “Good. I’ll show you the kitchen at breakfast then.”

  I giggled and pulled my dress back into position.

  “I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said. “That wickedly small green dress will be off within the next minute.”

  “Is that what you think?”

  “It’s what I know.” He led me to the stairs.

  “I’m glad we didn’t break that table.” I glanced over my shoulder at it. It was no longer exactly in the center of the hallway.

  “Me, too, it cost a fortune. But being so old, we’re probably not the first to have done that on it.”

  “True.”

  At the top of the stairs, he steered me to the right and through a door to an enormous bedroom. It was in darkness, but he quickly flicked on a bedside lamp. The walls were gray, the carpet a silvery color, and the curtains were thick black crushed velvet to match the headboard on the bed. The sheets were also black—shiny, too—silk, most likely. “Very nice.”