34. Branton
Resting up on my elbow I stare down at the sleeping woman beside me.
For the second time in my life, I’ve woken up next to a woman.
This time I remember every second of last night.
And this morning.
There isn’t one part of the last few hours I haven’t rerun in my head multiple times since my eyes blinked open about thirty minutes ago.
I can’t keep the smile off my face, and I don’t care if it’s a goofy grin either. It feels like one. Because I feel goofy. Giddy with excitement and anticipation.
I want to jump out of bed and wake Blake up. Drag her into the shower and turn another of my fantasies into reality.
Except I can’t stop looking at her. At the ring on her finger. My ring.
“You’re staring.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Because the sight of you next to me is one I’ve waited my whole life for.”
“Jeez, you’re going to be all mushy and lovey-dovey, aren’t you?”
“Problem with that?”
She cracks open the eye closest to me. “Maybe.”
“Oh.” I frown. I don’t know if I can curb my emotions when it comes to her. She’s all I’ve ever wanted and now I have her…
A burst of laughter has Blake rocking on the bed beside me. “You should see your face.”
My frown deepens and I grab her hip, keep her still. “You winding me up?”
“Well, I did enjoy undoing you last night…and this morning.”
“Yeah?” Leaning over, I brush my lips over hers. “Want to see how wound up we can get in the shower?”
“Do we have time?”
“There’s always time for us.”
Palming my chest, she pushes. “No, there won’t be, but we’ll make time when we don’t have a lot of it. What time is it anyway? Mom was planning a feast for breakfast.”
“Her blueberry pancakes?”
“I expect so.”
“Then why the hell are we dilly-dallying?” Tossing back the covers I roll out of bed.
“Dilly-dallying?” She giggles. “What kind of word is that?”
Shrugging, I bend down and scoop her up. “Don’t know. I heard it somewhere.”
“What are you doing?” Blake wraps her arms around my neck as I move toward the door.
“Getting in the shower.”
“Together?”
“Yes. We’re saving time and water.”
“I’m not sure we’ll save time.”
“Oh, we will. We need to fuck and get ready. This way we can do them both at the same time.”
“We need to fuck?”
“You don’t agree?” I clear the bedroom doorway as well as the bathroom one without banging any of Blake’s limbs—or head—on the way through. “Shit. You don’t have any clean clothes down here.”
“I can borrow something of yours to get from here to my room.”
“No. Get in the shower, I’ll race up and grab you something.”
“You might run into my brothers. Or parents.”
“Your parents are on the other side of the house, and I don’t care if I bump into Landon or Corbin.”
“We didn’t talk about what happened last night when you found Landon.”
“Later.” I lower her to her feet and pat her ass. “Now get in the shower. I’ll be back.”
I do the smart thing and grab pants before I leave the suite of rooms that were my home from the time I was six.
I thought being here might be hard but when we arrived the other day I felt surrounded by love, had nothing but fond memories. I guess the other grief in my life outweighed any sadness I might have felt at being here without Mom.
The house is quiet and while it’s not super early, it’s not late either. I expect Andrew and Larissa are either still in their suite or the kitchen, and Landon may not have returned to the room he shares with Corbin at all.
As I make my way to the stairs, I hear noise coming from the corridor leading to the home gym and basement rinks. Voices and weights clanking. For a second I debate heading that way, seeing how things are this morning, but then I remember I have a naked Blake in my shower and there’s no decision to be made.
Blake wins.
Willwin every time.
Rushing up the stairs I’m in her room, rummaging in her duffel bag for a second before I think of a better option. Shouldering the bag, I duck into her bathroom to see if she has any toiletries laid out that she might need. Finding the counter bare, I shake my head.
Blake is so sexy she puts my body on edge, and yet she never does anything to emphasize her appeal. She’s naturally gorgeous but doesn’t flaunt it. I’m pretty sure she’s oblivious to her looks.
I shouldn’t compare her to the only other woman I’ve lived with but… Celeste had pots and tubes and bottles of all sorts of fragrant lotions and potions and not once did I find her sexy.
Another reason why waking in bed with her confused the fuck out of me. I’d never found any woman attractive enough to take to bed. Whether that was because I was already in love with Blake or not, I don’t know.
Don’t care.
I have the woman I’ve always wanted, she’s wearing my ring, and I’m staring at an empty bathroom when she’s naked in a different one.
“Jeez, you’re a dumbass,” I mutter as I spin around and leave the room.
I’m in the hall, almost to the stairs when a door behind me opens. Glancing over my shoulder I see Landon step out of the room. He looks rough. Like he hasn’t slept at all. I stop and turn to face him.
“Hey.”
My voice snaps his head up and halts him in his tracks. He gives me a forced smile. “Hey.”
“You doing okay?”
“No. But I will be.”
“If you need?—”
“I know. I’ll call.”
“We don’t have to talk about it. We can just get a beer, hang out, talk about hockey. Like we used to.”
“Hmm…” His gaze lands on the bag slung over my shoulder and a grin tips his mouth up on one end. “Going somewhere?”
“No. Yes. Shit. I need…” I indicate the stairs.
“Don’t fuck it up.”
“I don’t intend to. And if I do, I’ll let you kick my ass.”
“Won’t need to. She’ll kick it herself.”
I grin. “Yeah, she will.”
“When I get my head straight, I’ll give you a call. Maybe come see where my sister is building this new team.”
“You should. She’d love that. She’d love all of you to come see.”
“We’ll organize it. Maybe after the season. Before things really get moving for you guys at the Rogues.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Don’t you need to…” Landon points behind me.
“Shit. Yes. Sorry. I left?—”
Landon’s hand shoots up. “Don’t say it! I don’t want that in my head.”
Laughing I turn around and head for the stairs. “See you later.”
I don’t say when. He might show up to breakfast or he might not. At this point we need—I need—to let Landon take the reins of our friendship. If we still have one.
I think we do. I hope we do.
Then again, I’ve managed to rebuild my relationship with Blake, with their parents, I’m sure I can salvage the remnants of mine and Landon’s, Corbin too. I haven’t a clue how Mason and Sutton feel about me. They’re so much older that I was never that close with either of them. Even when we were younger and all living under this roof.
I guess if I’m going to marry Blake, and I am, no doubt about that, I’ll need to make the effort with her two older brothers.
I should probably be the one to reach out first. Maybe I can ask Andrew for their numbers and get the ball rolling there. Possibly organize that trip for Blake’s family to visit Baton Rouge after the season…
By the time I’m back in my rooms, my mind is spinning with all the ways I could handle her family and how we might keep a visit from them a secret from her. Except the second I enter the bathroom all thought is wiped cleaner than the ice behind a resurfacing machine.
Blake is naked, water running down the front of her, dripping from her pert nipples. She’s leaning back against the tile wall, a hand between her legs…
Fuck.
She’s my teenage fantasy come to life.
“Thought I’d have to finish without you.”
“Yes.” My dick throbs and I palm it through my pants. “Do that. Finish.”
Her movements stop for a split second before the sexiest grin I’ve even seen curves her mouth. “This another teenage fantasy?”
“Fuck yes.” I shove my pants to my knees and wrap a fist around my pulsing shaft. “Dreamed of finding you in the shower. Of watching you get yourself off while I hid behind the door so you wouldn’t see me do the same.”
“No more dreaming.”
“No.” I squeeze my dick in an attempt to hold back my release. I don’t want this to be over too fast.
“Want to join me in here or stay out there?”
I swallow. “If I join you, we won’t get off like this.”
“No?”
“No. I won’t be able to control myself. I’ll have to get inside you.”
“Well, if you’re serious about having a baby we shouldn’t waste?—”
She doesn’t finish her sentence before I’m kicking my pants off and launching over the edge of the tub to join her in the shower. “Turn around.”
My hands are on her hips helping her comply and I use my grip to bend her over.
“Hands on the wall. Hold on.”
I don’t give her a chance to argue, I step as close as I can, flex my knees, and line up my dick.
“Gonna fuck you raw so we can make our baby.”
“Bran.” She lets go of the wall with one hand, uses it to grab mine where it rests on her hip. “Your dirty mouth.”
“I’ve had years and years to think about all the things I want to do to you. For so many of those I didn’t think I’d get the chance.” I buck my hips, press the head of my dick into her hot, slick heat. “Now that I can do them, can talk about them, I’m not going to stop.”
With one thrust I’m balls deep and neither of us can speak. It’s all moans and groans, whimpers and sighs, and panting breaths filling the room along with the steam from the shower.
We don’t last long. The fiery edge of our need riding us both in a fast gallop up and over, tossing us into simultaneous orgasms that have cries of pleasure echoing off the walls.
Breathing hard, plastered to the back of her, I press my lips to her bare shoulder, nudge the side of her neck with my nose. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”