I looked into those soft hazel-green eyes and felt myself falling deeper into Eli’s spell. There was a vulnerability reflected back at me that I hadn’t witnessed from him before. From the very first day he’d been traded to the team, Eli had been approachable and infuriatingly attractive, but he’d always had some kind of wall up. There’d been something holding him back from truly being himself.
The side he’d been keeping hidden under a thousand-watt smile.
He used that smile as a shield sometimes. I’d see it in the locker rooms when the guys were talking and questions about dating lives would pop up. Eli seemed to flash that grin and deflect before saying anything about his previous relationship. He’d go into a completely random topic, andno one seemed to notice because his smile was too damn golden.
At least that’s what happened to me whenever he smiled at me. I’d lose track of time and place itself.
But the Elijah currently moving my hand to his hard bulge wasn’t the same guarded Eli I’d met a few months back. I’d seen glimpses of this Eli in the hotel room, but something about tonight seemed to have changed things.
This was the Elijah I’d been craving to have.
The Elijah I’d been instantly drawn to, the one I tracked down by scent alone on the night we first met, the man who captivated me in my dreams and dominated my every waking thought.
The way I wanted to dominate him right now.
I lifted a hand out of the water and cupped Eli’s face. Soft. So, so soft.
A complete contrast to the rock-hard dicks between both our legs.
I looked into his eyes, feeling like I’d known this man for my entire life.
And even if I hadn’t, I already knew so much about him from the times we spent in practice. From traveling to games, making sure to always be seated next to him on every flight and train ride. We’d had so much time to talk already, and even though I found it difficult to focus on his words and not his lips, I learned the basics (canary yellow was his favorite color, loved Halloween and hated New Year’s, would play soccer if he wasn’t playing hockey, was scared of spiders but oddly liked any other kind of bug) to the more obscure things (had an obsession withMy Little Ponywhen he was a little kid, had almost accepted an internship as a photographer forNational Geographicbut picked up his hockey contract instead), and yet Istillwanted to know more. I wanted to know every part of him, and I wanted him to do the same for me.
He made me happy and he made me feel at ease and he made me feelexcited. He was a living muse, an angelic being that had flown into my life as a well of inspiration.
I couldn’t help myself. Had to kiss him, taste him. I leaned in and got a powerful blast of his honey-sweet scent.
I froze.
It was as if the events of the day, the intimacy of the night, and the lung-full of his scent unlocked something in me. A key that—once clicked into the keyhole and turned—made me freeze in place.
The realization hit me then, harder than a brick falling out of the clear night sky and slamming into my head.
Elijah Sager. A new teammate. A great friend. An even better lover.
And, fucking hell, my fated mate.
Chapter Twenty
A Losing Battle
ELI
Gabe’s eyes went wide,hand still on my cheek. His pupils blew into the size of tiny black holes. I was scared I might be sucked into his depths.
Not that I thought I’d mind.
“What? What is it?” I asked. Shit. Had I been too forward? I had been the one to grab his hand and move it to my dick. Maybe he was the kind of DL guy who didn’t like other men being so aggressive?
Another reason why dealing with someone who wasn’t out and likely never would be wasn’t a good idea.
Gabe blinked, and that wide-eyed stare was gone, replaced by the same half-lidded gaze he’d given me that night in the hotel room. The look that made my core tighten and my thighs clench, as if I could put out the fire he fanned through my body. The heat singed away any cautionary red flags that had littered the field only seconds before.
“Nothing, I just, uh, realized something.”
My eyebrows inched together. “Did you leave theoven on or…”
He chuckled, his hand dropping back down to my stiff dick while I held his. “No. Just how badly I want this,” he said, rubbing me under the water. “How badly I want you.”
