Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
It’s A Me Thing
GABE
I ran into the hotel lobby with Eli at my side.
As badly as I wanted to pin Eli down to the floor and keep him away from whatever chaos we were heading toward, I knew there was nothing I could feasibly do.
He was a grown man, and he clearly had a good, brave heart.
Instead of running away from danger, he ran toward it.
That was a very admirable quality that I wished Eli didn’t have in that moment, only so that I could keep him as safe as humanely possible.
There was a small crowd forming around a distraught-looking woman, her front shirt stained with dark red—fuck, was that blood?
It didn’t smell like blood. I’d pick up on that metallic scent from the moment we stepped inside.
No, it was a fruitier, sweeter scent that came off her.
That’s when I noticed the shards of thick glass on the floor and more of that red liquid soaking into the rug.
She clutched herself tightly as Emmy tried to reassure her about something.
“What’s going on here?” I asked. There didn’t look to be much danger, but I still had my attention split between the scared woman in front of me and the nervous man at my side.
Coach Julian was here; he had his phone out and appeared to be dialing the police. “She found an upsetting package at the front desk.”
“What was it?” Eli asked.
“A severed bobcat head,” Emmy answered.
My eyes opened so wide they nearly rolled out of my skull. Eli gasped.
“It was placed right on the front desk,” the woman explained. “It was addressed to the hotel but didn’t have a return address. I opened it without realizing it was already soaked through with blood.” She gagged, holding a fist up to her mouth.
Fuck. At least it didn’t sound like we were in immediate danger, but I wasn’t letting my guard down.
This was clearly a threat pointed directly at us.
And who else would do that besides either an extremely unhinged and obsessed Sharks fan who just happened to know where we were staying or one of the Sharks themselves?
“Jesus Christ,” Eli said under his breath.
“Do we know who delivered it? Maybe we can talk to the delivery person,” Emmy suggested.
The woman shook her head. “It wasn’t in the mail room; it was just there on the front desk. I thought one of my coworkers may have left it there.”
I looked around the lobby, spotting cameras. “Are those working?”
She winced, shaking her head. “They went down at the start of this week. A technician is scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
“That’s okay,” Coach said. He put a tense hand on my shoulder.
The harsh red and blue lights of a police car flashed through the room.
“I’ll handle it from here. You guys go to your rooms and get some sleep.
It’s most likely some sick prank, and I’ll make sure whoever behind it is either expelled from the league. ”
“You sure you don’t want me to stay?” Emmy asked.
“No, I’ve got this. Go.”
The gathered group dispersed just as the cops entered the lobby. Eli walked by my side, all of us completely silent until we got to the elevators.
“What the actual fuck?” Dylan said. “Are the Sharks fucking serious? What the hell?”
I shook my head. “They’re pushing it now,” I said. At first, I’d been suspicious that the iron collar was actually a threat, but this new development made that sound all the more plausible.
The elevator door dinged open. We stepped inside, the space becoming cramped from having to hold five six-foot-something hockey guys.
Emmy cleared his throat. “I want you guys to focus on the games we have and leave all of this outside the rink. I know that’s difficult to do, but we can’t let them get into our heads like this. ”
“Fuck that,” Dylan said. He looked more angry than frightened. “How can they do that to an innocent animal? I want to knock out some teeth tomorrow.”
I didn’t blame him. The thought made me absolutely sick.
It went against the very basic laws of nature.
Don’t kill unless absolutely necessary, either for food or for self-defense.
Sending a message was nowhere on that list. It was an affront to nature.
I shared Dylan’s sentiment about knocking them the fuck out.
“We don’t know who it was yet,” Emmy reminded us as the elevator jerked to a stop. “Just focus on winning. Let me handle this.”
The doors opened on Eli’s and my floor. We said our good nights and stepped out into the sparsely decorated hallway.
Eli glanced over his shoulder toward the other end of the hall.
I instinctively reached out and put a hand on his back, square between his two shoulders, and rubbed.
“Don’t stress about this.” In that moment, I was glad I had asked Emmy to switch my room assignment with Dylan’s.
Knowing we were in Shark territory had me on edge, and I didn’t like the idea of leaving Eli unprotected.
“Has this happened before?” Eli asked.
“Never,” I replied. “There’s been some playful rivalry between us, but never this fucked-up. I don’t know what triggered it.”
“You don’t think it’s got something to do with me, right? Maybe they’re trying to scare off the new trade?”
I shook my head. We stopped in front of the door. I pulled the key out of my pocket and held it to the keypad. “No, they aren’t that stupid.” Because if this was targeted toward Eli, then I would personally shift into a were on the full moon and tear their entire pack to pieces with my bare claws.
The light on the keypad flashed green, and the heavy lock slid open. Eli entered first, and I followed behind him, taking one last look at the empty hallway before closing and locking the door.
“At least this room is nice—uh-oh,” Eli said.
“What?” I asked, my heart dropping. Was there another package in here? Could they have known we were staying in one of these rooms?
I looked around but only saw a very nice hotel room with a beautiful view of the Savannah River. Eli lifted his hand and pointed at the bed.
The bed.
The singular bed.
“Oh,” I said, eyebrows rising. “Must have been a mistake.” On the inside, I was jumping up and down for horny joy, but on the outside, I kept myself cool, calm, and cumposed.
Fuck! My brain was already misfiring and my dick already twitching.
“I’ll call the front desk,” I said, walking toward the phone, every step feeling like quicksand trying to stop me.
“Don’t worry about it,” Eli said. “We can put up a pillow wall if you want.”
I looked over at Eli, one hand on the phone. “Are you scared you might touch me in your sleep?” I teased.
“Are you?” he volleyed back.
“That you’d touch me? Nah. Not if it’s anything like it was in the steam room.”
Eli licked his lips. He leaned against the dresser, arms crossed.
He wore a pair of gray sweatpants that did nothing to hide his package.
He had a backward baseball cap on, loose brown curls falling through the front of it.
“You know,” he said, pushing off the dresser and taking a couple of steps toward me.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the steam room and how it’s rude to not handle unfinished business. ”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, getting harder. Eli was inches away from me now.
“Yeah.” He swallowed. His eyes locked on mine. There was a freshly cleaned pine scent in the room, but all I could smell was Eli’s sweat, and musk, and skin, and cologne, and shampoo, and fuuuuuck. I wanted him. So fucking bad.
And I was determined to have him.
There was no stopping the collision course I set my lips on.
I hit my target and swallowed Eli’s delicious moan as our lips met in a devastating kiss.
I’d been wanting to do this since the moment I laid eyes on him that first night I met him.
Funny how he had already had his hand wrapped around my erect cock, and yet somehow, this kiss felt more intimate and erotic than that moment.
My hand went up to the back of his neck, feeling the soft tickle of his curls against the tips of my fingers. My grip tightened. I pulled him closer to me. He tasted just as good as he smelled. I inched backward, still kissing him, until I felt the mattress press against the back of my knees.
I dropped backward. Eli fell with me, neither of us wanting to break the kiss. If this lasted an entire eternity, then I’d be happy.
With our lips were still locked, our hands began roaming underneath shirts and inside pants. I rutted against him, feeling both our hard cocks rubbing together between us. It was pure fucking bliss.
But I wanted more. So much more. I’d gotten a taste of the appetizer and now wanted to devour the entire five-course meal, all in one bite.
I reached between us and unzipped my pants while my tongue swirled around Eli’s. I tugged off my jeans. Eli looked down and let go of a tiny moan as he palmed my soaked briefs. “Jesus,” he said. “That’s a lot of precum.”
I grinned and tilted my hand back as Eli’s hand worked me over my wet underwear.
“It’s a… me thing.” Fuck. In my lust-filled stupor, I nearly just revealed one of my deepest secrets to him.
I was close to saying it was a “were” thing but managed to course correct just in time.
That would be a conversation for another day, if that day ever came. “Do you not like it?”
“Are you kidding me? I love it.” Then, as if to emphasize his point, he got down on his knees and replaced his hand with his face, rubbing himself against me.
My cock pulsed against the confines of my briefs.
I could feel more precum dripping from my tip.
He slowly pulled off my soaked Calvins and let my dripping wet cock spring free.
His eyes opened wide with a reverence that transformed my blood into fire.
“Damn, you have such a nice cock,” he said, holding it at the base.
“It’s all yours,” I said.
“Good.” He leaned in and licked the tip, lapping up the precum that glistened on the head. I moaned and dropped my head back, sinking into nirvana. He cupped my balls and licked up and down the shaft, kissing it, tasting it. He stroked me before he wrapped his lips around my cock.
“Fuck, your mouth feels so wet and warm. God, Eli.”
He continued to suck me into his mouth, taking more of me. He was greedy with it. There was no hesitation, no second-guessing. He clearly had wanted this and was showing me just how badly. He took me down halfway before he had to come back up for air.
I throbbed in his grip. His lips were shiny under the warm light of the hotel room. He went back down, trying to take as much of me down his throat as he could. I was bigger than average but was pleasantly surprised by how much Eli was able to take.
I propped myself up on my elbows, spread my legs, and let him work. His slurps mixed with my groans of pleasure. He looked up at me with most of my cock in his mouth now.
Fucking hell. I lifted my legs and wrapped them around his head. He moaned as I squeezed my thighs around him, pulling him down, making him swallow more of me. I held him there, his tongue swirling and saliva dripping. My toes curled, and my eyes rolled back.
I let him go, planting my feet back on the carpet. He pulled up with a gasp, smiling as he wiped his lips. “You taste like heaven.”
“Take off your clothes,” I said, my tone more commanding than I meant it to be.
Eli stood up and listened, pulling off his sweater, his hat falling to the floor and revealing a messy head of loose brown waves. He took off his shirt as I took mine off, tossing them onto the pile. His sweatpants bulged with his erection. He dropped those to his ankles.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who leaks,” I said, smiling at the wet spot in his boxer briefs.
I grabbed his hips and pulled him close.
I kissed his stomach, tracing a line over his abs with my tongue.
He had a dark brown happy trail leading down toward his rock-hard cock.
I couldn’t wait any longer, yanking his underwear down and revealing the hottest fucking dick I’d ever seen.
It was a damn work of art. Nice and thick, uncircumcised and pink, a little veiny.
I leaned in and gave him exactly what he gave me: pure and unadulterated pleasure.
His hands moved to my head as I took him into my mouth. His salty-sweet pre coated my tongue as I lapped him up. He tasted as good as he smelled. I didn’t hold back, blowing him like I was working toward the gold in the Winter Oral Olympics. His sweet and half-throated sounds of bliss urged me on.
But again… I found myself craving so much more.
I stopped blowing him and stood, gently guiding him down on the bed so he was the one lying down.
His naked body was on full display, splayed out like a fine art piece.
He was so toned and muscular, with a defined chest and a solid six-pack.
I’d seen him in the locker room and showers, but in those moments, I had worked extra hard to avoid looking at him for too long.
Not tonight, though. I wanted to etch every freckle, every beauty mark, every muscle into the back of my brain.
I got onto the bed and caged him between my arms, leaning down and kissing him again. I loved body contact, and having it with Eli was absolutely no exception.
I pressed myself against him, lifting his legs slightly, pushing my leaking cock against his hole. I leaned down and kissed his neck, sucking on the sensitive flesh. An urge to sink my teeth in overwhelmed me. Same urge that was pushing me to bury my cock in his ass.
I wanted to claim him. To make every inch of him, inside and out, mine.
His green eyes were lit with the same fiery passion that burned a path up from my balls to my brain. It left nothing behind except a singular focus: to fuck Eli until I left him a sweaty and trembling mess, begging for my load.
I looked down at him, his face flushed, his eyebrows dipping down in pleasure. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” I said, tracing a thumb over his lips. He opened his mouth and sucked me in. I groaned, my cock aching to push inside him.
“Do you want me to fuck you tonight?” I said, my thumb still in his mouth. His hard dick pulsed, pressing against my abs. There was a part of me that felt like fucking Eli had the potential of ruining us both, of turning this intrigue and attraction into a full-blown obsession.
I didn’t care. I wanted him. Wanted to become one with him until we both unraveled.
But did he want the same thing?