The Pucking Wrong Man: A Hockey Romance (The Pucking Wrong Series Book 4)
Chapter 16

I was waiting in the kitchen with a full breakfast spread out on the counter, when I finally looked at my phone for the first time since the…dog incident. I scrolled through last night’s messages as I waited for Anastasia to come out of her room, my amusement growing with every text.

Logan: Mayday. Mayday. Geraldine just pulled out a blindfold. Send help.

Linc: Just play along. She’ll probably take out her teeth in a minute, and you’ll be golden.

Ari: That’s my bestie you’re talking about, Lincoln Daniels.

Linc: Blake know you’ve picked someone up?

Ari: I’m positive she’ll understand.

Walker: Why do I feel like I’m missing out tonight?

Ari: Just worry about learning the proper breathing technique, Disney. Hee, Hee, Ho, Ho.

Logan: WHY AREN’T YOU ALL MORE WORRIED ABOUT THIS. She just poured me one of those purple drinks. I’m not convinced it’s safe to drink. I’m pretty sure it’s just straight vodka with food coloring.

Linc: But it glows…so it can’t be that bad.

Logan: I will remember this next time any of you need help.

Ari: Except, I don’t think you actually need help, Rookie. Geraldine seems like the kind of party you’d never want to end.

Linc: …

Another text had come in around when Lincoln and Ari would have been trying to catch the dogs.

Ari: Camden Motherfucking James! Fifi just fucking bit me. On the leg. She missed my dick by two inches!

Linc: Well, his name is Fluffy. So that might have been why he bit you.

Ari: Okay, Fluffy just ran away again. Was there coke in that meat you fed him? He’s like a speed demon. I’m sweating, James. And it’s thirty fucking degrees out here.

Ari: WHY AREN’T YOU ANSWERING?

Linc: ?

Ari: I’m on the ground on 7th Street. This is the end. You’ll have to go on without me.

Linc: That’s like a mile away. How the fuck did you end up there?

Ari: …

Linc: …

Linc: Did you at least get Fluffy?

Ari: If you’re asking me whether Fluffy is currently eyeing me like he’s going to eat me. Then yes, I did get Fluffy.

Ari: Camden James, if you’re reading this. You are responsible for my death. I hope you’re happy.

Ari: Also…tell Geraldine I said goodbye.

Linc: How about Blake?

Ari: Have a woman deliver the news to her.

Linc: ?

Ari: I’ve heard that sometimes widows fall in love with the first man who comforts them. You’ll be responsible for instituting a large perimeter around her so that doesn’t happen.

Linc: For how long?

Ari: Indefinitely, obviously! You think I’m going to allow Blake to move on? I’ll just come back as a ghost and keep her company.

Linc: …

Ari: Are you almost here? Fuck, Golden Boy, Fifi just nibbled on my big toe.

Linc: Fluffy. His name is Fluffy. But also…why the fuck is your big toe out?

Ari: It’s a long story.

Linc: …

Linc: I’m almost there.

Holy fuck. I hadn’t laughed this hard in a very long time. I glanced at the hallway, making sure that Anastasia hadn’t come out yet. She still hadn’t appeared, so I turned back to my phone.

There was another string of messages at around three in the morning.

Ari: Hero, wherever the fuck you are, the dogs have been delivered. The package has been secured, so to speak…oh, and we rescued Logan.

Logan: Keep your fucking mouth closed, Lancaster.

Walker: It’s three o’clock in the morning. Why are we texting?

Logan: Don’t do it.

Linc: You mean don’t tell them how we found you?

Logan: …

Hmm. Rookie was getting pretty good at the “…” I needed to step up my game.

Walker: I’m listening.

Ari: Of course, you’re listening. Lincoln is talking. What else would you be doing?

Walker: Sleeping maybe?

Ari: I just laughed. That was a funny joke, Disney.

Linc: Logan was posing.

There was a picture after that…of Logan standing next to Harold’s statues, flexing in a pair of tiny shorts. They must have taken that before he knew they were there.

I was howling.

Logan: You owe me for the rest of your fucking lives. Indefinitely. For infinity.

Ari: At least your dick wasn’t almost bit off by an enormous poodle.

Logan: It was almost bitten off by something much, much worse, Lancaster.

Walker: …

Ari: …

Linc: …

I texted out “…” for good measure, even though I was replying hours later.

My phone almost hit the floor when I finally heard her door open. Glancing at the food, I made sure I wasn’t missing anything.

Six-thirty a.m.

Three and a half hours of sleep wasn’t ideal, but I wouldn’t put it past her to try and sneak out this morning, so I’d woken up at five a.m. to make sure that didn’t happen.

“Good morning,” I said as I watched her try and sneak toward the front door, her small bag clenched in her hand. She jumped and froze before turning slowly to stare at me in surprise.

“Good morning,” she squeaked adorably.

Considering she hadn’t gotten much sleep, she looked much better this morning. And I wondered if she’d even slept any of those nights at the shelter.

“I made breakfast,” I offered, deciding I was just going to ignore the fact that she’d try to leave without telling me goodbye.

I knew my girl. The fact that she was here would be riding her hard this morning. She’d never had anyone to help her out in her life. She didn’t know what to think about it.

That was alright. Soon enough, all of this would be as familiar to her as breathing.

“Oh, okay,” she said, sounding a little dazed and confused as she walked slowly into the kitchen and stared at it.

I tried to see it from her point of view. I’d grown up with this type of wealth, courtesy of my lawyer stepdad. His money and the stability it provided had been the reason she’d gone back to him.

It was…a lot. Especially for one person.

But I’d obviously had great foresight because now it wasn’t just one person staying here, and Anastasia deserved the very best.

“You made all this?” she whispered, gesturing at the food.

I had gone overboard. I could admit that. But I hadn’t known what she would like. So, I made pancakes and waffles…and french toast. Bacon and sausage were stacked high on a platter, and I’d even had Mrs. Bentley, Lincoln’s housekeeper, send over some of her breakfast burritos. We all liked them so much, it was basically a full-time job for her to keep us stocked up.

I probably could have just stuck with those, but the overwhelming urge to take care of her was riding me hard.

A flashback hit me. Suffocating and quick.

“Why isn’t fucking dinner ready, Leslie? What the fuck has your lazy ass been doing all day? You’re such a fucking disgrace. I work so hard, and this is the thanks I get?”

Smack.

Dan’s hand reverberated across Mom’s cheek, and she fell to the floor in front of where I’d been playing with cars while she made dinner, and my red one rolled into her hip.

I took a deep breath, trying to center myself after that unfortunate trip down memory lane. “I like cooking,” I finally said, my voice thankfully even and calm. I left out the “for you” I was thinking.

“You should have let me cook or something,” she said, sounding rattled. Anastasia had sweatpants on over her leotard and she’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She was also still holding her bag, so I grabbed it and set it on the counter for her.

“It’s the least I can do after you let me spend the night.”

I resisted the urge to scoff. That would probably offend her.

Over my dead body, was she ever going to cook for me, though. Or clean.

Or do anything for me at all.

Except blow jobs. I decided I would make an exception for those as I got lost on her luscious lips for a moment as she slowly licked her bottom lip.

“Let me make you a plate, baby girl,” I murmured, enjoying the way she blushed.

“Oh, I—” She tried to object, but I’d already grabbed a plate and was stacking literally everything I’d cooked on it.

“There’s no way I can eat all of that,” she giggled.

I savored the sound. I’d been wondering what this place had been missing since I’d moved in.

Her.

It had been missing her.

I led her over to a barstool and set her plate down before helping her onto the seat.

There was a small, amused smile on her face as I fidgeted with her stool until I was sure she was comfortable.

She was thin, overly so. Even for a ballerina, I was pretty sure.

I had the insane urge to pick up the fork and start feeding her, and I had to grab the edges of the counter to stop myself.

“Are you going to eat?” she asked, her fork pausing in the air as she stared at me with concern.

I’d already drank a protein shake with my trainer’s prescribed vitamins ground up in it, but if eating some food meant she would eat…I was up for it.

I filled up a plate and settled down next to her, pretending that I hadn’t shifted the barstools so that our arms were brushing against each other as we moved.

“Oh, do you need something to drink?” I asked standing up suddenly because I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten. “How about some coffee?” Walking over to the counter, I started fiddling with my coffee machine.

When she hadn’t said anything, I glanced over to see she was biting down on her lip shyly.

“I’m good with just water,” she said softly, not sounding like she actually meant it.

I hummed as I finally got the damn thing to work, and the machine hissed as hot liquid poured into the white mug I’d placed underneath it. Then, just to show off, I poured cream and sugar into the drink, making a fancy leaf pattern.

“That’s beautiful,” she mused, as I slid the mug in front of her.

“Not as beautiful as you,” I said, and she snorted because that was a ridiculously corny thing to say.

I was pretty sure she was still swooning though.

“Seriously, you should drink this,” she insisted, pushing it away.

“Do you not like coffee?” I asked, studying her face and committing more of her expressions to memory.

“I do like coffee,” she said slowly.

“Is there a particular place you’ve been wanting to try? I can order it,” I said quickly, wondering if she would like those super sweet Starbucks drinks—like Ari.

“I…I don’t want to drink it because when I leave here I won’t be able to afford it, and then it will make my life even more miserable than it was before.” She blurted the words out, and my mouth dropped at the little nugget of honesty I’d just gotten out of her.

Her cheeks were a bright-red color, and she slid her hands over her face, trying to hide from me.

She was adorable.

“Hey,” I murmured, trailing my fingertips across her cheek. She shivered, and I held in a grin.

“I know what you’re going to say,” she rushed out before I could say anything. “You’re going to be nice because, along with being beautiful, you also happen to be the nicest guy I’ve ever met in my whole life.”

I opened my mouth to say something, and she held up a finger.

“But you shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep. And anything that says I’m going to be able to drink fancy coffee every day for the rest of my life—because I just know one sip will never be enough…it’s not a promise you should be making.”

This time I couldn’t keep the smirk off my lips when she finished her little speech. “Are you done?”

“Done?”

“Well, I don’t want to cut you off when you’re on a roll.”

She gaped at me. “Are you—laughing at me?” she asked indignantly.

I pushed the cup closer to her. “Drink the coffee, little dancer. Who knows, you might hate it. And then your…spiel…would have been for nothing.” I dared her with my eyes, and I watched as she slowly reached for the mug. I held her eyes the entire time—as she lifted the cup to her lips, as the deep, earthy notes danced across her tongue, the bitter taste perfectly balanced with the cream and sugar I’d put in it.

She moaned softly as she swallowed it down, immediately going for another sip.

I was damn good at making coffee.

“Liked it, huh?”

She groaned, and took another sip for good measure. “See, I told you. Now, I’m going to be craving it every day.”

I leaned forward, my thumb brushing some of the coffee foam off her lip, and her eyes tracked my movement as I brought it to my mouth and sucked it off.

“I’ll just always have to be here to make you another one,” I told her.

Her breathing stuttered and she blinked several times…before taking another sip.

There was a little smile on her lips now, though.

After she stopped fighting me about the coffee, she ate, and I mostly stared at her.

Best meal of my life.

She’d started out slow, but a few bites in, the floodgates opened, and she was scarfing down the food, not stopping until the plate was completely clean.

“Wow. I…I can’t believe I just ate all of that.” Anastasia stared at the plate in horror. I had to admit I was impressed and immensely happy she’d liked the food enough to eat that much.

But then a bad feeling carved its way through my rib cage.

“When was the last time you ate?” I said haltingly.

She bit her lip, looking everywhere but at me. “It’s been a few days since I’ve eaten an actual meal. I had a piece of bread yesterday morning and some of that sandwich last night.”

There was a beat of silence, and then I sprung from my plate. “I’ll get you more,” I said firmly.

Anastasia grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks because she was actually touching me willingly. “I can’t eat another bite. I promise,” she laughed.

I took a step toward her, and her laughter abruptly cut off, making way for a hitched breath. “You’ll tell me if you’re ever hungry?”

She gaped at me, and I was aware I was coming across a little intense—but I couldn’t stop myself.

Thinking of her being hungry was a new trigger for me. That much was clear.

“I have to get going to class,” she began, instead of answering my question. “Thank you so much for letting me stay here last night, Camden. You’ll never know how much it meant to me. I’ll try not to be such a nuisance in the future.” Her eyes were shiny by the time she finished, and I took a chance and softly stroked her cheek again, savoring the feeling of her skin.

“We’re going on a date tonight,” I told her firmly, locking eyes with her and gripping her chin so she couldn’t look away. “And then you’re going to come back here and sleep in that room. You’re going to sleep in that room for as long as you want. And you’re not going to argue with me. This is going to be your home for as long as you need it.”

Forever preferably.

“Do you understand?”

Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was opening and closing like she was at a loss for words.

“Besides,” I continued smoothly, “how am I supposed to make you hot chocolate and coffee whenever you need them if you aren’t here?”

Anastasia

It seemed like all I could do was stare at him. This was another of those moments…where I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not. Had he really just offered for me to stay here…for as long as I needed?

I don’t know what came over me next. Maybe it was the fact that I’d just eaten the best meal of my life. Maybe it was because being this close to him was a life changing experience. Maybe it was because of what he’d just said…

I slid off the stool and slammed my lips against his, his body rocking backwards because he was so surprised.

When he didn’t move at all, I moved back, my cheeks heating and embarrassment soaking into my skin. Fuck. Why had I just done that? He’d just offered for me to live with him…and that had been my response?

I’d obviously read the entire situation wrong.

He’d just been being nice, right? That’s all this was?

“I’m so s—” I began.

“Fuck,” he murmured…and then his lips were closing over mine in a supple kiss. His hot, wet tongue was sliding inside me. He fucked my mouth; long licks that I swore had a central line to my clit. His hands were moving up and down my sides, my body pressing against his.

“I was trying to be good,” he breathed in between a kiss. “But now you’ve done it.”

I sighed against him as he dominated my mouth, his hands sliding into my hair and maneuvering me exactly where he wanted.

He broke away, and an embarrassing mewl came out of my mouth.

I needed more. I was desperate for him.

“I’m going to take such good care of you,” he growled, and my heart rate spiked at the promise in his voice.

His lips went back to mine, and then I was running my hands all over his powerful chest and his shoulders, pulling at his shirt because I needed him closer…

He was so perfect, it was almost heartbreaking, because I’d never seen anything as beautiful as him in my entire life.

I’d been kissed before by fumbling boys and assholes like Michael who had no interest in my pleasure. All they wanted was to take from me. This was a kiss from a man—a man who knew how to play my body perfectly to get the maximum amount of pleasure for both of us.

Camden moaned against my lips, pressing his huge, hard length into my stomach as he ate at my mouth, deep, savoring licks, like he couldn’t get enough of my taste.

He tugged at my hair, pulling my head back as his lips drifted down my neck, and I rubbed against him.

I didn’t recognize myself as I gasped at the feel of his mouth. I’d kept any sexual desire I’d had in my life locked up tight. I hadn’t had a lot of choices in my life, and keeping my virginity intact had seemed like one of the only things I had control over. Since meeting him, though, I’d found myself desperate for him. Kissing him had burst open a door inside me, and now he’d become a craving in my bloodstream. I’d take whatever he wanted to give me.

“Rub that pussy on my thigh, just like that, Anastasia.” His voice was tight, pained sounding, like he was holding himself back and every second of it was torture. The sound of my name in that tone…I’d never heard anything hotter in my entire life.

I rubbed against him desperately, sparks shooting from my clit as my core tightened. His lips descended down my chest, and I gasped at the sensation of the cool air over my nipples as he pulled down the leotard I was wearing, baring my chest to him.

“Please,” I whimpered as he pulled me closer.

I was vaguely aware that we were moving fast—zero to sixty actually.

But I couldn’t make myself stop.

A rough hand massaged my breast. “Fuck, these are perfect. I love them so much,” he said in my ear, his voice rough as he pinched one of my nipples, and a dazed sob slipped from my lips. He pulled back and our gazes locked. Camden’s pupils were blown out, like the taste of me had drugged him and he’d slipped into a bliss-filled high.

“You ever have an orgasm, Anastasia? Ever slip your fingers into your perfect pussy and get yourself off?”

“No…never,” I cried as his lips descended on my nipple, sucking and biting at my chest.

“And I know you’ve never let some fuckwad touch you. You were waiting for me weren’t you, baby girl?”

“Yes,” I whimpered as he licked the underside of my breast.

“I’m going to give you one right now, Anastasia,” he growled as the combination of my clit rubbing against his thigh, and whatever magic he was weaving, sent me soaring sky high. “Come for me right fucking now.”

As if his words held magic powers—or maybe it was just his tongue and his hands…and him—my core clenched and pleasure surged through me. I whimpered as my legs gave out. Camden caught me, not missing a beat as he sucked my other nipple through my first orgasm. My entire body shuddered against him, and I held onto his shirt for dear life, barely able to take the foreign sensations pulsing through me.

There’s nothing that can prepare you for your first orgasm. Not books, not shows. Nothing.

I think I was addicted.

I was definitely changed, unrecognizable from who I’d been just minutes before.

“Such a good girl, coming for me as I sucked on those pretty tits. How about another one? See how that pretty pussy likes to be played with?” he whispered roughly against my chest, his breath sending sparks across my skin.

“Yes,” I murmured. “Yes, yes, yes.” I wasn’t stopping to think it through. I just knew my body wanted more. “I want that.”

“Good girl,” he repeated in a thick voice, lifting his face from my chest and straightening up. Camden gave me another long, possessive kiss, holding me still under his ministrations.

Camden’s other hand made its way from my chest, down my side, slowly tracing the edge of the sweatpants I was wearing over my leotard. He pushed underneath the band, and I lost my ability to breathe, my clit literally pulsing as his hand slid down. Down, down, until it was running along the lining.

“Is this okay, Ana?” he murmured as he softly rubbed my pussy over the thin fabric.

All I could do was moan, and he chuckled darkly against my lips. Taking his time as he expertly rubbed along my seam, his fingers passing over my clit each time.

“Please,” I begged, needing more.

The pleasure was building again, I couldn’t have resisted it even if I wanted to. My breaths were coming out in embarrassing gasps, and my arousal was spiking with every swipe of his fingers.

“Does my baby girl want me to take care of her?” he smiled against my lips, seeming to replace it amusing how easily he could control my body.

I wanted to be his baby girl, though. In that moment, I wanted to be everything for him, everything he’d ever wanted, everything he’d ever needed.

“Yes,” I gasped. My eyes slipped closed as his fingers finally moved under the edge of my leotard, and he was suddenly sliding through my dripping wet folds with ease.

“So fucking wet,” he breathed, not sounding surprised at all about that fact. But I guess the steady supply of whimpers and moans would have told him exactly what he was doing to me.

He groaned as one of his fingers pushed inside me, and I cried out at the slight pinch of pain.

“You’re so tight. Your pussy is trying to pull my finger in. You’re going to choke my cock, baby. I might not survive,” he rasped, and my body released a full body shiver at his words.

I wanted that. His cock driving in and out of me, his body covering mine. I wanted to take every inch of him, let him do whatever he wanted—pleasure was building up again, surging to the surface as he pushed another thick finger into my core, and I lost the ability to breathe from the fullness. Almost there…

Camden yanked his fingers out, the leftover sensations not enough to fully push me over the edge.

“What?” I gasped, fighting the strange urge to cry.

“Shh,” he murmured, bringing his fingers out of my sweatpants and up to my lips, pushing inside my mouth so I could taste myself. Camden forced me to suck them completely clean before he pulled them out and kissed me, his tongue licking inside like he was chasing the taste.

I tried to move against his leg, desperate to put pressure on my clit and finish what he’d started, but he held me tight. “I’ll give you what you need, baby girl. But I want to hear you say it.”

“W—What?” I asked, my brain unable to think clearly, caught in that space between pleasure and pain.

“Say you’ll go on a date with me,” he ordered.

“Okay,” I replied immediately, moaning in relief as his hand slipped between my legs and brushed against my clit.

“Okay, what?” he pressed, stopping his hand once again.

“Okay, I’ll go on a date with you,” I cried, streams of whimpers falling from my mouth as he rewarded me by slowly rimming the entrance to my core.

“Now, say you’ll stay here,’ he continued, his voice perfectly calm like he wasn’t affected at all at the moment.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to concentrate as he pushed the tips of his three fingers inside me.

“I—”

“Say it, Anastasia. And I’ll give you exactly what you need,” he crooned.

“Just until I get back on my feet?” I glanced up at him, trying to keep my head on while he maneuvered and seduced my body.

His eyes flashed at my addition, but he nodded.

“I’ll stay,” I answered then, shocked and confused at how easily he got me to agree to things.

“That’s my good girl,” he groaned, plunging his fingers inside my core as his lips crashed against mine.

Yes. I panted as he finger fucked me fast and deep, skyrocketing my fading orgasm.

My cries were lost in his mouth as I came. Hard. The previous orgasm was a blip in the universe in comparison.

A tear slid down my cheek as he pulled out his fingers and sucked the taste of me off each one, holding my gaze the entire time.

“Thank you,” he murmured finally, after the stillness had settled around us like a cloak.

“Hmm?” I asked, the world spinning slightly around me as I came back from a high I was worried I’d spend the rest of my life chasing.

“For giving me that,” he said, the gold ring around his green eyes seeming to glow in the soft light in the room. It had still been dark when I’d come out, trying to sneak away so I didn’t have to say goodbye.

Maybe a part of me had known this would happen.

That his help for one night would become…extended.

I didn’t replace myself minding so much at the moment.

Camden leaned in then and knocked my entire world off its axis with one simple sentence.

“You’re going to give me all your firsts.”

I gaped at him, and he smirked, grabbing a grape and popping it into his mouth and making it look way too sensual considering he was chewing.

I didn’t argue with him, but I was in a daze as he straightened my clothes and then grabbed my hand, leading me to the elevator. I was still in a daze the entire drive to dance and as he dropped me off.

And as I was twirling around in class later on, feeling rested for the first time in what seemed like forever, I was quite sure that I was in way over my head.