Fresh Ice (37 page)

When he picked her up like that,
Sarah didn’t feel helpless. She felt weightless and cared for. And loved.

He caressed and kissed her entire body until she cried out his name.
He kissed her scars and healed them with a lave of his tongue. Softly, he caressed her breasts took turns kissing her nipples. No one had ever been so gentle with her before. Instead of biting her and clawing at her, he touched her. So sweetly and intimately.

He maneuvered her so
that she was sitting on top of him. “You’re in control, Sarah.”

The only way she’d experienced sex in the past was as a powerless victim. Now, Nathan was giving her all the power and she didn’t quite know what to do with it.
Shyly, she hung her head, her hair covered her face.

He reached up and tucked it behind her ear.
“I love you, Sarah.”

Slowly, she lifted her gaze to meet his.
“I love you, too.”

She ran her hands over his chest, her fingers tangled in the wiry hair. She traced a path down to his belly button and back up to his shoulders.
She leaned forward and kissed his chest, a nipple, his neck.

She lifted up, positioned herself over him and lowered herself onto his erection. Slowly,
inch by inch, he filled her.

She lifted up and lowered back down again.
“Oh,” she breathed out. There was definitely a spot there. The heat between them built and the friction was delicious. It was a pleasure like no other.

When she became too fatigued to hold herself up,
Nathan rolled her over onto her back.

He searched her eyes, trying to gage her reaction. He saw something in them for the first time.
Trust. He smiled. Gently, he eased himself into her warmth. “Is that okay? I’m not hurting you, am I?”

“No.
It feels…wonderful.”

He kissed her and continued the slow and steady pace she started.

The way he towered over her made Sarah feel safe. His face looked tense, his jaw set.

Nathan’s body trembled as he held back. Any other undisciplined man wouldn’t have been able to control himself before devouring her whole. But for Nathan, patience and control were the name of his game.

Finally, Sarah gave into the pleasure and soared. The orgasm shook her to the core of her being. She was on a satin cloud floating high above the heavens. Up, up and up until she shattered into luminous light fragment and fell back down to earth. She trembled and clung to him.

Only when her inner muscles constricted
and tightened around him and she trembled in release did Nathan finally let himself go.

He
laid down next to her and gathered her up in his arms. She gave him a shy smile. Even after everything they’d done she was still embarrassed to share so much of herself with someone.

He stroked her back until their breathing returned to normal.

When he leaned over to kiss her, he noticed her cheeks were wet. “Sarah? Oh God, did I hurt you?” He rose up on his elbow and wiped the tears away.

“No. No,
Nathan.” She cupped his face in her hands. “That was the most…beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.”

He smiled with relief
and kissed her tenderly. “It will always be like that with us, Sarah.”

“
Every
time?”

“Yes.
Every single time.”

They fell
asleep, each feeling utterly in love and completely at peace.

* * *

When Dwight saw the Red Valley city limits sign, he wriggled in his seat with anticipation. Sarah,
his
Sarah was just a few miles away now.
Finally
. He didn’t think he could last another millisecond confined inside the Datsun with Troy. They’d be home in no time if nothing went wrong. And there was no way in hell the ride back could be as disastrous as the trip up. What a friggin’ nightmare. Sarah would pay. That was Dwight’s only consolation for the hell he’d been through because of her. He’d dedicated the last ten years to torturing her and he looked forward to at least fifty more.

The city of Red Valley was a lot bigger than Dwight though
t it would be. He’d pictured Sarah running off to some one horse, one street light town, not a big, bustling city like this. That would have made her a hell of a lot easier to find. So much for wishful thinking.

The people in Red Valley sure liked their sports, too. You couldn’t turn a corner without being bombarded by a giant billboard advertising the local hockey team.

Hockey
, Dwight thought to himself. What an asinine sport. All those guys on figure skates twirling around the ice whacking at a little piece of rubber. Downright ridiculous if you asked him.

At the first gas station up ahead, he decided to pull in. Dottie could use her tank topped off and he could use some directions. They weren’t something he liked asking for but, hey, sometimes it was necessary. He could swallow his pride just this once in the name of finding Sarah. Besides that, his legs needed a stretch anyway.

As soon as he pulled up to the gas pump, Troy hefted himself out of the truck before Dwight even cut the engine.

Dwight followed him into the store and watched Troy make a beeline for the snack aisle.

“You know where Peach’s is?” Dwight asked the clerk working behind the counter.

“
Froot?” The clerk smiled and pointed at a shriveled apple and a bunch of browning bananas on the counter.

“No, not fruit,” Dwight said through clenched teeth.
“The beauty shop. Peach’s.”

The clerk frowned in confusion.

“Hair!” Dwight raised his voice even though the guy was clearly dumb not deaf. Dwight made a gesture of smoothing his hair. He huffed and put his hand down. Goddammit he must look like a complete moron. “Peach’s Hair,” he repeated. It took all the restraint he could muster not to rip the guy’s turban off his head and strangle him with it.

The clerks face brightened, his white teeth flashed in contrast to his dark skin. He pointed to the back of the store.
“Shumpoo! Aisle four!”

Dwight shook his head. “Not shampoo, you dumb idiot.
How ‘bout a phone book? You got one of those?”

The clerks face frowned again.

“Phone book?” He put his hand to his ear, fingers in a Hang-10 gesture.

The clerk pointed to the outside of the store.

“This is ‘merica,” Dwight mumbled under his breath. “We speak ‘merican here.”

“Damn foreigners,” he mumbl
ed and walked out.

The phone book attached to the pay phone outside the convenience store was missing more pages than it had. Fortunately it still contained the Beauty section. There were three salons in Red Valley with the word ‘peach’ in them. Who knew Peach was so goddam popular when it came to business names?

Peach Keen Hair Salon, Peach’s and Dean Beauty and plain old Peach’s Salon
were listed. Now where had that little piece of ass at the school told him that Sarah had gone to again?

They’d get a room for the night and scope out Peach’s in the morning.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Peace

S
arah woke up to find the bed empty. She looked around the room and noticed Nathan standing in the bathroom doorway.

He
had already showered and was dressed and ready for the day. Smiling, he pushed away from the doorframe and climbed back into bed.

“What are you doing?” she laughed. “You’re already all dressed.”
She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him. His breath was minty fresh. “And you already brushed your teeth! That’s not fair!”

He chuckled and nuzzled her neck. “I have practice this morning so I don’t have much time.”

“Do you need to go? I don’t want you to be late. Oh, no, you’re going to get all wrinkled.”

“
Sshh, I have enough time for this...” he said and kissed a trail down her arm and suckled each of her fingers.

She giggled as he blew in her ear and nibbled on her earlobe.

He turned serious and smoothed a lock of hair from her cheek. “I like it when you smile in your sleep.”

She blushed. “You were watching me.”

“Just for a minute.”

This wasn’t the same
girl he’d brought home from the motel that night. She had blossomed into a woman since then.

“I didn’t wake you last night, did I?” S
arah searched through last night’s dreams and couldn’t remember seeing Dwight’s face not once.

“Nope.”

“I didn’t have the nightmare,” she said happily.

Nathan
hadn’t either. For the first time in two years he’d slept peacefully and soundly.

“I want to give this to you before I go.” He reached over and picked up a key from the nightstand and laid it on her palm. The key dangled from a Red Valley Razors keychain. “I should’ve given it to you sooner but things have been so crazy.”

“What’s this?”

“A key to the house. I want you to move in with me, Sarah. I know you’re basically living here already but I’d like you to stay here and live with me. Permanently.”

She turned the key over and ran her finger along the notches in the metal.
The key represented even more than her motel key had. Not only freedom and security but it also symbolized home and love.

“Well?
What do you think?”

Sarah threw her arms around him and blinked back tears.
“I’d love to, Nathan.”

“I’m taking you out to dinner tonight
,” he said excitedly. “Some place really nice. I heard there’s a fancy place right on the river with really good food.”

He rambled on
about dinner reservations and Sarah laughed. The normally quiet and reserved goaltender was babbling on like his sister.

“
I’d pick you up at the salon and take you to lunch but the team is doing some charity thing this afternoon.”

“That’s okay.”

He glanced at the clock and winced. “Shoot, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tonight.” He gave her a kiss before getting out of bed. “I can call a cab to take you to work.”

She sat up and watched him put on his shoes.
“That’s okay, I’ll take the bus.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll be fine. Have a good skate.”

“I’m going to buy you a car.”

“What?! No, Nathan. Don’t talk like that. Cars are expensive.”

“So? I’ve got the money and I think you should have one.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

He bent down and gave her one last kiss.
“We’ll talk about it tonight over dinner.”

Before she could argue, he was out the door.
“Eat something before you go!” he called from down the hall.

“I will,” she reassured him.
“I love you!”

“I love you, too
!”

After Nathan left, Sarah stretched her muscles and wiggled he toes in the soft sheets. She could laze around all day in Nathan’s bed but she needed to get ready for work. It was Friday. Payday. And she could spend all weekend with Nathan because he had back-to-back home games.

Sarah showered, got ready and went into the kitchen.
Kayla and Robbie had already gone for the day so the house was quiet.

Nathan’s kitchen never ceased to amaze her. There was s
o much food in his cupboards and refrigerator. Fresh fruits, veggies and bread. Rows of every different kind of cereal under the sun. Eggs and milk and salad dressing, oh my.

The only thing
s in Dwight’s refrigerator were liters of Troy’s favorite sugary soda and beer. Lots and lots of beer. And the cupboards, they were always empty. When anything
was
in them, it was devoured by rats as soon as it hit the shelf. So the two of them lived off fast food and gas station food and Sarah got whatever was left over. Which wasn’t much when you competed for food with a human garbage disposal like her cousin Troy.

Sarah shook her head and made toast. She had to stop thinking about Dwight and comparing everything to L
.A. It was hard to do when that was the only life she ever knew. But now it was like a curtain had lifted up to show her what she’d been missing. Someday she might get used to having a stocked kitchen, a job she loved and kind people in her life. But for now she was still in awe.

She made a half sandwich to take to work
, locked the door behind her with her new key and headed for the bus stop.

The air was chilly on her face as Sarah walked down the street. The cold didn’t bother her in the slightest. After the incredible night she shared with Nathan she had a bounce in her step and a grin on her face.