Zack

  My arms snake up and around his neck. I whisper back to him, "Me too."

  God, I missed this...him...the Zack that has opened up to me while we've been wrapped in our cocoon.

  His kisses become more demanding and his hand drops down between my legs. On the first swipe of his finger between my wet folds, Zack groans with approval and kisses me harder yet.

  I drop one hand down and wrap it around Zack's dick, which is warm and oh, so hard against my palm. I start to stroke him lightly, wishing he hadn't put the condom on yet so I could rub my finger over the tip and grab the moisture that I know is leaking out of him.

  He responds by slipping a finger inside of me, pumping it a few times, and then adding a second. My hips circle and grind down against his hand, all while stroking him with more urgency.

  "Fuck, Kate," Zack rasps out, and tries to draw his hips back from me. "That feels a little too good."

  I squeeze him hard and with a husky laugh tell him, "There is no such thing as feeling too good."

  "That's the damn truth," Zack grits out as he surrenders to my touch and his hips start thrusting against my hand again

  Our breathing becomes labored as we kiss and grope and fondle each other. Finally, Zack tears himself away from me and spins me around in his arms, which immediately lock around my waist and pull me back against him. His erection presses in warmly against my back.

  With his lips against my ear and in a rumbling voice he says, "Going to bend you over and fuck you from behind now.

  Yes, please.

  And Zack does exactly that."

  He releases his hold on me and places one of his hands in the middle of my back. He pushes on me gently so that I bend toward the edge of the bed.

  "Put your hands on the mattress, baby," Zack growls at me. "Support yourself that way."

  Oh, how I love it when he calls me baby. It's an endearment. It must mean he cares for me.

  My palms hit the mattress and I lock my elbows tight. I know this is going to be a bit rough, but I've come to learn over the last several days that is something that I enjoy from Zack. His frenzied and out-of-control motions, which show me just how much I mean to him.

  Yes, he shows me with action, which will have to suffice since that's all he's really capable of.

  Zack's large hands come to my hips and he pulls me back toward him a little bit. "Spread your legs for me, Kate."

  I immediately spread my legs for him.

  "Mmmmm," Zack groans as he strokes one of his hands from my hip to my ass and then down between my legs. "You look amazing from where I'm standing. Fucking perfect, actually."

  God, the man gets an A+ in sexy talk.

  Zack's fingers rub between my legs from behind, testing out my wetness and making me ache.

  "Zack...please..." I beg him.

  "Tell me what you need," he commands me.

  "You."

  "Where?"

  He slips a finger inside me and curls it backward. My knees almost buckle from the sensation he's stirring up within me.

  "Where do you want me, Kate?" Zack whispers as his finger comes out and finds my clit. "Tell me and I'll give it to you."

  I push my hips backward against him, needing something more than what he's giving me. I shake my head and rotate my hips. "Zack...please stop teasing me."

  He gives a husky laugh and continues to mercilessly rub against my clit. "Come on, Kate," he cajoles me. "Talk dirty to me. I know you have it in you."

  My blood begins to rage and roars within my ears. Pressure builds, pulses, and while Zack's hand works between my legs, I finally tell him what he wants to hear. "Zack...I need you to fuck me."

  I feel Zack's warm breath blow out across my back in relief, and with one hand still on my clit, he surges deep inside of me from behind.

  Both of us groan loudly and deeply, but Zack goes the extra mile. Through gritted teeth he practically moans, "Christ...it should be criminal for something to feel this good."

  Lock me up and throw away the key if this is a crime.

  Immediately, he sets a strong, hard pace behind me. Pounding in with deep, wet strokes...one hand still working between my legs and the other holding on tight to my hip.

  My body is completely reactionary to Zack. He's like pure, combustible fuel and within a few quick minutes, I start to fall prey to the flames he's fanning hotter.

  I scream loud.

  Really, really loud as I start to climax.

  "Yes," Zack hisses from behind me, thrusting in even harder and prolonging the spasms of pleasure that are rocketing through my body.

  When I reach that plane where I'm in a languid state of mind, barely cognizant of Zack still moving within me and where I wait until he follows right behind, I use that time to listen to the sounds we make together. I love his moans, the sound of his flesh sliding against mine.

  Except now, I hear nothing.

  I feel nothing because Zack has stopped moving within me.

  I give a slow roll of my hips to encourage him, but instead he slowly pulls out of me. I try to turn my head to look over my shoulder, but then Zack is lifting me up, turning me around, and depositing me on the mattress on my back.

  He climbs up on the bed, pushes my legs apart, and guides himself into me again so very slowly while he stares down at me.

  "What are you doing?" I whisper in awe while he lazily starts to thrust back and forth.

  "Slowing things down a bit," he whispers back. "Got that scream I wanted out of you. Now I want to take my time."

  "Mmmmm," I breathe out as I succumb to the torturous pace he's set within me. "I like that too."

  He gives me an easy smile, drops down on me a bit, and then laces his fingers with mine.

  Then for the first time since we started having sex, Zack slowly makes love to me. And with every gentle movement, every soft word he whispers in my ear, with every rumble of pleasure he produces within me, my heart finally gives up the struggle.

  It becomes Zack's.

  Chapter 27

  Zack

  I wonder how in the fuck I've gotten to this place in my life. I'm in a pressure cooker...weighted in from all sides by heavy burden.

  Taking a sip from the water bottle, I watch with fear as the stretcher is wheeled out onto the ice. A quick glance around the arena, which is quiet as a mouse, and I see fans watching with horror as the EMTs attend to our goalie, Max Fournier.

  My eyes slide over to the right of our bench and I connect hard with Kate--she stands at the glass, her hands on Ben's shoulders as he stands in front of her. Her eyes are fearful and sympathetic and conveying to me that it will all be okay.

  I'm not sure that's the case. Especially when Kate herself is one of the burdens I'm carrying.

  She shouldn't be a burden to me. This glorious and amazing woman who has my head all kinds of fucked up. She easily enslaved my body. She totally has whetted my interest in her as a person. And now she seems to be fucking with my heart, because along with all of my other burdens, I find myself thinking about her and where she stands in my future.

  The biggest burden in that is that I have no fucking clue where she stands. I'm afraid of her. Of what she makes me feel, and every instinct within me screams to run away from her.

  But there are more important things weighing on me right at this moment.

  Like the fact that the Cold Fury is on a very dangerous precipice and we are in extreme peril of falling in.

  It's game seven of the series with Atlanta. While we steamrolled over them the first three games, they have fought, scrapped, and clawed against defeat, and in a move that has sports announcers shaking their heads, managed to win the next three games.

  We are tied 3-3 and the final game is going to be decided tonight in the Cold Fury's arena.

  It's not, of course, looking good for us. This game has been dirty and exhausting, and we've fought for every goal we made. The Sting is fighting hard too. They can taste a Cinderella upset and they probably want it
more than we do at this point.

  The game is tied 2-2, and with only a little more than two minutes left in the game, Sting player Peter Dietra had a breakaway and was streaking down the ice toward Max. I sat on the bench and helplessly watched as Claude chased him down, and knowing that he'd never reach him in time, managed to jab his stick under Dietra's skate and pull him to the ice in an exaggerated penalty to save the goal. Dietra and Claude went skidding across the ice straight toward Max. They crashed into him and three bodies dislodged the net with the force of a sonic boom as they slid together in a pile of skates, sticks, and muscle.

  Claude and Dietra immediately jumped up, threw the gloves down, and started fighting it out.

  My eyes stayed pinned on Max, who rolled on the ice in pain as he tried to clutch his way past the bulky pads to grab at his knee. I knew it was bad. I knew he was coming off the ice. I knew, before the training staff even reached him, that one of the assistant managers was running back to the locker room to get Ryker.

  It was definitely Max's knee, and whatever it was was severe enough that he could not get off the ice without assistance. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes there are injuries terrible enough to warrant a stretcher, and this just happened to be one of those times.

  Ryker stepped out onto the ice a few minutes ago and is in the process of stretching. He's ice cold, having been sitting in the locker room and watching the game on a TV monitor. He'll be stiff, and without having been caught up in the ferocity of play out on the ice, he won't be as invested.

  Not that his heart won't be in it, but his mind won't be as involved.

  Simple fact of backup goalies.

  We are so fucked.

  And to make matters worse, because Claude hooked a breakaway player, Atlanta is going to have a penalty shot on Ryker. They're going to have an opportunity here really soon to seal this game.

  As they lift Max to the stretcher and start to strap him down, I skate over to Ryker, who has now lifted himself up off the ice from his stretches and is skating in small circles.

  He sees me approach and gives me a wry smile. "Not how I wanted to get in the game."

  I put a hand on his shoulder and squeeze as we watch them start to wheel Max away.

  "You got this," I tell him confidently. "You're a fucking veteran. One of the best goalies in history."

  "Damn straight," he says back, with a flash of teeth and a confident smile. "Not going to let that puck in."

  "We'll celebrate over beers when we put these fuckers away," I counter.

  "I'll be the hero of the century once I seal this up," he says with a chuckle, and I give him one back.

  But then we quiet and get serious, because our banter is born from nervousness and we need to push that aside.

  "Seriously," I tell him as I step in close, put my hand on top of his head, and tap my helmet against his. "You got this."

  "I got it," he says, and then turns away from me to take his place in front of the net.

  --

  I need Kate.

  I don't want to need Kate. I don't want to need Kate.

  But I need her.

  I wait for her while she puts Ben to bed and my mood becomes stormier.

  There's an underlying poison flowing through my veins right now because we lost the game. And we should have lost it. We've been playing like shit and I don't care what any fan or sports announcer says, it's not fair to put the series loss on Ryker's shoulders.

  The guy hadn't played in more than a month and was expected to come into the game ice cold and face a penalty shot from one of the better players in the league?

  Fucking impossible.

  Ryker did his best. He almost had it too, but the puck wobbled, turned end over end, took a hop off the ice, and dribbled in right underneath his pads.

  The guy is fucking distraught. He left the arena without a word to anyone, not that many of the guys on the team were trying to talk to him. I know they won't feel this way after they have a chance to process what happened, but he was getting the brunt of their disappointment in the locker room.

  I did what I could. A soft punch to his shoulder after he pulled his equipment off and I said, "Not your fucking fault, man."

  He didn't respond and I left him alone.

  So my dream of a Stanley Cup championship has been destroyed once again and I'm in a downright pissy mood.

  It continues to darken because the only way I think it can be made better is for Kate to give herself to me again.

  That in and of itself makes me even angrier.

  At myself.

  That I've come to depend on her for something.

  It's not supposed to be this way. I wasn't supposed to get involved with her. She was supposed to be a fuck and that was all, and yet here I am now, lying in my bed and eagerly anticipating her to walk into my room. To make it all better. To make me forget about every one of my burdens.

  And the mere fact that I am depending on her to do this for me has me wallowing in more guilt than I've felt since the accident. I feel guilty I'm using her this way, and I feel guilty that I need her in a way that, for some reason, I never really needed Gina. That has me almost buckling in shame, especially since I just could never give Gina what she wanted.

  I can't give it to Kate either, but selfish fuck that I am, I am going to take what she offers me.

  "You okay?" I hear from my doorway, and Kate stands there looking at me hesitantly. She's changed into her little pajama set that I love because it shows all of that beautiful, creamy skin. She's no longer self-conscious about her body in front of me, as well she shouldn't be. I've had my mouth on every square inch of it.

  "No," I tell her honestly. I know I can't be honest in all my feelings, but I don't have a problem admitting that. She needs to know it so she can understand that tonight won't be hearts and flowers. I need to obliterate the oppressive feelings, and about the only way to do that is fuck my brains out with her until I reach a mind-numbing oblivion.

  "What can I do?" she asks as she walks in and shuts the door behind her. She turns the lock as a precaution.

  My dick starts to get hard and I reach down to stroke it further to life. "You can get on this bed. I have things planned for you."

  Like putting your legs on my shoulders so I can pound inside of you extra-deep.

  Kate walks up to the bed slowly, her eyes holding mine. When she reaches the side, she says, "That's not going to work for me."

  My hand stills against my cock and I narrow my eyes at her. "Why not?"

  Her hand reaches out and she trails her fingers down my stomach. My muscles leap in subservience to her sweet touch. "Because I have things planned for you."

  Didn't think it was possible, but I get harder just from those few words. While my intent had been to overtake and possess Kate, to dominate her and do with her body what I wanted to ease my frustration and guilt, I am suddenly very interested to see what she can do for me.

  I release my cock and put my hands behind my head. With a devilish smile, I tell her, "I'm all yours."

  Doubt and sadness flash through her eyes, because she knows those words are just a figure of speech...they don't mean anything really at all within the bounds of our relationship. But then she gives me an understanding smile.

  She's always so fucking understanding.

  Makes me feel even more guilty.

  Kate turns, rummages through my nightstand drawer, and comes up with a condom. She tosses it on the bed beside me, and then pulls her tank top over her head. I have to suppress the groan when those fabulous breasts swing free and I clench my fingers together behind my head because I want them in my hands so badly. My cock leaps when she shimmies out of her little shorts, panties sliding down right with them.

  My pulse starts thumping hard when she crawls onto the bed, pushing my legs apart so she can scoot her way between them. She kneels with the edge of her knees practically brushing up against my balls and stares down at my erection with calculated lu
st.

  I'm not sure I'll survive this.

  Without a word to me--without even looking up at me--she places her hands on the mattress by my hips and takes me in her mouth.

  And sweet, fucking, merciful Zeus...it may be the best feeling in the world. One delicate hand reaches up under the curtain of hair that falls all around her and wraps around the base of my dick when she licks and sucks slowly at me. She's teasing me, getting me worked up, with no intention of me coming right away.

  And that's fine by me, because with every touch, all of my worries melt away until there is nothing but her beautiful head bobbing up and down on my cock.

  My hands go to her head, and even though I'm okay with the concept of her taking me slowly, my body starts to demand on its own. My hips thrust upward, trying to urge her faster...maybe a little bit harder...definitely deeper.

  Instead, Kate pulls off of me, licking her swollen lips while her eyes rise to mine.

  God, she's so beautiful. Sweet and beautiful and way too good for the likes of me.

  She turns away from me slightly and grabs the condom. She fumbles with it for just a minute, because I normally do this, but she finally gets it open. With determination, she takes it out and carefully rolls it over my swollen shaft, gently smoothing it down and squeezing me when she's finished.

  And even though I know what's coming next...even though I've fantasized about her riding me a zillion times, I'm still not quite ready for it when she straddles me.

  Our eyes lock, my breath catches and I hold it tight with anticipation. She rises up and then takes me in hand, holding me straight so she can drop down onto me.

  And fuck...that first inch into her and my eyes roll into the back of my head, I get dizzy with lust, and my hands clamp onto her hips with an insane need to slam her down on me.

  I don't, though. I can feel my pulse pounding, every muscle in my body clenched and my lungs screaming for me to take a revitalizing breath in, but I wait.

  I wait, and it's with good reward. Kate's head falls back and her long hair brushes my thighs...it's like I can feel every strand against my skin, and then she pushes all the way down onto me.

  "Kate," I groan out reverently, the feel of her body enveloping me so tightly. My fingers dig deep into her hips and I know that will leave marks on her skin.

  "Shhh," she says with gentleness as she rotates her hips slowly. "Try to relax, baby."