Check My Heart

by Christi Barth

  But it was foolish to make an assumption like that.

  Almost as foolish as imagining that she could just turn off all the feelings he stirred up in her.

  “Of course I do,” Lisette breathed out on a sigh, letting go of all the churning thoughts in her head.

  “Good.”

  Kurt wrapped her hand around his arm, then covered it with his own wide palm. He pushed off smoothly. Lisette’s start was more of a jerk. But quickly she fell into his rhythm, because Kurt kept his strides shorter, to match her own. He kept the pace slow for her. And she was able to just relax. Not be consumed with worry about keeping her balance, because she knew Kurt would keep her upright.

  Skating with him was like dancing. Graceful. Close. Intimate. Utterly romantic. There was even music playing. It was more of a pounding bass with a driving, sexy beat, but it still gave them a soundtrack. One she’d always remember.

  After he left.

  After he walked away because the heat of conquest had passed and he still looked at her and thought about the heartbreak of losing Jasper.

  But she’d always have this night, tucked away in her memories. That would be enough. Or rather, she’d accept that it had to be enough.

  “Ready to have some fun?”

  “Sure.” Because Lisette had already promised herself that she’d say yes to everything tonight.

  Kurt moved to hold both of her hands. Then their forward motion turned into more of a circle. Both arms outstretched, he planted his skates and spun her in a large arc. Lisette was tempted to throw back her head and close her eyes—although she didn’t, so as not to face-plant in front of him. Arching her back a little, leaning away from him, made it even more dangerous. More fun. She spun. The room spun. It was like flying. It was magical. It was all thanks to Kurt.

  “Show me something,” she demanded.

  “Like what?”

  “A sexy skating move.”

  “That’s not super specific. I thought all my moves made you weak in the knees,” he teased with a wickedly sexy grin that absolutely melted her insides into a puddle of lust.

  Wasn’t that ever the truth? “You know what I mean.”

  A few more slow, wide circles, and then he left her propped at the rail. “You have to promise never to tell anyone what you’re about to see.”

  “Okay.”

  In a blur of speed, Kurt raced to the opposite end of the rink. Suddenly, he lifted up in the air and did a split that had his fingers touching the tips of his skates. As he landed, he shot a cocky grin over his shoulder at Lisette. She was almost too busy forgetting to breathe to respond with a little wave. Because holy crap, that was sexy. Or at least, she thought it was. Until he launched himself into a backflip that had to be fifty percent sheer grit and the other half sheer muscles.

  Lisette clapped wildly. He skated back toward her in a series of short, airborne pirouettes. Finally, right in front of her, he dropped into a seated position with one leg out in front. He spun. Fast. Faster still. Then, like a column of water, he rose and continued into a spin so fast his features blurred.

  “You can really skate!” she said in amazement.

  “That’s why I get the big bucks.”

  Smartass. “No, I mean you can figure skate.”

  Kurt held a finger to her lips. “Like I said, don’t tell anyone. Not a soul.”

  “But why not?”

  “I’d never hear the end of it. There’s a rivalry between figure and hockey skaters. Not a lot of love or respect lost between the two.”

  “Then how did you learn to do it?”

  “I started out in figure skating as a kid. My mom was a coach, and I always tagged along with her when I was little. A hockey coach spotted me on the ice one day and co-opted me. I keep up the moves, though. When nobody’s around. It helps my game. Works the core, gives me better flexibility to dart between players.” Pushing off on one foot, he skated backward with a leg raised behind him in a perfect arabesque.

  That was what made his skating so graceful. The reason behind some of his seemingly impossible spins around an opposing center and the explanation for how he managed to leap over a downed teammate and keep going. “You took a big risk in showing me. Thank you.”

  “Well, I had an ulterior motive. You asked to see something sexy.” He held his hands out down at his sides. “So did I succeed? In making your panties wet?”

  “Yes.”

  He came closer in lazy, diagonal swoops. “You don’t think I’m taking your word for it, do you? I’m no chump.” Kurt pulled her away from the rail.

  Lisette had no clue what to expect. Certainly not the way he grabbed her beneath her arms and tossed her up in the air. As she came back down, he caught her waist and tossed her up again. Lisette was grinning and laughing too hard to be scared.

  No, that wasn’t it at all. She wasn’t scared because she knew, she knew, that no matter what, Kurt would catch her. Knew that he would put her safety, her desires, before his own. He was that good, that selfless. So she just let go and enjoyed the wholly unfamiliar sensations.

  Now they were making their way to the opposite end of the ice. Kurt kept her suspended above his head. Lisette could barely reach his shoulders to brace herself. Another bounce into the air, and this time one hand stayed in the small of her back like an anchor. The other went right between her legs to hold her high above the ice.

  It was incredible.

  It was also almost orgasmic.

  When he lowered her, it was by sliding her body inch by inch down his. The amount of strength it must’ve taken to go so slowly made her mouth water. It hardened her nipples to aching peaks. As she rubbed along his chest to land against the rock hardness below his waist, it was clear that Kurt was turned on, too.

  “Wrap your legs around me.”

  Lisette complied, careful not to let her blades touch his back.

  “Now take off your top.”

  Reason would say to hesitate, to at least wonder about the possibility of someone walking in on them.

  Reason didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but Kurt.

  A little awkwardly—and engaging her abs more than she did in yoga class—Lisette pulled off her long-sleeved pink Henley. Underneath she wore a matching dusky rose lace bra. Just lace. Not lined at all, so her nipples were probably visible through the whorls of the design.

  “Beautiful,” Kurt said hoarsely. “That’s exactly what I wanted. To have a picture in my mind of you here, on my home ice. Like an unwrapped present. Uncovered. Just for me.”

  Lisette was no prude. She enjoyed sex. But she still didn’t know where she found the boldness, with the music pumping and the colored lights flashing overhead, to reach back and unhook her bra. “All for you,” she said as she flung it to the edge of the rink.

  Kurt’s smooth glide across the ice stuttered. And she felt a surge of feminine pride at causing it.

  “Holy hell, that’s hot.” His fingers tightened on her butt. Dug in as though trying to burrow beneath her jeans. “Baby, I won’t be able to keep skating.”

  “That’s okay.” Her voice dropped to a near-purr. She threw all her feminine wiles into it. Because after a lifetime of taking care of other people, Lisette trusted Kurt to take care of her tonight. “We can move on to other sexy things that you’re good at.”

  Their motion stopped completely as he threw back his head and laughed. Hard. With the unfettered joy of being in the moment. Lisette felt a surge of pride and happiness at causing that, too.

  He took them to the rail with a few short, fast pushes. Then he just looked at her. The quiet filled up between them for a couple of breaths. “Are you sure you’re ready? That you want this?”

  Lisette loved that he checked in with her. Because, oh, yes. She was sure. There was only one thing that could stop her from having sex with Kurt Lundquist tonight. “I want it...if you do, too.”

  “I’ve wanted this, thought about it almost nonstop since I saw you in the hallway by the loc
ker rooms.”

  When he’d appeared in front of her like a sex-god mirage, half naked and sweaty and all man. Funny, she’d wanted this since that moment, too. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  Kurt set her on the rail. He ripped at her laces with a speed and ferocity that surprised a giggle out of her. As her skates clattered to the ice, he growled, “I can’t wait. I’ve got to have those luscious tits in my mouth. Right now.”

  One big hand clamped onto her left breast, squeezing and rubbing in a way that spiked her arousal. At least, she thought it did, until two seconds later when his mouth latched on to her right breast. He sucked as much of it in as he could. Then he circled her nipple with his tongue.

  That was what a spike in arousal felt like. Like her head would explode from the fire searing up and down all the pathways of nerves in her entire body. Like lava laced with rum ran through her veins. Like the world would end if Kurt didn’t get inside her before she gulped in her next breath.

  “Do that again,” she demanded.

  “What—this?” He switched sides and repeated the sucking goodness on her left breast. “Or do you want this instead?” And then he bit down. Gently, but hard enough to spiral tugs of sensation straight down to where moisture pooled between her thighs. When he added a tug on her nipple and mirrored the action on the other side with a strong pinch of his thumb and forefinger, that was when she screamed.

  His head came up swiftly. “God, I love that. I love hearing you respond to me, Lisette. Be as loud as you want. All it’ll do is make my dick harder for you.”

  It already pressed against her inner thigh like a rod of titanium. But heck, if he was going to offer her more, she’d take it. She’d take everything he was willing to give. Lisette nudged her hips forward, to line him up tighter against the aching pulse at her core. “Bring it,” she sassed.

  At the same time, she scrabbled at the hem of his shirt. So what if they’d both put on long sleeves to combat the chill in the air? They were generating enough heat between them to melt this entire place into nothing more than a wading pool.

  It took three tries to get the shirt over Kurt’s head. Mostly because he kept doing things with his tongue that made her eyes roll back and her fingers go limp. Lisette’s reward was all of his smooth, tanned skin over bunched muscles.

  She could pet him all night and all day. Just run her palms over the corded ridges in his shoulders. Following the vee from his ribs down to a waist that led to an ass so tight it could be a springboard. Lisette wanted to spring off of it. She wanted to trace patterns on his skin. To discover if he was ticklish. She wanted to strip them both bare and just press against him. To feel the overwhelming masculinity of more than six feet of ripped pro athlete pressing her into the mattress.

  “Hang on for a second.” Kurt waited until she gripped the wooden rail and then dug into his back pocket. He didn’t bother removing his skates and pants. Instead, he just unzipped his fly and rolled on the condom. He did push her pants off, draped them over the rail for protection and then resettled her on top of them.

  “I feel like I’m shortchanging you. Like you deserve, well, a bed, at the very least. But the thought of taking you here, on my home ice, is too much to resist.”

  There he went, trying to take care of her again. It melted Lisette’s heart into a puddle. “I can wait for the bed. I can’t wait for you.”

  Kurt’s eyes darkened to the color of storm clouds. He bent down, took her mouth in a scorching kiss. And then he slowly entered her, inch by devastating inch, not stopping until his balls were right up against her.

  “It’s so...you’re...omigod.” Fullness that felt like it was both stretching her and soothing her. Heat and strength and satisfaction that still demanded more. It was too much and not enough.

  “Should I stop?” He pulled back, concern marking his forehead with a vertical line between his eyes. At the same time, Lisette could feel the tension vibrating in the muscles beneath her hands as he held himself back. And even as lust wiped every other thought from her brain, she was again touched by his concern.

  “No! Whatever you do, don’t stop. This is...you are fantastic.”

  The crinkle in his forehead smoothed out. “Thank God. Because you feel so amazing, Lisette.” He dropped hungry kisses down her neck, hunching to go lower across her chest. “I’ve got so much need for you, baby.”

  “Same here,” she gasped as he pulled almost all the way out before driving in with a single, hard stroke. Lisette tightened her legs around his waist. Impossibly, he went even deeper. She moaned.

  “That’s it, baby. Tell me what you like.”

  “I like you in me.”

  He dragged out again, slowly this time. “How do you want it?” Kurt kept just the tip at her opening, dragging it in slow circles across her clit, threatening to set her off any second.

  Lisette had never done dirty pillow talk before. But this was fun. It felt...naughty in a super hot way. It went with the recklessness of sex in a public arena under throbbing red and gold spotlights. It was raunchy and wild and wonderful. “Hard and fast.”

  He didn’t bother to respond. Just pistoned into her with a speed and strength that ripped a keening wail from her throat. It took only five strokes before her back arched as heat exploded and spread through her like a supernova.

  The back arch threw her hard against Kurt just enough to shift his center of gravity. It pushed them off the rail and out onto the ice as the last pulses of pleasure engulfed her. He grunted. His hands zoomed down to grab her butt. Lisette opened her eyes to find them in the middle of the rink. Yikes. She’d probably thrown off his orgasm as well as his balance. Talk about a party foul of epic proportions.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He grinned down at her. “Don’t ever apologize for coming hard. Not with me.”

  “But you’re not done.”

  “We’re not done,” he corrected. Then Kurt planted his feet wide and just circled a few times. “Skates on my feet, your beautiful body on me—this is perfect.”

  He was right. It was a fantasy-come-true moment. For a few circles, a few bars of the music. But then she felt guilty again about his lack of an orgasm. So Lisette tried to help. Tried to lift herself up and down, but the thought of putting him off-balance and landing both of them on the ice freaked her out.

  “Kurt, let me finish you,” she pleaded.

  “Aren’t you listening? It won’t just be me. You’re going to come again.”

  Men and their egos. It was adorable, but he clearly didn’t understand how female anatomy worked. She’d had her fun. Her body just wasn’t built to gear up again so quickly. “Oh, no. Don’t worry about that. It won’t happen.”

  “Baby, you’ve got to have a little faith in me.” The look he sent her was so smug that Lisette would’ve been offended in any other situation. Hard to be now, though, with the remnants of an amazing orgasm still splintering through her body.

  “I do, but—”

  “Hang on.” He skated back to the edge. It was impressive and astonishing to feel his thighs flex while he was still seated inside her. Amazingly, Lisette did feel a stirring of excitement again. Kurt hip-checked the gate and walked onto the thin carpet. He set her down facing the rail, then put her forearms right back on top of her jeans. With a hand in the small of her back, he flattened her over the rail, breasts up against it.

  Kurt pushed inside her again. With her tissues still engorged, he felt impossibly bigger. Wider. Longer. The different position let him go deeper, too, and that set off an ache of need that filled the center of her body.

  In and out he stroked. It did feel good, but Lisette didn’t expect miracles. She just wanted it to be good for him. And then he clasped a hand around her breast, pulling at the nipple with his fingers.

  She gasped.

  “That’s right, baby. Listening to you will push me over the edge. Let me know how good it feels.”

  “It feels great.”

  “Not
great enough, if you can still talk. I want to make you scream again.”

  Kurt kept up a steady rhythm as he talked. In and out, over and over again, with a relentlessness that made her want to believe his promises. “You’re so beautiful, Lisette. I fantasized about seeing all your dark hair spilling across your back like this. It’s fucking amazing.”

  “Tell me what I can do for you.” In this position, Lisette couldn’t touch him. Could only wriggle and push back against him, which didn’t seem like enough.

  “I told you, baby. Nothing turns me on more than hearing your pleasure. Scream for me.” Kurt put his other hand between her legs and found her clit. All it took was two light brushes before he did, indeed, pull a scream out of her. And another orgasm. As Lisette tightened around him, Kurt moaned, gave two more swift thrusts and then let his weight fall on her back, his whole body shuddering.

  His harsh panting in her ear lasted for a few minutes. Which was fine, since Lisette had pretty much lost the power of speech when he shattered her into a million pieces for the second time.

  Holding her waist, he took two steps backward to sit on the bench with her on his lap. “Give me a minute.”

  “A minute?” Lisette thought about the amount of sheer muscle power and stamina it took to hold her up the entire time. “I feel like I should carbo-load you now like a marathon runner and then put you to bed.”

  “I wouldn’t say no to a plate of pasta. And then we are going to bed.” He shifted her sideways to flash those arctic-blue eyes at her with a smile that heated her up all over again. “But there won’t be any sleeping going on. I’ve got lots more to explore with you. Lots more I want to do to you. I can’t wait to taste you, to spread you open and lick you until you beg me to get inside you.”

  Evidently, the perk of dating a pro athlete was remarkable stamina. Maybe those rink bunnies knew that and hung around for a reason? Either way, Lisette was thrilled with the prospect. Because she absolutely hadn’t gotten enough of Kurt. And couldn’t wait to see what his imagination conjured up for the rest of the night.