Pucking Only (Night Hawks Hockey #2)

Chapter Nineteen Make Her Feel Good

CHAPTER NINETEEN: MAKE HER FEEL GOOD

CARSON

As I make my way down the hall to Skyler’s apartment, I catch myself whistling. Whistling! What kind of a Mickey Mouse motherfucker am I becoming?

Yet, I can’t help it. I’m excited to see Skyler and spend more time with her… preferably naked. Now that we’ve established our friends with benefits arrangement, I don’t feel like I need to be ready for battle when thinking about seeing her. Instead, I’m excited and eager, imagining all sorts of things we can do together.

When I reach her door, I stop and run my hands down the front of my t-shirt, suddenly anxious about my appearance. Am I too casual in my Night Hawks shirt and basketball shorts? Should I try to look a little more presentable when we hang out? Or would that come off as trying too hard?

Shaking my head, I push the thoughts away. I’m overthinking. There’s no need to try too hard. This is supposed to be fun and casual. My clothes don’t matter. With that, I raise my fist and knock on the door.

When she opens the door, I anticipate a sassy remark with a teasing grin. The last thing I expect is to find her with red- rimmed eyes, a pale complexion, and her usual confident posture slumped over.

“Skyler?” I ask, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation. “What’s wrong?”

She shakes her head, like she’s trying to brush it off, but there’s something in her eyes that tells me she’s barely holding it together. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

I close the door behind me and turn to face her, crossing my arms. “You’re not fine. What happened?”

She hesitates, biting her lip as she avoids my gaze. It’s like she’s trying to keep herself from unraveling in front of me. I’ve seen Skyler in all kinds of moods — angry, determined, focused — but this… this is different. It’s like she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she’s too damn stubborn to admit it.

“Come on, talk to me,” I urge, taking a step closer and wrapping my arms around her. I can’t help myself. There’s this need to comfort her that I can’t resist. “You’re upset, and I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on.”

She finally looks up at me. The look in her eyes nearly breaks my heart.

“It’s stupid,” she mutters, but I can hear the crack in her voice. “It’s just… work stuff. And I had a fight with Grace.”

“Skyler,” I say gently, reaching out to touch her arm. “Talk to me. Please.”

She lets out a shaky breath. I can tell she’s on the verge of breaking down. “My boss called earlier. He had some feedback on the game. Most of it was fine, but then he made this one critique that was so ridiculous, so infuriating, I nearly lost it.”

I raise an eyebrow, trying to keep my tone light. “What did he say?”

“It…it doesn’t matter,” she says, the frustration clear in her vo ice. “Like, I said, it was stupid. It just made me feel like shit. Like no matter what I do, they’re always going to find a reason to tear me down.

I feel a flash of anger at her words. “That’s bullshit, Skyler. You’re one of the most talented people I know. If he can’t see that, it’s his loss.”

She nods, but I can tell my words aren’t enough to soothe the sting.

“And then I argued with Grace,” she continues, her voice growing quieter. “She thinks I’m wasting my time at this company, that I should go out on my own or find somewhere else that’ll appreciate me… and maybe she’s right, but I’ve worked so hard to get here. I can’t just give up.”

I don’t know what to say, so I stay quiet, and let her keep going. She needs to get this off her chest, and I’m just smart enough to realize that the best way to help her right now is to be a sympathetic ear.

“It’s just… I’m so tired, Carson,” she admits, and I can see the exhaustion in her eyes. “I’m tired of always having to be tough, to prove that I belong. I can’t show any sign of weakness or vulnerability because if I do, they’ll think I’m not cut out for this. They’ll ridicule me, say I’m too emotional, too feminine… and then I’ll never be taken seriously.”

She swallows hard, and I can tell she’s fighting back tears. “I’m always putting on this strong front, pretending like nothing bothers me, but it does. It wears me down. And sometimes I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up.”

Hearing her say this, seeing her like this — it’s like a punch to the gut. I’ve always seen Skyler as this force of nature. This unstoppable, determined woman who can handle anything. Even in high school, she was always true to herself. Her confidence has always been something I’ve admired about her — the unrelenting way she never lets anyone steer her from her goals. Truth be told, her ability to hold herself together and never show her hurt is a little intimidating. But here she is, admitting that the weight of it all is crushing her, and it makes me want to find every person who’s ever made her feel this way and kick their asses.

I know that’s not reasonable of me. I know that Skyler would hate it if I did anything like that on her behalf, but still, the urge is there beneath the surface, hot and insistent.

“Skyler,” I say, my voice low and serious, “you don’t have to do this alone. You don’t have to be strong all the time. It’s okay to be vulnerable, to let someone in. You’ve got people who care about you — Grace, and me. You don’t have to carry this weight by yourself.”

She looks up at me, her eyes searching mine like she’s trying to decide if she can trust me with this part of herself.

“I just don’t want to be seen as weak,” she whispers.

I shake my head, stepping closer until there’s barely any space between us. “You’re not weak, Skyler. You’re one of the strongest people I know. You’re intelligent and brilliant, sexy as fuck and beautiful. If people can’t see how amazing you are, that’s on them, not you.”

Her eyes go wide with shock as she stares up at me. For a moment, she looks like she’s about to say something, but instead, she just nods, a tear slipping down her cheek. Without thinking, I reach out and wipe it away with my thumb, careful not to hit her glasses, and she leans into my touch, closing her eyes for a moment.

Before either of us say another word, I bend down and scoop her up into my arms. She lets out a squeal of surprise and instinctively wraps her arms around my neck.

“What are you doing?” she demands to know.

“I’m going to show you just how wonderful you are,” I explain as I begin walking through the apartment toward the bedroom. “Help you realize that anyone who doesn’t realize that isn’t worth your time.”

“Carson, I — ”

“Shush.” I drop a quick kiss on her forehead, silencing her. When I reach the bedroom, I kick the door shut behind us and move to the bed, dropping her onto the mattress. She bounces and lets out a squeak as she falls onto her back.

I pause and gaze down at her and she stares back for several moments before giving me a small smile and arching her hips in invitation to continue. Grabbing the waistband of her yoga pants, I yank them down her legs and toss them away. When I do the same to her panties, she tries to sit up.

“No, no.” My tone is teasing as I push her back down with a finger in the middle of her chest. “Just let me make you feel good.”

She gives me a sultry smile and lays back throwing her arms over her head.

“Show me what you got, pretty boy,” she purrs.

Smirking, I push her legs apart, revealing her sweet pink pussy to me.

“Oh, you look so tasty,” I growl before brushing my fingers along her folds.

Skyler groans and her body jerks. I lick my lips as I slip a finger inside her. Her pussy wraps around me, squeezes, and my cock twitches, needing to be buried as deep in her as possible.

“Oh, my God!” she cries out, thrashing her head back and forth.

Lowering my mouth to her clit, I wrap my lips around it and start to suck. At the same time, I pump my finger in and out of her harder and faster. I suck her clit in rhythm with my finger. She tastes so good, and I love the sweet scent of her arousal as she soaks my finger. Her moans and cries become more intense and I grin as I work her faster and harder. This woman… She drives me crazy. I can’t get enough of her. There’s a part of me that wonders how I’ll ever be able to give this up — give her up — when the time comes. I want to make her cum. I want to get her to fall apart completely and to forget about everything else that’s been on her mind and upsetting her.

“Carson, I can’t… I can’t take it…” she gasps, but I know she can. She can take this and so much more.

I remove my finger and replace it with my tongue and that makes her absolutely lose her mind. Her thighs flex around me and squeeze my head and that gets my already hard cock throbbing. This isn’t about me, though. Tonight is all about her and her pleasure, and I love that I can drive her this wild.

Returning to her clit, I lick and suck her like a starving man given a feast. I pay close attention, though, and when I realize she’s getting close, I stop.

“Carson?” she gasps. “What the fuck? I was right there!”

“Trust me, baby,” I tell her. “I’m going to blow your mind.”

She glares at me but she doesn’t argue. Smirking, I wait a few more seconds until she’s no longer in immediate danger of coming and I push my finger back inside her. Once more, I work her to the very edge, and just before she tips over into the abyss, I stop again. Over and over, I keep her toeing the edge of release but I never let her have it. She grows more and more frustrated, and I keep going, wanting to see her crack before I let her go.

“God damn it, Carson!” she finally cries. “If you don’t make me come, I’ll never let you fuck me again!”

Knowing she wouldn’t make such a threat without being prepared to back it up, I let her come, shoving two fingers into her tight pussy and curl them upward to hit her sweet spot. She screams my name as her legs shake and flex around me. I hold onto her as I continue to finger-fuck her, wanting to draw out every bit of her orgasm. It’s only when she starts pushing at my hand that I show her mercy and let her go.

Grinning with pure male satisfaction, I drop to the bed next to her. She’s splayed out, her chest heaving as she catches her breath.

“So… feeling better?” I ask, turning my head to look at her.

She looks back at me and chuckles. “Actually, yes, I do a bit. Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.”

She digs her way under the covers, her bare ass sticking in the air momentarily and tempting me to give her a quick spank. Once she’s under the blankets and covered, she rolls toward me and curls into my side and I wrap my arm around her, holding her close. Despite my raging erection, I’m strangely content, knowing I’ve made her feel good.

This is definitely a feeling I wouldn’t mind experiencing again and again and again.