Chapter 56
Mattias
Sliding one arm beneath her knees and the other around her middle, I pull her into my arms, then carry her to her desk chair where I sit with her in my lap.
I don’t know how long we sit like that. She’s boneless, her face tucked against my neck, and at some point I lay my cheek atop her head.
Under any other circumstance, I’d be utterly disgusted to be sitting naked in an old, grimy office like this, but right now there’s no place I would rather be.
I’m shocked by how well we fit together, like two worn puzzle pieces with frayed edges that fit together all the same.
After what must be at least an hour, I lift my wrist and reluctantly glance at my watch.
Fyfan. It’s already nine in the evening. I don’t want this moment to end, but there are better places to spend the night.
“Freddie.” I squeeze her shoulder with the hand that’s slung around her. She sighs but doesn’t move. A small laugh escapes me. “You’re like a cat, you know.”
“Just a little longer,” she murmurs.
I want to tell her no, but my body relaxes anyway. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to just sit here all night. I hum, breathing in her scent of lemon and something sweet.
Holding her like this scares me to death. I’m still angry with her, but I’m also in awe. I know I’m not the only one she’s done this for, but still. Nobody has ever put themselves on the line like this for me. Nobody has ever gone to such lengths to show that they care—that they’ll fight for me.
It’s frightening, to make room in my life for something else than what I’ve known.
To let her know me. All my life, I’ve been careening towards one goal, never allowing myself to stop for anything else.
Nothing else has ever mattered. I’m not good at staying still, but with her, I wonder if maybe I could be.
“Mattias.” Her voice is a whisper in my ear. She shakes me gently and I blink awake, startled for a second before I remember where I am, still in her office chair. It’s still dark in the rink, aside from the ghost light. It must be late.
I glance at my watch again. Now it’s one in the morning. I’m supposed to be back here for morning skate in six hours, not that I’m skating—and for the first time in my life, I’m not bothered by that. It’s almost thrilling.
I turn back to her, and she’s staring at me with a shadowed, hungry expression, her face dimly illuminated.
“Not here,” I say with a grin, sitting up and tucking a wave of hair behind her ear. “Will you let me take you home?”
“Conditionally,” she replies. I shake my head, even as I feel myself stiffen. I push myself to my feet, lifting her into the air and kissing her once on the mouth before setting her down.
“We should leave before Coach Marshall shows up,” I say as we get dressed. I help her back into her gown, tying the halter at the neck.
“It’s the middle of the night,” she says over her shoulder.
I cast her a dark look as I lead her out of the office. “Oh, you don’t know, then.”
“Know what?”
She’s so fucking cute when she’s confused, I have half a mind to leave her hanging.
Her laugh is more rewarding, though, so I tell her.
“Ines told a few of the guys the cleaning crew has caught Coach Marshall showering here in the middle of the night a few times. He usually shows up around three in the morning.”
“What the fuck?” she says as we head down the rink stairs, into the parking lot where my car waits.
“Apparently he likes to take some time to himself to wake up and smell the ice before morning skate.”
She bursts out laughing as I open the door for her, and the sound of it is music to my ears.
“You hockey players have some weird rituals. What’s yours? Wearing your underwear inside-out?” she asks as I take my seat and turn on the heater.
“Sometimes I don’t wear socks when I skate,” I reply honestly.
The look she gives me is pure disgust, and it tugs the corners of my mouth upwards.
“You’re not serious,” she says flatly as I engage the clutch and start the engine.
“I am,” I return.
“That’s vile.”
“I feel the ice better that way.”
“Oh, come on. That’s bullshit.”
“How would you know?”
“There’s no way socks make that big of a difference.”
“They absolutely do,” I reply.
She scowls back. “Aren’t you worried about foot fungus?”
“Not when my fifty-million-dollar contract is on the line.” I reach across the center console to tug on a lock of her hair. “I’ll take you skating sometime and show you.”
“No thanks. I like my feet fungus-free.”
“We’ll see,” I reply.
When we get back to my place, I carry her upstairs, and this time when I fuck her, she actually screams my name.
My morning alarm rings way too soon—even if I set it for ten minutes earlier than usual just so I’d have a moment to admire the sight of her in my bed.
She’s tucked against me, wearing my T-shirt, and when she lifts her head to look at me with her sleep-heavy eyes, I revel in the sight of her unruly hair, looking a mess like she’s been fucked all night.
“I don’t want you to go,” she says in that spell-like voice, like the witch she is, kicking her feet up behind her and dragging a hand through my hair. I can’t remember the last time anyone’s touched me like this—like I mean something to them. I don’t know if anyone ever has.
“I don’t want to go. Not after what you’ve done,” I tease her, kissing the top of her head. “Coach Marshall is probably on his third aneurysm by now.”
I haven’t looked at the team group chat, but I have over three hundred messages to catch up on.
“Sorry,” she says sheepishly.
“You don’t look very sorry.”
“Well I am. In fact, I have a lot to apologize for.”
Something glints in her eyes, and my mouth grows dry.
Before I can have a say, she slings one leg over my hips, grinding down against me just enough to drag a groan from my throat.
Then she moves back, lowering herself onto her forearms and taking me in her hand.
In an instant, I’m swelling to my full size.
“Freddie,” I rasp, just as the tip of my cock disappears between her lips.
She sucks me between her cheeks and I feel her tongue slide against me, and my head falls back against the pillow.
“You don’t have to,” I groan, throwing an arm over my forehead because it’s humiliating how easily she unravels me.
She pulls me out of her mouth with a soft pop. “I’m not done apologizing.”
Then she’s putting me in her mouth again, her hair falling in beautiful waves around her cheeks. She takes me deeper this time, so deep I feel myself hit the back of her throat, and when she makes a light gagging noise I know I’m not going to stand a chance.
When she opens her mouth again, I sit up, grabbing her by the cheeks and crushing my mouth to hers before I say, “Turn around if you want me to last.”
She looks at me for a moment, that adorable confusion in her eyes, before she understands my meaning and her cheeks flush. Then she does as I say, no questions asked, and suddenly I’m so hard it hurts.
She leans down on her forearms, her ass in the air, and I can see she's already ready for me.
I waste no time moving behind her, grabbing her by the hips and pressing a hungry, open-mouthed kiss to her already-soaked cunt.
Her resultant moan enraptures me, and I kiss her again, sucking at her folds while she rocks back against my face.
I draw her clit between my lips one more time before straightening, on my knees, taking my cock in my hand.
I drag it up her slit, soaking my tip in her velvet wetness, my mouth bone dry.
“Would you like me to fuck you now?” I lean forward to whisper against her ear, one hand on her lower back.
“Yes,” she nearly gasps.
“There’s a condom in the nightstand if you’d like to use it,” I add, nipping at her earlobe.
“I want to feel you,” she demands.
I push myself in, just a little—feeling the tiniest stretch. I’m aching to fuck her, but I need her begging for it.
“Do you?” I say. “I’m not sure.”
“Mattias,” she begs, arching her back and pushing her ass towards my hips, trying to push me deeper inside.
I pull back, a glistening string of her slick stretching between us.
I catch it with my finger and spread it over my tip before splaying my hand flat across her lower back, holding her in place.
“Mattias, what?”
“I need you to fuck me. Now,” she whines.
“Are you sure you know what you’re talking about?” I reply, even though it’s killing me.
“Please,” she begs again, and I can’t resist any longer.
“I can’t say no to that,” I say, knocking her thighs apart with my knee.
Grabbing her hips with both hands I sink into her, pushing through the stretch to fill her all the way. The sound she makes is incredible, and I’m barely in control as I begin to thrust, sliding in and out and feeling her beautiful cunt clench around me.
When she shatters around my cock, it sends me over the edge, too.
For the first time in my life, I’m late to morning skate. As I pull up to the driveway of Freddie’s house, I don’t care. I want to be there for her. Her mood, all of the playfulness and giddiness about last night, dissipates the moment she sees her father’s car.
“He’s going to be so angry,” she whispers.
I reach across the console and take her hand in mine. “I’ll come in with you if you’d like. I can talk to him, too.”
She looks at me, bittersweet, but shakes her head. “He’s not your demon to face, but thank you. I need to do it alone.”
“If there’s anything, you call me.” I bore my eyes into hers. “Understood? I don’t care if I’m at practice. I’m not skating, so I’ll have my phone on me. I can be here in five or ten minutes if you need me.”
She wraps her arms around my neck, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Thank you. I will. See you soon?”
“I hope not too soon, but yes,” I reply. She kisses me chastely on the lips, then gets out of the car, throwing me one last glance over her shoulder before heading inside. My stomach twists a little, but I know she can handle herself, so I head to the rink.
The team’s already skating. Luckily, they’ve managed to hold it together without me, and we’ve risen to the number two spot in our division and seventh in the league, right behind the Pioneers. We haven’t clinched the playoffs yet, but it’s likely we will. I can hardly believe it.
There is still a very good chance we will be liquidated or sold, however, and that looming knowledge dampens everything.
Tension radiates off Coach Marshall as I take a seat next to him. A few players look over when I sit down and I can tell the energy is off. Nobody knows what to expect, myself included.
“Well isn’t this peachy,” Coach Marshall breaks the silence, casting me a sidelong glance with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Have you heard from the league?”
“Not a peep beyond what they said last night. They say they’re handling it.
” He doesn’t sound like he trusts whatever that means.
I don’t either. “As soon as they passed the rule allowing PE firms to buy into franchises, I knew something like this would go down. It’s all the same shit you hear on the news. I just didn’t think it’d happen to us.”
“We just have to wait and see.” I don’t really know what else to say.
“That Freddie, though,” Coach Marshall says with pause. “Without her, all of this would have gone as planned and nobody woulda batted an eye. Pretty fucked up stuff.”
I can’t help it—I smile, and Coach gives me a knowing look.
“I think Freddie is a bigger asset to this team than any of us realized,” I say.
“I don’t think you’re wrong about that,” Coach agrees.