Skating on Thin Ice: Seattle Sockeyes (Game On in Seattle Book 1) (16 page)

She turned the card over, inserted it, and opened the door, so calm and collected; he vowed to obliterate her composure tonight and transform her into a sweaty mess, as out of control as he was. The way her eyes glowed green, he didn’t think it’d prove difficult, despite the good show she put on.

She tossed the card on the desk along with her purse and turned to him. His gaze roamed down her body, over those nice breasts confined by her business suit, past the curve of her hips, below her conservative skirt to those sexy calves and back up again until he gazed into her eyes.

She didn’t look so confident now that she was in his space and out of her comfort zone. Good, he liked that. Liked that a lot. Wanted to see her composure melt along with his as they explored ecstasy together.

Lauren glanced at the door. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

Bolstered by her lack of confidence, Ethan moved forward and cupped her face between his hands. “I think it’s a very good idea.” He bent his head and ran his tongue along the curve of her neck, tasting and nibbling his way to her collarbone and back to her earlobe. He bit down on that sensitive lobe and tugged, drawing a sexy whimper from her that nearly had him creaming his jeans.

“So maybe it is a good idea,” she said breathlessly. She brought her hands up to his shoulders and stood on tiptoe to kiss him. Ethan kissed her right back, slow and easy turning quickly to hot and heavy. His dick swelled to near painful proportions and pressed tight against his zipper.

“Lauren,” he panted against her lips, “I fucking have to have you. Now. Right fucking now.”

“Me, too.” She ran her tongue across his lips and pressed her body against his.

He stepped back far enough to unzip his jeans, but that didn’t relieve the pressure mounting inside him and turning his cock painfully hard. He pushed her suit jacket off her shoulders, and she shrugged out of it, pausing to fold it and put it on a dresser.

Ethan kicked off his shoes, and shucked his jeans and underwear with a desperation born of necessity, the necessity to bury himself in her sweet, hot wetness. As he stood naked before her, Lauren watched him with glazed eyes and said nothing. He chuckled as her gaze focused on his erection.

“Want something?”

“You.” She glanced briefly at his face and downward. Like a physical caress he felt her eyes take him in, visually exploring his body.

“I like that, but you’re overdressed for this party.” He stepped forward to unbutton her crisp blouse, revealing an alluring pink lace bra, so very Lauren. “Do you always wear bras like this or were you expecting someone to see it tonight.”

“Both,” she murmured, her voice a husky whisper that made his penis jerk in response.

She pulled off her blouse and removed her skirt.

“Holy, fuck. If I’d known that was hiding under your clothes, I’d have never gotten any work done.” A matching pair of tiny panties, if you could even call them that, barely covered that sweet spot between her legs and didn’t cover her fine ass.

“Good thing we’re getting this out of the way.”

“You think this’ll make it easier for us to work together?”

“Fuck, no.” She laughed in a rare use of profanity.

Ethan laughed, too, around the tightness in his stomach. “I want to fuck you all night, Lauren. All fucking night, until neither one of us has the strength to move.” He walked her backward to the bed and pushed her gently down onto the mattress. She clung to him, pulling him with her. He nestled his hips between her spread legs and kissed her, his tongue dancing with hers until he’d sucked the breath from her lungs.

Dragging his mouth away from her lips, he kissed his way down her neck to her chest. He took one of her distended nipples in her mouth, sucking it through the thin lace. She moaned and writhed beneath him, lifting her hips to rub against him. He sucked harder, biting down gently and tugging on her nipple with his teeth.

“Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. That feels so good,” she cried out.

“You liked that, honey?” He repeated the action on her other nipple.

“Yes,” she stared at him in wonder, as if she’d never felt anything like this before. Fuck, he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt this way before; it wasn’t just physical, it was something weird and unexplainable, something scary as hell and equally as wonderful. Something with the power to elevate him to new levels or bring him to his knees and destroy him.

And all because of a little slip of a woman with her prim little suits and perfect little bun. He quirked a smile. Ah, that bun. It had to go. He lifted his head from her nipple and ran his fingers through her hair, loosening the pins and stuff that kept her hair contained until it lay in a tangled mass around her head.

The most awesome sight he’d ever seen.

Well, not exactly. Her body, her eyes, her smile were all the most awesome things he’d ever seen.

And he wanted to see more.

Reaching behind her, he unfastened her bra with flick of his fingers.

“Been doing that long?” she quipped, amusement mixing with the lust in her incredible eyes.

“I’ve been practicing that particular move since high school,” he shot back. “And this one.” Ethan pulled the minuscule panties down past her knees, her ankles, and over the conservative heels she still wore.

He sat back on his haunches and surveyed his handiwork in the form of one naked, squirming body. Oh, yeah, this was heaven gone wild.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, as the words caught in his throat.

“So are you.” She smiled up at him and put her arms out to him. “Now fuck me, baby.”

“You sure are bossy when you’re naked.”

“I’m bossy when I’m not.”

“I like bossy women.”

“Show me how much you like a bossy woman.” Her smirk teased him and her body tantalized him. He kissed his way down the creamy skin to her pussy, knowing foreplay would be brief this first time or he’d lose himself before he reached the end game.

“Baby, I can’t hold out much longer. I’m sorry.” Crawling off the bed, he fished a condom out of his wallet and rolled it on his cock while Lauren’s eyes burned into him.

“Hurry up. I need you inside me.” Her throaty voice caused him to fumble with the last couple rolls of the condom.

Regardless, he was back between her legs in seconds and sinking into her warmth. Fuck, she was tight. Abso-fucking-lutely tight. Her muscles clenched around him, squeezing him so hard, he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from coming.

When she whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, he froze. “Are you okay, Lauren? Am I hurting you?”

“Oh, God, no, it feels so good, I think you’re going to kill me.”

“Same here, honey.” Ethan pushed in bit by bit; despite her bold words, he wanted to give her time to adjust even though his body protested.

Finally, his pubic bone rested against hers. Ethan held himself still, gathering his composure so he didn’t fill the condom on the first thrust. Only Lauren wouldn’t have any of it. She tilted her pelvis and pushed against him. Steeling his control, Ethan moved in and out, stroking her deeply inside, even as her body stroked his. He found her mouth and kissed her with all the hunger his body felt, unable to control the roughness, but she didn’t seem to care. She clung to him, matching his rhythm, urging him to go faster, harder, until she drove him out of his effing mind.

One final thrust and her body shook, fine beads of sweat glistening on her soft skin, as she came apart and took him with her into an achingly pleasurable abyss he’d never been to with another woman. His orgasm rolled over him, wave after powerful wave, decimating in its wake every thought and every emotion that didn’t pertain to her, leaving only the two of them in their world. Never alone, always together, in body and in soul.

And Ethan knew in that moment of profound vision that she’d set him free, while at the same time ruining him for any other woman.

And he didn’t give a shit because despite all his pledges to the contrary, this woman was meant for him, and he was going to have her for his very own.

Chapter 12—Misconduct

Lauren lay in bed staring at the ceiling, her limbs like spaghetti, her muscles inoperable. Despite the heavy curtains being closed, sun infiltrated the room, promising a beautiful spring day in Boston. After the initial euphoria of her night with Ethan, a heavy weight settled in her stomach.

Regret filtered into Lauren’s heart just like the sun penetrating through the curtains. She hated herself for being wishy-washy, a trait she’d rarely been accused of, if ever.

Next to her, she heard Ethan’s steady breathing, and her gut told her he wasn’t asleep.

“This is wrong.” Lauren rolled over but couldn’t force herself to get out of bed.

“It doesn’t feel wrong,” he mumbled, his voice groggy from sleep and sounding way too content, considering the conflict raging inside her.

He was right about that. It hadn’t felt wrong. Last night and late into the morning hours, it’d felt good. Damn good. Everything about being with him had felt so right. From his silky dark hair, strong chin, passionate eyes to his hard muscled chest, hard cock, and his muscular thighs, it all looked and felt damn fucking good. But it was damn, fucking wrong.

Ethan pulled her ass and back against him, and his erection pressed against her butt. She marveled at how quickly the man became aroused. Did every woman do that to him, or was she special? God, she wanted to be special because despite her self-righteous denials, he was special to her.

“You’re practically my boss or you could be in the future.” True to her nature, she needed to argue with him.

“But I’m not. Not yet. Right now we’re partners at best. We talked about this. No regrets, Lauren. No repercussions. Nothing. To demonstrate that I’m an honorable man, I’ll tear up the contract if that’s what you want.”

And let go of all that money? More money than she’d made in her last ten years with the Giants. She could get a fresh start, pay off all those debts run up by an asshole ex-husband, maybe make a down payment on a little house with a backyard and a garden. She could get a dog and not listen to her neighbors flush their toilets. She could BBQ on the back porch while the birds chirped and actually have her own trees.

“No, I don’t want you to tear it up.” She couldn’t walk away from financial freedom. Not when all he asked was a year of her life. These opportunities didn’t come her way more than once a lifetime. Even so, she needed more assurance, as she’d been played for a fool once before and it’d devastated her financially and emotionally along with obliterating her confidence in her ability to make the correct choices. “But what if we end up in an employee/employer relationship?”

“I don’t know.” He rolled onto his back and pulled her across his chest, as he stared at the ceiling.

“You don’t know?” She hadn’t expected his answer. The Ethan she knew had all the answers.

“This is uncharted territory for me.”

“You’ve never done this before?”

Pain flickered briefly in his eyes. “Only once,” he whispered, “but it didn’t feel like this. Nothing has ever felt like this.”

Lauren squeezed her eyes shut, attempted to staunch the flow of tears.

He couldn’t see how much his words affected her.

* * * *

The Giants won game five to stay alive in the semis with a last minute goal by winger Drew Delacorte. They’d need to win the next two to advance to the Finals. After a late-night flight back home, Lauren hauled her tired ass to work with a few hours of sleep. Ethan looked as rough as she felt. For once she didn’t work late, but left for home at five to catch up on much needed sleep. Ethan and she didn’t say much to each other, keeping it strictly business, even though she suspected he wanted to discuss their night together. Thankfully, he kept his mouth shut and gave her space.

Twenty minutes after she arrived home, Lauren’s father walked into her apartment without knocking. Her fault—she should’ve locked the door. Lon seated himself at the tiny dining room table, his bulk taking up the majority of the small room. She automatically poured him a cup of coffee. He drank the stuff 24-7.

Waiting him out and knowing he couldn’t be hurried, she tidied up her living room and kitchen, poured herself a glass of wine, and rifled through her mail.

Lon stretched, yawned, and rubbed his chin. “I’ve been doing some research.”

“Is this where I’m supposed to ask you what you’re researching?” She sighed.

“Don’t be a smartass, Lauren.” He levelled one of those go-stand-in-the-corner looks at her. Only that look didn’t work anymore.

When she didn’t react, he continued. “I can’t find anything on Ethan Williams as far as being who he is and what he is. I’ve found plenty on another Ethan. Ethan Parker. The guy who wants to bring hockey to Seattle. His family has billions.”

Lauren went cold inside. Not her Ethan? He couldn’t be that Ethan. He couldn’t be. “It’s not him.”

“Are you certain?” Her father’s eyes narrowed, and he saw much more than she wanted him to see. “I knew it. You’re sleeping with him. Every time you sleep with a guy, you lose your objectivity.”

“That only happened once, Dad.”

“Once should’ve taught you a lesson. Max was sleeping with puck bunnies in every town he played in. We all told you that, but you wouldn’t believe us.”

She hadn’t wanted to believe her friends and family, not until she’d followed Max to Boston and pounded on the door to his hotel room, finding him with not one hot little number, but two, and at the same time.

“Lauren, you’re susceptible to smooth-talking bastards.”

“Ethan is not a bastard. He has the same passion for hockey that you and I share.”

Lon gaped at her as if she’d hit her head on the ice and had a concussion. “Honey, Ethan does not have a passion for the game. Not like us. He’s not a—”

“—Hockey guy. Dad, I know I thought that myself, but he is. He loves hockey. Did you realize that he skates with Cooper every morning?”

“Are you serious?” Lon shook his head in absolute disbelief as if he’d been the one to slam his head into the ice and lose his senses.