4. Nathan
NATHAN
Holy shit. Nathan couldn’t believe that she was sitting right fucking there at his game, looking back at him with as much shock as he felt.
Octavia stared back at him unblinking. It wasn't until he flashed her his grin without his teeth in that she smiled back, a laugh bursting out of her, the sound dulled by the glass between them.
Nathan held up a finger. “One minute,” he shouted before skating back to the bench.
“Skip,” he yelled to the head athletic trainer. “I need a puck and a Sharpie.”
Skip brought him both, and Nathan tore off his glove to write his number on the puck in the silver Sharpie—impressed with himself that he’d managed to write it legibly considering how keyed up he currently felt.
When he got back to the glass, Octavia was no longer alone.
The petite brunette with her smiled excitedly as he approached, her gaze bouncing between him and Octavia after he pointed to warn her that he was going to throw the puck over the glass.
He watched as it flipped up and over the glass and then as her hands reached up to catch it.
She studied the puck, turning it over in her hands until she saw the number.
Those bright green eyes he’d fallen asleep thinking about since running out on her snapped up and he held his hand up to his ear, mouthing, “Call me.” He didn’t skate away until she nodded.
And when he did, he could hear her friend scream, “Holy shit!”
Holy shit was right, Nathan thought as he warmed up with his team.
Holy shit, he thought after he assisted on the first goal of the night.
Holy shit, he thought when he ended up in the penalty box, right beside her.
“Holy shit,” he screamed when he ended the night with three points, including a goal. He’d picked up that puck and asked Skip to wrap it in tape and write “Her” on it.
“Holy shit,” he said when he looked down at his phone in the locker room at a text from an unknown number.
Unknown
Good game!
“You going to shower, Berty?” His teammate Masters teased when the rest of the team was already back in the locker room, the smell of Irish Spring and Old Spice masking the smell of sweat and hockey bag.
“Yeah, in a minute,” he replied absently, adding her as a contact and quickly texting her.
You used it!
Autumn
Wasn’t I supposed to?
I wasn’t sure if you would after how I left things.
That’s why I used it. You owe me an explanation.
Are you free tonight?
Do you have another hotel room?
Nathan laughed, running his hand through his sweat-soaked hair. Fuck he’d love to get her into another hotel room, maybe continue what they had started or redo the whole thing.
I have an apartment. But we can go somewhere public.
Do you want to go somewhere public?
Fuck no, he thought. He wanted to do unspeakable things to her. Tell her where he’d run off to, then soak up the sound of her moaning his name while he fucked her. Pick up right where they left things the other night.
I want to go wherever you wanna go.
Where should I meet you?
Go to the concierge in the lobby, near gate 14. I’ll have someone meet you there.
Nathan had the fastest, coldest shower of his life. Fast because he needed to see Octavia. Cold because he needed his cock to settle the fuck down.
“Those shoes,” Nathan said, shaking his head as he approached her. She was standing in front of an original piece of art one of the owners had commissioned the previous year.
“Those teeth.” She laughed before turning back to the painting. “Is that you?” She pointed at a blurry skater on the right edge. A seven barely visible.
Nathan shrugged. “I think it is, but Mike Davis seems to think it’s him.” He stood beside her wondering if he should reach for her hand. Wanting to reach for her hand.
“Why’d you leave?” she asked, her eyes still on the painting.
“You want me to tell you here and not somewhere else?”
She looked at him then, crossing her arms, striking a pose that screamed power and confidence. “What you tell me now will dictate whether or not we”—she gestured between them—“will be going anywhere else.”
“Fair. Well, this is going to sound fabricated but I swear it’s true.” Her eyes narrowed as if she was preparing for some bullshit story. “My brother was in an accident. My mom was freaking out and so I went, because that’s what family does.”
Octavia studied him as closely as she had been studying the painting. “Is he okay? Your brother?”
“He’s…” He took a deep breath, shaking the image of his brother seizing from his mind. “He’s in a medically induced coma. But”—he stepped closer to her—“he should be okay.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.”
Nathan tipped his head to the side, studying her this time, taking in the way the line between her eyebrows deepened with concern.
Noticing how her freckles were more visible tonight than the last time he’d seen her.
“He’s alive. I trust the doctors know what they’re doing.
If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.” He spread his arms wide and looked around. “Family comes before all of this.”
Octavia looked back at the painting, the silence that followed stretching to an almost unbearable place before she turned toward him. He held his breath as she stepped closer. Notes of vanilla and honey washed over him and he desperately wanted to pull her to him and breathe her in deeper.
She looked up, eyes searching his face. “Do I need to sign an NDA or anything?”
“What?” Nathan asked, taken aback.
“If I sleep with you—which is all this is by the way—do I need to sign a non-disclosure agreement?”
“Do I need to sign one?”
“I’m not famous. No one will care if you tell them you slept with me. No gossip columns will come calling. No one is going to offer you a big cheque for that kind of information. Me, on the other hand…” she trailed off, watching as he stepped closer. Even with the shoes, he towered over her.
“Are you afraid I’m into some kinky shit, Octavia?” He grinned when she shook her head. “Are you going to tell people if I am?”
She shook her head again. “I’m not going to tell anyone about this because I don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Fuck around with hockey players.” Disgust dripped off her words, hockey players sounded like a slur, and he’d be offended if he didn’t know better.
“What about the other night?” he questioned.
Her lips twisted, making him want to give them something better to do than convey disgust. “I was annoyed. You were there.”
“And you liked what I did? Liked how I made you feel?” he challenged, appreciating the way she looked flustered for half a second.
“Apparently. I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.”
“And you’d like to utilize my services again, despite my career?”
She huffed, somehow making annoyance hot. “Evidently.”
“Do you want to see what I’m into, Octavia? Want to see what I would have done if I didn’t have to run away?” She took a stuttering breath as she looked up at him demurely through her lashes.
“Unfortunately, I think I would like that,” she admitted.
“You think or you know?”
Her bright green eyes locked onto his. “I know. I would like to know what I missed out on the other night.”
“Quench that nagging curiosity?”
“Maybe.”
Nathan grinned down at her, shaking his head. “Nah, there’s no maybe about it, Autumn. I know. I was there too.”
“I guess we better deal with it then.”
“Good.” He reached for her hand, relief blooming in his chest when she let him take it, threading her fingers through his and following as he led her all the way down to the players parking area without another word.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said as they waited in the never-ending gridlock that was the Gardiner Expressway.
“Novel for a hockey player, no?” Octavia laughed, and despite the insult, Nathan liked the sound of what came after it. She could insult him daily if it meant he got to hear her laugh.
“We do that occasionally.”
“What have you been thinking?” she asked, turning to him, the streetlight bathing her face in a warm glow, making it harder for him to look away from her.
“I’ve been thinking that you may be right about a hot dog not being a sandwich. But then a hamburger isn’t one either. Applying the same logic, the hamburger is the meat since the bun is a hamburger bun.”
“Don’t think too hard about it. It’ll take over your life,” she teased.
When Nathan pulled into the parking garage at his condo, he felt his anxiety begin to rise. He’d built this up so much, had been thinking about reuniting with Octavia since he ran out of the hotel room.
He kissed her first in the elevator this time, bending low to capture her mouth as they rose seventeen stories into the sky.
Octavia hooked her legs around him again, and just like before, he carried her to his door, their lips never parting. The minute they were through the door, however, she slid down slowly, the click of her heels on the hardwood once again bringing Nathan to his knees in front of her.
Just like during their previous encounter, he reached for her shoes and slipped them off. Then he began on her jeans, peeling them down her legs, revealing inch after inch of creamy skin. He kissed her inner thigh and wondered how long she’d been red there from his stubble.
Octavia’s hand slid into his hair, gripping tightly, and then she guided his mouth to where she wanted it, hell, where he wanted it. He didn’t need her to direct him, but he liked how she took control, took what she wanted.
He pressed his tongue against her black lacy panties and moaned when he finally tasted her again. In his impatience, he reached up with both hands and ripped them right off her body.
“Holy shit, that was hot.” Octavia panted right before Nathan lifted her off the ground and threw both of her legs over his shoulders.
She gave a surprised little yelp that morphed into a moan when he latched his mouth onto her.
Her upper body relaxed against the door while her nails scraped across his scalp.
This is why you lift all those weights, he thought to himself. Not for sport but for moments like this.
He didn’t hold her still this time, opting instead to let her move however she needed to. And she moved. The thought of her moving her hips like this while riding his cock only made Nathan more enthusiastic as he devoured her. She was so wet he thought he could actually drown in her.
Her thighs squeezed his head as she came, little spasms draining her energy as she came down. Nathan didn’t want to move. He’d happily die like this, although the aftermath may be a bit awkward for her.
Reluctantly he pulled away, setting her back on the floor and standing.
His knees protested from being down on the hardwood for so long, but he ignored them as he bent and ran his hands up her naked thighs before grabbing her just below that perfect ass and hoisting her up his body.
She wrapped her legs around his hips while he walked with a singular purpose to his bedroom.
With her mouth on his the whole way and her hot, wet pussy pressed against his straining cock, the short walk to his room felt torturously long.
He was so hard he genuinely thought his pants would rip, and when he set her down and reached down to undo them, his fingers trailed through her arousal.
When his eyes met hers, she looked almost demure, her lip caught between her teeth as her gaze dropped, a tiny smirk appearing as she took in the state of his pants.
“Oops, sorry,” she said with a little giggle.
Nathan brought his fingers to his mouth, cleaning them off without breaking eye contact.
“Don’t be, I like you on me.” He watched her eyes widen and nostrils flare.
“I want to see you,” he said before letting himself get any further with his pants.
The wait was excruciating, despite knowing it would be well worth it as she unbuttoned her shirt, sliding it off slowly and tossing it to the side.
He wasn’t sure he took a breath while she reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, the material falling away, revealing the rest of her.
“You’re going to ruin me, and I’m going to fucking worship you the entire time. ” He growled reverently.
“Your turn.” She smirked, leaning back on her hands, totally bared for him.
He didn’t remember undoing the zipper or sliding his pants off. He had no recollection of removing his boxer briefs. While he looked at her, he wasn’t even sure he’d gotten dressed today. All he knew was the here and now and Octavia was ready and waiting for him on his bed.
She knelt and moved to the end of the mattress, dropping to her hands so her face was directly in front of his very erect cock. When he felt her mouth take him in, he had to slide his hands into her hair to keep himself upright. Her fucking ruinous mouth.
He felt her cheeks hollow, her tongue wrapping around him, stroking in just the right spot to make him see stars.
He fought the urge to set a rhythm, to hold her head and fuck her throat.
But Octavia seemed to have other ideas. Her hand released his cock and slipped around to grip his hip and, after a couple squeezes, he realized exactly what she was doing while she looked up at him through her eyelashes.
He increased his pace and she moaned her appreciation.
“Fuck, Octavia,” he gritted out, eyes glued to his cock disappearing into her mouth.
“You’re such a good little cocksucker.” She hummed and the vibrations shot through his body, causing his pace to falter.
When she looked up at him again, tears streamed down her face and he nearly stopped.
Nearly backed away and dropped to his knees to beg for forgiveness, but her grip on his hip was strong and she kept him in place.
He could feel the orgasm building and tried to pull back, but again she held him in place.
“You want it, sweetheart?” She hummed again and he let go, filling her mouth and watching in awe as she swallowed him down, not releasing him until he’d started to soften and was too sensitive to even touch himself.
He tipped onto the bed, lying flat on his back, breathing heavier than he had all game. She lay back next to him, her hair splayed out around her, her pert nipples begging for his mouth. But not yet. He couldn’t move just yet.
“Did you have pineapple today?” she asked, sitting up on her elbow and gazing down at him.
“For breakfast, why?”
“I guess it’s true what they say about pineapple and cum.”
“Really?” Nathan looked at her, expecting to see her laughing. But she only nodded, no smirk in sight.
“Hand to God, best semen I’ve ever tasted.”
His mouth fell open. Had she really just said that? How many oth—no, he thought, don’t go there. Enjoy the moment.