Page 57 of Back On Ice

“You deserve to be recognized for what a great player you are. For how hard you work,” I tell him truthfully. The next words catch in my throat with emotion—the knowledge that I should have said this way sooner. “I know I haven’t said this since you’ve been back, but I’m so proud of you.”

“Your opinion is the only one that matters to me, Soph,” he says, his expression serious. “None of this is worth it if I don’t have you at my back.”

A shiver runs through me at his words. Does he really feel that way? I push that thought away quickly. Of course he does. This is Carter.

I’m thinking I might feel the same way.

After dinner, he won’t tell me where we’re going. We’re clearly heading back to Ivy Glen, but then we pull into the parking lot of the rec center, and I still have no clue what’s going on.

“Did you forget something here earlier?” I turn and look at him, and he shakes his head, smiling.

“Nope. Just thought you might be up for a rematch of our race, since the last one ended prematurely.”

“It only ended prematurely because you knew you were going to lose and tackled me.” I raise my brow.

“I think it’s time to put your money where your mouth is, Hartwell.” He smirks, a challenge in his voice.

“I’ll put mybodywhere your mouth is.” I breathe, and he groans, leaning back.

“Fuck, Soph. I call sabotage. How am I supposed to win when I have a raging hard-on?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” I smirk, getting out of the car and heading across the parking lot, Carter following close behind me.

Twenty minutes later, we’re on the ice, and I’m skating as hard as I can. Shit, he’s fast. But more often than not, I’m doing sprints with my team so I’m not out of shape either. Adrenaline pumps through my veins, blood pounds in my ears. He’s just behind me, and it’s almost like he’s the predator, and I’m his prey.

Then we’re neck to neck, and I’m half wondering if he’s going to pull the same move and grab me in his arms, but eventually, we both pass the goal we deemed the finish line, breathing hard.

For a minute, we just look at each other, panting from the exertion. “Tie?” he finally asks, and I nod before he pulls me in, crashing his lips to mine.

His hands in my hair, my fists twisted in his shirt, we collide like two waves in the ocean. Nipping at my lip, he picks me up bridal style and skates me off the ice. I’m so lost in him, that I don’t realize that we’re in the locker room until he breaks our kiss, setting me on the ground directly in front of the lockers. Without a word, he drops to his knees, unlacing my skates and pulling them off, before unbuttoning my pants and pushing them and my underwear down my legs and helping me step out of them.

I expect him to drop his pants and take me hard and fast, but instead, he stays on his knees, looks at me, and says, “You said you’d put your body where my mouth is.” Then he pushes his head between my legs.

“Ohhhhh.” A sigh of relief escapes me when his tongue swipes through my folds, and he groans at the sound, hiking one leg over his shoulder and settles in like he’s about to eat his last meal. My back hits the lockers, the metal digging into me, and I don’t care because the feel of his tongue on me is so fucking good.

My hands land on his head as his tongue circles my clit, making tingles run from my toes straight into my pussy. “Permanent fucking seat,” he rumbles, referencing his words from our night by the lake.

“If I could only eat one meal for the rest of my life, my permanent seat would be on the floor with my head between your legs.”

He knows just how to work me, one hand gripping my thigh that’s propped on his shoulder, the other one digging into my hip as he holds me in place. “Fuck, Angel, forget the sitting. I could spend my whole life right here, worshipping at your altar on my knees.”

With the attention he’s lavishing on my needy clit, he may as well be worshiping.

My fingers twine through his hair and pull, earning a growl from him, the reverberations sending jolts of electricity through me, making me cry out. He works me with his mouth, periodically dipping his tongue inside of me and fucking me with it, before returning to my clit. “Come for me, Angel,” he says into my pussy before he pulls my clit into his mouth and suckshard, tipping me over the edge as I fall into blissful oblivion.

He looks up at me, eyes dark, before standing and claiming my mouth with his. Tasting my release on his lips is so fucking erotic that my hands move to his belt.

But he stops me, a wicked glint in his eye. “We need more privacy for all the things I want to do to you.”

“But you’re…” I pull back and motion to the clearly bulging erection in his pants.

“Blue balls are worth it now, if it means I get to have you exactly how I want you when we get back to the hotel.” He smirks.“Don’t think for one second that won’t include your mouth on my dick.” A thrill runs through me at his words, and I can’t stop myself from kissing him again.

This whole night, the dinner, the race, and now this… he means it. He’s done everything to show me how much he cares and how much hedidcare, even back then. The feelings that I swear I’m developing rise to the surface, but I push them down. This won’t last forever.

“I agree, on one condition.” I pull back, raising my brow.

“Oh? And what would that be?”

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