Across the Line (In The Zone) (14 page)

“If she ran the same routine as she did on me, she just grabbed his dick and told him to call her anytime of the day or night.”

“What the
fuck?
” Becca blurted. Anger, fueled by the champagne, heated her face.

Alex chuckled. “Hot damn. She’s coming this way.”

Becca tried to move forward, but Alex had her by the elbow again. She tried to break free, but he had a firm grip. By then, Remi was three steps away.

“Nice try, Remi,” Alex said to her as she got close, “but I told you he was taken.”

The woman tossed her head at him dismissively. “You never really know unless you try.”

“Wait a second,” Becca said. “You knew he was involved with someone and you went after him anyway?”

Remi regarded Becca with a cool glance. “Who are you? The girlfriend?” She laughed. “Take it from me, it’s a rare man who can keep it in his pants one hundred percent of the time. If you keep that in mind, you’ll be better off.”

“You’re wrong,” Becca said, a little more loudly than she’d intended. “Calder’s not a cheater. He just brushed you off with no problem.”

Remi’s eyes flashed. “You’re so naive. Just because he said no tonight doesn’t mean he won’t call me in the future. One day he might decide he wants a real woman. A woman with more up top than Hershey’s Kisses.”

That’s when Becca lost it.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Calder reached for his drink. He wished Becca hadn’t gone to the bathroom. If she’d stayed, he might have escaped having his junk fondled by a complete stranger. As he sipped his wine, he looked around and saw Becca a couple of tables away just as she squared off with Remi.

The next few moments played out in slow motion. The body language of both women indicated trouble had not only brewed, it was about to boil over. He moved a chair out of the way and navigated between the tables to get over there. Alex was already standing next to Becca, so Calder wasn’t too worried.

Until Becca hauled out and punched the woman right in the face.

Shocked and more than a little impressed, Calder put some speed on. Guests at nearby tables seemed confused. Not many seemed to have seen the punch, their only indication the startled cry from Remi.

“You bitch!”

Becca landed the first important blow, but Remi was an unknown quantity. For all he knew, the woman was an avid kickboxer. He was pretty sure Becca could hold her own, but better safe than sorry.

Before he could get there, Remi moved as if to push Becca, but Alex had slid over to block and Remi’s hands met his chest instead.

Alex’s hearty laughter rang out as he grabbed Remi’s wrists. “Whoa there, ladies. That’s enough. That’s enough.” He made eye contact with Calder which meant Alex would take care of Remi so he could see to Becca.

“Are you all right?” Calder asked her.

“I’m fine,” she said, still looking like she might run and tackle her opponent, a sight Calder sort of wanted to see.

Remi was already halfway to the exit, muttering that this was the worst wedding she’d ever attended, when the bride and groom arrived.

Tim looked angry. “What’s going on here?”

“Nothing. A little misunderstanding.” Alex chuckled.

After Alex explained what had happened, they quickly ascertained Remi was not on the guest list. Tim seemed delighted that his wedding was posh enough to be crashed, but Erin, the bride, looked upset.

“Erin, sweetie,” Tim said, “it’s not a hockey wedding unless a fight breaks out. I told you that before. Just usually it’s between guys. All right, everyone.” Tim waved a hand in the air. “Show’s over. Let’s eat.”

“I’m not mad about the fight,” Erin said. “I’m upset that woman was able to come in here and harass Calder. If Becca hadn’t punched her, I would have.”

“That’s my wife!” Tim announced, grinning from ear to ear.

“Are you all right?” Erin asked Becca.

“I’m fine. My knuckles hurt a little, but I’m fine. I’m so so sorry I made a scene. I—I don’t know what got into me.”

“I do,” Alex said. “You saw someone poaching your man and you did what any self-respecting hockey girlfriend would do. You took her out clean.”

He held his hand up, and Becca would have given him a high five, but Erin was examining her knuckles. He slapped her on the shoulder instead.

“Don’t worry about the wedding. I’m more concerned about your hand. You should put some ice on this.”

“Is that what happened?” Calder asked. “You fought over me?”

Becca scowled at him then lifted her chin. “Yeah. What of it?”

He grinned. “I should hire you as my bodyguard.”

Erin laughed.

Tim said, “Girls who fight are hot, Griff. I fell for Erin the minute I saw her punch that guy at the autograph signing where we first met.”

“I didn’t punch him. I shoved him,” Erin said.

“Still a turn-on.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop it. We need to get ice for Becca. The bartender will have some.”

Erin led Tim away.

“What really happened?” Calder asked.

Becca shook her head. “I really don’t want to talk about it. It’s over and I’d like to just have dinner now.”

Becca walked back toward their table, leaving Calder behind. He turned to Alex. “I don’t suppose
you
know what happened.”

Alex shrugged. “In a nutshell, Remi was trying to convince Becca that all men are shits, then she made some crack about the size of Becca’s chest and Becca took her out. Who knew she was so violent? Did you know she had a violent streak?”

“No.” He chuckled. “Did she get her good?”

“Pretty good. I think Remi might have a shiner in the morning. A bruised cheek at the very least.”

“Excellent.”

* * *

Later, as the staff was clearing the dessert plates, Erin came over to check on Becca’s hand. “Did the ice help?” she asked.

“Yes. And I’m sorry again for what happened. I’ve never hit another human being in my entire life.”

“Seriously,” Erin said, “don’t worry about it. It was exciting and funny now that I look back on it.” She turned to Calder. “Did I hear that your brother is a Barracuda now?”

Calder nodded. “As of two weeks ago.”

“That’s fantastic. You must be so excited. Are you two close?”

“Like peas in a pod,” Calder said, but Becca was the only one who caught the sarcasm.

“If he doesn’t have anywhere to live yet, Tim and I are going to vacate our place at CityView. You’ve been there, Griff. It’s really nice, a central location, good security, if your brother’s concerned about that.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Hart’s that far in the process yet. Training camp’s more than a month away still.”

“Okay, but I’m going to have Tim call him anyway. It’s hard being the new guy on the block. Tim will want to try and ease that transition. He was the new guy this time last year.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Calder said, wanting to keep out of Hart’s personal business as much as possible. They’d done fine with the minimum for years—family events and the occasional hockey game against each other—and he didn’t see any reason to change things.

Erin left to rejoin Tim, and Calder looked around. The reception was still going strong. Alex was dancing up a storm with Claire, Erin’s sister and matron of honor. The guy was just as nimble on the dance floor as he was on the ice.

He glanced at Becca. “You wanna dance?” He was pretty ambivalent about dancing, but if Becca wanted to get out there, he’d go along for the ride.

But she blanched. “I suck at dancing. Seriously.” Then she gave him a sly smile. “Unless you’re talking about the tango.”

Calder didn’t think the band had any tangoes on their playlist, but then Becca leaned forward and slid her hand up his thigh and he suddenly understood.

“Oh,
that
tango,” he said with a grin.

“Yes,
that
tango.” She squeezed his thigh, her fingers perilously close to his crotch. Unlike with Remi’s surprise groping, Calder wanted Becca to touch him. He wanted her hands, her mouth, her everything. But he wasn’t going to get that here.

Meeting her gaze, he gave her a slow smile, stood, took her hand and headed for the exit.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Calder knew the moment he saw Becca throw that rabbit punch, she was the woman for him. He’d suspected he’d been in love with her for a few weeks, but had been unwilling to admit it to himself. In fact, he’d been careful to introduce her at the wedding as “Becca Chen,” not “my girlfriend, Becca.”

But that was then and this was now. For some reason, seeing her literally get in that woman’s face cleared his head and allowed him to see what, or who, was right in front of him. It was like when he’d been in school working on an algebraic word problem—hated those fuckers—and all of a sudden (all too rarely), the answer just came to him out of the blue. Becca was the real deal. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman and he loved her.

After the wedding they returned to his house. He let Becca precede him, mainly because he was highly amused by her walk—part strut, part swagger, part drunken wobble. The best part of his evening was about to begin. Ever since he’d seen her in that dress, he’d been dying to take it right back off. She knew it, too, that little devil. On the way to his bedroom, she’d cast him a come-hither look over her shoulder that ignited the lust he’d had on the back burner for the past four hours.

Before he crossed the threshold of his bedroom, he turned the lights on low and loosened his tie, then caught up to her at the foot of the bed where he took her into his arms and kissed her long and hard. When they broke apart, her head fell back and he ravaged her neck.

“Okay, this is how it’s going down,” he growled, letting her go. “I want to watch you take off your dress, but I want you to leave your shoes on.”

“Are we playing master and slave?” He heard a touch of curiosity in her voice.

“Maybe. If it gets me what I want, yes. And I want to see you in that red lingerie.” As he shucked his jacket and tossed it on the armchair in the corner, he realized his subconscious must have been waiting for this chance all along. This was the perfect way to get her back for teasing him the other night with that picture she never sent. “Are you good with a little domination game?” he asked.

A soft laugh escaped her lips, still a dark red. “Sure, it might be fun.”

“I get to be the master,” he said, loosening his tie, “just so you know.”

She gave him a wry smile. “I figured that. Should I
call
you master?”

“No.” He removed his cuff links and rolled up his sleeves. “I think ‘sir’ will do.”

Sighing, she put one hand on her hip and cocked her head. “Okay, so whatcha want me to do?”

Suddenly, he got an idea, a brilliant idea. He dragged the armchair over to the window and turned it to face her.

“Did you ever see that movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis, where they’re married and she thinks he works at an insurance company but he’s really a secret agent?
True Lies.
”

He’d only been four when that movie came out, but he saw it later with friends, and Jamie Lee Curtis had one fucking hot body back then. He could even now picture that heart-shaped pendant resting on the curve of her breast as she lay on the bed with her eyes closed, awaiting the touch of a man she thought was a covert agent. In the movie, enemy operatives had stopped them before they could go any further, but nothing had stopped young Calder from mentally spinning the scene out in the privacy of his bedroom.

“Nope. Never heard of it.”

“Well, there’s this really great scene where, well, she’s supposed to be a hooker and—”

“You want me to pretend to be a hooker?”

He flushed. “No. Well, I guess, it sounds like that, but I really just...she just does a strip-tease for him and it’s like the sexiest movie scene ever.”

“What makes it so sexy?”

“Besides her gorgeous body? Well, she’s trying to be a spy but she’s really just a housewife, so she’s hesitant and awkward at first, but then she...I don’t know, she starts getting the hang of it. She starts realizing how much power she has and she ends up really owning her sexuality.”

She glanced at him. “In an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? The
Terminator
guy?”

“Never mind. It was a dumb idea.”

He cursed himself, realizing he’d blown it the moment the word
hooker
left his lips, but surprisingly, she walked up to him and took hold of his tie.

“If you laugh, you’re a dead man.”

“No laughing. Solemn word of honor.”

“I’m not a very good dancer.”

“You don’t have to dance,” he said. “You just have to take your clothes off as slowly as possible.”

He sat in the chair and rested an ankle on his knee, like Schwarzenegger had in the movie. From this vantage point, blue light from the windows bathed her so she looked like she was wearing a dark purple dress instead of a red one.

“If you just take your time—yeah, like that—you can’t help but be sexy. Fuck, that’s perfect.”

She had turned away from him and was unzipping the back, slowly, like he’d asked. He swallowed hard and tugged on his pant leg. Watching the vee of the open fabric get bigger and bigger, exposing more and more skin, was the most delicious torture he could have conceived of. He caught a glimpse of the red band crossing her back and felt his cock hardening even more. She kept her back to him as she let the top of the dress slip down below her breasts. A shimmy of her hips and it slid even farther, but she didn’t let it drop to the floor. No. In a stroke of genius, she used her hands to guide it down her legs as she bent forward at the waist.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Her gorgeous ass in red satin, her beautiful legs, those sexy ankles still wrapped with thin gold straps. It was visual overload.

With the dress in a puddle on the ground, she straightened. He let his gaze roam over her, noting with appreciation the dimples above the waistband of her panties, the slim curves of her hips and waist, the grace of her bare back.

He couldn’t take it sitting down anymore. He stood and crossed the space between them in two strides, took her by the waist and put his mouth on her shoulder. She shivered. She raised her arms and threaded her fingers through his hair.

“You’re a goddess,” he said gruffly. He pressed his cock against her ass and she arched her back.

“Thank you...sir,” she breathed that last word.

A smile curved his lips. He’d completely forgotten about their game. She had yet to go down on him and he desperately wanted her to. But would she? Some women were weird about it. He prayed she wasn’t.

“So,” he said, “I’m wondering how far we’re going to take this master thing.”

She turned to face him and his brain short-circuited at the sight of her breasts adorned in red lace.

Unable to help himself, he put his hands on her waist and pressed his face against the plump mounds. She’d dabbed some perfume there and the complex scent combined with the softness against his cheeks messed with his brain. He realized after a moment that she was talking.

“...within reason,” she was saying. “Nothing weird. Pain is not a turn-on.”

With great reluctance, he lifted his head.

“I’m not into pain either.” He cupped her face and kissed her. “How about we just play around until I tell you to do something you don’t like.”

Becca nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Don’t be shy either. I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to. I’m serious. We’re in this together. If you tell me no, I’ll stop. No questions asked.”

* * *

He kissed her again to cement the promise. God, he was good at that. Her lips parted and his tongue slid inside. She relished the caress of his lips and the strength of his hard body pressed to hers. Aside from her shoes, she wore only the bra and panties, while he was still fully dressed.

When he ended the kiss, she bent and picked up her dress and shook it out. While it might be sexy to leave it on the floor like in the movies, she didn’t want it to get trampled. She felt him watch her as she hung it in the closet.

He’d told her on the way to the wedding that he couldn’t wait to get there so all the other guys could feast their eyes on her and know that she was all his.

“They’re all gonna say to themselves, ‘lucky bastard,’” he’d said with a wicked chuckle, “and they’ll be right.”

At that moment, she’d known she’d be spending a lot more money at Claudine’s shop.

When she was done hanging up the dress, she turned and he gestured with his index finger for her to approach. His face was shadowed, so she couldn’t see his expression until she got closer.

She stopped when she was a foot away, looked up at him.

“Unzip me.”

She paused as if thinking about disobeying, but then without taking her eyes off his, she put a hand over him. He was hard. He sucked in a breath. He closed his eyes as she fondled him. Heat spread throughout her lower body as she caressed the thick length.
Take that
,
Remi-bitch.
He’s all mine.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. Normally hazel, they looked green with desire. “Pull it out.”

Again, she didn’t break eye contact. By touch alone, she freed his cock. It was so hot and hard in her hand. She rubbed her thumb over the top, curled her fingers around it, and stroked it. He groaned and his head fell back, his mouth fell open as he exhaled. She smiled at his reaction. He might be “in charge,” but she felt like she had all the power.

“You like that?” she asked, increasing the pressure.

His head came up. “Not as much as I’m going to like you putting your mouth on me.” His tone sounded strong, but a sliver of doubt and maybe a little pleading could be seen on his face. Not quite the dominant master he was trying to be, but she nodded with a submissive angle to her head. She went down on one knee, hoping she’d make it without falling over.

Wetting her lips, she glanced up at him. His jaw was tense, his eyes intense.

“Do it,” he said, his voice sounding strained. He raised his hands as if to take hold of her head, then seemed to think better of it and curled them into fists instead. “Lick it. Around the tip.”

With a firm grip on the shaft, she swirled her tongue in a circle, and out of the corner of her eye she saw his fingers straighten. He groaned. The visceral sound made her clit twitch. She kept this up until the head glistened. Then, slowly, she eased him between her lips. He groaned again. It had been a long, long time since she’d done this. It felt strange but good to have a cock in her mouth. There was something satisfying about it, the heat and the heaviness of it.

She glanced up. He was watching her. He had a wild look in his eyes, part hunger, part greed. She took him deeper.

“Fuck,” he breathed.

He touched his hand lightly to the side of her head. His fingers slid into her hair.

“Don’t stop, Becks.”

She didn’t intend to. She sucked and licked him, monitoring his response, experimenting to see what he liked, which was to go as deeply as possible. She did her best, using her hands and her tongue, listening for changes in his breathing, noticing the grip on her head getting tighter. Eventually, his breath caught. He tensed. She prepared herself, kept up the suction, the pace.

“I’m gonna lose it, Becks. If you’re not okay with that, stop now,” he gasped, clearly struggling to keep control long enough to get an answer.

She didn’t stop, and he held on only a few seconds more before letting out a guttural, wordless cry and coming. His cock pulsed in her mouth and against her curled hand. She stayed with him until his ragged breathing approached something close to normal. His hand gradually relaxed and fell away.

His eyes closed, his head bowed, he touched her cheek. “That was amazing.
You’re
amazing. I think...” He trailed off. “I think something’s happening to us.”

She said nothing as he helped her to her feet then wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

“Well, stuff’s happening to me for sure.”

Crazy thoughts ping-ponged inside her skull, but she refused to focus on them. She would
not
jump to conclusions. That only led to disappointment and sometimes embarrassment. Better to play dumb.

Concentrating on his tie, conveniently at eye level, she pulled the tail free from the knot. “You know what I think? I think that orgasm screwed up your brain,” she said with a hopefully carefree laugh. “You’re not making any sense.”

Tie in hand, she turned to put it on the chair. He laughed too. “Sorry,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt. “You’re right. I’m kind of out of it.” Shrugging off his shirt, he grinned at her. “Have I told you how hot you look?”

“Not in the last hour or so.”

“I’m overdue then.” After taking off his shoes and socks, he stepped out of his pants. “You look incredibly, impossibly hot. You know those apps where it asks you to choose between two bad choices? Like ‘Would you rather eat a beetle or get a black eye?’”

“Two bad choices? I think I’m being insulted,” she said jokingly.

“No, wait. See, on the one hand I want you naked so I can do all sorts of dirty things to you, but if I strip you, I won’t be able to look at you in that fucktastic underwear. See my problem?”

She lay back on his bed, one leg outstretched, one bent. He swept his gaze over her, his lips curved in a smile that said he wasn’t anywhere near finished with her yet.

“Now, you’re calling me a problem. I have half a mind to catch a plane back to Ithaca right now.”

He shoved his briefs down and climbed on top of her. “Too late. You’re staying here.” He buried his face in her neck and breathed. “Now that I finally have you here, in my house, in my bed, you’re staying.”