The Playmaker (Fire on Ice) (5 page)

I could feel the tension in
Kian’s body. He was getting angry just thinking about Austin. I placed a gentle kiss on his lips and some of the tension released from his body. I kissed him again and he expelled the breath he’d been holding.

I flipped my leg over to the other side of him and straddled him.

“What are you doing?” The glint in his eye told me he knew exactly what I was doing.

“Taking your mind off things.
Why did you start that fire early again?”

He grinned. “So we wouldn’t get cold when we got naked.”

“Exactly. We’re not naked yet.”

Kian took in a breath as I slowly unbuttoned his shirt. It was another brand new dress shirt. I appreciated how much he splurged for our long weekend together. He wasn’t one to spend money on clothes so it meant a lot to me.

As soon as the last button was undone, Kian removed the shirt and tossed it on to the other side of the bed. The floor was dusty, so I didn’t blame him for not throwing it down there.

I removed my own top and tossed it with his shirt and I looked into Kian’s eyes. He was such a strong guy and so tough, really rough around the edges yet when he looked at me, and only when he looked at me, his eyes held so much tenderness.

I slipped off my bra and it joined the growing pile of clothes. I reached out and placed my hands on his hard chest. He closed his eyes as I lightly caressed all of the muscles on his chest. His build was nearly perfect in every way and I showed my appreciation by placing feather-light kisses all over his wonderful upper body. When I felt him shiver, I knew I was doing something right.

“I think it’s time for you to let me do something to make you feel good,” I said as I began to unbutton the fly of his dress jeans.

His eyes opened and I knew he was going to protest but this time, I wasn’t going to let him. I pressed my mouth to his and teased his tongue with mine. “Let me give you this, Kian,” I whispered in his ear. “Please.”

When I looked into his eyes, I could almost see the internal debate going on in his head. He was a guy and his male instincts were probably screaming, “Hell, yeah!” But I also knew there was another part of him that was programmed to please me even at his own expense. I took advantage of the internal debate and unzipped his pants.

I quickly grabbed at the edges of his jeans and pulled his pants down as far as I could until he was required to lift so I could get them all the way down. He did lift but I could still see some hesitation on his face.

The bulge rising from his boxer briefs showed me what his face didn’t. His body clearly longed for what I wanted to give him. I pulled his boxer briefs down and he lifted at the appropr
iate moment so that I could get them all the way off.

His erection sprang to life and I licked my lips. For once, I wanted to give som
ething to Kian. I wanted to make him feel as good as he always made me feel. This was one of the ways I knew I could do it.

As I lowered my head toward his ample manhood, he grabbed my arms and stopped me. I gazed up at his through my lashes.

“You don’t have to do this, you know.”

I bit my bottom lip. “But I want to.”

He released my arms and I continued on my quest until my lips met the head of his cock. He took in a sharp breath as I filled my mouth with as much of him as I could handle. I loved his salty taste and the way his body reacted to my lips and tongue as they worked up and down his shaft.

“Oh, Princess,” Kian sighed. “That feels so good.”

That was what I wanted to hear. There was no stopping me. I continued to work my magic, licking and sucking and handling Kian in the most sensual way I knew how.

“That’s it,” Kian moaned. “Don’t stop.”

I continued stroking Kian with my hand and mouth until he took in another sharp breath and shuddered. Then he let out a low groan as he erupted down my throat.

When I released him, his eyes were still closed for a moment. When he finally opened them, he looked dreamy, satisfied. “That was amazing,” he said as he grabbed me and pulled me into his embrace.

He kissed the top of my head then lazily played with my hair, massaging my scalp and running his fingers through my tresses. Then his fingers made their way to my shoulder where he made little circles which tickled me and sent little shivers through my body. Then his fingers danced down my arm, leaving a wake of little shivers behind.

“You’ve still got your jeans on,” he noted as he began unbu
ttoning the top button. “You should be naked. I want us skin on skin.”

I wriggled out of my jeans and underwear and tossed them with the rest of our clothes. I eyed him. “Better?”

“Much. But it won’t be
best
until I’m inside you again.”

Five

Kian

I’m not going to lie. I got my first blow job when I was fou
rteen and I’ve gotten quite a few since then. But nothing, and I mean nothing, compared to how my princess made me feel. Her mouth was like magic and being inside it was heaven. And as much as I wanted a repeat performance, I knew making her feel good was more important.

I wanted her to forget the asshole. I wanted her to forget ev
erything about him. All I wanted her to think about was being in my arms, my lips on hers, my hands on her body and me being inside of her. I wanted to be imprinted in her mind and heart and forever connected to her soul. 

I loved the way her skin felt as I ran my fingers ever so lightly up and down her arm. I loved that I could make her shiver with the slightest of touches. Her body was so responsive to mine—to my every touch—our connection was that strong and that deep.

  I wanted to hold her and never let her go but I knew the idea was ridiculous. We both had important things to do in the world but whenever I was with Taylor, nothing felt more important. Hell, even when I wasn’t with her, she consumed my thoughts.

Taylor lifted her head and looked at me. All of the anxiety and dread that had marred those beautiful eyes earlier was now gone. When she looked at me, there was only confidence and
love and trust. I never wanted to do anything that would change that.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “We’ve got a bag filled with gas station junk food.”

I was starting to feel hungry for a real meal but it was going to have to wait. This would be our last chance to spend the night alone, wrapped in each other’s arms, for several months. “Let’s break out the cheese and crackers. We’ll need some calories for our next workout.”

Taylor raised an eyebrow. “You’re ready already?”

“Not quite. But I will be after we snack.”

I gave her a quick kiss then got up to retrieve the cheese and crackers from the goody bag. We had fun feeding each other processed cheese food and whole wheat crackers. I didn’t want to tell Taylor that what we were eating was better than half the so-called meals I had growing up. Thank God for free school lunches or I may have starved to death.

Once we had our fill and drank from the bottle waters, it was time to get back to business. Even though Taylor and I were both still naked, the fire, which was now roaring, was keeping us warm. I wanted to heat things up, though.

“Come here,” I said as Taylor placed the half empty water bottle on the table.

She turned to face me. The way the warm glow of the firelight hit her face, she looked like an angel. My angel. She was truly beautiful.

“What?” she said shyly as if she just realized she was naked standing before me. I wanted to capture the image of her stan
ding there, so lovely and radiant, like a snapshot in my mind.

“I happen to be the luckiest asshole on the planet.”

She laughed. “You may be lucky but you’re not an asshole. I feel lucky, too.” She crawled on to the bed and nestled in my arms.

After a few minutes of holding Taylor in my arms, I said, “There’s something I’ve been waiting to give you.”

She laughed. “I thought you already gave it to me.”

“A present.”

She leaned on her elbow. “Did you notice that I’m wearing the earrings you gave me? I never take them off.”

I glanced at her diamond studs. “They look beautiful on you.”

“I don’t need any more gifts. Just you being here in Arizona is enough of a present.”

I got up from the bed and removed a small box from my pants pocket. I brought it back over to the bed and handed it to her.

Her eyes went wide as she rubbed her fingers on the velvet exterior of the box.

“Open it,” I said. I was excited to see her reaction to the gift.

She carefully opened the box and stared at its contents for a long moment.

“Do you like it?”

She carefully touched the diamond covered heart pendant. “It looks very expensive.”

It was expensive but she was worth it. “I had it engraved.”

She flipped the pendant over and read the inscription. “For my princess. I’ll always love you. You and only you. Now and always. Kian.”

When she looked up at me, her eyes were sparkling. “It’s beautiful. But you didn’t have to spend so much money on me. I know you’re saving for your sports bar.”

“I wanted to get you something special. I want you to wear it every day and think of me whenever you look down at it.”

“I’m always thinking about you, Kian.”

“Do you want me to help you put it on?”

She nodded. I carefully removed the necklace from the box and placed in around her neck.

“How does it look?” she asked as she glanced down at it.

“Perfect. Just like you.”

She gave me a soft kiss. I returned the gesture with another kiss, this one a little deeper and more passionate.

It didn’t take long for the sparks between us to reignite and
become flames, just like the fire burning in the fireplace next to us.

***

When we got back to her parents’ place, I could see Taylor had grown a little agitated.

“It’s okay,” I said as I parked the rental car in the driveway. “You can blame it all on me.”

“It’s not all you. I wanted to escape with you just as much as you wanted to. I guess it’s now back to reality starting with my mom and dad.”

Before I could say another word, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were standing outside the front door, with their arms crossed over their chests, waiting for us.

Go time.

When we approached Taylor’s parents, I couldn’t tell if they were worried or pissed. Maybe they were a little of both.

“We’re glad you’re back,” Mrs. Thompson’s voice was strained. “And safe.” She glanced at me for emphasis.

“I’m always safe with Kian,” Taylor said. “Can we go inside? I really need to take a shower and brush my teeth.”

Her mom and dad let us in but I knew the conversation was far from over.

“Would you like to tell us what happened?” Taylor’s dad asked as we all stood awkwardly in the foyer.

Taylor heaved a heavy sigh. “You know Kian offered to take me to lunch. Well, we ran into Austin and some of his friends at the restaurant. I guess he was home for Christmas break.”

Her mom and dad’s eyes both grew wide. Then they looked at me, concern growing on their already worried faces.

“I didn’t do anything. I’m not going to lie. I wanted to beat the hell out of the guy but I didn’t.”

Taylor’s dad nodded. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who approved of violence. “It’s never a good idea to take justice into your own hands. Best to leave those things to the legal system and karma.”

Taylor gave a hard laugh. “The legal system did nothing, Dad. They have a
boys will be boys
mentality. You know he basically just got a slap on the wrist. And karma obviously hasn’t caught up to him yet.”

“Maybe we should let the two of you get cleaned up,” Mrs. Thompson said.

Mr. Thompson nodded. “We can talk more later.”

“There’s not much more to say,” Taylor replied. “Kian and I just needed some time alone. And I needed to get my mind off Austin and everything that happened.”

“Dinner will be at five. Will the two of you be joining us?” Mrs. Thompson asked.

“
Kian’s flight is
tonight. He’ll need to get to the airport.”

I didn’t want to think about leaving Taylor again. Our time together had been too short and our time apart was going to be too long.

After the last of my stuff was packed and I was ready to go, I pulled Taylor into my arms. I took in the smell of her hair one last time. I wanted to remember the light strawberry fragrance. “Do you have any idea how much I’m going to miss you?” I asked.

“I do because I’m going to miss you, too.”

I ran my thumb down Taylor’s soft cheek as I tried to memorize every inch of her face. “You’ll be busy with school, finalizing your graduate school plans and finishing your research. You won’t even have time to miss me.”

She smiled. “Like you’ll have time to miss me, Mr. Hottest New Player in the NHL.”

“I love you, Taylor. Don’t ever forget that.”

She put her arms around my neck and placed a soft kiss on my lips. I pulled her body close and deepened the kiss.

Taylor pulled away and said, “We’d better stop or there’s a chance you won’t make your flight.”

A big part of me didn’t want to leave her. I wasn’t sure why but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt like I would regret not staying to protect her.

She put her hand on my chest and looked up at me through her long lashes. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

I nodded but I wasn’t convinced. Images of Blake flashed through my mind. He was a hipster prick that had a thing for Taylor. A smug entitled jerk who scared her. I had a feeling Taylor was trying to minimize her bad feelings about him because she didn’t want me to worry. But that was impossible. I worried about her every minute of every day.

“Is Zelda still going to walk you to class?” I asked just to be sure she would be safe.

“She said she would but you know my sister. She doesn’t even own a watch. Sometimes she makes it and sometimes she doesn’t. It’s hard to rely on a self-proclaimed free spirit.”

I didn’t want to ask the next question but I knew it was inevitable. “What about Kyle?” He and Taylor were friends all through college. The guy had it bad for Taylor and didn’t appreciate it very much when I entered the picture.

“I know he’ll help when he can. He’s going to be really busy, too. He’s worried about getting into grad school because his GRE scores weren’t as high as he wanted.”

I had no idea what a GRE was nor did I care. I just wanted to know Taylor was going to be safe while I was gone.

She placed her hand on my chest. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I heard Blake’s not in school anymore. He probably moved back to Scottsdale.”

I wanted to believe she was going to be okay. I needed to believe it. But I didn’t feel like it was the truth.

“Okay, I won’t worry. But I’m still going to phone you every day. Probably a few times a day. I’ll try to either fly back in a few weeks or get a ticket for you to come out and see me play.”

“I like that idea.” Taylor placed a kiss on my cheek.

Even though I only had a few hours before my flight, it was difficult to let my princess go.