If someone told me a week ago I’d be here, in this tub with a gorgeous woman in my arms, I would have laughed in their face.
Hell, if they’d told me a few hours ago, I’d have done the same.
But Oakley is unlike any woman I’ve ever known.
She’s not the first competent, successful women I’ve met, or the most beautiful for that matter.
Playing a professional sport has had me surrounded by good-looking accomplished women for years. In all that time I’ve never encountered one who triggered the reaction Oakley does.
It feels like I’ve known her forever. And yet, there is so much about her I don’t know.
I didn’t bother Googling her. Don’t get me wrong, I was tempted. But then, Oakley tempts me on so many levels.
Personally, professionally.
I want this woman.
I want what she’s offering me.
And if I’m honest, since my injury I haven’t felt this at ease or pumped up.
Just being with her smooths out the turbulent emotions I’ve been dealing with the last few months and excites me in a way I haven’t been since we landed in the playoffs last season.
Shit, even last season’s success didn’t have me thrumming with anticipation the way Oakley’s offer does.
“What are you thinking about?”
Her soft voice floats around us almost like it’s part of the steam hanging in the air. “You.”
“Oh?”
I squeeze her a little tighter. “You’re an incredible woman.”
“Thank you. But I doubt that’s what you were thinking about.” She tilts her head back to look at me, the arch of one eyebrow voicing the question her mouth doesn’t.
“True.” Dropping a quick kiss to her temple, I lean back and reveal more than I probably should. “You settle me. I can’t explain it. I just feel as though after months of upheaval, the ground beneath my feet is finally steady.”
“It’s probably more the job you’ve accepted than me.”
“No. That’s part of it, sure, but it’s you. And at the risk of diving deeper than either of us will be comfortable with, I have to tell you this—us, together—is the most right thing I’ve ever felt. And that includes when I strap on skates and hit the ice, and I feel pretty damn right doing that.”
“Your injury, the shift in career focus makes that feel less right.”
“Again, no. This here, you and me, feels far more right than hockey ever has.”
Her body goes taut against me.
Fuck.
I shouldn’t have said that.
Except putting that out there also feels right.
I know it’s fast, I know we barely know each other even though I’ve had my dick in her. We’re connected on a level I never expected, a depth that should scare the shit out of me, and it does.
There’s a healthy dose of fear skating through my veins right alongside the knowledge that I’m meant to be here, with her.
This woman, she has me tied tight. Even with the fear of what’s to come, I’m not unhappy.
Less than twenty-four hours ago I would have said nothing could make me happy.
Not a woman.
Not a job offer.
Nothing short of being told I’d play again at the same level I did before Blanchett slammed me into those boards would have made me happy.
Hours.
It’s taken a measly few hours for the woman in my arms to change everything about my life.
This morning everything I’d worked for had been ripped out from under me and I had no clear view of where to go next until she walked out from behind those blinding lights and my body went on hyper alert.
I hadn’t recognized it then. I should have. I’d never reacted to a woman like that in my life, but I’d put it down to the numbness my relationship with Kristina had left me in.
It took one look at Oakley James for my body to realize I wasn’t dead.
It took a bit longer for my brain to catch up.
And while it’s too early to talk about my heart, I’m positive it’s involved here.
I can’t put it into words. Don’t want to. Not yet. There are too many things that need to be dealt with first.
But for now, I’m going to enjoy the woman in my arms and this night before either of us has to face the world outside this suite.
Bending my head, I bring my lips to her ear and whisper, “Talk to me.”
“This is big.”
I hear her hesitation. Her fear. “It is.”
“It could get complicated.”
“There’s no could about it. It’s going to get complicated as fuck.”
Her whole body softens on a deep sigh. “We need a plan.”
“A plan?”
“How to handle our relationships.”
I’m glad she put the s on the end of that word because if we’re going to make either a success, we need to know there is a distinction.
Personal and professional.
A line we both need to be aware of from the start. “I think this one should be easy enough.”
“The other would be too. If we weren’t in this one. It’s the two together, the bridge between them that is going to need managing.”
“I’ll do whatever you think is best as long as that isn’t ending either. But if one has to go, I’d prefer it not be us.”
I need that out there. I don’t know why, except the thought of not being with Oakley cuts deeper than the thought of not coaching her new team. Cuts sharper than walking away from hockey all together.
Sitting up, she spins on her knees to face me. “You’d give up the coaching job for me?”
The surprise and confusion in her voice is matched by the look in her eyes. And I give her the only answer I can. “In a heartbeat.”
“Walker.” My name is more sigh than word.
Cradling her face in my palms, I bring her closer until our lips almost touch. “I know.”
“I never expected this. You.”
“Join the club.”
“How do we make this work?”
“I don’t know. Hell, I don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow when the world finds out I’m retiring. Shit. I haven’t even told my sister yet.”
“You need to do that before it becomes public knowledge.”
“I will. After I leave here tomorrow.”
“You’re staying the night?”
“That should never have been in question.”
“Walker.” A small smile tilts my lips when she says my name again. I love the sound of it on her tongue.
“Shh…” I press my mouth to hers hard, then pull back. “Tonight we forget about everything outside of this suite. It’s just you and me and hours of alone time. Nothing to worry about but each other.”
“We should—”
“The only thing we should do is hop out of this tub and get back to what we were doing before I carried you in here.”
Putting action to words, I stand and offer her a hand. Once we’re both on our feet, I don’t delay in grabbing a towel, wrapping it around her shoulders, and lifting her into my arms.
“Are you going to make a habit of carrying me?”
“I like you in my arms.”
“I like being in them, but this can’t be good for your knees.”
She’s right, it probably isn’t, but if I no longer plan on hitting the ice in a professional game I don’t need to take as much care. And as a non-sportsman, my knees are in great shape. “You don’t have to worry about that. It’s fine.”
“Walker.”
Her tone is chastising, and I have to laugh. “Is this what a relationship between us will be like? You telling me what to do?”
“I’m not telling you what to do,” she huffs. “I am concerned about you hurting yourself.”
Placing her on her feet, I wait until her gaze connects with mine before I tell her a truth only my doctors and I know.
“My knees are fine. If I were anything but a professional hockey player, I would have been back to work and normal life months ago.”
“But—”
I press a finger to her lips. “The damage is repaired; unfortunately neither are or ever will be at the strength or stability they were before the injuries.”
I don’t tell her the real reason for my need to retire. She’ll find out soon enough.
“I still don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
The fact Oakley isn’t concerned because she wants me to play again is refreshing. For months the only concern has been how long until I could be back on the ice.
“I won’t push it that far,” I promise.
“How will you know? You could trip because you can’t see something on the floor, you could bang into—”
“I promise to take care.” I can’t believe how close her comment is to the true issue. It’s probably the perfect place to tell her but I don’t. “I still want to be able to take to the ice, and I will, but you’re right, anything could happen and not just when I’m carrying you. I could get bumped on the sidewalk, slip down icy stairs, twist the wrong way, there are so many things that could set me back but I’m not going to live my life like I’m disabled. I’m not. Nowhere near it and you have to trust me to know when I’m pushing it too far.”
She puffs out a breath and says, “Fine. You know what you can and can’t do.”
“Ready for me to show what else I can do?” I ask, stepping into her space. I crowd her back toward the bed.
“Oh, and what can you do, Mr. Alcott?”
“Any damn thing I want.” I pounce, scooping her up in my arms again and dashing for the bed.
With a laugh, I toss her on the covers still rumpled from earlier. Not giving her time to evade me, not that I think she will, I climb onto the mattress and cage her beneath me.
We don’t speak for long moments, just gaze into each other’s eyes and communicate in a way I’ve never done before.
This connection we have would be overwhelming if I thought too deeply about it. But when Oakley skims her hands from my shoulders to my groin, I’m not thinking at all.
I’m diving into the woman beneath me with a soul shattering kiss.
I touch her nowhere else; I want her like this.
Mouth to mouth, breath to breath.
I want to savor this contact before moving on to the next. Except Oakley has other ideas, and the hand she wraps around my cock makes it clear what they are.
“Slow,” I murmur. “I want to go slow. Take my time getting to know every inch of you.”
“We can go slow next time.” Her fingers tighten on my shaft. “We’ve got all night.”
I grin against her mouth. “We do. But—”
She shoves her tongue almost down my throat before she pulls back with a nip to my bottom lip and a laugh. “Who knew it would be so easy to shut you up?”
Soothing the sting with the stroke of my tongue, I study her. “You like the idea of being able to shut me up?”
“Hmm…” Her hum is accompanied by a harder pull of her hand along my cock, and I can’t stop myself from groaning, from rocking my hips and shoving my dick through her fingers faster. “Nothing else to say, Mr. Alcott?”
I smash the grin on her lips with my own. If she wants us to stop talking, we’ll stop. And if she wants things to go fast this round, I’ll oblige her. It’s not like it would be a sacrifice to take her hard and fast.
Fuck.
I did the minute I stepped into her suite.
We might not have sealed that deal, but we will now. And tomorrow we’ll worry about the other deal we’re going to seal.
For now, I want to get back between her thighs and sink deep. But when my hard flesh presses into her soft slick sex, I’m struck with a thought no man wants when he’s about to be balls deep in the woman he wants more than his next breath.
“Fuck!” I gasp against her lips. “I don’t have—”
“What?” Her teeth nip my lip. “What don’t you have?”
“Condom. I used the one from my wallet.” Another thought hits me. “Shit. I have no idea how old that thing was. It could be out of date. I haven’t had a need for over a year.”
“We’re good. I’m covered. And I’m sure we’re both clean.”
My gaze meets hers. “Yes. I had every test under the sun when I was hurt.”
“Then we’re good to go.”
Her words slam into me. “But—”
“IUD.” She brings her hands up to cup my jaw. “I trust you.”
“Are you sure?” I’m not about to push this if she’s not. “We can wait.”
“The hell we can!”
Using some ninja move too fast for me to see, Oakley has our positions reversed before I take my next breath.
Staring down at me she says, “I trust you.”
“You can. But I don’t want…” I swallow hard. “Oakley,” I breathe out.
“We’re doing this. We’re going to be together and we’re going to do it while we show the world the Rogues are a force to be reckoned with.”
Before I can agree or disagree, she lifts up, one hand holding my dick still, the other on my chest. With her eyes on mine, she lowers her body until the tip of me is barely inside her.
“I trust you, Walker.”
Her words are like a fist around my heart, squeezing tight, holding on as though nothing could ever pull us apart.
And as she takes me in, a slow slide of her slick flesh down my hard length, I know she means more than the fact we’re having sex with nothing between us.
I’ve never been inside a woman bare. Never thought about it. In fact, I’ve turned sex down when a condom wasn’t available. I like that it’s Oakley I’m popping this particular cherry with.
I can’t help the smile that stretches my lips or the chuckle that rumbles in my chest.
“Something funny?”
“Yeah.”
She stops with an inch or two left to take and for a second I panic. Thinking she’s preparing to rise up, I slam my hands on her hips, shove her the rest of the way down. The puff of air that leaves her throat matches the one I suck in at the sensation of being fully inside her.
“Sorry. I was thinking about you taking my cherry.”
Blinking at me, her expression is full of confusion, and I laugh again.
“I’ve never taken a woman bare,” I say before she can take offense.
“Oh.” Then she’s smiling at me. Big and bright and I can’t stop myself from sitting up and pressing my mouth to hers.
The kiss is slow and soft and sweet, and I want to keep doing it for hours, but Oakley has other ideas. Hands on my face, she pulls away and locks her gaze on mine.
“I’ve never let anyone take me bare.”
Her confession has my heart tripping in my chest. My blood rushing in my veins. My dick throbbing deep inside her.
Every step of the way we seem to stumble into emotions neither of us are ready for or expecting.
I know what this is, where it’s going. I can see it all laid out like a movie reel in my head.
I’m going to grow old with this woman. No matter what happens with the Rogues, if we manage to handle me being head coach or not, I’ll be beside Oakley for the rest of my life.
And right now, I want to show her how I’m feeling, because Lord knows we aren’t ready for the words.
For me to say them.
Or for her to hear them.
But I can definitely show her. Speak to her heart in a language as old as time.
Lying back, I take her with me and roll. Cradling her face in my hands, I drop my mouth to hers and take her mouth the way I intend to take her body.
Slow and sweet and gentle, I rock us.
With each thrust, I push a little deeper, a little harder but not faster.
It’s a languid sweep of our senses, an easy stroll to the peak, and when we finally reach the point of no return with our eyes locked, mouths joined, my cock deep inside her clutching depths, we fly together.