by Cari Quinn
The sensitive skin on the side of her hand brushed the pan of pork. Sarah hissed in pain, letting fly a string of swear words. Worse yet, she nearly dropped the pan of potatoes in the process.
Both Rob and Sebastian came running in.
Setting the heavy pan on top of the stove, she said, “Burned myself. You were right, my coordination isn’t good.” She turned on the sink and ran cold water over the burned hand, which was already puffing up, the skin angry and mottled. Blinking away tears, she sighed. She couldn’t believe how much it hurt.
Rob closed the oven and Sebastian came over. He took her hand in his, examining the reddening skin. Without releasing her, he crooned in French. She didn’t understand most of the words, but they soothed nonetheless.
“Do you have any aloe vera?” Rob asked, sauntering over for his own inspection. Apparently Sarah’s face betrayed her surprise, since he smirked and replied, “I was in Scouts when I was a kid, all right? No comments from you.” He glared at Sebastian, who was trying without success to keep his expression neutral.
“Hey, I didn’t say anything.”
Sarah nodded. “I sunburn, so I always have aloe vera.” She pulled her hand out of Sebastian’s warm grasp and dried it off.
“You should keep it under the cold water longer.”
“I’m fine, Sebastian. I just want to get dinner on the table.”
“I can do that.” He pushed her hand back under the tap.
“Does the meat need to come out of the oven?” Rob asked.
“No, it’s fine. The aloe is in the master bathroom, right side cabinet under the sink, toward the back on the left.”
“Wow. A specific description if I ever heard one. I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from a genius such as yourself. Okay, be right back.” Rob scampered off, which Sarah had no doubt he’d go to Timbuk-freaking-tu to locate in order to give her and Sebastian time alone—time they did not need and that Sarah didn’t want.
“What can I do?” Sebastian asked. “Please let me do something. I can’t just stand here staring at your hand.”
She jerked her head toward the stove. “Stir the potatoes with the spatula sitting next to the stove.”
He followed her instruction, saying, “This is stupid, Sarah. It’s crazy.” He put the spatula down and moved closer before taking her face in his hands.
Between the pain and the lust coursing through her veins, she was overwhelmed, like she had burned her entire body rather than just her hand.
I’m afraid to even look at him. Good Lord, I’m in trouble.
“Ma belle,” he mumbled.
Her breathing quickened in anticipation of his kiss, recalling the tidal wave of sensation his soft, full lips had unleashed in the past. Sebastian did kiss her then, merely a soft brush from that incredible mouth. Even that set her nerves alight.
Leaning into the kiss, Sarah surrendered to his intoxicating touch as his arms settled around her. It was exhausting to fight against this all-consuming storm of emotions. It was like someone had asked her not to breathe. She couldn’t do it.
As if he sensed her capitulation, Sebastian deepened the kiss, running the tip of his wicked tongue along her top lip. He took her open mouth, his tongue slipping inside in a slow, languid penetration, nearly bringing her to her knees as a river of fire flowed through her. With endless long strokes that reminded Sarah of another kind of treatment she’d welcome, Sebastian continued his erotic torture of her mouth, and all worry about her burn was long forgotten as his lower body rocked into hers and the bulge of his erection pushed into her belly.
Sarah melted into him, caressing the inexplicably soft skin on his neck before sliding her hands into the thick locks of his hair, pulling him closer as tide after tide of sexual urgency stole through her. When he growled into her mouth and then reached between her legs, she finally found the presence of mind to pull away, darting to the stove with her back to him as she panted.
She stiffened when she heard him move toward her again. Thankfully, Rob re-joined them, and Sebastian’s steps stopped. Then, breathing hard, he retreated to a chair near the table. She groaned inwardly, suspecting Rob had been waiting in the living room until they stopped kissing.
Snatching the aloe vera when Rob offered it, she applied the soothing liquid herself, not daring even a glance at either of the guys.
Rob pulled the pork out of the oven and carried it to the table. As he was setting the pan down, his cell phone rang. He left the room to answer it, but soon returned. “That was Rick. That car he’s restoring broke down and I’ve got to go get him.”
The idea of being left alone with Sebastian sent Sarah into a full-blown panic. Rob must have mistook her strangled expression because he said, “I didn’t tell him where I was.”
After Rob made his apologies to her at the door, she said, “Leaving us here alone isn’t a good idea. Can’t Rick get someone else to help him?”
“He already called two other guys.”
“Do you need me to go with you?”
“Wouldn’t it be a little awkward if we showed up together? How would we explain that? No, I think you should stay here and figure out what the hell is going on between you two.” Rob glanced back toward the kitchen, frowning. “Good luck.” With that parting shot he turned away and jogged to his truck.
Sarah closed the door and dropped her forehead against it, grateful for the cold wood on her blazing hot face.
* * *
Sebastian strode into the foyer after he heard Rob’s truck start up. Sarah was facing away from him, clutching the door. She jumped when he spoke. “I did not ask him to set this call up, just so you know. It was all his idea.”
Sarah turned and leaned against the door as if it was the only thing holding her up. For about the millionth time, he wished she would just let him in so they could stop this foolish dance. He wanted to be the one holding her up. She might not admit it, but she knew how this would end.
“I know it wasn’t your idea, but you took advantage of the situation.”
“Can you blame me?” He tried like hell to keep the bitterness out of his voice as he flattened one hand on the door beside her head. When he caressed her cheek with the palm of his other hand, she shuddered, and with a perverse glee he realized she was as off-kilter as him.
“You and I both know damn well we have wanted each other for so long, too long. It’s making Rob crazy. It’s hurting my play. It’s affecting your work. It’s time to stop agonizing about whether it’s right and just do it. Te donner a moi. Right here, right now.”
Sebastian had been lucky enough to get a few tantalizing tastes of her, but they hadn’t even begun to satisfy his need. Every day was more unbearable and eventually everyone would notice, if they hadn’t already. Sarah’s eyes darkened and drifted half-closed, and Sebastian took the opportunity she had most likely unknowingly presented to him, giving her a fiery, open-mouthed kiss.
Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck, arching against him and merging their pelvises. Much as he tried to hold on, his self-control completely unraveled. He needed to be inside her more than he needed his next breath.
Sebastian continued to ply her with kisses as coherent thought went by the wayside. Despite his raging need, he didn’t want to take Sarah against the door for their first time and forced himself to slow down. He broke away, but just to nestle his face and lips into her neck, whispering endearments to her in French as he kissed from her shoulder up to her ear. He licked her skin in the same spot he’d nuzzled at the bar, that sensitive hollow behind the fragile lobe. She moaned when he sucked the skin into his mouth.
Sebastian’s entire body was on edge, every nerve working overtime. He caressed her thigh and then her mound, rubbing insistently. She lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist. He gave a guttural groan as his hand hit the door with a thump and he ground his pelvis into hers in a wordless invitation. Another moan escaped her lips and he was sure he was going to explode soon.
&
nbsp; “I need you, Sarah.”
“We need to eat,” she choked out, pushing him away.
Sebastian shivered at the loss of her warmth, but he ruthlessly tamped his frustration. Getting angry would only make things worse. He took a good look at her as she panted in front of him. “I liked what I was eating. Remember, j’aime manger. I love to eat.” Moving back to her, he took her earlobe into his mouth and sucked hard.
“We shouldn’t… we can’t… oh God…” Her head fell back and Sebastian devoured her again with his lips, teeth, and tongue. “Please, Sebastian, don’t do this.”
I can’t not do this.
“Do you want me to go?” he whispered, his voice rasping as he kissed her collarbone again.
Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.
“Yes! No! God, I don’t know!” She pushed him away again and straightened.
He went to kiss her once more, but stopped when she held up her burned hand, the other hand covering her heaving chest as if to protect herself. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her, so he backed off.
“Please,” she begged. “I love my job. I don’t want to get fired. If I have an affair with one of the players, there’s no way they’ll let me stay once they find out.”
Sebastian considered her words for a moment then frowned. “I don’t think they would fire you for being with me. I think you’re trying to come up with an excuse because you are scared.” His hands clenched into fists at his sides, the force of his need overwhelming everything else. “I’ve wanted to be with you since we met, and I refuse to let this go. I have waited too long and wasted too much time already.”
Sarah nodded, and he was briefly encouraged until she said, “Eat, yes, let’s eat.” Without another word, she brushed past him and fled to the kitchen.
“I am starving,” he admitted as he followed her.
It was obvious he wasn’t going to get anywhere with her right now, so he might as well eat. At least she wasn’t throwing him out. He could work on her through dinner.
There was a lot of food on the table. “But even I can’t eat all this.”
She sat in the chair opposite him. “I’m not sure I believe you, since I’ve seen you eat. Besides, if you recall, I can put away quite a pile of food myself.”
“Ah yes, our first date.” Sebastian replied, giving her a mocking half-smile.
Sarah groaned. “It was not a date.”
“Whatever you say,” Sebastian answered as he started heaping food onto his plate.
Sarah carved the pork and gave a generous serving to him. They ate in silence while a sexual charge hung over the room. Finally, after long moments, Sarah cried, “This is ridiculous. We’re both adults, we can have a mature conversation without needing to tear each other’s clothes off.”
“Speak for yourself,” Sebastian said before shoveling food into his mouth.
“Slow down. You’ll choke. You never eat this fast.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “So you watch me enough to know I do not eat fast? I knew you wanted me.”
“I know you are oftentimes one of the last guys done, yes. We eat together all the time, so of course I’ve noticed things about you. I will not admit to watching you specifically. I watch everyone.”
Sebastian grunted but resumed eating more slowly. When they were done, Sarah put the dishes in the dishwasher and began to clean up the rest of the kitchen.
That won’t do. Kissing is way more fun.
Sebastian came up behind her and pulled her into his chest with one arm, leaning down to place teasing little kisses on her neck. He pulled her hand between them with his other arm and planted it on his hardness. She moaned and her head fell back onto his shoulder.
Yes, ma belle, that’s more like it. “We’ll finish those later,” he whispered. “Right now I’d rather have my dessert.”
Sebastian spun her away from the sink, picked her up, and then set her down on the counter. He pushed her legs apart with his torso and ravaged her mouth again, one hand on the back of her head as the other wrapped around her waist. As he stroked and caressed her, their bodies melded together in an intimate dance.
Sebastian was relentless, using his mouth and hands to stoke her arousal. Needing to get closer to her, his hands crept inside her sweater. Unhooking her bra, he freed her breasts then massaged them, using the rough pads of his thumbs to tease her nipples until they stood erect.
Sarah gasped and his erection twitched. She began to tremble, and he realized with no small measure of wonder that Sarah had come just from his kisses and a few touches to her breasts.
I have to have more. I need to be inside her.
Before he could formulate a plan, she knocked his hands away. “Why do you want me? I’m ten years older than you. You should be out having fun. I mean, God, if we were together, what would we do in ten years when I hit menopause and you’re just reaching your sexual peak?”
Sebastian let out a growl. He was getting tired of arguing with her about whether or not they should be together. “I am not like other guys, Sarah. I don’t need or want to sleep around. I found you. You’re it for me. Merde, I don’t give a damn about the age difference. I just want you. I want to bring you pleasure; to bring both of us pleasure. Je n’aurais jamais te faire du mal. I would never hurt you.”
“You don’t know that.”
He closed his eyes and prayed for self-control. “I want you so bad my entire body aches, but I’m trying to respect your wishes. I want to be with you, now, tonight. I want to make love to you, to make you come apart in my arms.” Sebastian stared at the floor and sighed. “If you can’t, I am not going to force you. But like I said before, this isn’t over.”
His voice rose, cracking with emotion as he continued. “I won’t let the best thing that’s ever happened to me besides my hockey career slip out of my hands. You know me well enough to know I am serious. I am not giving up. Jusqu’à plus tard.” He didn’t bother translating, fleeing the kitchen instead and making tracks out the door.
When he realized he had no way to get home, he shivered inside the parka he’d thankfully remembered to grab on his way out. Sebastian could call Rob, but a taxi might be quicker, especially since he had no idea if Rob was still in the middle of trying to help Rick. Plus, he was freezing. Hopefully there would be a taxi he could get out on Elmwood Avenue.
Chapter Eleven
Miserable from the whole tree debacle and subsequent losing of her sanity, Sarah snuck in a phone call with Marcy the next afternoon when she was finally able to go home. She relayed the story, including how she had awakened in the early morning from another nightmare and had been unable to fall asleep again. If she hadn’t mainlined coffee earlier she was sure complete sentences would be out of her grasp.
“So what you’re telling me is he came to your house, you guys made out for a while, and then you panicked and he left?”
“In a nutshell, yes.”
“Huh. Do you think that’s what triggered the nightmare? I mean, sure, the whole thing upset you, but I’m guessing the sexual stuff with Sebastian wasn’t overly traumatizing.”
Sarah chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “Not hardly. He’s a fabulous kisser and I’m sure he’d be great in bed. I don’t know what brought the stupid nightmare on again.”
“So what was the nightmare about? Was it that same one you’ve been having?”
“More or less. The same trying to run but not being able to, hearing someone behind me, feeling a crushing weight over me. Yeah, real fun stuff.” Tears started rolling down her face, and she brushed them away. She had no time for self-pity.
“Okay, let’s change the subject. Are you sure you’ll lose your job if you pursue this relationship with Sebastian? I mean, you’re both consenting adults.”
“I know, but it’s different. I wouldn’t want people thinking I’m giving him special treatment or that he’s getting something he hasn’t earned. It’s not like he’s an established veteran. Se
bastian is fighting to keep a place on this team and if people believed he had an inside track because he’s dating me, it could be disastrous for both of us. You’ve seen what happens on those TV shows when people at work get involved with each other.”
Marcy laughed. “Yes, and those are TV shows, not real life, Sarah. This is real life. Things like this happen all the time.”
“Not to me they don’t.”
“That’s only because who in their right mind would date another person who worked in the Center of Applied Mathematics?”
Sarah chuckled. “What do you think I should do?”
“You should know me well enough by now to know I won’t answer that. Only you and Sebastian can determine how this will go.”
“So I guess that means I have to talk to him, huh?” Sarah’s head fell back against the fluffy pillows of the couch, and she smiled even though the idea of facing him filled her with both excitement and nervousness.
“It would appear that way.”
“Okay, fine. Now all I need is, say, twenty thousand people around us when I talk to him so I won’t tackle him, and I’ll be all set.”
* * *
After practice Sebastian rushed to Sarah’s house. He was way beyond tired of this back-and-forth. It had to end, even if it meant he and Sarah would never get together. Jon had yelled at him in practice for not having his head in the game and he needed to find some peace of mind before he lost everything he’d been working toward.
When she opened the door, he said, “We need to talk.” His tone brooked no disagreement and Sarah backed away from the door, allowing him entrance. “Ma belle, we need to deal with this, now. After practice today Ben demanded to know what the hell is wrong with me, and that was after Jon yelled at me during the drills.”
He pushed past her into the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. Sarah sat in the chair opposite but remained silent. “Sarah, I snapped at Ben because I’m so out of it. I disrespected my captain. I think the other guys are starting to notice something’s off too. None of them has said anything, but it’s only a matter of time. I can’t go on like this. Put me out of my misery, one way or the other. The mixed signals are confusing me and I can’t handle trying to figure you out anymore. I want you, that much is obvious. But what you want is a mystery.”
