"God, Juniper, I’m sorry,” I tell her, kissing her neck and rubbing her shoulders. “You know, I know how it is to lose a parent. That shit will fuck with your head for years. What you described? Being in all those houses? That could have been me and my brothers if Tim hadn't stepped up and gotten my grandmother to move in with us.” She doesn’t say anything then and I just hold her close, telling her stories about my family. How Tim basically raised us while my dad drank away his grief and our income.
“And all I did was give Tim shit, too,” I say. “He will tell you he fought to get me into schools that had good hockey programs, but the truth is I would have gotten kicked out of all the other schools. Hockey was the only way I could beat the shit out of people and not wind up in juvie.” I sigh. “Hey, Juniper?”
“Mmm?”
“I’m glad you wound up in Pittsburgh and found me in the bar that night.” I hadn’t meant to exploit this moment, seeing as both of us just spilled the beans about our dead parents, but I’m totally overcome by my feelings for this woman right now. There’s never been anyone who could relate to me about this stuff before, on top of understanding all the other things that make me tick.
But I can’t help what my cock is doing, and right now it’s growing hard nestled between Juniper’s ass cheeks. I’m prepared to walk away and hop into a cold shower, but she wiggles her hips around, nudging against me in a way that shows me she’s down for some distraction sex.
I roll onto my back, and Juniper sits up. She takes off the jersey then and holy shit, her tits are amazing. I pull her against my chest and roll on top of her, rubbing the silken expanse of her front, letting my rough hands tease along her skin. I love how solid she is beneath me. She's firm and perfect. I don't have to worry that I'm going to break her. I can just lose myself in the moment. She starts to moan in pleasure and when she reaches down to palm my length, I groan right along with her.
I reach for the strip of condoms on the nightstand and tear open the next one in the line. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, baby,” I whisper, wrapping myself in latex. Then she shoves me back on the bed and straddles me. I look up to see all of Juniper rising above me, like a goddess, before she slides down onto me with her warm, waiting folds.
In this position, locked together face to face with her on top, I just have to rock my hips slowly and it feels so tight, so deep, so good. Juniper sways her hips along with my mine and I smile. “We’re moving together like rowers,” I say, laughing.
She plants a kiss on my mouth, then bites my lip. “No crew jokes until you make me come again, Stag.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I tell her, and waste no time getting us both across the finish line.
After, I’m feeling pretty spent, what with having played a Stanley Cup Final and fucking my attorney ten ways to Tuesday. I lie on my back with my hands laced together under my head, hoping to catch some shuteye, but I feel Juniper staring at me. “What?” I ask, cracking open one eye.
Her short hair is tousled and messy. Her lips are swollen from my kisses and her eyes are glassy, like she’s stoned on post-orgasmic fumes. She says, “Are you actually going to stay?”
This takes me by surprise. “Babe, I have no intention of moving.”
“You’re going to spend the night? I didn’t think Tyrion Stag did things like that.” She looks skeptical.
"Tonight was a first for me in a few ways." I laugh. It feels good to laugh with a woman. I guess we're getting ready to have a conversation again, because she starts tracing the tattoo on my chest.
"A stag?" She touches the leaping stag above my heart. My brothers and I all have the same tattoo. Thatcher designed it and the day I turned 18, we all went together to get it.
"He's leaping over laurel," I tell her. "That was my mom's name. Laurel." I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her fingers. She strokes my cheek with her other hand, and instead of recoiling from this intimacy, I want to soak it in. With her.
I reach over her again and turn off the light so we’re immersed in darkness. I pull her close against me and adjust the blankets to fight off the chill from the hotel air conditioning. “We still have one more condom to use later,” I whisper into her ear. “Now get some rest.”
I feel her smile even though I can’t see her face, and as we are drifting off it occurs to me that Juniper doesn’t have to be up early tomorrow...because she’s here for my athletic event and missing hers as a consequence. “Hey,” I ask her. “What’s up with your crew team? Don’t you have a big regatta this week?”
I feel her stiffen. “Well, I’ve had to miss a lot of practice,” she says. “I ceded my seat to Jamie after Tim told me about the Murdo situation. I’ve been rowing alone to stay in shape but I'm not going to be able to compete tomorrow.”
“Aw Juniper, you can’t miss your race for me.”
She scoffs. “I’m not. I’m missing my race for my boss." In a rush, the reality of us comes crashing down on me. She can get fired for being here with me. What was the phrase she used? Ethics violation? Juniper can get disbarred, I guess, which means she can't be a lawyer anymore. Hell, more than missing a race for me, she could lose her entire career for taking a risk with me tonight.
"There has to be a way," I say. "Let me talk to my brother."
"Ty, you must not, under any circumstances, tell your brother that we slept together. Do I make myself clear?"
I nod, seeing the glint in her eyes even in the sliver of light that creeps into her hotel room from under the door. She's my secret then, I guess. She feels like one worth keeping.
She rolls over, putting a little distance between us in the bed, but she doesn’t kick me out of her room. I think about how much her career means to her, how she doesn’t have any family left and really, all she cares about is her job and her rowing. Now both of those things are at risk because of me. I want to do something nice for her, to let her know she can count on me. Not just for sex. I let my fingers trace lines down her spine, feeling the strong muscles of her back, and I get an idea.