Chapter 31
ASHLEY
Dad: On my way back now. Do you want anything else from the store? Max already asked me to pick up more lube so don’t start without me, for Christ's sake. We aren’t kids anymore.
Dad: OMG THAT WAS NOT FOR YOU!! DELETE THAT!! ASHLEY, DO NOT READ THAT!!
T he horror that slammed into me as I read the text message from my father actually made me yeet my phone across the hotel room with a full dry retch. It was bad enough to suspect the three of them were involved in a sexual relationship, but to have it confirmed? So gross.
“What’s wrong?” Royce asked from his position, collapsed face down across the middle of my bed. We all had our own rooms within the hotel that the event was being held at, but he’d totally ignored his and followed me instead, dropping his bag by the door and making himself at home.
I shuddered, a full-body motion as I kicked off my shoes and climbed onto the bed to straddle his hips. It hadn’t escaped my notice that he was moving stiffly today or that the boys had been putting in longer hours at the gym.
“Nothing important,” I told him, still wrinkling my nose even as I tugged his T-shirt up over his head, then dug my thumbs into his back. “Just a text sent to the wrong number. One I really, really didn’t need to see.”
Royce gave a short chuckle, followed by a long groan. “ Fuck ,” he gasped as I hit a tensely knotted muscle. “That’s really good, but at the same time, holy fuck that hurts.”
“Don’t be a baby, Royce. You can take it.” I worked that spot until I felt the knot release and soften, then moved on to the next one. Royce huffed and whined as I applied my body weight into my hands to increase the pressure, but he’d thank me for it when he could actually move more freely later.
“Is this what it feels like to be Nate?” he moaned after some time. “It hurts, but I also don’t want you to stop.”
That made me laugh enough that my hands slipped and I nearly face-planted into his spine. “I’m not going to delve into that subject with you,” I muttered, my face flaming. “You’re all very different in that aspect.”
“In bed?” he clarified, not letting me off the hook for even a moment. “You mean we all have different kinks? What’s Heath’s? If you tell me its erotic asphyxiation, I’ll fucking die.”
Shocked, all I could get out was a strangled squeak as he rolled over underneath me with a wide grin on his face.
“That was a joke,” he clarified. “Unless it’s not…?”
“Royce!” I spluttered. “That’s not—” I dragged my hands over my face as I tried to stifle my laughter. “That’s not funny.”
His hands rested on my waist, underneath my shirt. “Then why are you laughing? Hmm?”
“That’s not what I meant!” I protested, attempting to physically wipe the smile off my face. “I meant that you all have very different energy when we’re alone. Different vibes. Not kinks, you pervert.”
Royce wasn’t convinced, his smug grin unwavering as his thumbs stroked my ribs. “ Suuuure , okay. But I do have a theory about Nate’s kink if you wanna hear it? Because I’m sure he’s already told you that he’s never been into that with anyone else.”
I bit my lip, curious as hell about what Royce’s theory might be. But ultimately, I shook my head. “He can tell me about it himself, if he’s so inclined.”
“All right, suit yourself. I’d rather not talk about him right now, anyway…” His smile turned sexy, and he shifted his hips to position me more directly over his dick. “We have some time before we need to?—”
“Knock, knock,” Carter announced, pushing open my door without actually knocking. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I? Great. Spark, baby, I need you.” He extended his hand to me with an expectant look on his face, and I looked up at him with confusion.
Royce’s hands tightened on my waist, and he gave Carter a dirty glare. “Bro. Not cool.”
Carter shrugged like he gave zero fucks. “Okay. Noted. Come on, Spark, we’re late.”
Curiosity saw me take his hand and let him pull me out of Royce’s lap. “Late for what? Do I need my coat?”
“Yes, grab it. We’re heading downstairs,” he told me as I pulled my sneakers onto my feet. “They’re about to close sign-ups for drivers, and I figured you wouldn’t want to miss out.”
“Wait, what?” Royce sat up with alarm. “I thought we agreed none of us were driving!”
Carter snorted, his hand firmly intertwined with mine as he led me out into the hallway.
“Nah, we just didn’t want you racing!” he called over his shoulder, breaking into a run and dragging me with him.
Not that I was digging my heels in. I’d been a massive sad panda on the flight when they’d told me we wouldn’t be actually competing in the games—Carly had gotten me so excited about the whole ice-racing thing.
“Damn it!” Royce’s voice echoed down the corridor as we sprinted for the elevators. “Wait for me!”
“Too slow!” Carter replied as he stabbed the close door button on the elevator while Royce was still an easy fifty feet down the hall.
The doors closed, and our car descended quickly as Carter pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
“I kept thinking about your sad face when we said we weren’t racing. It was eating away at me.”
Oh damn, there goes my heart in a big old puddle of goo again. “I thought you guys said it was too dangerous?”
He grunted, giving a small shrug. “We are also relatively confident there’s no way Jocelyn could have meddled here.
The danger is just from the race itself, but you’re a good driver, and you’ll have an excellent copilot.
Besides, I’d do just about anything to see you genuinely enjoying yourself. Outside of the bedroom, that is.”
“Stop it,” I breathed, teasing, “You’re going to turn into a big softie if you keep being sweet with me, Sir Carter.”
With a lightning-fast motion, he grabbed the back of my neck and pinned me to the elevator doors, his whole body pressed into me as his lips hovered over mine. “Let’s sign up for the race first, then I’ll show you how exceptionally not soft I am when it comes to you and me, Spark.”
Fuck. Okay. I nodded quickly, my eyes wide and my breathing fast as I held his gaze. That’d teach me for thinking my tiger was turning into a house cat.
The corner of his mouth kicked up in a sly half smile, and he ghosted the softest kiss over my lips right as the elevator dinged our arrival and the doors opened.
My balance was shot, but his grip on my neck stopped me from tumbling out backwards, and my hands shook as I found my feet.
Carter smirked as he linked our fingers once more, and I was under no illusions that my cheeks weren’t bright with arousal right now.
Damn it, he got me so flustered so fast .
He led the way through the hotel lobby, making a beeline toward the bar lounge area, where a nondescript table was set up with a pair of middle-aged men in suits sitting behind it. The only clue that they were part of the DBS were the gold-crest pins on their lapels.
In fairness, they probably couldn’t sit in the Covington lobby bar with robes and masks on. That might raise a few eyebrows.
“Mr. Bassington,” one of the men said in surprise. “I was told you wouldn’t be racing this year?”
“I’m not,” he agreed. “My girlfriend is, though. Can you please assign her a red car? I don’t care what make or model—just ensure it’s red.”
The second man shrugged and slid a clipboard across to me and offered a pen. “Name and signature at the bottom, please.”
“Technically, we are already full for drivers,” the first man said with a frown, “but I’m sure we can work something out for you, Mr. Bassington.”
“Excellent,” Carter replied with a quick smile, gesturing for me to sign the paperwork.
I gave it a scan, noting it was a fairly standard waiver of liability for injury and death—same as any risky activities required.
I scribbled my name and signature and handed it back with a quick thanks to the suited guys.
They took the clipboard back and wrote a few notes themselves before handing it off to a younger helper lurking nearby.
“All sorted. Race starts in half an hour, but we recommend heading out there now, to give the car your own safety checks and ensure you’re happy with how it’s running.
If you want to take a test lap of the course, now’s the time for that. ”
Carter had my hand in his already, pulling me away from the sign-up table and toward the doors at the far end of the bar which opened to the outdoors. Where it was snowing. Which made sense, given the race was on ice, but at the same time, I really hadn’t dressed for the weather.
“Wait, I need to change,” I protested. “I’ll freeze dressed like this, and these shoes have awful grip. We want to win, right?”
That paused him in his tracks, and his shoulders slumped. “Damn it. Yes. Okay, come on, we have to be lightning fast.”
With getting changed? Or…?
To my extreme disappointment, the elevator was occupied on our way back up to my room, so the most mischief we could get up to was some hot-and-heavy hand-holding and lingering looks. Very spicy.
Once back in my room, I ripped through my weekend bag in search of my thermal leggings and après-ski boots, which would give me grip on the snow but not be too bulky for the car pedals.
“Ready?” Carter asked when I pulled on my black woolen coat and tested how much range of motion it gave my shoulders. Not ideal, but I could take it off for the race.
“Yup, ready!” I agreed, reaching for the door but finding it blocked by him. “Or…not?”
He quirked a brow with a mischievous look on his face. “Still want to find out if I’m a big softie?”
I grinned, running my hand down the front of him and giving his hardness a squeeze through his pants. “What happened to winning this race?”
Carter pouted. Actually pouted. It was fucking adorable and nearly made me change my mind about entering the race at all, but he glanced at his watch with a sigh. “Good point. If you want to do a test lap of the course, we need to hurry.”
Reluctantly, he moved out of the way and we headed back toward the elevators. The display showed all three at ground floor, which meant we had to wait…
“Whoa, where—?” he asked, startled as I grabbed his hand and dragged him into the ice machine alcove nearby. “Spark, we should?—”
“Shh,” I cut him off, shoving him against the wall and sinking to my knees. “Fuck the test lap.”
Carter’s sharp inhale as I unbuckled his belt and tugged his pants open was exactly the kind of response I wanted, and I locked eyes with him for the briefest smug moment. I loved having him at my mercy, even when I was the one on my knees.
His eyes widened, and his lips parted as I licked down his length. His unguarded reactions were my absolute favorite, but the sense of urgency clawing at my chest told me not to mess around. Breaking my gaze from his face, I closed my lips around his tip and sucked.
Carter’s low moan rewarded me, as did the way he gripped my ponytail in his fist to encourage me into taking his cock deeper.
I gripped one of his hips for balance and used the other at the base of his shaft to make up the difference for what simply wouldn’t fit in my throat. Maybe I needed to work on that?
“Holy fuck, Spark,” he groaned as my cheeks hollowed and tears leaked from my eyes. I was giving it my all , knowing full fucking well we only had minutes at best. No way in hell was I leaving this job unfinished, though.
Carter knew it too. He hissed a gasp between his teeth and gripped my ponytail harder as his hips bucked and he took over the rhythm. I was no longer sucking his dick—he was fucking my face while I just got my teeth out of the damn way and held on for dear life.
“Shit,” he gasped. “Spark, baby, I’m gonna come any second.” He was giving me a warning so I didn’t choke, and it was appreciated. I gripped his hip hard and pumped his base with my other hand, encouraging him to finish.
His grunt and whispered curses accompanied his climax, and I swallowed quickly to save myself from drowning. That would be a mortifying cause of death, for sure.
“Hi…” a familiar voice said from nearby, and I glanced over with Carter’s dick still in my mouth to find Heath smirking at us. “I thought I heard suspicious noises coming from the ice machine and look what we find.”
Maybe we weren’t as sneaky as I’d thought. Blushing, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and got back to my feet while Carter fixed his pants.
“Crap, Spark, we need to haul ass,” he told me, totally ignoring the fact Heath had just caught us in the act. “Come on, we’ve got a race to win.”
He grabbed my hand once more, pulling me over to the elevator that’d just arrived while Heath followed with confusion etched all over his face. Then again, was he really so surprised? Neither Carter nor I were great at following rules on the best of days.