Pucking Road Trip (Bay Rebels #3)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Rebel Arena, Freedom

D ’Angelo

I lean against the rink’s boards in Rebel Arena, crossing my arms.

The lights are dim. The cold cuts across my cheeks.

I take a breath of the scent of rubber and sweat.

I run my hand through my curls, watching as Shay skates past me. He’s slower than normal.

I smile, smugly

It’s my fault.

He catches my look and ruefully rubs his ass. “Beast.”

“Problem, cucciolo?” I arch my brow, examining my palm.

Shay narrows his eyes, before determinedly forcing himself to skate faster.

I chuckle.

It’s been exactly three hours and twenty-two minutes, since I calmed Shay down in the bathroom at Captain’s Hall with a spanking.

Shay’ ass, wet, hot, and red over my lap, looked so beautiful that I had to bite it.

Had to.

Hard.

It’s been three hours and seven minutes, since Shay was so turned on by that spanking that he kneeled flushed, naked, and gorgeous in front of me.

He was also the most relaxed and pliant that I’ve seen him.

I could have promised him anything in that moment.

He has so much power, when he offers me his willing submission.

I love that he’s beginning to realize how much power he has, when he’s on his knees.

On the other hand, I was born dominant in the same way that I was born bisexual.

Figuring this stuff out about myself and learning about communication and trust has helped me. My power exchange relationships have been the most healthy and positive part of my life.

Also, the most fun.

In the bathroom, I laughed, running my fingers through Shay’s hair.

“If I knew that the switch to slow you down was on your ass,” I said, “I’d have swatted you earlier.”

I promised to buy this man two yachts.

I’d give him the world, if I could.

Then Shay nuzzled at my crotch, before giving me an inexperienced but eager blow job.

I’ll buy him three yachts.

Four, if I can teach him to deepthroat.

I didn’t let him come, however, because I’m not that generous.

It’s been two hours and forty-two minutes, since I dragged Shay with me to the rink for extra practice.

I wanted to give Eden as much space with Robyn as possible.

Eden’s a caregiver dom who doesn’t yet understand his dominant side. He’s hasn’t been in a relationship before. Add his traumatic past, and he needs to spend as much time as possible with Robyn.

And possibly adopt some animals.

I’ll probably own a mansion, a dozen yachts, and a menagerie by the time that my family is complete.

I smile.

Family.

I clench my hands.

When my parents had me abducted in the middle of the night to be taken to a brutal private boarding college for troubled teens simply because I kissed a boy, I never thought that I’d have a family again.

Family meant being beaten by my brother until I tasted blood.

Family meant my parents standing with cold faces, while I screamed for them to save me — except, they didn’t.

Family meant being rejected.

Yet Robyn and the twins accept me, even though they know that I’m a grumpy asshole.

I sent Eden a text to tell him where we were going with emojis that explained about the spanking and the rink.

He may not understand. He does appear to have emoji blindness.

“Why are you smiling?” Shay calls, glancing around the rink to check that we’re alone. “Thinking of my tight ass, darlin’?”

“Skate.” I fix my icy glare on him. “And only how soon it can go over my lap again.”

“Promise?” Shay grins. “That was bloody brilliant. My ass is warm like your hands are still on me. It makes me feel safe. Sort of like I need to sleep though.”

“Do you want to stop?” I check in. My expression softens with concern. “What do you need?”

Shay never wants to sleep. He has terrible insomnia.

Perhaps, he needs more aftercare.

Shay has to be closer to me than normal after a scene.

He follows me around like an adorable puppy.

I can get used to that.

It’s good practice for after the season ends, when I adopt a cat for Eden.

Shay skates up to me, slamming into the boards with enough force to make me wince. “Can I tell you what I like…?”

“Always.”

“The way that this morning after you’d turned my arse red, you wrapped me in a towel, then cuddled me on your lap. Then you took another towel and dried my hair for me.” Shay’s cheeks flush.

“I noticed. I trust that you’ll tell me what works and what doesn’t both in a scene but also, in the aftercare. It’s just as important.”

Shay looks down.

I wish that I could kick the ass of the abusive domme at his college who has made him look like this.

“Yeah well, I didn’t even know what aftercare was before.” Shay looks up and meets my gaze. His beautiful winter gray eyes are large. I feel like I can see myself reflected back in them but as Shay sees me — as a hero. His hero. I need to live up to that. Fuck, that’s hard . “But you’ve shown me that I can talk to you. That things can feel different. Be different. I won’t be used and kicked out to deal with everything on my own.”

“Never,” I reply, firmly.

Shay fiddles with the tape on his stick. “At college, I’d feel shit for days after a scene. Cold, exhausted, and depressed. I’d have to skate, feeling like I was going to burst into bloody tears every time the coach tore into me. It was a fucking nightmare trying to skate, not knowing back then that I was actually suffering from subdrop.”

“I could find that woman, Blythe. She was a fake domme. She abused you.” My expression is dark. “Let me.”

Shay looks at me, startled. “You sound like Eden. You’re going to be talking about killing her next.”

“There are many ways to kill someone. What if she’s still pretending to be a domme? She could be doing this to another sub.”

Shay pales. He looks like he may be sick.

He shakes his head. “I can’t think about this now.”

I’ll get my PI friend, Garcia, working on it.

Garcia’s in the same BDSM community as me. We’re tight-knit.

If Bythe’s in England’s community, then I can get her blacklisted from every BDSM club, munch, and event.

Being wealthy and powerful needs to have some perks.

I can make sure that warnings are spread about her in online forums and chat rooms.

It’s a start.

Shay presses close enough to me that our hips are touching. “She trained me to think that I wasn’t allowed to take pleasure, only give it to others. You’re this bloody amazing pleasure dom, however, and I love everything that you do to me.”

Dominance surges through me in a rush of adrenaline.

Protectiveness rises up as well.

Shay is mine to wreck but also, to put back together. And only because he consents to this.

I lean over Shay, caging him against the boards. I press one arm across his throat.

If anyone enters the arena rink side, it’ll look like I’m kicking his ass.

Hockey players are physical with each other.

Just not always in the way that Shay and I are.

Usually.

Shay sucks in a breath.

“ Everything ?” I growl.

I ghost my hand down his hip and then to his ass.

“Everything,” Shay repeats in a challenging whisper, before tacking on like he knows the impact that it’ll have on me, “Sir.”

He’s fucking perfect.

I push my arm tighter against his throat.

“When I get you home,” I promise, or possibly threaten, “I’m going to start stretching out your pussy.”

Shay shivers on the pussy like I knew he would. “You’re going to train me…?”

I love the thrilled anticipation in his voice on the train . Between us, it’s being transformed into something precious and beautiful.

Something that he deserves to enjoy and claim back as his own.

“The hole is a muscle,” my voice is low and rumbling. Shay melts. “I need to transform you into my perfect fleshlight. I’ll use butt plugs of increasing size. I can do the same thing each morning. I’ll leave one out for you to put in every time that you wake up. You’ll wear them because I want you to. But then, you’ll feel nice and filled. You’ll spark with tormenting pleasure every step that you take. Your pussy will never feel empty.”

I know that this type of talk turns Shay on from our negotiations.

“Fuck, darlin’.” Shay’s voice is raspy with desire. He lets his head thunk against the glass. His long throat is deliciously tempting. I wish that I could sink my teeth into it. “Exercise is good. I’m dedicated.”

He’s as sunny about training his ass, as he is about training on the ice.

It’s hard for me to drop my mask and simply smile with happiness at seeing how playful he can be about something Blythe tried to destroy.

Instead, I press harder against his throat, when what I want to do is kiss him and never stop.

I’ve found the perfect submissive for me.

All of a sudden, however, I glimpse movement out of the corner of my eye.

Reluctantly, I pull away from Shay, trying to make the move look casual.

“Are you okay for a couple more laps, then we’ll get changed?” I say evenly, as if I haven’t just been dirty talking about sticking stuff up Shay’s spanked ass. “Despite me giving him the day off, your brother still made us a freshly made packed lunch. We can eat that here to give Robyn and him more time together.”

I should give that man a raise.

They don’t make PAs like Eden. He’s even made my filing more efficient.

He knows my schedules better than I do.

And the things that he can do with Post-it notes are probably illegal in some states.

Shay straightens. “Do you think that they’re doing okay?”

“Eden has food, books, and Robyn. He’ll be in heaven.”

Shay nods, before forcing himself to skate another lap. His eyes look dazed, however, and his movements are off.

I watch him, concerned.

I’m taking him off the rink as soon as I can for a massage and as much aftercare as I can give him.

And cuddles. He likes those.

Shit, when did I become the type of man who gives cuddles?

A short but athletic man with tanned skin and rich, amber eyes ambles down the side of the rink. He has a wild tumble of golden curls. He nervously glances at me. He’s only twenty-one but he’s dressed in the medical staff nurse uniform with Bay Rebels logo.

“Hey, Noah.” I turn to face the nurse.

Noah’s face brightens. “Hey, sir.”

He has to hide that he’s a submissive because his family would never accept him, if they found out. They’re poor and from the rough side of Freedom. They’re distant cousins of Silas Anderson, the finance manager.

Anderson is a prejudiced asshole. He’d fire Noah, simply for his dynamic.

It’s frightening to have to mask who you are.

Noah’s as trapped in a secret life, as I am.

He stays with his abusive family for the sake of his brothers, who he protects.

I understand.

I only spent one night with Noah, when we were paired at a fetish ball in a demonstration as lion tamer and his lion.

It was a mind-blowing demonstration. Noah is beautiful underneath a whip.

I feel a sense of responsibility toward everyone within our small BDSM community in Freedom. Noah is part of it, and I wish that he’d take up my offer to move into my mansion.

To be safe.

My brow furrows at the anxious way that he’s shifting from foot to foot.

Perhaps, I can introduce him to some of my inner circle of friends. I don’t trust easily, but these people have earned it. Noah needs a support system, and they offered that to me when I most needed it.

Once we’re back from the road trip, I hope to introduce my friends to my new found family too.

“What’s wrong?” I quirk my brow. “Is it your dad?”

Noah shoots me a shy glance; he hero worships me as much as Shay does. “When isn’t it my dad? I just wanted to thank you for the offer to stay at your place. I’m still thinking about it. It’s hard…”

“You don’t need to explain. The offer’s not going anywhere. Take your time.”

I wish that I could tell Noah what I suffered with my family. I know what it’s like to be beaten and mocked because of my bisexuality.

Simply because Noah doesn’t fit his family’s outdated idea of masculinity, he turns up to work bruised and limping. And they don’t even know the truth yet.

If they did, Noah’s whole life would crash around his ears.

I tap my fingers on my thigh in a rhythm of three.

If I don’t, then the sick feeling spreads through me that something bad is going to happen.

It’s the same OCD feeling that I’ve been struggling with for the last decade.

The men are going to come, break in tonight, then…

It’s an intrusive thought. It’s not real. It won’t happen.

I shove it away.

Noah pushes his wild curls behind his ears. “I also wanted to tell you that I’m coming on the California road trip. I’ll be traveling with the staff and Cody.”

He gives a small smile.

I fight to smile back, hoping that it looks natural but feeling stretched too thin. “Cody, huh? Is he a friend?”

A hesitant nod.

I’m not surprised. Cody could befriend a nervous hedgehog.

“Unlike my grumpy ass,” I reply, “Cody’s good at this friendship business. You should stick with him.”

“You’re good at it too,” Noah replies loyally or possibly stupidly. He’s bad at judging people’s characters. That’s dangerous. I blame him being dazzled by the memory of that ring master’s outfit. I did look particularly handsome in it. And my ass was at its best. “You’re not grumpy, you’re…” Noah appears to be struggling for a word. “Broody.”

I arch my brow in a broody way.

“Don’t you have work to do?” Colton’s voice sneers from behind Noah. “I know that you’re not a real nurse, or a real man for being a nurse, but you must be needed for something.”

Asshole.

Colton steps up to the boards, towering over Noah. His white hair and mustache are bright points in the shadows.

Colton’s not on the schedules to be in work today. It’s his day off, which is the reason that I brought Shay here, despite his muscles having been overworked yesterday by Colton.

Shay is in no state to be put through that again.

Noah’s shoulders slump.

I start to open my mouth to tear Colton apart, AC or not, on his behalf, but Noah casts me a pleading look and shakes his head.

I close my mouth with a snap, gritting my teeth.

I’m telling coach though. I can at least be a snitch.

Colton can bully the team because hockey is a tough sport. Players are paid millions, plus we need to be pushed to perform.

But bullying the staff — punching downward and abusing his position of power — is fucking unacceptable.

The staff shouldn’t be treated with anything but respect.

I’m the captain. I’m not fucking having it on my team.

Noah hangs his head, and his curls hide his face. “Yes, sir.” He shoots me a glance out of the corner of his eye. “See you on the road.”

“Bye, Noah.” I wave, as Noah scurries past Colton and down the side of the rink.

Colton watches Noah, shaking his head in contempt.

“You shouldn’t have said that to him.” I can’t hold it in any longer.

Colton snorts. “The little snowflake needs to toughen up. He won’t survive on the staff of a team like this otherwise. I’m doing him a favor. It was just a joke, or can’t you take those either, captain? Your tantrums in the press and every time that players throw chirps at you suggest that you’re the one who needs to toughen up.”

My eyes flash with ice-cold rage at the same time that my cheeks flame with humiliation.

I slowly turn to face Colton.

He must see something in my expression because he straightens his broad shoulders. “Something you want to say?”

Robyn’s calm, steadying voice and hours of media training rushes through my mind: no comment, no comment, no comment…

See what a good influence she is.

“No comment,” I reply.

Colton gives a self-satisfied smile. “That’s what I thought.”

He crosses his arms over his barrel chest, before swaggering to the glass. He watches Shay’s slow skating critically.

Dread churns in my guts.

Shay’s in the stage that he needs me to take him to the locker room, massage him, and when we’re alone, whisper good boys in his ear.

Then afterward at home, wrap him in blankets and hold him tight to my chest.

He needs slow kisses and reassurance.

He doesn’t need an ass kicking from Stick No Carrot.

“Faster,” Colton yells. “What the hell do you call this? I wouldn’t accept this level of skating from a high schooler. I said faster. Are you sick? You look sick.”

Shay’s eyes widen, and he only stops himself from falling over with a flail of his arms.

“He’s past his limit,” I bark. “This isn’t official practice. We’re stopping now.”

“I’m the AC. You stop when I say so.” Colton’s gaze is hard. “Get your ass over here, Prince.”

Shay skates over to join us. I hate that his smile dims the moment that he sees Colton’s thunderous expression.

“Coach, I’m sorry.” Shay’s painfully earnest. It hurts my heart. “I’ll try harder.”

“You’ll be useless to us on the road trip, if this is all you have to offer,” Colton snaps.

Shay flinches.

“That’s not fair,” I snarl.

“I’m just being honest,” Colton replies. “I don’t sugar-coat. You should take the criticism and use it as motivation to do better.”

Thank Christ this fucking gas lighter isn’t a dom.

Unfortunately, Shay isn’t in the right head space to know not to listen to this shit.

He looks determined. “I will. I’ll do better.”

“Damn straight you will, Prince.”

“He’s in pain from practice yesterday.” I clench my jaw. “We need to take it easier today.”

Colton raises his eyebrow. “Are you?”

Shay looks uncomfortable. “I overworked—”

“It’s not that bad.” Colton waves his hand dismissively. “You’re not used to the NHL, kid, but that’s what it’s like. Pain is part of the deal. I know men who have played games with broken legs, torn groin muscles, and punctured lungs. You suck it up.”

“I know how to suck up pain.” Shay’s expression is now worryingly flat.

Fuck.

“Then deal with it. You should be grateful for this opportunity. I’ll offer you every bit of advice that I can. But I don’t like whiners, understand?”

Shay looks shattered. “Yes, coach.”

“Stop talking to my teammates like that,” I burst out. Fuck the no comment rule. Robyn is going to be pissed. “He’s not a whiner, he’s a…” Good boy. My gaze meets Shay’s. My fingers brush his, and just for a moment, his curl against mine. I hope that he knows what I’m thinking. By the way that light sparks in his eyes again, I think that he does. “…dedicated, hardworking player. Our top scorer. And like every other member, he’s my brother. So back the fuck off.”

Silence.

Shit, I don’t normally talk back to coaches like that.

You don’t.

Mustn’t.

Robyn’s dad would hand me my ass, if I ever did. He probably will for talking to Colton like that.

I don’t care.

Shay is looking at me like I hang the moon, and no matter what, Shay’s done for the day on the ice.

It’s what he needs, and I’m always going to make sure that he gets that.

I swore that I’d protect him. I don’t break my promises.

“Congratulations on volunteering to take the laps for your brother .” Colton leans against the glass, until he’d be touching me if it wasn’t there. “I’m going to make you skate them, captain, until you puke. It’s for your own good. Captain or not, you need to remember who’s in charge the moment that you step into this arena. And it’s not you. You’re arrogant enough to forget the hierarchy. Players are only just above Seal, our mascot, in my eyes. You come and you go. You may be McKenna’s favorite now but you’re not the board’s favorite. So, one wrong step, D’Angelo, and I’ll see you kicked to the minor leagues.”