Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

ELENNA

I sank deep into the water of the massive tub. The hot water and bubbles embraced my body, drawing a soft sigh from between my lips.

The stiffness in my muscles gradually eased, strained from pulling the toboggan back up the slope so many times I lost count. The more times we haired down, barely in control, the more Orion seemed to relax as well. By the end, he was almost smiling and laughing. He was, at least, enjoying himself, like the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders and he could live for a while.

No wonder he liked tobogganing so much.

"Dinner won’t be long," he called out. "The neighbour left a few things we can throw in the oven." His words were followed by a clatter of dishes and the opening and closing of the oven.

He peeked into the bathroom. "Hot enough for you?"

"It’s perfect," I said. "It’s a little lonely though."

His left eyebrow twitched up slightly. "Is it now? That sounds neglectful to me. How much trouble would I get in if I neglected you?"

"A lot," I said with a slow nod. "It would be grounds for…leaving lemon juice in your water bottle. Or frogs in your locker."

"Both of those would be very serious," he said. "Much worse than being kicked off the team."

"I wouldn’t joke about you losing your career," I said. "But I will joke about frogs. Or maybe slices of pumpkin. Finley was right, you know, it is a fruit."

"Fin would know." Orion shrugged. "He seems to know all sorts of random shit. I bet he knows what a banana really is."

"I think you might be right." I sank down deeper into the bubbles, my gaze on him as he peeled off his T-shirt. No wonder he was so warm all the time, his body was smoking hot. His chest was broad and muscular, torso sculpted. Perfectly defined abs and flat stomach led down to the V of his hips.

"He’d probably say something corny like suck my banana." He undid the front of his jeans and with almost painful slowness, eased them down his legs.

I laughed, but it was choked with my sudden need to touch him. "That does sound like something he’d say."

Orion stepped out of his jeans and kicked them aside. Dark blue boxers covered his cock, but couldn’t contain how hard he was getting.

I licked my lips.

He knelt down beside the bath and hooked a hand around behind the back of my neck. "Elenna," he said softly.

"Orion."

His lips were almost pressed to mine. "You’re beautiful." He brushed them over the corner of my mouth.

"You’re beautiful," I replied.

"Not as beautiful as you." He kissed me harder, more demanding. His stubble lightly tickled my face, but I deepened the kiss.

I swiped my tongue over his lips and slipped it inside his mouth.

He let his teeth graze over my tongue, biting gently. He slipped one hand under the water and cupped my breast.

"I feel like I’ve waited years to touch you," he whispered. "Lifetimes. I think we knew each other before, a thousand times. Every time, we had to find each other, and we did."

Kissing him was different to kissing Aidan and Finley, but it felt just as much like home. If past lives were a thing, we definitely knew each other. Maybe a thousand times, maybe more. Maybe a million.

We kissed while the smell of food grew stronger and stronger.

We kissed until an alarm in the kitchen dinged.

Reluctantly, he pulled back. "Sounds like dinner is ready. I’ll go and fix it up while you get dry."

I sighed, but watched him stand and disappear out of the room. I climbed out of the bath, quickly rubbed a towel all over myself before pulling on a dark blue, thick dressing gown.

I stepped out of the bathroom as he finished setting up dinner on a plush rug in front of the fire. Plates of what looked like vegetable bake and two glasses of wine.

"This is very romantic." I knelt down beside him before lowering myself to my ass.

"Do me a favour and don’t tell anyone." He handed me a glass of wine. "I have a reputation to maintain. Defenceman, hockey god, asshole, badass. If they knew I served up dinner in front of a roaring fire while dressed only in my boxer shorts, they might think I’ve gone soft."

"I don’t think anyone could accuse you of going soft." I eyed his groin. Definitely not soft. "But your secret’s safe with me." I poked my fork into a piece of potato and bit down on the cheese-covered goodness. It was so tasty my eyes almost rolled back in my head.

"Is that the only secret you want to keep from them?" He clearly had something specific in mind.

I swallowed and looked at him questioningly. "Probably not. Why?"

He shrugged as though it wasn’t a big deal. "People talk. I know polyamory isn’t new, but some people have small minds."

"You don’t want anyone to know?" I wasn’t sure if that stung or not. It might depend on his response.

"I don’t want anyone saying dick things about you. If you didn’t want everyone to know about us…" He shrugged and bit into a piece of broccoli.

"I don’t mind who knows. I have nothing to be ashamed of. If other people have a problem with it, that’s their problem, not mine. Not ours." I frowned. "Unless you want to keep it a secret?"

"Nope," he said immediately. "You’re right, it’s their problem. They can fuck off and keep it to themselves."

"Is that why you punched Spooner?" I asked. "Fin and Aidan told me, but they wouldn’t tell me why. Something about a team disagreement."

"Yeah, that’s all it was." Orion wouldn’t meet my gaze. There was clearly more to it, but I wouldn’t push him.

"Okay," I said lightly. If he wanted me to know, he’d tell me. If I needed to know, Aidan or Finley would have told me already. Wouldn’t they? Maybe they were trying to protect my feelings. Should I be annoyed by that?

I pushed the thought aside. From what Orion implied, Spooner made some remark about my relationships with the guys. If he couldn’t handle it, there was no reason for me to give a shit. Without doubt, Spooner wouldn’t be the last. I wasn’t going to change for some player and their small-minded bullshit. Life was too short for that. I decided to change the subject.

"You used to come up here a lot?" I asked. "As a kid?"

"Every winter." He seemed relieved to talk about something else. "We used to spend hours on the toboggan, or having snowball fights. Or skiing or snowboarding. The first two, mostly, because the other two were expensive. The only reason we got to come here was because my aunt owned the place. We didn’t have to pay to rent anywhere."

"Who owns the other two?" I picked up my wine and took a sip.

"One is owned by Anderson Devlin, the CEO of Devlin Air. The other is owned by Joshua Brantley. Both of them are bigger than this one. And usually empty. I think they own the places for the sake of owning the places. Some people have too much money."

"They certainly have a lot," I agreed. "All six of the Devlin brothers are at least multimillionaires. The Brantley brothers too." What would it be like to have that kind of money? I did okay, but I was no billionaire.

"Yeah, and both of them have tried to buy this place," Orion said. "Even offered double what it’s worth. I refused. My sister would like to sell, but…"

"The place holds too many memories?" I guessed.

"That probably sounds fucking ridiculous." He sipped his own wine. "The memories are in my head, this place is just a place."

"It’s a beautiful place," I said. "And we’re making new memories here right now. They might be able to put a price on that, but I can’t. I’ve never been anywhere like this and I’ve never ridden on toboggan. I’ve never eaten dinner in front of a fireplace, sitting on a rug."

"You’re making me glad I didn’t sell," he said. "In fact, if my sister wants money that much, I’ll offer to buy out her half." He looked thoughtful. "I wonder what the other two would cost."

"I’m thinking a shit ton," I said. I had a fair idea how much money he made. It would be a lot even by his terms. "What would you do with the other two anyway?"

He shrugged. "Make sure we’re never interrupted." He took my empty plate and glass and put them aside with his.

His hands lightly on my shoulders, he kissed me. Gently at first, then more demanding, like he couldn’t get enough.

Neither could I. One taste of his mouth was addictive. I wanted, needed, so much more. His lips were warm, soft, confident. He knew what he was doing, but more than that, he knew doing it with me was right.

It was everything.

If I had any doubts about what might develop between us, they evaporated. Melted like the snow in spring.

He pressed me back to the rug and undid the belt of my robe with one tug. He peeled back one side, then the other, like he was opening the best present he ever got. Wide eyes raked up and down my body, drinking me in like I was fine wine. Or chocolate cake for his dessert.

"So bloody beautiful," he breathed. He traced the tip of his finger around one nipple as though he didn’t quite believe I was real. He leaned down to replace his finger with his tongue. "You even taste good."

"It’s probably the rose scented bath bomb," I said with a small laugh. Mostly, my attention was on how good it felt to have him touch me.

His laugh echoed mine. "It’s definitely you." He closed his mouth around my nipple and sucked a couple of times before moving to the other one.

Slowly, he kissed his way down my body until he reached the junction between my thighs. "I bet you taste good here too." He eased my legs open and lowered his face until his nose tickled my pussy. "You smell good. If I died right now, I’d die in heaven. But I won’t. Not until you come."

Barely touching me, he slid his tongue up my seam, and over my clit.

I shivered with the delicious sensation he sent coursing all the way through me.

"I was right," he said. "You do taste good." He started licking and sucking my clit before sliding a finger inside me.

"You feel good," I said.

"Do you want me to keep doing this?" He lifted his face and looked at me. "Tell me what you want."

His wasn’t the demanding, dominating tone of Aidan, or Finley’s sweeter, ’wanting to please me’ tone. This was Orion asking me to tell him what to do. For me to be the one to dominate him. He was so in control of every other aspect of his life, he preferred to relinquish it in the bedroom. Or on the rug.

This was new to me, but I could take control.

"I want you to keep licking me," I said decisively. "I want your fingers inside me until I come."

He nodded, lowered his face again and went back to licking and sucking while adding a second finger to the first. Then a third. He worked me steadily, eyes on me for my reaction to every swipe, flick and lick.

"Orion…" I groaned. "Just like that, right there." He hit me inside and out in exactly the right places, driving me wilder and wilder. Flying down the slope faster than a red toboggan. There were no trees here, though, just bliss.

I arched my back and came hard, rocking against his face.

When he slid his fingers out of me, I moved to tug off his boxers and toss them aside.

I already knew he was big, but seeing him up this close was something else. His cock was thick, long and heavy. Red and purple with blood. The pulse under his length throbbed with rhythmic need. I wrapped my fingers around his length and pumped a couple of times.

He groaned in response, eyes half closed.

"I want to suck your cock." I lowered my mouth to him, swirled my tongue around his tip. The bead of pre-cum that leaked from his slit tasted sweet and salty. Delicious. I lightly massaged his balls with my fingers, making him harder, tenser.

He tilted his chin back and groaned. "Your mouth is so perfect." His voice was strained.

I took him all the way to the back of my throat and sucked. He thrust into my mouth slowly, his breath coming in ragged pants. I wanted to taste his cum, but I wanted to feel him inside me even more.

I slid my mouth off him. "Do you want to fuck me?" I teased his tip with the edge of my tongue.

"Do you want me to?" His eyes were dark with need, the response right there, even if he didn’t say it out loud.

I didn’t answer in words either. I straddled his hips and lowered myself down onto him. I took his hands in mine and pressed them to my breasts. While he palmed my nipples, I placed my hands on his chest and slid up and down his cock, nice and slow at first. Increasing in speed as he pushed his hips up, thrusting into me.

"Fuck, Elenna. You’re perfect. So bloody tight."

I watched his face. The expression of bliss on his handsome face. The determination to hang on for as long as he could. He was on the edge of coming, but he held himself back until he couldn’t anymore.

"I want you to come inside me," I whispered.

My words made him come completely undone. He thrust into me several more times, grunted as he came hard, spilling himself inside my body.

The friction and sounds he was making made me come for a second time, harder than the first. The entire world disappeared, leaving nothing, but me and him, and a universe of fireworks.

I arched my back and screamed his name so loud my throat hurt. My orgasm went on for approximately an eternity before it finally abated, letting me catch my breath.

Light headed, but satisfied, I slumped down over his chest, content to lie on his warmth with his cock still buried deep inside me.