Page 121 of Big Stick Energy
“No.”
She opens her eyes and frowns at me. “This dominance thing is a drag sometimes.”
I kiss her on the neck. “If this was just sex, I’d hurry. But it isn’t, so I need to take my time. When we’re done, it will be too late to kick me out. This way I can wake up in your bed tomorrow and treat you to breakfast somewhere.” I think about that for a second. “Somewhere that hockey players don’t usually eat. Somewhere with linen napkins.”
She smiles up at me. “Okay, you made your point. Breakfast is on. Now, get the damn condom out of the drawer.”
Chuckling, I slide off her and open the drawer. There is, in fact, a box of condoms in there, so I grab it. That’s not all, though. “Aw, a bullet vibrator. On the charger no less. Iknewyou missed me.”
She gives me a playful kick. “Now is not the time to be smug.”
“I think it is.” I suit myself up while she watches. Then I drape myself over her again, and we make out like teenagers who just discovered kissing.
And it hits me—I think I actuallyknewon that first ravenous night. In the hotel suite, when I first stared into Darcy’s heated eyes, I understood on a deep level how special it was. How wellwe knew each other already. We’d leveled up to a place I’d never experienced before.
It was a little scary, honestly. I had to downplay it to myself. I had to go along with the fiction that we’d have just a fun weekend and nothing more.
But that was never the truth. We slide into another kiss, and the heat between us feels lasting and inevitable. I could do this forever.
Or, well, at least until Darcy gets carried away. She clunks her broken wrist against my hip and then yelps with pain.
“Hey,” I say, pressing myself up on my elbows. “None of that.”
“Stupid, clumsy thing,” she says, glaring at her hand. “It’s the worst kind of wrist restraint.”
“We’re going to fix that,” I promise. “I have a plan.”
“Let’s see this plan.”
She yelps again—but this time from surprise—when I drag her off the edge of the low-slung bed and onto the fluffy rug. I position her on her knees, body draped over the bed. “Leave your arms still, okay?” I run my hands down her body and cup her ass in my hands. “This is going to be a rough ride, but not for your wrists.”
Her response is a low moan.
My hands take a trip around the front of her body, while I kiss the back of her neck. She shivers in response. And when I bite the juncture between her neck and her shoulder, she moans again. “Hurry.”
“You’ll get it when I’m good and ready.”
But the truth is that I’ve been ready for weeks. Ready to love her. And when I slide home a minute later, we’re both grateful.
I wake up sprawled out in Darcy’s bed some hours later.
We’ll have a grueling morning skate at nine, and I’m pretty sure Darcy has to be at work, too. But I feel nothing but peace. The whole day—no, the whole season—feels infinitely more expansive to me than it did just yesterday.
And it’s only seven, which means there’s still time to take my girl out on a date. I pick up my phone and find the number for Café Chelsea on Twenty-Third. I ring them, and when someone answers, I’m ready. “Good morning. Do you have linen napkins?”
Beside me, Darcy rolls over and slurs, “What are you doing? I thought that was a joke.”
In my ear, the hostess says, “Um, they’re fabric, if that’s what you’re asking?”
“Wonderful. Do I need a reservation for breakfast for two within the hour?”
“Walk right in, sir.”
I thank her and hang up. “Get up, baby. Our first secret date is on.”
Chapter 44
All the Lucky Ties
