Reckless King Read online

  His hands wrapped around my hips, using his weight as leverage to hammer into me. Everything in me centered around him filling and emptying me, each thrust so excruciatingly exquisite I struggled to drag air into my lungs. On edge from tasting him, I wasn’t far away. When his hand slid up my back to my shoulder and gripped me tighter, the way he possessed my body, using it to drive our pleasure higher, made me light-headed. Light-headed coupled with a throbbing, clenching, clawing-at-the-bed kind of feeling.

  “Your body is too good. Too fucking good.” He punctuated each word with a thrust, and that was all it took to shoot me over the edge. Burying my face in the blankets, I fisted my hands around them and screamed out my thanks and appreciation.

  My arms collapsed, my body collapsed, but Heath kept going, not letting me come down from the place I thought you could only live in for seconds, not minutes on end. And then he grunted behind me, his muscles tight as he expanded even more and filled the latex between us.

  We collapsed into a heap on the bed. Our sweat combined and the giddy feeling returned as soon as I could feel all my limbs again. Heath toyed with my nipples, and I didn’t even think to stop him. He was on a sexual mission to drive me completely crazy, and it was working. I’d never had someone so into my breasts before. I had a nice rack, one I often tried to hide because big boobs didn’t win any awards when it came to academia. But he didn’t give them a nice squeeze and move on from there.

  “We should take a shower. Come on. Let’s go.”

  I groaned as he took my hand and lifted me off the bed, leading me to the bathroom. The room was generous. It was more of a suite. Pocket doors hide the bedroom area away. And a bathroom had doors into the living room and bedroom. It was the type of crisp, classic clean modern look you’d expect from a hotel like this. He turned on the shower and tugged me inside.

  He’d already learned more about me than guys I’d dated before. He was in tune with the line that went straight from my nipples to my pulsing clit, he wrapped his arms around me from behind and pinched them. He was playing my body like an instrument he’d practiced on for years, and we’d met less than two hours ago. I’d normally be freaking the hell out about that, but when he ran his hands over my body, nothing but hot, wet sex flashed through my mind.

  Pulling me into the shower he stood behind me. With my back pressed against his hard chest, his hands keeping me right where he wanted me. One of his hands snaked down my body, cupping my pussy. My head lolled against his shoulder as his fingers worked in time together, tapping out a rhythm only he knew on my clit.

  “Is this your plan? Kill me with orgasms?”

  “I’m doing my best to convince you that a repeat performance will be needed.”

  “I’m beyond convinced. At this point, I’m looping back around into thinking you’re insane.”

  “Can’t have that, now can we? I’m going to have to keep going until we loop back around to ‘repeat performance guaranteed’.”

  His cock pressed against my ass, but every time I tried to shift myself and lean forward, ready for him, he squeezed me tighter against him. It was like he was into the sexual torture that came with giving me all the pleasure I could handle.

  “How does it feel, Kara?” His voice was deep and decadent like a nice warm piece of chocolate cake.

  “Good.”

  “Only good?” He grazed my neck with his teeth. “I’ll have to fix that.” He sank his fingers into my pussy. I don’t know if it was two or three, but they were working together, bringing me to the edge of my orgasm.

  “I’m dying. I think I’m dying. Your fingers are lethal weapons.”

  “That’s more like it.” He pumped his fingers in and out of me until my knees gave way and he had to fully support my weight. He didn’t miss a beat, holding me as the jolts of electricity ripped through my body, and I screamed his name. The patter of the water flowing from the showerhead and my panting were the only sounds in the bathroom.

  With a washcloth and some soap Heath took his time, washing me down before shutting off the water and wrapping me up in a nice fuzzy towel with another for the ends of my hair. I’d managed to duck and dodge to keep my hair from getting soaked.

  He guided me back to the bed, and I plopped down. I nibbled on my lip. It had been a while since I’d done this. We’d done the bed thing, he hadn’t said anything about sleep. Did I get dressed and go? Or maybe leave in the morning?

  He dragged the covers down the bed and patted one side.

  “You’re staying the night, right?” Running his hand along the side of my face, stared into my eyes. I nodded, not trusting my voice. Why the hell not? He was what I needed. The right blend of sexy as hell and funny. Going out had been the best decision I’d made in a long time.

  “Climb in so you don’t get cold.”

  I guessed I was staying.

  “My hair is still wet.” I lifted the ends and wrapped the towel around them. I hoped it wasn’t a rat’s nest in the morning.

  “It’s fine. I’ll keep you warm.”

  Suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, I dropped my towel and hurried into the bed. He climbed in beside me and wrapped his arms around me, my back snuggled up against him.

  “I had fun tonight.” His words tickled the shell of my ear. I tilted my head to gaze up at him.

  “I did too.” I really had. Like the streaks of light breaking through a day you hadn’t even realized was overcast, Heath had made me smile in a way I hadn’t known possible.

  “I’d like to see you again.” He tucked some of my damp hair behind my ear.

  My heart fluttered, and I couldn’t help the smile that broke out on my face. I nodded. “I’d like that too.” This was what I needed more of. Someone like Heath. Someone so open and happy it was hard not to catch even a bit of it, plus the sex was phenomenal. I’d taken a risk, and it hadn’t blown up in my face. Being bold, I sat up and threw the blankets off.

  “What’s up?”

  “I need my phone.” A burst of courage compelled me to face what I’d been running from.

  “Okay…” He lifted an eyebrow at me. “It’s probably by the door.”

  I slid out of the bed and grabbed it. Tapping out a message I probably wouldn’t be brave enough to send in the morning, I hit send before I could change my mind.

  I put my phone down on the desk and climbed back in beside him.

  “Was that an alert for your hit squad that I’m worn out and they can prep the organ removal?”

  I laughed and snuggled in beside him as he sank back down in the bed.

  “No, it was me doing something I haven’t been able to do earlier, but needed to be done. I needed this little push for myself to do it.”

  “If you say so.” He kissed me on the side of my face, right by my beauty mark, and rested his head above mine.

  Running my fingers along his skin, I traced some of the words that refused to leave my mind. Unforgettable. Unrelenting. Undeniable.

  I wouldn’t mind doing this again. What’s the worst thing that can happen?

  7

  Heath

  I swear there were birds chirping outside my window even though we were eight floors up and it was the dead of winter. There was a temptation to not even open my eyes, stay in bed all day, but we had the pick-up game going on a little later.

  Feeling around on the bed beside me, I cracked open an eyelid, snapping them fully open when I saw she wasn’t there. Her spot on the bed was still warm. I sat up and spotted the blue sticky note on the pillow beside me.

  I stretched my arms overhead, basking in the soreness of my aching muscles. The never-ending night of sexual pleasure and exploration had wrecked me even more than my intense workouts. Probably using all those different muscles. But was a workout with Kara I couldn’t wait to do all over again. She’d been so open and knew what she wanted. There was no worry about doing something she didn’t like because I had no doubt in my mind she’d tell me exactly what she thought.
r />   After we’d made it through most of the condoms, we’d had between the two of us, we’d fallen into a heap on the bed. The soft smell of soap and her sweetness had filled the room. Wrapping my arms around her, I’d fallen asleep with Kara lying across my chest. Her damp, wavy hair had fanned out around her.

  Her fingers had trailed along my skin from my stomach to my chest, every pass of her hand slower until it had stopped and her chest rose and fell gently. Tugging the blankets up a little higher, I’d let my eyes drift shut, and my dreams had been filled with the woman who’d commanded my attention from the second I’d laid eyes on her.

  I cracked a smile as I read over the note and saw her number at the bottom. Tracing her handwriting with my finger, I climbed out of bed and grabbed my phone off the floor by the front door. I leaned over to pick it up with a vivid play-by-play of what we’d done right by and against the front door flashing through my mind.

  The piece of paper in hand, I unlocked my phone. This was one number I didn’t want to lose. I saved it in my contacts.

  There was a part of me that had expected to wake up and find her gone without a word. I’d hoped she’d be there in the morning, but I’d take her number as a second best. I snatched my clothes up off the floor in the living room. How long was too soon to call? Less than a day was probably too much. Didn’t want to come off as a stalker. I’d give it a day or two after Christmas. But after that, all bets were off, and Kara had better get used to seeing a lot of me around. New Year’s Eve was coming up, and I knew who I wanted to ring in the New Year with.

  This semester would be insane with the end of our hockey season, finally signing with our hometown team and wrapping up classes. When things were important you made the time no matter what, and I had a feeling making time for her would be the best decision of my life.

  “Why is everything so loud?” Colm stood in the center of the ice with his head perched on his hands on top of his stick, sunglasses firmly in place even though we were inside. If he hadn’t said anything, it had been fifty-fifty on whether he was sleeping on his feet or not.

  “What’s the matter, big brother? A little hungover after your big night out?” Olivia shouted across the rink, and Colm and Emmett winced. Mak laughed beside her, holding out a water bottle for Declan, and Preston’s girlfriend, Imogen, sat on the bench.

  “Liv.” It came out like a hushed curse as Colm lifted his sunglasses.

  “What’s the matter? Were you out late last night past your bedtime?” She cupped her hands around her mouth for extra focused pain infliction.

  Colm’s hand whipped out as Ford passed by.

  “Help me out here and get her to zip it. I’m too hungover to go into dad mode right now.” His fingers were tightly wrapped around Ford’s jersey.

  “I’ll go talk to her,” Grant, Ford’s little brother, offered, turning in that direction. Colm clamped a hand down on Grant’s shoulder and shot him a glare.

  “Ford, go talk to Olivia.” Colm kept his hand on Grant.

  Ford chuckled and slapped Colm on the back, nearly toppling him over before skating across the ice to Olivia. For some reason, Colm always thought Grant had a shot with Olivia and made sure to always keep them as far apart as possible, but he seemed completely oblivious to the doe-eyed swooning Liv had been doing around Ford since forever. Her smile immediately brightened as he approached. She leaned in as he spoke to her.

  Declan shot me a look, and I shrugged my shoulders.

  “What’s the deal with Ford and Olivia?” Preston skated up beside me, and I whipped my head up to see if Colm had heard, but he was in the Land of Hangovers and Nausea.

  “Nothing there. They are friends. Known each other for a long time now.”

  His lips turned down like they always did when he was deep in thought. “If you say so.” He skated off, and Declan stifled a laugh.

  We’d all taken taxis to the stadium, arranged by Emmett of course. We’d visited once before with him, but standing inside the pin-drop quiet rink, soaking up the energy of the place nearly knocked me off my feet. Most of our development teamwork was in the practice rink in Jersey. We didn’t get to come to the stadium much, but I couldn’t wait for all that to change in only a few short months. They’d had an exhibition game the night before, so we’d persuaded them to let us have some rink time.

  “Are these the legendary Kings I’ve heard so much about? What happened to you guys? I thought this wasn’t going to be a fair fight, but it looks like we can probably take you guys with one skate on, no problem.” Preston knew how to push all the right buttons. His talents included when to coddle, when to shove you out of the nest with both hands, and when to goad someone into rising to the occasion.

  The rest of the Knights arrived and got onto the ice. Emmett, Declan, and Ford groaned and slid their helmets on. Grant skated circles around everyone, drawing a few more glares from Colm. Everyone who’d gone out last night was at some stage of being the walking dead.

  Olivia skated out onto the ice with a whistle stuck between her lips. The looks of abject horror on everyone’s faces as she clenched it between her teeth with the puck in her hand had me bursting out laughing.

  She stood in front of her brother. “Ready, Colm?”

  “Olive, I swear, I’ll buy you that new wardrobe today if you don’t blow that whistle.” His eyes pleaded with her.

  “Totally worth it!” She grinned and lifted her arm high in the air, blew as hard on the whistle as she could and dropped the puck onto the ice.

  Preston faced off against Colm and easily got the puck away from him. The Knights were a way less hungover than I’d thought. Colm and Emmett were dragging. It was a slower, friendly game, but Preston had no issues slapping the puck into the back of the net.

  Emmett skated up to Preston once the period was over. “Preston, who are you playing with next year?”

  We all hunched over the bench, sweating more than usual. Mak and Olivia doled out breakfast sandwiches with a hell of a lot of bacon in them like Civil War nurses tending to the wounded.

  “I’m not.” Preston bit into his sandwich.

  “Why the hell not?” Emmett threw his stick down and grabbed a foil-wrapped sandwich.

  “Sometimes there are more important things in life other than hockey.” He tilted his head, a small smile on his lips for his girlfriend, Imogen, who smiled back. We hadn’t been able to beat it out of him over the past four years why the hell he wasn’t going pro. He’d said it was because he’d come into our team as a walk-on, but no-talent walk-ons didn’t make the team, let alone become captain.

  “But that doesn’t mean I’m not still going to go out there and wipe the floor with all of you. Let’s go, ladies.”

  The Kings groaned, dropping the sandwich wrappers on the bench.

  The Knights were already up and on the ice as Colm slid his gloves back on.

  “I know you’re all hungover and probably want to puke right now.” I leaned in with my hands on their shoulders.

  The guys nodded and grumbled.

  “But when was the last time we all got to take the ice together? When the hell will we get the chance again? It’s been too long and life is only going to get busier once we graduate and we’re all pro.” The intensity of what this game meant for us burned in my chest. It was like being transported back in time.

  It was a friendly game, but I needed them there with me all on the same page, skating together. Whatever happened over the rest of the season, this would be the game we all remembered. We’d finally, after nearly four years apart, gotten back on the ice all at the same time. I only wished Kara could be there sitting in the box like Mak and Imogen.

  That thought blindsided me.

  She’d looked so peaceful the night before, resting on me, and I was itching to call her. Maybe after the game. I’d stashed my phone deep in my gym bag so I wouldn’t be tempted.

  “Look at Heath going all Braveheart on us.” Declan stood from the bench.

  �
��Today we’ve got a chance to show a bunch of cocky players exactly why we’ll go down as the Rittenhouse Kings until the day we die. Are you guys ready?” I said it in a fierce whisper.

  Some pitiful yeahs came from the bench.

  “I can’t hear you guys. I said, are you ready?” I yelled.

  A more enthusiastic round of yeahs came from the guys.

  “Then let’s get out there and show them what it’s like to go up against a bunch of Kings!”

  We burst out of the box and onto the ice. Colm’s face no longer the color of moss, he didn’t wince when Olivia blew the whistle. He was the first to the puck and took possession, looking like he did when we saw him on TV. He worked with Declan, falling back into our old groove, and scored our first goal.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” I skated past him with my hand up. He high-fived me, and we spent the rest of our game showing my current team exactly why we’d dominated back in high school and all of us would be playing pro.

  Each of us had honed and improved over time, but we still fell back into those old places beside each other where we all seemed to know what the others were thinking and reacted before anyone else knew what was going on.

  The final score was 6-3. Preston leaned against the boards with his arm around Imogen, who didn’t seem to mind being wrapped up with a sweaty, huffing hockey player.

  “That was one hell of a game.” Preston gulped down some water and finished it off with a gasp.

  “Sure as hell was, man.” Emmett came up and slapped his hand into Preston’s. “Are you sure you don’t want to go pro?”

  Preston glanced down at Imogen. “I’m sure.”

  “Well, that’s a damn shame.” Colm stood and shook his hand.

  “Nah, it’s all good.”

  “You guys want to go to Threes for some drinks?” Declan lifted his head from focusing on untying his skates.

  Everyone groaned. Mak worked as a server at Three Streets, the sports bar right beside the hockey stadium.

  “A little hair of the dog maybe?” Mak offered with a wicked grin.