“Yes!”
That one word echoes around me and it takes a few seconds for me to say or do anything because I don’t know what Walker is saying yes to.
Is he talking about coaching the Rogues?
Hope flutters in my chest.
Or is he talking about doing something with the crackling chemistry that arcs between us?
The fluttering from that thought takes place lower down and I’m left in a struggle of indecision.
Which answer do I want?
Right now, with my skin on fire and my sex clenching tight, I know which I want him to be saying yes to. Except I want both, and really, we should be able to have both, right?
We’re adults, unattached and free to fuck whoever we want.
And right now, in this moment, I want to fuck Walker Alcott more than I want him to coach the Rogues.
Which tells me we’re going to have to figure out how to work together while sharing a bed because just looking at him, I know once won’t be enough.
Fisting the knot of my towel I step forward, the first step I’ve taken toward him since he arrived. A quick yank and my towel drops to the floor, and I’m grinning when I say, “It seems only fair I show you mine after you showed me yours.”
The laugh that erupts from Walker is short and sharp and in the next second it’s cut off by my mouth on his.
I don’t remember moving. Maybe it was him, maybe it’s his mouth crashing onto mine.
Doesn’t matter, the wet heat of our mouths plastered together, the sweep of his tongue on mine, the press of my naked body to his clothed one are the only important things.
My back hits something hard, pushing a burst of air from my lungs. Walker swallows the gasp, his mouth devouring mine with a greed I’ve never experienced.
He’s good, better than good, but it doesn’t feel practiced or new. It’s like our mouths have been kissing for years and this dance is one we know well.
One that’s as natural to us as breathing.
“Bed.” Walker pants into my mouth. “Where’s the bed?”
“Too far.” My hands scrabble at his shirt, pushing it up to dive beneath so I can get my fingers on hard, hot flesh. “The floor.”
He jerks back, his mouth leaving mine, and stares at me with fire in his eyes before he nods and takes us to the floor.
The timber is cool against my skin and goose bumps explode from head to toe. I shiver from the chill but in the few seconds I’ve stretched out on the floor Walker has stripped himself bare and the heat of him blankets me.
I take his weight; it’s a comforting crush I want—need—and when his cock presses against my slick flesh I’m helpless to hold in the moan of pleasure that escapes me.
He’s hot and throbbing, and instinct has me parting my legs so his length can slip deeper.
Rocking my hips, I rub my clit against his shaft, and with his tongue tangled with mine I race straight up and over the first peak. I buck and shudder, riding the high with a strangled cry.
Walker curses, fumbles around, then shoves a hand between us. His knuckles brush my swollen clit, sending pulses of pleasure shooting into my core so sharp I lose my breath.
I haven’t come down; it’s not as intense, but the spasms continue to clench my pussy, and without thought or instruction I lift my legs and wrap them around his waist, crossing my ankles near his shoulder blades. I grip the back of my knees and hold them tight.
I’m almost folded in half, and I thank years of yoga for my flexibility.
“Fuck.” Walker leans back, his eyes darting from side to side. “I want to look but I can’t wait.”
His words don’t make sense until he lines the tip of his cock to my soaked entrance and drives deep in one sense-jarring thrust.
The cry that bursts from my throat is raw and needy, and my fingers claw the back of my legs, my nails digging in.
“Want you with me,” Walker mutters. “Hands up above your head.”
“But—”
“I’ve got them.”
And he has. He slips his arms beneath my calves, his upper arms pressing against the back of my thighs to hold my legs in place, and plants his hands on the floor beside my head. Our eyes catch and we’re stuck for long seconds.
So much is said in that one look. It’s clear as a sunny day. Neither of us will be satisfied with just tonight.
I’ve never connected with a man the way I am with Walker. I don’t know him and yet…
I do.
It should scare me but doesn’t. I’ve never backed down from anything, and whatever this is with Walker we’ll work through it, see where it leads, because even though neither of us has said a word, we’re communicating.
I see his acknowledgment, his determination.
We’re in this together.
In silent agreement he moves.
A slow drag out, a quick thrust in.
I’m strong but I don’t have leverage to move with him. I’m caught and totally at his mercy and the thrill that shoots through me steals my breath.
I’ve never ceded control like this. Not in any aspect of my life. Especially not in a physical relationship. It’s the most vulnerable place a woman can be, and I’ve always protected myself.
And yet with Walker I’m opening up and giving him everything. I feel it. Both physically and emotionally.
This isn’t a comfortable thought, and yet it feels right to give myself to him.
“You with me?” he growls.
I nod. I’m trapped, held tight between him and the floor. I don’t have the breath to talk but my eyes speak for me because in the next instant he stops, and his hands find their way to frame my face, his gaze boring into mine.
“No. You’re not.”
Before I can protest, he lifts up, pulls free of my clenching pussy, and jumps to his feet.
I have no idea how he manages the move so fast and lowers my legs gently at the same time. I don’t know if he’s stopping or if he’s changing positions or—
“Stop.” He reaches down and scoops me up. One arm behind my knees, the other my back, and then I’m in his arms, against his chest, and he’s heading deeper into the suite. “Which room?”
I point to the one on the right. The other is empty, I haven’t even been in there. Nat was supposed to come to New York with me, to be there when I signed the agreement on behalf of KAW with the National Hockey League, but at the last minute we decided to keep her out of it for now.
“You’re still not with me,” Walker murmurs as we enter the bedroom I’m using.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He smiles down at me. “We kind of rushed into this.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t regret anything other than taking you like an animal on the floor.”
“Oh. You—”
“Don’t get me wrong. Hot hard sex the second we get behind a closed door has its place but not the first time.” He lowers me to the bed, then cages me in with a hand either side of my head. Locking his gaze with mine he says, “The first time I come inside you, you’ll be with me.”
I can’t decide it that’s a promise or a threat. His voice holds an edge, one I feel vibrating through every cell. Should I agree? Give him permission to do what he wants? I’ve never been this unsure about anything in my life. Not since my grandfather rescued me from my—no—I’m not going there.
“You’re doing it again.”
My focus comes back to the man leaning over me. “Sorry?”
“You keep disappearing.” He taps my temple. “In here.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Walker grins. “Remember telling me you like a challenge?” I nod. “Well, so do I, and I think you’re going to be my biggest challenge. Possibly my greatest reward too.”
The last sentence is murmured and the words, what they imply, rock me. I know this thing between us is different. I want to say it has to do with the excitement of getting the franchise, but I know that’s a lie, and one thing I’ve always refused to do is lie to myself.
It’s Walker.
It’s me and Walker.
Us together.
“Oak.” His face comes closer. “Stop thinking so hard. You need to relax.”
A shiver rolls over me when he brushes his nose along my jaw and the breath he sucks in, the fact he presses closer, breathes deeper…
“Walker.”
“Yeah, I know.”
What does he know? I don’t understand anything right now.
“Lie back and let me have you.” His gaze is back on mine, and I know he’s asking for more than my body.
Swallowing, I lick my lips, roll them between my teeth. Instinct tells me to give him everything. Except I’m so used to keeping myself back, being the one in control, that it’s hard to let him any deeper than surface level.
“How about this?” He straightens up, his gaze moving over me like a physical caress. “You let me have my way with this gorgeous body tonight, and we’ll worry about everything else later.”
I understand what he’s doing. He’s making this physical, attempting to remove the emotions to take away the concern he must see. I’ve never had a problem hiding my feelings before. I’m pretty sure I didn’t have a problem earlier today.
Except now we’re both naked. Behind closed doors with no chance of anyone interrupting us.
“Oak.” I focus my eyes on his. “We can stop.”
“No!” I’m up, my arms around his neck before I finish the word. The action tells me all I need to know. I’m an instinctual person; yes, I use my intellect too, but the best decisions of my life have been made because my instincts have told me to make them. “I don’t want to stop.”
“Then we won’t.” He lowers his face to the curve of my neck and presses a kiss there before asking, “Were you getting in, already in, or getting out of the shower when I got here?”
“Getting in.”
His head lifts and his eyes bore into mine. With a sexy tilt of his lips, he asks, “Want me to wash your back?”
I tip my head to the side, contemplating his question. Do I want to shower with him? I’ve always found showering and sleeping with a man far more intimate than sex. It’s a line I’ve rarely crossed and yet I find myself wanting to cross it with Walker.
Hell, I’m thinking of grabbing his hand and racing to the bathroom.
“Oakley,” he murmurs. “I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t normally do this. I’m not one to jump into bed with a woman the day I meet her but with you…” His gaze searches mine.
Nodding I say, “I know.”
“I have no idea what this is, where it will go, what it will mean to our working relationship, and considering you’re going to be my boss we probably shouldn’t—”
I press my hand to his mouth. “I’m not going to be your direct boss.”
“Does that really make a difference?” he asks against my hand.
With a shrug I give him a truth I feel to my bones. “I don’t really care.”
I feel one side of his mouth kick up beneath my fingers. “You don’t care?”
Removing my hand, I move back, leaning into the arms he has wrapped around me. “I care. What I’m saying is I think whatever this is, because like you, I have no idea what it is, I think it’s worth the risk our professional positions pose.”
Walker nods. “So we do this then—”
“Wait!” I palm both sides of his face. “I just realized what you said. You’re taking the job!”
His face softens, a smile spreading his lips. “You knew I would.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“There’s a lot we need to go over.”
“You want to do it now?” I don’t know about him, but I’m more than happy to forget everything outside of this room and the two of us until tomorrow.
“We probably should.”
“But do you want to?” I move closer, my lips almost brushing his. “Or do you want to wash my back?”
I’m off the bed, held tight to Walker’s body and heading for the bathroom in answer.
I grin. “Okay, back washing it is.”
“It’ll be more than that,” he growls.
I like that he seems as desperate as me to finish what we started before I let my thoughts stop us.
When Walker makes it into the bathroom, he looks around, taking in the luxurious fittings. His gaze locks on the huge tub in the corner. “As appealing as that multi-head shower looks, I think we’re going to take advantage of the tub.”
Plopping my naked butt on the counter, he leans in and kisses me. A long, deep, wet kiss that sucks the breath right out of me.
“Don’t move,” he orders when he’s finished scrambling my brain.
He needn’t bother. Not when the view of him moving around the room showing me his perfect body, casually pulling off the half-used condom and dropping it in the trash, bending over to start the water and giving me a better look at his ass, has me breathing hard and my fingers twitching to touch.
He’s looking through the hotel-supplied toiletries, flicking each one aside when they don’t meet his approval, and I can’t help but offer assistance. “What are you looking for?”
“Hmm…” he hums absently as he picks up the final bottle. Popping the cap, he takes a sniff before bringing it to me. “Here. Smell good?”
The fact he’s asking for my opinion shocks me. It shouldn’t. Walker has been considerate up until now. He’s a genuinely nice guy. I know that from the file my PI gave me but also from experience. In spite of what he did when we first met, he’s not a cocky asshole. And I can’t let him put that stuff in the bath. “No. It smells like a flower shop.”
“Huh. You don’t like flowers…” He eyes me carefully. “Do you not like it for you or me?”
How the hell can he read me so easily? “Ah…”
“Right. Okay. Well, I’m man enough to survive smelling like a flower shop.”
“But—”
“Plus you can jump in the shower with me to make sure you wash it all away before we leave in the morning.”
Ooo, I like the way he thinks. “I can do that.”
“Oh, no, there is no can, you will do that.” He grins at me, a cocky, I’m going to get you to do exactly what I want grin, that has me smiling in return.
“You sure about that?” I ask, even though we both know I’ll do it.
“Absolutely,” he says, while dumping a good amount of the sweet smelling liquid from the bottle into the stream of water filling the tub.
“Cocky,” I mutter.
Walker looks at me over his shoulder, his eyes locking with mine. “Confident.”
I have no come back for that because he should be confident. He had me naked on the floor, his cock buried inside me within minutes of his arrival.
I’m a sure thing.
Except I’m not.
I’ve never done this with anyone.
I’m cautious, often calculating, when it comes to the men I sleep with.
Usually, it’s sex. Only sex.
But with Walker, I knew before I dropped that towel it was more than sex. More than two people giving in to the chemistry sizzling between them.
I don’t believe in love at first sight—lust at first sight sure, but love? And I’m not saying that’s what this is. Even with the investigation the PI did, I don’t know Walker.
And yet…
I do.
It’s the most discombobulating sensation I’ve ever felt.
It should be scary, and in some regards it is, but I’m going to embrace it.
Things could blow up in my face—in our faces now that he’s agreed to take the head coach job with the Rogues, but like I said earlier…
It will be worth the risk.
We will be worth the risk.