The Bad Boy Hockey Collection: A Collection Of Single Daddy Romances

by Cass Kincaid

  The muffled sound is enough to halt Craig’s fingers from going any further, and he breaks the kiss with a palpable reluctance, hovering so close to me that I can feel the damp heat of his breath still scorching my lips. “Are you okay?” His voice is hoarse, breathless. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  He pulls away, putting a distance of only inches between us, but it may as well feel like miles. Hands running through his hair, Craig turns to face me. “Megan, say something,” he pleads, apology lacing his words. “You can tell me it was a bad idea. I’m sorry.”

  A bad idea. Hell, judging by the tingling of my skin and the racing beat of my heart, I’d have said it was a phenomenal fucking idea. But my brain is finally catching up, finally winning the battle over my very aroused body. “Right,” I say after a moment. “It was a bad idea.”

  His expression falters.

  “It’s okay,” I sigh. “It is, I swear. It’s fine.” It’s not fine, my body screams.

  Craig seems to be mulling over what to say next, his hands pressed hard against the back of his neck as he lets out a long, steadying breath. He must choose to respond with silence because he turns the key in the ignition and shoves the shifter into drive.

  Without a word. Without another glance in my direction.

  It hurts to think that’s how this night is going to end—with a passionate kiss that leads to awkwardness and undoubtedly a ruined friendship before it even had time to start.

  Craig drives past Alder Street, the street we would turn onto to go to Aunt Nancy’s. “Hey...” I turn to watch the street pass me by in the window, then wrench around to stare at him. “You missed the turn.”

  But he knows that. He’s lived here almost his whole life. He would know these streets with his eyes closed.

  He remains silent as he turns the pickup truck onto Main Street and takes the corner recklessly when he pulls the truck into the repair shop’s parking lot. He reaches over to the visor above the passenger seat and pulls it down, pressing the button on the square device clipped to it. The huge garage door screeches and rumbles as it opens. He drives ahead, parking the truck in the empty bay, beside my own rusty car.

  “Craig?”

  He presses the button on the visor again and the door begins its loud, slow descent to close behind us. By the time the door touches the floor, shrouding us in darkness and blocking out the dim light of the streetlights, Craig’s mouth is on mine again, and this time he doesn’t pull away until we’re both gasping for air, our chests heaving with the weight of our need.

  “What are we doing here?” I manage to choke out, seeing the dashboard dials reflect in his eyes just before they go out.

  His thumb runs across my bottom lip, sending every nerve ending within me straight into overdrive. “You hesitated,” he replies simply, breathless. “When I said it was a bad idea. If you’re up for a bad decision, Meg, so am I.”

  “You think this is a bad decision?” I can’t breathe, can’t do anything but search his eyes for something, anything, that will give me a clue as to what’s going on in that sexy head of his.

  “To be honest, I’m not really interested in thinking at all,” he whispers, pressing his lips softly against mine as he reaches across my body and unbuckles my seatbelt. “The only thing I am interested in is you, and how you kissed me back.”

  For a split second, everything stops. No movement, no sound, just a void as we watch and wait for each other to pull away, to stop things before—

  I dive towards him, giving in to every ounce of bubbling arousal I can feel invading my mind and body. My lips crash against his, and Craig kisses me back, hard, pulling me across the bench seat and up onto his lap as I scramble to get as close to him as possible.

  My legs straddle his thighs in the driver’s seat, and Craig fumbles with the buttons on the side of his seat, never once breaking our kiss. His tongue tangles with mine as the seat slides backwards, and he reclines it back as far as it will go.

  We pull at the clothes that are barriers between us. I tug his shirt up and past his shoulders first, helping him to pull mine away from my body, too. In the darkness, I’m desperate to feel the heat of his skin against mine, to feel his muscles bunch with the exertion of showing me how badly he wants me.

  Because I want him just as irrevocably.

  “Megan, you’re so beautiful.” His voice is raspy as his eyes skim over my bare abdomen and the pale pink lace bra I’m still wearing.

  Beautiful, he’d called me. Not hot, not some derogatory adjective a man would use if he was just giving into his most primal desires and taking me to get what he physically needed.

  Craig Connelly wants more than that from me. At least, that’s how I construe the meaning of his breathless comment. That’s what I hope. Because I’m not a woman who takes giving myself to a man lightly. But I will give myself to this man, purely because I don’t remember a time when someone has so completely taken over my mind and body the way he has. Every breath, every feverish gasp and goosebump that rises on my flesh from his touch—it’s because of him. For him.

  I want Craig, too. And to hell with whatever consequences come from it.

  Chapter Eight

  Craig

  I’d given her the chance to tell me this was a bad idea. I’d paused and hesitated as much as I could, allowing her every opportunity I could muster to pull away from me and turn me down.

  But Megan has given in to the same game we’ve been playing since the day I met her, and she’s doing the same thing I am—ignoring the rules completely. She’s got the same unrelenting desire coursing through her veins, and the same incessant need for actions that might result in something making sense. Anything.

  Megan came to Cardon Springs looking for a fresh start, for a way to pick herself up from the cruelty and unfairness that life has cast upon her.

  Instead, she found me—someone who’s just looking for the same thing.

  That can’t be a coincidence. And as I slide my hands over her bare skin, my fingertips tingling with the electricity I can feel sparking between us, I know it’s not.

  This isn’t a mistake. It can’t be. Which is exactly why I give up on words, give up on hesitancy, and allow my desire to just feel her to take over me.

  The way her mouth melds against mine is intoxicating, and the way her hands are soft and firm at the same time as they explore my bare chest is the most sensual thing I’ve ever felt. But as our kiss becomes more consuming, our touches and movements more frantic, pure and unadulterated lust takes over, guiding us as we awkwardly unbutton and pull and tug our remaining clothes off, aching for more.

  I need to be inside her. My guttural groans as Megan’s fingertips graze over the fly of my jeans are deeply rooted in agony. Judging by the flash of concern in her eyes, she knows it.

  “I want you, Meg,” I manage to growl against her sweet mouth as my hands pull away her unclasped bra and cup her ample breasts in my hands. It’s her turn to moan with the sensation of my fingers circling her pert nipples, and despite how awkward it is to get undressed in the cramped space of my truck’s driver’s seat, the sight of her naked silhouette straddling my lap is absolutely breathtaking and worth every awkward and uncomfortable moment.

  Megan unzips my jeans and I lift my hips to help her pull them down as far as she can get them. She pulls her soft lips from mine, letting out a long, frustrated sigh as she tugs desperately on the denim, determined to get every barrier out of our way.

  “Meg,” I whisper, sliding my hands between us and holding her hands in mine. “Megan. Slow down. It’s okay.” I bring one hand up to glide around to the back of her neck, pulling her down to me again. “Just come here.”

  I kiss her again, passionately, and she responds, moaning against my mouth. I shift in the seat, pushing my jeans just a bit farther down on my hips, enough to let my rigid cock spring free. The throbbing ache and pulsing isn’t eased by its release, and my breath hitches when Megan’s soft fingertips c
aress the silky-smooth skin along my shaft.

  “Son of a—” I suddenly clutch her fingers desperately between my own, halting her. “Your touch is like fucking gasoline,” I choke out in a hoarse voice. “With the fire burning in me right now, you’re going to make me combust if you keep doing that.”

  I can’t see her face clearly, but I’m almost sure I can hear the smile in her reply. “Sorry.”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” I whisper against her lips, running my tongue along her bottom lip as I slip my fingers past the hem of her panties and caress the sensitive flesh beneath it.

  “Me too,” she moans, guiding my hands away from the soft curls of her core. “Do you have a condom?”

  If she’s embarrassed by asking, it doesn’t show in her voice. Silently, I hold her in place while stretching out to flip open the glovebox, retrieving my wallet from it and the condom I’ve kept in its folds for too long to admit to.

  She pushes the fabric further to the side, rising up onto her knees. Her head is ducked to prevent hitting it on the truck cab ceiling, but she kisses me feverishly as she waits for me to unwrap and roll the condom on, then positions herself against the tip of my aching erection. I hold myself in place, struggling with the desire to buck my hips upwards and bury myself inside her.

  Megan slowly lowers her body onto mine, letting out a long sigh as I sink into her wet core. Her tight walls clench deliciously around me, and a groan that sounds a whole lot like relief falls from my lips as I tilt my head back against the headrest and relish in the seductive bliss I feel just being enveloped by her body.

  “Oh...” She whimpers when she rocks against me, sending a jolt of sensation careening through my nerve endings like molten lava. I can only imagine what it must feel like for her.

  We’re slow and methodic at first, giving Megan time to adjust to my size and giving me a moment to calm myself down as much as I can. Each time her hips rock forward, I lift mine to meet her halfway, eliciting low, painfully sensual sounds from us both. My truck is filled with only the beating of our hearts as they pound achingly against our ribcages, and the soft whimpers and moans that pass between us amidst the kisses we share.

  Without consciously doing it, though, the pace of our movements becomes quicker, more feverish and greedy. My tongue isn’t just tasting Megan’s mouth anymore; it’s devouring it. Her hips aren’t just rocking against mine, they’re slamming against me. My movements are just as aggressive, and one hand juts up to press against the ceiling to steady myself and give me more leverage.

  Megan lets out a strangled cry, her head tilting back as her hips meet each thrust with passionate desperation, her fingernails digging into my shoulders. The sting only fuels my need to give her everything her body is pleading for. The slick inner walls of her core are clenched tightly around my pulsing cock, squeezing me and pushing me closer and closer to my release with each decadent thrust.

  “Christ,” I gasp, leaning forward to suck one of her hardened nipples just to prevent other pleas and expletives from toppling from my mouth.

  “Yes...” she pants out in loud gasps as she slides my entire length into her and then back out again. “Yes...”

  My hands grip her hips tightly, guiding her onto me, aching to feel every inch of her from the inside out. “Meg—”

  I mean to warn her. Fuck, I try. But everything comes crashing down around me and my body shatters beneath her as she rocks against me again and again, forcing every muscle in her core to constrict and clench, bearing down on my rigid length as she comes apart with me deep inside her.

  “Craig!” Megan cries out my name, clutching onto my shoulders with the desperation of someone about to be lost at sea, as her own release rages through her and extinguishes every flame of the blazing fire that had fueled her frantic movements only moments before.

  Everything slows down—time, our breathing, our ability to move. I don’t say anything as I listen to her breathing become more even as she pants against my collarbone, her head resting against the side of my neck.

  “Well,” I say, breaking the silence after what seems like hours, but is probably only minutes, has passed. “That settles that, then.”

  Sluggish, Megan lifts her head from my shoulder, and I can see her silhouette in front of me. “Settles what?”

  I bring my hands up to caress the damp flesh of her throat, pushing her hair back behind her ears. “I wondered if we would be as incredible in bed together as I thought we’d be,” I say with a grin. “Turns out, we are.”

  She’s quiet for a moment, then breaks into a fit of chuckles. “We weren’t in bed, Craig.”

  I lean forward and kiss her mouth softly. “That’s okay, there’s always next time.”

  Chapter Nine

  Megan

  It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t expected.

  But Craig has made me fall for him. Everything about him—his crooked smile, his soulful eyes, his delightfully muscular body and the way his arms held me with such desire, such purpose. Most of all, his mind and demeanor have entranced me. He’s a man with only one thing driving him forward; his need to do right by his son.

  And if that’s not the sexiest thing about a man, I don’t know what is. Everything that comes after that is just bonus. And, hell, is there a lot that comes after that.

  Cardon Springs is supposed to be my place to start over, to begin to live again. I never imagined that someone like Craig would be a part of that.

  But here he is, and here I am, in his pickup truck, slowly pulling my clothes back on as we share tender kisses and warms words in husky, satiated voices.

  If unexpectedly having sex with Craig in the front seat of his truck is supposed to be awkward, it’s not. In fact, I’m more comfortable now with him than I’ve been since the day I met him, and I can feel the calmness radiating off him as well.

  The urgency and undercurrent of our desire has been quenched momentarily, allowing us both to breathe without the electricity of our physical needs brimming just below the surface.

  “I should probably get you home,” Craig says, tugging his t-shirt back over his chiseled abdomen. “You and I both know Nancy’s sitting in that chair by the window, watching and waiting with stars in her eyes.”

  The mental image makes me smile. Mostly because Aunt Nancy had been right about Craig. About what a good man he is, and that he’d be good for me, too. “And you want to go home to Ellis,” I add, giving him a knowing grin. “It’s okay, you can say it. You don’t have to hide that from me.”

  He leans over and kisses me, a slow and passionate kiss that leaves me breathless and rethinking the earlier thought that my desire for him had been quenched. “You are a truly amazing woman, Meg,” he breathes against my lips. “Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.”

  I’m grinning like a goddamn fool as he leans back and finishes pulling his clothes back into position. We drive from the garage to Aunt Nancy’s house with only a few words spoken between us, but Craig’s arm is stretched across the bench seat, his fingers entwined in mine. The way his thumb runs across my knuckles, so softly and sensually, says more than his words ever could.

  Something has happened between Craig and I. Something more than just giving ourselves to each other in the front seat of his truck in a flurry of overwhelming need. Something daunting. Something that could be like a dream come true for me. Something very, very good for us both.

  Or very, very bad.

  A thought niggles at my consciousness. You’re not ready for this. You can’t handle this. This wasn’t the plan.

  I remind myself that my plans were crushed the moment I left Dallas. The moment my boss ripped away my dream job and sent me packing.

  To a small town called Cardon Springs.

  Where a man named Craig Connelly has taken me by surprise and made part of me think that that should have been the plan all along.

  “I want to see you again,” he says, pulling his truck into Aunt Nancy’s driveway. “Are you fre
e tomorrow night?”

  It’s on the tip of my tongue to nod, but I wonder if I shouldn’t seem too eager. “As good as that sounds, I should probably spend at least one evening with Aunt Nancy,” I say as an excuse. “Don’t want her to develop a complex, you know.”

  He chuckles, giving my hand a squeeze. “Fair enough. What about the next night?”

  He’s not going to give up easily, I can tell, so I nod. “That sounds really nice, Craig. Where are we going to go when everything closes down by eight o’clock?” I smirk.

  “My place,” he says with a smile. “I can’t very well ask my mom to watch Ellis again. Besides, I’ll be more comfortable having my little man in my sight. I’d love for you to meet him, Megan.”

  My stomach constricts at the thought of meeting his son, despite the fact that the little boy isn’t even a year old. It seems like a big step. I am about to push the thought aside and just give another smile when Craig continues.

  “That’s probably a bit scary, and I get that,” he assures me. “But I’d love to introduce you to him, if that’s something you want to do. If we’re something you want.”

  “Craig, I—”

  “I’m not meaning you have to promise anything, Meg,” he says. “We’ll go slow, I swear. I just want to make sure you and I...well, that whatever is going on here is something you want. Because I sure as hell do. Want it, I mean. Want you.”

  His confession traps my breath in my throat, but I answer him without even weighing the question in mind. “I do, too. Want this, I mean.” I promise him with a soft smile. “I’ll see you and Ellis soon, okay?”

  I climb from the truck, but Craig doesn’t let go of my hand right away, instead choosing to bring my fingers up to his mouth and kiss my knuckles softly.

  “I’m looking forward to it, Megan.”

  I give him a crooked grin, squeezing his hand before I let it go and pull reluctantly away. “It’s Meg,” I tell him softly. Then, I head up the walkway to the front porch, where the outside light is still on, giving him one more fleeting glance over my shoulder before I disappear inside the house, leaving part of my heart in that truck with him.