She flicked out her tongue to taste just the very tip of me, and holy shit, I almost exploded right then and there. I stretched my arms along the back of the couch and let her explore me with her mouth, trying not to lose it from the feel of her wet lips wrapping around me. She licked and she sucked and she drove me insane, my breath coming out in an unsteady exhale, my hands clenched in fists on the sofa cushion.

Holy hell did it feel good.

She swirled her tongue around me and closed her lips over my head, sliding her mouth down until I hit the back of her throat, then sucked me hard on the way back up. Then she did it again. And again. And-oh fuck. It was all I could do not to grab the back of her hair and fuck her sweet mouth. But I kept my iron-clad hold on the couch, my fingers in a white-knuckle grip against the fabric as it twisted in my fists. "You're killing me."

I flinched a little when her teeth scraped lightly along my head, the sensation so enticing, I felt myself tightening way too soon. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold out much longer, but I talked myself down. There was no way I was coming anywhere else than between those gorgeous legs.

I put a hand at her jaw and gave a nudge, with the intention of pulling her face up to mine for a kiss. Avery took the cue and slid her mouth off me, but instead of meeting my lips, her teeth bit into my inner thigh.

"Shit!" I yelped through a laugh.

She was playing me, her eyes meeting mine in a teasing grin as she peppered my skin with wet kisses, up my leg, across my stomach, my chest "God, Zac. It's like I can't get enough of you."

Smirking, I shot back, "I haven't gotten anything of you yet."

I finally grabbed her arms and pulled her to me, slamming her mouth to mine, tasting myself on her lips. Avery straddled her knees on either side of my hips and kissed me back. She pressed herself against me; I could feel the wet warmth of her against my bare cock, and oh Jesus. I didn't know how much longer I could do this. I was already out of my mind, but by some miracle, I managed to hold it together.

I grasped her breasts in my hands and flicked my tongue against one, hearing her gasp as she arched her back, offering herself to me. I took the invitation and wrapped my lips around one sweet, pink tip, sucking at it until it hardened against my tongue. Avery rested her head on top of mine and her hair fell across my face, her breasts smashed against my mouth, the palm of my free hand sliding across her luscious ass. I massaged the flesh at my fingertips, pushing her toward me and thrusting my hips upward, letting her feel just how badly I wanted her.

She let out a groan and pushed back, her thighs grasping my hips, her ass tightening against my palm. Jesus, I was going to die before this was over.

I hardened beyond belief, my hands gripping her ass and my mouth and tongue against her tits, her wetness rubbing against my hard cock Ah fuck. I need to be inside.

"You ready for me?" I asked.

"Yes."

"I'm going to fuck you so fucking hard."

"Yes."

"I'm going to ram my cock in you so deep. You want it?"

"Yes."

"Ask me. Tell me you want it."

"Fuck me, Zac," she said on a gasping exhale. "Please fuck me."

Her words shot a jolt of electricity right through me, hearing her dirty mouth begging for me. I reluctantly released my hold on her to grab a condom out of the side table drawer, when "Fuck me, Zac!"

Jesus. Not now.

"Fuck me, Zac!"

"Shut the fuck up, Magnum!"

"Fuck up, Magnum!"

I tore my lips away from Avery's skin, planted her naked ass on the couch, and growled, "Hang on."

In the most obscene three-legged race in history, I shuffled a few steps with my pants around my ankles until I could kick them off and walk like a man. I pulled the room divider across the doorway and threw on the radio, blasting The White Stripes to drown out my stupid bird.

That oughtta do it.

When I turned around, I found Avery lying gorgeously across my couch. Damn, my furniture never looked so good. She was aiming that playful smile at me as she purred, "I always said McAllister's got the best ass in the business. Wow. It's even better without the hockey shorts."

I grinned back as I covered her body with my own. She was just the right fit under me, skin to skin, every inch molding perfectly to mine. I brushed my lips against hers as my hand ran up her side, touching every part of her incredible body that had been taunting me from under her clothes for much, much too long.

I settled myself between her legs and gave a slight push, and she wrapped those luscious gams around me as I sat up on the couch, situating her on my lap. Our mouths were still joined as I slid a hand between us, swiping my thumb across her sensitive skin.

She let out with an exhale as she broke our kiss, tipping her head back toward the ceiling. "Oh God, Zac. You've always been way too good at this."

Her words made me chuckle, but not enough to stop what I was doing.

I grabbed the abandoned condom with my free hand and tore it open with my teeth. "You ready to try this again?" I asked.

Without another word between us, she raised her hips while I rolled it on, and the second I was done, Avery slid herself down on top of me.

I hissed an involuntary curse as she lowered her sweet, giving body down my length. I felt every inch sliding into her, her body stretching to take all of me. She closed her eyes and let out with a contented gasp as she sank down fully, my cock buried to the hilt.

And then, God help me, she started to move.

She rose and fell as I thrust upward and back, and before long, our movements synched. I had her ass in my palms as I devoured her perfect lips, the taste so unbearably sweet, the scent of cinnamon filling my senses. The beautiful vixen rocked herself against me, and I was more than content to let her take the reins, leaning back to enjoy the ride. And the view.

Her head was thrown back, her beautiful tits bouncing in my face Even without the fact that I was buried to the balls inside her, I'd have been sent over the edge just from seeing that. But the fact was, I was inside her, and I was so close to losing it that I had to slow us down before I did.

I maneuvered us to lie down on the couch, my body covering hers. I wrapped my arms around her and slid myself inside again, hearing her moan, feeling myself coming apart. I went to lower my lips to hers again when the look on her face stopped me.

Her eyes were staring into mine, her hands were running in a slow caress against my back. Here was this beautiful girl giving herself to me completely, and for the first time in my life I didn't want to simply take it.

It suddenly felt wrong somehow, just fucking. I'd been hoping for this for months, hell, for years. I needed to have sex with this woman. But until this moment, I never realized how empty that was. Because unexpectedly, with Avery, it didn't feel so empty anymore.

It was then that it happened. All at once, everything changed.

The feeling was almost beyond description. I was sheathed in the tight warmth of her amazing body, incredibly turned on, but even more than that, I was it felt like it was like I was coming home.

The thought came unbidden, but once it entered my brain, there was no turning it off.

It's a scary thing when you realize that the person you're with is the person you're meant to be with. There is no relief at having found them. There is only new torture. Because while you were so busy trying to make that person yours, you were distracted from the inevitable truth: Now that you have them, all that's left is the fear of losing them.

But not right now. At least for now, I had her.

I swallowed hard at the revelation, and there was a physical lump in my throat, obstructing the air from entering my lungs. I'd been with countless girls before. None of them ever felt like this. Nothing ever felt like this. Nothing ever felt this right, this perfect, this everything.

This was where I was supposed to be.

"Avery," I choked out, my voice unrecognizable. The single word an insufficient prayer whispered from my foolish lips.

Her eyes met mine, and I swear, I saw tears glistening within them. She knew what I was feeling, and more importantly, she felt it too. She swiped a hand across my jaw, and I turned my face to kiss her palm, never breaking contact with her gaze. She gave a bite to her lip and closed her eyelids, and that's when I saw the most amazing thing I've ever seen in all my life: I watched, stunned, as a lone tear escaped from under her lashes and ran down her cheek.

Holy shit. She was tearing up.

The sight of that innocent little rivulet completely broke me. A single tear that confirmed she was in this, too. One, tiny, inconsequential drop of liquid that rocked my entire world.

I love you.

The thought lingered on the edges of my brain, was so close to slipping from my lips. And it didn't scare me. It didn't freak me out.

It felt incredible.

I felt my heart splinter and soar, my past converging with my present, my future right there within my grasp. I welcomed the death of my past. I welcomed the sweet torture of the future that was sure to follow. She was it for me. Always had been. Always would be.

I was in love with this woman.

For the first time in my life, for the last, I was in love.

"Zac," she answered back, after an eternity. Her voice aching and seductive, so hot, yet so warm.

"Oh God," I said. My name on her lips at such a moment was the sweetest thing I ever heard. "Say that again."

"Zac," she whispered out.

My heart swelled, hearing her broken battle cry, her unconditional surrender.

Avery is mine.

The sun was just coming up, but we were only now settling in to get some sleep. Avery was curled up in my bed, contented, sated, and spooned in my arms.

Just when I was ready to pass out, she slipped out from my grasp and started to get dressed. I thought it was cute that she felt the need to put something on for the short trip to the bathroom.

I gave a stretch and said through a yawn, "Please stop putting your clothes on. You're only going to come back to bed anyway."

She chuckled, gave me a quick peck on the lips and said. "Can't. I've got to go."

I didn't like the finality of that statement. I sat up and asked, "Go? Where you going?"

"Home. Where do you think I'm going?"

Home? She's leaving? "I guess I thought you'd want to stay."

She laughed as she zipped up her skirt. "Zac. I'm a big girl. I know how this works. Tonight was fun, but I don't expect anything to come out of it."

She pulled on her sweater and grabbed the rest of her things, while I sat there, unable to speak. I watched, open-mouthed, as she slipped into her shoes and stuffed her tights into her bag.

"Oh, wait!" she added, as an afterthought. She opened her purse and pulled a few bills out of her wallet, depositing them on the dresser. "Here's that fifty I owed you from last week. Thanks."

She blew me a kiss and walked out to the living room. I heard the front door close as I sat in my bed, stunned.

What the hell just happened? Have I just been used? Is this what it felt like?

I just experienced the most earth-shattering night of my life, and Avery could just walk away as if it was no big deal?

I looked over at the bills on my dresser, feeling like a fucking gigolo. Fifty stinking bucks? If I were a girl, I'd be pulling a Coco and crying in the shower right now.

Instead, I dragged the sheets up to my chest and sank down into my bed, wondering where the hell everything went so wrong.

Chapter Twenty-Five.

I'd just started playing with the Devils when I first met Avery.

This was back in the fall of '95, and I was unaware at that time that my run would be so short-lived. I was a cocky punk of a kid, having spent all those years in the high school and college leagues, just itching to get to the show.

I mean, I'd put in my time. I devoted the majority of my life to the ice, bypassing college at more prestigious universities in order to attend one where I could play, one where I had better odds of getting scouted by an east coast team. I thought my best shot was with the Flyers down in Philly, but soon enough, it was the Devils themselves that came calling.

Or, rather, the Devil himself.

Benny Brooks, General Manager. He was a local guy, too, and while he'd deny it, tended to keep a stronger eye on his fellow Jersey boys. Not to say I wasn't good enough on my own. I was. It's just that Benny's involvement made the difference between playing at the Meadowlands or being shipped down to Philly.

So, at first, of course I really liked Benny.

Until I didn't.

In between those two extremes, I met his daughter Avery.

I was busy banging anything with a heartbeat back then. And let me tell you, the girls were more than available during that time. They hung around our bar, lingered after practices, were waiting for us in the fucking parking lot after games.

So, you can't blame me for thinking Avery was a typical jersey-chaser that night we first met. Because why else would a girl show up to the bars we went to? The only reason for those girls to stick around was to get in on the after-party action. The game after the game.

I was captivated from that first moment; she was the kind of girl a guy would notice, whether or not she ever opened her mouth. Which she only started to do regularly after months of work on my part, breaking her out of her shell.

And as it turned out, I really, really liked her.

She would show up to Johnny's with a girlfriend or two, then spend the whole night doing her introverted thing. I used to catch her looking at me sometimes, but then again, she did it a lot. It was kind of nice, actually, to catch her staring at me like that. It was flattering.

One night-our last night-Avery showed up wearing some insane gold dress, and looking directly at it was like staring into the sun. But even still, I watched her every move from the second she walked through the door. I was practically drooling. We'd been hanging out pretty regularly by that time. Sometimes, we'd find ourselves alone, embroiled in some personal conversation or another. But mostly, our encounters were in a group setting, screwing around with the guys, goofing off. I was always impressed that she could hold her own.

But that night, we didn't spend too much time with the rest of the guys. I basically had her all to myself while we drank and shot some pool. I'd always kept her at arm's length, not only because her father was the GM, but because I thought I'd scare her off if I made any sudden movements. She'd pretty much made it clear that she was off-limits anyway. But on New Years', for whatever reason, she was really laying it on. I always figured her friends had dared her or something, because Avery was acting really out of character.

Next thing I knew, we were hooking up in her car.