Keeping Ice On The Wound

"So you really only wanted to call me so I could take pity on your injured self?" Hilary asked, feeling playful now. "Bring you ice and such?"

Mark laughed, the deep sound sending shock-waves through Hilary's body. She sternly told herself to settle down.

"You can bring ice if you want," he replied. "Really, I just want to see you again."

Well, Hilary just didn't know what to say to that. Her mouth opened and closed a couple times but she couldn't think of anything to say.

"Hilary?" Mark broke the silence. "Are you still there?"

"Yes," she managed to say.

"So..." he spoke again, letting the word hang there for a moment.

"So you want to see me again?" Hilary replied.

"Of course," he said. "Don't you want to see me again?"

Did she? She'd had a lot of fun with him, before they'd even gone back to his place and there had definitely been sparks when they'd arrived at his apartment. But did she really want to risk seeing him again, getting to know him better, liking him even more?

"Hil, you gotta stop doing that to me," he groaned over the phone and a giggle escaped her before she could stop it. "A-ha! You are still there!"

"I'm here, you crazy gimp," she replied.

He laughed and Hilary could picture his smile as he did it. She exhaled, ignoring the humming in her blood. "All right," she agreed. "I'll come over tomorrow."

"Awesome. Come over before the game starts and we can watch it," he said, not even skipping a beat.

"The game?"

"The Caps-Panthers game," he said in a tone that suggested she was slow for even asking.

"Oh, right."

"We'll pop some popcorn, drink some whiskey and watch the game."

"Interesting combo," she commented but agreed to all of it.

After hanging up the phone, Hilary stared at it in her hand for a minute before she threw her covers back and stood up from her bed. Walking across the room, she barely had time to reach the door before it was swung open before her.

"OK, you have a lot of explaining to do, missy," Lena announced, blocking her exit from her bedroom.

Rolling her eyes, Hilary smacked the phone back into her friend's hand before brushing past her. "Can I go to the bathroom first?" she asked. "I promised I'd tell you everything."

Lena gave her a stern look but she was still smiling. She nodded and walked down the hallway towards the living room. "Coffee's on," she called over her shoulder.

Hilary sighed in relief. She'd need some coffee to get through the day for sure. A few minutes later she was inhaling the potent fumes and settling down on the couch beside her roommate. Lena had her own steaming mug of coffee but she wasn't drinking it; instead she was watching Hilary like a hawk about to swoop in.

"Well? Aren't you going to ask me questions?" Hilary asked.

"I hardly know where to begin," Lena replied loftily.

Hilary laughed and reached out to smack her friend on the arm.

"I thought you didn't even like him," Lena said after a moment, getting right to it.

"I didn't know him," Hilary replied. And she hadn't. She still didn't, even after the conversations and amazing sex at his place.

"And you know him so well now?" Lena asked, as though reading her mind.

Flushing, Hilary shook her head. "No. Don't be silly."

"But you gave him your number?"

Her color deepening, Hilary shook her head again.

"Then how did he get it? Why was he calling you first thing in the morning?"

Hilary glanced at the clock over the stove and looked back at her friend.

"OK, why was he calling you first thing midday?" Lena rephrased the question, drawing laughter from both of them.

"He said he got the number from Anatoli," Hilary said.

"Ah, I get it," Lena replied with a nod, her smile taking on that special look that she got whenever she thought of her boyfriend. "So why was he calling? You guys couldn't have been talking all that long. I mean, Jane and I had only played one round of pool before you disappeared."

Hilary didn't reply right away. She sipped her coffee, hoping she could hide her embarrassment. Lena knew her too well. She took one look at Hilary and her eyes flew wide open.

"Hilary Margaret Winsome!" she exclaimed, using her full name and making Hilary laugh. "Did you go home with him?!"

Laughing and blushing and still trying to hide behind her coffee mug, Hilary managed to nod in the affirmative.

"Oh. My. God."

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Hilary protested.

"So you didn't sleep with him?" Lena sounded almost hopeful.

"Oh, well... uh, not... no, not exactly," Hilary stammered.

"You did! Oh my God, you slept with him!"

"Jeez, Lena, I don't think the entire building heard you," Hilary hissed at her, lowering her mug and swatting her friend's leg. "You want a bullhorn so you can try again?"

Lena met her gaze and then dissolved into giggles. "I'm so happy for you, Hil!" she exclaimed a moment later.

"Happy for me? Why?" That was certainly the last thing Hilary had expected her friend to say.

"Because you've moved on," Lena explained. "Scott was a jerk and you deserve better. Mark is a great guy and I know Anatoli really likes him."

"I haven't exactly moved on, Lena," Hilary protested. "It was one night."

"But he called you today," Lena countered. "He must like you."

Rolling her eyes, Hilary took another sip of her coffee. She refused to get her hopes up; he was a hockey player, after all. "Sure. He liked me enough to have sex with me since he's stuck in D.C. while his team is off playing games in other cities."

"Oh, don't give me that, Hil," Lena said. "Not all hockey players are like that jerk you dated in college."

Hilary shrugged, silently informing her that she was reserving judgment until a later date. Lena frowned at her.

"Mark's one of the good guys," Lena added when Hilary still didn't say anything.

They fell silent for a few minutes and Hilary picked up the remote control to turn on the television. Together they watched the noon meteorologist report on sunny skies with cool temperatures for the rest of the afternoon.

"So what was he calling for?" Lena asked, breaking the silence.

"He wants me to come over tomorrow night," Hilary answered, knowing she'd have no peace until she told her friend everything.

"Hilary! That's great!" Lena exclaimed.

Hilary looked over to see her roommate beaming at her. She smiled in reply only to appease Lena. "Don't get too excited, Lena. We're not dating."

"Not yet," Lena replied. "Oh, this is so exciting. We can go on double dates now and go to games together..."

"We already go to games together," Hilary interrupted. Lena just waved her off and kept talking about all the things they could do together. "Lena, stop. Please, just stop." Her friend looked over at her and closed her mouth to hear what Hilary wanted to say. "Listen, I know you think this is really great but I'm not in a relationship with Mark. We just had one night and yes, I know he just called me, but that doesn't mean this is going to be... something. So can you hold off on telling the world? Please?"

Lena studied her face for a long moment, a small frown creasing her forehead but then she nodded. Hilary let out a breath and nodded before leaning forward to embrace Lena. "Thanks, Lena. You're such a great friend to listen."

"I know," Lena agreed and they laughed together.

In truth, Hilary was scared to death of feeling anything for Mark. He was nice, sure, and an amazing lover but they were in no position to start dating. Hilary had been burned too many times before. She'd go to see Mark the next night and she would keep things light and she'd keep herself from falling for him.

***

Mark was struggling with pouring the popcorn into a bowl while balancing on one foot with his crutches tucked under his arms when the buzzer for his front door rang. He promptly dropped the popcorn and bowl on his foot - at least it was a plastic bowl - let a crutch fall and had to grab the counter to remain upright. As he stood there, holding on for dear life, the buzzer rang again and he hobbled over to the speaker to answer it.

"Hi, it's Hilary," her sweet voice came through the speaker.

"Come on up," he replied and buzzed her in.

Then he turned back to his kitchen, wondering if he could possibly clean everything up before she reached his front door. He was just trying to crouch down and pick the bowl up when a knock sounded at the door. Startled, he fell sideways, smacked his elbow on the cupboards and cursed viciously.

"Uh, Mark? You OK?" Hilary's voice floated through the door.

"Yeah!" he called back and hauled himself back to his feet. In frustration, he chucked the other crutch to the floor and hopped across the kitchen on one foot to answer the door. He met her gaze and smiled but she took one look at him, bracing himself against the wall, his bad foot held above the floor and her eyebrows went up.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded.

Blinking, Mark hopped back to let her in. "I'm good, how are you tonight?" he asked instead.

"Don't be an idiot," she replied. "You're walking around without your crutches. What, you don't want to get back on the ice as soon as possible? You thought you'd challenge yourself a bit more?"

"Whoa, you don't even like hockey so what's the big deal?" he asked, closing the door behind them and following her into the apartment. She'd stopped next to his kitchen and was eyeing the mess.

"I never said I don't like hockey," she replied as she took her jacket off.

He lifted his eyebrows at her and smirked. She scowled at him.

"Do you want some help cleaning this up?" she asked after a moment.

"You don't have to help me," he replied.

"Oh, please," she said. "You've obviously lost what little sense you have and you need a maid."

He chuckled at her playful tone but he liked her suggestion. "Are you offering to be my maid?" When she didn't reply, he tried again. "I think I could find exactly the right kind of uniform for you."

She flipped him a nasty look and he just laughed, hopping into the kitchen after her. She bent over to pick up his crutches and he caught them against his stomach as she tossed them his way.

"Oof!" he gasped and leaned on one of them. "Why are you so mean tonight?"

"I'm not mean," she replied. "You wanted me to come take pity on you, right?" She tossed him a look over her shoulder as she picked up the bowl. "Well, this is me taking pity on you."

He smiled as he watched her, swallowing hard when she bent over to start scooping the popcorn back into the bowl. "We're, uh, not going to... eat that, are we?" he asked, nodding his chin at the bowl in her hand.

"Of course not," she said. "But how else am I supposed to clean this up?"

Wincing, Mark set his crutches down and moved towards her. "Stop, Hilary. You don't have to clean it up."

"Who else will do it?" she asked, continuing to grab handfuls of popcorn and place them in the bowl.

Mark leaned down to grasp her by the arm. "I'll get my French maid to clean it up."

She laughed but straightened under his hand. Setting the bowl on the counter, she lifted her hair off her shoulder and pushed it back from her face. Looking into her deep blue eyes, Mark felt something shift inside him and his groin began to tingle as he recalled the look in her eyes from the other night. She must have seen something in his face because she flushed and tried to move away. He kept a firm grip on her arm though and shifted on his feet just enough so that he had her pinned against the counter.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Balancing myself," he replied huskily.

She smirked at him but leaned back, arching her front against him. He stifled a groan and slid an arm around her waist to hold on to her.

"You need me to balance?" she asked.

Her words filtered slowly through his lust-addled brain and he smiled. "For now," he said a second before covering her mouth with his.

She gasped into his mouth and he tightened his hold on her, pressing himself against her. He felt her hands land on his biceps, her palms heating his skin through his shirt. Skimming the line of her lips, he silently thanked her when she parted her lips. He swept inside, swirling his tongue around hers and groaning when the hot moisture of her mouth sent all his blood immediately to his groin.

He couldn't believe he wanted her so badly. He wasn't the guy who got attached to women. He wasn't a womanizer, really. Just because he had the tattoos and the hair, most people assumed he was but he wasn't. He was just a guy who loved hockey and dated occasionally. No different from most other guys.

But here he was, completely at the mercy of a soft set of lips and bottomless sapphire eyes.

Wrenching himself away from her lips, he yanked her shirt off over her head. She made a sound of protest but he leaned back in, claiming her lips. Stroking her tongue with his, he felt her surrender once more, sinking into his arms, her hands sliding up to the back of his neck. Little frissons of sensation shot down his spine from where she touched him. With another strangled groan, he drew back just enough to start pulling frantically at the button of her jeans.

She gave a light laugh and moved her hands down to do the same to him. Though she abandoned that quickly in favor of running her fingertips along the skin of his abdomen. He froze, distracted utterly by her soft touch. Lifting his face, he met her dark gaze and watched, mesmerized, as her white teeth captured her swollen bottom lip. He leaned close, kissing the mark she left behind by her self-conscious bite and she licked his lips.

That brought him right back to his original intention. With renewed meaning, he jerked the button of her jeans free just as she hauled the hem of his shirt up from his waist. Growling in frustration, he leaned back just enough to pull his shirt off and watched with eager eyes as she pushed at the waist of her jeans. He helped her, pulling down on her jeans and panties together until she was standing with only her bra on.

"That has got to go," he ordered in a husky voice.

Hilary giggled and pointed at the electric blue garment with an innocent expression on her face. He nodded, reaching for the straps. She batted his hand away though and turned slightly, her hip pressing against his straining erection. It was then Mark realized how hard he was breathing. He watched the rise and fall of Hilary's chest and was slightly comforted to see she was at least as affected as he was. Then he saw her undoing the clasp of her bra and she peeled it off with taunting slowness.

He followed the movement of her hand discarding the item and felt his desire take hold again. He grasped her hips and turned her right around so she was facing the counter. In the back of his mind, he knew he might pay for this in the morning; or rather, his ankle would pay the price. Still, he wanted her and he was too far gone to stop now. Reaching up, he cupped her breasts and gave them a gentle squeeze. One of her hands lifted to cover his and he jerked his hips against her as her soft fingers slid in between his.

Balancing himself as best as he could, he moved one hand back around to undo the fastening of his pants. He wiggled his hips to get his jeans down over his hips and then he heard her suck in a sharp breath as his cock slid against her buttocks. She pushed back just enough that he felt the heat from her body seep through his skin.

With one hand still on her breast, he moved his other hand down to feel how ready she was for him. When all he encountered was silken heat, he groaned, burying his face in her shoulder. Her soft honey-colored hair tickled his nose but he didn't care. He was taking hold of himself and guiding his erection to her opening.

As he pushed himself in, he felt her tense. His mind was too far gone to even wonder what she was thinking so he pushed again, sliding even deeper. She gave a shudder, moaned and then shoved her body back against him. He took that as a good sign and slid one hand to her hip, digging fingers into her luscious skin as he began to move back and forth. She still held his hand against her breast though her grip had tightened. With each thrust into her welcoming body, he felt her fingers tense around his.

Chuckling, he turned his head and blew her hair off her neck, resulting in the most delightful shiver all through her body. He felt it in his groin and pushed harder, moving his other hand down and around her thigh until he was stroking her clit. Opening his mouth on her skin, he sucked on her neck and laved the raised tendon along the side. She groaned, tilting her head to the side to give him better access. All the while, her hips moved back against him in time with his thrusts.

They were just hitting a beautiful smooth rhythm when she gave a startled cry and arched. Her lovely breast filled his palm even more but she dropped her hand from his, slapping a palm against the counter as she came. He rocked against her, loving the tightening of her body around him. As she gasped and moaned through her orgasm, he moved his hand down from her breast to grasp her hip. With mostly steady footing, and a firm grip on her body, he began to thrust faster, harder until they were both panting.

Then she was reaching back, cupping his ass cheek with one hand before grazing his skin with her nails. Feeling that, coupled with the fluttering of her body around his cock, he came, growling inarticulately into her shoulder as he did. He pushed and pushed until he was almost afraid they'd fall right through the counter.

After what felt like an eternity, Mark felt Hilary give a little laugh and he forced himself to lift his head. "What?" he asked, almost sure he'd heard her say something along with the laugh.

"The counter is digging into my stomach," she murmured.

Cursing, Mark withdrew from her and hopped back a half step so she could move. She did move, sliding around in front of him and circling his shoulders with her arms. Standing on her toes, she kissed him softly.

"Do you still need me for balance?" she asked with a smile as she moved back.

He gave her a lopsided smile and shook his head. "I don't think I'll ever feel balanced around you again."

***

Much later, as they lay entwined on his couch, and after she'd made sure his ankle wasn't too sore, Hilary replayed his earlier words, wondering what he could have meant by them. Then she gave herself a mental slap, telling herself she was turning into one of those silly females who try to read too much into things. Mark was a nice guy and dynamite in the sack; although she had to admit they hadn't even made it to his bed yet, a thought that had her blushing uncontrollably.

"Why the color?" Mark asked and pressed a kiss to her overheated cheek.

"I'm hot," she lied and laughed as he threw off the blanket they were sharing. "Well, now I'm cold!" she complained.

Sighing in mock annoyance, he hauled the blanket back over their naked bodies and moved his leg higher between hers. This he did as he moved a hand down her abdomen until he was teasing the curls at the juncture of her thighs. She sighed happily and let her body relax in his arms. He took the cue and slid his fingers between her thighs, stroking her and stoking the fire yet again.

After the 'balancing' act in the kitchen, they'd made love on the couch again before ending up in their current positions while watching the end of the hockey game she'd originally come for. Not that she was complaining; the Caps were winning and she could feel Mark growing hard against her ass again.

"You're an animal," she groaned as he gave her a subtle squeeze with gentle, skilled fingers.

"And you're my prey," he growled in her ear before nipping her neck.