Home Matched (Salt Lake Pumas Book 4)

by Camellia Tate

  Making Helena laugh was never going to get old.

  “Come on, let me take you home,” I told her after another soft kiss. My house wasn’t far from the rink. As we drove, Helena told me about her trip, about the people she’d seen and about how comfy the first-class seats I’d insisted she let me buy had been.

  Pulling into the drive, I waved my hand towards the house. “Home sweet home,” I said, giving a small chuckle. “I’m actually a bit worried you won’t like it,” I admitted. It was silly. It was just a house, but it was my house and I did want Helena to like it.

  “Of course I’m going to like it,” Helena announced, opening the door and gazing up at my house while I got her bags from the trunk. “No one raised by your mom could live in a house that didn’t feel like a home,” she pointed out. “Besides, you did so well with Pat’s house!”

  And yeah, those things were true, but they didn’t calm the racing of my heart as I pushed the door open to let Helena inside.

  Dropping the bags by the door, all of my attention fixed on Helena as she moved down the hall.

  “Wow, Sam! It’s so much like you!”

  That made me give a soft laugh. I’d spent a long time trying to make the place look lived in. For the first few years of owning the house, it had looked empty. Then, when Becca had moved in, she’d done a lot to make it look like a home. But it had been our home together rather than reflecting me as an individual, so after we’d broken up, I’d tried all over again to make it mine.

  But the idea of having Helena put her touch on the decor was... pretty pleasing, actually.

  “I’m not sure exactly what makes it so much like me,” I teased lightly. “Is it the hockey posters?” I joked. There were a couple of hockey posters and pictures throughout the house, framed because I was an adult. Getting my posters framed had felt very grown-up.

  “I even have some books, somewhere,” I informed Helena as I led her through to the living room where there genuinely was a bookshelf, even if it was mostly filled with sports-related books.

  She laughed, running her fingers along the spines and tilting her head to read the titles. “But not so many books that there isn’t space for me to leave some here,” she said, glancing at me with a smile. “I like that.”

  That kind of touch was exactly what I’d had in mind. Having Helena’s law books, romances, and thrillers scattered between my sports books would make it feel like the space belonged to both of us.

  “It’s not just the hockey stuff,” she said, returning to my comment about what made the place feel like me. “It’s… big, obviously, but you’ve managed to make it cozy.”

  The compliment made me beam. Helena hadn’t seen the place before I’d actively tried to make it homely. Even now, she had only seen the living room, which, to be fair, was my best effort! Still, I wanted her to see everything else, too.

  “Let me give you a tour,” I said, tugging her hand. While the house was big, it wasn’t so big that the tour took very long. We lingered in the gym, mostly because Helena had started kissing me. The kitchen, too, made up a longer part of the tour; this time, it was because Helena wanted to go through all the cupboards and learn where things were.

  When we finally made it to the bedroom, I pulled her in against me. “So, did you want to see those muscles?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

  Helena laughed, her hand running over my chest through the fabric of my shirt. “Obviously, I do,” she answered, tipping her head back so she could look up at me. “But you’ve just played a whole match! Aren’t you tired?”

  It made me smile that she would ask. The last time Helena had been around me immediately post-game, I’d been ten years younger. It made sense to wonder whether I’d had more energy then.

  Which, in all fairness, I probably had. However, I would find the energy to get naked with Helena. Always. With my hands against Helena’s hips, I pulled her in closer. My body pressed into hers, heat spreading through me. We hadn’t done this since getting back together. There had been some amazing make-out sessions but we hadn’t taken it further in those few days together.

  Now, we had the whole weekend. I fully planned to take advantage of that.

  Taking one of Helena’s hands, I lead it to the hem of my shirt. “Do you want to feel them? They’re very impressive muscles,” I informed her, sliding her fingers under the material and smirking down at her.

  Her breath caught a fraction of a second before I leaned down to capture her lips with mine. She gasped into the kiss, her fingers spanning the ridges of my abs. The muscles jumped under her touch, making Helena hum appreciatively.

  Pulling back, she scattered kisses across my chest as her fingers worked the buttons of my shirt open. “They really are very nice muscles,” she praised, the compliment spreading a warmth through me.

  I hadn’t doubted that she’d still find me attractive. But it was good to be completely sure.

  Raising my arms, I let Helena slide the shirt off me, smirking at the way her breath caught. After an evening of playing, I knew that my physique was in top shape. Not that Helena would have minded! But knowing that she could see me at my best was thrilling. Especially when her eyes traveled over me like she wanted to memorize me.

  “Can I help you out of your shirt, too?” I asked hopefully, reaching to tug against the hem but not pulling it up. Helena looked so beautiful, I definitely wanted to help her out of her clothes. And then replace all of them with my kisses. It had been far too long since I’d kissed my way across Helena’s body.

  She flushed, teeth dimpling her lower lip for a moment before she nodded. “You can. Just remember I’m not 20 anymore.” Her voice trembled like she wanted to add more. Instead, she leaned closer so my hands could slide under the back of her shirt.

  Helena had nothing to be afraid of. She looked just as beautiful at 30 as she had the last time I’d undressed her. A little rounder in places, a little softer. If anything, that just made me want to kiss her more. I wanted to explore those differences with my hands and mouth.

  As I suited the action to my thoughts, Helena gave a soft gasp of surprise.

  There was no reason to rush. We had the whole night, the whole weekend! Not that I planned to take a whole weekend to get Helena naked, but I didn’t want to rush this. She was so fucking beautiful; I wanted to appreciate that.

  Pushing her shirt off, I breathed in deeply. Helena’s skin looked so soft that I wanted to lean in and kiss it. A thought that made me smile. There was no reason not to. So I kissed my way across her chest and over Helena’s neck. She gasped softly, a sound like music to my ears.

  “Lie down?” I asked, pushing her slightly back towards the bed. “Let me help you out of these jeans,” I added teasingly. “In return, I’ll take mine off, too.” It was a promise that was easy to make!

  Helena hummed, breasts rising and falling beneath the delicate lace of her bra. “That sounds like a fair trade,” she agreed, settling on the bed and holding a hand out for me. I joined her, brushing my fingers over her stomach on their way to the button of her jeans.

  It popped open easily. I dropped to my knees beside the bed, dragging the denim down Helena’s long, long legs. Her skin was silky smooth, just as I had imagined. The noises she made as I ran my hands up her thighs were positively delicious!

  “Now yours,” she insisted, once I’d tugged her socks off and discarded them with her jeans. “Get up here so I can undress you.”

  “Mmm, no.” I shook my head. “Don’t worry, I’ll do a good job myself.” It was hardly as if I opposed the idea of Helena undressing me. I fully planned to give her more chances to do just that. But right now, it felt like she’d appreciate seeing me strip. So taking a step back from the bed, I gave her a grin.

  Her gaze followed me, eyes focused on my stomach but then sliding lower as my hands undid the fastening on the pants I was wearing. Sliding the material down slowly, I swayed my hips slightly. “Is that good enough or should I get some music going?�
� I joked.

  Helena’s laugh rang out bright and clear, making my whole body sway forward towards her. “Don’t you dare stop, Sam Levesque,” she warned, using her lawyer voice on me. This time, I recognized it for the teasing that it was.

  That said, I wasn’t going to stop! Kicking my pants off the rest of the way, I stepped out of the fabric and moved to join Helena on the bed. My body covered hers, the points of contact between us tingling.

  She arched up to meet me, finding my lips and kissing me hard.

  I licked into her mouth with pleasure, meeting her tongue and making a soft noise. I’d missed this, missed her. I told her as much, too. We spoke almost every day on the phone but there was nothing quite like this, being able to actually kiss her. And this was even more than that!

  Helena’s body pressed into mine, her skin so soft under my hands. I stroked over her sides, pulling her up into me. My mouth made it to Helena’s neck, peppering a line of kisses there, too, until she gave a light moan.

  “God, I love the sounds you make,” I told her, one of my hands coming up to brush Helena’s hair out of her face. She looked so stunning. “I love you, you know?” I added gently, sure she did know. We hadn’t dated for long this time around but there had never been a time in my life when I hadn’t loved Helena.

  I could still remember the anxiety that had squirmed inside me the first time I’d said those three important words to Helena. Even now, traces of it ebbed into my system. This time, at least, I knew better than to fear that it might ruin everything.

  If Helena wasn’t ready to say it back yet, I would wait.

  But as her smile blossomed, I felt my heart lift up inside my chest.

  “I know.” She smirked, reaching out to pull me even closer. “I love you, too, Sam.”

  “Oh good,” I laughed. “It’d be a shame if we had to stop because I made things awkward,” I teased, certain that Helena knew her not being comfortable to say it back yet wouldn’t make me stop. But she did say it back! And my heart beat faster for her.

  With my face nuzzled against her neck, I gave Helena’s jaw a small bite. “Let me get the rest of these clothes off us,” I told her before beginning to kiss my way down Helena’s body. Her soft moans became increasingly loud.

  And Helena gave as good as she got. She insisted on getting the rest of my clothes off, graciously allowing me to help push my boxers down where she couldn’t quite reach.

  Our bodies coming together felt both familiar and new at the same time. I still remembered how to make Helena cry out with a touch here or a caress there. Helena, too, was quick to rediscover exactly what I liked.

  We were both older, wiser, more sensible. But when Helena tipped her head back as pleasure swept through her, I felt as if I could be ten years younger.

  Once we were both satisfied, Helena cuddled up against me. Her head fit perfectly on my chest, my arm holding the heat of her body close under the covers.

  “What shall we do with the rest of my visit?” she asked, teasingly. “Now that the three most important things are out of the way.”

  “Seeing me play, seeing my house, and seeing me naked?” I asked with a grin. Pressing a light kiss against Helena’s forehead, I pulled her in tighter against me, draping the blankets over us. This had done a good job of dealing with my post-game adrenaline. I felt exhaustion in every part of me now.

  Suppressing a yawn, I shook my head. “More of this?” I suggested. “But also, I’d love to show you around Salt Lake a bit. There’s not a lot we’ll be able to do in one weekend, but we’ll have others to explore the place together fully.” And that was a thought that made my heart skip a beat in my chest.

  Helena’s fingers drew absent-minded circles against my stomach. As she snuggled in closer, I remembered that it was two hours later in Lunengrove. She might not have played a game of professional hockey, but she had every reason to be just as tired as I was. For once, the time difference might actually work in our favor!

  “Yeah,” she agreed, smiling against my skin. “I’d like that. I want to see the places you go, you know?” I glanced down, a little surprised she didn’t want to see the things that tourists came to Salt Lake to see.

  “You can show me all the big attractions another time,” she promised. “First, I want to get to know the places that you’ll mention on the phone, so I can imagine you there.”

  Pressing another kiss against Helena’s forehead, I smiled. “Yeah, we can do that,” I assured her. “I guess it’s easier for me, because I know all the places in Lunengrove,” I joked. Still, now that she’d said it, I could understand that. It wasn’t something that came in my mind when we spoke but then, I really did know all the places Helena went.

  She seemed satisfied with that promise, giving a wide yawn that made me laugh. “Go to sleep,” I told her. “Tomorrow we’ll adventure. Tonight, though, we’ll sleep.” Falling asleep holding Helena was another thing that I had deeply missed. It was amazing to have it once again. Enjoying it to the fullest was exactly what I planned to do.

  Another soft ‘I love you’ whispered against Helena’s hair lulled us both off to sleep.

  Epilogue

  Helena

  JUNE 19TH, 2027

  Despite my offer to pick Sam up from the airport, he’d insisted that he could drive himself. When I’d tried to protest that hiring a car for a one-way trip was silly, he’d said that he wanted to come home to me. It was impossible to argue with something that made my heart race so hard.

  Which was why, an hour and a bit after he’d called to say he was on his way, I was anxiously standing at the kitchen window. As much as I loved my slow-cooker, maybe today was one day I should have prepared something on the stove. It would have given me something to do with my hands!

  For seven years, just as he’d promised, Sam had been coming home to Lunengrove every summer. But this year was different!

  Sam had played his last NHL match. He was finally coming home to me for good. Excitement at the thought of having him all year round zipped through my veins. Sam would be here to see the fresh shoots of spring, and the dusting of snow across the lanes, and the fall leaves in all their splendor.

  He’d seen all those, of course. He came back for weekends whenever he could. But he hadn’t lived here. Not since we were teenagers.

  I couldn’t wait!

  Finally, an unfamiliar car rounded the corner of our drive. We’d bought a house together almost a year ago. A house Sam had only ever visited! Now, he’d be living in it with me. I’d get to see his face every morning, hear his tuneless humming as he brushed his teeth each night.

  As soon as he stepped foot out of the car, I dashed through the door and ran to him. His big, strong arms wrapped welcomingly around me.

  Joy and excitement welled up inside me, a tidal wave of emotions, threaded through with seven years of doing my best not to miss Sam when he was away. It had been hard. Sometimes, it had felt impossible. And though we’d talked about it, I’d always insisted that Sam didn’t need to retire for me.

  And that was still true. But now he was retiring for us. Both of us, and the family we were building.

  My emotions got the best of me, my eyes filling with tears that I quickly blotted against Sam’s shirt.

  “I’m just so glad you’re home!” I rushed to say, not wanting Sam to worry. “And maybe the pregnancy hormones make me a little more weepy than usual.”

  “I doubt that,” Sam teased but pulled me into a hug quickly. His lips found mine. He kissed me in a way that let me know how much he’d missed me. Sam poured so much of his emotion into kissing; he’d always been very physical in his affections. It thrilled me to know that now, I’d be getting so much more of it. Me and the baby we’d have soon!

  With Sam’s hand in mine, we walked into the house. “It smells good,” he complimented, making me beam at him. “God, it’s weird to think this is it. This is me coming home to you forever,” he said, shaking his head. He gave my hand a squeeze.
“It’s good, though. You’re worth an early retirement. You and the baby.”

  “I think it’s weirder for you than for me,” I admitted. “You’re giving up the NHL! That’s a big deal. I’m just giving up long flights and late-night phone calls. And having an NHL boyfriend.”

  For me, Sam coming home was nothing but positive. I understood that it was different for him. “Me and the baby will make it worth it, I promise,” I teased. Sam had always wanted to be a dad. There was no doubt in my mind that as soon as he had a baby in his arms, he’d adjust to the change in his lifestyle.

  “For right now, we can just do the things we’d do if you were home for the summer,” I suggested. “And baby stuff. We’ve got a doctor’s appointment next week!” I was excited for Sam to get to come with me. It would make the baby real for him the way it already was for me.

  Sam laughed at my proposal but he didn’t object to it. “I look forward to doing all the baby stuff with you,” he promised with a wide smile. I knew it was true. We’d planned this baby. It wasn’t ideal when we weren’t married, but I had a plan for that, too.

  Oblivious to my thoughts, Sam sat us both down on the couch. We’d picked that together. Some of the things in the house had been picked by us together, most had been my choice. It wasn’t that Sam didn’t care to decorate with me, but there had been a limit to the number of framed hockey posters that I was willing to display.

  Reaching out, he rested one of his big hands against my belly. At five months, it was noticeable but not huge. I was certainly glad that Sam was home to help me out when I did get big!

  “You already make it worth it,” he told me gently. “You’ve always made everything worth it, Helena.”

  Again, I felt my eyes well with tears. Sam might discount my pregnancy hormones, but I couldn’t help but notice how every emotion felt closer to the surface. It was intriguing, in a way. And around Sam, I felt safe enough not to try to hide it.