Ice Cold Hearts: A Single Mom, Hockey, Reverse Harem Romance (Forbidden Fantasies)

11. Ian

I’ve always wondered whether Oliver was a genius or he was insane. Today, I learned it’s both. Throwing Emily over his shoulder caveman-style and carrying her off certainly wasn’t a solution I would have thought of, though I’m sure no one other than Oliver would have been able to pull it off. He’s the only person I know who can read a situation and know exactly what to do.

I, on the other hand, always seem to make things worse. I was upset at the thought of Emily leaving like that, anxious that I’d never get to see her again, and angry at whoever ruined her clothes. Mix all that together at a high temperature, and voila, multiple servings of me putting my foot in my mouth.

My emotions have always been my downfall. Trying to manage them is like trying to fit a size-nine skate on a size-twelve foot. It doesn’t work and it’s uncomfortable for everyone.

It’s always been too much for the women in my life, so why should Emily be an exception? She loosened up a bit on the ride home, but it didn’t escape my notice that she’d avoided making eye contact with me at all cost.

Of course, Oliver had noticed that too. As soon as we got her settled in the living room, he nudged Alexei and pointedly looked between Emily and me.

“I’m going to raid the fridge for some snacks. Alexei, you’ve done laundry most recently. Do me a favor and grab something for Emily? I can’t imagine she’d want to stay in that dress for much longer,” he says, already backing into the kitchen.

“I’d rather see her in just the jacket and heels,” he grumbles.

Emily squirms in her seat, and I’m overtaken by thoughts of her rolling her hips like that as she rides me. A glance at Alexei and Oliver tells me they’re thinking something similar.

“Snacks first,” Oliver insists.

Alexei skulks out of the room, and Oliver disappears into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Emily.

“It’s subtle,” she says sarcastically, “but I think they want us to talk.”

I snort. “I was getting that vibe.”

The smile quickly fades from her face, and she studies her cuticles like there’s gold buried under them.

My heart plummets to my feet, and I want nothing more than to run upstairs and bury myself under the blankets.

“Ian,” she sighs.

I know what she’s going to say. This is the part where she tells me my feelings are too intense for her and she only wants to see Alexei and Oliver from now on.

“There’s something wrong with you.” Rachel’s voice echoes in my head. “No one should have feelings that intense, especially not a man. You need to be fucking medicated.”

I didn’t leave my room for two weeks after she dropped that bomb on me two months in. Even though I just got to know Emily, I know her rejection is going to hit me even harder, especially after how gentle she’d been with me over texts.

She’s still quiet.

My ears are burning.

My chest is in a vise.

Goosebumps cover my skin like hives.

Why isn’t she just getting it over with?

Oh, fuck. She’s scared of me.

“It’s okay.” I say in as soft a tone as I can muster. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. Just please, don’t keep me waiting.”

Her amber eyes are wet with unshed tears.

I brace myself for the worst.

“Ian.” Her lower lip trembles. “I’m so sorry.”

What?

“I was so angry and embarrassed that I didn’t think, I just shouted. I was feeling so defensive and vulnerable and humiliated, but I never, never should have taken it out on you. I try so hard to rein in my temper, and I just…” She shakes her head dismissively. “No. That’s no excuse.”

If someone had just scientifically proven to me that the moon was made of cheese, I wouldn’t be more shocked than I am right now.

She reaches her hands toward me. I wasn’t expecting it, so I automatically recoil.

Her face crumples, and I feel like a monster.

“Ian.” Emily swallows hard. “If you don’t want to see me anymore because of it, I’d understand.”

“Oh, Emily.” I reach out and clasp her hands. “That’s not it at all. I just wasn’t expecting you to touch me or to apologize. I thought you were trying to let me down gently because of how awful I was to you outside the club. I say the wrong thing more often than the right one, I’m afraid.”

She squeezes my hands. “Neither of us was really at our best, huh?”

“Definitely not.” I smile. “I am sorry for raising my voice.”

“Me too.” Emily blinks, and a few tears fall on our joined hands.

I free one of my hands and wipe away a few tears, but that was apparently the wrong thing to do because she starts crying harder.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” I say dropping my hands into my lap. “I was trying to make it better, not worse.”

I’m not sure if the sound she makes is a laugh, a hiccup, or a sob, but I’m utterly charmed by it.

“I don’t think there’s a sweeter man alive than you, Ian,” Emily says, cupping my face in her delicate hands. “I promise I’m going to try my hardest to do better next time.”

“I do like the sound of that,” I admit.

“My apology?” She smiles incredulously.

“No.” I smile shyly. “The next time part.”

Emily closes the minimal distance between our lips and kisses me softly. My hands drift to her waist, and she hums contentedly. I pull her closer as she parts her lips for me. She tastes like liquor and lust. I know then that I could kiss her every minute of the day and it would still never be enough to diminish my desire for her. My hands drift up to the tie of her dress.

Alexei clears his throat, stopping us from continuing. Emily tries to pull away, but a cushion’s distance is too far away so I shift her onto my lap.

“If you’re going to undress her the first chance you get, why send me for clothes?” he says dryly.

“Don’t pout just because you didn’t get to do it first,” Emily teases.

“Are you looking to be put over my knee tonight?” he threatens.

“You promise?” she challenges.

Alexei sighs, running his hands through his hair. “If I didn’t want to know what happened at the club, you’d already be over my knee and Ian would be getting an exceptional view of your gorgeous round ass.”

My dick is now uncomfortably hard. I can tell Emily’s aware because she grinds her hips into me. I grip her waist hard.

Alexei walks over and tips her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes.

I can’t resist nipping the side of her neck and leaving my mark there. She moans, and I can see Alexei fighting to control himself.

“That’s enough, Kitten,” he commands. “Stop trying to get out of telling what happened. Spill it.”

She turns from him, curling into my chest, and an intense wave of protectiveness overcomes me. I rub gentle circles over her back.

“It’s just so embarrassing,” she mumbles into my chest.

“We just want to help, Emily,” I wheedle. “Even if that helping is just listening.”

Alexei grunts in agreement.

“If you want to give this a real go, you’re going to have to let us into the bad and embarrassing stuff too,” I say, squeezing her just a little tighter.

“Okay,” she says, taking a shaky breath.

Alexei and I listen with mirrored expressions of horror as Emily recounts every detail starting with Liza cornering her and ending with the sabotage of her dress. She stops several times to get her breathing back under control and then once or twice more to mop up her tears.

About halfway through, Oliver bursts in triumphantly with a charcuterie board, clearly aiming to impress, but after one look at Emily, he sobers up. He perches next to me on the couch and holds her unoccupied hand in his.

Based on her glances at Oliver and the tightness in the corners of her mouth, she’s holding something back. She might just be uncomfortable sharing this with us. Based on the way she’s tensing against me, I know she is. It would be easy to brush it off as all it is, but my gut is screaming that there’s more to it. I’ve pressed my luck enough today, though, so I keep my mouth shut.

Oliver is the first to break the silence after she finishes her story.

“Liza is one of the best agents in the business. That’s why I keep her around.” He shrugs. “But she’s not always great at the boundaries thing. Her heart’s in the right place. She just wants to protect me, but it’s still not okay. I told her to knock it off.”

“Thank you,” she says softly.

“Oh, and your dress,” he adds. “I’m going to get it dry cleaned for you and send her the bill for it. Or if it’s ruined, the bill for a new dress.”

“You really don’t have to,” protests Emily.

“My agent, my problem,” he asserts. “Let me handle it.”

She shifts uncomfortably on my lap, and I realize that no one has ever taken care of this woman the way she deserves.

That stops right now. I am going to make sure we pamper this woman so much she’s ruined for any other men.

Emily laughs nervously and shifts the conversation. “So is a wine baptism and a cheese plate on the couch how your dates usually end, because I’m not sure it lives up to the hype.”

Alexei studies her face a moment, then nods at me.

I glide my hands up from her hips to the top of her ribs. My thumbs trace patterns on the undersides of her breasts. Her breath catches, and she presses her back harder into my chest.

“I’m not sure you could handle how our dates usually end, Kitten.” He smirks at her. “You’re already gasping and he’s barely touched you.”

He shoves her knees so they rest on the outside of mine. Automatically, her feet twist and she hooks them to the insides of my ankles, anchoring herself there.

“Good girl.” he says, glancing at her feet.

I feel her shudder against me.

“If you’d been wearing any panties tonight, they’d be soaked through by now, wouldn’t they, Kitten?” he asks.

The thought of her completely bare under that dress is too much for me to handle. I start to slide my hands further up her body.

“Don’t.” Alexei’s command stops me. “She hasn’t answered the question.”

“Tell him, Kitten, so I can touch you,” I whisper in her ear.

“Yes,” she whimpers.

“Yes, what?” he demands

“Yes, Sir.”

Alexei’s slightly jerking his chin at me is all the encouragement I need. My left hand creeps up her breast and starts teasing at her nipple over the sheer fabric of the dress. My right flies up to bracket her throat.

The sound she makes nearly breaks my self-control, but I manage to trace my tongue over the shell of her ear instead of ruining the game by bending her over the couch and fucking her right then.

“Are you sure you want this?” I check. “It’s been a drama-filled night already. No one is going to blame you if you want to wait and do this another time. All you have to do is say the word and we’ll stop.”

She leans harder into the hand that’s around her throat. “No. I want this. I need you to fuck me so hard that I forget about her and the drama and the wine and this stupid dress. Tear it to shreds, for all I care. The only thing I want to remember about our first date is how each of your dicks feel inside me.”