Chapter 15

"Don"t you get enough of this place, being here every day?" I asked.

Toby turned off the engine and twisted around in his seat to grin at me. "I never get tired of this place. The day I do, I might as well give up playing hockey. And that ain"t gonna happen anytime soon."

He hopped out of the car and walked around to open my door.

I stepped out and looked over to the ice hockey arena.

In contrast to every other time I"d been here, it was quiet, free of crowds. The car park was empty apart from a couple of other vehicles. A handful of lights were on inside, but it wasn"t lit up everywhere like usual.

"Are we allowed in there when no one else is around?" I asked.

He draped his arm over my shoulders and led me towards a side door. "Would I bring you here if we weren"t?"

"Probably," I said. "You don"t seem like the kind of guy who lets a simple thing like a rule get in your way."

His body rumbled against me as he laughed. "Yeah, well, I"ve been known to bend a rule or two in my time. For a good cause."

"Only for a good cause?" I teased.

"One hundred percent." He pulled a card out of his back pocket and waved it in front of the scanner beside the door. The light on the handle turned green.

He pushed the door open. "Ladies first."

"Thank you, kind sir." I stepped inside.

He took my hand before the door closed behind us and guided me down a corridor and out to the rink. The surrounding stands were in near darkness, but the ice was illuminated by a couple of big overhead lights. It looked otherworldly somehow, glowing, sparkling white.

"Can you skate?" he asked. He gestured toward two pairs of skates that lay on the ground beside the front row of seats.

"In theory," I said. "I mean, I have in the past, but that was a long time ago. Cat and I used to skate together until she decided to take it seriously. I didn"t want to get in her way, you know?"

"Seems to me you"ve spent a lot of time not wanting to get in her way." He pressed me down into a chair and pulled off my shoes before starting to put on my skates.

"That"s what friends do," I said. "We look out for each other."

"What has she done to look out for you?" He pushed a skate onto my foot and started to lace it up.

"She—" I stopped to think. "She"s always there for me when I need to talk."

I couldn"t remember the last time we sat down and had a meaningful conversation. At least, not one that involved any other topic than her boyfriends. She confided in me and Eden a lot when they were still being assholes to her. I hadn't shared any of my problems with her, not recently. I didn"t want to dump anything on her when she was going through so much.

"Seems to me that goes one way." He double checked the laces before pushing the other skate onto my other foot.

"She had a hard year," I argued lamely.

"People go through shit all the time. Doesn"t mean they gotta make it all about themselves." He tied a neat knot and sat beside me to put on his skates.

"She doesn"t try to make it about herself," I said. "Maybe it"s me. I haven"t had anything really big go on in my life recently."

"Nothing you can share, because if you tell her the truth, she might break like some fragile doll," Toby said.

I bristled at that. "You know how complicated that is."

"I know how it doesn"t have to be complicated," he said. "If she"s the friend you say she is, she"ll be cool with whatever you"re doing and whoever you"re doing it with."

"Are you insisting I tell her?" I didn"t like the direction this conversation was taking. "Because you know I can"t do that, not yet. If anything happened to her and her baby?—"

"I"m not insisting on anything," Toby said. "I just happen to think friendships go two ways. All relationships, matter-of-fact. Open communication is the key to all happiness, or some shit. If there's ever anything you need to tell me, don"t hesitate. Don"t think it"ll piss me off. There"s nothing you can say that would make me turn my back on you. Unless you tell me I have to eat my burgers with beetroot from now on." He looked disgusted.

I laughed. "I would never insist anyone eat something they don"t want to. Life is too short for that."

"That"s why I prefer to eat what I want to." He pushed himself to his feet and crouched down in front of me. He placed his hands on my thighs and rubbed his thumbs up and down the insides. "Like you."

A full body shiver went through me. My clit throbbed in response to his touch. "Should we skate first?"

He grinned. "I love that that"s your response. Not that we"re in a public place and I shouldn"t feast on you." He ran the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip. "I"m tempted to skip right to dessert."

Just when I thought he might, he took my hand and helped me to my feet. He didn"t let go while we walked onto the ice. He faced me, held both my hands and started to skate backward, drawing me along with him.

After a few tentative moments, I started to move my feet, just like I had all those years ago. Gradually, he loosened his grip, until finally he let go of one hand and we skated side-by-side, hand in hand.

"And you said you couldn"t skate," he teased.

"I didn"t say I couldn"t, I said it"s been a while," I said.

To my surprise, it felt like I hadn"t stopped. Everything came back to me with ease. I wasn"t ready to take up ice hockey or figure skating, but I could skate around the rink with my boyfriend. Was he that? He made it clear he wasn"t walking away from me anytime soon, but that was all. I reminded myself I hardly knew him. There was plenty of time to figure things out. It didn"t have to be today.

"You look like you were born to skate," he said. "Maybe you shouldn"t have stopped so you could save your friend"s feelings. When was the last time you put yourself first for anything?"

"I—" I thought about that for a minute or two. "Every time I"m with Oliver. If I wasn"t selfish, I"d give him up. But I haven"t. I don"t want to."

"But you will if your friend insists on it," he said. "You"ll walk away from him and break your own heart if she says so."

"It wouldn"t be fair to come between her and her father," I said.

"Is it fair to come between him and you?" Toby asked. "You know what they say, the heart wants what the heart wants. You really gonna ignore what your heart wants because of someone else? I can"t see how anyone wins then. Not you. Not him. Not even her."

"You won"t have to share me with him," I pointed out.

He frowned. "You think I care about that? I don"t. You know why? Because I care about you. Your happiness. Your satisfaction in every way that counts. For that, I put my own ego aside. Let me tell you, that"s no easy feat. My ego is pretty fucking healthy." He grinned.

"I"ve noticed," I said with a laugh. "I don"t think any of this is as simple as you"re making it out to be. It"s not just me either. Oliver doesn"t want to be estranged from his daughter. Or his grandchild. I have to think about him too. What this might do to his relationship with her."

"Was he thinking any of that when he got his dick wet in your glorious pussy?" Toby asked. "He must have known the consequences right from the start. His daughter"s best friend. None of that stopped him."

"It didn"t stop me either," I said. Maybe it should have. I should have thought about what might happen before I was on my knees, my mouth around his cock. This was a mess we both created. We"d have to deal with what came out of it.

"It"s different for you," Toby said. He squeezed my hand while we skated slow circles around the ice. "He"s older and your boss. He had all the power. What would have happened if you said no?"

"I didn"t want to say no," I said.

"But if you had," he pressed. "You would have had to look for a different job. He may not have fired you, but things would have been as awkward as fuck. You know it as well as I do."

"I guess so," I said reluctantly. "But that wasn"t what happened." After a moment I added, "Should I worry about getting involved with you? You"re a famous hockey player. Some would say that gives you power."

He glanced over and grinned. "I guess they might. You and me though, we know better. When it comes to me, and to Cole, you know how to stand up to us. You wouldn"t hesitate to kick us in the nuts."

"Don"t give me a reason to," I said.

"I wouldn"t dream of it." He let go of my hand and turned around, skating backward right in front of me.

"Now you"re just showing off," I said. If I tried that, I"d run into the boards.

He spread his arms out to either side. "What"s the point of having mad skills if you can"t show them off once in a while?"

"Don"t you do that every time you step out on the ice? Surrounded by an arena of adoring fans?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Naw, that"s work. This is different." He skated in a tight circle before coming back to skate in front of me again.

"Looks like showing off to me," I said.

"What can I say? I"ve been practising this for a long time. It feels a bit like walking down the street would be showing off my walking skills, or something like that." He shrugged.

"I guess so," I agreed. "Like me typing would be showing off, when it"s just work. But your skills look better than mine."

"Mine might be more entertaining to some, but yours help save lives," he said. "We"re both awesome, just in different ways."

He skated around to take my hand so we could skate together again. "So you know, this isn"t the only thing I brought you here for. I have something else in mind, but I can"t get the idea of eating you out of my brain." He guided me over to the side of the rink and turned me until my back was pressed against the boards.

The look he gave me made my heart race. His eyes were dark, growing darker by the moment.

I swallowed. "Here?"

He waved a hand around behind his shoulder. "There"s no one else here but us. Except maybe a couple of cleaners. But they have no reason to come here. You, on the other hand, have plenty of reasons to come." He grazed his lips over mine, before claiming my mouth more firmly, more desperate. Like he wanted to eat me alive.

My arms went around his neck. I kissed him back, a clash of teeth and tongues and lips.

He slid his hands up the front of my blue, mohair jumper and white blouse, pinched my nipples through the lace of my bra.

I shivered.

"Cold?" he asked.

"No, that"s just what you do to me." I pressed my palm to his firm stomach before sliding it down to the front of his pants. I cupped his groin, feeling his erection grow under my hand.

"That"s what you do to me," he said with a chuckle. He pressed himself into my hand a few times before taking hold of the top of my leggings and pushing them and my panties down far enough for him to slide his hand between my legs. Eyes on mine, he teased my clit with his fingertips, grazing over my sensitive skin before sliding a finger inside my wet heat.

"I can"t get over the way you feel," he said. "You"re always so wet and ready."

He thrust his fingers into me a couple of times, then pulled them out and sank to his knees. He gently pushed my thighs apart and licked all the way up my seam with the tip of his tongue.

"You taste so good," he said. "So fucking good."

I pressed my palms to the boards behind me, supporting myself so I could open my legs wider. Right now, I didn"t care if the whole team appeared to watch. The only thing that mattered was the way he was devouring my pussy.

He pushed his fingers back inside me as he licked and nibbled my clit.

"Just like that," I said breathlessly. "That feels perfect." The right spot, the right pressure had my orgasm building slowly, but steadily, more and more blood pooling in my core, throbbing and hot.

He went on working me, a little faster and a little deeper, always watching for my response to even the smallest adjustment. When I thought it was exactly perfect, he showed me it could be even better. Who was this guy who knew my body better than I did?

"Toby," I whispered. "I"m going to come."

Without stopping what he was doing, he nodded, his eyes approving.

Keeping my eyes open, I focused on him while my blood pounded harder. Muscles clenched and a wave of bliss washed me away. I ground myself against him, drawing out every spark, every firework that passed through me, right until I came back down.

His mouth shining, Toby stood, not even slightly awkward on his skates. He pushed my leggings down to my ankles and undid his own pants.

"That"s refreshing," he said when the cold air connected with his thick, heated cock.

He turned me around and waited until I grabbed hold of the top of the boards and stuck out my ass. His hands gripping my hips, he guided himself to the entrance of my pussy and pressed inside.

"Ever since I met you, I wanted to fuck you right here, on the ice," he said. "I"m going to fill you up." He pushed in further.

"Yes, please," I said breathlessly. I should have been cold, but his touch kept me warm. That and the way my blood rose again.

"Yes please, what?" he asked.

"I want you to fill me up," I said. "I want you to come inside me."

"That"s exactly what I"m gonna do." He pushed himself the rest of the way in and was still for a few heartbeats before he started to thrust into me. "I"m going to fill you more than you"ve ever been filled before."

I groaned. "Do it. I want every drop."

"It"s all yours, baby." He pounded harder, with firm, even strokes. "Every little bit."

The tips of his fingers pressed into my skin, holding me hard while he slid his cock in and out of my body. "Come with me."

I held onto the boards hard to keep from sliding away while I came again, harder than the first time. I shattered into a thousand pieces before slowly coming back together again.

Toby was right behind me, grinding into me and moaning with his release as he spilled his hot cum into me. "Fuck, yeah. Marley, you"re absolute perfection."

My legs were as wobbly as jelly, but I managed to stay upright as he slid out of me and pulled my panties and leggings back into place.

"Let"s get you cleaned up," he said. "Then I can fill you up again."