Keith held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I meant no offense. Sorry, man. She’s, ah, great.” He shook his head as a laugh escaped him. What a rust bucket! He thought the thing was going to stall out every time they stopped for a red light.
Vlad flipped him off. “You’ll see.”
Inside, the pub was as packed as the parking situation suggested. There wasn’t a stool to be had at the bar, and the high tables scattered throughout the area were surrounded by loud, boisterous people having a good time. The energy flowed all around them, making Keith even more pleased that he was out of his apartment for a while and in the presence of other people.
Fighting their way through the crowd, heads down, Vlad led him to a door in the back, next to the bar. “Come on. We have a private room back here.”
The first thing Keith noticed when he stepped through the door after Vlad was a banner on the wall. It was homemade and simply said “Welcome to the team.”
“Our captain’s here, guys!” That said, Vlad walked over to the much smaller bar in their room and grabbed a couple of beers, handing one to Keith.
“Hey, man. Nice to meet you.” Brandon Marcoux shook Keith’s hand and moved aside so that the rest of the guys could welcome him.
Landry “Ace” Hawthorn sauntered over to him, and Keith could tell right away that he was a player. Ace shook his hand and pounded him on the back. “Did the old man tell you about the beach party yet?”
“Old man.” Nice. “No, what about it?”
“We’re having a big bash on the beach the Saturday before the first preseason game. Everyone will be there. The players, the office staff, wives, their brats—everybody. The chicks bring lots of food, and the men grill burgers and stuff. We have horseshoes and volleyball—man, there are tits and ass everywhere. Easy pickings after drinking all day too. I usually go home with a blonde and a brunette. Getting laid doesn’t get any easier. You don’t want to miss it.” He gave him another slap on the back before he made his way out the door, back into the main part of the pub.
“What the fuck was that?”
“That, my friend, is my backup goalie. He’s annoying as hell, but great in the net. He just needs a little fine-tuning—and a lobotomy. Kid’s got no filter. It’s landed him in trouble once or twice too. He even spent a night in jail a year back for something that had to do with a girl. Seems to be a theme here. Every backup goalie I get is a young shit with a ton of attitude. And they don’t last long.”
“Damn. He’s like a tornado. A womanizing tornado.” Keith was laughing as he looked over toward the door, seeing Ace coming back in with a girl on each arm. “Works fast, doesn’t he?”
“You have no idea.”
The rest of the night passed quickly, and by midnight Keith was more than a little buzzed. At his suggestion, they made their way out to the main bar since the crowd had thinned out considerably. He liked to make himself and his teammates just a little bit available to the public when he was comfortable doing so. It did a lot to promote goodwill with the fans, and only cost the players an hour or so of their time.
“Great idea, man. You’ll be a fan favorite in no time.”
Still feeling good, Keith swung his arm around Vlad. “Vlad, my man, I have a few good ideas here and there. Of course I have some bad ones too. For example, it would a bad idea to take that little filly home with me tonight, right?” It was the red boots that caught his eye. She was a redhead, wearing a denim skirt, a frilly white tank top, and red cowgirl boots. From the way she was undressing him with her eyes, he knew she’d be willing. Picking girls up in bars wasn’t his normal MO, but his girl dumped him, so as far as he was concerned, bar girls were fair game now. “Fuck, I’m horny. Twenty-two-year-old guys aren’t meant to go for so long without sex.”
“Hey, man. I’m not your father. You do whatever you want. I’ll even drive you both home if you need me to. Why don’t you go chat her up?” Vlad disentangled himself and pushed Keith toward the girl in question.
“Hey, Lambert.”
Hearing himself addressed like that by yet another lovely woman had him laughing. “And again, the athlete loses his first name. What’s your name, baby?” Did I really just call her baby? This is so not me. Aw, fuck it. You’re a bachelor—live on the edge, man!
She had enough class to roll her eyes at my ‘baby’. “You can call me Pip. My real name’s Penelope, but I go by Pip. So listen. I’m just going to put this out there. I think you’re hot, and I’m looking for some earth-shattering sex. Tonight. With you. Are you interested?”
“Wow. You are direct, aren’t you? I know I should immediately say yes, but to be honest, it’s not my style.” Wait, isn’t this exactly why I walked over here?
“I know. Or at least I know you’ve never been in the tabloids. It’s kind of why I picked you. You have no reason to believe me, but I’m not your typical puck bunny. I’m just here visiting a friend, and I’ve always been the good girl. I want one night. I want to be the bad girl. Just for one night.”
Something was holding him back. He got the vibe that she really was a good girl. It felt wrong. Maybe he wasn’t ready to fuck anything in a skirt after all. “Visiting, huh? How long are you in town?”
With her brow raised, she shook her head once back and forth as if she was surprised they weren’t on their way to the restroom for a quickie already, but she did answer him. “I’m going home tomorrow. I’d like one last good memory to take with me. So, are you interested or not?”
“You sure this is what you want? One night of good memories?”
“More than anything right at this very moment. Don’t make me rethink it. I’m tired of always doing everything the right way. And when I leave, I’ll be back to being the good girl again. Don’t get me wrong, I like being a good person, but it’s not all I am, you know? I want to exercise my wild side. So, you in or out?”
He thought about it for about one point two more seconds. “Can I choose in and out? Yeah. In and out. All night long, if you’re up for it.” He gifted her with a smile that brought his dimples out in force, and she was a goner.
His hand around her waist, he led her back to where Vlad was standing watching it all unfold. “Vlad, this is Pip. She’s going to be riding home with us if that’s okay.”
“Oh, wait. I’m not into three…”
“No! No.” Keith laughed. “We just rode over together. We live in the same building.”
Pip smiled at her assumption. “Oh, sorry. I have my car. I can drive. One thing though. Could I snap a picture of us together and send it to my girlfriend?”
“Safety first, huh? Absolutely.” Keith took her phone and snapped the picture to send to her friend.
Before they turned to leave, Vlad gently held her arm. “At the risk of sounding like a concerned father, how much have you had to drink?”
“That’s sweet, actually. I’ve had one dirty martini. And we ate some appetizers with it. I’m fine.”
“Okay then. You two have a good night.” Vlad gave them a thumbs-up and left them to join Brandon at the pool table.
***
The drive home was uncomfortable, to say the least, and Keith wondered if he’d made a huge mistake. To be honest, he was nervous as hell. He tried learning about Pip, but she wasn’t very forthcoming with details about herself. She was pretty damn quiet for someone who had so openly propositioned him just minutes ago.
To break the silence, Keith asked her some questions. “So why the sudden urgency for a one-nighter? You don’t seem the type.”
She looked at him sideways, mostly keeping her eyes on the road. “I told you. I’m going home tomorrow, where, like I said, I’ll be the good girl next door, and that’s fine, but tonight’s about me doing something for myself. It’s not about my family, people in need, the organizations I volunteer for; it’s just for me. It’s not even about you.” She had the grace to cringe at her brutally honest answer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…“
Keith quickly
interrupted her. She could hear the smile in his voice. “No, it’s okay. Believe it or not, this is my very first one-night stand too.” He reached over and grabbed her hand. “Look. You want a wild night and I’m a little lonely. And I’ve been told I don’t suck in bed.” Giving her a quick wink, he continued to encourage her. “I’ll make it good for you—for both of us. All you have to do is tell me what you like.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each one of her knuckles.
“Oh, wow. Yeah, okay.” She was clenching and unclenching her hand as he kissed it. If he wasn’t mistaken, her breathing was a bit more shallow than it had been a second ago too. He kissed the inside of her wrist and was rewarded with a shiver. “Um, are we almost there?”
Keith’s shoulders shook as he chuckled. He pointed to the building coming up on their right. “That’s the one.”
“Good.”
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Keith took her in his arms and gave her a hot, deep, open-mouthed kiss that had them both panting by the time they reached his floor.
“Jesus.” Had she thought she’d been kissed properly before? Well, he just proved her wrong. The way she tried to stick close to him when he pulled away proved that she felt that kiss all the way to her toes.
“Liked that, did you? Oh, sweetheart. If you liked that, you’re in for a real treat. My tongue? Well, I like to use it.”
“Huh, okay. Yeah.” What did one say to that?
When they walked into his apartment, Keith immediately shut the door and hauled her up against it, kissing her deeply again. When he had to stop to get adequate oxygen into his lungs, Pip asked if he had anything to drink.
“Sure. Are you nervous?” He looked down at his obvious arousal. “I think it’s obvious that I want you here, Pip, but if you’re having a change of heart, I’m okay with that too.” He would never, not in a million years, force a girl to do anything she didn’t want to.
“I am a little nervous, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I do.” She licked her lips as her eyes slowly roamed over his body from head to toe. “God, I really, really do.” She was a sucker for a leanly muscled man. Those long limbs and taut muscles did it for her. Not too big or overbearing—just beautiful definition of the male body.
Another one of Keith’s dimpled smiles lit up his face. “I’m glad. And I’ll only say this once more, I promise. If at any time, and I mean any time, you don’t want to stay, just say so. No hard feelings.” Maybe “hard” wasn’t the right word to use.
“Um, are you trying to get out of this? Oh my God. You are! Oh. I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”
Keith grabbed her and pulled her up against him, placing her hand on his cock. “Uh, no. I am not trying to get out of this, Pip. I just want to you to be sure.”
When she caressed him, he lowered his head and gave her another smoldering kiss as his hands roamed over her curvaceous body. He broke away again and walked into the kitchen. “What would you like? I don’t have any olives, but I have vodka and tonic water. Is that okay? I also have scotch and beer.”
“Actually, I’d love a scotch.”
There was a slight chill in the air since the sun had gone down. Keith saw Pip run her hands over her arms, and walked over to flip the gas fireplace on low. “Sit here and I’ll get us both a glass.”
Pip sat in the chair he pointed to; grateful it was so close to the fireplace. “You know, Keith, you really are a nice guy.”
“Thanks. You’re a nice girl. And we’re going to have fun tonight.” He felt better and better about what he was doing as they spoke. She really was a nice girl just looking for a little excitement. In his book, there was nothing wrong with that. They were single adults. No harm, no foul.
When he handed her a glass of scotch and ice, she patted the spot next to her. She was sitting in his oversized chairs, but he still had to wrap his arm around her to sit down. She put her hand on his thigh and took a sip of her scotch.
“Oh, this is good.” She couldn’t tell what kind it was, but she came from a Scottish family and knew good scotch when she tasted it.
“I’m glad you like it. I really don’t drink more than a beer or two that often, but when I do, I like the good stuff.” They chatted about this and that as they finished their drinks.
“Keith?”
“Um, hm?”
“Would you mind if I took a quick shower?”
“How about some company?” He didn’t bother waiting for an answer. He simply picked her up, putting her glass down on the table in the process, and carried her into his bathroom, where he heartily enjoyed stripping her bare.
Her body was soft and curvy. Keith had always appreciated the silkiness of a woman’s skin. It was such a contrast to his calloused hands and rough face at the end of the day. He wasn’t sure if it was the scotch or if she’d just made her mind to go with it full throttle, but she didn’t show any signs of shyness standing naked before him.
“You’re gorgeous, Pip. Fucking gorgeous.” He proceeded to show her how much she turned him on in that shower.
“Fuck!” Pip was grabbed the windowsill behind her while looking down as Keith continually ran his tongue over her. “Oh my God! Oh, please.” No sooner had those words come out of her mouth than he gently fed one finger into her, and then another.
He felt her tightening around his fingers almost immediately. His cock throbbed with wanting, but he hadn’t bothered to grab his fucking condoms out of his bedroom. He’d have to wait for his own release.
“Yes!” She moaned loudly, thrashing her head from side to side as she came. He continued to lick her more and more softly until she gently pushed him away.
“Wow. That was incredible, Keith. I mean really great. But you didn’t—I mean don’t you…”
“Oh, don’t worry, Pip. We’re nowhere near done.”
She smiled down at him and reached for his hands, pulling him up. Kissing him was thrilling and a bit erotic to her as she could taste herself on his lips. They washed each other again, enjoying every caress.
When Keith turned the water off, Pip’s body language told him she was nervous again. He didn’t believe She was even aware that she was rubbing her arms or biting her lip. “Pip. Spill it. Why are you so nervous? I mean, you did enjoy that, didn’t you?” He didn’t think she could have faked that reaction.
“Oh, yes! Absolutely. You know I did.”
“Then what is it? Hey, if you don’t want me inside you, that’s okay. I told you. You can say no anytime.” Please, please don’t say no.
“It’s nothing. Let’s go to your bed.”
He actually laughed—again. He laughed a lot around her, and he enjoyed it. “No, it’s something. Tell me. I promise not to judge you or laugh.”
“Well, you promise not to throw me out?”
“Of course. What is it? You have a boyfriend? A girlfriend? What?”
“That was the first orgasm I’ve ever had that I didn’t give myself, and—I haven’t technically ever had sex before.” She jumped out of the shower, and walked quickly toward the bedroom, Keith right on her heels.
“Pip.” He wrapped his fingers around her arm and turned her around to face him, a bit surprised at her admission. “You’re telling me you’re a virgin?”
“Yup. Bet I’m the first twenty-four year old virgin you’ve met, huh?” Even though she was trying to make light of it, Keith could tell she wasn’t sure of his reaction.
“I don’t really know. It’s not a question I ask people when I meet them.”
“So, do you want me to leave?”
“Hell no. You’re an adult. You know what you want. We’ve both made it very clear that we’re not looking for a relationship.” Keith kissed her and gently walked them back until her knees hit the bed. “Just tell me if I do anything you don’t like.”
Pip smiled against his lips. “Okay, but so far, so good.” She wrapped her arms around him and rubbed her tongue against his in a way that made him moan in appreciation. His sounds e
ncouraged her further. Leaning back, she fell to the bed, taking him with her. She wrapped her legs around his hips, feeling his hard cock pushing against the core of her body.
“Pip. I need to get a condom.”
“You’re going to do it already?”
He couldn’t hold in the laugh that escaped him. “Not just yet.” He knew she was a little scared of the unknown, and he didn’t want to have to stop when he was ready to enter her in order to put the condom on. “I just want to be ready for you.”
“Oh, okay.” She watched as he tore the package open, but stopped him before he placed it on his rigid cock. “Can I do it? Show me how.”
He guided her hands as she rolled the condom down over him. “Jesus. Your hands feel great.” His body shuddered, showing the truth of his words. His reaction made her bolder and she stroked him again. “Ah, yeah. That’s good, Pip.”
“I’ve done this much before. Not putting the condom on, but stroking a guy. I like the feel of you. As long as I’m being completely honest here, I’ve always been curious about, uh, licking it—you know, your penis. Can I?”
“Oh God, no.” At her forlorn look, he explained. “It’s not that I don’t want you to—God, I do—it’ll just be over too soon. But later…” He let that sentence go as he grabbed her hands and placed them behind his neck again while his hands went back to exploring. He took her lips with his and kissed her gently, slowly adding pressure, and then slipping his tongue inside until she was arching against him.
When more foreplay caused her breath to come out in short, urgent puffs, his fingers wandered down to stroke her until she was wriggling impatiently beneath him. She was slick and swollen with need. He gently eased himself inside of her, but stopped when she stiffened up. “You’re sure about this?” For the love of all that’s holy, don’t tell me to stop now.
Captain My Captain (NHL Scorpions #0.5) Page 3