17. Chris

SEVENTEEN

CHRIS

I slam Benny against the tiled wall of my shower with a bruising kiss. Showering with a man who makes my blood boil with need isn't something I've ever done before, and the newness of it only makes the anticipation sharper. More... insistent.

"Let's get you ready, baby. Turn around." He spins so fast that I worry he'll slip and fall, but he somehow finds his balance and then that perfect bubble butt is right in front of me. "So fucking perfect." And now I know why, I think to myself, all that hockey training or whatever it is they call it. I reach for the shower gel and don't waste any time turning it into suds with my hands, then spreading it all over Benny's back. I get to his ass and spend considerably more time there.

I circle the rim of his hole so it's soft and relaxed before I reach for the lube I brought in here with us and start to loosen him up.

I have an idea, something I pictured doing with Benny since the first time we met, and today I'm making it a reality. " Just give me your fingers," he demands when I apparently take too long.

I smirk even though he can't see me. I fucking love how bossy he is. It makes me feel like he's as desperate for me as I am for him. It's a heady feeling, and not something I'm going to stop wanting any time soon.

I kiss his shoulders and move up his neck slowly, wanting to cover every single inch with my lips, as I shield my hand from the water spray with my body and coat one finger with lube. When he groans impatiently again, I breach him with just the tip of my finger. I know he's going to whine and complain, but I plan to take this very slowly.

I spend a few minutes moving my finger slowly inside him, and once it's completely inside him, I pull it out and kneel on the floor behind him to cover his legs with the shower gel. As predicted, Benny's not a fan of this, but I shut him up with a rough swipe of my tongue over his hole.

I repeat that pattern for the next half an hour. Giving him something he wants then taking it away, over and over and over.

I tell him it's his turn to wash me now, and I'm pleasantly surprised when he does so immediately and without complaint. He washes me so fast that I can't help laughing. It's a freaking miracle that I can laugh with him while we're both so hard it hurts, so horny and needy that fucking should be the only thing we're capable of thinking about, but it's not.

Because being together is more than just the literal fucking. At least it is with Benny.

"C'mon, baby," I speak right to his mouth. "Let's get dried off. "

It seems he's finally out of words, because he just follows me and stares at me as I wipe him down with one of my fluffy towels.

I love my bathroom. I had a lot of specific things in mind when I was having it designed, just like I was very particular about my closet. I don't consider myself especially vain, but I do like things organized, so I have an island in my closet that's full of drawers with belts, ties, socks, briefs, all that stuff. It's toward the back of the closet—there's a couple of feet of space behind it—where I can stand and look at myself in the full-length mirror that covers almost the whole back wall of the closet.

So I lead Benny to the right side of the island, and stop and turn him. "Put your hands on the island, baby." I'm surprised again that he does what I say without any comment at all, but his jaw is set, and I'm pretty sure he's only silent because he's doing his best to keep it together. His cock is still standing hard in front of him. Just for the hell of it, I reach around him and pump him, torturously slow and soft.

"Chris," he says in a warning tone that really sounds more like the whines I like so much.

"That's right, baby. I want you to whine for me."

"Fuck," he spits out. "Just get inside me already."

"In a minute. Bend over a little more." I direct his legs back. Perfect . I step to stand behind him. "Now, look to your right."

" Jesus, " he moans. "That's so fucking hot."

"We are," I correct him. And we are. My hard dick pressed against his spectacular ass, our legs lined up and his long, muscular back spread before me. I place a hand on his lower back and slowly trace his spine until I get to his neck. " I'm going to line us up, baby, and you're gonna use my dick to get off, okay?"

"O-okay," he says in a high-pitched, needy voice.

"You can take me however you want, baby Benny. I'm yours to use," I whisper. I wrap my fingers around the side of his neck and smirk at how rapid his breaths get. Then I reach down with my free hand and moan at the sight. His hole, soft and ready for me, and the tip of my dick leaking with precome. I shuffle just a little bit closer, and thrust just a little to get the tip over the tight rim.

"Now?" Benny asks, clearly out of patience.

"Yes, baby. Now."

"Fucking finally." He thrusts his ass back hard until I'm completely engulfed by him.

I moan in surprise, but then once more when he speaks, I can't help laughing with him. He straightens his torso until his back is flush with my still-damp chest and reaches up for my hand. He pulls my hand until it rests against his Adam's apple and groans. "Now choke me while I fuck myself, handsome."

I almost come just from hearing the words, but I do as he says and press my fingers tighter than I ever have to the sides of his throat.

His head falls back against my right shoulder, and it lolls to the side so he can see our reflection in the mirror. I take advantage and bring my mouth to his ear. I bite his earlobe then soothe the sting with my tongue. "Go ahead, baby," I whisper. "Make us both feel good."

Then I press my palm just a little more against the front of his neck and that seems to do it. He moves his hips forward and back, hard and fast. Over and over .

The tight heat inside him has me on edge almost immediately and my hand twitches with the need to hold on to something. That only spurs Benny on to move more frantically. He moans louder, longer. "Chris, more, please more."

"Color, baby," I demand.

"Green, green, green. So fucking green."

"Okay, then." I squeeze tighter.

"Yes!" he shouts. "More, please. I'm almost there."

"Me too, baby." I do as he says and even though I told him he could use me, I can't just stand still anymore, I need to move. To move inside him. I pump my hips hard, and the surprise has Benny bending over. It brings more pressure to his throat and another shout of pleasure out of him.

"Yes, yes, yes," he moans and then he's leaning further down, putting more pressure on his neck himself and letting me take over our movements.

"Benny," I warn. I intend to get the whole warning out, but the next second he tightens around me to the point that I see stars in the back of my brain.

"Fill me up, Chris." He comes hands free all over the side of the island and I spill inside him. There's no way to resist him when he talks to me like that.

We stay like that, breathing hard for a few minutes, until Benny starts laughing. I slide my hand away from his neck and down his back again.

"What is it?" I ask with a laugh in my voice only from hearing him laugh.

"I just had a thought. I think that my neck is almost better than my prostate."

I snort. "I think it actually might be."

"I think that makes me lucky, honestly. Also, we're fucking in front of this mirror every day," he declares as he rises and slowly lets me slip out of him. I wince a little at the sensitivity, but I'm over it quickly.

"Let me get something to clean you up."

"And this." He snorts, and points at where his come landed.

"And that," I say with a smile and lean in for a kiss. Nothing could stop me from lingering. I need to feel him closer. Somehow, closer than we were just a few minutes ago. I don't know how that's possible, but I'll keep trying until I find a way. I come up for air but rest my forehead on his for a moment. I just need a moment to... process.

Yeah, process is a good word.

"We're starting training camp soon," Benny says between bites. His stomach grumbled like an angry beast about five seconds after we'd finished cleaning up, and he shrugged and blamed his hockey player metabolism, so I brought him to my favorite Chinese restaurant.

"What does that mean exactly?" I wonder.

"Just means lots of hours in the ice, the gym, watching tape."

I can't say why, but the new information bums me out. I look at him for a moment and realize why. "So we're not going to be able to see each other much during the day, huh?"

"No." He frowns. "And you're still working almost every night. "

"Damn," I say. How am I going to spend time with Benny when our jobs have opposite hours?

"You can sneak into my bed every night after work," Benny says, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

"But you'll need to be rested to be in top shape, baby," I counter. I'm not gonna keep him up at all hours and make him live tired every day.

"Ugh." He groans and drops his fork next to his plater. I smile, looking at it. I think it's adorable that he doesn't know how to use chopsticks. I offered to teach him, but he shook his head and told me it's a lost cause.

"You have to have lunch hours, right?" I wonder.

"Yeah, but we normally eat together at the rink."

Well there goes my plan. My phone rings before I can think of what to say, and I see it's my brother. "It's my brother, is it okay if I...?" I gesture to it and Benny nods vigorously.

"Of course, go ahead."

I stand and lean in for a kiss before walking out of the little restaurant. "Hey," I answer once I'm outside.

"I've been dying over here and you don't tell me anything." I hear the grumble in his voice. "Did you go see him? It's been almost two days."

"Oh, actually..." How do I explain it all?

"What? What happened?" he demands.

"Benny came to the club last night. We patched things up this morning."

"Seriously? That's awesome, bro!" And I smile because I hear the genuine happiness for me in his tone.

"Yeah, it was pretty spectacular. I'll tell you all about it soon, okay? "

"Are you there with him now?"

"We're having a late lunch, but I stepped outside."

"Have you told him about Mom and Dad?"

My whole body tenses at the question.

"No," I reply shortly.

"You will," he says with a confidence I don't like. "And when you do, you can also tell him all about me, okay?" I open my mouth but nothing comes out. How can he know? He keeps talking before I can ask. "When can I meet him?"

"Uhh, I don't know if we're there yet."

"Well you patched things up and you're in a relationship now, right? Or what did you mean by patch things up?"

"Yeah we're..." I trail off. I don't know if I can say it.

"What?" he shouts now.

"Boyfriends." I choke out the word.

My brother whoops and cheers on the other side of the call. "Yes! I'm so happy for you. Well, now I really do need to meet him."

"I don't know about that. He heard all about you from Jules and Bear and I don't know if he's ready for that yet."

"Ugh, what did those assholes say about me? I'm a delightful person, Chris."

I laugh at him. "No, you're intimidating," I correct him. "And he actually asked me if he's supposed to call you Daddy Jake like his friends do." I don't know how I manage to get the words out, they taste like garbage.

He's the one laughing then. "Man, he must be a character." Some more laughter while I wait for him to get it out of his system. "Okay, but can I please meet him soon?" he begs, I like it when my brother wants something I have the power to give and deny, that's just the way things work with siblings.

"I don't know..." I'm deliberately hedging. "We'll have to see. But I'll see you on Sunday since we didn't catch up yesterday, okay?"

"Chris," he says in a warning tone. Man, he knows me too well. I am about to hang up on him.

"Need to get back to lunch now, bye." I hear him shout something as I pull my phone away from my ear and end the call with a huge smile on my face.

I find out Benny's also on the phone when I get back to the table, but he has it on speakerphone. The restaurant's empty, so he's not bothering anyone.

It surprises me when I hear a woman's voice. "Seriously, Benny? A Celine song? And Sterling? You couldn't do anything less low-key to get yourself a boyfriend?" She sounds mad, but also not. Weird.

"Gab," he says but she doesn't let him get another word in.

"No, don't Gab me! I'm Miss Darnell to you right now. You get me?" Again she doesn't let him answer even though I see he was about to. "There are videos everywhere Benny! Every outlet's been calling all day for comments about it. What the hell am I supposed to tell them? That all my players are romantics at heart or what? This has nothing to do with hockey and I don't like it." There's a beat of silence and then. "Well? What do you have to say?"

"Oh, I get to talk now, Miss Darnell?" he says with a lot of sass, but smiles and goes back to eating.

"Yes, you do," she says, just primly enough to come through her voice .

Benny bursts out laughing. "I'm sorry that I've been spending my time in the off season enjoying myself, Miss Darnell."

Oh damn, isn't that the woman who owns all the sports teams in Vegas? What the hell is Benny doing talking to her like that?

"You're such a smartass Benjamin," she snaps at him.

"Oh please, this coming from the biggest smartass on the planet."

"You bet I am," she says, sounding proud over that.

"Seriously, I'm sorry they keep calling for a comment from you guys, but if you want to tell them anything, tell them that... that it's my time in the off season, and I get to do whatever I want since I'm not hurting anyone or doing anything illegal."

A loud breath comes over the speaker and Benny finally looks up at me and smiles, then goes back to eating.

"Yeah," she says, resigned. "I know. I'm sorry for shouting, Benny."

"Nothing to apologize for, Miss Darnell," he says cheekily.

"Oh, cut it out," she snaps at him again.

Benny bursts out laughing. "You started it," he sing-songs at her.

"So you have a boyfriend now, huh? You don't waste any time."

"Ugh, Gab. Yes I have a boyfriend and he can hear you right now," he warns.

"Oh, really? "

"Yes, and he heard how mean you were to me."

"Well, I'll have to meet this man to show him how amazing and kind and smart I am. We wouldn't want him to have the wrong idea."

Benny snorts and shakes his head. "That would be bad."

"When am I meeting him?" she demands.

I shake my head at Benny. I don't want him to feel obligated to do anything, and also, this lady sounds scary and though I'm dying to meet her, I'm also more than a little bit terrified. He only smiles at me and this time blows me a kiss.

"At the preseason event next month, okay?"

"Next month?" she demands, sounding outraged.

"Yes, I would like to spend some time with him before I throw him to the sharks." Benny's deadpan voice makes me wonder how this relationship came to be between them. I don't think it's normal anywhere in the world for a twenty-two-year-old to refer to his boss as a shark—to her face.

But she only laughs some more until Benny cuts her off.

"I know you only pretended to be mad at me about the videos because you wanted to get the full scoop of what actually happened, but you're not getting it out of me, so why don't you call Jules and ask him, huh? I want to finish my lunch."

"You're no fun," she grumbles. "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," he agrees with a smile, then ends the call and looks up at me like... that was all normal. Is that normal?

"What—" I start to ask, but his phone starts vibrating on the table.

"Ugh, why can't the universe just let me eat?" he demands with a groan. He looks apologetically at me and answers. "I'm busy, dumbass," he says. I'm frowning again but then I hear Bates's voice and relax.

"Yeah, I figured you'd be fucking like bunnies all day, I'm actually surprised you answered. Just wanted to let you know I told this to Chris last night too, but I want to get this done sooner rather than later. Caroline wants to meet you. To get to know you better. So when can you two come over for dinner?"

"I think dinner's gonna be hard since Chris has to work, but lunch on..." He looks at me and I think about it for a second. Then mouth Saturday at him. "Saturday?"

"Yes, that works. I'll send you the time later when Caroline tells me what she wants."

"Awesome, bye." He hangs up without waiting for Bates to speak.

"I feel like a superstar," I tell him as I pick up my chopsticks again. "Everyone wants to meet me," I boast and waggle my eyebrows at him. His blue eyes shine with happiness.

"Of course they do. You're my boyfriend and I'm awesome, so it's obvious that you're gonna be at least cool."

I shake my head at him. "That ego of yours, baby."

"What?" he demands.

"It's very . . . healthy ," I settle on.

He bursts out laughing.

We're back at my place when I think about the perfect idea for a date with Benny. So now I have to fit that into his very busy calendar too.

"Do you have a lot of training or whatever it's called on Monday?" I ask.

"No, we have this Monday free, why? "

"'Cause I want to take you on a date," I say and take a good hold of his hips.

"Really?" he asks with childlike excitement.

"Yup," I confirm and nod, then kiss him softly.

"I have a light training tomorrow and you have to work, then on Saturday we're having lunch with Bates and Caroline, then Sunday you're eating with your brother, and Monday our date?"

"That's about right, baby."

"Can you stay with me tonight and tomorrow? And the days when you're working, basically?" I open my mouth to remind him about letting him sleep but he shakes his head. "I don't mean to have sex. Just to sleep with you. Tuesday night, when we didn't sleep next to each other," he whispers and looks down. "I didn't like it."

"I didn't either, baby. But are you sure? I don't want you to be tired on your job."

"I'm sure," he nods. "If I don't get to see you at all during the day, then at least I want to wake up next to you."

"Okay, baby. You got it, then."

"Awesome, give me your phone. I'll set it up so you can get in with it."

That... sounds like he's giving me a key to his place.

Oh, shit. He's giving me a key to his place.

Okay, deep breath, it's not a bad thing, just breathe and smile and give him your phone.

I do as the voice inside my head says and I'm happy to see Benny can't tell I'm slightly freaking out on the inside.

This is something I can deal with some other time.