Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
NINE DAYS LATER
Lincoln
Nervousness ripples through my chest as I step out of my Uber and murmur my thanks to the driver. Trinity’s tall, dark brick apartment building in Wrigleyville is on a tree-lined street with a few people walking dogs and riding bikes.
I’ve imagined where she lives so many times. I pictured a sterile high-rise, but this is definitely more her.
Taking a deep breath, I walk up the front stairs and enter the key code Dalton gave me to get in the front door. I think she’s home because I called her when my flight landed. She thought I was calling from a road trip to Vancouver with the team.
When I climb the stairs to the second floor, a burly man dressed all in black stands up from the chair he’s sitting in beside her apartment door.
“Can I help you, man?” he asks.
“You must be Gideon.” I offer him my hand and he shakes it, giving me a wary look. “I’m Lincoln, the one who hired you through the agency.”
“I’ll need to see some ID. It’s standard procedure.”
Guess he wouldn’t be much of a bodyguard if he just took my word for it. “Uh, yeah. I’ll get my license.” I pass him the bouquet of roses I’m holding.
Once I show him my license, he nods and passes back the flowers.
“I still need Miss Lorenzo to approve you,” he says.
“Yeah, of course.” I reach for the doorbell, then remember the sandwich I ate at the airport.
I flash Gideon a huge smile. “Do I have anything in my teeth?”
He lowers his brows in annoyance. “No.”
I put my hand in front of my mouth and blow into it, trying to check my breath.
“Don’t ask me to smell your breath,” he mutters. “I’ve got mints if you want one.”
“That’d be great.”
He passes me a couple of Tic Tacs and I chew them up, not wanting to have them in my mouth when I kiss Trin. I’m nervous as a high school kid picking up his prom date.
When I ring the doorbell, she opens the door and gapes at me.
“Linc!” Her hands fly to her hair, which is piled on top of her head in a wild bun. She has green stuff all over her face and is wearing boxers and a worn navy T-shirt that says “Calm Your Tits.” “No!”
Before I can get a word out, she slams the door in my face.
I turn to Gideon and he shrugs, trying to suppress a smile.
“Don’t leave!” Trin yells from the other side of the door. “Just give me a minute!”
I stand there with Gideon for almost five minutes, making small talk about hockey and the weather. When the door finally opens again, Trinity is smiling.
“Hello,” she says smoothly.
Her face has been scrubbed clean and her hair is loose around her shoulders. She’s wearing black leggings and a plain gray V-neck T-shirt.
“Hey.” I grin at her. “Who was that who opened your door before? I didn’t recognize her.”
She waves dismissively. “Oh, no one you’d know. What are you doing? Get in here!”
Gideon is forgotten as I walk inside, using my foot to push the door closed as I wrap my arms around her. She smells lightly of soap and something sweet and tropical. All my fears that this wouldn’t be a pleasant surprise fade as she looks up at me, her eyes bright.
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I can’t believe it took me this long to figure my shit out and get here.”
I release her and set the bouquet of roses down on a chair. A gray cat cocks its head at me from its perch on top of a nearby love seat.
“Karma.” I grin and gently pet the cat’s head.
Then I return to Trin and bend slightly before picking her up. She squeals and wraps her legs around my waist. I kiss her and she puts her arms around my neck.
She slides her hand around to my cheek as we kiss, then pulls away and rests her forehead against mine.
“No beard,” she murmurs against my lips.
“You like me better with or without it?”
“I like you both ways. How did you get out of going to Vancouver?”
“It was actually really easy. I just retired.”
Her jaw drops as she pulls back to get a look at my full face. “What?”
My heart pounds hard. I have so much to tell her, but my body’s in no mood for talking. She’s wrapped around me, her perfect ass in my hands and her breasts just inches away.
“I’ll tell you all about it,” I promise. “But first, I want my retirement gift.”
“Your gift?” She hikes up her brows in alarm. “But I didn’t--”
I interrupt her. “Oh, you’ve got something for me, gorgeous. It’s wrapped in black pants and a gray T-shirt.”
The corners of her lips turn up in a sexy smile. “And you’re going to unwrap it?”
I peek around her shoulder in search of a hallway. “Soon as I find your bedroom.”
Her apartment is small, with oak hardwood floors and two big windows in the living room. The kitchen just has the basics and is open to the living room. Framed vintage cosmetics ads adorn the walls and there are pillows and blankets scattered all over the living room furniture.
“It’s the doorway on the right. The other one’s the bathroom.”
I start walking that direction. She puts her hands on my cheeks and looks into my eyes.
“I thought you sounded weird on the phone. Is this why?”
“Yeah.” I grin. “I was afraid you’d be able to tell from the background noise that I was at an airport.”
Her expression turns serious. “I may need to think about this, actually. I’m still young. In my prime, really. Should I be fucking around with a retiree ?”
I roar with laughter and smack her ass as I walk into her bedroom. The unmade queen-size bed takes up most of the tiny room. I set her on it and she grins up at me playfully.
I pull a box of condoms from my pocket and hold it up for her to see. “I had more than fucking around in mind, so think fast, gorgeous.”
Her smile is replaced by a serious look, her eyes wide. “Linc...are you sure?”
I tear open the box, looking down at her as she leans up on her elbows. “I’ve done a lot of thinking in the past couple of weeks. And here are the things I’m sure of, I’m done with hockey and I want this with you, more than anything. I love you, Trin. I want a future with you.”
Tears pool in her eyes. “I love you, too. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”
Setting the condoms down, I move on top of her, supporting my weight on my elbows as I kiss her. Immediately, I know this is right.
My teammates back home were in a state of shock when I announced my retirement. I got cleared medically to return to playing, but after a couple weeks of sitting with my team in arenas with flashing lights and pounding music, I didn’t want to go back.
I’m done chasing wins and records. I miss the quiet peace of my time with Trin at the cabin.
I kiss every inch of her as I remove her clothes, aching to bring her pleasure. She allowed me past the walls she’d built, and I want to do the same for her.
She stiffens nervously as I lower my face to the apex of her thighs. I sit up, my knees on the bed, and put one of her legs over my shoulder, kissing her calf.
“Don’t be nervous,” I murmur, running my hand from her ankle, up her calf, to her thigh.
She meets my gaze. “I feel like...in Alaska, I was a different person. Uninhibited. With nothing to lose. But in my own bedroom, I’m the person I’ve always been.”
Moving my free hand between her legs, I slowly run the backs of my fingers up and down the seam of her pussy. She gasps and closes her eyes.
“You’ll never lose me, Trin. I know you. I know your body and I want you more than any other woman on this planet.”
I put a finger inside her and she moans. My cock is straining in my jeans, my fantasies about being inside her finally on the verge of coming true. When I circle her clit with my thumb, she bites her lip and moans again.
“Open your eyes, gorgeous.” I put my thumb in my mouth and thoroughly wet it, then return it to her clit.
Her eyes fly open as I circle it, her lips parting as she meets my gaze. This is one of my favorite things about her. She starts off shy, but once I get her turned on, she forgets all her inhibitions and gives herself over to me.
“Not from this,” she pants, scooting back slightly. “I want to come when you’re inside me.”
I move from the bed, enjoying the way she watches me as I pull off my shirt and unbutton my jeans. I want this with every cell of my body. I never thought I could feel the sense of rightness I have with her.
I put a condom on, hoping I don’t suck at this since it’s been so long. But when I slide inside her and we both groan, all my fears and insecurities disappear.
She puts her arms around my back, pulling me down closer, and I drive my hips into hers. Her little moans of pleasure are almost too much. I want to stretch it out for as long as possible and pound into her as hard as I can, both at the same time.
“Feels so good, Linc,” she says in my ear. “Please don’t stop. I want to be the only woman you come inside of.”
“Oh, fuck.”
It’s all I can do to hold on as she grinds her hips up into mine, working herself against me in time to every thrust. The second she arches her back and moans loudly, I bury myself in her, not stopping even as I come. I don’t want to cut her orgasm short.
“I’ve got some work to do on longevity,” I say as I move off her. “Sorry about that.”
She laughs lightly. “Stop it. We both came and seeing as it’s been nine years for you, you did amazing.”
I kiss her. “It’ll be better next time. And even better the time after that.”
“You’ve never once disappointed me in bed. You’re the best I’ve ever had by miles, and you know it.”
I lean up on an elbow, running my fingertips over her rounded breasts and perfectly pink nipples. “The best, huh? Maybe we should discuss that further.”
She gives me a gentle shove on the shoulder. “I’ve told you that many times. And I’m not even hurt that you’ve never said it to me.”
“Haven’t I?” I think about it.
She waves a hand. “No, it’s fine. I’m sure, as a hockey player, you’ve been with women who have sucked thousands of dicks. They’re pro level.”
I put my hand on her cheek and gently move her face until our eyes meet. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever been in love with like this, Trin. The only one I’ve ever been able to see myself with forever. I want you and only you.”
Her gaze softens. “You haven’t let on any of this when we’ve talked on the phone and texted. I’m shocked, to be honest with you. I mean, very pleasantly shocked, but...shocked.”
“I needed time to figure things out. I didn’t plan to retire for another two or three years, and I didn’t want to ask you to move unless I knew I could give you everything.”
She smiles. “And now you can move to Chicago. I didn’t think any of this was even an option until you knocked on my door, so I know I might seem a little...dazed. But I feel it, too. I knew I was in love with you before we got rescued. A part of me didn’t want to leave, crazy as it sounds.”
“Not crazy at all.”
“I can’t wait to introduce you to my coworkers and friends. You’re going to love my neighbor Rina. I know my apartment is really small, but the cabin was smaller and we were happy there. Do you want to move in?”
Tonight isn’t the time to tell her I’m not moving to Chicago. Tonight is just about finally being together. I kiss her and slide my hand around to her back, then down to her ass.
“What I want is to take a bath with you. I miss playing with your pussy.”
She hums her agreement against my lips. “No bathtub here. How about a shower?”
“That’ll work.”