Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CATALINA
Still floating, I changed back into my street clothes and headed towards the exit. Felicia assured me I'd hear back from her in a couple of days, but if she was confident, I'd be confident too.
I wheeled my suitcase out the door and off to one side. I pulled out my phone and unlocked the screen. With any luck, I'd catch Dad between patients.
"Cat, I heard you might be heading back to town," a familiar voice drawled.
I whirled around, immediately on edge. "Jason."
All six feet of him, dark hair, blue-green eyes. Body like a Greek god. I used to think he had a beautiful mouth, but looking at him now, I just saw the petulant set of his jaw beneath his crooked nose. Too many pucks to the face.
He looked me up and down. "You're looking good. Better than good." He stepped towards me. "I've missed you."
I took a step back until my calves touched the wall. "Thanks. I'm feeling good."
He smiled slowly. "You always did." His eyes lingered on my cleavage.
I groaned to myself. I'd walked straight into that one. On the other hand, he could have left it alone. Just like he did me.
"Did you want something?" I tilted my chin up and met his gaze evenly. I wasn't going to give him a centimetre.
"If you're coming back to Melbourne, we can pick up where we left off," he said as though I was the one who ended it by leaving town. Worse, he seemed to be suggesting we somehow put our relationship on pause.
I looked at him like maybe he'd lost his mind.
"Let me think about that for a moment." I scrunched up my brow in thought. "How about fuck no?"
"Cat, babe—" He pressed the palm of his hand to the wall beside my shoulder.
"Don't 'babe' me," I snapped. "Let's think about this for a moment. Where we left off was with you ignoring me after I hurt my knee. You didn't answer my calls or my texts. Nothing."
He dipped his head, his mouth uncomfortably close to my collarbone.
"I admit it. When you got hurt, I freaked out.
I was busy with the team and didn't know how to deal with what you were going through.
So I backed off when I should have been there for you.
I was a fucking idiot back then, but that's in the past. Seeing you like this, I'm reminded of all the good times we had.
I know you remember them too." He ran the back of his knuckles down my cheek.
I jerked my face away from him. "I remember we always did what you wanted to do. I remember supporting your dreams and you switching off whenever I talked about mine. In fact, you did me a favour by not responding to me. Thank you for that." I started to move away.
He grabbed my arm in a bruising grip.
"I fucked up," he said in a tight voice. "We had something special. Don't pretend we didn't. I'll prove to you that we belong together."
I tried to shake off his hand, but his hold was too tight. "There's no way in hell I'm getting back together with you," I snapped. "If you don't let go of me, I'm going to scream."
"You heard her," a voice growled behind him. His hand slipped from my arm as he was hauled backwards.
Jason was a big guy, but Easton was bigger. And angrier. He held a fistful of Jason's shirt and twisted it, making the fabric dig into his throat.
"What the fuck?" Jason hooked his fingers into the neck of his shirt and tried to pull it away from his skin. "This is between me and my girlfriend."
"Ex-girlfriend," I said. "Heavy emphasis on the ex."
Easton eyed me past Jason's shoulder. "You went out with this douchebag?"
"A long time ago," I said. I ignored the irony in his question. That was a conversation for later.
"We were just talking about it," Jason said. "Back off motherfucker."
"Funny." Easton twisted the fabric a little more. "I'm sure she said the same thing to you, motherfucker. She doesn't want anything to do with you. Right, Cat?"
Jason gave me a last hopeful look, but it wasn't about us getting back together. He was scared of Easton and wanted me to save his ass.
"Let him go," I said after a few moments. "He's not worth it."
"If you're sure," Easton said lightly.
"I'm sure," I said.
"Huh. Okay then." Easton gave Jason a shove at the same time as he untangled his hands from his shirt. "I strongly suggest you fuck off and stay the hell away from her. I have no trouble kicking your ass if you don't."
Jason muttered something that sounded like 'fucking psycho' before he walked away quickly.
"Thanks," I said grudgingly. "He's always been…"
"A giant dickhead?" Easton suggested.
"Yeah." Apparently I had a type. I wrapped my arms around myself. "What the hell are you doing here anyway? It's a long way from Opal Springs."
"I'd suggest I'm stalking you, but the truth is I had a meeting," he said. "Coach Foster and I came down to talk to the AIHL. We meet with them every now and again to talk about the expansion and keep them updated on everything."
"They trust you to do that?" I couldn't resist the dig. It was nothing he didn't deserve.
He grinned. "Believe it or not, they think I'm one of the more fine, upstanding members of the team. Which is exactly why you don't see Cruz here." Something crossed his eyes, and his gaze dropped towards my pussy before he looked back up again.
"I'd suggest you're a good actor, but we both know that already," I said. I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and started to wheel it away. I'd call Dad when I was in my hotel room.
"The only people I act around are my team," he called out after me. "That date, that wasn't an act. Everything I said to you, I meant it. Including that kiss."
I stopped walking but didn't turn around. Part of me wanted to believe him, but the run in with Jason, on top of everything else, had me rattled.
It only took Easton a couple of strides to catch up to me.
He stood in front of me, expression intense.
"You had fun, didn't you? You feel that electricity between us.
You don't have to say anything. I see it in your eyes right now.
You felt it when we kissed. I didn't want to go too far, too fast, but I want to see where we could go.
Have lunch with me. I'll show you I don't bite. Unless you ask nicely." He grinned.
I tried, but I couldn't ignore the way my pussy throbbed and my heart flipped. I did feel electricity between us, but I also didn't want to get my heart broken into a thousand pieces. Between him and Cruz, I hardly knew which way was up.
I sighed. "Fine. Lunch. I could eat, I guess."
He grinned. "Of course you could." He took the handle of my suitcase. "Where are you staying?"
"It's a good thing I don't live in Melbourne." Easton leaned his shoulder against the wall beside the door and patted his stomach. "I'd eat so much I'd explode."
"Sam's is one of the better restaurants around." I swiped my card over the lock and pushed the door open. "Thanks for the company."
While I still stood in the half-open door, he hooked his hand around the back of my neck and slammed his mouth down to mine.
Before I could think about it too much, I found myself kissing him back. He slid his tongue between my lips and thrust into my mouth like he was pounding his cock into my pussy.
He guided me deeper into the room until the door closed behind us.
I didn't fight him as he led me over to the bed and pressed me down onto my back. I didn't want to fight him. I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to learn every part of my body and make me his.
Without breaking off our kiss, he supported himself on his knees and elbows while he lay over me. Only the lightest pressure from his weight held me in place. Having him on top of me like that made me as aroused as hell.
I groaned against his mouth and wrapped my legs around his hips so his already erect cock was nestled between my thighs. He ground himself against me slowly, putting pressure on my clit through all the layers of clothes. I was wetter than hell in a handful of heartbeats.
Finally, he broke off our kiss and worked his way down so he could undo my jeans and tug them down my hips.
"Black lace. You must have known you'd see me today." He glanced up at me and grinned.
I rolled my eyes at him.
He chuckled and pulled off my shoes so he could work my leggings the rest of the way off. He bent my knees and ran the back of his hand over the gusset of my panties.
"You're so wet." He cocked his head. "Why is that?" He slipped a finger under the fabric and over the seam of my pussy. "This isn't for that douchebag, is it?"
He raised an eyebrow at me, but looked like he'd rip Jason's head off if I said it was.
I should have been disturbed by that, but instead I found it hot.
I suspected he might have come close to strangling Jason earlier.
It might be the underlying current of violence that attracted me to hockey players.
The aggression they worked out on the ice, which still bubbled just under the surface.
Ready to be used with a fist or an elbow. Or even with barbed words.
"Fuck no," I replied.
"Then who?" He was toying with me. "Tell me who made you this wet, Cat." He ran his fingers back the other way.
"You did," I said, my voice husky. "You made me that wet."
He smiled. "Of course I did." He hooked his fingers into the waistband of my panties and tore them in two before shoving them into his pocket. He lay down with his head between my legs and replaced his fingers with his tongue, teasing my clit and entrance.
"You taste better than anything I've ever eaten," he groaned.
He went on licking and sucking me, nipping my clit every so often.
At the same time, he slid a finger into my pussy, then another.
He hooked his hand around until he was working me from the inside and out.
His touch was firm, rough at times. Obviously practised.
He knew just what to do to make me feel good.
I grabbed handfuls of bed covers and gripped them hard while I rocked my hips, grinding myself against his mouth. The stubble on his cheeks and chin grazed the tender skin inside my thighs, but I loved the way it felt. Rough and masculine.
He lifted his shining mouth. "Come for me, Pussy Cat." He lowered his mouth again and grazed his teeth over my clit.
I groaned, arching my back and closing my eyes. Letting everything melt away but his touch on my most sensitive places.
"Easton," I moaned. "I'm so close." Every touch felt so good. Every lick and suck drove me closer and closer to the edge. Finally, I pitched over, into an orgasm that swamped my entire body, from the tips of my toes to the top of my head.
I arched my back and cried out his name, while he went on working me long after I came down from the peak of bliss. He only stopped when I melted into a puddle on the mattress.