by Mandy Baxter
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” Reily brought her gaze up to meet his. Goddamn, she was beautiful. Her bright blue eyes swallowed him whole. “You’re amazing, Travis. And you deserve your spot on the ice.”
He smiled. “You think I’m amazing?”
Her cheeks flushed with color and she averted his gaze. He couldn’t get enough of that flustered expression. “You know I do. I think I told you at least a dozen times over the course of the night.”
“I want to hear it a dozen more.”
“Need an ego stroking?” she teased.
Travis hadn’t missed how she’d deflected his tender sentiment and steered the conversation away from anything that dealt with their emotions. But his cock jumped to attention just the same. God, she could get to him so easily. “I wouldn’t say no to a good stroking,” he drawled. He could give her some emotional space. For now. “Especially if you use your mouth.”
Reily’s eyes met his and her lips curled in a seductive smile. “You liked that, huh?”
“Like doesn’t really cut it,” Travis said. He put his mouth to hers and kissed her slowly as he reveled in the softness of her lips. “I fucking loved it.”
She pulled away and her gaze became tentative. Anxiety pooled in Travis’s gut. “I figured with all of the … um … experience you’ve had that I might not be as good.”
His heart sank. He hated that she believed so much of what the press portrayed of him. “Reily.” He gripped her chin and brought her eyes to his. “It’s not what you think. I’ve played around, yeah. But I’m not out there getting into bed with a different woman every night. Sensationalism, remember?”
Her eyes glistened in the low light of her bedroom and she gave a quick nod. “And as for measuring up? Believe me when I tell you, you’re the best I’ve ever had.”
* * *
Reily refused to let the tears that pooled in her eyes spill over. Maybe it was silly to have hoped that somehow she’d mean more to Travis than the string of other women in his past. But to hear him say the words with such sincerity nearly unraveled her. She didn’t doubt his honesty. Not one bit. To know that this night had been special to him filled her with so much tender emotion that she thought she might burst.
She couldn’t float on this blissful cloud forever, though. They’d spent every minute of the night pleasuring each other and now that the sun was up, it was time for reality to rear its ugly head. Travis might have assured her that hockey wasn’t as important to him as the people he chose to have in his life, but she knew he was downplaying it for her. Anyone who played with as much skill and passion as he did had to have some pretty serious love for the sport. She’d make sure that he continued to play. She’d smooth things over with Bob.
But in order to do that, she’d have to give up the one thing she wanted more than anything.
“The Stanley Cup starts in four days,” she said. “And I know that Bob considers you a key piece to winning the championship. Last night was the best night of my life, but if you’re going to secure a place on the ice, last night is all we can have.”
A furrow cut into Travis’s brow. His gaze darkened and he held Reily even tighter as though worried she’d try to run away. “That’s a cop-out and you know it. Don’t push me away, Reily.”
She had to. She had no choice. Even good intentions went south sometimes and though Travis seemed to be infatuated with her now, it could come to an end just as quickly. Reily had to guard her heart against him. If he decided to move on, he’d still have his career, but she’d lose everything.
Travis was stubborn, though. He’d press his case. Continue to seduce her. She’d be helpless to deny him anything if he touched her, kissed her, whispered dirty things in her ear. Reily was defenseless when it came to Travis and he knew it. He’d exploit that weakness if given the chance.
“Until the playoffs are over.” She could placate him. Offer a temporary stay. After a couple of weeks, he might lose interest on his own. It would hurt like hell, but it would be better than the total ruination she’d suffer if she allowed her feelings for him to deepen. “Just a break until the media circus dies down.”
“I don’t want that.” His gaze further darkened and his jaw squared. “And I know you don’t want that either.”
He didn’t know what he wanted. He was still riding the high of the previous night. “I’m suggesting this for the sake of both of our careers,” she said. “This is what I do for a living, Travis. Let me take care of this for both of us and when it’s all over, we can both rest easily.”
He looked away. “Don’t push me away, Reily.”
A cold knot of dread congealed in Reily’s stomach. The desperation in his tone tore at her heart. “You say you don’t care about the money, but that’s because you’ve never really been without it. Look at this place,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I’m on the verge of losing it and it’s a closet compared to your house. I don’t have a family name or a trust fund. I have nothing to fall back on. I’m not pushing you away, Travis. I’m just trying not to lose everything I have.”
His expression softened. “We all rejected my dad’s money,” he said. “My brother Noah is a county sheriff. He was making around fifty grand a year before our dad died and left us with all of this money. Money we didn’t want anyway. I understand where you’re coming from, Reily, and I know what it feels like to want to pave your own way.” He let out a slow, resigned sigh that tugged at Reily’s chest. “I can dial it down during the playoffs and focus on the game. But only if you promise me that that’s all this is. I’m not ready to let this go. Not by a long shot.”
Damn him and his words. Travis made Reily want to believe that there could be something more between them. That he’d stay with her, live a boring life, and trade in nights at the bar for evenings snuggled on the couch watching a movie. And maybe he would, for a while. But he’d grow to resent her soon enough and Reily didn’t think she’d survive the blow.
“I promise,” she said.
He leaned down and kissed her. “Well, if this is the last time we’re going to be together for a while, we’d better make it count.” He reached beneath the covers to trace the contour of her torso with his open palm. Reily’s body responded and she arched into his touch.
Travis was like a drug. A high she couldn’t say no to. She only hoped that it wasn’t too late to break from an addiction that she was sure would lead to her ruin.
Ten
I want to see you.
Reily stared at the text message from Travis. Her fingers hovered over the screen, itching to respond, Yes!
She knew better than to give him an inch, though. She’d meant what she said to Travis about them keeping a respectable distance. It was the first step to pulling off what was bound to be a very painful bandage. A week had passed and not a day of it had gone by that she didn’t think of him. Or more to the point, obsess over him. Reily had hoped that putting some distance between her and Travis would help to clear her mind and get him out of her system. But instead, he occupied her thoughts more often than not. She relived the memory of his hands on her, his mouth, over and again. Her body flushed with heat as she recalled what it felt like to have him deep inside of her. The sound of her name on his lips as he whispered filthy things in her ear …
I could eat your pussy for hours.
“Stop.” The word lacked conviction. She’d been trying to talk some sense into herself for days. Obviously, her coaching techniques didn’t work when she used them on herself. She couldn’t get him out of her head no matter how hard she tried. Couldn’t banish the tenderness she felt every time she recalled the sweet sentiment in the softly spoken words he’d whispered to her in the darkness of her bedroom. She looked back down at her phone screen and Travis’s message. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if she responded.
Her phone chimed as another text came in.
I want to see you. If you don’t get on a plane and get your ass to Chicago, I�
�ll go on a bender that’ll make Charlie Sheen look like a saint.
Reily groaned. He’d follow through on that promise. Travis didn’t bluff and he never backed down. What he didn’t know was that Bob Spencer had already asked her to fly up to Chicago tomorrow to keep an eye on Travis. Apparently, he’d shown up to practice smelling a little like a distillery a couple of days ago. She let out a slow sigh. He was really using his free time constructively, wasn’t he?
Reily’s fingers moved over the screen. I’ll be there tomorrow evening. No use in giving him any reason to act out. Because Bob said you needed a handler.
Oh, I need a handler, all right, Travis responded almost immediately. Want to know exactly what I need handled?
Reily suppressed a smile. The man was incorrigible. That didn’t mean he was going to break down her defenses, though. This is business, remember? We agreed.
YOU agreed. Reily pictured the stern set of Travis’s jaw as she read the text. You coerced me into playing along, but I didn’t agree to shit.
Someone was feeling cheeky tonight. How much have you had to drink tonight? No way was he texting this sober.
His response came not a second later. I’m stone sober, baby.
Reily snorted. Sure he was. One by one the little text messages popped up on the screen. So fast that Reily had a hard time keeping up. Good lord, was he dictating to text or were his fingers moving that fast?
I need to fuck you.
I want to taste you again.
I’m obsessed. My cock is so hard right now that all I can think about is coming. Are you wet, Reily? Are you thinking about how it felt to come with my mouth on you?
Reily let out a shaky breath. She’d been wet the moment her text alert went off and she read his name. She didn’t even need the dirty talk to get her engine revved.
I want you on the bed on all fours with your ass in the air. I’m going to suck, lick, and bite your sweet pussy until you come. And then I’m going to fuck you so hard that everyone in the hotel will hear you come. God, I can’t wait to fuck you again. Just thinking about it gives me a rush.
Travis, you have to stop. Reily typed the message with shaking fingers and then cupped the back of her neck. A sheen of sweat beaded her skin and her entire body flushed with heat. Her clit pulsed in time with her heartbeat as a rush of wetness spread between her thighs. She’d never wanted anyone with such urgency before. Travis was forbidden fruit. The allure of taking something she couldn’t have—something she wasn’t meant to have—was almost too much to resist.
Touch yourself.
She read the text and swallowed down a groan. God, she wanted to. If anything, to take the edge off.
We can’t do this. Didn’t he realize that if he slipped up one more time, Bob was going to suspend him? He was already treading on thin ice and Reily had promised the Stars manager that there was nothing going on between her and Travis.
I’m stroking my cock right now and thinking about your perfect pussy. It’s gorgeous. Like a rosebud about to bloom.
Reily read the text and then reread it. Travis was so unexpected. So unlike the notion she’d initially had of him. Was it unfair of her to think that his interest in her had more to do with pushing boundaries than something honest and real? Something that could be truly amazing if she’d just give it a chance.
Send me a pic. I’m dying to see it.
Absolutely not. It was bad enough he was sexting her. The last thing she needed was for there to be photographic evidence.
Reily set her phone down. A few minutes passed with no response. She wasn’t sure if it was relief or sadness that tugged at her stomach. One of them had to be the adult. It just sucked that it always had to be her.
I’m stroking my cock. The text caused a rush of adrenaline to flood her system. It’s so hard. Imagining your pussy drives me crazy. Are you touching yourself? Are your fingertips circling your swollen clit? Come for me, Reily. I want to know when you come.
Oh man, she wanted to. Lying in the bed where Travis had given her such intense pleasure, all Reily could do was relive that night in her mind over and over again. His heated words only pushed her closer to that point of mindlessness that made her want to be reckless. He wasn’t even in the room and Travis could affect her like no other man ever had. She stared at his text and the words that seemed to jump right off the screen to caress her.
Her right hand wandered down her torso to the elastic waistband of her underwear. For a moment, her fingertips flirted with the edge of the fabric as indecision warred within her. Would giving in to Travis’s command prove that he held some sway over her? That, despite what she’d told him, she wanted to be with him again. To feel his powerful body move over hers and feel the possessive grip of his large hands on her hips.
You’re doing it, aren’t you?
Damn him. Even his texts were smug. She could totally picture the panty-melting smirk that was undoubtedly curving his full lips right now.
Her fingers swiped over the keys. Maybe.
Goddamn. I want to see you do it. FaceTime me.
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. There was no telling where it might end up if he lost his phone at a bar or—God forbid—at another woman’s place. She banished that thought the moment it entered her mind. That wasn’t who Travis was. She knew that now.
Reily considered what he’d told her. That he wanted her. That this was about more than a good time. She wanted it to be true because she wanted him, too. Past their physical attraction. She wanted the Travis who played with his nieces and ribbed his brother. She wanted the guy who’d rather hang out at home than go to a charity event and brave the red carpet. She wanted the Travis that no one saw. The side of himself he’d trusted her enough to show. And that scared the hell out of her because Reily knew that her feelings for Travis weren’t even close to superficial.
Despite that, she couldn’t afford for either of them to be caught being reckless right now. Sorry. You’re just going to have to trust me.
Reily set the phone down beside her. Her fingers slid between her wet, swollen lips and she let out a quiet moan. Travis had her so wound up that it wouldn’t take much for her to come. A soft breeze would probably get the job done at this point. Her text alert went off and she looked over at her phone.
You have a sadistic streak. Not gonna lie, I sort of like it.
Her lips curved into a smile. Even from thousands of miles away, he drove her crazy. This was bad. So bad. Her fingers moved over her clit and Reily’s hips bucked. It was also so good.
* * *
Travis shifted on the bed and pressed his head back into the pillow. He wondered what it would take to get Riley to send him a video. He didn’t need much, just thirty seconds. Or maybe an hour or so. The thought of her touching herself, sliding her slim, pale fingers through the rosy pink flesh of her pussy was almost more than he could take.
The past week without her had been damned near unbearable.
One night was all it had taken for Travis to become obsessed with her. One night of her soft, willing body, her sounds, her taste, her passion. He missed her scandalized, flustered expression. Her carefully orchestrated ponytail and tight-laced workwear. The sound of her voice, the brilliant blue of her eyes. The control that she tried to exercise over everything in her life. The stern set of her jaw when he did something she didn’t approve of.
Goddamn. Reily tied him into knots.
It wasn’t just her body, though. Travis wanted her for her intelligence, her personality, every thought that swirled around in her head. She was the total package. He’d missed her so much last night that he’d drowned his sorrows in a thousand dollars’ worth of Macallan at the hotel bar. He hadn’t meant to get lippy with the Blackhawks fan who’d decided it was okay to get in his face. And yeah, he shouldn’t have shoved the guy and he shouldn’t have shown up to practice the next day hungover. He’d reached his quota for bad choices last night. And there was no shortage of people around to make sure he knew
it.
Bob was pissed, and rightfully so. And his coach wasn’t exactly impressed with the seven pucks his own teammates had managed to get past him today at practice. Travis was off his game. Something had fucked with his headspace in a major way. And the only thing that would get him square was the woman who was too many fucking miles away.
This texting bullshit wasn’t going to cut it. If he couldn’t see her, Travis wanted to hear her voice. Listen to her come apart, even if it wasn’t him touching her.
He dialed her number and hit the speakerphone function.
The phone rang. And rang. And rang. Travis’s stomach folded in on itself and his muscles bunched with tension. He waited for Reily’s voicemail to answer and said a curse under his breath.
“Hello?”
Her warm, husky voice caused his cock to throb. “I figured your hands might be too busy for you to answer.” He smiled as he envisioned her lips pucker with disapproval.
“Travis, you shouldn’t be calling me.”
The way she said his name, like a sensual purr, sent a shiver over his skin. “I absolutely should be calling you,” he replied. “I can’t stand this texting bullshit. I want to hear you when you come.”
A space of silence passed between them. Reily sighed and the sound slipped through the receiver like a caress. “Travis.”
Lord, the way she said his name. He couldn’t get enough of it. “Tell me what you’re doing right now.”
Another pause. “Touching myself.”
She could try and put distance between them, use professionalism as her shield, but he knew Reily wanted him as badly as he wanted her. “I want details.”