Chapter 157: You’re Warm

Reid stared at my hand on his arm, his chest still heaving with residual anger. The heat radiating off his skin was intense, his frozen pine scent spiked with a sharp, defensive edge that hadn’t fully dissipated since his mother stood in this very hallway.

​For a long moment, he didn’t say anything. His eyes searched mine, looking for any sign of hesitation, any flicker of the fear that was currently twisting my stomach into tight knots.

​"Act like normal teammates," he repeated slowly, the words sounding bitter on his tongue. "You mean I have to sit across from my parents, watch them treat you like you’re just some coworker I happen to share a locker room with, and do absolutely nothing?"

​"Yes," I said, my grip on his arm tightening, grounding him. "That is exactly what we have to do. We sit there, we eat their food, we let your mother make her passive-aggressive comments, and we don’t give them a single scrap of evidence to feed their suspicions. If we react, if we get defensive, they will dig. And Reid, I cannot afford to let them start digging."

​He closed his eyes, letting out a long, ragged exhale that sounded more like a growl. His forehead dropped, resting against my shoulder for a brief, heavy second before he pulled back, his hand wrapping over mine where it still rested on his forearm.

​"I hate this," he muttered, his voice raw. "I hate having to pretend. Especially after today. Especially after everything we just went through with Stein."

​"I know," I murmured, my voice softening as I stepped closer, letting him feel my presence without breaking the boundary we had set for the hallway. "I hate it too. But it’s just one dinner. We will get through tomorrow, we will put their minds at ease, and then we will get back to the ice."

​Reid looked at our joined hands, his thumb brushing over my knuckles one last time before he finally nodded, a grim, reluctant acceptance settling over his features.

He put in the password, pushing the heavy door open and gesturing for me to step inside.

​"Fine," he said, his tone dropping into a low, determined rumble as the door clicked shut behind us, finally sealing us away from the rest of the world. "We play their game tomorrow. But tonight... Tonight, I don’t want to hear a single word about my family, the league, or Edward Stein. It’s just going to be me and you, babe."

​I let out a soft, tired laugh, the heavy armor of Captain Evans finally sliding off my shoulders as I kicked off my boots. "Deal."

​Inside the penthouse, the atmosphere was entirely different. The floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the sprawling city, the distant lights twinkling like a cold, silent audience. But in here, under the warm, dim lights of Reid’s living room, the space felt small, private, and entirely ours.

​We didn’t talk about the dinner. We didn’t talk about the media.

​Instead, Reid pulled me onto the deep leather sofa, his massive frame crowding into my space as he wrapped his arms around me from behind, burying his face in the crook of my neck.

His scent—no longer aggressive or panicked—settled into a thick, sweet, and comforting wave of frozen pine that completely chased away the lingering chill of the day.

​I leaned back against his chest, closing my eyes as the steady, rhythmic beat of his heart hummed against my shoulder blades. My body, which had been coiled tight like a spring for hours, finally began to loosen, sinking into the solid heat of him.

​"You’re warm," Reid murmured, his lips brushing against my skin as he spoke, sending a pleasant shiver down my spine.

​"You’re just loud," I retorted softly, though I reached up, my fingers tangling in his messy, blond hair.

​"Loud, but you like it," he whispered, his grip tightening around my waist, pulling me flush against him. "You like it, don’t you?"

"I do," I whispered.

I let my head fall back against his shoulder, letting out a breath that felt like it carried the accumulated weight of the entire day. The warmth of his skin, the low vibrations of his voice against my back, the familiar pine scent wrapping around us—it was too grounding to resist.

​"Kain," Reid whispered, his lips tracing a path up the side of my neck, right over the sensitive skin of my collarbone. His breath was hot and ragged, sending a sudden, electric shiver straight down my spine. "I need you. Right now."

​I didn’t answer with words. I turned in his arms, twisting around on the deep leather cushions of the sofa until I was facing him. I reached up, my hands tangling in his hair, and pulled him down into a deep, desperate kiss.

​It wasn’t gentle. It was filled with all the silent fury, the relief, and the terrifying close-calls of the last twenty-four hours.

Our lips clashed, tongues tangling in a frantic rhythm that matched our racing hearts. Reid groaned into my mouth, his hands instantly sliding under my shirt, his palms hot and slightly rough against my ribs as he pulled me flush against his solid chest.

​"Fuck, you taste so good," he muttered, breaking the kiss for a split second to trail his lips down my jawline, his teeth lightly grazing my neck.

​I gasped, my back arching off the sofa as his hands gripped my hips, lifting me effortlessly to slide me onto his lap.

The friction of our clothes was suddenly entirely too much.

I reached down, blindly tugging at his shirt, wanting to feel the direct heat of his skin against mine. He helped me, tearing the shirt off over his head and tossing it onto the floor, before immediately going to work on my buttons.

​Within minutes, the cool air of the penthouse hit my bare chest, and Reid was drinking up the sight of me shirtless, like it was some sort of aphrodisiac, his chest rising and falling, watching my pulse, watching my nipples.

The chill was instantly scorched away by the burning heat of Reid’s hands. He pushed me back onto the cushions, hovering over me like a shadow, his grey eyes dark, dilated, and entirely consumed by me.

​"Tell me you’re mine," he rasped, his chest heaving as his fingers slid down to the waistband of my trousers. "Say it, Kain."

​"I’m yours," I breathed, my fingers digging into the muscles of his shoulders. "You know I am."

​He didn’t wait. He stripped the rest of our clothes away, his touch frantic yet intensely focused. The scent of frozen pine in the room thickened, mixed with my orchids, turning heavy and sweet, his pheromones responding directly to the quiet flare of my own pheromones.

​Reid held his cock, the monster was throbbing, impatient and ready. I bit my lip slightly as I stared at it, then looked up at his face to watch how he breathed heavily to the point I could almost see the dog from his breath.

Then, he positioned himself between my thighs, but he didn’t rush. He leaned down, pressing his forehead against mine as his hand slid down, his long, calloused fingers finding the tight, slick entrance of my hole.

I was already dripping wet. Why wouldn’t I? The anticipation he built was maddening.

I let out a sharp, trembling gasp, my hands gripping the leather of the sofa as he slid one finger inside my hole and began to slowly work inside me, stretching me with a deliberate, agonizing patience.

​"Relax for me, Cap," Reid whispered, his voice incredibly low and gravelly, his thumb rubbing soothing circles against my inner thigh to ease the tension.

​I couldn’t help the quiet whimpers escaping my throat as he added a second finger, angling them upward to find the exact, sensitive spot that made my head roll back and my vision blur.

​"Reid..." I choked out, my hips instinctively rolling upward, seeking the friction of his touch. My knuckles turned white against his shoulders.

​"I’ve got you," he murmured, his pace quickening as he read the tight, needy trembles of my body. The movement of his fingers inside me was driving me entirely out of my mind.

Every stroke was precise, deep, and unyielding, pushing me closer and closer to the edge until I was completely breathless.

"Oh... no, Reid... I... I’m Cumming, mph...!"

"Cum for me, Cap. It’ll loosen ya," he whispered gravelly.

​A ragged cry broke from my lips as the pressure built to an unbearable peak, my body twisting beneath him before I finally broke, cumming hard against his stomach, my chest rising and falling in shallow, desperate pants.

My vision was spotty from the release.

​Reid let out a low, rough growl of approval, kissing the tears from my temples before pulling his hand away. He didn’t give me a second to fully recover.

He gripped my thighs, draping them over his broad shoulders, and pressed the hot tip of his cock against my opening.

​"Kain, look at me," he commanded, his voice shaking with the effort of holding back.

​I forced my heavy eyelids open, locking my gaze onto his dark, fierce eyes.

"I’m coming in," he growled.