Page 70 of Hearts on Ice
He pushed into her body, naked, like she’d said, though that hadn’t exactly been what she meant, but the pleasure on his face, the sound of it in his breathing, well, that was something she could give him.
“Deck.” She lifted her hips into him, bringing him deeper, bringing him closer to her body, and he started to move, slow at first, his hands closed around her ass so he was deep, so deep, and she couldn’t catch her breath enough to match his strokes. God, she was wet, the sound of their bodies sliding together such a turn-on. He ground his hips against her, opening her up just enough that each stroke bumped her clit, and she wanted to reach down and touch herself, but she didn’t because that wasn’t what this was about. Not this time. She knew he wouldn’t leave her hanging so she slid her hands down his back instead, holding onto him as he made love to her, rising over her, looking into her eyes.
The orgasm hit from left field. She hadn’t even known it was coming, and then she was floating and flying and crying out and clinging as he pumped into her, emptying himself, filling her.
The way he’d always done.
She didn’t want to let go of him when he finished, didn’t want to look into his eyes. She felt too vulnerable. He was the one who had said he loved her, but she was the one who felt vulnerable. Laid bare. So instead of meeting his eyes, she rolled with him when he dropped onto his back, buried her face in his chest, holding on and hoping that was enough.
Declan and Colbywere setting up for their next video, another lift. Declan skated backwards, Colby skating with him, his hand on her waist, her hand on his as she looked up at him. He was about to do the lift, but he wasn’t feeling it, so he waved her off and they started again. He looked up and saw his dad sitting in the stands, watching. He skated over, smiling.
“Hey, Dad, I thought you were heading home today.” He looked past him for his mom, but didn’t see her.
“We are, we are. I just wanted to have another look, and have a word with Colby.”
Declan looked at his dad, whose attention was already on Colby. “A word?”
He looked back at Declan. “Don’t worry, I didn’t come here to fight with her. I just want to talk to her. Is that all right?”
“Um, sure?” As far as he could remember, his dad and Colby had never really talked. “Colby? Dad wants to talk to you.”
The look on her face mirrored the one he suspected was on his own, pure puzzlement. She skated over, forcing a polite smile. “Yes, sir, Mr. O’Hare?”
“Could we—talk privately?” He looked at Declan, who skated back, hands raised, and watched Colby slip on her guards—both her skate and her personal—and walked out to the lobby with him.
Declan couldn’t see them from here. He knew they’d have privacy. As far as he knew, only Patrick was up there. He had no clue what they could be talking about, what they had to discuss, but whatever it was didn’t take very long. Colby was heading back down to the ice within ten minutes. As she got closer, he saw her eyes were red-rimmed.
His defensiveness took over and he started up the stairs without bothering with his guards.
“What did he say to you?”
She shook her head and lifted a thumb to her eyes. “Nothing bad, really, Deck.” She placed her hand on his chest as he strained to look over her, to see if his dad was still there. “Nothing bad, I promise. He just said I needed to understand Cecily, how when I left you, I didn’t just hurt you. I hurt all of them because they thought of me as family. They’ve known me since I was eleven, they considered me a daughter, and then I went and left, hurting you in the process, and it just brought out Cecily’s mama bear instincts. He also said they they’d missed me, that my leaving left a big hole in all their lives, and he wanted me to know that. That he was sorry Cecily could only show her anger, but he wanted me to know she’d been sad and hurt, too, because she’d loved me.”
“Wow. I guess. Huh.” He dropped into a seat by the aisle and looked out over the ice. “I never really thought about that.”
“They never talked to you about it?”
He shook his head. “After the first month or so, they never talked about you at all. I guess they thought it would bring up too much pain for me. I never considered it did the same for them.”
She lowered herself into the seat below him. “I thought it was really nice of him to come tell me that.”
“I think it was, too. Is he still here?” Declan looked over his shoulder as he asked.
“Yes, he said he wanted to say goodbye before they headed to the airport.”
“Is…is Mom here too?”
“She didn’t come in, if she is.”
He unlaced his skates in record speed and left them on the ground, running up the steps in his socks to see his dad standing in the lobby, waiting.
“Thanks, Dad,” he said quietly.
“No matter what you decide to do, we’re behind you,” his dad said. “Never forget.”
Declan hugged his dad a little longer than he usually did, just because he hadn’t known how much he needed to hear those words.
“Colby hugged me,” his dad said as he released Declan. “I don’t think she’s ever done that before. She’s changed, grown up. I think I like the woman she’s become.”
