New Game in Town (10 page)

“I don’t know, Connor, I think our timing has been just fine, considering you were able to help me check off all five items on my wish list.” Her hand slid seductively down his chest, over his stomach to stop and cup him in her hand. Her building desire making her bold, she squeezed tenderly, with just enough pressure to elicit a groan from him.

“Gina—I’m warning you,” he growled when she teased him with a long, wet kiss.

Grabbing hold of her face again, he pulled her back enough to look her directly in the eye. “No more running away from me, from this. And I swear to God, Gina, I better not see another man’s hands on you…” Shaking his head, his words trailed off threateningly.

Connor leaned down and bit at her lip and with a devilish glint in his eye, asked, “Gina, did you ever consider putting ‘spanking’ on your wish list?” His palm landing with a delicious tingle on her ass, making her jump on his lap.

At the shock in her eyes, Connor’s gaze turned hot with erotic mischief. “Gina, Gina, we have so much more to look forward to. Just you and me, baby.”

She told herself that she shouldn’t be slick at the thought of his promised spanking, but the tell-tale trickle along her folds told a different story. Then again, Connor had taken her to new heights, giving her more pleasure than she had ever imagined.

Perhaps it was time to make a new list. This time with Connor as an equal contributor. Hmm, the delicious possibilities…

Epilogue

One year later

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great honor that we raise the jersey of our retired captain, Connor Walters, to be hung from the rafters of our arena. Connor played an instrumental role in bringing the Stanley Cup to our home town! Please join me in congratulating Connor as number seventeen is retired in tribute to his substantial contributions to our team, city and professional hockey as a whole!”

The roar of the crowd was deafening. Connor stood on the red carpet center ice as his retired jersey was raised overhead and the fans cheered enthusiastically. There was no question that part of him was scared shitless at the thought of not playing professional hockey. But he knew that the time had come to hang up the skates and move onto the next chapter of his life. After all, he wasn’t getting any younger and God knew that it was taking his body longer and longer to bounce back from the minor injuries that were part of the game.

He still remembered the day when he had told Gina he was considering calling it a day. He had watched the surprise flicker across her sleep-drawn face as they had woken up on a rare Sunday in bed together.

He had braced himself for her reaction, not sure how she would feel about being with a
retired
hockey player. They had been living together for a year, stealing away as many moments as possible to be alone while juggling both of their busy professional schedules. His retiring was going to be an adjustment for both of them. He had heard other retired players grouse about how things changed in their personal lives when they quit the game and how they had to learn to reintegrate themselves into their own homes with the people they loved.

Gina had been a little surprised when Connor mentioned retiring at the end of this season. She knew that his professional hockey career would be coming to an end soon, but she thought he would play a couple of more seasons. She had propped her sleep-mussed head on her palm and stared down at Connor, wondering why he seemed so serious all of a sudden.

“Well, okay. Have you talked to your agent, coaches or management yet?” Gina asked.

“Not officially. I wanted to talk to you first. To see how you felt about it.” Looking up at her, he raised an eyebrow. “
How do you feel about it?
”

Intuitively, she knew that something serious was troubling Connor. Not sure what he expected her to say, Gina shrugged. “Con, I’m okay with whatever you decide. If this is the year, then this is the year. I knew it would be coming soon.” Running a loving hand over the creases marring his furrowed brow, she continued, “If this is the right time, then go with it. But something is bothering you. What?”

He turned and looked up at the ceiling, taking a long deep sigh. “This would change things between us. I’d be home more—hell.” He scraped his hands over his eyes, a pained expression tightening his features.

“Umm… You being home would be a good thing, right?” Confusion laced Gina’s question.

“Shit,” Connor muttered, jerking the covers aside and striding butt-naked to the dresser across from their bed.

Now this was definitely a good thing! Gina leaned back against the headboard and watched Connor’s muscled backside with appreciation. She never got tired of looking at his naked body. Bruises and all, he was magnificent. She felt her body instantly react to just the sight of him, her body craving his touch.

Connor came back to bed, holding something in his clutched fist. He sat facing her, staring at her intently.

“I was going to do this differently. I had a plan, but,” he hesitated, scared that he was going to blow this. It didn’t help that he was distracted by her body. He noticed her nipples tighten into hard nubs and couldn’t resist running the back of his hand across them, snagging them between his fingers.

He grinned at her indrawn breath. “Hold that thought, baby.” Turning serious once more, Connor took her face in his hand and without saying another word, opened his other fist. In his large palm sat a ring. A diamond ring.

Gina’s stunned gaze shot up to meet Connor’s raised eyebrows.

“You trust me with your body.” A loving hand ran down her neck to cup an exposed breast. “Now will you trust me with your future? Our future?”

* * * * *

Gina stood proudly beside Connor, watching his retired jersey being hung among those of other hockey greats who had been honored with the same tribute over the years. She knew that for Connor this was a bittersweet moment. He was raring to start his new job for a local sports network as a color commentator, but she also knew that there was a part of him that was going to miss playing professional hockey.

She looked down at the elegant gold band that he had placed on her ring finger at their beachside wedding a few weeks ago. A miniscule smile played across her lips at memories of how quickly Connor had found a wedding planner to organize a small intimate wedding for their closest friends and family to share with them. Both she and Connor had been extremely busy with work, so it had been great to give their planner a vision of what their perfect day should look like and then let her take care of all the minute details to make it happen.

Gina felt the roar of the crowd vibrate through her, bringing her back to the present. Connor turned to her and took her in his arms. The crowd was egging him on, chanting, “Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss.”

Connor was considered hockey royalty, therefore, there had been a lot of interest in their wedding. They had used this interest to their advantage and sold pictures of their big day and donated the proceeds to the charities Connor worked with.

“Mrs. Waters, shall we?”

Gina looked up into his twinkling eyes and smiled her answer.

The deafening response from the fans was lost on both of them as their lips met in a tender kiss that had both of their hearts jumping in response.

About Cora Lee Gill

I am a mother of two, wife of one, sister to a few and honored storyteller to many.

My career in the nightclub management profession gave me the courage to follow my true passion…storytelling and novel writing.

Canadian born and raised, I am blessed to be living in my own personal heaven on the West Coast—the ocean calls to me!

After sending the kids to school and the hubby on his way, I get a fire going, turn on classical music, pick up my coffee mug and escape into my laptop to bring creative fantasy to life.

Cora Lee welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.

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