Love and Other Games (30 page)

When she reached for the waistband of his boxer briefs, Erik steadied himself with a hand on the ceiling.

“Wow.” Yeah. She’d realized he was big the other night, but in the light of day … wow. She’d done this before, wanting to please her boyfriend of the time, but she’d never ached to do it. She’d never craved the taste of someone.

“
Takk.
I’m glad you like.”

She glanced up and he winked. Amy laughed as she trailed her fingertips down his length. She did like. He was nearly naked but she was fully dressed. It was an erotic and surprisingly powerful sensation. She gripped the base of his erection. He was at her mercy. Erik was strong and tall and gorgeous and he shuddered from her touch.

The light from the tiny window near the ceiling vanished as the train entered a tunnel. In the darkness, she leaned down and found him with her tongue. Salty. Wet. Hot. He groaned.

“Shh.” She murmured, bestowing a long, leisurely lick.

One large hand settled on the back of her head as they exited the tunnel. He rubbed gentle circles against her scalp, messing up her tidy braid.

“Mmmm.” Amy pressed her lips against him and hummed. His grip tightened. She smiled. “You like that.”

“Yes.”

She closed her mouth around him and slid down, slow until a bump in the tracks had Erik stepping forward.

He shouted in shock and pleasure as he was fully enveloped, then pulled away. “
Unnskyld
. Sorry.”

“Mmm. You’re supposed to be quiet.” She circled him with her hand and took him into her mouth in one smooth move, deeper even than before. Deeper than she’d ever even tried before. He moaned again. Still not quiet. She slid her lips up his length only to press back down a second before leaving him completely. Slow and then fast. Again. Again.

He groaned softly and panted between urgent whispers.

It was shame she didn’t understand Norwegian.

Erik’s grip on her hair tightened but he didn’t push or attempt to direct her movements. Amy had the lead. She controlled his pleasure, a heady thought and an arousing one. If there were room, she’d ride him. Oh yeah. That would be good. She squeezed her lips and pulled, moaning quietly as Erik’s whispers grew ever more fervent. He was close. Just a little faster. Cramped like they were, she couldn’t see his face. Would he keep his eyes open? His mouth?

“Now. It’s … ”

Amy held his hip tightly, swallowing his pleasure, as spasm after spasm wracked his body.

Still panting, Erik moved away and lifted her face toward his. “You are … that was—”

There was a knock on the door. Amy started and Erik placed two fingers over her lips.
Holy crap.
Reality swung back fast.

A second knock was followed by a voice, Lexi’s voice. “So there’s a line forming and everyone pretty much knows what you’re doing in there.”

“I can’t believe you had sex in a train bathroom. My sister—Saint Amelia—had sex in a train bathroom.”

Amy winced. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with her little sister, not ever and especially not with her father in the other room. “Shh!” She whispered harshly. “That’s not—we weren’t having sex. I had something in my eye and—” Yup, she was going to lie.

Lexi rolled her eyes. “Erik’s shirt was on backwards.”

“What?”

“When you came out of the bathroom, his shirt was on backwards and before you try—it was on right when you went in.”

“Oh—well that’s just because … he had something on it and I helped him get it off.”

“I’m sure you did.” Lexi’s thin shoulders shook as she laughed.

“You did not just say that, Alexis Peirce.”

“Are you really going to ‘Alexis’ me when you spent the afternoon banging a giant on a train … in the bathroom? I love that part the best. How did that even work? He’s huge. It was like seeing a clown car emptying when you came out.”

“This is not—we weren’t really—I’m an adult and my choices are my concern.”

Lexi stopped laughing and sighed. “Can’t you just be my sister?”

“I am your sister. Just because I made a poor choice today I—”

“No. I mean, be my sister. You hooked up with a hot guy. An enormous, hot—foreign—guy. Do you like him? Was it good? Are you going to do it again? I’m not a kid anymore, Amy, and … you’re not mom. You don’t have to act like you are.”

“I—I know I’m not her. I never said I was.” Her stomach churned. Is that what Lexi thought, that she was trying to replace their mother? She wasn’t. Their father was a mess after her mother passed on. He needed help and Amy was there. She just did what needed to be done.

“But you act like it. Like I’m your responsibility and I probably needed that when I was nine, but now … I’d rather have a sister. I wish we could be friends.”

“I want that to, Lexi. We are friends.”

“I’m as old as you were when you went to college. You moved out and lived in the dorm, and everyone treated you like an adult. You and dad—you both still treat me like a kid, and that means Coach Jack and Robin do too.”

She was right. They babied her. She still acted childish sometimes, but if they expected that then it was just as much their fault. They had to give Lexi a chance. Amy took a deep breath and shrugged. “I do. I really like him. It’s crazy. I’ve only known him a few days and he lives in Norway and might move to Vermont, and he’s clearly a little nuts … but, yeah, I really like him.” Saying it aloud was freeing. She liked him. She liked Erik Andresen.

Lexi surged forward, wrapped her arms around Amy’s neck and hugged her tight. “He’s moving to the states?”

“I guess so. That’s what he told me today on the train. He and a friend are planning to open a ski school.”

“So you can totally see him again!”

“Maybe.”

“You want to, right?”

Yes. Naked. “I guess so. I mean yes, but it’s complicated. I’m not sure if he wants to—”

“He told you he was moving to the states. That sounds like he wants to see you again. I think he was just testing the waters.”

“Really?”

Lexi nodded enthusiastically. “You can be hard to read. He was probably hoping that you’d bring it up and let him know where he stands. Guys can be insecure, you know.”

Damn.
Maybe she should have been getting romantic advice from Lexi for years now. “Also Robin and I settled on Viking instead of giant. It’s more precise.”

“Yes!” Lexi’s eyes went wide. “Viking is better. But seriously, how does that even work? Do you have to stand on a stool when you kiss him? Is he that—over-sized—everywhere?”

And Lexi was back to being Lexi.

Three days. Three days of texts and phone calls between practices, reporters and dealing with the never-ending drama that was Matias and Tommy, but not laying eyes on Amy. It was too long.

But she was on her way over now, and Matias would be sleeping elsewhere. Erik looked around the small room. He was too old to be entertaining a woman in a dorm room with tiny twin beds, but there wasn’t another option. Every hotel room for a hundred miles was booked.

A knock on his door made his heart race. He chuckled. He was too old to be this anxious too. He strode across the room and opened the door.

Amy stood in the entrance. She’d left her shiny red hair down, loose curls rested on her shoulders. She wrung her hands and smiled. “Hi.” Her cheeks and the tip of her nose were still pink from the cold outside.

“
Hei.
Come in. Come in.” He stepped back while she entered then closed the heavy wooden door. ‘It’s good to see you.”

“You too. It’s good.” She looked down and laughed. “This is awkward. Why is this so awkward?”

“Yes.” It shouldn’t be. He knew her so much better than he had before. She’d opened up when they spoke, told him about her mother and a good talk she’d had with her sister. They were friends now aside from the rest. And the rest was good. Erik closed the distance between them, cupped the back of her neck and kissed her. She melted. The tension slid out of her neck and he wrapped an arm around her back to make sure she didn’t fall. “Better?”

“Yeah. Much better.” She lifted her hand to his cheek. “I saw one of your interviews earlier. You didn’t tell me that practices were going so well.”

He nodded. “They’ve been good—fine.”

“I heard your qualification jump was one of the top three. That’s better than fine. Aren’t you excited?”

He was. Thanks to her, his
lykkeamulett.
“Yes. It’s good but anything could happen. I will do my best and hope I have my
lykkeamulett
with me
.
”

“Well, it sounds like your best is pretty damn good. I might get to tell my friends that I hooked up with a gold medal winning ski jumper.” She grinned, teasing and playful. He liked this side of her the best.

Amy unbuttoned her coat to reveal a dark green dress. She’d worn a dress to visit his room. A sexy dress. He couldn’t wait to slide his hand up her thigh and under that skirt. “And what will you say to your friends about me?” He asked.

“Hmm … ” She shrugged off her coat and looked around for a place to put it. Erik took it and hung it in the closet. “I don’t know. What do you think I should tell them?”

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, tugged her across the room and dropped into a chair. “You will tell them that I am very good to look at, and I am the greatest lover you’ve ever had.” Erik pulled her down onto his lap.

She laughed. “What makes you so sure of that?”

He rubbed his nose against the silky skin of her neck. “I’m willing to put in the work.”

Amy pulled away. “Are you saying being with me is work?” She was playing but there was an edge to her tone.

“A sport, then. Like ski jumping.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, pinning her back to his chest and laid his other hand on her knee.

She inhaled quickly and blushed. Remarkable given how adeptly she’d handled him on the train.

“You see. The lift goes up.” He inched his hand up the creamy skin of her thigh. “Click. Click. Click. Lots of climbing.” His fingers disappeared beneath her skirt. “Click. Click. I like the view—pretty mountains. But I’m headed for the top, because once I’m there.” He brushed the front of her panties. Silky, hot, and already wet from her arousal. “You’re going to fly.”

He pressed a row of kisses up her neck and nibbled on her earlobe.
Faen.
She smelled good, tart like berries and but sweetened with a touch of vanilla. Tasty. He could lick her all over. He intended to. “You want to fly, don’t you?”

She gave a breathy chuckle. “Tell me. How many girls go for this nonsense?”

“Nonsense?” He was pretty sure he understood the intent, but he could play dumb for a moment.

“Foolishness. The silly ‘oh skiing is like sex’ stuff. Lots of girls go for that?”

“What girls?” He gestured to the empty room. “I only see one.”

“You can’t tell me you don’t get lots of girls, Erik. Look at you. You’re—you’re gorgeous and you’re all smooth—‘dance with me girl—I’ll say mysterious things in Norwegian.’”

He laughed. “Girls at home are less impressed with my
norsk
.”

A bubbly giggled escaped her lips. She nodded. “I guess it wouldn’t be as unusual. But still … ”

Erik studied her a moment. He wrapped a single one of her satiny curls around his finger, tugged and let go. It bounced. Leaning in, he tucked the curl behind her ear before speaking. His stomach rose to his throat. “I only see you.”

Her breath hitched and she whispered something that might have been “whoa” as she brought her lips to his. Her fingers tangled in his hair.

Erik licked her soft lips, and she whimpered a sweet little noise that had him hard enough to burst through his zipper. She felt this too—this connection between them, the electricity there from the start.

He scooped her into his arms and stood up.

***

Erik carried her like she was nothing more than feathers, like she was the kind of delicate, willowy girl that showed up in magazine ads for yogurt and perfume. It was silly really, but it still set loose flutters in her stomach.

He sat on the bed, still clutching her to his chest and rubbed his lips against her temple.

Their first time was an explosion of lust, a wild abandonment of reason in favor of desire for a near stranger. But she knew him now. She knew where he grew up and that he liked cinnamon in his hot cocoa, that only about a third of his smiles brought out that sexy dimple in his left cheek, and that breaking his leg in three places hadn’t been enough to scare him away from his sport. Amy knew Erik’s grandfather was his favorite person in the world and that, worried about his health, Erik had begun recording his grandfather’s stories. She liked him. She really liked him. And that made this … harder. When their eyes met she was vulnerable. She was certain he saw things she wasn’t ready for him to see, things she wasn’t ready to feel.

Amy turned, wrapping her legs around his waist and cupping his cheek. Dear God he was handsome. There were only a few days left, a few very busy days. It was possible—likely even—that they wouldn’t get another night together. If she never saw him again would she regret this?

No.

No. She couldn’t.

“I like your dress.” His deep voice broke through the wonderings of her mind.

She glanced down. The wrap-style top revealed a bit more cleavage than she was generally comfortable with, but emerald was a good color for her. It was no doubt obvious that she’d worn it for him, but that didn’t embarrass her as much as she’d expected. So he knew that she’d wanted to look nice for him. What was the harm there? Maybe it told him that this was special for her in a way that she couldn’t quite verbalize. “Thanks.”

He kissed her lips, her cheek, her neck. “I want you to take it off.”

Amy exhaled a shaky breath and looked down to find her belt. “Yeah, that’s probably a better idea than letting you rip another one.”

He caught her chin, dragging her gaze back to his. “I want to see you, Amy.”

On the other hand, it wasn’t like she didn’t have other dresses. With trembling fingers, she untied her belt and found the hidden buttons holding her dress closed. Erik helped ease the fabric over her shoulders and tossed it to the other bed. She still sat in the space between his thighs, her legs wrapped around his back, their gazes locked. His fingertips gliding down her back made her gasp. Tingles. A shiver of pleasure sped toward her already aching core.