Chapter 69 Tristan
TRISTAN
The moment Eva came down from her high, I was already sliding Alek’s old jersey over her head, trying to ward off the shivers I knew would follow a moment later.
“You did so beautifully,” I murmured, gently wiping tears from her flushed cheeks as Alek and Cole carefully disengaged from her trembling body. The spotlight caught the sheen of sweat on her skin, making her glow in the dim arena. “I’ve got you now.”
Her eyes sought mine, still unfocused and heavy-lidded. The complete trust I saw there made my chest ache. She’d given us everything—her body, her vulnerability, her fears—and now, it was our turn to give back.
“Cold,” she whispered, her voice raspy from overuse. I slid my sweater over her head, tugging it on top of the jersey.
“I know, sparrow,” Cole said, his tone transformed from the harsh degradation of moments before to something surprisingly tender.
“We’re taking you home,” Alek announced. “My place. It’s closest.”
Eva nodded weakly as she sat up. I noticed her wince slightly as she shifted and made a mental note to check for bruises and marks once we got her somewhere warm and comfortable.
“Can you stand, sweetheart?” I asked, brushing damp hair from her forehead.
“Give me a minute,” she replied, the ghost of a smile touching her lips.
Cole’s laugh was low and satisfied as he pulled on his clothes. “Good girl.”
The contrast between how we’d just treated her and this careful tenderness wasn’t lost on me. It was the balance she craved, that we all needed in our own ways.
Alek returned fully dressed, his expression softening as he took in Eva wearing my sweater, shivering under Cole’s arm on the bench. He’d always been the most outwardly stoic of us, but moments like these revealed the depth of feeling he kept carefully controlled.
“My car is out back,” he said. “Cole, grab her things.”
Cole nodded, for once not arguing about being given orders. He slid back onto the ice to grab her panties where we’d dropped them, and she giggled as he pocketed them. I wanted more of that sound, over and over and over, for the rest of our lives.
I scooped Eva into my arms, cradling her against my chest.
“I can walk,” she protested weakly.
“Let me take care of you,” I countered, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’ve missed it.”
The journey through the darkened hallways of the arena felt surreal after the intensity of what we’d just shared.
The night air hit us like a wall of ice, making Eva burrow deeper into my arms. Stars punctured the black sky overhead, silent witnesses to our escape.
“You planned this well,” I said to Eva as we approached Alek’s sleek black SUV. “Right down to the getaway car.”
Her laugh was soft against my neck. “I wanted it to be perfect. For all of us.”
“It was. You are,” Cole assured her, opening the back door so I could slide in with Eva still in my arms. I settled her in my lap rather than letting her go, needing the connection as much as she did.
Alek took the driver’s seat, adjusting the mirror to glance at Eva. “Home, then,” he said simply, the promise in his voice making her shiver against me.
As we pulled away from the arena, Eva’s eyes drifted closed, her body relaxing into exhausted slumber. Cole reached across the seat to stroke her cheek, his touch uncharacteristically gentle.
“She came back to us,” he said quietly, almost to himself.
“And we’re not walking away from her again,” I replied, meeting his gaze over Eva’s sleeping form. Doing it once had been stupid, but twice? We were the biggest fucking idiots alive.
The drive to Alek’s home was quiet, each of us lost in our thoughts. The night was just beginning. We had hours ahead to relearn each other’s bodies, to push Eva’s limits further, to cement what we’d started on the ice. But for now, this moment of peace was exactly what we all needed.
By the time we pulled into the garage of Alek’s building, Eva was stirring again, her eyes blinking open as the motion of the car ceased.
“Welcome home, sparrow.”
The warm glow of Alek’s apartment spilled across Eva’s face, highlighting the dark circles under her eyes, the faint bruises already forming on her throat where Alek’s hand had been.
“Bath first,” I decided, meeting Cole’s eyes over Eva’s head. He nodded, already heading toward Alek’s massive primary bathroom.
“Hungry?” Alek asked Eva, stroking her cheek with unexpected gentleness.
“Starving,” she admitted. “But a bath first, please.”
I carried her through Alek’s bedroom to the bathroom, where Cole had already started filling the oversized tub.
Steam rose in fragrant clouds. He’d added bath salts that smelled like a creamsicle—citrus and vanilla and sugar.
Cole’s quiet thoughtfulness, paying attention then doing shit for people and telling us it was him being selfish, made my chest tighten.
Setting Eva on the edge of the tub, I helped her remove my sweater and Alek’s jersey, revealing the full canvas of her body—marked with the evidence of our possession.
Fingerprint bruises adorned her hips, red handprints bloomed on her ass and thighs, and bite marks formed a constellation across her neck and breasts.
“Beautiful,” Cole murmured, his eyes tracing each mark and curve with possessive pride.
Eva blushed. That duality—the wanton creature who had taken all three of us on a hockey bench and this adorable woman who flushed at a compliment—endlessly fascinated me.
“Into the water,” I urged, helping her step into the tub. She sank down with a grateful sigh, the tension visibly draining from her body as the hot water enveloped her.
“Join me?” she asked, looking up at us through her lashes.
Cole was already stripping off his shirt, and Alek appeared in the doorway with a tray of water bottles and small snacks.
“Hydrate first,” he insisted, handing her a bottle before setting the tray within reach. “Then, we can play more.”
The promise in his voice made her shiver despite the steam rising around her. I shed my clothes and slid into the tub behind her, pulling her back against my chest. Cole joined us, sitting opposite so he could massage Eva’s legs under the water.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, pressing a kiss to her temple as I ran a washcloth gently over her shoulders.
“Good. Whole. At peace,” she said, dropping her head back against my chest, “for the first time in weeks.”
“I’m sorry,” Cole said abruptly, his hands stilling on her calves. “For everything.”
“You’ve already apologized,” she replied gently.
“We blackmailed you, baby girl,” Alek said. He’d stripped down to his boxers and sat on the edge of the tub, his hand coming to rest on Eva’s wet hair.
She laughed quietly. “Yes, you did. But you also—” She stopped and squirmed in my lap, drawing a moan out of me. “You also gave me exactly what I needed.”
“Speaking of needs,” Cole interjected, his hands sliding higher up Eva’s thighs, “some of mine haven’t been fully satisfied yet.”
The heat in his gaze had nothing to do with the bathwater. Eva’s breath hitched, her body responding instantly to his touch.
“After she’s clean and fed,” Alek directed, standing.
Cole looked ready to argue but subsided when Eva nodded in agreement, her soft smile an arrow directly to my heart. “Food first. Then, you can have your wicked way with me again.”
To my surprise, Cole acquiesced, washing her with reverent hands. By the time we helped her from the tub, her skin was flushed pink and her eyes had regained some of their sparkle.
I wrapped her in one of Alek’s plush towels, rubbing her dry with careful attention to the marks on her skin. Cole disappeared briefly, returning with a jar of arnica cream he applied to the darkening bruises on her thighs and hips.
“Who are you, and what have you done with Cole?” Eva teased, wincing slightly as his fingers pressed on a particularly dark mark.
“Just taking care of my toys,” he retorted, but his touch remained featherlight, and he bent to kiss her shoulder.
Alek had laid out food in his bedroom—cheese, fruit, crackers, cold meats—and opened a bottle of wine. We settled Eva in the middle of his enormous bed, propped up on pillows, and took turns feeding her small bites.
The domesticity of it struck me as surreal after the raw intensity of earlier.
“Enough,” Eva said finally, pushing away Cole’s hand as he offered another grape. “I want—” She trailed off, her eyes darkening with renewed desire.
“What do you want, malyshka?” Alek prompted, his hand sliding possessively up her thigh.
“All of you. Again.” Her voice shook with nerves, as if she still weren’t certain of us, and it broke my fucking heart. “Please.”
I met Alek’s eyes over her head, then Cole’s, hoping they understood what I thought she needed.
“On your hands and knees,” I directed, surprised at the authority in my own voice. It felt right, especially after how perfectly she’d responded to me at the arena.
Eva complied immediately, moving to the center of the bed and assuming the position with practiced grace. The towel fell away, revealing her body in all its marked glory, each curve a sumptuous feast. And it was all mine—ours.
“Beautiful,” I murmured, running my hand down the curve of her spine. “Cole, get the rope from Alek’s drawer.”
Cole’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at my command, but he moved to obey, rummaging in Alek’s bedside table until he produced several lengths of soft black rope.
“Wrists first,” I instructed, and Cole knelt on the bed, binding Eva’s wrists together with elegant efficiency. Alek retrieved more items from his closet—a flogger, a crop, several toys of escalating sizes.
“Color?” I asked Eva, running my fingers through her still-damp hair.
“Green,” she breathed, eyes already glazing over with need. “So green.”