Hallowed Ground (7 page)

The game was fast-paced, even though I knew they’d slowed it down for me. Hell, I wasn’t in any shape to be playing against my college team, let alone NHL players, but damn if I wasn’t going to give it everything I had. I skated until my legs felt like rubber and my breath came in harsh pants.

We played for over an hour, culminating in the one shot I managed to slip past the goalie. Ember cheered from the stands, and right then everything I’d dreamed about for my life came together in a moment of absolute perfection.

The players smacked my back as they left the ice. I thanked them one by one, and they all acted like I had done them a favor by showing up. Chase shook my hand last.

“Stay safe over there, and we’ll do this again when you come back.” He looked over his shoulder at Ember. “The ice is empty for an hour or so if you want to spend a few minutes.”

“Thank you for everything. This has been a dream come true.”

“It’s been our pleasure.” He nodded once and took off for the locker room.

I opened the door to the player’s box as Ember approached with a bag thrown over her shoulder. She stepped inside and swung the bag down. “Huh,” she said, sniffing. “It doesn’t smell nearly as bad in here as I’d always assumed.”

I laughed. “Skates?”

She nodded, unzipping the black bag and taking out her CCMs. “Luke told me I could sneak out there after you were done so I didn’t make an ass out of myself in front of those players.”

“Please, you’d hardly make an ass out of yourself,” I countered as she tied up her skates, pulling them extra tight.

I ditched my helmet and gloves and picked up something entirely more precious. Holding out my hand to December, I opened the door to the ice, and we skated on. “This is amazing!” she said, laughing as she took in the enormity of the arena.

As she spun around to face me, stopping with a precision she hadn’t had a couple of years ago, it hit me—right here, under these lights that played with the colors in her hair—this was exactly what I’d been waiting for, the best moment of my life.

It was about to get even better.

Chapter Seven

Ember

The ice was a little bumpy under my skates, but that was to be expected after a dozen NHL players had dug it up for the last hour or so. Man, I owed Luke big-time. But the look on Josh’s face when he’d realized why we were here, the utter radiance that shined from him as he skated onto the ice when they called his name…they were worth every single second of coordination this week.

Pulling it off had been a miracle, and I couldn’t have been more grateful to give him this. After all, he’d already given me so much.

He skated toward me, and I paused, blown away with everything that was Josh. His hair was sweaty, water dripping down his flushed cheeks from dumping his bottle over his head. It was high school and college all jumbled together to make this magnificent man in front of me. I’d never loved him more.

“I’ve gotten a little better since that first date, huh?” I asked with a flirtatious smile, skating backward just because I could.

“You’ve always been perfect.” That grin was enough to melt me despite the temperature of the ice.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yes. I can’t believe you did that for me.” His eyes were warm, letting his love for me shine.

“It’s your dream.”

He shook his head and took my hands in his much warmer ones. “No. It used to be my dream. And as hard as I worked for it, and as difficult as it was to let go when I got wounded, I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me. This”—he glanced at the empty seats and bright lights—“has been more than I could have ever imagined.”

“I’m glad. You deserve it.”

“The jersey, the game, hearing my name, it was amazing. But what made it perfect was seeing you against the glass like we were in high school again. Remembering every time I told myself not to get close to someone as good as you are. Thinking back to that day in college when I told you I was going to chase you. Feeling the warmth of your hand over mine seeping through the glass during the championship. Recalling every time I wanted to kiss you, hold you, tell you how much I love you. I have that now, and you, December, are what made this perfect, because you are all that matters to me now.”

My heart caught in my throat, but as I leaned up to kiss him, he sank down—skates and all—onto one knee. My pulse ceased, and then pounded through my veins, tears already stinging my eyes as he held up a ring. “Josh,” I whispered.

“You are my dream now, December Howard. You are everything to me. My heart beats for you, my soul is only whole when you’re near. You’re my home, my shelter, my wildest fantasy, and I cannot imagine a future where you’re not mine, because I’m yours in every sense of the word.”

He paused, and we both hung suspended in that moment, where it didn’t matter that we were at center ice, or that he was deploying in three short days. The entire world stopped, ceased rotating because our love demanded it, and we were the only ones who could command it to start again.

“I love you, December. And I know we said we wouldn’t do this because of the deployment, so I’m asking you to do it in spite of it. I’m asking you to
not
marry me right now. Not rush it, not jump because we’re scared of what this next year might bring. I’m asking you now because a love like ours transcends any war, any event, any measure of time. The way I feel about you right now, that’s never going to fade. It’s only going to grow stronger, and I can’t wait to feel how much I love you in ten, twenty, fifty years. So please do me the honor of becoming my wife, because you are the gravity in my world, and while I might be the pilot now, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure it’s your dreams that fly. Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” my heart cried out, echoing through the arena. “Yes, Josh, yes.” The ring blurred in my vision as tears welled in my eyes, and he had it firmly on my left hand before I could blink them away.

“Thank you, God,” he said, his head thrown back in absolute relief. Then he surged to his feet, took my face between his hands, and brought his mouth to mine.

The kiss was perfect, a promise of love that would never wane between us. It was the realization of the dream we’d both fought for, from the moments I’d watched him in high school, through the stolen glances in college, the touches, the way we sent each other up in flames at the first rush of desire.

Then he changed pace, consuming my mouth with the plunge of his tongue, each stroke setting a fire between us. His pads dug into my breasts as he pulled me closer. I relaxed as he lifted me gently, trusting his balance on skates. My fingers dusted over the sweat-soaked strands of his hair, and I didn’t mind. Hell, I wouldn’t have had it any other way, not when we were right where it all started.

“We’d better get out of here before we melt the ice,” I whispered against his lips.

Josh laughed, twirling me so quickly my head spun. No matter what the next year brought, we had this perfect moment to fall back on.

I was going to spend the rest of my life loving Josh Walker, because despite every obstacle that had been thrown in our path, we were making it. I was going to be his wife.

“Turn left here,” I mumbled, looking down at the map on my cell phone, more than a little distracted by the way the diamond on my hand reflected the sunlight from the window.
Engaged!
“That should get us to—” I looked up when Josh turned right. “Uhh, babe? Left.”

“The hotel is right.”

“Indeed it is, but there’s a really cute café I thought you might like for dinner.”

“I have other plans,” he said, his entire focus on the road as he passed the car in front of us.

“Which include?” I asked as he slid between two cars to turn right into our hotel parking lot.

“Room service.” He put the Jeep into park and reached for my seat belt in one smooth motion as he unclicked his own. Josh was kissing me before the belt had time to zip back into the door. His mouth demanded my immediate surrender, and I more than gladly gave it as he pulled me toward him.

My fingers bunched the soft material of his shirt as sparks of desire flared, igniting the fire that had been banked while leaving the rink. His grip on my waist tightened as he deepened the kiss, and I leaned across the console, thankful that it kept me from straddling him in the front seat.

I slid my hands under his beanie to feel the gentle scrape of his newly cut hair against my palms as our mouths melded. He groaned when I rubbed my tongue along his, and the sound cued my already fired-up sex drive that it was go-for-launch. His hand slipped under my shirt, stroking the skin along my rib cage until he palmed one of my breasts with a gentle squeeze.

Then I was the one groaning.

His breath caught, and he ripped his mouth from mine. “Upstairs. Now.”

I scrambled out of the Jeep, and he met me in front, grasping my hand. He intertwined our fingers, and even the small motions of his thumb against my palm sent pulses of want from my fingers to my stomach.

Josh’s face was tight as we walked through the lobby to the elevator. He jabbed the call button and then stared straight ahead at the doors. The only sign I had that he still knew I was here was the constant movement of that thumb against my skin, caressing me with small circles.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and we backed up to let the occupants out. Then we walked in, and the doors shut behind us after Josh pushed the button to our floor. He turned, pressing me into the corner of the elevator, the look in his eyes hot enough to take my breath in a rush. His mouth met mine, open and needy, and I forgot that there were probably security cameras, and guards watching them, or hell, that there was even a world outside this elevator.

I had Josh against me from breast to thigh, setting fire to each of my nerve endings as his hands moved to my rear and lifted me into him—what more could exist?
Holy. Shit.
He was hard against me. One of my legs lifted around his waist, and he pressed his hips against mine, rocking subtly against the inseam of my jeans.

The doors dinged behind us. Josh dropped my leg and broke our kiss. I sucked air into my lungs and stepped to the side as a couple of middle-aged women entered, then moved in front of Josh to shield him from their cursory gazes. Their arched eyebrows and quickly shared glance said they clearly knew what we’d been doing.

“We’re engaged,” Josh said in an all-too-happy voice.

I slowly looked at him, my mouth dropped slightly. We got caught making out in an elevator, and his response was to tell them our marital status?

“Congratulations,” one of the ladies said, stifling a laugh before they both turned around and began discussing their plans for the evening.

Yeah, this wasn’t mortifying. Not in the least.

They chose their floor and the elevator started to carry us up. Undeterred by our company, Josh took hold of my hips and pulled me back against him, then set his lips to the side of my neck in a soundless, openmouthed kiss. I barely held in a moan when he scraped his teeth over my skin, licking away the sting.

The ladies stood ahead of us, lost in conversation, as his mouth moved up to my ear, only to run his tongue along the shell. “I can’t wait to get you naked,” he whispered so quietly I barely heard him. A shiver ran down my spine. “Then I’m going to lick a path from your neck to your breasts, down to your stomach, until I reach that perfect, pink—”

The elevator dinged and the women stepped out, the doors closing behind them.

I turned into Josh’s kiss, biting his lower lip gently. “You’re killing me.”

He slowly shook his head. “Not yet.”

We reached our floor and stumbled toward our room, kissing our way down the hallway. Josh pinned me against the door while he fumbled with our room key, and I took the opportunity to set my mouth to his neck, breathing in his freshly showered scent and a hint of sandalwood. He cursed at the lock as I ran my hands under his shirt, my fingers playing along the lines of his washboard abs, exploring the ridges as if I didn’t know them by heart.

Josh wound his arm around my back so I didn’t fall when the door opened, then lifted me off the ground to carry me through. I turned all of my attention to his mouth, his incredibly soft lips and wicked tongue, kissing him as the door shut behind us. We moved through the suite until we reached the bedroom.

The sunset lit the room with a perfect glow as he lowered me to sit on the bed. I immediately raised his shirt and licked the incredibly sexy fuck-me lines that ran along the edges of his abs to disappear into his jeans.

There were times I could still barely believe that he was mine, that I had the right to kiss him, touch him, make love to him. He was an addiction that I was only too happy to have. Even after being together for years, I couldn’t keep my hands off him, couldn’t get enough.

These next nine months were going to be torture.

The thought made me pause. I looked up at him as his hands wound through my hair. What if something happened to him? What if this was about to be one of the last times I ever had him? I let out a shaky exhale and tried to swallow back the fear that had instantly paralyzed me.

“December?” he asked, his voice low.

“I don’t want to lose you,” I whispered, my voice breaking.

He sank down in front of me and framed my face with his hands. “You will never lose me. It’s impossible. I’m coming home to you. I’m going to marry you.”

I couldn’t stop my lower lip from trembling. How had this month gone by so fast? How were we down to just a few nights together?

“Say it,” he ordered. “Say it out loud.”

“You’re coming home,” I said, willing the words to be true. “We’re getting married.”

“Damn right we are.” He surged up, lifting me by my waist and moving me to the center of the bed before settling his weight over me. He ripped his shirt over his head and threw it to the side, then waited for me to raise my arms so he could do the same for me.

My bra met my shirt on the floor, and then I was skin-to-skin with Josh, letting him warm me even to the depths of my fear.

“I’m going to wipe away every thought from that gorgeous brain of yours. Until we leave this hotel room, your only concern should be about how many orgasms I can wring out of you before we need to order more food. Understand?”

His eyes bored into mine, waiting for my response.

I shoved my fear, my worry, my sadness into a tiny, iron-clad box and then tucked it away in the furthest recesses of my head. There was no way I was letting those emotions cloud my last few days with him.

My hands gripped his ass, and I rolled my hips against his erection. His eyes flared. “Let’s see how many you have in you,” I challenged.

A cocky grin lit his face, and he ran his tongue over his bottom lip. I arched up and sucked his tongue into my mouth. If he was taking my thoughts, then I was consuming his. It was only fair.

I sent my hand under his jeans and into his boxers, running it over the smooth, warm skin of his hip and thigh, until I palmed his hardness and squeezed gently.

“Fuuuuuck,” he growled against my mouth, his breath hitting me in short pants.

As he slid down my body, my hand fell away from him, instantly feeling bereft. Then his lips surrounded the peak of my breast, his tongue laving my hardened nipple, and my hands rose to hold his head instead. He was true to his word in the elevator, licking a path to my other breast, then down the dips and hollow of my stomach.

My jeans came off easily, and Josh breathed through the blue lace of my panties, making my hips buck against him before he drew those down my legs, leaving me bare.

“Yours, too,” I ordered, needing him just as naked, just as exposed. Everything about me felt raw, on edge, my emotions so big, so conflicting that I wasn’t sure anything besides Josh made any sense.

His tattoos rippled as he removed the rest of his clothes, each line of ink reminding me that under his love-tamed exterior, there was the barely restrained bad boy who always surfaced when unleashed in our bedroom.

He never looked away, letting me see the need behind those gorgeous eyes, his undeniable desire for me. Then he leaned forward, parted me with his fingers, and licked me. My eyes fluttered shut, and a moan tumbled free. “I’ve wanted to do that all fucking day,” he said. He knew every line of my body, exactly where to lick, how hard to suck to bring me to the edge. Josh played my body like an instrument, plucking at my nipples, humming at my clit while my head thrashed on the pillow.