Mica (Rebel Wayfarers MC) (50 page)

Her breath came quickly; she was nearly panting, but with fear or excitement she couldn’t decide. His voice was still low, but ardent. “Babe, I keep what’s mine safe. I may not be your always, like you said, but you are
fucking mine,
and I keep what’s mine, safe. So Tucker no longer has a home, and likely won’t find one in the Midwest, because he fucking touched what’s mine…uninvited.”

His hand caressed along her cheek, stroking down the column of her neck. “That fucker Nelms? Motherfucker is rotting in a ditch in the fucking desert, because he touched what’s mine. The fucking punks who attacked you in the alley? They are somewhere upstate with tidy little brain holes, because they. Touched. What’s. Mine.”

It was definitely fear that was stealing her breath and senses now. He couldn’t be serious, could he? He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “You will always be mine, Michaela Trenton Scott. No backing out, no backing off, no walking away. This is me, keeping you fucking safe. I didn’t have to sleep with you to stake my claim; it’s been there in your eyes for years when you look at me, and it’s there on the faces of my brothers when they pound their chests and say ‘fucking treasure’…because you are mine. Babe, you are ours, and we are yours. Since the day you fucking moved in, you have owned me, and even if I find someone to be my always, you will still fucking be mine.”

“Mason, I don’t…I didn’t…what can I…what did I do?” she stumbled over her words, adrift in her reaction to his revelations. Taking a deep breath, she started again, “Mason, I do understand, but what can I do? What can I do to repay you?”

Standing straight, he released her, trailing his fingers down her neck to her collarbones. “You breathe, babe. I keep you safe; it’s what I do. Now do you see why I keep club business out of your house? It’s not fucking pretty, but it’s my life.”

Kissing her cheek, he said. “The ugly is my business, not yours. Never yours.” He stepped back and dropped his hand. “I’ll make sure everyone clears out soon, babe. See you tomorrow.”

Mica stood in the middle of her kitchen and watched him walk out, closing the door quietly in the frame. She heard his boots on the back porch and his low whistle to get folks’ attention. She couldn’t hear what was said, but the music turned down, and it sounded like people moved away from her house.

Standing still, she put both hands on top of her head, breathing fast and hard. She racked her brain for something to compare his speech with, but few things in her life had prepared her for this. She had never realized how much he cared. She had known for years that he protected her, but had never known how calculatedly, or to what extent he was willing to go.

She coughed out a laugh—oh, and that bit about being property?
His
property? Yeah, that didn’t fly far for her. That turkey’s wings were pinioned. No flight there at all. Mason had gone crazy; that had to be the right of it. Like she had one time, he’d gone to visit Crazytown. She dropped her hands and stepped forward to open the door, intent on telling him so, when an arm wrapped around her from behind.

“Leave him be, Mica. He’s hurting,” Daniel’s voice came from beside her head, “so talk to him tomorrow in the light of day when you haven’t had a half-dozen beers.”

“Did you hear him?” she asked fussily. “Did you hear him call me
property
?” She wrapped her hands around his hard, corded arm, sliding them restlessly up and down the skin she could reach.

“Oh, beautiful, what I heard was him declare a love for you that has been there since the moment he laid eyes on you. I suspect even then, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away, which meant you’d meet club members, since he lives right next door. I don’t understand everything, but I believe in this case, being called the club’s Princess is an honor. It sounded like he put you in a safe position with all the club members milling around. Mason is probably your best friend in the world, and he’s hurting. Leave him tonight to get himself back in order.” Daniel stroked her arm, shoulder to elbow and back again. “Come to bed with me, Mica. Be with me tonight.”

He took her hand and turned her, reaching out to turn off the lights as they went through the house. In her bedroom, he removed her clothing slowly, his fingers and hands stroking every inch of her as she was revealed.

Cupping her breasts in his hands, he rolled the nipples between thumb and finger. He bent to take her in his mouth, licking and nibbling tenderly to draw moans of arousal out of her. “Daniel, you have too many clothes on,” she whispered into his ear. Slipping off his jacket and shirt, he pulled her close for a skin-to-skin hug that had him groaning in turn. Together, each undressed the other, reacquainting themselves through touches and kisses.

Mica reached out to unfasten the waistband of his dress pants as he toed off his shoes, but her hands stilled there. “Daniel,” she whispered softly, “are we okay? I know I hurt you. So badly.” Her breath hitched on a sob. “I’m sorry; I’m so sorry—”

Interrupting her with a kiss, he whispered back, “We are okay, beautiful, if you want us to be. This is what I want, so much. I want to be with you, in you, loving you.”

Her fingers unfastened his pants, drawing the zipper down carefully as she said, “I want
us
again. I need us to be okay, and I’m sorry for…” her hands stilled again, “…Daniel, I need to tell you what happened, why I left that day. I didn’t want to, and I need to tell you—”

“Its okay, Mica; its okay. I know. I know why you left. I know what you thought you were saving us all from. It’s okay; I get it,” he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her head close to kiss her, “and you don’t have to say anything unless you want to talk about it.”

“Okay. For now, it’s okay,” she arched under his touch, “but you still have too many clothes on,” she said with a grin, pushing his pants down off his hips to fall to the floor, leaving him bare and erect, his cock engorged and rigid.

Climbing into her bed, she lay back as he rolled on top of her, settling his hips between her thighs. She cradled him there, moving her hips a little as his pressure on her core set off tingles throughout her belly. His elbows were on either side of her shoulders, and she turned her head into one of his large hands, smiling at the comfort the touch gave her.

She gasped when he ducked his head and took her nipple into his mouth again, licking and sucking until she thought she’d explode just from that. Now it was his turn to rock his hips between her legs, finding a welcome friction of his own there.

“What do you want, beautiful?” he rasped out, looking into her face.

“I want you, Daniel; I just want you.” She arched her hips up into him, seeking close contact and knowing he would feel how wet she was against the head of his cock.

Hissing a breath between his teeth, he tipped his hips and entered her with measured amounts. Pulling out and sliding in a little deeper each time, he finally sheathed himself in her tight heat as deep as he could go. Her head had tipped back when he began moving inside her, and now she rolled her face to the side. He took this as an offering, and quickly lowered his mouth to the column of her throat, finding that sensitive spot behind her ear to quickly draw a reaction from her.

Moving slowly, affectionately, he made love to her, knowing they needed unhurried and gentle from each other tonight, a reacquainting of their love, their bodies. Coming together with such tenderness clarified her feelings for him, and she knew without a doubt that she loved him. Daniel Rupert was her always. Her name on his lips as he came thrilled her, as did the tender way he held her as she shuddered against him with her own climax.

Afterwards, she held him in her arms as he slept, his head on her chest and his arms and legs wrapped around her. It was like he couldn’t get close enough, even as he rested. She stroked his hair back from his forehead, tracing the lines on his brow and down alongside his mouth. She kissed him softly, and smiled as he made a little noise and kissed her back in his sleep, calling her name once again.

56 -
            
Championship

The final game of the season—at least, that’s what he hoped was the outcome from today; he was ready for a few months off from hockey. He was tired and sore from the limited recovery time between games for the past couple of months.

Daniel shook his head as he rested it against the stadium seat he was sitting in. Pulling tape from his pocket, he stood the stick on its blade, methodically removing the old tape on the handle to replace it with new.

He’d already waxed and taped the blade, but this was part of his pre-game ritual. Sitting in their home arena, waiting on game six, he was as content as he thought he possibly could be. They’d won three out of five games so far, but the Fort Wayne Tridents weren’t in the series by mistake; every goal and every game had been hard won.

He frowned, thinking of the game in Fort Wayne last Friday. He had known Mica wasn’t going to come. She’d been clear she was tired from being away from home and then the long ride home with Mason. They’d had a wonderful night together in her bed the night she came home, but she was really exhausted.

His suite at the Coliseum had been full of family and friends who came to watch the Mallets play and win. The team hadn’t disappointed their fans, but he had been a little frustrated that she wasn’t there to see them win.

She’d be there tonight, though, and he smiled, because he was looking forward to seeing her behind the glass. Finishing up the tape job, Daniel took his hands and smoothed the tape to the wood of the stick, making sure there wouldn’t be any slipping tonight.

Standing, he arched his back, stretching and twisting. He looked around the arena and imagined it filled with fans, the sounds of them echoing through the building. They were already gathering in the parking lot, and the doors would open in about 15 minutes. Time to head to the locker room and prepare, make sure the guys were all in the right head space and ready to go.

***

Five minutes into the first period, Daniel was crosschecked on a breakaway and went down hard, sliding headfirst into the boards. That was the last thing he remembered for long minutes, that slide. Now, he was straddling the bench, and the trainer was snapping his fingers in front of him. He looked around, slurring, “Fuck’s the score?”

Shaking his head hard to get the fuzzy feeling out, he peered up at the scoreboard and saw himself on the screen. He stood up and yelled, “What the fuck’s the score?” His shift was on ice, and he saw Kenton Carter was in his slot. He winced as Carter botched a goal opportunity; he got the puck on net, but didn’t score.

Gary thumped his shoulder. “Easy, Daniel. It’s zip-zip still, Captain,” he grinned, “and welcome back. Now, look at the suite and wave pretty-like; she’s worried about you.”

Daniel swiveled to look up and saw Mica had both hands pressed against the glass of the suite, staring down at the home bench. He lifted a glove and waved at her, seeing her wave back at him. He blew her a kiss and then looked back at the game. They were changing shifts again during an icing call. He looked up and realized there was only a minute-thirty left in the first period; he’d been out longer than he thought.

Daniel shook his head hard again, shaking the last of the cobwebs loose. He saw Jason flash past the bench, skating hard backwards to stay ahead of the Tridents’ forwards. Taking off his helmet, he grabbed a water bottle, squirting a stream into his mouth, waving the trainer away.

Sitting back down on the bench beside Gary, Daniel turned his head, rubbing his neck, “Boards?”

Gary nodded. “Slid right into them, helmet-first.”

Rolling his neck, Daniel asked, “Did I skate off?”

Gary nodded again. “Your own power, Captain. You were on the ice for a few minutes though, so she’s gonna be anxious.”

The horn blew, signaling an end to the first period, and the team made their way to the locker room. Coach and Nate both wanted to talk to Daniel; it seemed everyone was concerned about the hit. He shrugged off their concern, talking strategy with their rookie goalie, Hammend, and his first line players. The more he talked and focused, the sharper he felt, finally signaling to Coach he was a hundred percent ready to go.

They walked back up the rink and skated onto the ice, all business. Jason scored two goals early in the period, giving them a breather, but the Tridents weren’t far behind them getting shots on goal, and eventually, one of them slid past Hammend, cutting their lead in half.

The two teams battled up and down the ice, tempers fraying with every bump, push, or jostle for position. Daniel talked Jason down twice, and the horn blew again. There was just one more twenty-minute period, and they were still up by one.

Skating off the ice, Daniel looked up to see Mica silhouetted against the glass waving at him; he grinned wide and raised a glove to her again. He tapped Jason for the strategy talk with Coach during the break, and sat down to rest.

The final period was more fast-paced and hard skating than any single period in the entire series, with both teams changing shifts with eagerness. The Tridents scored with three minutes left in the period, and they were tied up again.

Daniel looked at his team and teammates, seeing their fatigue, but also a willingness to persevere, and more importantly, the desire to win. He shouted to Jason, “Pond hockey,” and saw Jason’s grin and nod as they changed up the shifts a bit. Last practice, they’d run a few drills from Daniel’s childhood. One of them was a simple but sweet, three-on-two offensive sweep play he remembered from winters of playing pond hockey with his dad.