Captive(69)

“Sorry,” she said with a light laugh.

“Get on your back,” I said.

“I’m supposed to stay on my side.”

“Okay.” I pushed myself up on an elbow so I could reach her nipple with my mouth, and I licked and sucked it until she was breathing hard again. “Lift this leg up. Rest your foot behind your other knee.” I patted her thigh and she did what I wanted, allowing me to get my hand between her thighs from behind.

“Ah!” Her hips bucked forward the moment I made contact with her swollen clit. I wouldn’t miss how cumbersome she was, but fuck, would I miss this constant state of arousal.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I whispered in her ear. My cock was throbbing from the feel of her wet pussy and the sound of her desperate moans. “Come on, sweet, dirty girl. Come for me. I wanna feel you come on my fingers.”

That did it. She turned her face into the pillow and moaned into it over and over. I felt the deep pulsing waves in her pussy against my hand. I kept the pressure on, slowing it to pull her pleasure out longer.

“My God.” She pressed her back against my chest and purred like a cat. “If that doesn’t do it, nothing will.”

“You feel good?” I rubbed my bristled cheek across her soft, bare shoulder.

“So good. Can you still get inside me?”

Her body had gone slack with relaxation, and I could hear the fatigue in her voice. “Just you tonight, baby. Go to sleep now. Maybe you’ll wake up in labor.”

“I love you, Ryke. You’re amazing.”

“I love you, too.”

I stroked her hair until she fell asleep in my arms, but I couldn’t seem to unwind enough for sleep. I couldn’t just stop traveling to games for the next two weeks in case she went into labor, but I didn’t want any of it to happen without me there. I wanted to take her to the hospital when it started and be by her side every second. She’d be scared, and she’d need me.

When I left in the morning, Mimi would be staying at the apartment all the time when I was gone until Kate had the baby. That way she could stay with Melody and Carla could get Kate to the hospital. But the thought of Kate being in labor and having no one there but a nurse she hardly knew was unnerving.

Why the hell couldn’t I have a normal job? Something that didn’t require me to be hundreds of miles from my wife when she needed me most?

These were the questions that kept me in a fitful sleep until I snuck out of bed at six to take a shower and leave for the airport. I was sullen the entire flight to Detroit. Kate had done the hardest part. She’d fought through the grief and sadness and carried this baby to term. My part was to be there to support her, and I didn’t want to fail her.

Everyone on the team knew I could be moody before a game, so they were used to avoiding me. Even Luke stayed away. I left my phone with Terese and told her to get me pulled from the game immediately if Kate called.

It was fucking impossible to keep my head in the game. I played hard, mostly due to my frustration and anger at having to be here right now. The game was close to over and we were tied 2-2 when Luke slid me the puck a second before John London barreled into him. I slapped it in and raised my stick, my teammates surrounding me for a celebration.

But it was short-lived. I couldn’t find Luke, and when I looked over, he was flat on the ice, his leg curled up beneath him. I skated over and pushed past the ref who was bent down talking to him.

“Luke? What happened?” I got down on the ice and put my face next to his. He could only manage a tortured groan. My heart kicked up speed. Luke had never laid on the ice. He was one of the toughest I’d ever played with.

“Fuck.” He breathed out the word and I could tell he was hurting bad. Pete and Terese arrived then.

“Your knee, right?” Pete asked.

“Ugh.” Luke spoke through gritted teeth. “Fucking London hit me knee to knee. Christ, it hurts.”

I slid back so they could load him onto the stretcher that had arrived. A sickening taste filled my mouth. Knee to knee hits could end careers. I searched the ice for London and when I found him, gave him a glare that let him know this wouldn’t go unchecked. I’d make sure his fucking knees both hurt worse than Luke’s did right now.

Vic skated up to me, following my gaze. “Knee to knee?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Fucker.” He put London on notice with another dirty look.

“Ryke!” Terese was waving to get my attention from her spot next to the stretcher. “Your wife!”

One of our benchwarmers was holding up my phone and I took off, sliding to a snow-throwing stop and scrambling over the wall. I ripped the phone from the hand that held it toward me.