Underneath It All (Storm Series)

by Carr, Cassandra

  Taking a deep breath to calm his raging libido, he asked, “Can I call you? Maybe we can grab dinner, just the two of us?”

  “Yeah, that’d be fun. And thank you for today. The entire thing was a dream come true. The kids are going to be so excited when they see everything. I’m guessing all we’ll achieve tomorrow is a rearrangement of the classroom. They’ll be too keyed up to do anything else.”

  “I didn’t think about that. Do you want to hide the stuff until the weekend? I should have some time to help you set everything up. Maybe we can coerce, I mean, request Sebastian and Sarah’s presence too.”

  “No, it’s fine,” she said, waving his concern away. “The day will be like their birthdays and Christmas all wrapped into one, times about a hundred. I’d like to give them that.”

  “You’re the boss. Be sure you take pictures.” Motioning behind her, he said, “Better get inside. The urge to kiss you isn’t going away, and we both have big days tomorrow.”

  “Oh.” She ducked her head, smiling. “Well, then.” She fit her key into the lock. Once she had the door open, she turned back. “Goodnight, Rob.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Alaina ran her fingertips down the side of his face then over his lips, where he captured her fingers with his hand and kissed them. After pulling away, she waved and went inside.

  As he returned to his truck, his thoughts were swirling. Clearly, at this point, they didn’t know each other well enough to make any hasty judgments, but had he finally found someone? A flashback to the looks shared by his friends over dinner tonight brought a smile. What would sharing the same intimacy with Alaina be like?

  ~ * ~

  FOUR

  The next game was at home against Colorado, a team that wasn’t in the Storm’s conference, and the temptation to take it easy, to conserve his energy for other games was there, but Rob never gave in to the lure. Come April, the two points the Storm would get by winning this game could turn out to be the deciding factor between the team making the playoffs versus missing them, or between getting home-ice advantage versus having to deal with pumped-up away crowds.

  One of his friends from juniors played for Colorado, and before the game in the hallway outside the visitors’ locker room, Rob spoke with him briefly. They were laughing and joking, but once the game started everything would be different. He had no friends on the ice save his own teammates.

  “So have you found some woman dumb enough to make an honest man outta you?” Jeff asked. Jeff had married a girl he’d met way back when he and Rob had been playing together, and they already had three kids, though Jeff was a year younger than Rob.

  Rob debated whether or not to mention Alaina, but decided not to because the thing between them was still so new. Instead, he said, “Nope, not yet. Still enjoying the variety.” In truth, he hadn’t had sex with a woman since a couple of weeks before he’d met Alaina, putting him on an almost two-month drought. For Rob, that was a long time. He loved women, and women loved him.

  “You wait,” Jeff warned. “That girl’s gonna show up and hit you right between the eyes. You’ll be a dead man.”

  “We’ll see.” Time to change the subject before I go all starry-eyed talking about Alaina. “How’re your parents?”

  The two men conversed for a few more minutes, and then each went their separate ways to prepare for the game. Unfortunately, the Storm lost by one goal, a soft one that Brendan, their All-Star goaltender—normally—let in during the last minute of play. The man was pretty Zen for the most part, but afterward, Rob and the other guys kept their distance as Brendan sat in his stall, still fully attired in uniform and pads, his elbows resting on his knees and hands propping up his chin, obviously reliving the moment right before the goal. Brendan was a perfectionist, which was a very bad and yet very good quality in a goaltender. Bad because it was almost impossible not to let in at least one goal per game, but good due to the naturally competitive way the player would approach the game, which the rest of the team, especially the other ultra-competitive guys like Rob, often fed off of to spur themselves on.

  Saturday mid-day following the Thursday night game, Rob ended up at the school after Alaina admitted she was having trouble putting the cubbies together. Of course, no written directions were found, only poorly drawn pictures, and pieces of the thing were scattered over a ten-foot radius. Alaina’s hair was in a messy ponytail, and she was clad in dusty yoga pants and a fleece, but Rob still wanted to find the nearest closet so they could play “Seven Minutes in Heaven.” Kissing Alaina was definitely a slice of heaven.

  Before he got too carried away and his jeans didn’t have a prayer of hiding his erection, he brought his toolbox closer to the mess then started sorting pieces based on what he believed their purpose to be.

  Alaina stood, glaring at the parts. “This makes no sense to me whatsoever.”

  “The instructions are crap.”

  “What’re you doing, anyway?”

  Rob indicated the piles. “I’m sectioning off the different areas of the cubbies. I figured that would be easier than searching for something every time I need a new part.”

  “How can you even tell what goes together?” Alaina crinkled her nose and Rob couldn’t believe how cute and yet sexy he found that simple gesture. He was losing it.

  “Manly spatial-relations skills, baby. Now come give me a thank you kiss.” Pulling her flush with his rapidly overheating body, Rob delved into her mouth, thrusting his tongue in what he knew was a poor substitute for thrusting somewhere else. But if this was all he could have until they became more familiar with each other, he’d kiss her morning, noon, and night.

  A throat cleared behind them and Alaina jumped away like shrapnel.

  “Oh, hi, guys,” Rob said to Sarah and Sebastian as a flush worked its way up his neck and into his face. He’d completely forgotten he’d called for reinforcements. A quick glance showed Alaina appeared mortified. “So, um, Alaina and I are dating.”

  Sarah chuckled. “I would hope so. Otherwise you’re sexually harassing the poor woman.” After a beat she continued, “What can we do?”

  God bless Sarah for moving things along.

  Alaina smiled at Sarah. “Want to help me figure out where to put all these art supplies Rob made me buy?”

  The two women walked over to another part of the classroom, and Sebastian sidled up to Rob. “Sooooo…”

  Already exasperated, Rob said, “Not much to tell. We’ve kissed a bunch of times. I’m probably being a dick not taking her out on dates, but as you know, our schedule’s been kind of crazy.”

  “Speaking of crazy,” he waggled his eyebrows, “you are totally crazy about that girl.”

  Rob’s eyes widened. Was it that obvious? “We don’t even know each other that well.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I knew there was a connection the first second after Sarah and I collided. You guys have the same thing between you. It’s obvious.”

  “Really?”

  “Oh yeah. The way you look at her. The way she looks at you. She watches you. All through dinner the other night, she kept glancing your way.”

  “You’re imagining things.” But Rob wouldn’t meet Sebastian’s gaze. The man was right, but he wasn’t ready to admit that yet.

  “No, I’m not. Remember, it wasn’t even a year ago that Sarah and I got together. I remember what those first days were like. You still tease me about showing up at her office at nine PM with a lame excuse just so I could take her to dinner.”

  Rob laughed as he finally looked up and spied Sebastian’s knowing expression. “We need to get moving on this,” Rob said, indicating the menagerie of parts at his feet. And stop talking about me and Alaina. There was time to do that later when the woman wasn’t within earshot.

  “Nice try, changing the subject, and I’ll leave you alone. For now.”

  The guys assembled the cubbies and a couple of other pieces of furniture while the ladies cleared out some of the old stuff, putting the
lot into storage, since Alaina was afraid to throw out anything. Rob wished she didn’t feel like that, but could understand why; according to her, it might be needed again someday. Alaina had hinted that they couldn’t count on more funds, and he wished he could do more. Sebastian and Sarah left as he and Alaina put the finishing touches on everything before standing in the front of the room together, holding hands.

  Rob’s eyes began to sting. I will not cry. I will not cry. I face down two-hundred-fifty-pound defensemen without batting an eye. I will not cry.

  Alaina’s hand jolted his, and he looked over to see tears streaming down her face. “I know, I know, I’m a total waterworks,” she said, wiping at the tears with her free hand.

  “You have every right to be. You should be really proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

  “You mean what you’ve accomplished.”

  “No.” He turned toward her. “What you’ve accomplished. All I did was provide the piece you were missing.”

  “A huge piece.”

  He shrugged, still unable to believe that a gesture he considered so little and simply the right thing to do could be perceived completely differently by Alaina. “But you’re the rest of the puzzle. Don’t you see that? You, the other teachers, the principal, you’re the glue that holds this place together. You’re the ones making a difference every day in the lives of these students.” Rob waved a hand toward the room at large. “This is all just stuff. Tools for you to use. You’re impacting their lives. I just helped you get more of what you needed to do that.”

  She shook her head, a small smile breaking through her tears. “You are the sweetest man ever. I’ve seen how you hide behind the jokes and everything, but underneath it all you’re a big softie. I’ve got you all figured out.”

  He looked away for a minute before returning his gaze to hers. She pretty much had him pegged, and he couldn’t decide if that made him nervous or relieved. “Just don’t tell anybody. You’ll ruin my rep.” Rob grinned and hoped it didn’t look forced.

  Alaina chuckled. “I won’t. I promise to keep your secret.”

  “And now that we’re alone again, I can’t resist.” Swooping down, he kissed Alaina hard, and her arms wound around his neck as she leaned into the kiss even more. Lifting her easily, he set her on her desk and moved between her legs. His hands roved up and down her back, squeezing and learning her contours, until he couldn’t breathe.

  “Let me make you dinner,” she said when they broke apart.

  “I kissed you like that, and you’re thinking about food? I must be losing my touch.” Man, I hope not. Rob had never worried too much about his sexual prowess, since no one had lodged a complaint, but Alaina made him question everything.

  Alaina laughed, but the sound was uneasy. “Oh no. Nothing to worry about on that account. I just…”

  She bit her lip, and he used his thumb to dislodge her teeth before leaning down to lick it like he’d wanted to do last night. Rob loved her unique taste.

  She pulled away, her expression serious. “I don’t want you to go yet. I feel selfish. You’re using your entire weekend on me.”

  “Yes, such a hardship.” Rob snaked his arms around her waist. “Tell you what. If you can make something that’ll take, say, four or five hours to cook, and you let me kiss you and love on you all that time, I can be persuaded.”

  “Deal,” she said with a giggle. “Now back up so we can go. If dinner’s gonna cook for a long time, I need to get started. It’s already after two, and that pizza we grabbed for lunch isn’t going to hold you forever.”

  “I was kidding about that whole hours’ thing…sort of,” he said as he retreated. Rob couldn’t remember being this turned on by somebody and wouldn’t mind if today he could relieve some of the sexual tension that had built up.

  Rob followed Alaina to her apartment, where she began to put together a pot of chili after she shooed him out of the kitchen. Relenting, he left, wishing she’d let him help more. He wasn’t a great cook by any stretch of the imagination, but he liked being useful. Rob smiled. The only exception was with his grandmother, who would’ve been insulted if he’d tried to lend assistance in the kitchen. It was firmly her domain.

  Several minutes later, Alaina walked into the living room, wiping her hands on a towel. Rob was surfing channels on her 32-inch TV and not finding anything good. He wasn’t all that interested in watching television, but at least a show would provide background noise to drown out the moans and groans he planned to pull from her body. The walls in her building appeared to be paper-thin, and the last thing he needed was Alaina feeling embarrassed about being with him.

  “I know it’s not exactly a 60-inch flat screen with a million channels, but surely you can find something,” she said, her voice laced with amusement.

  “Please,” he said with a scoff. “Your TV is fine.” She sat next to him and he left it on whatever channel he’d stopped on and turned to her, his heart pounding. “Time for loving now?”

  “For you, every minute of the day is loving time.”

  “Call me Don Juan.” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows, hoping she didn’t notice his damp palms. For some reason it was important that he appear suave and in control of himself.

  “Right.” Alaina shook her head with a smile.

  Rob pretended to study her. “You’re not where you should be.”

  “What do you mean?” Alaina looked at herself.

  “The best place for you is underneath me, no doubt about it.” Putting a hand on her shoulder and gently pushing, he continued, “You promised.”

  Barking out a laugh, she said, “You are so full of shit.”

  With a mock exaggerated gasp, he said, “The kindergarten teacher swears. I’m scarred for life.”

  “I’m sure.”

  He continued to apply pressure until, with a chortle, she collapsed on the couch cushions. “Much better.” Situating himself between her legs, Rob scooted his arms beneath Alaina’s shoulders and kissed her. “Much, much better.”

  As they kissed and she rubbed against him, his erection grew and he had no doubt she could tell he was getting more excited every second. It took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to grind into the juncture of her legs, but no matter how hard it was, he was determined not to pressure Alaina into going farther than she was comfortable.

  After skating his lips down the slim column of her neck, Rob ran his tongue along her hot skin, putting his weight on one forearm while the other moved to her waist. Massaging the small patch of bare skin between her yoga pants and sweatshirt, he bit down gently near her collarbone, and Alaina’s breath caught.

  “Touch me,” she begged.

  “Where? Show me.” The woman being on board with everything had always been important to him; but now, after knowing what Sarah and Sebastian had both been through—she being raped by a co-worker and he nearly raped by some rabid fans—it was crucial to make absolutely sure the woman was comfortable.

  Alaina lifted her sweatshirt, displaying creamy breasts encased in a white bra with lace edging. “Not very exciting, I know.”

  “You’re beautiful. That’s all I see.” Leaning down, he delved into the small valley between her breasts, nuzzling with his nose as he nibbled the sensitive skin.

  She pushed him away and said, “Take your shirt off. I want to see all those big, hockey player muscles.”

  Alaina’s tone was demanding, and with a chuckle, Rob pulled back, divesting himself of the shirt and throwing the garment over the coffee table to who-cared-where. “Yours too.”

  “I guess it’s only fair.” She blushed, but sat up to wrestle off the offending apparel then sent the shirt in the same general direction as his. Reaching back, Alaina undid the clasp on her bra and drew the straps down her arms. Her breasts weren’t large, but they were high and firm.

  “Oh God, look at you.” He hadn’t asked her how old she was—his mom had taught him the folly of that—but he estimated they were around the s
ame age, as she still had the taut body of a younger person. He was no man-slut, like some of the other guys who had one woman, or sometimes more, every night, but he’d seen many kinds, shapes, sizes, and ages while he’d played the field.

  Rob circled her breast with his hand and took the nipple in his mouth, experimenting with different touches to see what caused Alaina to lose her mind. All that mattered in this moment was pleasing this woman.

  Her hands curled over his pecs, scraping her nails along the flat planes. He might have marks tomorrow, but he didn’t care. Let his teammates laugh at him. This is soooo worth it.

  Unable to stop himself, he pushed his hardness into her, and Alaina’s legs circled his waist, increasing the contact. The woman was going to be the death of him, especially when those small hands stole to his back and pulled him even closer. When he looked up from his spot at her breast, her mouth was open, but her eyes were shut tight.

  The devil on one shoulder told him to take her, she would be receptive, and Rob thought that devil might be right. Then the angel on the other shoulder reminded him that he should take things slowly. Moving into a sexual relationship too quickly was not the way to build something long-standing, and if Rob had his way, this would be an ongoing thing.

  He hadn’t felt any desire to get seriously involved with someone since he and Christa had broken up, but even the thought of Alaina dating other people made him want to punch something; and despite his playing style, Rob was not a violent person by nature. They’d have to talk about their status, and soon. He wanted exclusivity, even if he wasn’t sleeping with her. If she refused, he’d lose his mind while the Storm was out of town, wondering if some other dude was cozying up to her.

  Somehow he managed to keep things above the belt, and a few hours later, fully dressed once more, they were seated at her small kitchen table, steaming bowls of chili topped with cheese in front of them. He took a tentative bite of the piping-hot concoction. “You might give Sarah a run for her money with cooking like this.”