by Avery Flynn
Her skin tingled everywhere Carter touched, but it wasn't enough—she wasn’t sure it ever would be. Her lips busy with his, she spread her fingers wide and ran them across his broad shoulders. She followed the curve of his biceps, tensing under her touch, nudging his shirt down his arms until it fell from them.
Pulling her mouth away was a necessary small torture so she could taste more of him. She trailed kisses down to his throat, pausing at the pulse hammering there, relishing that both of their hearts raced in anticipation. A quick nip elicited a harsh groan from him.
Pushing her back gently, he framed her face with his hands, forcing her to make eye contact. "I’m sorry, for everything. Can you forgive me?"
“Only if you’ll forgive me too.”
“So we’re even.” Leaning forward, he kissed her again, teasing open her mouth with his tongue and then backing off. “A fresh start.”
That was exactly it for both of them. A new beginning with new dreams and hopes. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting to find when she’d walked onto that cruise ship, but wasn’t that how life worked out sometimes. The unexpected twists and turns that lead a person to where they were supposed to be all along.
She kissed her way along his freshly shaven jaw. “How do you celebrate a new beginning?”
“I hear it’s very similar to making up after a fight.”
“Oh,” she said, desire making her shiver in his arms. “I’m all for that.”
For a moment he didn't move, then his hands seemed to be everywhere at once. Their clothes were gone in a whirlwind of touching and kissing. His head dropped to her breasts and licked a line of fire across their top curves. Using his hands to mold them, he pushed them upward and sucked one nipple into his hot mouth.
The moment his teeth grazed the hard nubs, Aubrey’s legs gave out on her and she collapsed against the door. Tension built inside her as his hand snaked down her flat belly. His hungry mouth released her breast and traveled back up to her mouth.
One hand slid lower, snuck under the elastic of her lace panties and a single finger sank between her wet lips. Her back arched in reaction to his touch, so pleasurable it nearly broke her. Eyes clenched shut, ribbons of color danced across her mind's eye, their hues becoming more vibrant as he stroked her clit and dipped first one, then two, then three fingers inside her sensitive pussy.
Trying to anchor herself to reality, she reached for him. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, but instead of bringing her back to the real world, the feel of his skin increased her need. It pushed her forward and brightened the colors behind her eyelids until they were nearly neon in intensity. The vibration built deep inside her, ratcheting up with each stroke of his fingers in and out. His fingers twisted within her slick folds, pushing her closer to release until the colors exploded and her orgasm overtook her.
Panting, Aubrey rested her head against his shoulder. She should be sated, but instead a fresh energy buzzed through her and she hungered for more of Carter inside her than just his fingers.
Grabbing a condom from his wallet before he stripped off his jeans, he rolled it on while Aubrey watched, her hooded gaze following his every more. And when he was done, he slid his rock-hard cock inside her wetness, driving deep into her pussy. She embraced his dick, massaging it with every stroke, and within moments he was on the edge of coming. Long, lean legs wrapped around his waist and her round ass filled his hands as he urged her body to slow down so they could make it last. The tips of her nipples rubbed against his chest. Her luscious lips on his throat made him want to forget his attempts to draw out the pleasure.
Her heels dug into the small of his back as she arched back, grinding her pussy against his cock. He slid his hands up from her waist, inching them across her skin and up to her tits. High and round, they filled his palms as if his hands were made for holding them.
Rolling her nipples between his fingers elicited a low moan from her parted lips. Encouraged, he tugged them gently and dipped his head down to circle one nipple with his tongue before sucking it into his mouth. He'd never heard sweeter music than her groan.
Wanting to touch her everywhere at once, he forced himself away from her nipples. His tongue glided downward, stopping an inch higher than the start of her trim bush. She shivered under his hands when he kissed her there, his hands skimming across her hips, pulling her lower body closer to his needy mouth.
Bringing his thumbs to her wet lips, he spread them wide, exposing her clit. He flicked it with his tongue, tasting her, memorizing the moment. Using his last vestige of patience, he savored her essence, not wanting this to end but knowing he wouldn't make it much longer before he had to bury himself within her welcoming pussy once more.
As if she understood his quandary, Audrey pushed his head away and pulled him upward until they were face to face. "Fuck me now, Carter. I need to feel you inside me."
She claimed his mouth, her tongue wanting entrance and her body demanding so much more.
He picked her up, raising her high enough to straddle him. Flipping around so it was his back against the door, he leaned against the wood. Hands gripping her hips, he moved her up and down on his standing cock. So good. She felt so good against him and around him.
Audrey braced herself on his shoulders and undulated. He couldn’t wait; he already had played on the edge for too long. Already his balls were tight, ready to spill.
The slap of their bodies meeting filled his ears and a musky scent surrounded them. Her body, so warm and smooth underneath his palms, pushed him to go faster but he wanted to draw it out a little bit longer, just a little bit longer. He could make it last. Hold her longer. Bring her closer. Make her his. But then her body stiffened and her wetness squeezed his cock as she came. Her orgasm milked his cock and he gave in.
“I was serious you know,” he said as he carried her down the hallway to her room where he laid her down on the bed and laid beside her. “You’re stuck with me now and tomorrow. I can be based anywhere and Salvation seems like a good little town.”
She chuckled, snuggling up against him, her head on his shoulder. ”You don’t mind everyone and their dog knowing exactly what’s going on in your life at any moment?”
“Well, maybe the dog is a step too far.”
“I’m serious.” She sat up, her body tense and a protective glint in her eyes. “The paparazzi have nothing on Ruby Sue. She’ll know everything about you by sunset.”
How in the hell had he ever doubted Aubrey? The sun shining in through the window made her hair glow as if she had a halo, but he knew she was no angel. She was impulsive, a pants thief, and had an ornery sense of humor—and he loved all of it. He loved her. And that is what made the plans he’d put in motion for his career even better.
“Then I might as well let her know now that I’m signed on to star in that indie movie,” he said, toying with the soft strands of her hair. “Plus, Bryon worked out a deal where I’ll play The Admiral one more time in a summer blockbuster. Spoiler alert, in that movie there will be a twist where during a battle The admiral is knocked into a parallel universe. After I die in an epic battle, a younger, different version of The Admiral returns to earth to save it and carry on the franchise for another generation of fans. Yours truly will be returning to direct the first installment featuring the new admiral.”
“Is that what you want? I thought you were trying to get away from The Admiral?”
“Turns out that I can be a real idiot about some things.” Lots of things really—especially the ones that mattered. “Sort of like how I was wrong with you.”
Aubrey’s nose wrinkled with worry and she let out a small sigh. “I should have told you.”
“I should have been willing to listen. I won’t make that mistake again. And if I do, you can always steal my pants.”
“You know,” she said, moving so she straddled him, a wicked grin on her face. “That totally gives me ideas.”
And before she could have any more, he pulled her down and k
issed her for now, for tomorrow, for the future.
Epilogue
Six Months Later…
Outlining was no joke. Aubrey had spent the past month while Carter was on the set for what would definitely be his breakout Oscar role, plotting every moment in her book. She detailed every moment in the New York to San Francisco road trip Alice Ramsay took in 1909 that put her in the history books as the first woman to drive cross country. Then, last night, she started writing and her impulsive muse took over and she had veered off her outline by about a million miles within the first six pages.
“Some things never change,” she muttered to herself with a giggle.
“I hope that counts for how you feel about me.”
Letting out an excited squeal, she jumped up from her desk in the corner of the bakery and sprinted to Carter, jumping up into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist as she gave him a welcome home kiss. Yes, FaceTime was better than nothing, but it was still a poor substitute for the man himself. By the time she came up for air—remembering just in time before she went for his pants that Mr. Lucas and his coffee crew were at their usual table—her entire body was buzzing with anticipation.
“I take it you missed me?” he asked, lowering her to ground.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Good because you’re stuck with me for the next six months until The Admiral starts shooting.”
She sighed with melodramatic gusto and pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “I guess I’ll have to find a way to live with it.”
He brushed a kiss across her lips. “And you love it.”
“I love you,” she said, her heart filling with the absolute truth of it.
“Just like I love you.” Taking her hand, he started for the door. “Mr. Lucas, can you lock up when you leave?”
“As always,” Mr. Lucas said with a gruff chuckle. “Just wait until I tell Ruby Sue that—”
Whatever came after that, Aubrey didn’t hear, she was too busy kissing the man she loved who loved her right back—and plotting how to steal every single pair of his pants without any plans on returning them until he had to report back to the set of his next movie.
Want to know what Benjamin was up to during the cruise? Check out Beguiling Benjamin by USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author Robin Covington!
And be sure to check out the other shenanigans that the residents of Salvation get into in Enemies on Tap, Hollywood on Tap, Trouble on Tap, Betting the Billionaire, and Balls Out!
Bonus!!! Here’s a sneak peek at Loud Mouth my upcoming Ice Knights sexy hockey RomCom. If you haven’t gotten your grabby hands on the other two books in the series Parental Guidance and Awk-Weird, go dive right in and get yourself some hockey hotties!
Loud Mouth: Ice Knights Book 3
Shelby Blanton was never going to sleep again.
She should have known better than to watch a double feature about possessed houses while staying alone in a rented cabin out in the middle of the snowdrift-covered nowhere. Yeah, that had definitely been mistake number one. The other big, bad move had been her after-dinner espresso. She was a green tea drinker, but the cabin came with an espresso maker and it seemed fancy and fun and oh my God she could practically hear her heart beating from all the caffeine in her system and her eyes were all, “Blinking? It’s for the weak!”
So now here she was, starfished on a king-size bed, practically vibrating from caffeine, and wondering if every creak and groan of the cabin in the dark was actually a malevolent force waiting for her to fall asleep so it could steal her soul. The tick, tick had to be the huge grandfather clock—complete with antlers—in the living room. The intermittent hum was the heat kicking on and going off. The shuffle of steps had to be— Shelby jackknifed into a sitting position, one corner of the thick down comforter clutched to her chest, and told herself it wasn’t an ax murderer.
Steps? It was her imagination. Or the wind. Or the pipes. Or—holy fuckballs, there it was again.
The noise was coming from downstairs. All of a sudden, the back-to-nature thrill of being in a cell phone dead zone without a landline became a cold blanket of dread that covered her from her chin to the little hairs on her toes. Focus glued to the bedroom door that was open—of course—she reached over to her purse on the nightstand and fished around in it until her fingers brushed by the cool metal of her flashlight stun gun. It wasn’t a rock salt safety circle and a blowtorch, but it would at least give her a running start as long as the intruder was human and not a one-eyed ghoul with a grudge.
Okay, she knew the whole haunted thing was just in her head, but tell that to the lizard part of her brain that was doing the ultimate freak-out right now. That was it. She was never watching another scary movie again. Ever.
Slipping out of the bed, stun gun in her tight grip, she held her breath, straining to hear something over the sound of blood rushing in her ears as she tiptoed to the door. Taking up a spot just to the left of the open door, she flattened her back against the wall.
One of the stairs creaked and then another as someone who sounded very un-ghostlike let out a long sigh that under other circumstances would have sounded tired as hell, but considering it was made by a house burglar serial killer, she wasn’t about to give him any sympathy.
A nervous giggle started working its way up from her belly. Gritting her teeth, Shelby tightened her abs, hoping to stave off the very inopportune timing of her most hated reflex.
Fuck.
This was not the time for making noise—especially not the high-pitched sound that had resulted in her having the nickname The Squeaker growing up. Okay, it hadn’t just been the giggle. She’d never gotten rid of her little-girl voice—no matter how many voice lessons she’d had—and now it was that sound that had telemarketers asking if her mommy was home when she answered the phone that was going to get her straight-up murdered.
Focus, Shelby. Be the badass your tats promise you are.
She had several, but her biggest was a detailed leaf tattoo the length of her forearm. It wasn’t exactly a skull and crossbones with a bloody dagger tough, but getting it had hurt like a bitch and she’d survived. That meant she could live through this.
The steps got closer, and she pictured a Goliath of a guy, maybe with a little drool stuck to the corner of his mouth and wild black eyes, walking toward the open bedroom door. She adjusted her sweat-slick grip on the flashlight stun gun—thank you, nerves, for adding that to the mix. Letting out a deep breath, she put her thumb on the switch that would turn on the super-bright light and her finger on the button that would turn on the arc of electricity.
According to the self-defense course she’d taken after the threats got more than the usual you’re-a-real-bitch-and-I-hope-you-get-raped variety of being female on the internet, the light would momentarily startle her attacker so she could get in close enough to jab the electric arc into a sensitive spot. The jolt wouldn’t be enough to knock him out, but it would incapacitate him long enough for her to run down the stairs, grab her car keys, and get the hell out of this Stephen King book in the making.
He walked through the door, pausing just inside, presumably looking at the tumble of sheets and blankets on the empty bed.
Too bad, asshole, I’m not waiting for you to attack.
Shelby let out a banshee shriek—okay, squeak. The man whirled around, hands curled into fists. She flipped on the flashlight on the inhale as he reared back, and then she shoved the arcing end into his stomach. Technically, she was supposed to hold it there for three seconds. She got maybe half of one before her grip slipped and she lost contact. He stumbled back, letting out a low rumbly yowl of pain.
That’s when she was supposed to run, sprinting away from death and danger. But she didn’t, not once her flashlight’s beam landed on the man’s face and her stomach dropped down to the cabin’s wine cellar.
Ian Petrov. Hockey player. Curly haired, bearded sex god. The one person in the world who hate
d her more than anyone else in the world.
“What the hell,” Ian yelled, holding a protective arm over his gut as he advanced toward her. “You better get the fuck out of here before the cops show up.”
“Did you follow me?” Brilliant question? No, but her brain was a little shell-shocked at the moment.
“Why in the hell would I do th—” The word died on his lips as recognition and something that looked a lot like disgust crossed his way-too-ruggedly-handsome face. He stopped walking and groaned, letting his head drop back as he mumbled curses at the ceiling. “You have got to be fucking kidding me. You? Here? What are you, stalking me? Haven’t you fucked up my life enough?”
Shelby winced. It had been an accident, but the result was the same. She was the reason why everyone in Harbor City now knew that Ian’s best friend and fellow Ice Knights hockey player Alex Christensen was actually Ian’s secret half brother.
When it came out that Alex had known the truth for years without telling Ian, the two men had stopped speaking to each other. Now, the Ice Knights had been torn in two just as the playoffs were starting. It was an unmitigated mess.
Ian may not be a friendly neighborhood murderer, but he might just kill her—metaphorically. All the same, still looked like he wouldn’t mind tossing her out into the snow and leaving her to freeze in the night. And part of her couldn’t even blame him.
Ian Petrov had been in some weird situations with women before.
There was the date who showed up in head-to-toe Ice Knights gear and asked if he wanted to see the tattoo of his face on her ass. He’d declined.
One woman had pledged daily blowjobs in exchange for helping her hook up with stern brunch daddy Coach Peppers. Ian still had no idea what a stern brunch daddy was, but if it was a guy who walked around the locker room drinking coffee that was more sugar and milk than caffeine, the team coach would qualify.