Blocker (Seattle Sharks 5)

I turned my hand, slipping two fingers inside her.

“Fuck, baby. You’re so wet for me.”

“I’m always wet for you,” she admitted, grinding down on my fingers.

Her pussy gripped my fingers like a velvet glove as I pumped them into her, then mimicked the action with my tongue as I claimed her mouth again.

I ignored the blatant need screaming through my body and focused purely on her pleasure. Her hips rocked with my thrusts, chasing the orgasm I knew drew closer. Her thighs tightened. Her inner muscles gripped my fingers. Her movements on top of me became jerky and slow.

I increased the pace, then pressed on her clit with my thumb and swirled.

She came, and I kissed her cry from her, taking it inside of me the same way my fingers were deep inside her.

With deep, shuddering breaths, she trembled over me before collapsing against my chest.

“Holy shit, Eric,” she muttered, her mouth against my neck.

Her breathing slowed as mine became more difficult.

I slipped my fingers free as she sat up, her face flushed with pleasure. Her lips swollen from my kisses.

Her eyes widened as I licked my fingers, savoring the clean, sweet taste of her. “Hmmm...dessert.”

Her eyes took on a sheen I knew all-too-well, and I quickly captured her questing hand, which was making a bee-line for my dick.

“Oh no. According to my calculations…” I jerked her dress down her hips and brought her to my side, covering her gorgeous legs with the blanket.

The door opened, and the manager appeared, a thin, wide-eyed, teenage boy with him.

“Ah! Good to see you’re already settled. We’ll get the movie started. If you need anything else, Chris will be at your service.”

“Thank you,” I told him, my voice low.

Within a few moments, Chris had dinner cleared, and the lights faded. Pepper settled in against my side, resting her cheek on my chest.

“Whatever it is, I love it,” she said. “I’ve never had a more perfect Valentine’s Day.”

I kissed her forehead before rearranging my throbbing hard-on. She’d said she’d always wanted to make-out in a theater, not get fucked in one. Besides, there was zero chance I was taking the risk of Chris seeing anything like that happen, and the kid looked our way every few minutes or so.

When the Marvel logo came on, Pepper’s head popped up, and when the title displayed, her jaw dropped.

All the planning, the requests, and the sheer money to make this happen was all worth it for that simple look.

“This...this isn’t even in theaters until next month!” she exclaimed.

“Well, it’s in this theater,” I said with a grin.

“You are incredible.” She smiled at me, and I felt powerful enough to change the orbit of the earth for her.

“Nah. That’s the Hulk. I always saw myself as more of an Iron Man.”

She laughed and settled back down against my side. “You’re definitely my hero.”

We watched the movie, and I savored every gasp, laugh, and tear she let escape. I had more fun watching her than I did the movie, even though I’d grown quite fond of the MCU.

After the movie, I drove her back to her place, and once we were sure the paparazzi weren’t around, I parked in the garage.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” I told her one last time, kissing her gently.

“Why don’t you come up?” she offered with an impish grin.

“What?” Surprise got the best of me. I was never at her place. Ever. It was too risky to be caught by Ivy, or God-forbid, her dad.

“Ivy’s out of town for her internship,” Pepper explained. “And tonight, I want you in my bed. In my room. I want to smell you on my sheets tomorrow.”

“How the fuck could I ever turn down an offer like that?” I asked, consuming her mouth in another kiss.

“Good,” she said, pulling back with another grin. “Because I could really go for some of that...dessert.”

Holy shit. I was never going to get enough of this woman.

Ever.

Chapter 17

Pepper

“Okay,” I said, nudging my front door open with my hip. I toted in two full plastic bags and kicked the door shut with my boot. “I’ve got our two favorite men, Ben & Jerry, plus Twizzlers, and M&Ms.” I sat the bags down on the counter. “Oh,” I said, a bounce in my step as I pulled out another item. “I snagged some seaweed masks, too. We’ll look like Gamora. It’ll be awesome.”

Ivy hugged a box of tissues on the couch. Her eyes red, puffy, and distant. “Thanks, Pepper,” she said, her voice hoarse from crying.

That was Ivy. She never did anything half-assed—even falling hard and fast.

My shoulders dropped, and I spanned the distance, sinking next to her. She leaned into my embrace.

“I can’t believe him,” she said, her voice choking up again. “We made plans. Promises. We were going to travel. He said he didn’t need the Sharks anyway. That we would be fine and we would be…us.”

“Oh, Ivy,” I said, sighing as I rubbed my hand up and down her spine.

I hated this.

Hated how many times I’d held her after she’d gotten her heart broken. After she’d trusted too quickly. Fallen too fast.

Would she be holding me when Eric wised up and realized I wasn’t worth the hassle? The risk?

A cold knife slipped into my chest at the thought.

Eric is different.

“Then,” she continued after wiping her face. “Then when he asked me to bed, again, and I said I wanted to wait, again, he…he…” a sob shuddered her body. “He dropped me. Right then and there. Like I was nothing. Said he couldn’t waste time on a lost cause. Especially one who cost him his career. Said he was going to go to Coach and beg for his position back.”

My blood boiled but cool relief swept by in an instant. “You didn’t sleep with him?”

She pulled back from the hug and shook her head. “Don’t look so shocked.”

I closed my mouth and flashed her an apologetic look. “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean…I just…wow.”

She rolled her eyes. “I wanted this one to mean something. I’m so tired of jumping from one man to the next, and I thought Crosby was different.” She swallowed hard.

I marveled at her willpower. It had only taken a few fleeting kisses to shed my inhibitions with Eric. But, then again, what we had was something different. Something more. Right?

“Maybe, maybe he was just upset? The stress of losing his job. Maybe if I talked to him, and then we talked to Dad—”

“Ivy, no,” I cut her off. “Crosby won’t change,” I said. “He’s a known bed-hopper and has a chip on his shoulder on the ice—”

Ivy bolted off the couch, her tissues forgotten. “Don’t pretend like you know him, Pepper.” She stomped to the kitchen and tore the lid off of a pint of chocolate-fudge-brownie.

“Ivy,” I pled, standing to meet her on the other side of the kitchen counter. “I know his rep. I’m with the Sharks all the time. Even on the road. I hear them talk. And I saw the way he treated you.”

“You didn’t,” she said, though her eyes said she was putting up a fight for pride’s sake. “Away from his boys, the rink, and the paps…he was kind. Sometimes. And fun. He took me to all the best bars…”

“Bars?” I eyed her. “Ivy—”

“Don’t!” She snapped. “Not every man whisks his girl off to Montana or rents out an entire theater for a date.”

I gasped, my throat closing up.

How? We’d been so careful.

It was Ivy’s turn to flash me an unbelievable look. She reached around the counter and grabbed something from the small wooden drop station we had near it. “I’m not stupid,” she said, waving Eric’s black beanie at me.

He’d let me borrow it two nights ago when I’d gotten cold.

I’d forgotten to give it back.

“We’re friends,” I

said, my voice small. “You’re his friend. He fixed my car. Of course, he’d leave stuff over here by accident.”

“Friends?” She flung the beanie at me before shoving a spoon into her ice cream. “Really?”

I held the beanie to my chest, gaping at her, the words tangled in my throat.

“At least I never tried to hide Crosby,” she said around the spoon. “You.” She shook her head. “You sit there and lecture me when you’re doing the exact same thing I was.”

Frozen.

I couldn’t move.