Chapter 17

They both drifted drowsily for a while. Nick’s body felt so sated and relaxed, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to move again. He’d happily stay in this bed with Jodie for the rest of his life. Too bad life didn’t work that way.

He stroked her hair, her face, her back in lazy movements, enjoying her soft skin and the feel of her curves pressed against him. When a little more consciousness returned, he asked, “Still doing okay?”

She nodded, rubbing herself against him. “Better than okay. But thank you for checking in. That’s…” She stopped. “That’s very thoughtful.”

Huh. He was just glad she was good, because if she was having regrets or was disappointed, he didn’t know exactly what he’d do. “Good.” He caressed her hip. “So, uh, how much time do we have?”

She lifted her head with a playful smile. “All night. Remember?”

“Yeah, but how many hours?”

“They’re bringing Zyana home at ten.”

“Excellent. We might even have time for a little sleep.”

She giggled. “Wow. You’re pretty confident about your stamina.”

“Hell yeah. I’m a hockey player.” He smiled.

“Right. Believe me, I’m impressed so far.”

“My hockey skills definitely transfer from the ice to the bedroom.”

Her smile widened. “Oh yeah?”

“Sure. I have great hands.”

“Mmm. I agree.”

“I’m good at finding the opening and getting it in.”

She collapsed against his chest in laughter. “Oh my God.”

He grinned. “Is it not true?”

“Yes. It’s true.”

“And…I have a big stick.”

Her body shook harder. “Also true. Ah.” She lifted a hand to wipe moisture from one eye. “I thought you had a big stick when I first met you.”

“You did?”

“Yeah…up your ass. You were kind of a jerk.”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “Also true.”

“I can’t believe I’m in bed with you and you just made me come so hard I saw stars and now I’m in tears of laughter.” She shook her head, her hair sliding over his hand. “Not what I expected.”

“Well, another thing I can do is…score more than once a night.” He rolled her to her back and moved over her.

“That is a good thing.” Her eyes drifted closed as he kissed her and settled between her thighs.

---

Much later, after he’d, yes, scored again, Jodie’d announced she was hungry. He might have great stamina, but she needed sustenance for all this energetic sex. Fantastic sex. She’d smiled happily as they’d gone down to the kitchen for a late-night snack, which they’d taken back to bed. They’d now finished the hummus and pita chips and pretzels, and were under the covers snuggled together.

“Tell me more about your brother. About your childhood.”

He didn’t answer right away, and for a few seconds she wasn’t sure if he was going to. She felt so close to him in this moment, tangled together in his bed, bare skin to bare skin. They’d shared their bodies, and it felt right to her to share more. To share everything. Maybe he didn’t feel the same…

“I told you we grew up in a rough neighborhood.”

She nodded against his chest.

“Different apartments, all crappy. When I was about seven, we moved to a place that wasn’t that far from a hockey rink. Every Saturday, my dad would take us to the rink. We had to walk ’cause we didn’t have a car, and sometimes it was snowing and freezing cold, but I just wanted to get to the rink and play hockey. Aleks was only five, and he wanted to come too. We wore old equipment that was too big for us, but we didn’t care. We’d stay there all day, playing a league game, then hours of pickup and even pickup hockey in our track shoes out on the concrete area beyond the ice. My dad never had the money to pay for the league, but he’d sweet-talk them into letting us play, promising them he’d get them the money. He never did.”

“But they let you keep playing.”

“Yeah. Because we were good. Better than the other kids. Especially Aleks. I just worked hard, because I knew if I didn’t, they probably wouldn’t let us come back.”

“I think your talent probably had something to do with it too,” she said dryly.

“Maybe.” He paused. “One day, one of our teammate’s mothers started giving us rides to the rink. She saw how good we were. They let me move in with them during hockey season so I could play in a better league. They bought me new equipment and skates, and it was fucking awesome…but I felt guilty because Aleks wasn’t there. And I knew he felt left behind, which made me feel guilty. So I sent him all the stuff I grew out of. Then a coach from a local junior hockey franchise noticed me, and that changed my world again. He’d coached kids who made it to the NHL and he thought I had potential. We entered this tournament and if we won, I’d win new skates. So I played my goddamn heart out. That was when I realized hockey could be a new life for me, and for my family. Maybe I could help my mom and dad, and of course, Aleks. But when I left to go to college, I felt sick that I was leaving him behind for the opportunity, when he was the better player. It should have been him going.”

“But he was too young…wasn’t he?”

“Yeah. Still.” He let out another long exhalation. “It turned out to be hard for him too. We’d both dreamed of playing hockey in the NHL, together. We’d trained together, fought together, and he was left behind…again. I missed him too, but he got really down. Didn’t enjoy going to the rink the way he had when I was there. At one point, he quit playing hockey. He wasn’t doing anything, just hanging out with some bad kids and getting in trouble. One day, I came home and we got in a big fight. I told him he was throwing away his hockey talent. It was ugly, but after that, he went back to playing hockey. And he got drafted two years after me. It was our dream come true…both of us playing in the NHL together. Except, for Aleks it was turning into a nightmare because of the problems he was having. But…”

“But what?”

“I never got to help my parents the way I wanted to. They were killed in a drive-by shooting only a few months after Aleks got drafted.”

“That’s awful.” He’d mentioned that they’d died, but not how.

“It wasn’t exactly a surprise, in that neighborhood. I was so close to getting a contract with the Aces at that point, it was…well, it felt pretty cruel.”

“Yeah. That is cruel.”

“I felt like I let them down by not getting them out of that neighborhood fast enough.”

“You couldn’t have done that.” She stroked his shoulder. “It was just shitty timing, Nick.”

“I guess. But then I let down Aleks even worse.”

“You can’t take responsibility for what happened.” She’d told him that before, when he’d first told her about Aleks.

“Sure I can.” She felt his smile, and his hand stroked through her hair. “No, I know that. And I get it. I’ve learned a lot about mental illness, and I know depression is a biochemical thing. But the concussions were almost certainly a factor. After he died, I wanted something positive to come out of what happened with Aleks so I started volunteering with CMHA. There’s been research done that shows post-concussion syndrome often leads to mental health problems like depression and anxiety. And it did for Aleks. He’d had a lot of concussions, but that last one was so hard for him. Depression can be the result of a combination of different factors, biological and physiological ones, like concussions. Now I’m older, I realize my mom probably had depression too, and that was why she could never hold down a job. We just knew she was sick a lot. So not only did Aleks likely inherit some kind of genetic predisposition to it, the hits to the head probably didn’t help either.”

Her heart ached for what he and his family had been through. For the waste of a young, promising life because of a cruel disease. But she also felt a nudge of worry at his comments about head injuries because of the sport Aleks played.

Which Nick also played.

Was he risking his own health and life to play hockey?

Oh damn. They’d had sex this one night…well, okay, there’d been those other times too…and she was starting to care for him. She had to be careful. She wasn’t about to get all emotional and start asking him questions about where this was going or how he felt. Too soon. Way too soon. In fact, she wasn’t sure if Nick was the type of guy who’d ever be up for that kind of discussion. He’d been clear that he wasn’t looking for any kind of relationship. Except sexual.

“You asleep?” He tucked some hair behind her ear with gentle fingers.

She realized she’d been quiet for several moments. “No.”

“I don’t know anything about your family.”

She gave a short sigh. “That’s because I don’t have any.”

“Nobody?”

“Well, Zyana. But growing up—no. I never knew my dad. And my mom died when I was twelve. I got shipped from one foster home to another. Never really landed in one place for long. The people were all nice, but there was always some reason I couldn’t stay.”

“That sucks.”

“It was hard,” she admitted. “I even had to change schools and never got the chance to make a lot of friends. But that meant I studied a lot, so I ended up getting into a good college. And that changed my life.”

“You never knew your dad?”

“Right.”

“I guess that’s why you weren’t afraid to bring up a daughter on your own.”

“I did think about that. I’m still not sure if it’s completely fair to her, but I knew I had lots of love to give her.”

“That’s why you want a family of your own.”

“Yeah.” She sighed again. “It’s nice having someone who loves me. And someone I can love too.”

Now it was his turn to fall silent.

---

Nick woke when the bedroom brightened with morning sun.

It was unfamiliar to have a warm, soft woman in his bed. Unfamiliar but nice.

They’d never even discussed whether she’d stay all night. They’d worn themselves out with sex and fallen asleep in each other’s arms and that was it. He’d never been that comfortable with someone…so much on the same wavelength that it had been understood what would happen. It was weird…but also nice. None of the awkwardness of wanting to get rid of someone, but not wanting to be rude. None of the hesitancy to invite her to stay in case she really wanted to bolt.

He studied Jodie as she slept, her face half buried in the pillow. Her hair lay on her smooth shoulders, one slender arm bent up under the pillow. He noted the tiny mole on her upper back and the faint mark on her nose from where her glasses sat.

It’s nice having someone who loves me. And someone I can love too.

She just wanted to share all that love inside her…and be loved. His heart jumped up into the back of his throat and lodged there as he watched her sleep. She was amazing. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes slowly opened. She blinked, then focused on him.

Busted staring at her while she slept. Was that creepy?

She smiled. “Hey.”

He cleared his too-tight throat. “Hey.” Now he could touch her. He stroked her shoulder and back, enjoying warm, soft skin.

“What time is it?”

“Not sure.” He rolled away from her and peered at the clock. “Ten after eight.”

“Mmmm.” She flipped onto her back and stretched, lifting her arms above her head. “So nice to sleep in.”

Her breasts pushed up against the duvet, and he reached out and hooked a finger into the covers, dragging them down. As he revealed her perfect curves, his dick, already sporting morning wood, hardened almost painfully.

Her eyes darkened and her lips parted. “Speaking of stamina…”

“I’m a guy in his prime. I like sex.”

“Perfect. I do too.”

He liked that about her.

He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her head away. “Morning breath.”

“I don’t care.” He cupped her chin and turned her face back to him. “We both have it.” He gave her a long, lazy kiss with tongue, and it didn’t matter one bit. She tasted amazing.

When he pulled back she was breathless and hazy-eyed. “Wow.”

He smiled. “If you’re worried about your breath—and I just want to be clear, you have no reason to be—let’s do this.” He flipped her onto her stomach.

She gasped. “Whoa.”

Straddling her thighs and sliding her hair aside, he started kissing her at the nape of her neck…openmouthed kisses and slow licks…down the center of her back, over the bumps of her spine, to the hollows at the base.

“Oh my God.” Her voice was a sigh. “Oh my God.”

He shifted down her legs so he could palm her ass cheeks. Christ. She was absolutely fucking perfect…firm, round globes that filled his palm. He squeezed and she let out a low moan.

Bending, he kissed her there…on each cheek, a soft kiss, then a gentle nip. Her body rippled beneath him, and she made needy little whimpers that told him she liked what he was doing. Nonetheless, he said, “Okay, beautiful?”

“Oh yes. Do it again.”

He paused. “Do what, baby?”

“Bite me. Please.”

At her words, his balls ached and his dick bobbed in front of him, a painful spike. Jesus. She was stunning. He bent down and gave her sweet cheeks a couple more love bites, making her moan in delight. Then he soothed the red marks with his tongue.

He used his hands to part her thighs. This was gorgeous, this view of her, all pink and pouting and glistening. He lifted her hips and stretched out on his belly so he could taste her there…aw fuck, yeah…so good.

“Jesus,” Jodie gasped, her head lifting off the pillow, her body quivering.

“Still good?”

“Oh God, I can’t…yes…don’t stop…”

He ate at her with gusto, sucking and kissing and licking, swallowing her delicate feminine taste, breathing in the scent of her arousal. Her hands curled into the sheets, and he found her clit with his tongue and worked it back and forth. She jolted and shivered.

“Want to be inside you when you come,” he muttered, reaching over for a condom. He suited up and lifted her hips again, finding her entrance…tight and hot and slick. He gritted his teeth as he slid inside her.

Hot pinpoints of pleasure darted all over his skin. His balls tightened. He gripped her hips as he pushed in deeper…deeper…till he was fully seated and throbbing in her tight channel. Christ, the visual…his groin pressed to her ass, his cock shiny with latex and her arousal slowly sliding out of her and then back in.

She moaned. “Oh God, that’s good…so deep. I feel it so deep.”

“Good.” He stretched out over her, taking as much of his weight as he could on his arms, pressing her into the mattress as he fucked her harder, driving into her. She pushed her hips back against him with every stroke. “Glad this is good for you.”

“So good.” She shoved the pillow aside, her hair covering her face, then slipped her hand down beneath them. Her fingertips brushed over his balls as she touched herself, finding her clit.

That was hot as hell.

Their skin slapped together, their moans floated around them, and the bed bounced with their frantic movements. He gave one ass cheek a small slap, and her cunt squeezed his dick. “Like that?” he growled.

“Y-yes…”

“Oh fuck.” He gave the other cheek a sharp tap. Lust sizzled up and down his spine, pooling at the base, pressure building. Sweat built on his forehead and his chest as he pumped against her. He was close…

A strangled cry tore from her throat, her fingers working her clit, her pussy rippling around him as she came.

“Beautiful.” The word came out from between clenched teeth as his own orgasm roared toward him, fast and dark. Sensation tore through him, wrenching every muscle, his balls contracting, jerking muscles deep in his groin in delicious agony. He felt the pulsing jets all the way to his thighs as he poured into her. Once again, his vision went black.

He collapsed over her in a sweaty heap, chest heaving, heart pounding. “Holy, holy fuck,” he gasped near her ear, his face pressed to her hair.

“Yeah.” She panted too. “Holy fuck.”

Nick didn’t want to move, but he was crushing her, so he shifted to the side, reluctantly pulling out. He rolled onto his back, but kept his hand on her ass to maintain the connection as they both fought to breathe.

He rolled his head and looked at her. She looked back at him. Her face was flushed, eyes bright, lips curved into a tiny smile. She looked…happy. Satisfied.

He wanted to pump a fist in the air. He’d made her look like that. He’d given her what she wanted. And he wanted to give her more.

Wow. This huge, hot swelling feeling in his chest was weird.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this quiet,” he quipped.

The corners of her mouth lifted higher. “Now you know how to shut me up.”

“Hmm. Good point.”

He reached out and stroked his fingertip over her cheek. “You’re amazing.”

Her eyelashes fluttered. “Um, thank you. I think it’s the other way around though.”

“Well, if we’re amazing each other, we’re doing something right.”

She laughed softly. “True.” She sighed. “I guess I’d better go.”

“You have time for a shower.”

She bit her lip. “I guess I do, but…I’ll go home and shower. In case they come early.” She huffed. “It’s not like it’s far to go for my walk of shame.”

“Hey now.” He frowned. Was she ashamed?

“Just an expression.” She palmed his cheek, smiling. “Don’t worry, I don’t regret what happened at all. It was fantastic. I just have to be…you know…a mom.” She rolled her eyes.

“I get it. You’re a great mom. A sexy mom.” He lifted up to kiss her.

“Thank you.” She eyed him. “Just being honest here…I don’t want to leave.”

“I know. I don’t want you to leave either. But like you said…it’s not far. And I have to get to the arena for our morning skate.”

She nodded and rolled off the bed to grab her glasses and then search for her clothes.

He had to watch her get dressed…he couldn’t get enough of seeing her naked. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and pulled them on while she put that sexy black lace underwear back on, then her trousers and sweater.

He walked her to the back door. “We have a game tonight.”

“I know.” She tipped her head and smiled. “Zyana and I will watch.”

“Maybe sometime you could come to a game.” He said it without thinking. It had been a long time since he’d invited a woman to come to one of his games.

“Zyana would love that. Kendra keeps talking about it too.” She shrugged. “So yeah…maybe sometime we will.”

“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow. We have a day off.”

She nodded, her eyes unusually guarded. “Yeah. Sunday. We’ll be around.”

With a wave she let herself out and jogged across the yard to the coach house.

Nick turned back to his kitchen. He had a strange feeling…a bunch of feelings. He didn’t want her to go. He wanted to keep her here, all to himself, all damn day. He wanted to hear her laugh. He wanted to make her moan. He wanted to hold her hand and kiss her and fuck her senseless.

And he didn’t want to feel this way. Which made him want to punch something.