by Grey, S. R.
Eliza and I still would’ve stayed with her into the next night, but her mom insisted we take a break and go out to eat.
“You both need a proper dinner,” Mrs. Townsend said when she stepped into the nursery.
We thought she was coming in to bring us sandwiches. That’d been our sustenance the past two days, in between taking turns to shower so Ava would never be alone.
But Mrs. Townsend had arrived to lay down the law.
“Sandwiches,” she scoffed, “you wish. There’ll be no more room service at Chez Townsend. You’re going out to dinner.” She directed her next words to her daughter. “Afterward, go spend the night at Benny’s, release some tension.”
“Mom!”
“We’re all adults here,” her mom reminded us. “And you two need some alone time. Plus, frankly, Ava needs a break from you both.”
“I guess we could use some time to ourselves,” Eliza murmured, looking over at me questioningly.
I replied, “Sure.”
Guess we had lots of tension to work off, because we never made it to dinner. Out by my car, before we got in, Eliza came up to me. She stopped by the driver’s door and smiled coquettishly.
“What’re you doin’, babe?” I questioned. “Aren’t we going out to dinner?”
“Not just yet.” She placed her hands on my chest. “In fact, I say to hell with dinner.”
I knew what that meant, and it was all I needed to hear. It’d been far too long since I’d touched Eliza in any sexual way. We’d have to wait until we got to my house for anything too crazy—after all, we were in her parents’ driveway—but I sure could kiss the crap out of her.
And that’s what I did. My lips crashed down to hers, and I savored and devoured. Eliza was vanilla and sugar and just…Eliza. She was home to me.
“I missed you so much,” I breathed against her mouth when we stopped to catch our breath.
“I need you right now, Benny.”
I felt the same way. We’d just gone through so much, and we craved that connection. We loved one another. And it was time to show it.
It was amazing we made it to my house without pulling over and attacking each other. Eliza was all over me the whole way, running her hand up and down my leg, kissing along my neck, and just generally teasing me mercilessly.
I loved it, though.
I was so fucking hard by the time we entered my house that I just about ripped her clothes off her body. Good thing she helped. It saved her yoga pants and shirt from complete ruin. My shirt, however, became a casualty when Eliza tore it open, sending the buttons flying across the foyer.
“Fuck, yeah,” I breathed out.
Eliza was desperate. “I need you in me as soon as possible,” she rasped. “I can’t wait a minute more. That drive just about killed me.”
“I’m right there with you, babe.”
Unbuckling my belt, I lowered my pants in record time.
Hoisting her up, I murmured, “Wrap your legs around me, sweetheart.”
She did, and I walked her backward to the wall.
“You ready?” I asked when we reached our destination.
She nodded.
“Okay, one sec. I just need to grab a condom,” I said.
“No, Benny.” She stopped me. “I want to feel all of you this time.”
Fuck, I almost came right there.
I positioned myself to thrust into her. But first, I checked, “Are you sure?”
I knew she was on birth control, and we’d discussed that we were both clean, but she’d insisted on a condom before.
“I’m sure,” she replied.
I loosened my hands on her hips, allowing her to lower herself onto me s-l-o-w-l-y.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she chanted as she took me in inch-by-inch.
“Damn,” I murmured. “You feel so good.”
We stilled for a minute, just savoring the connection, but then I grabbed her ass and took control.
“Oh, Benny,” she gasped as I fucked her hard and soft and every which way.
“You like that, eh?”
“Mm-hmm…”
I did a little circle thing with my hips. “What about that?”
“Oh, yes, more of that.”
Tipping her pelvis a little more, so that my dick could better stimulate the sensitive bundle of nerves within her, I moved a little faster. “Yes!” she screamed.
When she came apart, it sent me over the edge. “I love you, I love you,” I murmured as I filled her.
I thought she’d want to talk afterward, about us and where we stood. But she informed me there was nothing more that needed to be said that we hadn’t expressed with our bodies.
“I love you so much, Benny,” she said. “And all my secrets are out. You’ve more than proven yourself. I think we can just figure out the rest as we go.”
“That sounds perfect to me,” I replied.
And it was.
We were back together.
We were Benny and Eliza, in it for the long run.
And you know what?
That was better than all the chocolate donuts in the world.
There were no more major bumps in the road for Benny and me. It was like once I’d finally let go of all my secrets, I was set free. And because of that he and I became a strong and healthy team.
No one dared mess with us, not even Drew.
Surprisingly, the jerk stuck to his word. He became a consistent presence in Ava’s life. I’d never grow to be a huge Drew fan, but he in her life was really good for Ava. She liked her dad. Maybe she sensed he was her father, or maybe it was because with her he was a whole different guy, caring and sweet.
“Do you really think Drew’s changed?” Benny asked me one afternoon.
It was a month or so into our new arrangement that involved Drew spending time alone with Ava. Benny and I were hanging in his backyard, out by the pool where we’d first messed around.
Smiling at that memory, I leaned back in a lounge chair and got around to answering his question.
“I hope so, Benny. And so long as he keeps doing right by my baby, I’ll keep giving him the benefit of the doubt. But let me tell you, if Drew fucks up, even once, this mama bear will be on his ass so fast his head will spin.”
Benny laughed and scooted his chair closer to mine. “I don’t doubt that. And I’ll be right there with you, babe.”
“Damn, I love you, Benny.”
“I love you more, Eliza.”
We linked hands and, positioned as we were, I had to laugh.
“What?” he wanted to know.
Giggling, I replied, “It’s just that with the way we’re sitting here, hands linked, staring out at the water, we totally look like we’re in one of those erectile dysfunction drug ads.”
“Babe…” Benny leveled me with a stern look. “Do I need to demonstrate to you that though it may look like we’re in one of those ads, we are definitely not anything like those couples?” He gestured to his junk, covered by swim trunks but still visibly hard and ready. Just like I liked him.
“Mmm, we sure aren’t,” I murmured.
He crooked a finger. “C’mere.”
I needed no more enticement. I was on his lap, straddling that man, in five seconds flat.
And then he was on me, in me, and all over me.
Ah, life was good.
In the weeks that followed, life got even better.
Nolan, his wrist fully healed, returned to the lineup. Having him back on the first line meant Drew was demoted to the second line. He took it well, so maybe he was really changing. Or maybe he appreciated that Brent, Nolan, and Benny back together meant good things for the team overall.
That’s right—the Wolves were kicking ass. They made the playoffs with ease, and winning another Stanley Cup became an even more real possibility.
As much as I loved hockey, I had other things on my mind. Benny had asked me and Ava to move in with him. I’d said yes, of course, and then had gone into f
ull nesting mode.
So there we were, one sweltering afternoon, transporting boxes of my stuff from our cars to his house.
And that’s when it hit me—the cutest idea of how we could celebrate the momentous occasion.
“Hey, Benny.” I set down a box of clothes I was carrying. “I need to run out for a minute.”
“Why’s that?”
“I want to pick up something so we can properly celebrate my moving in.”
“That sounds nice, Eliza. What did you have in mind?”
Poor guy was carrying a big box, trying to balance it as he spoke. I had no mercy.
Walking past him as I crossed the foyer, I delivered a playful swat to his butt and replied, “Can’t say. It’s a surprise.”
I took off before he could get rid of the box and come after me. Benny had creative ways to get me to talk, though I sure did love succumbing.
With a smile, I left.
When I returned, Benny had all the boxes inside. Perfect. I was officially all moved in.
I found him out back, relaxing on one of the chaise lounges by the pool.
He gestured to the bag I was carrying when I called out to him.
“Whatcha got there, babe? Is that the surprise?”
“It sure is,” I confirmed as I plopped down on the edge of his chaise lounge.
“Well, let’s see what you got.”
I began reaching into the bag. “Since champagne was out, for obvious reasons, I chose…” I pulled out a big bakery box. “…the next best thing for celebrating.”
Benny’s deep green eyes lit up. “Aw, babe. You bought donuts for us to celebrate with? This is perfect.”
I tipped the box so he could see the name on the top. “Even better, all of them are chocolate-frosted and from your favorite donut shop.”
“Damn, girl, I knew there was a reason why I fell in love with you.” He patted my ass. “Now let’s get our butts inside and pour some nice cold milk to go with these donuts. After that”—he winked—“we’ll get down to really celebrating.”
“I like the way you think, Mr. Perry.”
“I know you do,” he laughed.
Inside, we poured milk into champagne flutes and placed the donuts on fancy china plates. We toasted to us, smooshing our donuts together before we ate them.
Benny then informed me that he had a surprise for me, too.
“You do?” I said, surprised.
“You bet I do, and I think you’re really going to love it.”
“I’m sure I will, Benny.”
“Oh, I know you will. Anyway, since Ava’s with Drew this weekend, I went ahead and finished something for when she comes home.”—I loved the way he said home—“Do you want to see what I’ve been up to?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“We have to go upstairs.”
“Lead the way,” I replied.
He took my hand and led me up to the room next to our bedroom. We’d discussed making it Ava’s nursery, but first it needed to be painted.
Then again, maybe not, as before Benny even opened the door I could smell fresh paint.
“Hmm, seems someone’s been busy,” I remarked.
“I sure have. Come in and see how busy I’ve been.”
He opened the door the whole way…and wow. He sure had been busy.
The bedroom was completely ready for Ava, done it up in shades of pink, with all new cream-colored furnishings.
Stepping over to a new crib, I turned to him and said, “I love it. But, wow, when in the world did you find time to do all this?”
Everything looked so amazing, meticulously detailed down to the cute little lambs on the lamps and pillows. Lambs were quickly becoming Ava’s favorite animal after Benny had given her a little stuffed “lambie” a few days after we’d gotten back together. She freakin’ loved that thing.
Benny went on to inform me, “I painted on the nights you weren’t here. And I had the furniture delivered one day when you were out with Ava. Though I have to confess, it wasn’t all me. I needed a woman’s opinion, so Lainey helped out. She chose most of the decorative stuff.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “That sneaky girl never mentioned a thing.”
“I swore her to secrecy, that’s why.”
Lainey was a goofball, and so was Benny, so I had to laugh. “You and Lainey shopping must’ve been a trip.”
“It sure was.” He snickered. “You should’ve seen the looks on the employees’ faces when she dragged me into a store called ‘Lambs for Little Ones.’ The workers got quite the shock.”
“Oh, I imagine, what with a professional hockey player coming into their store. How exciting it must’ve been for them.”
“Uh, that wasn’t what shocked them.”
“Oh?” I raised a brow. “What did?”
With a devious smile, he said, “At Lainey’s urging, I decided to have a little fun with the workers.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Eliza, it was too fucking funny. I told them I was redecorating my bedroom and had my heart set on a lamb motif. Lainey went along with it, of course, holding up lamb things and asking me which ones I liked.”
“God, Benny, no way.”
We shared a good laugh.
And then we shared an even better kiss.
I was so touched by all the work and thought Benny had put into Ava’s room.
I didn’t know if we’d get married, or if we’d have kids of our own some day, but I had a feeling both of those things would happen.
For right now, though, everything was perfect.
We were a family.
And that was enough.
Look for Dylan’s story, Caution on Ice, coming this winter!
S.R. Grey is an Amazon Top 100 and a #1 Barnes & Noble Bestselling author. She is the author of the bestselling Boys of Winter hockey romance series, the popular Judge Me Not books, the award-winning Promises series, the Inevitability duology, A Harbour Falls Mystery trilogy, and the steamy Laid Bare series of novellas. Ms. Grey’s works have appeared on multiple Amazon Bestseller lists, including the top 100 several times. She’s also a #1 Bestselling Author on Barnes & Noble and a Top 100 Bestselling Author on iTunes.
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Thank you, readers and lovers of this series. Big, huge hockey hugs for everyone, including the amazing bloggers who promote this series and all my other novels. You are amazing and I couldn’t do this without you.
Thank you to Christopher John for the stunning cover photo and Najla Qamber for designing book covers that capture the feel of this series so well.
Thank you, Franci N., for beta reading and always providing valuable feedback. I appreciate you beyond words.
Thank you also to Kristin S. and the editing team at Hot Tree Editing.
And last, but not least, thank you to my family and friends, and to my esteemed hockey “consultants.”
Y’all make this journey possible.
Here’s your chance to read the first chapter of Destiny on Ice, Brent Oliver’s story. It’s the first novel in the Boys of Winter series. Oh, and there’s some early-days Benny in there.
Golden Boy Gets a Little Tarnished
My father was a great hockey player. Back in the day, in the era of eighties’ big hair and synthesized music, Billy Oliver won not just one, but two Stanley Cups. He was aw
arded the Conn Smythe trophy both times and has received an assortment of other hardware throughout the years.
He’s retired now, but my dad was once a star.
To me, though, he’s always just been Dad.
But as his only child, I have a legacy to live up to. I pray I don’t disappoint him. I pray someday I’ll be as good as he once was. And damn it, I better win a freaking Stanley Cup like he did.
I have no choice, not really. Since the moment my father first laced up hockey skates on my three-year-old little feet, the look of pride on his face told me even then all I needed to know—anything short of being the best will never do.
And guess what?
In many ways, I’ve become the best at what I do, which is, like my dad, play professional hockey.
I’ve been good since the start, a natural some say. I don’t know about that, but I do know that even before I was drafted—in the first round by the Las Vegas Wolves, an expansion team at the time—I was being called “The Golden Boy” and “The Next One.”
These days, three years later, I’m pretty much the poster boy for the NHL. And I have a slew of endorsement deals to prove it.
Lately, though, I’ve been falling short.
And I really don’t know why.
Something is missing for me in the game. Or is it something that’s missing in me?
I blow out a breath and shake my head.
Things started out so great. Where’d it all go wrong?
I made a name for myself early on. Expansion teams usually struggle for years before posting a winning record. Not so for the Wolves. With me centering what was then a subpar line, I was still able to make us shine. We came out swinging that first season in the league.
Brent Oliver Scores the Game-Winning Goal in His and the Wolves’ First NHL Game, Sets Up Teammates for Two More
One month later, there was this:
The Wolves Off to a Completely Unexpected Stellar Start
Then things started to slide.