Parental Guidance (Ice Knights #1)(54)

…

Her taste still on his lips, Caleb stood up, looking down at Zara as she came back to herself. The flushed tint of her skin almost camouflaged the riot of freckles covering her body. They were everywhere, from her collarbone to her kneecaps, and he couldn’t wait to kiss each one as he explored her body, but not yet. Right now his cock ached from need and his balls were already drawn up tight.

Zara watched him through hooded eyes, a satisfied smile playing on her lips, as he tore open one of the condoms and rolled it on.

“Stay right where you are.” He came down between her legs, lining himself up with her core.

“So bossy,” she said, but there wasn’t any censure in her blissed-out tone. “I thought that was my role.”

“If I’m gonna make it until I get inside you, it’s gotta be mine.” He slid in her, just the head, and closed his eyes. Even this was good enough to make him suck in a breath through his clenched teeth. “You have me ready to tip over.”

She lifted her hips, changing the angle and taking him deeper. “Then don’t wait.”

Fuck. How in the hell had he gotten this lucky? It was almost too much to process, which made it a damn good thing he didn’t need his brain right now. This thing between them, this pull, he didn’t understand, it was all heart and instinct and knowing this was right. Thrusting forward, he went as deep as he could before pulling back and doing it all again and again. Sweat beaded at the base of his neck as he fought to hold out, to make this last. That wasn’t going to happen, though—it was too good, and he was too close already before he’d even gotten fully inside her. His balls tingled as he buried himself to the hilt one more time and came so hard his vision blacked out.

When he could see again, it was to see her smiling underneath him, and something shifted in his chest. He hadn’t realized it until this moment, but he’d been waiting for Zara Ambrose. No-relationship rule or not, he couldn’t lose her now.





Chapter Sixteen


A few days later, Caleb pulled to a stop outside of a house in Waterbury that looked like one of those that Zara usually drove by and wondered how long it took to vacuum the entire place. It was two stories with a three-car garage and a circular driveway protected by a gate that needed a code. She inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Why had she agreed to go to an Ice Knights team barbecue at Cole Phillips’s house? It wasn’t like they were in a relationship. She didn’t need to meet his friends, but it had seemed like a good idea when he’d shown up at her place this morning with a spur-of-the-moment invitation.

Now? Her stomach flopped around inside her like a fish out of water. Everyone at the barbecue would tower over her, even though she’d put on her I-am-a-badass super-high heels today. The athletes and their model girlfriends would take one look at her with her bright-red hair, gargantuan number of freckles, and clearance-rack clothes before dismissing her.

She was gonna have a panic attack right here in Caleb’s truck as he parked next to a sports car glossed to a high sheen.

“This isn’t a date, right?” she asked for the billionth time since he made her come again this morning and she was so high on happy hormones that she agreed to come. “So if your friends hate me, it doesn’t matter.”

“No, it’s not an official date; it’s a hangout. The Bramble people don’t need to know a thing about it,” Caleb said. “And if my friends hate you, we’re just gonna throw them in the pool.”

“There’s a pool?” Dumb question, girl. It’s a McMansion behind a security gate. Of course there is a pool.

He squeezed her hand with his much bigger one. “They’re good guys; they’re gonna love you.”

Nerves still making her stomach burble, she arranged her face into what she hoped was a not-a-complete-weirdo smile and got out of the truck. Caleb knocked on the front door but didn’t wait for an answer before walking inside. They headed through the house with its rich mahogany hardwood floors and modern furniture that looked like it came out of a spread in Interior Design magazine and toward the kitchen, where all the noise seemed to be coming from.

“Is your place like this?” Because compared to her studio apartment, this was Texas, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with that difference.

Of course, you don’t have to worry about it, since you’re not dating him for real. She mentally smacked herself for that unnecessary bit of reality. The voice in her head could be a real asshole sometimes.

“It’s not as clean. Phillips is a neat freak,” Caleb said, stopping in the hall before they turned into the kitchen. “You’ll have to come over this week. Maybe after the next home game?”

She looked up at the high ceilings and around at the hallway wide enough for one of those kid-driven cars. “I’d be afraid of getting lost in all this space.”

“Just for you, I’ll block off the west wing and east tower,” he said, pulling her closer.

“You’re such a smart-ass.” She punctuated the declaration by lifting herself up onto her tiptoes and kissing him before he could make another rejoinder.

It worked. He dropped one hand to her hips, pulling her close and deepening the kiss. She was just wrapping her arms around his neck when someone cleared his throat behind them.

Because of course—of course—she’d meet someone after he walked in on her making out with her not-date the first time she was invited inside. Way to make a great first impression. She turned around, but Caleb didn’t didn’t remove his reassuring touch.