Darkroom: A Moo U Hockey Romance Kate Willoughby (read full novel .TXT) 📖

“Go dry off and put these on. I think we have some tea somewhere. I’ll make some.”

A few minutes later, I came out of his room, dry but still frozen. He must have found tea because there was a pot of water on the stove and two mugs on the counter.

Setting the towel aside, I curled up in a corner of the sofa with the blanket wrapped around my shoulders. A short while later, he came over with the tea. I curled my hands around the steaming mug, grateful for the warmth.

“It’s a good thing for you AJ’s sleeping,” he said sitting next to me, “because I’m tempted to read you the riot act. What the hell are you doing coming out in this weather when you’re sick? For someone studying to be a doctor, you should know better.”

Biting my lip, I said, “I lied to you. I’m not sick.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and, all the words exploded out of me in a rush, like I was a piñata that had just been dealt the last blow.

“As you can see, I have a…thing on my face.” I kept my gaze averted as I spoke. “It’s a birthmark called a port-wine stain and I’ve been covering it up with makeup because I didn’t want you to see it. That’s why I slammed the door in your face. That’s why I pretended to be sick today.”

He leaned forward and slowly, carefully tucked my hair behind my ear so my entire face was revealed.

“I was wondering what this was.”

Despite my best efforts, I felt tears gathering.

“Is this why you wouldn’t let me touch your face?”

I nodded.

“Can I touch it now?” he asked in a soothing voice.

I nodded again and a moment later felt his warm hand on my cheek, cupping my jaw. His thumb stroked my skin ever so gently.

“Tell me something. Were you the girl I collided with in the cafeteria last month?”

Taking in a shaky breath, I nodded.

A few more moments ticked by as he continued to study my face. This was how I imagined zoo animals or circus freaks felt.

“I’m sorry, Indi. I can’t stop looking at you.”

I scoffed. “Because I’m grotesque.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. Look at me, Indi.”

I met his gaze and through the blur of fresh tears, I saw an acceptance that warmed me from the inside out.

“I can’t stop looking at you because I’ve wanted this for a long time. I can’t tell you how often I wondered what you looked like when you weren’t all made up. I wondered when you’d feel comfortable enough with me that you’d let me see the real you, the private you. And I’m sorry that it came about the way it did, that I freaked you out this afternoon, but I’m glad at the same time. You’re beautiful. You’re so, so beautiful.”

It took a while for his words to sink in but when they did, they wrapped around me more snugly than the blanket.

He moved closer, still cupping my face, and brushed his lips against mine. I could taste his toothpaste, smell the soap he’d used and the unique scent of his skin. It was the most tender kiss I’d ever had because it was more than physical. This wasn’t just nerves and synapses firing. The knowledge that he accepted my face and thought it was beautiful opened me up inside. This was what I’d hoped for but was afraid would never happen. This gorgeous, amazing hockey god had seen me, seen my birthmark, and hadn’t rejected me or recoiled.

I sighed as he rained gentle kisses on my lips and cheeks, paying special attention to my birthmark. All the while he told me again and again how beautiful I was and each time he said it, I believed it a little more strongly.

As he slipped his hand under the T-shirt and closed over my bare breast, I moaned. It felt so good, especially when he slowly circled the nipple with his fingers, making it tighten into a hard point of sharp sensation.

In a matter of moments, I was nothing but need and wanting. When he pushed his knee between my legs, I opened them. Almost immediately, he moved in. I felt the hardness of his erection right where I needed it. I lifted my hips and he ground himself against me. It felt so good. I never wanted it to stop. There was no place I’d rather be than pinned under Hudson’s hard body with his hips thrusting and rubbing me where it counted.

We were panting. My lips were throbbing from his kisses and I felt lightheaded. I was only dimly aware of the rain pelting the windows.

With a groan, Hudson stopped and raised himself on his elbows.

“Indi,” he said, breathing hard. “Let’s go to my room.” His hair was disheveled and his eyes blazed with heat.

I couldn’t answer, but when he stood up and took my hand, I went along, eager, scared, my heart pounding.

The desire I felt right now was ten times sharper and more intense than it had been the other times I’d made out with him. My legs were literally shaking as we made our way to his bedroom and I could only surmise that we’d crossed a threshold, or maybe just I had. By being honest and open with him and exposing my most vulnerable self, I’d unlocked something inside and now my body and my mind were synced, aroused, hungry.

Except I still had one thing I was keeping from him.

And that had to change.

Tonight.

22

Indi

Secrets suck. The longer you keep them, the more difficult it is when you finally have to give them up.

I hadn’t come over intending to lose my virginity and I wondered if, rather than confess to him that I’d lived twenty-one years on this earth and never had sex, I should pretend I knew what I was doing. I would get him all hot and bothered—not a difficult task—and