6. Rhys

CHAPTER 6

RHYS

The players' parking lot fills with sounds from my teammates exiting the bus that carried us here from the plane. The sky is a dark blanket of navy blue. Cold air seeps into my skin, my breath puffing out in clouds. There's a hush to this time of night… or day. Three-thirty is technically morning, but sunrise won't be here for another three hours or so.

"I've always loved the city in the middle of the night." Sage raises his face to the sky and smiles like we didn't just spend three and a half hours on a plane. Or an exhausting hard-fought three hours going skate to skate with Seattle earlier tonight.

Coming off two games in two nights, which capped off that long road trip, Coach gave us tomorrow off. I plan to sleep in. With Sage. "You still up for coming home with me?"

"Definitely." He smiles at me and I long to slip my arm around his shoulders. But only our closest friends know we're hanging out. Dating? Are we dating? I don't want to telegraph it to the team until I know we're serious.

Sage and Morgan were pivotal players for us in those last two games. We beat Edmonton, and Sage got an assist there, plus proved himself on the penalty kill. We lost to Seattle, but the pair each scored a goal, and Sage had another assist.

Dragging his suitcase behind him, Morgan stumbles into Remy's back. "Tired. Need sleep. Remy, let's go."

The keys dangling from his fist jingle as Remy rubs his eyes. "Hold up. We've been gone for so long, I forget where I parked."

"Hit the button on your keys," Sage suggests. His big coat, which I learned Morgan gave to him and therefore Sage cherishes it, is zipped up to his chin. He waves goodbye to the teammates strolling past us.

"Smart suggestion." I spot Remy's car and nudge my temporary defensive partner's shoulder, turning him in that direction.

With a tired, "Yay," he hugs me, then hustles with Morgan toward the car.

Sage touches my hand. "Are you okay to drive? Do you want me to? Or Jonas?"

"I'm fine. I'll get us home safe." I wave to my friends, call Jonas over, and the three of us walk to my car. Fitting our bags in takes some creative rearranging, but we manage.

During the drive, I have the windows cracked and the radio on to keep myself awake, and we chat about the game. We don't bring up that two of the food poisoning victims are fully recovered and the other are two nearly there. Management needs to make a decision to either keep Sage and Morgan with us or send them back down. I'd prefer the pair to stay, but if they keep producing, and our other teammates don't, I think we'll see more of Sage and Morgan in our lineup either way.

I pull into my designated space in our building's garage. We part ways with Jonas on the elevator. After he exits for his floor, I turn to Sage. "There's a good chance he'll show up for breakfast in the morning."

He nudges his suitcase away so he can hug me. "It's okay. If we were at my house, we'd have five guys joining us."

We kiss until the car reaches my floor. The hall is quiet except for our rolling suitcases and footsteps. Coming home with him feels both comfortable and exciting.

The apartment is in shadows, the glimmer of streetlights coming through the edges of the blinds. I lock up behind us, toss our coats on the couch, then slide my hand along the curve of his jaw. "Do you want anything? Water?"

"Just you." He grazes his fingertips along the center of my chest. "And maybe some sleep."

"I like the sound of that." I bend to kiss him.

Trading kisses, we move through the apartment, on a path to my bedroom. I push the door open wider, backing him into the space. "I've dreamed about you in here with me for days. Since you sat on my bed."

"Me too." He works open my shirt buttons. "I wanted to pull you on top of me that day."

My hands tremble with the knowledge that I get to touch him however I choose. However he wants. No holding back. Not tonight. "If I'd known, I would have done just that."

His gray sweater fits his form. I trace my hands over the knit. "The entire flight home, I wondered how soft this would be. How you'd feel under it. How you'd feel out of it."

Shuddering, he reaches for the hem. "Help me take it off?"

He slides it up, and I follow, taking hold of the tee he wears underneath, dragging my knuckles over his skin. He sucks in a breath and closes his eyes. "This is nice. I like you touching me."

I toss the shirts on the chair in the corner of the room, then add mine to the pile. "I like you touching me, too."

Sage's jeans are black and tight, molded to his thighs. He makes a gorgeous picture with his golden skin and thick hair, those blue eyes and kissable lips. Then he bites that lip, and shyness peaks out. He dips his head, moving closer to me, working open the button on his jeans. "This is like that first time in the hotel room. You and me, shirtless."

I copy him, opening the button on my jeans. "That time ended in orgasms. This will too."

His gaze sweeps over me. "Can I… Will you… Strip for me?"

"You want to watch me?" My cock jerks at the image that paints. Holding his shoulders, I drive him to the bed and push him down. "I'll give you whatever you want."

Those eyes tracing my every movement make me feel like a god. I slide my hand down the center of my chest. Then pause. "Do you have music you want for tonight?"

He smiles and nods, and hurries from the room. While he's gone, I ditch my shoes and socks. Fast footsteps carry him back seconds later. Music with a sensual beat plays from his phone. He sets it on the bedside table and resumes his seat at the end of the bed.

I start again, tracing my hand from my chest to my stomach, up and down. Then stride to him. Taking his hand, I guide it to my zipper. His eyes darkening, he licks his lips and lets me use him to work the metal tab down. My cock jumps at the brush of his fingers through the layers of denim and cotton. Throbbing, I step back, wanting to give him the show he asked for.

Peeling the material open, I show him a flash of my red boxers. Moving to the music, I work the jeans over my ass, slowly pushing them down my thighs, my calves, then step free.

Sage's attention goes to my shorts. I hook a thumb onto the center of the waistband and lower it, my cock bobbing free. He leans forward, gazing at it then up to my face, hunger written in every inch of his expression. I push the material down my legs and leave it next to my jeans. Then fist myself, soaking up his attention, and step into his space.

He lays his hand on top of mine, curling around me so we're both holding my cock. Then he shifts closer, sliding his ass to the edge of the bed, raises his gaze to meet mine, and guides me to his lips.

Hot and pulsing with need, I rub my cock head over those soft pillows, painting them with pre-come. My breaths come faster, and I want more. He opens for me, and his tongue flicks over the sensitive underside.

"Sage." I groan, pressing closer. He lets me push inside the wet heat, and it's so good, my knees nearly buckle. I feed him my cock, in and out, the fingers of my other hand threaded through his hair. "You're so good."

Melting under the praise, he rests his other hand on my ass, his fingers burrowing into my skin. He takes me deeper and increases the suction.

"Fuck." Lost in the pleasure of his talented mouth, I can't help pulsing my hips faster, twisting my fingers in that thick, soft hair, and he welcomes me into his throat with a hum.

The room fills with my pants, Sage's moans, and the music weaving around us. Before I'm too far gone, I release my hold of his hair, smooth it away from his face, and ease back. "Are you stripping for me?"

Tracing his fingers from my ass cheek to my thigh, he sinks his teeth into his lower lip. "Do you want me to?"

"I want you to do whatever you want to do."

He stands and takes hold of my hands. The dip of his head brings his focus to my chest. "Will you help me?"

I slide my hand into his hair and use that to tilt his face up. The shyness mixed with the direct requests of what he wants makes him even more precious to me. "Help you, as in, I get to have my hands all over you, helping to get you as naked as me? Hell, yeah."

Sage smiles, then presses a kiss to the center of my chest, right over my heart. And I melt.

The music changes to a different artist, still sensual and heat-stirring. I claim his lips, rocking our bodies together, working the denim open and then over his ass. I drop to my knees and with my hands on his hips, press him onto the bed.

He half-sits, half-lies atop my gray blanket, watching me remove his boots and socks, then pull the jeans to his knees, then calves, then all the way off. His hot pink, cotton briefs hug his cock and balls perfectly.

I stand, tossing his socks and jeans on top of mine. "Damn, I like those."

"These?" His smile playful, he cups himself, then slides his fingers over the material. "I like them too."

I want to drop to my knees again and worship him. So I do. "Move up the bed for me?"

He scoots toward the pillows. And I follow, crawling after him. I pause to grab lube and condoms from the bedside table. Then, range over him, blanketing his body, and kissing him as deeply as I can. Sage winds his arms and legs around me. The feel of being skin to skin with him is so good.

I shift back, trailing my lips over his throat, sucking up kisses along his collarbone, addicted to the way he cards his fingers through my hair.

Sliding lower, I settle between his knees and drop kisses across his chest, tasting his nipples, tracing the sensitive sides of his torso with my thumbs. When I kiss his stomach, he sucks in a breath. I go lower, over the lines of his hips, and tease my nose over his cloth-covered cock. He arches up.

I raise my head. "Want these off?"

"Please."

Using my teeth, I pull them lower, freeing his cock. He lifts his hips so I can get them off his ass, then down his legs. Sage leans on his forearms, watching me. "Can you suck me?"

"You're reading my mind." Trailing my hands along the inside of his thighs, I soak up his shudders and use my shoulders to spread his legs wider. His scent intensifies at the base of his cock. I nuzzle him there before teasing my lips all over his length then lick my way to the head. He groans and his hips jerk, his hands restlessly shifting through my hair.

I wrap my hand around the base and take him into my mouth. Sage tastes like salt and sweetness. Sucking his cock head, I lave it with attention before taking him deeper, then into my throat. He undulates under me, whispering my name, murmuring how good I'm making him feel.

Taking his balls into my mouth, I tease my finger farther back to play with his hole, and his gasps, whines, and yes, pleases renew my resolve to learn all of his secrets.

"Rhys." Panting, he slides his hands to cup the sides of my face and gazes down at me. "Will you kiss me?"

Working my way up his body, I drop haphazard kisses until I reach his lips. And devour him, thrusting my tongue against his, groaning for the demands he makes with his hungry mouth on mine.

He wraps his arms around me, locks a leg around my thigh, and presses our bodies together. Desire beating in time with my pulse, I rock my hips into his, pressing him deeper into the mattress. "You feel good against me."

Sage traces a fingertip over my nipple. "Will you fuck me?"

His whispered question goes straight to my dick. I claim another kiss. "Face to face? So we can see each other."

Smile shy again, he hands me a condom and the lube. "I want that."

I pour some lube onto my fingers and into his palm. "How about I work you open and you get me ready?"

He nods and curls his hand around me, jacking me from base to tip. I circle his hole with my finger, then slip the tip inside. We both lean in, our lips seeking each other.

Sage moans when I sink my finger fully inside him, then rocks into me when I add another. We kiss longer and deeper before I add a third, and the way he rocks against me indicates that he's ready. He rolls the condom down my shaft and slicks me up.

I slide my hand free of his body, then hike his leg over my arm, catching his knee beneath my elbow. My cock kisses his hole, and I ease in, slow, watching Sage's eyes. They close on a groan of pleasure. Catching his other leg the same way allows me to sink in deeper as I almost fold him in half.

We both moan. He feels amazing. And I'm afraid I won't last. I angle my hips, sliding almost all the way out, then thrust back in. He clutches at my back. "Again, please."

Another slow retreat and thrust. I roll my hips. Again and again. He's so tight.

Sage's breath hitches. His fingers dig into my back. Another roll of my hips pushes another gasp from his lips. "Faster, please."

I speed up, rocking into him, faster and faster, my heart pounding, a flash of warmth consuming me. "Damn, you're gorgeous."

He tosses his head back. "Gonna come."

Desperate to please him, I go harder. The head of his dick keeps brushing my stomach. On a gasp, Sage tosses his head back, his body arches, and his release spurts between us.

I'm nearly there. I change the angle, trying to get just a bit deeper. Sage clenches around me, and I'm gone. I press my hips into his ass, my cock as deep inside him as I can be, my release pulsing into the condom. Tingling pleasure floods my body, and I'm floating as sparkles dot my vision and Sage anchors me home.

Once my system settles, I slip free of him with a kiss, and then deal with the condom, and get a warm washcloth to clean us up. Sage's sated smile when he welcomes me back to bed is endearing. I finally have him where I wanted him, in my bed and in my arms.

And I fall asleep with his breath on my neck and a smile on my face.

Sunlight on my face and Sage kissing my chest rouses me from sleep. I cup the back of his head, sliding my fingers into his thick hair. "Morning."

Featherlight touches skim my cheek. Sage presses a kiss there too. "Morning."

"Sleep okay?"

"So good, I may never leave this bed." He rolls on top of me, settling in between my legs.

I run my hand along his back, the warmth of his skin soaking into my palm. "You're welcome to it anytime."

He stretches, arching his back, his arms over his head. A naked Sage in my bed is very tempting. "What do you want to do today?"

"Breakfast. Maybe watch a movie. Have a lazy day. You want in on that?"

"Sounds amazing." He kisses me. Then he works his hands down my torso, disappearing beneath the covers. My morning wood is very interested in his destination.

Before he can get there, I capture his hand. "I want in on this too."

I hit the playlist from last night on his phone, and the room fills with a sensual rhythm.

We kiss, working each other's cocks, rocking against each other, like we have all the time in the world. I want more mornings like this with him.

He comes a second before I do, and we hold each other close, listening to the music, until the urge to get cleaned up drives me from the bed. I pull him with me into the shower, we have fun sudsing each other up in there, then I let him borrow a shirt and sweats, because seeing him in my clothes is the sexiest thing ever.

We strip the sheets, then make the bed together. Smoothing down the blankets, he asks, "Do you think I'll be sent down?"

"If I were running things, I'd keep you. And that's not me being biased. You deserve a spot up here. We'll see how people feel at practice tomorrow. I'd expect to hear something then." I press kisses to his shoulder, his neck, his cheek. His lips. "You played well. You made differences. The team won't forget that."

February is almost over. There's only a month and a half of games left. We need to do everything we can to win, and try to make it back into the playoffs. Everyone from the front office to my teammates wants that. The guys who can give us the best shot are the ones who should play.

He winds his arms around my neck. "Regardless of what happens, I really liked being your teammate."

Emotion hits me in the center of my chest, a punch out of nowhere. He says teammate, but I think partner . And that makes me yearn. Yearn for more days like this. For someone to share my space with. For a person who belongs to me and who I belong to because there's no one else we'd rather be with. For someone to give my heart to.

I hold him closer. When I can talk again, I draw back so I can see his face. "Let's make breakfast. I want to cook for you."

"Can we have blueberry pancakes?"

"We can have anything you want."