by Toni Aleo
“I don’t see it that way at all,” Gideon said in a tight voice. “Something like that should never happen to any woman. Was he drunk?”
“Yes. I know why he did it too. His ex-wife was there with her new husband and she was rubbing it in his face the whole time.”
“Hey, do not make excuses for that asshole. I don’t care if you’re having the worst fucking day in your life, you don’t force yourself on a woman. What did you do? I hope you decked him.”
Her bottom lip quivered and he felt like a shit heel.
“Bailey, shit, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
She shook her head and gave him a tense smile. “No, it’s okay. I just…I wish I had decked him. I wish I had done one of a hundred things I’ve thought of since that night. But all I did was push him away and mumble ‘Stop it. I don’t want this.’ Which just made him laugh, toss an insult at me and leave.”
“Did you at least—sorry. Scratch that. Not what I meant. Did you tell anyone?”
She nodded. “I told my boss, but she didn’t do anything. The dad was paying for the wedding and she was afraid she’d get stiffed her fee and she told me she’d fire me if I made a fuss. So I quit.”
“Damn right you quit,” he said, whacking the back of the sofa with his hand. “Good for you. I’m not sure who’s the bigger dick, the guy who assaulted you or your boss.”
Instinctively, he raised his arm inviting her to come closer and she moved into the space beside him like she belonged there. She smelled of soap and flowers and vanilla.
“Now you listen to me,” he said in a more soothing tone. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You are not to blame.”
She smiled at him. “I know that. Believe me. But knowing I’m not at fault doesn’t really stop me from wishing it could have gone down differently. You know? Honestly, I’m fine. I’m a happy person most of the time. I really am. I don’t know why I suddenly confessed to you like you’re my priest or something. This is so embarrassing.”
“Hey, I’m glad you did.” He palmed her cheek. “It might sound dumb, but I feel…honored that you shared that with me.”
She glanced away for a moment but then made eye contact again and held it. He was stroking her cheek with his thumb and realizing how soft and smooth her skin was, so different from his own beard-covered one. Her lips were full and ripe and so perfectly shaped.
They stared at each other for a long moment. Gideon felt an undeniable connection with her and he very much wanted to kiss her. She was looking up at him with the most arresting, vulnerable brown eyes.
Then she whispered, “Are you…are you going to kiss me?”
“Honestly? I was thinking about it, but—”
His words were stopped by her mouth pressing against his, her body twisting to face him, her arms snaking around his neck. She really turned him the fuck on. Her tongue was sliding along the seam of his lips and he wanted more than anything to take control of the kiss and enclose her in the protective circle of his arms.
Because he didn’t want to take advantage of her vulnerability, he drew back slightly and encountered her look of confusion and then red-faced embarrassment. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her.
“Oh God,” she said. “I— I’m sorry I threw myself at you. God, I feel like such an idiot. It’s just like what happened to me, except in reverse.”
“No it’s not,” he said, still holding onto her. “Bailey stop squirming. It’s not the same thing at all. You didn’t want that guy to touch you. That’s what made it wrong. It’s different when…when both people want it.”
Chapter Five
Bailey wasn’t sure she heard him right. She couldn’t have. She thought he’d said…
“I don’t understand,” she said.
With deep-set dark eyes that held her in thrall, he gazed at her and said, “I’m glad you kissed me, Bailey. I want to kiss you some more. A lot more. The only reason I hesitated was because we had just been talking about that guy forcing himself on you and for me to make a move seemed…insensitive.”
As understanding dawned, she relaxed slightly. “Oh, I thought you were, you know, repulsed.”
He let out a soft laugh. “I, ah, am actually on the opposite end of that particular spectrum, if you know what I mean.” He gave her a rueful smile.
She bit her lip. “You’re…turned on?”
“I’m incredibly turned on right now,” he growled. “If you wanted to check out how much, I’d be fine with that.”
Bailey’s heart rate was way too high to be healthy, but she’d never felt more alive than she did at this moment. She was in a romantic rooftop garden under a starry winter sky with Gideon Aguilar, the dreamy new defenseman for the San Francisco Dragons.
Who had just asked her to touch his hard-on.
This was opportunity pounding on the door with both hands. Was she going to answer?
She had always disdained the puck bunnies who chased after hockey players because it had always seemed that those women were not only looking for a quick fuck; they needed validation of their existence. They wanted to feel wanted, not only by a man, but by the kind of bigger-than-life man who other people admired.
And now, if she had rooftop sex with Gideon, would she be that woman?
She didn’t think so. It wasn’t as if she’d been waiting for hours in the parking lot for him or haunting the players’ exit at the practice rink.
But even if she did join the puck bunny ranks, was that really such a crime? Because if she didn’t see this all the way (no pun intended) to its conclusion, she’d regret it for the rest of her life. She knew that as surely as she knew a thousand people at Fisherman’s Wharf had clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl today.
So if there were any consequences, she’d deal with them later. Tonight was for celebrating that she was young and alive.
Filled with a new sense of purpose, she tried to put aside all thoughts about his celebrity and remember Gideon was just a man. He was a man who loved books and whiskey, who was shy at parties and had bad dreams about Oreos.
He was also a man who listened to her with empathy when she shared a very private thing with him.
Licking her lips nervously, she met his gaze, which was somehow tender and ardent at the same time. She jumped when his hand palmed the back of her neck and that made him smile.
“Shh,” he said.
God, his smile left her trembling with desire, but then he was kissing her again and sensation overwhelmed her. She felt lightheaded and electrified all at once. No one she’d ever kissed had made her feel like this. When he deepened the kiss, she pressed herself more firmly against him.
Then he laid a hand on her breast and squeezed. A moan came from deep inside her chest as she broke the kiss to gasp for breath. A sexual fuse sparked to life and traveled in a sizzling path all the way to her core. Every nerve ending came alive and she felt a little out of control. Her body wanted to do things, was doing things without her permission. She found herself clutching at his head, exposing her throat to his open mouthed kisses, panting like she was in heat.
It was like being drunk without having had any alcohol. She seemed to have no inhibitions. When he slipped his hand under her dress, she didn’t stop him. Nor did she stop him when he pushed so she was on her back on the couch and coaxed her legs apart so he could stroke her right over her damp underwear. This was insane and reckless and so completely out of character for her. This whole night was a detour into Crazy Town, but she wasn’t leaving anytime soon.
She wouldn’t have any proof it happened afterward, which was okay. It wasn’t like she was going to brag about it to everyone like she would have the kiss. This was going to be between her and Gideon. If it even happened. This was a public area. They weren’t in a room with a door that could be locked. They were out in the open. Anyone across the street with good eyes could see them.
And her excitement level escalated.
Gideon was still doing incredible things
to her with his hand, rubbing in a relentless circular motion that felt so good she couldn’t catch her breath.
“I want you, Bailey,” he said in a gruff voice as he ravaged her neck. She could feel his beard against her skin.
“I want you, too. So much.” That didn’t even sound like her voice.
He was still licking and kissing her neck. “Unfortunately, I didn’t come prepared for this. I don’t have any condoms. It’s okay if you don’t either. I’ll make it good for you either way.”
She shuddered as he increased the pressure of the heel of his hand. She was so close.
Wait. He’d spoken just now. The words he’d said only just now permeated her pleasure-stunned brain.
“I—yes. I do have a condom. In my purse.”
“Hallelujah.”
Then he was kissing her again, deep drugging kisses that made it impossible to do anything but feel. Her hands moved of their own accord to his shoulders. They were so broad and muscled. And the heat coming off him… It seemed as if in the unlikely event that the heaters cut out, she’d be perfectly fine, basking in the warmth of Gideon’s hard and heavy body.
His hand lifted and she almost whimpered at the loss, but then he slid it under the elastic of her panties. She made some kind of incoherent noise as he pushed a finger inside her. Her hips lifted as he began thrusting that broad finger in and out of her. She had her hands curled in the lapels of his jacket and she was having a hard time stifling her moans of pleasure.
He pulled back and studied her face and his eyes gleamed fiercely. “God, you’re beautiful,” he said. “So damned beautiful.”
She didn’t want to believe it, but it was right there in his gaze. Somehow those words penetrated her entire being and suddenly she was coming. She arched toward his hand, the hand that was still thrusting and rubbing. Gideon made an animalistic growl of satisfaction as she bucked against him.
When she was off the plateau, she groped for her purse as Gideon rose up on his knees. She knew exactly where the condom was—in the small zippered pocket. Each of her purses had a condom. Not that she ever used them. She just believed in being ready just in case. Many times she’d thought, what’s the use, because she never had spontaneous sex. But that seemingly useless preparation was paying off big time tonight.
Speaking of big…
While she’d been fumbling with her purse, Gideon had been undoing his pants and holy cow, the man was well-endowed. He was gorgeous. Long and thick and gloriously hard.
Speechless, she handed him the condom.
“You okay?” he asked as he rolled it on.
“Mmm,” she murmured, lifting her arms above her head and smiling up at him. She was tingling all over, from her recent orgasm or from the anticipation of feeling his cock fill her completely, she wasn’t sure.
He looked so damned sexy still dressed in his suit, with his erect cock standing out from his body like a tree branch. Above him she could see the night sky, blanketed with stars. It was surreal.
After pulling her panties off, he braced himself with one arm and rubbed her with the tip of his erection. It felt so good. The anticipation had her breathless. Then with passion gleaming in his dark eyes, he was pushing into her, stretching her, filling her and she gave out a long, low moan. It was really happening. She was having outdoor sex with Gideon Aguilar.
He lowered his head and kissed her deeply as he started to move.
“You’re so tight,” he said gruffly. “So good. So tight.”
She hooked one leg around his hip and felt the wool of his suit against her calf and inner thighs. She’d never been made love to by a man who was fully dressed. It thrilled her, making it seem as if he wanted her so much, he couldn’t waste precious time taking his clothes off. Then she felt his mouth close over her breast. When had he pulled her dress down? She couldn’t recall. All she registered was the hot suction as he drew hard on her nipple, sending arrows of fierce pleasure directly to her core. His beard was not as rough as she’d expected it to be, but the coarse hair added a delicious sensation.
He was fucking her with slow, steady strokes when he suddenly stiffened above her. For a moment, she thought he was coming and was sharply disappointed. But then she heard the feminine laughter and a deep male voice.
Shit. They’d been discovered.
Chapter Six
Gideon froze. Remembering the layout of the roof, he didn’t think the people could see much of Bailey, but just in case, he hunched over her and wrapped his arm protectively around her head.
“A little privacy please,” he said gruffly.
“Oh, fuck! Sorry!” the man replied, laughing. “Don’t mind us. We’ll find somewhere else.” The woman giggled and Gideon didn’t move until the door banged shut. Bailey let out a long exhale.
“You okay?” he asked, still embedded deep within her.
“I will be as soon as you start moving again.”
He grinned at her wickedly. “Your wish is my command.”
Just like that, he took up where he’d left off—filling her over and over with his cock. It was a miracle he was still hard after being interrupted like that. He hadn’t even looked behind him to see who it was. All he’d worried about was shielding Bailey. Not that they wouldn’t be able to figure it out if he and Bailey returned to the party together. Wouldn’t be hard to put two and two together, but he’d cross that bridge when he came to it. Right now he had better things to do.
Like make her come again.
God, he wanted to feel her convulse under him as the pleasure wracked her body. He wanted to hear more of her breathy moans. He desperately wished they were both naked. Being skin to skin with her would be miraculous, to run his hand down her side, over her hip, to feel her breasts pressed against his chest. He clenched his jaw. Best not to think too hard about that kind of thing, not if he wanted to last more than a couple of minutes.
“Ever done it outside before?” he asked, pressing hot kisses along the side of her neck.
“No. Never. It’s…exciting.”
He smiled. “It is, isn’t it?” He nipped her earlobe then soothed the bite with his tongue. “I’m going to make you come again, Bailey. I’m going to make you come hard.”
She grabbed his tie. “I’m counting on it.”
He kissed her again as he redoubled his efforts. He wasn’t even breathing that hard yet. She felt so good around him. Her mouth opened under his and he invaded it with his tongue, mimicking the motion of his hips. She was so responsive, so damned beautiful. Part of his brain—the tiny part that wasn’t dazed at the pleasure—wondered if their meeting tonight was destined, a coincidence that wasn’t quite a coincidence.
Putting those thoughts aside for later, he refocused on the task at hand—making Bailey come again. Shifting his weight so he could get some purchase on the floor, he hooked an arm under her knee and levered her leg up. Yeah. This was good. He was going deeper now with each thrust. Her moans got a little louder and more insistent.
“That’s so good,” she gasped, gripping the shoulders of his suit jacket.
Her hips rose to meet his and he slammed his body against hers again and again, harder and faster. The pressure was building inside him, but she was getting close too. He could hear it in her breathing and the urgent noises coming from her throat.
“That’s it, Bailey,” he growled, trying not to think about how wet and tight she was or how close he was to losing it. He was definitely breathing hard and sweating now. Every thrust pushed him that much closer to the edge.
Come on, baby, let it come. Let it take you over.
A few moments later, her breath hitched, then hitched again and she was arching upward, her lips pressed together in an apparent effort not to cry out. It suddenly became his mission to make love to her again somewhere private where she could make all the noise she wanted, shout his damned name if she so desired.
Suddenly, his own orgasm rushed forward and he gritted his teeth against the intense pl
easure. He tried to draw it out as much as possible by pumping his hips a few more times, but the energy seemed to drain from his body and he stopped, leaning down for a kiss.
“Amazing,” he said between kisses. He couldn’t get enough of her soft lips, her smooth skin. “You’re amazing.”
She smiled up at him, looking gorgeous against the dark blue upholstery of the couch. “You were…wonderful.”
With her words echoing in his mind and feeling more than a little proud of himself, he withdrew.
“I’m going to go clean up. I’ll be right back.”
He gave her a kiss and reluctantly headed for the restroom.
As he locked the stall behind him, he couldn’t feel an ounce of regret over what had happened. He should have been interacting with his new teammates tonight and bonding a little, no matter how uncomfortable it was, but there was something about Bailey he couldn’t resist. From the moment he’d left her car, he’d known he couldn’t just let her melt away into the night.
Not that he had time for a relationship right now. He needed to throw himself into his work one hundred and ten percent. That meant extra workouts, extra practice on the ice, more conversations with the coaching staff and teammates until he got up to speed on the Dragon systems. He needed to take advantage of this “fresh start” to prove himself a valuable asset.
Still, he could eke out an evening or two, couldn’t he? For someone as great as Bailey? Sure he could. People who routinely said, “I don’t have time for x, y or z” were full of shit. If it was important enough, people made time. And when he thought about never seeing Bailey again, his chest felt a little tight.
He removed the condom and tossed it in the trash, used some toilet paper to clean himself off and quickly fixed his clothing. He wanted to get back to Bailey as soon as possible.
As he was washing his hands, someone came in.
“Hey, way to score at the Christmas party,” a guy said. “Ian Zappala. I’m the one who interrupted you up there on the roof.”