Chapter 45 #2
“I’m going to talk to John—to your dad. I won’t let him get away with this. I don’t care what it takes. Maybe I can get through to him, I don’t know. I’ll find something that works. I’ll sue him. I’ll punch him right in the goddamn face if I need to.”
I wrap my fingers tight around his wrist. “No. Please, Cole. I don’t want you getting dragged any further into this mess because of me. Especially not when you’re so close to securing a contract extension.”
Frustration pinches his face. “I’m supposed to care about an extension when you might lose your job over our relationship?”
“It’s not just that.” I exhale, shaky. “It’s also that I need to deal with him on my own terms. He’s my problem. He has been my whole life, in the background. I need to fix this for myself. Promise me you won’t go after him.”
I plant my hand on his chest, over his heart. Imploring him.
His hand comes to cover mine, eclipsing it. He drops his head toward mine, softly pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Fine. I’m not happy about it, but I promise.”
Slowly, I sink a little further down into the warm water. Hiding myself so I can feel strong enough to speak.
I force the words out. “I meant what I said earlier. If you want to walk away, I won’t hate you. In fact, I’ll understand.”
“Is that what you want?” he asks slowly.
“No,” I murmur. “But what I want isn’t important anymore. Not when your career is on the line.”
His expression grows cloudy.
“What you want will always be important. Never fucking diminish yourself like that again in front of me. All right, baby?”
“Okay.” A flush runs along my neck. He’s right. I’ve fought too hard over the last few years to sacrifice it all. “I won’t.”
Cole breathes out, his throat bobbing.
“I feel fucking terrible about this, Cassie. I blame myself for not being careful enough. I know your career is in a more precarious position than mine. I’m an NHL player.
As brilliant as you are, I know your career is in its early stages, and you don’t have the security I have.
At worst, I get traded to a team with no playoff shot.
Which would hurt like hell, because I’m loyal to the Nor’easters till I die.
But I would still get to play hockey. Even if I won a cup this year…
” He shakes his head. “If you don’t get to live out your dreams too, it won’t bring me a scrap of joy.
I thought you might be the one to say we should end this. But me? Fuck no. Never.”
The relief is potent. I bite my lip to stop a sob escaping me.
“Say the words.” He slides his fingers under my chin and makes me meet his eyes. “Tell me you understand that I’m not going anywhere.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” He pauses, voice lowering. “Now—now tell me you won’t leave either.”
I blink, startled at the vulnerability in his eyes.
“I won’t leave. God, Cole. I’m in this just as much as you are.”
His expression turns soft, a crooked smile sliding across his face.
I can’t help it. I lean in and kiss him, bunching my wet fingers in his shirt. I need him closer.
“Fuck, Cassie,” he groans against my open mouth.
I deepen my kiss in response, and suddenly Cole is lifting me out of the bath. He wraps me in a fluffy white towel, then carries me into his bedroom and gently lays me down on the bed.
He’s on top of me in an instant, tangling up with me, his mouth on mine. I tug at his clothes until he’s as naked as I am. I stroke his cock a few times, heat rushing through my body as I feel its warmth and weight in my palm.
He drops his head with a rasp. “The way you touch my cock drives me crazy.”
I bite my lip, running my hand along his length, staring up at him. “I don’t just want to touch it. I want—I need you inside me. Right now.”
His teeth bare. “Fucking hell. Yes, baby. Spread those legs for me and I’ll give you exactly what you want.”
Over the last few months, I’ve had a lot of sex with Cole Taylor. It’s been passionate, it’s been intense. Sometimes it’s even been rough, in the most delicious way.
It’s been intimate. But it’s never been as consuming as this.
Never as… romantic.
Purely, intensely romantic.
Tonight, he fucks me slow and deep. Sinking in and back out in firm, liquid strokes.
My hips meet each stroke, though my muscles are trembling.
It’s overwhelming, feeling this in sync with another human body.
With a man who keeps telling me how everything about me is exactly right, exactly what he’s always wanted.
He leans lower to mutter a rasp in my ear. So good. So pretty. So sweet.
I whimper through each compliment.
It’s like he can’t help it.
My icy goalie. Usually so guarded and gruff. It hits me somewhere deep and tender, knowing that this is what makes the words spill from him: being deep inside me.
“So pretty for me. You’re perfect, you know that?” He groans, rough in his throat, and drops his forehead close against mine. “Never used that word for a woman before, but now I can’t fucking stop it. That’s what you do to me.”
My body rolls backward, my eyelids fluttering closed. I squirm against the pillow as the sensation grows in my core, threatening to spill over.
“No, honey.” His fingers close around my jaw. “Don’t look away. No hiding from me. Not when you’re this fucking stunning. This incredible in every way. Hiding all of this would be a crime. So look me in the eyes while I fuck you.”
So I meet his eyes, and I don’t let myself look away.
He doesn’t stop kissing me. My lips. Each corner of them. My cheeks, my neck. His stubble grazes over my skin.
I haven’t used the word love for Cole yet. I haven’t even let myself think it.
But the way he’s touching me? That feels dangerously close to love.
I bite back the word fluttering against my lips, longing to be freed.
I can’t risk my heart like that right now. All I can do is hold on to what I know I do have.
He wets his fingers on his tongue before slipping them down to find my clit, and god is that hot.
“I’m close,” I pant, a whiny little whimper. Everything is suddenly tingly and taut, like something inside me is about to snap.
He grips my jaw, just hard enough to make me melt. “Then come on my cock while you look me in the eye.”
It’s a command that I obey. I think I’m gasping his name. I think I’m begging for him to come inside me. All I know for certain is that my body is spasming around him. I’m lost in how full he feels, buried deep in my pussy, as the orgasm hits me in wave after wave.
I’m still floating when he finishes. The warm pulse of his cock inside me makes me tingle. With a low huff, he pulls out of me and drops onto the bed.
He wastes no time. Wrapping me tight in his big arms. Pressing kisses onto my skin. His big, warm body enveloping mine.
“You think I could ever walk away from that?” he pants into my shoulder. “You overestimate my willpower, sunshine.”
I laugh, and my spirit lightens. Just enough. “I think I’m okay with us being weak for each other.”
Because in every other way, we make each other stronger.
Yes, everything is hurting right now. No, I don’t know how we’re going to figure this out. But it’s at this moment that I know in my heart I’m not alone at all.
I’ve got a teammate I can depend on.