Wanna Puck?

by Layla Valentine

  “Exactly,” Joel said, leaning forward earnestly. “That’s why I’m doing this. If I’m going to make it in the league, I need a reputation that doesn’t revolve around stained shirts and calls home to my mother. If I go head-to-head with Dante and win, people will stop screwing with me.”

  “Screwing with you?” Dante asked, crinkling his forehead in confusion. “You were handed your place on the team. If the coach and the manager weren’t best buds with your old man, you never would have made it.”

  I raised my eyebrows. I hadn’t heard this angle before, and I was intrigued. Joel sputtered for a moment, turning red.

  “I wouldn’t have made it if I wasn’t good,” he said through his teeth, glaring at the floor. “My old man prepped me for this from when I was two. Okay? Just because he has connections, doesn’t mean I’m not good enough. It means I’m good enough and lucky.”

  “Luck,” Dante said bitterly. “You think luck is going to earn you a career?”

  “No!” Joel shouted, jumping to his feet. “I think practice, hard work and a team that doesn’t hate me is going to earn me a career. But I can’t practice, can I? Not with you guys, anyway. You’ve made it damn near impossible to exist in the same room as you. What are you scared of, Dante? You’ve had your shot! Ten years of it! How much spotlight do you need?”

  Fury crossed Dante’s face and he tensed to move. I stood up and snapped my fingers.

  “Not in my apartment. Joel, sit down. Dante, relax.”

  They did as I said, to my astonishment, but continued to eye each other from either end of the couch.

  “Joel has a point,” I told Dante. “How is he supposed to learn anything if you keep trying to get him to quit?”

  “I’m not trying to get him to quit,” Dante objected. “I’m trying to make him earn it.”

  “And you think after a year on the team, he still hasn’t earned it?” I asked, raising a dubious brow.

  “No, I don’t,” he insisted.

  “I think you just don’t want to admit that he has,” I said, crossing my arms. “I think you’re dying to see him fail.”

  Dante scoffed. “Why would I want that?”

  “Because if he fails, it means you won’t be outshined when you finally take that retirement they’ve been pushing at you for the last year.”

  I had done a bit of research since our last interview, and it seemed to have paid off; Dante looked away, the challenge in his eyes fading to something more introspective.

  “So, what are the stakes right now? That fight yesterday couldn’t have gone over well.”

  “It’s bad,” Joel said with a wince. “We’re both on notice. If I don’t show up to practice every time, I’m gone. If Dante screws with me, he’s gone. Any more fighting and we’re both gone.”

  “It’s essentially over,” Dante said, shrugging a shoulder.

  “You think fighting is inevitable?” I asked, raising a brow.

  “Inevitable is a strong word,” Dante said, meeting my eyes evenly. “Difficult to avoid is better.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Dante and Joel exchanged a look, the first one which held no animosity. I waited patiently, my entire body tingling the way it does just before I find the break in a story.

  “He thinks I should have asked you out and treated you like a princess,” Joel said, cocking his head at Dante. “Instead of just messing around thirteen times.”

  “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t thirteen,” I said with a laugh.

  “And he seems to think that you aren’t worth the effort,” Dante answered with a smoldering glare.

  “It’s not that, it’s—” Joel began defensively, but I held up a hand.

  “Dante, why do you think I should be treated that way by Joel, specifically?” I asked.

  He shrugged, his ears taking on a red tint. “Because you deserve it,” he said.

  “But why Joel? The way I see it, there are two of you who could afford to slip the Prince Charming boots on.”

  I gazed pointedly at him, and he squirmed.

  “You don’t want me,” he said with an uncomfortable laugh. “You’re right; they’re pushing my retirement. Junior’s got the better part of a decade to wine and dine you in style. Me, I’m…” He shrugged, trailing off.

  Joel’s eyes were bulging at this hint of vulnerability in the all-powerful legend. My heart was softening as all the pieces fell into place.

  Dante was the man I’d met that first night, just wrapped in insecurity and facing an unpredictable future. Even his attitude toward Joel began to make sense. He was desperately thrashing against the inevitable, sucked down by the feeling that he was no longer good enough. At least, that’s how I would have written it, had I been doing a personality exposé on the formidable Dante Drake.

  “Well, now,” I said thoughtfully. “You just went and gave me an idea, Mr. Drake.”

  I crossed to the coffee table and sat down on it between them.

  “You two need to learn how to work together. You, Joel, could benefit from taking some lessons from the master. And Drake…you need to see Joel as something other than your replacement. As his own person, someone you can mentor. You two need to…bond.”

  I put one hand Dante’s knee, and my other on Joel’s.

  “And I think I know how to do it.”

  Chapter 14

  They both began to sputter around questions and excuses and disbelief, but I ignored them. I kissed Joel with the quick, easy passion which came so naturally to him. He responded exactly the way I expected him to, his mind instantly derailed. Dante grew silent and furious beside me, and I laughed as I pulled away from Joel.

  “Don’t be jealous,” I whispered as I held Dante’s face in my hands. “As I said, you’re the master. Joel sure has a lot to learn…” I touched his lips with mine, and flames licked my very soul.

  Dante was hesitant but powerful, following my lead until he overtook it, turning the tables on me until I was a slave to his mouth. I shuddered with pleasure as his tongue tangled with mine, as his strong hand ran up my side until it was wrapped in my hair. He tugged gently, tearing a gasp from my throat.

  He released me, casting a shifty look at Joel. Joel was alternating between excitement and confusion, and I laughed again.

  “Come on,” I said to them as I took their hands in mine. “Show me you can play as a team.”

  “Oh, God, you’re serious,” Joel groaned, his eyes darkening with lust.

  He stood to follow me, but Dante held his seat firmly.

  “I am not having sex with Joel,” he said, slowly and clearly.

  I threw my head back and laughed.

  “You don’t have to,” I said, catching my breath. “Just with me. Working toward a common goal…together.” I bit my lip and gazed at him from under my lashes. “It’ll be a good team-building exercise.”

  “I sense an ulterior motive,” he observed, quirking his lips.

  “Call it my way of apologizing for pitting you two against each other,” I offered. “I owe you one.”

  “Or thirteen,” Dante said with a dry look at Joel.

  “More like seven?” I still couldn’t remember, and shook my head. “That’s a scoreboard for another day. Come on—are you really telling me that you don’t want to equalize?”

  It was a cheap shot, but it worked. Dante lifted his chin and stood, but still resisted when I tried to walk to the bedroom. I glanced at him over my shoulder with a questioning brow.

  “I’m not touching anybody’s dick but my own,” he said firmly.

  “Ditto,” Joel said with a grin.

  “Are we all agreed, then?” I asked with an expression bordering on an eye-roll.

  We were.

  Electricity raced over my skin as I walked to the bedroom, holding two men’s raw sexual energy in my hands.

  Chapter 15

  When the bedroom door closed, everyone froze. My sudden impulse was quickly becoming reality, and I had a moment when I wonde
red if I was completely out of my mind. But then, Dante pressed his hand to the small of my back, guiding me toward my pink duvet-covered bed, and Joel laced his fingers in mine.

  My heart began to race with something far more pleasant than anxiety, and I allowed myself to be pulled and pushed until I was lying on my back, looking up at the two hockey players.

  An instinct halfway between fear and excitement rippled through me like a snake, making me shiver with anticipation. Joel ripped his own clothes off and leapt onto the bed beside me, hooking an arm around my waist and kissing my mouth. I returned the kiss in kind, reflecting that teenage glee which exuded from him.

  I reached for Dante, silently asking him to come closer. His warm hand slid over my knee and up my thigh, instantly filling me with hot, liquid lust. Slowly and meticulously, he touched every inch of skin, traveling up under my skirt. I opened to him, gasping into Joel’s mouth.

  Joel groaned and peeled the straps off of my shoulders, releasing my breasts. Dante touched the wet crease of my panties, shooting mind-bending sensations over my body as Joel’s hungry mouth wrapped around my firm, hard nipple. Moaning with need, I arched against Dante’s hand, only for him to take it away.

  “Don’t stop,” I whimpered huskily.

  He only grinned at me and knelt down at the edge of the bed between my knees. Joel ravaged my breasts with hands and mouth, making me dizzy with desire as Dante slid my panties down my legs. My belly quivered with anticipation.

  Hot breath warmed my most intimate places and I gasped, gripping the sheets with one hand and Joel with the other. He groaned, flicking his tongue over my nipple, as I slid my hand over his throbbing, hard cock.

  Dante’s lips touched me, light as a petal, hot like fire. His tongue slid inside of me, tasting, teasing. I stroked Joel with a feverish need, egging him on until he bruised my tender flesh with forceful, desperate hands and violent kisses. Rough tongue and smooth lips coaxed me to the edge; firm fingers kept me there.

  My legs shook and I groaned with need as Dante teased, torturing me with his calm, steady touch. Joel began to growl, thrusting into my grip. The palpable heat of his lust in my hand, in his breath, in every tense and quaking line of his body fed my own, and when Dante finally plunged his fingers deep inside me, the universe exploded in my head.

  My primal scream was echoed by Joel’s. Dante’s warm, smooth chuckle rippled through the wild atmosphere, like a lifeline to my drifting consciousness. Joel rolled over, momentarily sated, and I curled up to wrap my arms around Dante’s strong neck.

  He met my kiss with his crushing intensity, pressed me deeper into the bed, and came to hover over me. He demanded my mouth and I gave it willingly, tangling myself around him, desperate for more. His hands slid under my skirt to peel my dress from my body. I lay naked under his gaze, basking in the smoldering appreciation beaming from his green eyes.

  He absorbed me with a glance, trailing his eyes over my skin, leaving a tingling excitement in his wake. His hands trailed after, hypnotizing me with the softness of their firm touch. Then his lips—in the hollow of my throat, over the marked skin of my swollen breasts, down my belly to the subtle curve above my hips. From the corner of my eye, I saw Joel watching.

  Yes, grasshopper, I thought in ecstasy as Dante seduced every molecule of my body. Take it all in. Learn from the master.

  Joel was getting excited again, which piqued my own arousal. Dante moved up to take my mouth again as Joel moved down, using his mouth and hands in a decent impression of Dante, igniting my hips and thighs.

  Dante slid his hand down to circle one lazy finger around my clit, just enough to make me moan, then slid it up my belly once more. Joel took the indication for what it was, pressing his lips to the spot, ripping a cry of pleasure from my throat.

  That animal look lit Dante’s eyes, and he stripped out of his clothes. His caramel skin was radiating heat, drawing me in.

  As Joel lapped at me, making my hips rock in time with his tongue, I drew Dante toward my mouth. His hard, velvet-sheathed erection glistened tantalizingly, making my mouth water. I guided him into my mouth, wrapping my lips around him, making him groan with pleasure.

  “Oh, God, baby,” he murmured as he tangled his fingers in my hair.

  It was all the encouragement I needed. He was massive—bigger than anything I had ever had in my mouth—but I wanted him. His taste coated my throat, his smoothness teased my tongue, and my tongue teased right back. Stroking and twisting with both hands, bobbing my head, grinding against Joel’s tongue, I grew lightheaded with desire.

  Licks of flame stroked my body, lips to thighs. Dante seemed almost psychic, sensing my impending release, coaxing it along with a hand playing over my breasts.

  My body was in control now as my brain flooded with thought-numbing pleasure. I gyrated and writhed, achingly close to orgasm, working Dante as if I had been doing it for years. I heard his breath catch, felt Joel moan against my clit, and lost myself in the thundering wave of ecstasy.

  Shaking legs and curling toes launched the sweet release, and every fiber of my being followed. Tingling in the aftermath and desperate to be filled, I released Dante’s throbbing cock and met his darkened eyes.

  “Fuck me?” I gasped, my voice shuddering.

  “Oh, hell yes,” he growled.

  He grabbed my hips and flipped me over on my hands and knees, entering from behind. I shuddered as he filled me, stretching me to my limits, pressing against my aching insides.

  I reached for Joel, pulling him in front of me, taking him in my mouth. They moved in synchronized thrusts, filling both openings fully.

  The rush of pleasure left me lightheaded, giddy, primal. Dante slapped my ass, seasoning the pleasure with a shock of exquisite pain. I slammed my hips back against him, taking him in deeper than ever before.

  Joel’s fists were tangling in my hair, shaking, pulling. He tensed, quivering on the edge, and I released him. I laughed when he whimpered, a sound choked out between moans driven by Dante’s powerful thrusts.

  “Control,” I moaned, gazing up at Joel from beneath my lashes. “Patience.”

  He took a shuddering breath, looked over my head, and nodded. I felt the silent communication between the two men and indulged in a private grin. It was working…for everybody.

  I slid my mouth back over Joel’s length, felt him tremble for a brief second, and heard him catch his breath with incredible control. He had it. I had never been proud of someone while their dick was in my mouth before. It was a bit surreal, but I was enjoying every second of it.

  Dante’s hands were suddenly tighter around my waist. The scent of heightened testosterone spiced the air, and his voice shook with a primal groan. His reaction had an effect on Joel; the tentative control he had developed dissolved, and he was thrusting hard and fast into my throat as he held my head still.

  It was more than I could take. I screamed around him as electricity shot through my body, liquefying in a pulsing heat. Dante met each of my pulses with quick, deep thrusts.

  Concentrated lust poured down my throat and up into me as I shuddered and writhed with the power of my orgasm. Joel tasted like heaven, Dante felt like a god, and I…I was left a trembling puddle of sated need on the bed between them.

  A chorus of sighs and groans echoed through my bedroom as we collapsed, happily exhausted, a man on either side of me.

  Dante, tender as the first time, stroked my back with his warm fingers. Joel grabbed a handful of my ass and just held on, as if he were afraid to fall off the bed. I lay there, just breathing, basking in the waves of pleasure still flowing lazily over my nerves.

  The haze slowly wore off, leaving me relaxed and alert in direct contrast to the men, who were nearly dozing. I kissed them both gently and rose, craving coffee and something sweet.

  Wrapped in a silky robe, I crept to the kitchen to brew the coffee and rummage for sugary goodness. I had barely opened a cupboard, though, when someone knocked on my door.

 
Chapter 16

  Confused, but still floating on idyllic clouds, I peeked through the little hole. I could almost hear the bubble of my good mood pop when I saw who was on the other side. I kept the chain in place and cracked the door open.

  “Yes?”

  “Let me in,” Luis demanded. “You’re in danger!”

  I laughed. I couldn’t help it. With as much muscle as I had in my house right now, danger was the farthest thing from my mind.

  “Stop that! I saw them come in here.” Luis pushed on the door, but the chain held. “Those thugs! They’re hiding in here somewhere; let me in!”

  “Thugs?” I asked, my brows raised. “What did they look like, Luis?”

  “Big! Tattoos all over!”

  I laughed again.

  “First of all, those ‘thugs’ are my friends. Second, how exactly were you planning to protect me?”

  He jutted his pudgy chin out defiantly, forming fists at his sides.

  “You shouldn’t be associating with their kind. You’re better than that. You need a real man.”

  I granted him a slow, dubious, head-to-toe glance. “You know where I can find one?”

  Luis turned red and began to sputter. I closed the door before he could get any recognizable words out, chuckling to myself as I did so.

  I returned to my moment of Zen, curling up in the spot of sunlight on my crescent-shaped loveseat with coffee in one hand and an apple Danish in the other. I could get used to feeling this way.

  I watched birds flutter through the azure sky, black lace against the puffy white cotton clouds of autumn. I allowed my mind to wander through fantasies, mundane and magical alike, and found myself replaying one over and over again.

  Waking up in the morning nestled in Dante’s big, strong arms. Light banter over coffee. Looking out over the city from his cozy, comfortable apartment. Never having to pass Luis in the hallway ever again.

  Joel hovered on the edge of my awareness, skirting my fantasies. What about him? I couldn’t imagine myself living with him. He was still so enraptured with his newfound wealth and freedom that any kind of relationship would be like living in a frat house. He was still young and immature, though not in a negative way. He simply wasn’t done growing yet.