No, sir,” I managed to get out. “I’m a professional hockey player. I play with the Firestorm.”
Ted looked like I had just hit him in the face with a brick. “You what,” he replied as if he didn’t hear me.
Before I could respond, Taylor jumped in. “He plays hockey, Dad.”
Ted glared at his daughter. “Are you insane? How could you go out with another hockey player? Are you just asking for trouble?”
“Kian’s not like that, Dad,” she stated. “He’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, and Austin was a good guy until he defiled you and made a mockery of it.” I half expected to look up and see steam coming out of Ted’s ears he was so angry.
“Enough,” Rita stated. She pointed a finger at her husband. “That’s enough, Ted. You’re going to completely ruin Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Too late,” Taylor hissed as she jumped from her seat. “I love Kian. If you can’t accept that he’s part of my life, I’m not coming back.”
She grabbed my hand and I rose to stand with her. Then without another word, she pulled me out of the dining room.
No one made any move to stop us but I had a feeling it was because they were too shocked to say anything. So much for my first real Thanksgiving dinner. It looked like I was going to get stuck with Chinese food again.
Taylor was obviously angry because she had no problem pulling all 210 pounds of me to the front door. When we finally got outside into the fresh air, I stopped her.
I looked into her eyes and I could see so much hurt and anger it made my heart break. “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked. “This is your family.”
She looked up at me and her face looked determined. “I meant what I said. This is my life. My choices. And I choose you. My parents are just going to have to deal with that.”
“Maybe you need to give them a little more time,” I suggested cautiously.
She threw a hand up to stop me. “They’ve had three years. They had to know at some point I’d bring another guy home to meet them. There is no way I’m going to remain celibate the rest of my life.”
I put my hand up to her cheek and made sure her eyes met mine. “I don’t want you to resent me because I came between you and your family.”
She let out a single angry laugh. “The only thing that’s coming between me and my family is their stupidity.”
“I don’t want you to ever regret being with me. I don’t want you to regret choosing me.”
“I will never regret being with you, Kian. I love you.”
I knew I should have said it back. I wanted more than anything to say it. But the words wouldn’t come out. I loved Taylor more than my own life but I couldn’t tell her. And I hated myself for it because I knew she needed to hear it and I wanted her to hear it. I just couldn’t say those three little words.
Instead, I pulled her close and enveloped her in a tight embrace.
After a moment, she looked up at me and asked, “Can we go back to your place and order Chinese food? We can do Thanksgiving your way instead.”
All kinds of thoughts ran through my head at once. Taylor had never been to my place. She had never asked to go there and I had a feeling I knew why. She didn’t want to lose control of her surroundings. She didn’t want to risk being video recorded again. The fact that she was asking to go there now meant that she had finally let down the last of her walls and trusted me completely.
I gently moved my thumb over her cheek. “Are you sure?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m sure.”
The drive back to my studio apartment was quiet. We were both lost in our own thoughts. A big part of me was thrilled that she was coming back to my place and that she finally trusted me without question. But another part of me felt so guilty that I was the cause of so much tension between her and her family. I knew they loved her and were only doing what they felt was right and that they wanted to protect her.
When I parked my car in the lot outside my building and shut off the engine, I turned to her. “Are you sure you want to do this? We can go back to your parents’ place.”
She took my hand and held it. “I’m sure, Kian.”
“Then let’s do it,” I replied.
I don’t know what possessed me to straighten up my place before I left but I was glad I did. I was usually too busy with practice or being on the road to give the place any attention at all. But when we stepped inside, I was just glad there were no clothes strewn all over the floor or dishes piled on the counter.
“I know it’s not much but I’m not home very much,” I said as she looked around the place.
“It’s quaint,” she said and I knew immediately that quaint was a nice way of saying tiny. It was a studio apartment with barely enough room for one person.
Not that I had enough to fill even that small of a space. The place came furnished with mismatched items: broken down furniture, threadbare linens and assorted dishes that weren’t even true sets. I had my clothes, some hockey stuff, a radio and the shitty laptop Runt had given me. That was the extent of my possessions.
And, of course, the most important item in the room, the stuffed dog that Taylor had won for me playing Skee Ball, which was prominently displayed on my bed.
I could see the sides of her mouth raise to a small smile when she spotted the stuffed animal. My entire body was immediately warmed by her smile and I was so happy to see it again, even if it was just a hint of one.
Taylor turned to face me and her expression was unreadable. I had never seen her look so—ravenous before. “Are you hungry?” she asked and I knew she wasn’t talking about the Chinese food.
She didn’t give me a chance to respond. She closed the distance between us and put her hand on my chest. When she looked up at me, her eyes were filled with pure desire. It took my breath away.
“What are you doing?” I asked even though I knew damn well exactly what she was doing. I just couldn’t believe she was doing it. It was so damn hot my dick sprang to attention.
She reached up and started unbuttoning my shirt. I swallowed hard as she made quick work of removing it. I grabbed her hands and said softly, “You don’t have to do this.”
She gave me a sexy little grin. “I’ve been waiting to do this all day.”
As she ran her hands down my chest, I sucked in air. She was so fucking hot my dick felt like it was ready to explode in my pants.
And speaking of pants, that’s exactly where her hands landed next. Her eyes locked with mine as she unbuttoned the fly of my dress slacks. When she unzipped me and my erection was set free, she licked her lips in anticipation. I wanted to grab her and take control. I wanted to completely ravage every inch of her. But this was her show and I wanted to let her control the action.
She pulled my pants from my waist and they dropped to the floor. She pulled my arms so I would step out of them. Then she eyed my boxer briefs. “These have got to go,” she said as if she suddenly found them offensive.
I obeyed her command and pulled my underwear down and stepped out of them. I stood there completely naked while she took in every inch of my bare skin.
When her eyes landed on my rock hard erection, she bit her bottom lip and it was so fucking sexy, my dick ached. I felt like I was ready to explode. I needed to be inside her so badly, I didn’t think I could wait another second.
Then she did something that totally shocked me. She dropped to her knees and starting licking and sucking on my dick. I took in a sharp breath as she worked on my dick with her mouth and tongue. It was like fucking heaven.
But I had to stop her because I didn’t want to lose it in her mouth. I wanted to make her feel as good as she was making me feel. I wanted to make love to her.
“Stop,” I said gently as I grabbed her shoulders. “I don’t want to come yet and if you keep doing what you’re doing, I won’t be able to control myself.”
She nodded and stood up. I watched as she slowly and seductively stripped for me. Other girls
had given me little strip shows but none were like this. Taylor had such an innocent quality and when it was combined with the little striptease, I was overcome with wild desire. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to throw her on to the bed and fuck her brains out.
When she was standing naked in front of me, she gave me a little half grin and grabbed my hand. She led me to my bed and gave me a little push so that I fell back onto the mattress. When I was lying on my back stretched out on the bed, she climbed onto the bed and straddled me. When she looked at my rock hard erection, she got a gleam in her eye that told me she wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
She leaned down and crashed her mouth into mine. Her kisses were needy and wild and I felt like I couldn’t wait another minute to be inside her. She hesitated for a moment before she positioned herself right on top of my erection. I was so heady with desire for her and it felt so damn good when she pushed herself, wet, hot and tight, onto my rock hard dick, I felt a moment of panic when I realized the reason it felt so damn good, better than it ever felt with anyone, because I was completely bare—no condom.
“Princess,” I protested trying to lift her from me so I could protect us. “We can’t do this. I’ve got to use protection.”
She shook her head as she continued to push herself up and down the length of my erection. “I went to the doctor,” she said softly. “I got on birth control. We can do this.”
I still wanted to protect her. Even though I always used a condom without exception no matter what a girl said, I was still nervous about infecting her with God-knows-what from any one of the hockey whores I had been with.
But it felt so fucking good. I always thought guys who didn’t use condoms and got caught were fools but I suddenly had a better understanding of just how easy it was to get caught up in the heat of the moment and lose control.
“I haven’t gotten tested,” I said but she didn’t seem to hear me or didn’t care. She kept riding me and it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to want to stop her.
“I want this,” she whispered. “I want you. I want to feel you inside me. Every inch of you. Just you. I want to show you that I’m yours and nothing will change that.”
When our eyes locked, I knew that I would never want anything as much as I wanted Taylor Thompson. She was everything to me.
I tried to control myself for as long as I could but I felt like I was going to burst inside her at any moment.
When her muscles clamped around me I could tell she was ready to go and I was right there with her. “Go, Baby,” I screamed completely lost in the moment.
“Oh, Kian,” she cried.
Hearing her scream my name fueled my explosion even more and the two of us went over the edge together. After the waves of pleasure subsided, she collapsed onto my chest but made no move to dismount. It was like she wanted to keep me inside of her for as long as possible and I was very happy to comply.
She looked up at me with her big brown eyes, which were now lazy with the effects of post-coital bliss. “Have you ever done that before?” she asked.
“You mean had sex without using a condom?” I asked.
She nodded.
“No, never.”
“Never?” She seemed surprised.
“You’re the one and only.”
That made her smile. “I like being your one and only.”
I wanted desperately to tell her that she was my one and only love but the words still wouldn’t come out of my mouth. “And I love it when I make you smile,” I said instead.
We enjoyed being in each other arms until both of our stomachs started to growl.
“I haven’t eaten anything all day,” Taylor stated. “Have you?”
“No. And I’m starving.”
“I guess it’s time to order that Chinese food.”
Sixteen
Taylor
I spent the rest of my short Thanksgiving break with Kian at his apartment. The place was tiny but it was kind of nice to get cozy with my guy. I felt a tug of sadness in my heart on Sunday when Kian had to leave for an extended road trip. I got the feeling he felt as depressed about leaving me as I felt about him leaving.
“It’s only until Thursday,” he told me. “I promise I’ll phone you every night. You know I won’t be able to go more than a day without hearing your voice.”
Kian’s reputation as a kick-ass hockey player was really building and I knew it was just a matter of time before he was called up to another more prestigious team or even to the majors. And that would mean we’d be apart a lot longer than just a week-long road trip. I didn’t want to face the inevitable conclusion that in order for him to achieve his dream of becoming a star hockey player on a major league team, he’d have to leave town and leave me in the process.
As much as I loved Kian and wanted to be with him, I knew that I would have to let him go for him to fulfill his dream. I would never forgive myself if I held him back and he didn’t use all of his talent.
I knew it was a conversation we would have to have soon.
When I returned to my suite, I finally checked my cellphone and found 20 missed calls and five messages from my parents. That was another inevitable issue I didn’t want to deal with.
When I finally got the courage to phone them back, my mom picked up on the first ring.
“We were so worried about you,” she said. She sounded like she was getting ready to cry.
“I stayed with Kian at his place,” I stated matter-of-factly.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line and then my mother asked, “Do you love him?”
“Yes,” I admitted.
“We can’t help who we fall in love with,” she said. “My parents weren’t exactly thrilled when I brought your father home to meet them. They thought I could do so much better than the starving musician he was at the time. Your father has a short memory when it comes to that. He’ll come around. Just give him time. It was a bit of a shock not only that you had a boyfriend but that he was a hockey player.”
“I know, Mom. But you and Dad have to trust me. And you have to let me live my life. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“I know.” My mom sighed. “But you were just getting your life back together after everything that happened with Austin.”
“But I hadn’t really been living until I met Kian,” I said. “He’s the one who has really taught me how to live again. And how to love again.”
“I’m glad,” my mom said. “Your father and I just want you to be happy.”
“I know, Mom. I’m finally happy again and I owe a large part of that to Kian.”
***
On Monday morning, I was anxious about my Stats exam. I had studied all day Sunday after I said goodbye to Kian. My sister had promised she’d walk me to class but she was nowhere to be found. About 20 minutes before class was due to start, I panicked. It took at least 15 minutes to walk across campus if I really hurried. My window of opportunity was slowly closing. My sister had been so good about walking me to class in the mornings but now she seemed to be back to her old tricks. Of course, she was the only person on the planet who didn’t own a cell phone and the antique phone in her room just kept ringing and ringing. She had probably stayed over at a guy’s place and forgot to ask him to set the alarm, or maybe he just didn’t. Either way Zelda wasn’t here and I had to get to class. My Stats professor was a hard-ass and he’d definitely fail me if I didn’t get there on time for his exam.
I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me it was a mistake to walk alone but my brain was telling me I had to get to class. I could not fail an exam and risk having a B or worse on my transcript. Too much was at stake.
So I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door. I tried to stay as close as I could to groups of other students but I knew as I got closer to the psychology building at the other end of campus the crowd would thin out. There weren’t as many people majoring in psychology as some of the more popular majo
rs like education and business.
I gulped as I suddenly found myself alone and still several hundred yards away from my building. And that’s when I felt a shiver run through my entire body and I could hear loud footsteps hurrying toward me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Blake trying to catch up to me. I quickened my pace even more but I could feel him gaining on me. I could see the entrance to the psychology building not too far away and I considered making a run for it until I felt his hand on my shoulder.
He pulled me so hard I nearly fell down then he spun me around to face him. He was such a good looking guy but his entire face contorted with an evil grin that quickly turned him ugly.
“I knew I’d eventually catch you alone if I waited long enough,” he snarled. His eyes held so much pure lust it was overpowering and almost sickening. I had the horrible feeling that he was not above taking what he wanted from a girl if she wasn’t willing to give it freely. My stomach clenched at the very thought of him forcing himself on me. My only saving grace was that I didn’t think he was desperate enough to do anything like that out in the open in the middle of the morning.
He grabbed my elbow and pulled me close. I tried my best to squirm away from him but he just held me tighter. I panicked when I realized that if no one passed by he could easily drag me to a more secluded spot and take what he obviously wanted.
My stomach clenched and I felt like I was going to vomit.
“You have no idea how badly I want you,” he muttered hoarsely in my ear. “You’re such a little tease.”
I tried desperately to pull away but he just held me tighter. “I love it when girls show a little spirit and put up a fight. It really turns me on.”
He was holding me so close that I could feel his breath on my neck. His aftershave was expensive but overpowering and it made me gag. I didn’t have the ability to kick him or punch him but I thought about spitting in his face and I probably would have if I didn’t think it would just piss him off more.
Then I heard my name being called in the distance. I thought I might be imagining it until I looked over towards the psychology building and saw Kyle hurrying towards us.
Fire on Ice (Fire on Ice Series) Page 17