Playing to Win(29)

She dropped to her knees, then crawled forward between his legs. "Your turn."

Luke couldn't help the groan that escaped as she grabbed his pants and  tugged them slowly down his legs. The torturous rasp of the elastic  waistband against his hard flesh culminated in a harsh gasp when his  erection was finally freed of its confines.

She tossed his pants to the floor and then stretched to grab the cherry  lube. He loved her body, loved watching her move. She was a real woman,  not a skeleton with boobs, and when he got free from his knitted  prison, he was going to do some exploring of his own.

The lid on the oil tube opened with a soft click, and the intent look  of concentration on Holly's face as she drizzled cool liquid on his hot  flesh made his hips buck.                       
       
           


       

Dropping the recapped bottle on the mattress, she reached for his straining cock. But then she jerked her hand back. "Wait!"

"What?" The word came out harsher than he meant it to.

"Can we jump right into this, or do you need to knit first?" she asked.  The fact that she would stop to tease him just then made him want her  even more.

"Only if you can't come up with a better way to get my mind off the game and tire me out."

Her smile said she had some ideas that he just might enjoy.

He was not disappointed. She wrapped her hand around his cock and  pumped once, twice, three times to ensure an even distribution of the  oil.

Then she put her hands on the bed beside his hips and took him in her  mouth. His whole world shrank to the warm, wet pressure of her lips and  her magical, magical tongue.

"Mmm."

The vibration of her sound sent another level of pleasure humming  through his veins, and he flexed his hips, seeking more but unsure how  things could get any better.

She lifted her head, releasing him from her mouth after a hard suck of  his crown. "The cherries taste good, but next time, I'd rather just  taste you," she said. Then she grasped his cock firmly in her right hand  and proceeded to push him farther toward oblivion.

He was dying to bury his fingers in her soft, blond curls and set her  pace, but he was also loving the torture of being restrained. The soft,  suctioning sounds of her mouth were his undoing.

"Holly, I need inside you. I want to make you feel as good as I do right now."

He slipped his hands free of the yarn shackles so he could reach for  her, pull her up the bed, taste her lips and move her body beneath his.

She sighed as he drove into her, slow and deliberate, but it didn't  take long until he gave in to the roar of his blood and sped his pace.  Holly didn't seem to mind. She drew her knees up, hooking her legs  around his waist. The change in position forced him even deeper, and she  started chanting his name against his lips.

He gave her everything she wanted, following her whispered orders until  her breath grew choppy and her fingernails dug into his back.

Then Luke redoubled his efforts, plunging harder, faster, deeper, until  he felt her body clench. And then he let her cries of ecstasy pull him  over the edge right along with her.

* * *

SHE WOKE UP to find the bed empty. But the curtains blowing in the warm  Portland breeze solved the mystery of Luke's whereabouts before she  even had a moment to be curious. With a sleepy smile, she stretched and  slid out of the bed. As she was grabbing her shirt, a familiar mix of  navy, white and teal caught her eye. She padded across the hardwood  floor to the chair in the corner of the room.

No way was Luke getting away with this blatant show of hubris without a  goodly amount of teasing. She pulled the jersey on and headed toward  the balcony.

Luke stood on the balcony wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung  jeans, staring contemplatively out at the city. He looked so damn yummy  that certain parts of her anatomy perked up at just the sight of him.

Down, girl.

"Seriously, Maguire. You have your own jersey in replica? That is so wrong."

He glanced over at the sound of her voice, and she could tell she'd  surprised him. His jaw flexed as he took in the jersey, her thighs,  calves, bare feet. His eyes tracked every inch of her and when their  gazes met, there was an appealing cockiness to his expression.

"No, what's wrong is how much it's turning me on that you're wearing it. I like seeing my name on you."

"How very Neanderthal," she joked, walking over to him.

"What can I say? Me horny, you hot."

She laughed as Luke stepped behind her, placing one hand on the railing  on either side of her hips. With a contented sigh, she leaned back  against his chest. They stared out at the city as the sun came up over  Portland.

It was romantic, standing in his arms and watching the world wake up.  But after awhile, Holly couldn't silence the niggling voice in her  brain, the one that said Luke was not the type of guy to indulge in  blatant self-worship, and she turned in his arms to face him.

"So seriously, why do you have your own jersey? And why is the number wrong? Misprint?"                       
       
           


       

Luke shook his head. "No. It's not a misprint. It was for Ethan. I  bought it for him after they gave me the C. I thought maybe he'd come to  a game or something."

Holly's heart went a little melty. She traced a finger down his bare chest, hoping he'd say more.

Luke tightened his grip on the balcony railing. It took a moment, but he finally spoke.

"He's the reason I'm the captain now. Because I have to play for both  of us. It was just my way of saying thanks. But you saw him. He's been  so down, I just didn't have the heart to give it to him."

Holly suddenly realized the significance of the twenty-eight on the  back of the jersey. Forget melty, her heart was liquid goo, sliding down  the inside of her rib cage. "Eighteen plus ten. You added both of your  jersey numbers together."

Luke shrugged, as if it wasn't the sweetest thing she'd ever heard.

"Like I said, it was dumb. It's been sitting on that chair for three months now."

"I'm sorry I put it on. I didn't realize it was so significant. I was just giving you a hard time."

"You know what? Keep it. No one else is going to wear it."

Holly had plans to the contrary, but she kept those to herself. "You're sure you don't mind?"

"Why would I mind? You look sexy as hell in it."

She smiled at that. "Well, if that's what you think about me in it,"  she teased, ducking under his arm and heading for the door, "then you  should see me out of it." Luke followed her back to bed and she  proceeded to prove her point.

* * *

AFTER ANOTHER HARD-FOUGHT win at home, they'd split away games in  Montana, losing the first and winning tonight. And while Luke was glad  they'd managed a win, he found he owed more of his good mood to the  prospect of seeing Holly again than to the game result. Luke loosened  his tie and looked out the oval window at the lights of whatever city  they were currently flying over.

"Mags, you okay?"

Luke glanced over as J.C. took the aisle seat beside him.

"You're staring off into nothing. I thought you'd had a stroke or something."

"How did you know Tania was the one?"

J.C. laughed. "What?"

"I'm serious, man. You two are getting married, having a baby. How did  you know she was the one you wanted to do all that with?"

Normally the stymied expression on his goaltender's face would have made him laugh, but tonight he just wanted answers.

"Where is this coming from? Wait a minute, are you dating someone?"

Luke took a deep breath. He wasn't really ready to spread the news  around. He certainly didn't want to put Holly's job at risk. But he was  dying to tell someone, and J.C. was his best friend. He couldn't help  his smile when he said her name. "Holly."

"Holly? As in, Holly Holly? Of Women's Hockey Network fame? The woman  you don't trust because she is undermining the sanctity of the game and  threatening the team? That Holly?"

Luke accepted the ribbing as par for the course, but when he didn't  fire back, J.C. sobered a little. "You're serious? You have feelings for  this girl."

Luke shrugged, which in guy talk was as good as a yes.

"Huh. Never took you for the kind of guy who'd end up with a ditz just because she's got a nice rack."

Luke's shoulders stiffened. "That's over the line, man." His voice was  all steel, and J.C. held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"My bad, man. Just testing the waters. I wasn't expecting to come back  from the can and have you start talking about your emotions and shit.  Stand down."

Luke relaxed in his chair, but not until he'd stared J.C. down, let him  know he meant what he said. "And for the record, she's not a ditz. She  just plays one on the internet."