Chapter 47
ZARIAH
MY COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF
The second playoff game was in Arlington, and Denali held my hand on the four-hour bus ride.
When we arrived at the arena, he refused to leave for the locker room until he picked my seat.
He made sure it would be within his eye line in the rink—because he wanted to know that I was watching.
It was unbelievably cute, and sweet. He constantly had me swooning.
Cleo sat with me, and we cheered on the boys through their body checks. I kept thinking—this could be my life.
Traveling with the man I loved, getting to see this firsthand. I screamed when Denali and Montoya cycled the puck between them, and Montoya scored another goal. The roar settled over the rink as hockey players crashed against the boards, Denali was so happy.
How could it get better than this?
The game finished with a resounding win for the Gladiators. Cleo and I found the team in their temporary locker room, howling, slamming their fists against the back of their stalls.
Elijah wrapped an arm around Denali, squeezing him for a one-arm hug, both shouting with laughter.
After Sémajuste’s booming speech, the team pushed Denali to say something. His grin was lopsided as he stepped up to the bench while my phone pinged.
I checked my phone, eyebrows shot up at the alert.
“Do you know what this means?” Denali demanded, gazing around his team, beaming with pride. “WE’RE GOING TO THE GULF COAST CHAMPIONSHIP!”
The room hollered in response.
“Sorry, Coach.” Denali looked at him. “But those motherfuckers can’t take the Cup from us!” Sémajuste rolled his eyes, chuckling, as the team erupted into cheers. Denali’s grin widened. “Who’s ready to get fucked up?! WE’RE CELEbrATING TONIGHT!”
Cleo threw her hands in the air. “I didn’t hear anything and I don’t want to see pictures!”
Sémajuste burst into laughter and a couple of the guys piled on Montoya, teasing him good-naturedly about making sure he’d get fucked up tonight. The plan was to spend the whole night hitting the bars that wouldn’t turn their noses at fake IDs.
I pushed through the crowd, and Elijah nudged Denali, motioning towards me. “What are you waiting for?”
Denali’s eyes slid to mine, he took the heavy step off the bench, cutting the distance between us. My heart leaped to my throat as Denali gathered me close. His lips found mine, and his team catcalled as Denali kissed me hard.
He pulled away for a couple of seconds. “FIRST ROUND’S ON ME!”
Before I could say anything, he kissed me again, molding his lips to mine. I was breathless, melting in his arms. I was so enthralled, I almost forgot about the alert. He’d be so excited, I couldn’t keep it from him.
“Denali,” I gasped. “There’s a present for you at the hotel. It just arrived.”
“Present?”
I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck, tugging him down. I dropped my voice in the busy crowd. “The long-lasting lube and the vibrator you wanted.”
Everybody shouted behind him, ecstatic to celebrate, but Denali stared at me. He blinked. “Huh?”
“For anal,” I mouthed. “For tomorrow.”
Elijah hit Denali in the arm, laughing. “Where are we partying first?”
His teammates echoed the same sentiment, but Denali glanced between them and me. “Uh…”
“After,” I promised.
“Uh…” His eyes narrowed, thinking something through. “It’s getting pretty late.”
“What?” Nick glanced from his stall. “What’d he say?”
“And…I have homework to do.”
“Homework?” Bear repeated. “Guys, what the fuck is Denali talking about?”
My cheeks warmed as I realized Denali was evading the party to spend the night with me. I shook my head. “Denali, no, we’ll do that later—”
Fridge arched an eyebrow. “What’d you say to him?”
“Zariah,” Elijah barked. “Let him go out for the night!”
“I’m not keeping him inside,” I retorted.
Denali fetched his gym bag from his stall. “Zariah and I will see you guys tomorrow.”
“Don’t make me the bad guy here,” I stopped him. “Your present doesn’t have an expiration date. We can do it tomorrow!”
His gaze was heavy, a lit match to the embers in my chest. “We’ll hang out with them tomorrow.”
“No.”
“We’ll see them for an hour before bed.”
“No.” I gestured to his team, crowded around us. “They want to hang out with—”
“I get one hour with you,” he amended. “One hour and then we’ll spend time with everybody.”
One hour? Only one hour? I hummed, contemplating it. That’d give us enough time to use the present and have time to stretch and relax before going out to party. Best of both worlds. Fun anal and I could go out dancing with this sexy, bearded man with the most intense eyes I’d ever seen.
Hm…
So the real question was…how could I live with myself if I yanked him away from his team for an hour?
Oh, very easily, actually.
“One hour,” I warned. “We’re not going beyond that—”
Denali wrapped an arm around my waist and the breath whisked out of me. He yanked me over his shoulder, and I struggled to keep upright while Denali led us outside. I couldn’t believe he did that—much less believe the laugh ricocheting out of me.
“Sorry, boys!” I giggled. “He’ll catch up with you later!”
“This is cruel, Zariah!” Elijah yelled my way.
“And unhealthy!” Fridge scoffed.
It was four blocks to the hotel and Denali didn’t put me down once, not even when he grabbed our packages from the front desk. He kept them lodged under his other arm then headed to the elevator. We’d managed to score a private room together with my ‘good luck charm’ label.
When Denali finally put me down in our room, I was barely on the floor before he was pulling my clothes off, nudging me into the bathroom. I kissed him, happy at the chance to have him alone again. He quickly lathered me with soap, but I was pretty sure that was just as an excuse to touch me.
“You did so good, baby,” I murmured. The water steamed hot enough to cover us in a thick mist. Satisfaction pooled inside. “That slapshot was so sexy.”
His hard-on was impossible to ignore, curved along my stomach. He kissed me harder. “I was hoping you were watching—”
“What else was there to look at?” I purred. “I’ve only got eyes for you.”
“Goddamn,” he rasped. “I love when you say shit like that.”
“I know.” I loved how he held me in such high regard, I’d never felt more powerful. I nipped his bottom lip, pleased. “Now, do you want your reward?”
He perked up. “Reward?”
“Mm-hmm.” I fisted his hair, bringing him down to me, kissing the sensitive spot behind his ear. “I ordered your present before we even got to the hotel.”
“Fuck,” he groaned. “Zariah—”
“Because I knew you’d earn it.” Gently, I sucked on his earlobe, reaching down to stroke his throbbing cock. “You want to cum in my ass, baby?”
“Oh, shit.” He grunted, his hand easily engulfing mine to pull me off his cock. “That’s enough.”
“That’s enough?” I teased. “Doesn’t feel like it.”
“That’s too close—”
“Too close? Ooo.”
“We’re done with the shower,” he growled and flipped it off, dragging me outside.
We were soaking wet, but he didn’t care, he threw towels on the ground and marched me to the bed.
Denali was so flustered and turned-on, and so demanding now that the scales were tipped too far.
He was overcompensating for the loss of power.
It was adorable and ridiculously hot. I couldn’t help the giggle, but my laughter stopped when he pushed me to the bed.
His eyes dropped, landing between my legs. He spread my thighs, opening me to him, allowing him to see my soaking wet pussy, swollen with need.
His pleasure mounted and mine matched it. Denali sank to his knees—his tongue immediately went to my pussy, moaning into me. The vibrations rushed through, and I gasped, grabbing the comforter as Denali settled in, his tongue working a new rhythm inside me.
He had me writhing in his grasp, desperate for more, when he pulled back.
“Keep going,” I pleaded. “Don’t stop.”
“No, no, I want a look.” He rested on his knees and spread my cheeks to see my ass. The sudden rush of cool air made me blush and Denali gazed down, dazed. His breaths were heavy. “Your hole is so pretty, baby. I want a taste.”
His hands cupped my ass, bringing me up so he could devour me properly. There was nothing like sinful worship and I reveled in it, clenching his hair between my fingers.
“Fuck, I’m going to cum,” I blurted out, panting heavily.
Denali upped the pace, rocking into me, all his focus on bringing me to orgasm. I was frantically rushing towards the release, arching my back, the climax barreling into me, exploding fireworks deep in my chest.
“Fuck,” I hissed. “I’m cumming—I’m cumming—fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Holy shit—how fast was that?
I slumped to the blankets, gazing at the ceiling. That was by far the fastest orgasm I’d ever had. Shudders ran through me, the aftershocks taking hold.
“That—that was so quick,” I blurted out.
“That was on purpose, honey.” Denali kissed my thigh and pushed up from the ground, grabbing the boxes. “I want to open my present.”
Waves of pleasure washed over me, keeping me still while Denali ripped open the packages. I couldn’t move, just stared at the little swirls in the ceiling, listening to Denali click things into place. A low, mechanical hum whirled beside me.
My eyes flickered to him as Denali held up the vibrator. He smiled. “Aw, Riah. You just lost all your weekends.”
Wait.
Now?
I watched, stunned, as Denali situated himself between my legs again. His cock was engorged, pulsing with need, but it was like he didn’t notice. He was too busy getting the vibrator ready.
“I thought I could take this slow,” he admitted. “But I’m too excited to watch you fall apart.”
The vibrator pressed to my clit like a kiss, and a high-pitched yelp escaped me. After cumming, I was way too sensitive.
“Denali—” I choked out, wracked with sensation. “Denali—”
“There we go. Breathe,” he commanded. “Breathe, baby, I want to watch.”