Rebound (Seattle Steelheads #1)(40)

“No, no, of course not. I’m never going to ask a guy to do something he doesn’t like.” He absently ran his palm up and down my arm. “If I was with someone who was adamantly against oral or refused to kiss, we probably wouldn’t be compatible, but anal?” Geoff shrugged. “I can take it or leave it.”

“No oral or kissing?” I wrinkled my nose. “That would be a deal-breaker for me too.”

“Right?” Geoff leaned in and brushed his lips across mine. “What fun is sex without…” He finished the thought with a long, sexy kiss. Yeah, skipping this part would definitely be a deal-breaker. And I couldn’t imagine being in bed with someone and not sucking his dick. Or having him suck mine. Knowing Geoff was perfectly happy without anal? Hell yeah. Jackpot.

By the time he broke that kiss, my heart was racing and my body was definitely getting ideas about some more of that kissing and dick-sucking action. I wasn’t going to be able to move tomorrow, and I didn’t even care.

I broke the kiss and met his gaze. “Listen, um, as long as you’re here, do you, um…” I swallowed. “Do you want to stay tonight?”

Geoff tensed.

“You don’t have to,” I said quickly. “If you don’t want to, we can—”

“No, no, it’s not that.” He ran his hand down my arm, but didn’t meet my gaze. “I do want to.”

I furrowed my brow and waited for him to elaborate.

He took a deep breath and finally looked in my eyes. “Nights with me can be rough. I did four tours in warzones, and that kind of thing… It sticks with you.”

“Nightmares?”

Geoff nodded. “I don’t always get them. Not anymore. But they can be difficult.” He swallowed. “For everyone.”

I laced our fingers together. “Okay. I can deal with that.”

He laughed dryly and pressed a kiss to the backs of my knuckles. “Let’s just say I won’t be offended if you reserve judgment until the first bad night.”

Christ, how bad was he talking about?

Or, I thought with a sinking feeling, how bad had it been to have those nightmares when he lived with his ex? I was kind of afraid to ask.

“We’ll see how it goes,” I whispered. “But I think we’ll be fine.”

Geoff smiled, the expression equal parts uneasy and hopeful. “I guess we’ll see.”

Searching his eyes, I cautiously returned the smile. “So, you’ll stay tonight?”

“We can give it a try tonight.” He slid his arm around me and pulled me in closer. “I’m sure as hell not saying no to more time in bed with you.”

“And your kids… They’re not—”

“They’re at their mom’s tonight,” he murmured against my neck. “I’m all yours.”

“Good.” I kissed him again, and we let the conversation fade away as we wound each other up again.

I didn’t want to hang too much hope on whatever it was Geoff and I were doing, but I could get used to this. Just being around him platonically and feeling safe had been something new and intoxicating. This, though? Oh my God. The sheer novelty of lying in bed with someone and not feeling like conversation was a minefield and sex was a one-sided chore—I could get hooked on that. I could get hooked on actually wanting someone to be here. In my house. In my bed. In my life.

It would be a long time before I stopped jumping whenever someone raised their voice or flinching if they gestured too sharply. Trust would be a foreign language for the foreseeable future.

Tonight, I felt like I’d get there, though. Even if it took a while.

And working up the courage to let down my guard and spend more time with this calm, soft-spoken cop had been a damn good start.

That calm, soft-spoken cop slid his hand down and cupped my ass firmly. “You’re not ready to call it a night and go to sleep yet, are you?”

I rubbed my hard cock against his. “Not even a little.”

His lips curved into a grin against mine as his fingers kneaded my ass cheek. “Didn’t think so.”

*

I wasn’t going to lie—Geoff was addictive.

As time went by, I tried not to think about how little we’d be seeing each other once the season started, because seeing him had definitely become the highlight of my days. When I was distracted during practice, it was because of the man I couldn’t wait to see, not the one I was afraid of. It was a hell of a lot easier to snap out of that train of thought and focus on hockey, that was for sure.

The weirdest thing about being with Geoff was that it was difficult as all hell to carve out time to see each other, but once we were together, it was easy. When the planets aligned and he wasn’t at work or with his kids and I wasn’t at practice, it was just…easy. I hoped to God it stayed that way after the season started. Guess I’d find out soon.

For now, I enjoyed spending as much time with him as I could. Sometimes we had sex. Sometimes we didn’t. Both our jobs took a physical toll, and even if they didn’t, I honestly wouldn’t have minded the evenings we spent lounging on the sofa or lying in my bed watching a movie.

He’d worried about spending the night together, but so far, so good. He’d jolted awake a few times, which always made me jump, and he sometimes murmured in his sleep, but it wasn’t that big a deal. I was getting used to it. I’d even learned that if I curled up against him, he’d settle. Not a big deal.