“You know this whole team has the deepest respect for you, right?” he said, his voice low. “The way you call them on their shit. They may not like it, but they respect you for it.”
“Some do. Some don’t. Either way, I don’t care. They can say what they want when I’m not around, but no one’s going to pull that shit to my face. Ty’s a privileged young brat, born with talent. He’ll be a whole different person once he’s had an injury and faced his hockey mortality.”
She glanced up at him. “Besides, Kimberly really does love me, and she’s way too good for him. What do you want to bet he apologizes to me before the next game?”
The elevator doors opened, and Mia walked in. Rafe followed, keeping his back to the doors as he tapped the button for Mia’s floor. “I love wagers. But I can’t wait thirty-six hours for the outcome of a bet I want to win right now.”
The doors closed, and they were alone. He’d wanted to be alone with her for what felt like for-fucking-ever. He took one step to close the distance between them and pressed his hands to the bar running along the wall behind Mia. He bent his head until his mouth was millimeters from hers, and when her lips parted and her eyes sparked, a thrill coursed straight through his body. This woman could do so
much to him with so little effort.
“Want to make another bet with me? One that we could resolve, say, in the next thirty to sixty seconds?”
“Depends. What kind of outcome were you hoping to get right now, Mr. Savage?”
“You,” he said without hesitation. “All you. All naked. All night.”
Her breath hitched, and another thrill shot straight through his cock.
“I love that I can make your breath catch like that. And the bet is that you’re dripping wet by the time we reach your door.”
“We’re almost to my floor. And you should be exhausted after the game you played tonight.”
“The thought of getting you naked gives me all kinds of energy.” He eased his lower body against hers, groaning at the delicious feel of counterpressure to his aching erection. “I want to be in your bed tonight, Mia. Deep inside you all night.”
Mia scraped in an audible breath and pushed out a lust-filled “Rafe…”
“Yes. I want you saying my name just like that. Over and over.” Fire flashed through his veins. “I want you to moan it. And scream it. And beg it.” He lowered his mouth as if he were going to kiss her, and used every ounce of restraint he had to let his lips hover over hers. “Are you wet for me, Mia? Because I am so hard for you.”
“Shit.” The word barely emerged audible. Her eyes darted to the numbers on the elevator.
“If you’re not wet yet, you’re going to be when I tell you what’s in my pocket.”
Her gaze lowered to his, her lids heavy. “What?”
He pressed his lips to her cheek. Her temple. Then whispered, “A tie. A crimson silk tie. If you tell me what you want to do to me with that smart, ripe, beautiful mouth of yours, I’ll let you have it.”
The sound that slipped from her throat almost sent Rafe over the edge. A tight, delicious whimper of desire.
“If I put my hand under your dress and touched your pussy, would you drip on my fingers like icing?”
“You are…” She panted in quick, shallow breaths. “So bad…”
The elevator stopped, and Rafe pivoted away. It would be just his luck for Tate to have come back to the hotel, check in on Mia, and be standing at the elevator doors when Rafe had his hand under her dress.
But the doors opened to an empty hallway. He put his foot in the door’s path, leaned forward, and glanced into the hall, looking both ways.
“Get your key out,” he told her.
“What?” she asked.
He glanced back. “Your key. Get it out so we can go right into your room.”
When she pulled it from her purse, he snapped it up, kissed her hard, and let her go with a little momentum toward her door across the hall.
He pushed the door to her room open and didn’t wait for it to close before gathering her close and kissing her again. She responded like she’d been waiting all night for this moment. Her passion acted like a catalyst for an explosion between them. He groaned into her mouth, pushed her against the wall, and kissed her the way he needed her—like he was drowning, and she was his air. He poured all his confusion, frustration, need, desire, want, and love for her into the kiss.
Mia pushed at his jacket until it fell off his shoulders, and he released her waist to let it slide off his arms. He wanted to slow down. Wanted to savor her. But that would have to come later, because this need was white-hot and wild. While she worked at his buttons, he worked on his belt. And by the time she spread his shirt, Rafe bent to slide his hands under her skirt and pull at her panties.