Page 43 of Playing for Keeps

I laugh. “You won’t break it. You were doing great. Surely, you have expensive gear, too. It’s made well, I promise.”

He shakes his head and extends the cello toward me. “Please, babe. Take it back from me.”

I slide the cello from his grasp, and he sits on the bench, shaking his head. I bite my lip, inspired, and settle myself between his legs. He sucks in a breath as I wriggle my ass back against his crotch and I feel the heavy length of him thicken against my lower back. “I can still show you things,” I tell him.

He nods, his mouth very close to my ear, his breath tickling my hair. “See how I rest her against my shoulder?” Another nod as I rest my own head against his. “Her neck settles perfectly between my thumb and forefinger, and I can curve my hand around, placing my fingers exactly where they need to be along her length.”

Catching on to my unspoken game, Gunnar cups the back of my neck in one of his hands, his fingers trailing sparks along my jaw. I slowly pluck out a few notes, reaching down toward the bridge and telling him, “This tiny piece of maple is vital. It’s so fine, so strong, holding up the strings to make the perfect sound.” As I pluck the strings, Gunnar slides his hands along my sides, fingers wrapping around to pinch my nipples when they harden into peaks inside my shirt.

“Salty, this is so fucking hot.” I nod, agreeing. He nuzzles his scruffy jaw along my neck, and nothing has ever felt better. I pluck a chord of appreciation. “I’m so hard for you.”

I wriggle my hips to let him know I’m very aware of that reality. My body sings under his attention. I don’t know if it’s because he’s a particularly good lover or if I was just placed on this earth to respond to him, but heat builds in my core. I start to fidget as my legs spread around the cello, and Gunnar wraps his palms around my thighs.

I wish I could see how we look together, him spread behind me, me wrapped around this instrument, leaning back against his warm chest. “Gunnar.” His name is a whisper, as close to a prayer as I know. “Make love to me.”

CHAPTER 28

GUNNAR

Emerson laysher cello on its side on the floor and spins, wrapping those thick thighs around my waist instead of the wooden instrument. We kiss like that, perched on the black bench with my hands on her ass and her hands cupping my face. It’s as if we can’t possibly get close enough to one another, and I never want to be apart from her ever again.

I meant it when I told her I loved her at the fan fest. I just need to find the courage to tell her I was serious then, but I also have to tell her a lot of things that have happened since that moment.

With a low grunt, I stand, carrying her toward my bedroom. Our bedroom. Fuck that guest room bullshit—I want her in my bed with me every night. But especially right now as she writhes and wriggles in my arms.

I use my shoulder to turn the light on in my room and stride toward the bed, lowering us both and sinking into Emerson. She smiles against my lips. “I missed you,” she says, nails tracing along my skin, drawing a circle around the bruise that’s surfacing near my Stag tattoo.

“I missed you so bad,” I echo, fumbling to get her annoying shirt up and out of the way so I can feel all that skin pressedagainst mine. She’s got a stupid bra on, too, and I growl a little, trying to get that out of the way as well. Finally, she’s bare to me, and I can see her.

She brings one hand to her neck, and I’m worried she’s going to try to cover up like she did the first time we were together, but she traces her nipple, licking her lips and staring at me like she’s starving and I’m hot meat. “Ha.” I puff out a laugh and then dive onto her breast, kneading the amazing tissue and licking that stiff, puffy nipple until she moans.

Emerson starts jerking her hips against my crotch, where I’m stiff and leaking pre-cum all over my sweats. “You’re so big, Gunnar. You feel so solid. I … can you take these off?” She snaps my waistband with one hand and tugs at my hair, pulling me up and off her nipple with a wet pop. I nod and draw back just enough to kick my pants out of the way. She peels her own off in the process.

The smile she sends once we’re both naked and I’m settled back in her body—she could melt the ice a thousand times. “I love that you called this home,” I tell her, kissing my way all along her stomach and sides, hands busy with her breasts.

“I love being here with you,” she responds, her own hands tracing my nipples in a way I had no idea I enjoyed until right now. “Gunnar, I’m so…I need…” She arches and wiggles, moving her legs and trying to line her pussy up with my cock.

I purr, which should sound or feel weird but doesn’t. “You need to come, don’t you, Salty?”

She nods. “I need you. Please.”

“Oh, baby, you don’t ever need to beg me.” I slide a hand between us. Her pussy is soaked and I slide my finger through her arousal, making her gasp and moan. I give her clit a rub with my thumb, sliding my finger inside her channel, feeling her soft heat pulsing around me. This incredible woman is trustingme with her first sexual experiences. I’m committed to making it nice for her. Memorable in a good way.

“Gunnar! Yes!” I rub just a little bit faster, really only a few flicks. She must have been really keyed up from what we did in the music room because Emerson comes hard, so much faster than I expected. I love the sound of my name on her lips, and I can barely contain myself as she pulses around my fingers. “I want you inside me. Please?”

I nod, withdrawing my hand to reach for the condoms in my nightstand, but she puts a hand on my wrist. “I wantyou,Gunnar. Just you.”

My eyes fly wide. I’ve never been inside a woman bare before. Ever. I grew up with parents who prepared a Safe and Satisfied basket stuffed with condoms and lube and vibrating cock rings, spermicide packs and even dental dams.

But this woman is my wife. “Salty, baby, you know I’m healthy. And I know you are, too. But … are you on birth control?”

She shakes her head. “I’m not. But I don’t care, Gunnar. I want everything with you. Every part of you. I want to feel you with nothing between us.”

“Fuucckk.” It should terrify me that this woman wants me to come inside her potentially fertile body, but honestly, it’s hotter than ever. “Okay. If you’re sure?” I brace myself on my forearms, lining my dick up with her pussy, feeling the wet glide of our bodies. There isn’t anything rational about us, and it isn’t just sex brain for me. I’ve been having forever thoughts since I met her. I want it all with Emerson. I want our house together, our lives together. I want her at my side at Stagsgiving. I want her whether I ever play another second of pro hockey or have to go back to college and get an office job instead.

“I’m so sure, Gunnar. Please. I want you.” She arches her back, lining the tip of me perfectly with her opening, and I slide inside, just a little at first.

I meet her gaze, which is fixed on mine. She seems okay with this intrusion into her body, so I ease in more and more until…we’re joined together. We both gasp, and I stare down at the place where our bodies connect.

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