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On the left side—the side that’s normal. His lips move over my smooth and unblemished skin, eliciting goose bumps. My fingers dig into his chest muscles.
Gage lifts his mouth and my eyes open. I find him staring at me with such intensity, I want to bolt. With his right hand still lightly cupping my head, he slowly—almost reverently—brings up his left hand toward my face. I watch with wide eyes as he tucks the hair on my scarred side behind my ear.
My breath catches, but I don’t tense up. I force myself to have patience to see what he’ll do, inherently trusting this will be okay.
That he will be respectful of me.
Gage’s eyes move from mine to skim across my cheekbones and then down to my jaw and neck. His index finger traces the scarred flesh so gently, I can barely feel it.
And then he dips his head and kisses me right at the corner of my jaw.
That damaged skin doesn’t have the same nerve sensitivity as the rest, and yet I feel the touch of his lips as clearly as I did on the other side. Blood racing and heart slamming, the ache between my legs intensifies. Gage brushes his lips down my neck, and it’s crazy because I know I shouldn’t be feeling it in such exquisite detail, but I do. The softness of his mouth and the rush of his breath over the scars… a tiny moan slips from my mouth.
It’s that sound that does it.
Gage growls, hauls me up with one arm around my back and the other under my ass, and spins me toward the living room. My legs encircle his hips and my arms go around his neck to hold him tight as I kiss him hard.
For a minute, I think he might veer into my room, and I’m not opposed to that. Scared and nervous, but not opposed.
Instead, he goes to my couch, presses one knee down on the cushion, and lowers me to my back. My legs loosen from around his hips as his hands press down into the cushions above my shoulders. He hovers over me, looming large and intense. Gage’s face is flushed, and I don’t have to look down between our bodies to see the erection straining at his pants. I felt it as he was carrying me.
“We need to slow this down a little,” he says.
“But we haven’t done anything,” I point out, breathless.
“We will if you keep kissing me like you just did,” he grumbles and then gives me a mischievous grin. “I’m absolutely not having sex with you tonight, no matter how much you beg me to take your virtue.”
I laugh and reach up to tug playfully at his shirt. Smiling, I whisper, “I want you to know, it’s incredibly sexy that you’re so careful and respectful of me.”
Gage’s expression sobers. “I want you to know you’re not just a hookup. And if we do have sex, I’m not going to disappear on you. It will be meaningful because I’m already invested in you, and I think you’re invested in me too.”
“See,” I say in mock exasperation, “you say things like that, and all it makes me want to do is have sex with you.”
Those full lips curve upward. “How about we cuddle instead?”
It’s relief that I identify as my main emotion at his words. Granted, slight disappointment because his kisses have flared to life a part of me I thought long dead. But I’m also so scared at being rejected at some point—despite trusting Gage’s intentions—that I’m glad he’s slowing things down.
“I’d never pass up a good cuddle,” I reply with a smile.
“Cuddling it is.” Gage hauls me up, turns us on the couch so he’s sitting and then pulls me into his side. “I won’t stay long. We have a big day tomorrow.”
“Big, indeed,” I say with excitement. Because it feels natural to me, I lean my head on his shoulder and wrap my arm around his stomach. His arm around my back gives me a squeeze.
Tomorrow the team flies to Arizona for a game against the Vengeance. The documentary crew will be attending and traveling on the team plane to shoot footage. Tying in Baden’s origin story about when he was the Vengeance backup goalie is paramount to telling his story. I’ve been told they’re going to interview one of the detectives who investigated the assault that left Baden paralyzed as well as the district attorney who prosecuted the men arrested.
This all means great things for me since Brienne has ordered me to be present during all the filming. I get to see my sister and niece, which is a treat since I didn’t think we’d be able to see each other until the season ends.
Moreover, I get to spend more time with Gage.
