Caged (Gold Hockey #11) - Elise Faber Page 0,52

to flip her again, to sink his body over hers, and even with their bottoms between them, it was the best fucking sensation of his life.

He trailed his hand along her side, and she threw her head back, the lines of her throat taut, the tendons in sharp relief, the slope calling to his mouth, and he heeded that call, dragging his lips along her skin, inhaling the scent of strawberries, tasting that sweetness on his tongue.

She moaned, gripped his shoulders, her nails digging in slightly when he reached the part where her neck met the slender curve of her collarbone.

Pausing, he spoke against the delicate divot. “You like that?”

Her eyes slid down, met his, and he expected her to shy away, to pull back, to do . . . something that wasn’t wrapping her legs around his waist, her hips undulating against him, her words and gaze steady when she murmured, “Yes, Ethan. I like that.” Her hand drifted up, cupped his jaw. “I—I—” She faltered for just a moment, and then he watched determination firm the gentle lines of her face. “I like you.”

His cock was hard, aching, but what he felt for this woman was more than just desire and need.

Or perhaps, it was need in a different way.

To just be with her. To understand all the little idiosyncrasies that made Dani Dani.

So much tenderness and curiosity and affection, and while he knew her in many ways already—he knew she was a woman a man kept, knew she was someone who he’d cut out his heart for—he also wanted to know all the little things about her. What made her laugh, what made her sad. The places she wanted to travel. The books that made her cry and long for more. He wanted to glean every tiny detail because she was utterly fascinating. And as much as he couldn’t wait until he knew all those parts of her, he was also looking forward to the journey, to the slow, incremental learning.

Which probably couldn’t happen if she was topless in his hotel bed, but . . .

She was topless. Beneath him. With only leggings and some underwear between them.

And she wanted his mouth on her.

So he’d know her that way before the rest of it.

“I like you, too,” he murmured. “Probably more than I should.” Given how short a time she’d been allowing him in to see the real Dani.

Her lips tipped up. “I don’t think you’re supposed to admit that to the woman you’re on top of.”

He bent, nipped at her bottom lip. “It’s better than liking you less than I should.”

Amusement had been glittering in her eyes, that mouth curved, but his words made her pause, just for a brief moment, the delight flattening out, turning the warmth in those irises cool, unfeeling.

Then she smiled again, wider this time, but it was missing all the warmth, all the delight from before.

“What is it?” he asked, knowing this was one of those things that time hadn’t yet granted him the opportunity to learn.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, fingers gripping his hair. “Kiss me.”

An order.

One he obliged, slanting his mouth across hers, absorbing the wonder of this woman and how she tasted, how she felt, how she made everything inside him realign in a completely different way. But even as he kissed her, he shifted them to the side, tugging her so she was cradled against his chest when they broke apart for air. He couldn’t stop himself from running his hand up and down her spine, bit back a groan when she slipped her palm between them, trailing warm fingers along his abdomen.

“Why’d you stop?” she murmured.

“What did I say?” he asked. “That hurt you?”

“Nothing.” She smiled again, pressed her mouth to his, kissing him deeply, until his lungs were straining for air, until his cock was aching, his fingers trembling, desire hazing his vision, turning the edges red. Until he was wondering why in the fuck he was pushing this, why he wasn’t just getting back to the tumbling and kissing and licking every single inch of her part.

But . . . he needed to know why she’d gotten sad.

Because he didn’t want to be the one who hurt her. Not ever.

“Dani,” he whispered, tearing his lips from hears.

She sighed, closed her eyes. “Please, Ethan.”

That please almost broke him. It was just . . . he had to do the right thing here, had to be himself, and he wasn’t the type of guy