He tugged his shirt over his head, and my mouth went dry at the gorgeous expanse of skin he had on display. The ripple of his muscles under tattoos and hot, smooth skin, was mesmerizing. So much so that I found my hands tracing over the ridges and valleys as he sucked in a ragged breath.
Before I knew it, I had unbuttoned his jeans and he was shoving them down. Standing in front of me in his naked splendor, he resembled a Greek god of old. My mouth that had been dry was suddenly watering.
“You have too many clothes on,” he said with a wicked grin.
“Yes. Yes, I do,” I said and began to undress. The late October air held a chill, and I shivered. He helped me, and before I knew it, I was up to my neck in deliciously heated water.
Not only did he have a ridiculously amazing wine chiller inside, there was a small one by the hot tub. As I watched, he poured me a glass of my favorite wine and handed it to me over the bubbling water. Steam rose, and condensation covered the glass.
He settled in next to me.
As I sipped the wine, we enjoyed a companionable silence. He found my free hand under the water and laced our fingers together.
When my glass was nearly empty, he took it from me and set it off to the side. Then he easily picked me up and settled me in his lap. We were nearly nose to nose. His hands framed my face again, and I was almost certain it was my favorite thing he did. Well, until his lips found mine.
“I want you so damn bad, Alex, even though I know I shouldn’t.” I moaned in needy abandon.
His hair was soft in my hands as they wandered over him aimlessly. I couldn’t touch him enough. I’d missed him like crazy over the past week. It was both a terrifying and wonderful thought. We weren’t supposed to develop feelings. It wasn’t part of the deal.
He broke away and trailed kisses down my neck and back up the other side. He nipped at my earlobes, my jawline, and my shoulder as he continued to drive me insane with want.
“Alex,” I whimpered when he raised me up to pull my nipples into his mouth one at a time. Not once did he complain when my nails dug into his shoulders. My head fell back as he lavished attention on my body.
The way he had me lifted caused his cock to move away from where it had been sandwiched between us. As the water moved around us, it caused him to line up with my opening. Instinct drove me as I settled over him. It was only the tip that slid in, because of the water killing the lubrication. Instead of easing my ache, my frustration continued to build.
My grunt of displeasure made him laugh against my skin before he sank his teeth into my neck and suckled the tender flesh. Pleasure flooded me and I ground harder onto him. It wasn’t easy going, but finally he was inside, and I was gasping for air.
“Syd,” he growled before he kissed me. It was wild and ravenous. After lifting me up, his hips snapped up to impale me again. My arms wrapped around his neck and his face pressed into the crook of my neck.
Grinding into him, it wasn’t long before I was unraveling. “I’m coming!” I gasped. His fingers dug into my hips as he held me tight to his groin while I rode out one of the best orgasms of my life. After the euphoric pulsing diminished, I started to move again, but he held me still.
“Stop. I’m about at the end of my control.” I whimpered, but froze when he grunted, “No condom.”
Talk about a bucket of ice water.
I jumped off his lap and to the other side of the hot tub. He released a mix between a laugh and a groan. “You should see your face. Don’t worry, I didn’t come.”
“No, but I didn’t mean to do that. I swear. Shit!” I didn’t doubt he had plenty of women who had tried. There was no telling who all he’d been with, and I climbed right on that dick like it was fresh out of the wrapper. That thought train further killed my libido by making me think of what had happened while he was gone.
Oblivious to the fact that I was naked, I climbed out of the tub, wrapping a plush towel around me. Pensive, he watched me. It was like he could read my mind, and that was unnerving.
“I didn’t do anything with her.” It was said so low, I almost missed it over the jets of the hot tub.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like you’re my boyfriend,” I said, my heart cracking. He bit his lip and looked away.
Unashamed, he stood from the water and climbed out of the tub. Slowly, he dried off and wrapped the towel low on his waist.
His jaw clenched as he stood there for a moment. Then he lifted me up and started walking. I threw my legs around him out of fear he might drop me.
The entire way into the house, he didn’t speak. I buried my face in his neck.
Boldly striding into his room, he paused and held me as he rummaged in his drawer. The crinkle of a wrapper was followed by him pushing me against the wall. One hand held my ass as the other lined him up.
“Alex,” I started to protest, but it was weak at best. Because I still wanted him more than any man I’d ever wanted in my fucking life.
The prodding at my pussy caused me to practically gush. With a few shallow strokes, he’d eased into me. I fought for movement, needing the friction in the worst way.
“You want me to fuck you?” he crudely asked before nipping my neck.
“Yes. God, yes,” I rasped as I clutched him tightly.
He let loose on me. My back was slamming into the wall with each savage thrust. While it should’ve been uncomfortable, I was rapidly chasing another orgasm, and the discomfort barely registered.
We were both breathing heavy; perspiration trickled down my chest. One of his hands left my ass to slap against the wall by my head for leverage or balance. He surged forward, damn near pounding me through the wall.
The faint pulsing of my pending climax suddenly detonated, and I screamed his name through my explosive spasms. A few more violent thrusts, and I could feel his thick length throbbing as it filled the condom.
By that time, we were panting and soaked with sweat.
Holding me tight, he carried me to the bed, where he reluctantly slipped out and laid me down. I watched his perfect ass as he walked into the bathroom to dispose of the condom.
Without shame, he came back to the bed and climbed in. His strong arms pulled me close, and I curled into his warm body. I lost track of time as we came down from the powerful high of amazing sex.
“Are you staying the night?” he finally asked.
I sighed. “Not tonight. I have to work tomorrow.”
For a few minutes, he was quiet as his hand tickled up and down my spine. Victor had jumped on the bed at some point, because I became aware of his warmth pressing against my back.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but I get it. Your job is important to you, and that’s okay. On that same note of truthfulness, I’ll miss waking up with you and holding you in my arms tonight. Do you want to come back here with me after the game?”
At his question, my heart fell a little, because I really, really wanted to. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why the hell not?”
I sighed. “Because this is supposed to be casual. Remember? I can’t spend every night here,” I said, trying to reason with him.
“Actually, you could. Last time I checked, you’re a grown-ass woman who can make her own decisions.” He gently bumped me with his shoulder to move, so I sat up. Then he turned to sit on the edge of the bed, his back facing me.
“Alex, don’t be like this. We both knew going into this that I had to be careful so I didn’t put my job in jeopardy,” I argued even though my heart wasn’t in the argument. He looked over his shoulder at me, his blue eyes crackling.
“Careful doesn’t mean casual. So if we’re only going to be casual, then you’re okay with us seeing or hooking up with other people?” His voice was tight and strained.
“Is that what you want?” I questioned in disbelief. Sensing the tension, Victor stood up, stretched, and jumped off the bed with a thud. My chest constricted painfully, and I had to resist
clutching it.
“Fuck no, it’s not! I’ve never had a chick spend the night with me until you. Hell, I haven’t brought one home here, period. Even when I was staying in the condo, they didn’t stay afterward,” he snapped, and I cringed at the “afterward.”
“I’m not trying to fight with you, Alex. Truly, I’m not. Where is this coming from? I thought you were okay with this only being sex.” The words came out, but they hurt. Because deep down, I knew I wanted more but I was afraid.
His hands gripped the edge of the bed, and his head dropped. The waves of his hair curtained around his face. Hesitantly, I reached out to trail my hand over the bunched muscles of his back. Perfectly sculpted, it was fascinating. “What if I’m not okay with casual anymore?”
It was said so quietly, I wondered if I’d heard correctly. “What?”
Slowly, his head swiveled in my direction, and his pale blue eyes locked on mine. “I’m almost twenty-six years old. I’ve been playing hockey as long as I can remember. The last serious girlfriend I had was when I was seventeen. It lasted all of three months until hockey season started again. The reality of me being gone half the season didn’t appeal to her. After that, I poured my emotions into hockey, content with that and puck bunnies.”
Chest rapidly rising with each breath, I waited for him to finish. There was the chance he was going to say something that gutted me, but my instincts told me this was big. For both of us.
“You’re like no other woman I’ve ever met. Even though I keep telling myself it’s hard to have a relationship during the season, I feel like I want to try. With you.” When he said the last word, I swallowed with difficulty and fought to catch my breath. It was like all the oxygen had been sucked from the room.
“With me?” I nervously clarified.
After a brief pause, he wet his bottom lip. “Yeah. You.”
“Wow.” It was all I could choke out. Part of me was terrified I was dreaming. The rest was worried I wasn’t. If things went bad between us, not only would it make things awkward at work, it had the potential to leave me wrecked in the worst and most destructive way.
Alexander Kosinski was addictive. To have him—all of him—and then lose him might be something a woman could never recover from. My hesitancy must’ve been misleading, because his shoulders caved, and he stood.
Trying to ignore the mesmerizing contours of his tight butt, I sat up quickly.
“Alex!” He stopped but didn’t turn around. Scrambling naked out of the bed, I caught his arm. My fingertips pressed into hard biceps covered in gorgeous ink and soft, smooth skin. When he still refused to turn around, I stepped in front of him.
“Just go home, Sydney.” He sounded so tired and defeated, it broke my heart.
Raising up on my tiptoes, I kissed him.
At first, he didn’t move. His lips were soft but still beneath mine. In desperation, I ran my tongue along his bottom lip, seeking entrance. When I still had little response, I bit him. Partly out of anger that he wouldn’t respond, and partly because I was determined.
It seemed to do the trick, because he gripped my hips and lifted me as he devoured my kisses. My legs wrapped frantically around him, not wanting to let go.
He became fierce, wild, and bold as he spun and laid me on the mussed bed. More savage than he’d ever been with me, his teeth and tongue both ravaged me and soothed me. Large, callused hands gripped my tits and squeezed as he rolled my already hard nipples between his thumbs and fingers.
“Please,” I whimpered as he settled between my legs. His mouth found mine, and he inhaled my gasp as his cock nudged at my opening, then plunged inside.
Like an animal, I clawed at his back in an effort to get closer, consume him. This was no sweet, playful romp; this was animalistic sex at its finest. Rough, angry, and needy, he thrust into me, raised on one elbow. His hand held my head in place while the other hooked my leg and raised it. It changed the angle so he was going deeper—harder.
Lost in the sensory overload of his pounding cock, his blue eyes locked on mine, the sound of skin on skin, and the scent of sex, I happily succumbed to the tidal wave that was bearing down on me. When the dam broke, bliss in its purest form flooded me, and I drowned in the pulses of ecstasy that shook me.
He only paused a moment as I squeezed around his thick length and arched into him. When he resumed it was with a ferociousness he’d never shown before.
“You. Are. Fucking. Mine,” he gritted out as each stroke slammed him into me. Then he stilled, his eyes flew open wide, and he jerked out of me, leaving me empty and whimpering. Hot streams of his come landed on my belly and between my tits.
It was then that I understood his reaction and why it had felt so fucking good.
“Shit.”
“You didn’t….” I sputtered.
“I mean, I think I caught it in time.”
“I’m not worried about that. I’m on the pill. I’m more worried about, uh, I mean,” I stuttered, trying not to sound callous, but shit. What if he had something? It had already crossed my mind earlier, so I didn’t understand how I’d been careless a second time in one night.
“Fuck,” he muttered as he dropped his head to my chest. “I’m clean. I swear. We had to get tested at the beginning of the season.”
His dark head rose, and his bright blue eyes locked with mine. “There hadn’t been anyone in a while before I got tested, and no one since. I promise.”
My heart sputtered and seemed to stop. Then it took off at a gallop as I stared at him hovering over me. He was so beautiful, it almost hurt.
“Things have changed,” he started as he wet his lips.
Blinking rapidly, I sucked in a breath. “What do you mean?”
“I meant what I said.” His fingers tried to smooth my hair and pulled free the damp strands stuck to my face. “This is new for me, and I know I’m gonna fuck it up, so bear with me, but I don’t want casual. I don’t want to imagine another man doing this with you. I don’t want to do this with anyone but you. You’re mine, Sydney. No one else’s. You understand?”
Unable to form words as my eyes filled with tears, I could only nod.
The kiss that followed said everything we needed it to say.
We were a team.
“Free Fallin’”—Tom Petty
I’d be a lying motherfucker if I said I wasn’t terrified. My history with women wasn’t overly successful, for many reasons. Nor was my trust in relationships solid. Yet, the thought of not having Sydney to talk to, hold, and yeah, fuck was awful.
Worse was the thought of her finding someone else and having those things with them.
Imagining it left me aching and sick to my stomach.
I hadn’t planned on fucking her raw either, but I didn’t regret it for a second.
It had left me feeling on top of the world, and I’d been on fire during practice.
“Goddamn, Kosinski. You’re on your motherfucking game today. What’s got you so driven?” Halvorson asked as he sprayed water over his sweat-covered face.
Glancing off to the side, I shrugged. “Guess I didn’t like losing last week.”
“Fair enough. Well, keep that drive at tonight’s game.” He actually gave me a fist bump and skated off for the locker room. It left me so shocked, I stood on the ice with my mouth hanging open. McGregor came flying up and sprayed ice all over me.
“Fucker.” I laughed as I shook the ice from my face and hair. He chuckled breathlessly. We’d worked our asses off this morning. I had good feeling about our game that night.
“What was that all about?” He nodded over his shoulder toward where Halvorson and several of our teammates had left the ice.
“I have no fucking clue,” I said. We both started skating toward the exit to hit the locker room.
Except as soon as I stepped off the ice, Coach, Simon Drake, and Scottie Schuester were waiting for us. Simon was the team’s lead attorney; Scottie was the general manager. By the way they held my gaze, I kne
w they wanted to talk to me.
McGregor patted my back and kept going.
“Alex. Nick, Simon, and I need to talk to you as soon as you get changed,” Scottie said to me.
“What’s this about?” I asked warily. They exchanged a look, then returned their attention to me. There wasn’t anything I could think of that I’d done wrong.
Except for Sydney.
Fuck. What if they’d found out about us? I could handle the ass-chewing, but if she lost her job it would devastate her.
“We’d rather discuss it in private. You’re not in trouble, but there’s been a situation. Come to my office when you’re done.” Simon was the head of our legal team and handled the serious shit.
I nodded, and they walked off.
It was the fastest shower I’d probably ever taken. Within fifteen minutes, I was standing outside Scottie’s office, knocking on the door. Someone hollered for me to come in, so I opened the door and stepped inside.
All three men stood and motioned for me to have a seat.
Wary, I made my way to the chair. Before I sat, I shook all of their hands and looked them all in the eye. They weren’t giving off any hints about what this could be about. Simon spoke first.
“Alex. Last week while the team was on the road trip, I received some… unsettling news. I didn’t want to stress you out while you were on the road. Especially since I didn’t have all the details yet.” He folded his hands and paused.
“Okay?” I prompted.
“After I was contacted, I did a little research into the timelines. It seems to check out, so I wanted to give you what I know so far.” He held my gaze as my heart began to hammer. Nothing about this felt right.
“What do you know?” I asked.
“We were contacted by a Misty Moore. Does that name ring a bell?” Simon asked.
Wishing he would cut to the chase, I raised my brow and shook my head. “Should it?”
“I’m not sure. Her attorney contacted me on her behalf with the claim that you fathered her child.” I wasn’t sure what he said after that, because the blood was rushing in my ears, and panic clawed up my throat. I jolted to standing, knocking the chair over.
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