26. Chapter 26 #2
I let out a disbelieving laugh and shake my head. “So basically you win either way?”
“I always win, Lilly,” he murmurs, his thumb pressing hard into my hip. “The only variable here is how soon it happens.”
I take a shallow breath, finally looking around and realizing just how clever he’s been. While we were talking, his long strides silently glided us all the way to the furthest corner of the rink.
I reach up, my fingers wrapping around his thick wrists, my thumbs brushing over his pulse point.
“I can’t exactly run away from you if you won’t let me go.” I tilt my head.
Reluctantly, his hands uncurl from my waist. The second his fingers release me, my heart kicks into overdrive.
I don’t waste a second. I dig in my edges and push off with everything I have. I shoot forward, my hair flying behind me as I sprint toward the exit.
“One…” Zed’s deep voice echoes off the empty arena walls behind me.
“Two…”
How fast can a goalie be? A heavy, giant one at that.
“Three…”
A breathless laugh bubbles up my throat as I push my blades harder, flying past center ice toward the exit doors. I’m lightweight, fast, and I’ve got a massive head start. I might actually win this.
“Four…”
“Five.”
The heavy crack of blade steel tearing into the ice echoes through the arena like a gunshot.
I make the fatal mistake of glancing over my shoulder.
My breath hitches in pure terror as I get the answer to my question.
Zed explodes off his back edge, his large body cutting across the ice like a missile. He eats up the fifty-foot advantage he gave me with terrifying speed.
My eyes widen in a thrill of panicked adrenaline as I realize I have maybe two seconds before I lose the advantage he gave me.
My high-pitched squeak fills the arena as I turn back and try to gain more speed.
Before I can even reach the far blue line, his thick arms wrap around my waist. With no effort, he hauls me off the ice.
I let out a sharp scream with my feet dangling helplessly in the air.
Zed cuts hard on his back edges, spraying a wave of ice against the glass as he brings us to a bone-rattling stop.
He sets my skates back onto the ice and spins me around in his arms. He leans down and gives me no warning before his lips come down onto mine.
He devours me, his hot, slippery tongue sliding deep into my mouth until my knees go weak and I’m forced to grip the front of his shirt just to stay upright.
“I win,” he growls, his breath hot on my lips. “Now… in what order do I collect my rewards? Do I fuck you right here on the ice or do you jump first?”
“You wouldn’t… you wouldn’t do that here.”
Zed’s eyes darken as a slow smile spreads across his beautiful face. He slides one hand down my back, pressing his palm against the curve of my hip, and pulls me against the hard bulge in his pants.
“We both know I would,” he murmurs.
I swallow as a wave of heat pools in my stomach because I know he isn’t lying.
I’m still riding the adrenaline from the chase.
“I’ll jump first,” I say, still panting. “But nothing else. We leave after.” I give him a pointed look.
“Eager to get that little pussy around my dick?”
The reaction my body has to this man is unhealthy. He should not have that much control over my body without even touching it.
Zed gently taps the side of his skate blade against mine, the metallic clink echoing softly.
“We can ease into it,” he murmurs.
What are we talking about?
“The jump, Lilly,” Zed chuckles. “You have a toe pick.” We both glance down at my skates. “Why don’t you start with a toe loop?”
I look up at him and blink a few times. “A toe loop? And here I thought you knew nothing about figure skating.”
Zed gives me a lazy smirk, his thumb tracing a slow line over my waist. “We’re just different sides of the same coin, Lilly.”
“Hockey players don’t study jump mechanics,” I tease softly, shaking my head.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t do my research on you?” he asks. “I know every jump, every entry, every single thing you used to do out here. I’ve watched you so many times.” His voice drops to a near whisper. “Now I want to see it live. Just for me.”
The challenge in his voice acts like a spark to dry kindling. I take a steadying breath, my fingers untangling from his shirt as I push back off his broad chest.
“Fine. A toe loop,” I say with a nod.
Zed releases my waist, taking three slow, backward strides to give me room, his piercing eyes tracking every movement I make.
I turn around, gliding away to build momentum, trying to shove my anxiety down.
My body instantly remembers the routine.
I step onto a smooth, deep right inside edge, letting the curve pull me into the entry.
I shift my weight, rolling over to my right outside back edge, feeling the cold wind brush against my face as I wind up my arms.
My mind tries to throw up a split-second wall of panic, but then I catch Zed standing by the boards, watching me with a proud smile.
So I release the fear.
I reach back with my left foot, reaching for the ice. The sharp teeth of my left toe pick strike the hard, frozen surface with a crisp crunch.
I vault off the pick, launching my body upward into the air.
I snap my arms tight across my chest, feeling weightless as I rotate, suspended in the cool arena air for a brilliant, frozen fraction of a second before my body instinctively unfolds.
My right blade reaches down, biting into the ice on a clean, solid right outside back edge.
I stretch my left leg out behind me, checking out with my arms wide in a graceful landing.
The ice hums under my steel as I glide backward out of the jump, completely clean. A breathless, ecstatic laugh bursts from my chest. I actually did it. I landed it.
I carve a tight turn to face Zed, my chest heaving as I glide back toward him. He’s standing in the same spot I left him, his eyes ablaze with pride and an unholy amount of heat.
He catches me by the hips as I skate into his space, pulling me against him.
“Look at that,” he drawls. “Still got it.”
My heart is hammering, the adrenaline singing through my veins. The toe loop was simple, but the muscle memory is awake now. The phantom pain in my thigh is pulsing, but for the first time in years, it’s not paralyzing me.
“That was fucking beautiful,” he praises.
I haven’t jumped like this since the night my career ended. I spent years promising myself I would never put my body through that agony again.
But this… God, this felt like breathing after years of holding my breath. The fire in my blood is roaring. Something wild, fierce, and entirely forgotten flares up in my chest.
Seeing the shift in my eyes, a faint smile touches the corner of Zed’s lips.
“Want to try something else?” he asks softly.
I look into his eyes, feeling the safety of his presence wrapping around me like armor. I slowly nod.
“That’s my brave girl.” Zed’s smile grows into a rare, breathtaking grin.
My heart swells so hard it feels like it’s going to burst right out of my chest. I feel so back.
I missed this. I spent five years depriving myself of something that made my soul soar, all because I was too terrified to face the ice again.
“Lilly.” The deep, familiar voice echoes around us.
I turn around toward the player benches near the rink entrance, and standing right at the edge of the boards is my father.
My heart drops into my stomach, but the sudden panic eases when I take him in. He’s looking across the ice at me with absolute disbelief written across his face.
He saw me land it. He saw it all.
He slowly opens the rink door and steps onto the ice, his eyes never leaving mine. He shakes his head, a soft, disbelieving laugh breaking from his lips.
“You landed it…” he breathes out, his voice thick with pride.
A ragged, tearing sob rips out of my throat, instantly tangling with a wild, breathless laugh.
“Go,” Zed whispers and nudges me softly.
I push off my blades, flying across the ice until I crash directly into my father’s chest.
“I did it,” I cry, burying my face into his neck as his arms wrap around me in a crushing vise. “Dad, I did it!”
“I saw you,” he chokes out, his voice cracking. “I saw you, baby. You did it perfectly.”
I pull back, swiping the wetness from my cheeks with cold fingers. My dad frames my face, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
I take a deep breath and turn around.
Zed hasn’t moved. He’s standing in the center circle with a warm smile on his face as he gives us space.