You can do this. You can do this. You can—

Fuck my life, the woman backed her ass up against my dick and sighed.

“Is it just me, or is it getting colder?” she asked, wiggling even closer.

“Uh. Yeah,” I muttered. Colder? My temp had to be up at least five degrees with her this close. It had been twenty minutes since I’d crawled in next to her. Twenty minutes of the most exquisite torture I’d ever been put through. How the hell was I supposed to keep my hands off her? It wasn’t just my body wanted her anymore, my heart had thrown its hat in the ring.

She put her back to my chest, and suddenly my senses were full of her. The smell of her shampoo, the warmth of her body, the sound of her breathing, the feel of her curves pressed against me— they all combined in a joint assault on my self-control.

She shivered, and against my better judgment, I wrapped my arm around her rib cage, tugged her closer and shifted my legs until we were pressed together from head to toe.

“Is that better?” I asked, my voice barely recognizable for its low timbre. How many times had I actively tried not to fuck a woman I was in bed with?

Never.

“Much,” she whispered on a sigh.

Excellent. At least one of us was comfortable. Or, at least she would be until she realized that very hard thing running up her spine wasn’t a fucking hockey stick.

My attention moved to the fireplace, and I started counting the bricks, trying to think of any memory that would deflate my dick. Mom on Christmas morning…Dad—

She turned in my arms until those blue eyes locked on mine. Shit. If there was one thing sexier than her ass, it was her eyes. She never hid what she was thinking, never had an ulterior motive. Her candor was refreshing, frightening, and the biggest turn-on I’d ever had.

“I like this,” she admitted, as her cheek settled on my bicep for a pillow.

“What? The whole below-freezing Montana weather? The impromptu blizzard? The lack of power?” I asked.

“The fire, the solitude, being...this close to you.” Her gaze dropped to my lips.

“I like having you here.” I was caught off guard by how true the words were. Home had always been my refuge, my slice of quiet I didn’t share with anyone but the closest of friends and my family. But it felt right to have her here in my home, in my life. My thumb stroked a circle along her spine, unable to stay still when she was this close.

“Have you brought many…friends…home?”  She brought her hands up to rest her fingertips on my chest.

“From Seattle?” I clarified.

“From anywhere?” She swallowed and glanced away before dragging her eyes back toward mine. “Friends…like me?”

She was asking if I’d ever brought a girl home. And we both knew Mom had told her within two minutes of arriving that I never had. She needed to hear it from me. Needed to know if she was important or not, and I wasn’t about to let her down.

“I’ve never brought anyone here,” I told her. “Friends I grew up with, of course, but I haven’t brought a friend home.”

“Not even in college?”

“Not even in college. There is no one I ever wanted to share this space with.” I brought my hand to her face and let my thumb slide across the soft skin of her cheek. “Not until you.”

We stared at each other in a charged silence, the moment able to go either way. She trembled slightly, and I knew it wasn’t from cold. Her back was warmed by the flames of the fire, her front by my own body.

We stood on a precipice, and even though I pretended to have a choice in the matter, I knew we had leaned too far out over the edge to pull ourselves back in. I wanted her too badly, she was too close, and my self-control was a quickly fraying string.

“I’m glad you brought me.” Her legs shifted restlessly against mine and her eyes widened, as though she’d finally felt how badly I wanted her. “I’m glad…” She looked at my mouth again, and memories of the locker room hit me at full force. “Eric?”

“You’re glad what?” I prompted, unwilling to let her be ambiguous about this.

“I’m glad we’re…friends.”

It wasn’t her words that got to me. They were innocuous enough. It was the way her body arched slightly, pressing her breasts into my chest, the way her fists had closed on my T-shirt, her nails lightly raking over my skin as she gripped the fabric.

That thin string holding my self-control snapped.

“First,” I said as I sent one hand to tangle in her hair at the nape of her neck. “I’m glad you came with me.” My other hand skimmed from her cheek, over her shoulder, down the side of her ribs, and across the valley of her waist until it rested on her hip.

“Is there a second?” She asked.

“Yeah.” I rolled, bringing her under me. My thighs slid between hers as I raised her knee so her ankle rested at the small of my back. My cock surged as I rocked against her, earning a gasp from her lips. “We are not fucking friends.”

I captured her mouth, and she opened for me instantly. My tongue slipped inside to tangle with hers. God, she tasted so fucking sweet, so perfect, so mine.

A growl rumbled from my chest as I filled my hand with her ass, my other one occupied in her hair. We kissed until her lips were swollen and her hips answered mine in a rhythmic motion. Then I tugged her hair, forcing her head back and raising her neck to my lips. I kissed my way down her throat, pausing to lick and suck at the patches of skin that made her whimper.

Fire raced through my veins, lighting up every nerve ending until I was hypersensitive. My clothes were too tight, too constricting, and that went double for my boxer-briefs.

As if she’d read my mind, I felt her yanking at my shirt, and moved my arms so she could pull it off.

“My God,” she whispered reverently like I was the God of Thunder himself. Her fingers grazed the winged tattoos that decorated my pecs. Her touch on my skin was a lit match to gasoline. I knew it would only take a few moments with her and I would combust. “They’re beautiful,” she told me as she traced the lines of the feathers.

“You’re beautiful,” I answered.

Then I brought my mouth back to hers, stopping any conversation we might have had. Our tongues tangled in a carnal dance. Our hands quested, learning the lines of each other. Her eyes locked onto mine as she raised her hands, and I took her wordless cue, sliding off her shirt.

Holy shit. Her breasts were perfect, high, and tipped with pearled, pink nipples that I couldn’t wait to taste.

So I did.

I sucked one perfect nipple into my mouth and flicked across it with my tongue. She arched beneath me and moaned, sinking her fingers into my hair and pulling me closer. I used my tongue, my lips, and my teeth until that pink nipple turned rosy, and then I did the same to her other breast, taking my time until she writhed beneath me and her nails bit deliciously into my scalp.

“Eric,” she cried as I let her nipple pop free.

“Pepper,” I answered as I trailed my lips down the hollow under her ribs until my tongue traced her bellybutton.

“You’re setting me on fire.”

I looked up, meeting her eyes before tucking my thumbs into her pajama pants. “That’s the general idea.” We stayed like that for a second, both knowing this was heading into dangerous territory. “Do you want to burn?”

She sucked in a breath. “Yes.” Her answer was breathless but firm. As if her words hadn’t given me permission, she lifted her hips, and I tugged her pants down her thighs, bringing her panties along with them. I was dying to see her naked, to taste her. The thought hadn’t left my head since the locker room.

Our eyes locked as I stripped the last of the fabric from her legs. Somehow that connection between us not only elevated the sheer sensuality of the moment but felt more intimate than anything we could do physically.

I sat back on my heels and looked over the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. There were no words good enough for her—for the curves that beckoned my hands and my lips, for the eyes that watched me with a heady expectation. She was dynamite in the pint-sized package, and I was more aware than ever of how delicate she was next to my massive frame.

“I’ve never seen a woman so fucking perfect.”

“I somehow doubt that,” she answered with a shaky smile.

“Never doubt how beautiful you are to me. You’re the most exquisite woman I’ve ever seen.” I gripped her knees then let my hands slide up the bare skin of her thighs. She was so fucking soft, her skin like silk under my calloused fingers. Her hips wiggled as I let my thumbs just graze the vee of her thighs, then continued to gently squeeze her waist. “Your curves drive me crazy. I can’t think when you’re close. I can’t focus. You are all that fills my head. There’s never a moment that I don’t want to kiss you, and that includes when I’m on the ice. I’ve thought of fucking you a hundred different ways on a hundred different surfaces.”

“You’re the perfect one,” she whispered as she gripped my biceps.

“You are everything.” I brought my body down on top of hers and let myself relish the feel of her skin against mine. Her nipples were points against my chest as I braced my weight on my elbows.

Then I got back to the business of kissing her, showing her with my mouth, hands, and tongue my utter devotion to worshiping her.

I groaned as her hands stroked my sides, her fingers following the grooves made by my muscles until they reached the band of my pants. Then she reached inside, cupping my bare ass.

“Pepper,” I growled, then raked my teeth along her lower lip lightly, tugging it just enough to earn her whimper of frustration.

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” she admitted, squeezing my ass. “Almost as much as this.” She swept over my hips until she held my dick firmly in her grasp.

“Fuck. Pepper. You..” Words failed me. She’d officially transferred all of the blood powering my brain straight to my cock.

“I what?” she grinned up at me.

“I want. God, yes, that’s good.”

She stroked my full length with both hands and her eyes popped wide.

While I still had a little willpower, I quickly gathered her wrists in one of my hands and pinned them above her head.

“Damn, woman. You have to stop. Right now I’m fully capable of getting you off and nothing more, but you keep touching me like that, and I’m going to lose it. And I refuse to push you into something you don’t want.” My dick throbbed, protesting every word I spoke.

Her wide eyes glanced down my body to where the head of my cock was trying to escape the elastic of my pants. Fucker knew what he wanted, and it was inches away.

Wait. Was that fear in her eyes?

Shit.

“Pepper,” I said softly as I stroked my thumb over the pulse in her wrist. “I would never pressure you. That’s what I’m trying to say. You’re completely safe with me.” I was a fully-grown man, not some asshole kid trying to slide home in the backseat of his dad’s truck.

“What?” she blinked up at me. “Oh, no. I know that. I’ve never felt as safe with someone as I do with you. That’s not…” her eyes drifted south again.

“Baby, you’re going to have to let me in your head. We can stop right now—” I shifted my weight backward.

“No!” She locked her ankles around the backs of my thighs. “I want you. I want this. I honestly can’t remember wanting anything more than I want to feel you inside me.”

Fuck, we weren’t even going to make it to the sex if she said that again. Her words alone could probably make me come.

“Then what’s going on?”

“It’s not like I don’t understand proportion, you know?” Her forehead creased.

“I am so not following you.” I said slowly.

“Proportion. You know, how your arms are as long as you are tall? Or how since you’re huge—massive really—your feet are going to be bigger to hold all of you?” Real concern shot through those gorgeous eyes.

“Okay?”

“Eric, all of you is huge. Which I should have expected since you’re...you, but I’m small. Like really small. I can’t even ride all the coasters at Six Flags.”

Understanding dawned, and if I wasn’t as hard as the iron of the wood stove, I might have laughed.

“Are we seriously about to have the will-it-fit conversation?” I asked.

“No!” She shook her head. “It’s just…”

Damn, she was pretty when she blushed like that.

“Just what?” I urged, releasing her wrists. “If you really want us to do this, you have to at least be comfortable enough telling me what you’re thinking.”

I’d meant what I’d said. I would walk away right now, keep her warm by the fire, and never complain. I might have to jump into the snow stark naked to get this erection to die, but I’d do it.

“It’s been an issue in the past,” she blurted like it was some dirty secret. “Not the fitting, part. God. I sound like an idiot.” Her hands covered her face.

I didn’t say anything, just waited until she was ready.

Finally, she peeked through her fingers and sighed, dropping her hands to her sides. “It’s been painful in the past.”

And there it was.

I closed the distance between our mouths and kissed her, gently at first, and then deeper, until she lost that fear in her eyes, and there was only blatant want.

“Whomever you were with before was the idiot, Pepper. Not you. I promise. Do you want this?” I rolled my hips, letting the ridge of my erection press against her cleft. Damn, I wanted her. Wanted to feel her ripple around my cock when she came. Wanted to part those pretty pink lips and see if she tasted as sweet as I’d been fantasizing about.

“Yes,” she groaned. “Yes. Yes. Yes,” she repeated, bringing her hands to my cheeks and stroking the faint beard I had growing.

“Thank God.” The words slipped free before I thought better of them. “I’ve got you,” I promised her.

Then I showed her.

I kissed her mouth, her throat, the valley between her breasts. There was no inch of her skin I didn’t attend to as I sank lower, finally reaching the junction of her thighs.

“Watch me, Pepper,” I demanded.

Her eyes locked on mine as I set my mouth to her pussy, licking one long, luscious stroke from her opening to her clit.

“Eric!” she shouted, arching her head back and closing her eyes.

“Open your eyes.”

She did as I ordered, and I had to press my dick into the floor to keep from coming at the lust I saw glazing her blue depths.

Then I worked her over with my mouth, using my lips to kiss and suck at her swollen flesh. God, she tasted incredible, sweet, heady, and fucking addictive. Even as I tongued her clit, I knew she was going to ruin me for any other woman.

Her head thrashed as my name became a chant on her lips. I gripped her hips and went deeper, harder, until her cries pitched higher. Her legs tightened, the muscles locking.

“Fuck yes,” I praised her. “You’re so sexy like this, all open and needy.”

Her only reply was a whimpered plea for more. She was close.

I fucked her with my tongue and pressed down on her clit with my thumb, sending her over the edge.

“Eric!” She screamed, her nails sharp against my scalp. Her hips bucked, but I didn’t let up, just drove on and on as she came on my tongue, hot and drenched with arousal.

I let her come down slightly, but kept her on a fever pitch with little strokes of her clit and sucking kisses to the inside of her thighs. Then I went back to her clit, sucking lightly and stroking her with my tongue until she came again.

“Holy shit!” she yelled.

This time, I leaned back, licking the remnants of her off my lips.

“I want you,” she urged, and I was all too happy to comply.

Reaching across our makeshift bed, I snagged a foil wrapper from my wallet and tore it open with my teeth, quickly sheathing myself after I ditched the pants and boxer-briefs. My hand trembled slightly as I reached for her again.

Fuck, I’d never been this strung out, this intoxicated by a woman.

But she wasn’t any woman. She was my Pepper.

Who was about to be mine in every way.

I slid over her and she arched up, kissing me forcefully. Her tongue was a flame in my mouth, licking into me with hot strokes.

I used my hands to bring her back to the edge again, until her hips rocked rhythmically against me. My dick slid between her folds and pure pleasure shot through me like a fucking lightning bolt. God, she was hot and wet, and so damned sexy.

“Please!” she cried out.

“Almost,” I promised, loving watching her on the edge, seeing her lose her control.

I slipped my hand between us and strummed her clit lightly, knowing she was already hypersensitive.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she repeated, riding my hand.

I felt her thighs tense and saw her cheeks flush with her impending orgasm.

“Look at me, Pepper.” I lined my dick up to her entrance as her eyes flew open to lock onto mine. “You’re mine.”

I didn’t know where that primal urge to claim her came from, and I didn’t give a shit. Not when she was wet and hot, and so fucking tight as I slid into her heat.

“Yours,” she promised as I sank deeper, going inch by inch to give her time to adjust.

I ground my teeth, forcing my body into compliance as I stroked forward slowly.

“Eric, more. God, more.” She tilted her hips, and I was lost. A single, hot thrust and I was balls deep in her.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. She was like being encased in a raging volcano of heat, so tight that it was all I could do not to come. Hell, I’d been on that edge with this woman for so long now that I was shocked I’d held out.

“You. Are. Heaven.” I punctuated each word with a small thrust, watching her carefully to make sure there was no pain. She’d only feel mind-numbing pleasure with me, I swore it.

“This is amazing,” she whispered, urging me to move with a rock of her hips. “You feel incredible.”

“No pain?” I asked, making sure.

“None. Just—oh!—do that again.”

I stroked her deep, pulling out nearly the whole way and then sliding back in. Pleasure shot up my spine.

I gathered her in my arms and then started to move in slow, powerful thrusts, setting a rhythm that had us both straining, grinding, moving with each other like we’d been together for years.

Our bodies simply belonged to each other.

Harder. Faster. Until my hips pumped into her with abandon, and a fine sheen of sweat broke out all over my body and hers. It was too good to let it go. Too perfect to willingly end it. I would never get enough of this. It wasn’t just sex, or fucking. Our bodies spoke on a level that was past chemical to spiritual as if we’d both been created to complete this act.

Her pussy clenched around me, and she keened.

My balls tightened, and I felt my orgasm coming at me like a freight train.

“Fuck. Pepper. Come with me.” I used my thumb, and it was just the slightest touch she needed to send her tumbling.

She rippled around me, calling my name, and I gave in to the mind-numbing pleasure that beckoned, coming with her name on my lips.

My vision filled with her as it blackened at the edges, my cock emptying everything I had into her.

It took a minute to come back to my senses, but I immediately rolled us to the side, keeping us connected while giving her room to breathe.

We locked eyes. Hers echoed the wonder I felt like I’d just been shown a glimpse of heaven.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Better than okay,” she reassured me, biting her lip as she grinned. “I’m amazing. You’re amazing. That was…”

“Amazing?” I offered with a smile of my own.

“Absolutely,” she agreed. We stared at each other for about another minute before I found the strength to leave her and get cleaned up. Fuck, the house was cold.

When I got back to her, I slid between the covers, and she rolled me to my back, rising above me like the goddess she was.

Fuck. This woman owned me.

“Think that was beginner’s luck?” she asked with a smirk.

“Guess we should find out,” I answered, my dick already stirring to life.

So we did. Two more times.

After I’d stoked the fire, and the clock read four a.m., I pulled her sleepy frame against mine and reveled in the utter exhaustion my body felt.

“How do we do this?” Pepper asked quietly. “If we’re more than friends—”

“We’re more than friends,” I growled. She was mine. I’d told her that, and I’d meant it. There was no force on Earth that was going to keep me from her. “I’ll talk to your dad as soon as we get back to Seattle.”

She tensed. “You’ll lose your position. Your contract. Your dad’s land.”

I pulled her closer. “We’ll work it out.”

“Wait. Let’s just wait. We can keep it quiet.”

A shot of something ugly hit me. “You want to keep us a secret?”

She rolled in my arms, looking up at me with trepidation. “No. I don’t. Especially if you’re saying there’s an us. But I won’t be the reason you lose the land. Let’s wait until after playoffs, okay? Then you can negotiate your contract, and once you guys win, my dad would be crucified if he fired you over something as trivial as me.”

I brushed her hair back from her face. “You’re anything but trivial. And yes, there’s an us. And if you want us to keep it quiet, we can. I’m just not sure how considering you just screamed so loud I’m pretty sure we broke a few windows.” My smile was wide as she smacked my chest.

Then she got serious.

“Carefully. We keep it quiet...carefully.”

I didn’t like it, but I’d take her on any terms I could get her. All I had to do was get past her fears, and we’d be in the clear. Coach would understand. He had to.

And if he didn’t…

Fuck, that wasn’t an option. Because I wasn’t giving up my family’s land, and losing Pepper wasn’t an option.

Not when I’d just gotten her.

“Okay. Careful it is.”