Hearts On Ice Read online

  “And people are able to do the maneuvers in sync and shit?” he asked, referring to pairs skaters like Damian and Dahlia.

  “Yep, they do them perfectly in sync. You should see Damian and his skating partner, Dahlia. They are magic when on the ice together,” I told him as I thought of my friend and his partner.

  I hoped they would make the Olympics. There was also the possibility that Dahlia would work with another partner although she’d remained loyal and patient with Damian throughout his recovery process. However, I knew she was anxious to get back in the game.

  I couldn’t imagine leaving my fate up to the recovery of another person. My fate was totally contingent upon me and how hard I worked toward a full recovery. Dahlia was back in Russia twiddling her fingers awaiting the verdict on Damian.

  “Show me some more. I don’t think I can follow you, though,” Max said as he gave me room to display what I could do.

  I took it as a challenge of sorts almost as if I were competing against myself and showing everyone what I could really do on skates. Taking off, I saw Max’s eyes on me as I performed a number of tricks. I liked it like this without the constraints of practicing with Bev. I was in a free environment with only Max watching me. Allowing the freedom to envelop me, I shocked myself a little bit with what I could accomplish when I just let go.

  This was who I truly was. My grace had returned with that edge of sophistication the judges always enjoyed from me. It was why I’d become the Ice Princess in the first place, but now, I had a new goal. I was a grown woman who’d matured on and off the ice. My focus was to not just show my stellar abilities, but to also display a sex appeal like never seen before. I didn’t want to have the title of princess anymore. No, now I was a queen.

  I skated close enough to Max that he could hear me when I spoke. He was leaning on the barrier wall, watching my every move. I’d seen him shift with each sensual move of my hips. He was almost in a trance by the sexuality I allowed to flow into my skating. I loved the way his gray eyes glossed over in heat. I bit down hard on my lip as I approached him.

  “I’m trying to get back into jumps. I did manage an Axel at home. I really want to land a triple Lutz without falling on my face.”

  “Try it,” Max insisted.

  “I can’t. I can barely manage a single Axel.”

  “Try it!”

  “Okay! Okay!” I gave into his demands. “Geesh, Mr. Bossy Pants,” I shot playfully in his direction at the smirk on his sensual lips.

  I skated off to the other side of the rink. My heart beat quickly in my chest. It felt like it would beat out of my chest cavity. I could actually hear the pounding in my ears and feel it racing throughout my body.

  Taking in a breath, I calmed down and put one foot in front of the other. I knew it was my nerves psyching me out. It was the simple fear of getting hurt again. I pushed that thought to the side as I skated hard and fast in Max’s direction before I jumped.

  It was in slow motion, yet only lasted mere seconds. I managed three rotations before I struck a picture perfect landing. With a final breath, I threw my hands in the air and squealed out in happiness as I spotted Max grinning at me. I skating toward him and the moment I reached him, his hands captured my waist.

  “I fucking did it!” I yelled as a pure joy coursed through my limbs.

  Max spun me around as I flung my arms out and leaned back. “I knew you could. You should listen to me more often,” he chided playfully.

  Max pulled my body upright. His face was only inches away from mine. My back was pressed against the Plexiglass barrier of the rink. His body fit snuggly with mine perfectly, his lips there for me. My eyes fluttered shut in hopes he’d kiss me and he did. His lips were on mine in mere seconds, kissing me hard, devouring me, marking me, and claiming every bit of my existence. His hands gripped me possessively.

  On natural instinct, my hips grinded into his body. The fire had been lit, but I wanted it to burn hotter. I needed more than just our playful flirtations. I needed the rough dominance his eyes had told me he needed.

  I gasped as his manhood came alive, prodding into my stomach as his tongue explored my mouth. There was no going back after a kiss with Max Madden. There was only pure surrender.

  10

  Max

  Fuck, it all felt so good. I finally had her in my grasp. Her body molded perfectly with mine and moans escaped her lips as Zeus gestured to her exactly what he wanted. I hadn’t expected to do it, but when that moment arrived, I had to take it. She had surrendered herself to me with no reservations, and I’d reveled in it.

  My fingers travelled under the hem of her loose fitting tank top, grazing her soft skin as my teeth took in her bottom lip, giving it the bite I’d been dreaming about for so long. Nothing was going to ruin this for me. I had the girl now. She was mine and there was no going back.

  I had the exotic beauty who’d haunted my dreams. She was no longer an illusion; she was actually in my arms. I ached to give her more than just ecstasy that she’d never felt before. I wanted to give her the world and everything in it. She wasn’t a princess that needed to be spoiled. She was a queen who deserved all the riches of the land. Damn, I was in deep with this girl only after one kiss.

  “Baby, tell me what you need.” I encouraged her, my voice a deep grumble coming from deep within.

  “You. I need you, Max.” She barely breathed when she spoke in a sultry tone. Her eyes closed as she awaited whatever I was to give her next.

  I smiled to myself. I’d been with plenty of women, but none like Lia. There was purity about her, but in the moment she was a vixen on fire for me to take her. My hand ventured underneath her top and slipped up her side. I felt her shiver under my touch. My other hand found its way down to her round ass that I’d wanted to squeeze for years. Now, I had it in my actual possession. My brain was scrambling to think of the fastest way from the rink and to my cabin. With other girls, I might have just done them right there on the bleachers, but this was Lia, so it had to be special and private. She was for my eyes only.

  Before I could formulate a proper plan, her hands moved from around my neck to my chest and she gently nudge me away. I was confused as she stood, chest heaving up and down as she tried to regain her breath.

  “I should go,” she said quickly before she skated off to the nearest exit.

  Lia left me there hanging.

  My mouth was open in shock. I didn’t know how to react to her change in mood mindset. She’d wanted it. She had told me so although I had known it long before she gave me her words. She’d expressed it from that first moment our lips met. I’d already seen it in her eyes for weeks. But now, she was gone.

  “The fuck,” I said aloud to the empty rink.

  I left the rink behind, still whiplashed from my moments with Lia. Nothing in my life had ever been unequivocally right until I shared those few minutes with her. I’d never had a perfect moment in life until her. I couldn’t shake it, and for once, I didn’t want to shake the lingering feelings I had for that girl. They weren’t just some lustful desires of getting her in bed. They were aspirations of loving her, keeping her, and growing old with her.

  The next day, I didn’t see Lia all day. I’d planned to take her into my arms the second I laid eyes on her. I didn’t care who saw us or what rumors would spread because Lia was mine. She knew it and so did I.

  At every meal, I took a seat to give me a decent sight of the door, but she never came into the cafeteria. I sat there through the entire course, waiting. Maybe that one kiss was all we’d been given. If so, I’d have to move on. But how could I? I’d found perfection in the purest form in one curvy and vivacious mocha queen—my queen.

  I didn’t even want to attend the New Year’s Eve party, but it beat sitting alone in my room with no booze. Since going through my detox, I’d poured my bottle of Jack down the sink and gotten rid of the evidence. If I wasn’t going to depend on the Oxy anymore, I wasn’t going to depend on the booze either.
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  That week was the hardest week in my existence but whenever I found myself at the end of the rope and whenever my brain told me I could just end it— I saw Lia’s smiling face. As I sat in the middle of my bed writhing in pain from the detox process with my mind going insane, she was there by my side in spirit.

  The music was bumping in the main lodge as I stepped through the doors. I’d decided tonight I’d leave my usual jeans or sweats and T-shirt behind and actually show some class. My black button up hugged my abs and gripped my arms, and my slacks were classic.

  A few other athletes had returned from their holiday vacations and were standing around chatting while sipping on punch. I’d gone nearly two weeks without a drink and each day it got a little easier although I was receptive of an occasional drink once I’d been discharged center. I’d made the decision to put the boozy life behind and live in clarity. It was hard and took all my self-will, but there was no backsliding from the new Max back to the old one. The substance-free Max was pretty cool.

  I got myself a cup of punch and leaned against one of the wooden beams in the room. A few people danced while others continued to chat away. Then I saw her. The others in the room just about disappeared from my view when she walked into the room.

  Lia looked like a sensual goddess in her short sparkling silver dress. The neckline plunged deep and gave me a perfect view of what she was working with. Her heels made her delicious legs look even longer as she stepped through the party. I saw the eyes of a few guys on her, but they didn’t stand a chance. I’d already marked Lia as mine and I would put up a fight with any man who dared to challenge that. I’d knock any fucker the fuck out if he would so much as try to get in on my territory.

  Lia stopped and chatted with her European speed skating friends, her fingers smoothing out her hair, which she wore straight down her back.

  “Mr. Madden, you’re looking dapper on this New Year’s Eve,” said the other woman who had saved me.

  That first day I never thought that Cynthia Reed would be someone I’d come to rely on, but the shrink had been my lifeline during my detox. I had reached that point that I had to lay it all out on the table. I had to tell someone about the emotional pain I’d been through since I was a kid. I spilled it all out on Cynthia that day in her office when I admitted my addiction, and I’d never felt better.

  “Thanks. I’m sorry I missed our session yesterday. My mind was occupied, and I felt like I needed a day in the gym,” I told her in apology for missing our planned session.

  I was actually going to her on a regular basis to check in and let it all out there. I’d had days when I wanted to give in and pop some Oxy just for that feeling, but I’d stop by Cynthia’s office and she knew just the words to say to get me back on track.

  “Occupied with what?” the short and plump middle-aged woman asked, but my attention was back on Lia as she moved through the room, a goddess in her own right.

  “Oh, I see. Your mind was occupied with Lia,” Cynthia commented.

  My eyes dropped down to the short woman standing in front of me with a cup of punch in hand. How did she know? I shook my head, not understanding.

  “When you were sleeping during your second night of detox and I was on my shift to be with you. You said her name in your sleep. I see it now because of the way your eyes watch her. You like her. She’s a good girl with a strong head on her shoulders and I think she’d be good for you. The New Year is about making new beginnings. I think she would be a nice new beginning for you. She would be a change from your norm.”

  Of course Cynthia knew all about how I’d slept around in the past. She knew about my wild parties and how I used to wake up to girls I couldn’t remember in my bed. She was right. Lia would add a positive change to my life. My ex was the last constant girl in my world, but she’d dropped me as fast as she thought my money would run out. I knew Lia was nothing like her.

  “Have a good evening. I hope things look up for you in the New Year,” Cynthia said as she patted my arm before she left me standing alone eyeing Lia.

  The beauty before me turned in what seemed like slow motion, but her eyes instantly locked with mine. A smile came across her face as she walked in my direction. My palms became sweaty, and for the first time ever, I was nervous. Fuck, she had me under her spell, but I didn’t even mind. I wanted to be wrapped around her finger and be a slave to her will.

  “Happy New Year!” she cheered when she reached me.

  “Not quite, but close,” I corrected as I glanced at the clock. It was just after eleven and we still had a good part of the hour to go until we’d be entering 2017. “I didn’t see you around yesterday.”

  “No, I was off campus meeting with my choreographer. We wanted to go over ideas for my routines at the World Championships,” she explained as she teetered around nervously on her heels with a strand of her hair between her fingers.

  “Doing anything special?” I asked as I placed my empty cup down.

  “Maybe. But for now, it’s a secret,” she cooed sweetly before sticking her tongue out at me. I’d had that tongue in my mouth. I had allowed it to explore and mingle with mine.

  “Okay, everybody stop standing around! Get up and dance!” the deejay for the evening called out to the crowd.

  I shrugged before surprising Lia and taking her by the hand. I pulled her onto the makeshift dance floor and started to bust some of my club moves. I wasn’t the best dancer on a spacey dance floor, but in the club. I was the hottest dude in the room. However, this was not the club.

  Lia giggled, but she still joined in. Her curves were even more hypnotic as she moved to the fast tempo of the song. I loved the way she moved and grooved with me. Our bodies were not connected the way I wanted them to, but there was also an entire room full of people watching us. We danced to a few more songs before the beginning chords of an enchanting ballad began. Before Lia could react, I pulled her body close, my hands on her hips. Her honey-brown eyes bore into mine as she slipped her arms around my neck. The music faded into the background as I moved with her.

  Once again, I held perfection in my arms. Her body reacting to mine, the shivers running down her spine weren't easily hidden from me. I smiled down at her as she bit on her lip. She leaned in closer, resting her head on my chest. I took it as a signal that she was mine and she had surrendered her care to me. The moment the song ended, I took her hand into mine and pulled her out onto the balcony, which was filled with outdoor heaters to keep us warm. I turned her around a corner where no prying eyes could see and I claimed my prize.

  My hands were gripping her hips, my mouth devouring hers. Tasting her once more was all I’d been able to dream about since that first kiss. She smelled like strawberries and tasted like them too. Zeus was ready to break free, but it wasn’t the time or place. For the first time ever, I wanted to wait. I didn’t want to rush. I simply wanted us to take our time. It was foreign to me, but Lia was worth every moment of waiting. I broke away and gazed into her lustful eyes. My hand traveled up her waist, over the swell of her breasts, and to her cheek where it rested. I moved a strand of her hair from her face.

  “I want you to be mine,” I told her straightforward. “Fuck, I think you already are mine.”

  “I am?” she questioned with a playful tone to her sensual voice.

  “Yes, you are, Princess. All mine,” I proclaimed as my hand on her hip gripped at her tighter, and my body pressed hers hardener against the wall.

  “Okay,” she breathed, her eyes fluttering shut for only a second before she stared into my eyes and into my damn soul.

  I was done for with her. I might have been a big strong man, but she held me around her finger instantly with only a look through her long eyelashes.

  The voices of the others inside grew as they began to countdown until midnight. Lia and I didn’t say a word to one another. I only pressed my lips to hers.

  “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year!” Cheers and whi
stles erupted from the main lodge, but Lia and I remained connected by a passionate kiss. My hands toiled with her hair as my arousal pressed into her stomach. Her chest was heaving up in down in elation.

  Her moans filled me, telling me her desires. She wanted big Zeus and she would eventually have him. I knew whenever I decided to take her, it would be raw and passionate; something I’d never had before. I didn’t want to fuck her. I wanted to make love to her.

  “This is even better than in my dreams,” I whispered to her. I felt like a total sap, but with the right girl, it was so damn right.

  “You’ve dreamed about me?” Lia asked with a small smile on her face.

  “Every night, baby.”

  “I dream about you too.”

  “You were meant to be mine, weren’t you?” I ran my thumb across her already plump, but now swollen lips.

  “I suppose so,” she answered before planting a soft kiss on the tip of my finger.

  I grinned at her and pulled her close, her head resting on my chest. I needed her to

  hear and feel my heartbeat. My heart only continued to beat because of her. She'd held me to this earth. She'd kept me alive and going past my addition and into what life could and should be. I wasn’t going to ever let her go; not now or ever.

  11

  Lia

  Max and I had worked out together before he walked me back to my cabin. We’d only been together a couple of days, but oddly, everything about it felt perfect. We’d eaten meals together and spent time together between our therapy sessions and practices.

  I’d opened the door to my cabin and looked around to see if there was anyone around. The coast was clear, so I jumped into his arms, planting the kisses on him that I’d wanted to give him all day, but couldn’t as we were in public.

  I felt like a crazed teenage girl for the first time. As a teenager I’d been so focused on my career and being the best ice skater ever that guys were the last thing on my mind. I leaned into his arms and allowed him to pull me into the cabin and kick the door closed behind us.