Chapter 38
Thirty Eight
Kaeli
Later in the evening, we’re lying naked in his bed after three rounds of sex because we couldn’t control ourselves and wait to reach his bedroom.
I draw circles over his chest while his fingers play with my tangled hair. “Your hair is so soft, like cotton,” he murmurs in my hair.
A small smile appears on my face, and I tilt my head to look at him, propping my chin on my hand over his chest.
I peck his enticing lips as they come into view. “What for?” he asks with a smile of his own.
I shrug. “Just because.”
“I see, that’s how it is.” He then turns me and hovers over me, dropping quick kisses all over my face and my neck, moving down to my breasts and navel.
I giggle when his kisses feel more like tickles, kicking my hands and feet in the air, begging him to stop between my shallow breaths. “Stop…stop…ahh, haha…stop.”
Once done with the torture, he drops back down and pulls me closer to him. We stay silent as he checks his phone upon incessant vibrating, while I lose myself in my own thoughts.
A few beats later, he drops his phone back on the bedside table with a clatter and speaks. “Kaeli.”
“Hmm,” I voice absentmindedly.
“There might be a tiny problem,” he says, his voice hesitant.
That gets my attention, and I look at him, blowing away a hair that falls over my eyes. “What problem? What do you mean?” My voice wavers.
Unease flickers in his eyes, sending the alarm bells ringing in my mind as I wait for him to elaborate.
“The reason my phone was blowing up was because of us. Umm…we may or may not have gone viral again.”
“What!?” I shoot up straight on the bed, the blanket bunching around my waist as a gust of cool air tickles my exposed nipples. I pull up the blanket and hold it at my chest, feeling vulnerable.
Ezra follows and sits against the headboard. “Calm down. It’s not that bad.”
Fury licks at my spine at his callous comment. Of course, it’s not a big deal for him. He’s a man and the captain of one of the most famous NHL teams.
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down,” I warn between gritted teeth.
He raises his hands in surrender and shakes his head. “You’re right. Bad choice of words. I’m sorry.”
His instant regret and acknowledgment of his mistake dissipate some of the anger, but apprehension overrides it. “Why are we going viral? Is it because of my retort to Sam?”
I shuffle around for my phone, tremors racking my body.
Ezra grabs my shoulders and pulls me to him. “Hey, hey…take a deep breath with me. In and out.”
Knowing he’s right and I need to keep my cool if it’s a media crisis to handle it, I shut my eyes and inhale and exhale with him until my pulse returns to normal.
“Good girl,” he praises, gently rubbing his hands up and down my arms.
Blinking my eyes open and avoiding his naked torso as best as I can, I ask him, “What is it about?”
He releases a long sigh, as if he’s scared to upset me. “You remember how you caught my hand and stopped me from punching that misogynistic British douche bag?” I nod, not understanding where this is going.
“And how you looked at me and told me you’d take care of it?”
“Mhmm.”
He clears his throat, looking anywhere but at me. “When you stormed out, I also might’ve punched him in the jaw and threatened to cut off his tongue if he so much as even said your name.”
“You what!?” I yell at the top of my lungs while he remains silent. “Unbelievable.”
“And also might’ve threatened his career, of course.”
Shaking my head at him as I barely contain my rage, I get off the bed and grab a pair of his clothes because he tore off mine. “What is wrong with you? What the fuck were you thinking?”
Panicked, he slides off the bed too, grabbing the closest pair of shorts.
I storm out of his room, without giving him a backward glance, knowing that if I did, I’d either kill him or break down in front of him. And neither seemed like a viable option at the moment.
Ezra chases me down his living room. “Kaeli, no. Wait! Please let me explain!”
I jerk his hand away as it lands on my shoulder and spin on my heels to look at him.
“What’s left to explain?! You ruined everything!
” I jam my finger in his chest. “You went ahead and basically announced to the world that we’re fucking.
Now, everyone will think that I got where I am because of you, because I was sucking the dick of one of the most famous NHL players. ”
Hurt flashes across his face, but I’m on a roll now as I see my world crumble in front of me. My angry footfalls pace the length of his living room.
Clutching the roots of my hair, I groan in frustration as hot tears spill out without my permission.
“All my hard work, all my patience, all my sufferings just poof. Gone, because you couldn’t control your anger.
And for what? For me? Who even am I to you?
Nothing except for another fuck until you get bored with me and deem me as another notch on your fucking bedpost.”
Ezra’s hands curl into fists while I hit him with mine.
He doesn’t stop me. He lets me take out my anger on him.
And that makes me wail in agony even more because somewhere in my heart, I realize that I’m hurting him with my words.
But it’s like a faucet left open, and the accusations just keep flowing.
“You didn’t care, did you? You didn’t care about how your one minute of satisfaction would blow up my entire life, curated with such measured steps. You just went ahead and let the world think that we’re dating. That we’re anything more than fuck buddies,” I spit.
Then suddenly, his hands wrap around my wrists, stopping me from hitting him anymore.
“Would it be so bad?” he speaks in a low voice.
Unable to make sense of his words, I search his eyes with my blurred vision, blinking rapidly.
“Would it be so bad if they knew? Would it be so bad if we were really dating?” he elaborates for me.
Dumbstruck, all I can do is gawk at him, thinking that maybe he’s kidding. “You…You’re serious,” I mutter when I don’t see a trace of humor on his face.
“Of course, I’m serious,” he grits, his features set hard.
“You can’t really mean that. You don’t know what you’re saying.” I shake my head, trying to pull out of his hold.
Ezra tugs me back to him as I collide with his solid chest. “I know what I’m talking about, Feather,” he growls.
“But why would you want to date someone like me?” The question leaves my mouth before I can bite my tongue.
His brows draw together. “What do you mean, someone like you?”
Now that I’ve opened this door, it’s better to pass through. “Someone basic like me. Someone who’s not a model or an actress. Someone who can’t give you anything!”
He drops my hands and cups my face. “Someone like you is exactly who I’ve been waiting for, Kaeli. You give me everything a man needs: peace and a sense of belonging. You’re all I need, Kaeli. How don’t you see that?”
My heart just doesn’t race; it runs right off the track, flipping and tripping on its way at his words, spoken in a hoarse voice. His words sound like a steaming cup of coffee on a rainy day, strumming a chord in my heart that I long buried.
“You want me?” I confirm.
He gives me the most brilliant of smiles. “Only you, Feather.”
With that, he claims my mouth in a bruising kiss, just like his words claimed a part of me, a part of my bleeding heart that’s been hurt before.
Tugging him close, I return the favor. I consume him as much as he consumes me. Thanking him with that kiss. Accepting him in that kiss. Hoping that this is real in that kiss. Praying that he won’t break my heart like everyone else did in that kiss.
“Fuck, Feather. You’re surreal,” he breathes into my mouth. Pulling at the hair on the nape of his neck, I direct him to the crook of my neck, filling the room with my greedy moans.
He assaults my neck with his hot, wet mouth. Biting, sucking, licking, and kissing my sensitive and abused skin.
Ezra picks me up and takes me to his bedroom, fucking me into the night. And even though my pussy is sore, it’s still hungry for his cock to fill her up.
I’ll never get tired of having sex with Ezra Moore.