Beneath the Ice

Alexei stopped into the store midday on Black Friday, bringing everyone coffee and tea. He was the hero of the hour, though no one had much time to spare him more than a heartfelt 'thank you.'

He did steal Charlotte away to the back room for a quick kiss and hug.

"Are you coming for dinner tonight?"

Her question earned her a narrow look that only made her giggle. She'd giggled all through their morning together before she'd had to leave for work and him for practice. The night before had been all new to them and they'd both woken with smiles.

"I'll make pork chops." He dropped his hands low around her waist and squeezed her ass.

She gasped and rubbed her front against him.

"Charlotte." His voice held a note of warning. It wouldn't do for him to get hard before he had to walk back through the store.

Her lip between her teeth, she gave him a faux-innocent look beneath her lashes. Damn. Last night had awakened something in her. She'd been growing more comfortable around him with each passing day but after what they'd done the night before, it had changed something. Something wonderful and wild and he couldn't wait until tonight when they could give a shot at recreating it. Or doing more. She knew he'd been holding back on her, and it was getting harder every day, but he had no road map for dating or making love to a single mother. He was taking all his cues from her and it was already beyond satisfying. Really, he might not ever recover if she gave him all of herself.

"All right." She sighed and tugged his head down for a thorough kiss before stepping away from him. "You should go. We're crazy busy."

Alexei nodded and touched her cheek before they walked out of the back room together. He waved at Sarah as he left the store and the woman waved back with a friendly smile.

At home, he did his usual round of yoga to unwind after practice and showered. He did some laundry and checked in with his agent. The man had secured him a new sponsorship deal that would require some time to shoot ads in the coming weeks, but he didn't mind. He was already planning to use the money for something really important, and a few afternoons here and there were more than worth it.

Finally, Charlotte texted that she was on her way home after picking up Zoe from daycare. He finished up his last bit of work and shut his computer down. Then he went upstairs to their place and was flipping through a cupcake recipe book when his girls walked in the door.

"Grumpy!"

Zoe's now customary greeting always made him smile and he hurried over to sweep her into his arms for a hug. With his free arm, he pulled Charlotte in at the same time and gave them each a kiss on the cheek before setting Zoe down again.

"I don't know if you should call Alexei Grumpy, sweetie." Charlotte hung up their coats as she spoke. "He's not grumpy anymore, is he?"

Zoe pursed her lips as she looked him over, her hands on her hips like she was considering a serious issue. "What do I call him instead?"

Charlotte snorted out a laugh and patted her daughter on the head. "How about Alexei?"

Zoe blew a raspberry. "I like Grumpy."

"Me too." Alexei winked at the kid and when he looked at Charlotte again, she was giving him a mock scowl.

"Traitor."

He only winked. "Hey, I found a new recipe for us to try,

zaya

."

"Yay!" Zoe clapped her hands and dragged a chair up to the counter.

"While you two do that, I'm going to shower. What a long day."

Alexei nodded and pulled her close for another hug and kiss before letting her go.

After Charlotte was done in the shower, she helped with the cupcakes and frosting and they all settled in to watch a movie before dinner.

By the time they went to bed later, Charlotte was barely able to keep her eyes open. Alexei tucked her into bed and held her close, his lips to her hair as she fell asleep.

Yes, he had so many plans for her and her daughter. But now, tonight, this was perfect.

─────

Sarah came to pick up Zoe on Saturday a little after two in the afternoon. Zoe was buzzing with anticipation over her sleepover with Auntie Sarah.

"You got everything packed, Gremlin?"

Zoe bolted to her bedroom to double check. Charlotte smiled at her daughter's excitement and turned to her friend.

"Did you want some coffee or tea? Or do you have big plans for tonight that you need to rush off to?"

Sarah shook her head and toed off her boots. "I could go for a coffee. Traffic is an absolute bear out there, so there's no use planning anything today."

Charlotte chuckled. "For real."

On top of the fact that it was the weekend after Thanksgiving, it had snowed part of the night, covering the streets of Chicago with a nice layer of the white powder, with surprise patches of ice all over.

"So, tell me what's on tap for tonight." Charlotte said as she set the coffee to brew.

"Nothing major." Sarah sat on the couch. "We'll go to my mom's for dinner, since she's been asking about the Gremlin anyway."

Sarah's mother, Gladys, had become a sort of surrogate grandmother to Zoe, after Sarah and Charlotte had become such good friends.

"Especially since she missed you guys at Thanksgiving."

"I missed her too." Charlotte sat next to Sarah. "But I won't lie, Thanksgiving with Alexei's teammates was a lot of fun, too."

"Of course it was. Tell me everything."

Charlotte recapped the event for her friend, making Sarah laugh when she described Zoe's antics with the kids she'd met.

"And they'll all be at her birthday party?"

"Yes." Charlotte stood and walked over to pour their coffees as the pot finished cycling. "Joelle is getting me all their contact info, but when I spoke to the parents the other night, they were all willing."

"Is that a game night?"

"It is, but the birthday party will be over lunchtime and everyone will be gone at a decent hour."

"Sounds great. Am I invited?"

Charlotte chuckled as she handed the cup of coffee to her friend. "Of course you are. You and your mom, or whoever else wants to come. I'll get you the details once I know what they are."

They chatted for a little while longer as Zoe bolted in and out of her bedroom, asking if one outfit or another was good, or if she was allowed to take two stuffed animals instead of one.

Finally, Charlotte was waving them off and backing into her now silent apartment. For a moment, she didn't know what to do with herself. Then her phone chimed with a pre-game day ritual text message from Alexei.

She shot him a quick reply with well wishes for a good game, and a promise to watch the whole thing, then set the phone down, butterflies going mad in her stomach. She hadn't told Alexei about Zoe leaving for the night. Not that she was worried about his reaction. They'd been on the cusp of so much more for days. Weeks, really.

Not that I'm expecting anything tonight either. Charlotte sighed and rubbed her hands over her face and ordered herself to calm down, for all the good that did.

Instead, she focused on the things she could control. She started cleaning, which she did regularly, but with Zoe underfoot, it was never as thorough as she'd like. By dinnertime, she was a sweaty, red-faced mess but she'd finished everything she wanted to. She put something in the oven to warm for dinner while she hopped in the shower.

Finally, she settled in to watch the game and eat dinner. Even without Zoe around, Charlotte was exhausted by the middle of the second period. She made herself some tea and endeavored to stay awake but dozed in and out as the third period started. By the end of the game, she'd vanished into a cat nap for a good twenty minutes but woke to find that the Blackhawks had won the game, 4-2.

She yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. The screen showed the men in suits sitting around a desk, discussing the game with footage running on the screens behind them. Charlotte watched, smiling when she glimpsed Alexei's face celebrating one of the goals. With another yawn, she stood and put her mug in the sink.

After that nap, she thought she could stay awake now until Alexei got home. But ten minutes after sitting down on the couch again, she was drifting off, only to be woken later by the apartment door swinging open.

Alexei swept in and locked the door behind himself as Charlotte struggled to sit up. He was by her side in another instant, tugging her up into his arms and turning to sit on the couch with her on his lap.

"Hi."

She smiled and hugged his big shoulders. "Hi. Great game."

"Thank you." He brushed a kiss over her forehead, lifting one hand to cup her head as he met her eyes. "You're tired?"

She shook her head but when it was interrupted by a yawn, he chuckled.

"I'm sorry. I tried to stay awake through the whole game."

"It's okay. You're a busy lady." As he spoke, his eyes flicked to Zoe's bedroom door. A moment later, he blinked and dragged his gaze back to Charlotte's face. "Where is Zoe?"

She struggled to remain nonchalant. "Oh, Sarah took her tonight. She wanted to spend some time with Zoe since we didn't see her and her family on Thanksgiving."

Alexei nodded, his fingers sliding through her hair. "She's gone all night?"

Charlotte's heart skipped a beat and she nodded. "Yeah."

Don't assume anything, don't assume anything.

Maybe Alexei would want nothing more than to go to bed. He'd had a far more active evening than she had, after all.

"When will Zoe be home then?"

Charlotte shrugged. "Sarah said she'd try to get her back here around noon tomorrow, maybe later, depending on how the morning goes."

"That's nice of her to spend the time with Zoe." Alexei ran his fingers through her hair again and one side of his mouth lifted in a smile. "And for you to have time to yourself."

Charlotte nodded with a smile, even as familiar guilt tugged at her. She was a mom, a single mom, the only parent Zoe had. It still didn't seem right for her to want any time to herself. She was supposed to be making it work, no matter what it took.

"Why are you making that face?"

With a sigh, Charlotte explained. Or tried to. "I like having the time to myself, I can't lie."

He nodded, his expression thoughtful as he listened, his fingers playing with the long strands of her hair.

"But I love Zoe so much and I chose to have her, when I could have taken a different path." She rubbed her cheek on Alexei's shoulder, her eyes stinging. "I shouldn't want to shuffle her off to some baby-sitter when I don't have to work or anything."

"Why do you think this? You know people get baby-sitters for their kids all the time."

She shrugged. She knew that, logically. Sarah had certainly pointed it out often enough, and more recently. But she felt what she felt and the guilt wasn't so easily waved away. "It's different for me."

"It's not." Alexei kissed her forehead and cupped a hand around her cheek to lift her face so their eyes met. "I know what you're really saying. You think you should be the perfect mother, always sacrificing and never complaining."

"I don't--"

He held a finger to her lips. "I'm guessing it's because of your parents and everything that happened when you were pregnant."

Charlotte's cheeks heated but she pressed her lips together to keep from admitting to anything.

"And yeah, you made the choice to have Zoe when you could have done it differently. But that doesn't mean you don't deserve a night or day to yourself every now and again." He huffed out a laugh and moved his finger. "If anything, it means you deserve it more."

Charlotte wasn't sure she agreed with that but hearing Alexei saying it was sweet and kind and she rewarded him with a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let her fingers sift through the damp ends of his hair.

"Let's go to bed, hm?"

She nodded in agreement at his gruff words and climbed off his lap. They shut off the lights, the TV, and walked into her bedroom together. They stood together at her bathroom vanity, brushing their teeth, and smiling at each other in the mirror. It was all part of their now regular routine and Charlotte marveled, not for the first time, at how much her life had changed in the past two months.

She finished first and hurried to the bed, stripping down to her underwear in a flash before slipping between the covers. Alexei took his time walking to his side of the bed and his dark eyes remained fixed on Charlotte as he stripped.

Charlotte's breath stuttered in her chest as she watched Alexei undress for her. There was no music and he didn't dance, but it was like a wild Magic Mike show all the same. And he didn't stop at his boxer briefs. Those were shucked as well, revealing the erection beneath before he slid into the covers beside her.

With a whimper, Charlotte went into his arms when he reached for her, tilting her face up for his kiss. He eased into it, cupping her head and slanting his lips over hers in a slow, soft perusal of her mouth. She sighed and parted her lips, loving the hot slide of his tongue against hers.

It didn't take long before she was splayed on her back, with Alexei pinning her down, one thick thigh between hers. She had her arms wrapped around his shoulders and rubbed herself against him, loving how the coarse hair on his chest made her nipples tingle.

"Alexei--"

"Hmm?" He didn't lift his head, the sound of his response vibrating on her neck as he licked his way to her ear. There, he nibbled on her ear lobe as he let his fingers drag in a feather-light touch over her shoulder and down her chest.

When he pinched her already taut nipple, she let out a low groan and arched under him, as much as she could with all his weight holding her down. He did lift his head then, looking down at where he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Before she could get another word out, if she'd even been articulate enough at the moment, he bent his head and wrapped his lips around her nipple.

Moaning again, she threaded her fingers through his shaggy hair and held him there as he sucked, licked, and generally drove her mad.

"You don't want to be quiet tonight?"

She huffed out a laugh and angled her chin down to look into his eyes. "We don't have to be."

His lips quirked in a sexy grin and he held her gaze as his tongue flicked out, teasing her nipple again.

"I think I'd like to find out how loud you get." Alexei lifted himself over her, bringing their lips together again.

Charlotte clasped him close, lifting her knees on either side of his hips. He thrust against her, the hard ridge of his arousal bumping her in the exact right spot to make her see stars. She shoved her head back against her pillow with a moan and panted as he licked her lips, her neck, and dropped lower, kissing a path back to her nipples. He teased one, then the other, cupping her breasts in his big hands and holding her down for his sensual assault.

In another breath, he was shifting lower still, trailing hot, wet kisses over her abdomen, pausing to dart his tongue into her belly button. She gasped and lifted her hips when he tugged her panties down, leaving them both naked and so very hot, nothing but skin against skin.

He pressed a palm to her inner thigh and shoved her legs wide. His head dropped and he covered her wet core with his mouth. His tongue slicked over her once and his moan rumbled all through her, moments before he licked again. This time, he slid deep, loving her with his tongue as she sobbed his name out loud into the dark room.

He made her come with such ease, such skill. She babbled nonsense, his name, a lot of the Lord's name taken in vain, and so much begging.

"Don't stop-- Oh, God, Alexei! Please!" Not even realizing it, she clutched his hair in her fists, holding him to her as she undulated under his mouth, shamelessly riding his face and letting him do it to her again and again.

When he surged over her again, clamping his mouth on hers, she drank in the taste of herself on his tongue and moaned again, wrapping all of herself around him. When he moved his hips between her shaking thighs, the tip of his cock bumped against her and she froze, her chest heaving.

Alexei lifted his head, his eyes a little wild and his own chest pumping hard. He shoved a hand through her hair and lifted her head until she could see nothing but his eyes.

"I want you,

lyubov

."

She licked her lips, panting now. "God, yes. I want you too."

His hips moved again, sliding through her wet folds and making them both gasp at the sensations.

"Don't move." His lips rubbed hers as he spoke, his voice so deep and rough.

She nodded and held still as he shuffled off the bed and dug through his pants. He dropped them after a moment, holding the package he'd gone for in one hand. Turning, he stared into Charlotte's eyes as he ripped it open and rolled the condom down his thick length. She watched it all, her heart tripping over itself in her chest and her breath coming in short gasps as he crawled back onto the bed.

Nerves swamped her as he brought their lips back together, his heavy thigh nudging hers wide again. As if sensing it, Alexei lifted his head and brushed her messy hair from her face.

"You want this?" As he spoke, he reached down, angling the tip of his erection to rub over her most sensitive spot.

She seized her bottom lip between her teeth and arched when he did it again. "Alexei--"

"Because I'll stop if you want me to." He kissed her cheek and closed eyelids, his one hand holding her head, the other still rubbing himself on her below. "I'll do anything you want, just say the word."

"I want you." She swallowed hard and forced herself to meet his dark gaze. "But I'm scared too."

He stilled. "Of me?"

"No, never." She lifted her head to kiss him. "But I haven't done this is in a while."

He gave her a gentle smile and nodded. "I know. We can go slow,

lyubov

."

"Okay." Charlotte drew in a deep breath and slid her hands through his hair, drawing him down until his chest rubbed hers. "I want that, please."

"Anything," he whispered it against her lips as he slowly lowered himself, fitting them together. "Anything for you."

She opened her mouth, breathing hard and fast as he slid into her, slow, just as he'd promised. Fire licked through her veins as he held still a moment, pulling back. She gasped and one hand moved to his shoulder, her fingertips digging into the muscle there.

"Shh, it's okay."

She tossed her head to one side, groaning when he pumped his hips once, sliding back inside her. He held still a moment, kissing her cheek, her ear, licking a path down her neck. One big hand held her hip, keeping her still as he withdrew again.

"No!" She clawed at him, desperate to keep him close, to keep their bodies joined.

His deep chuckle rumbled through her chest and he lifted his head, holding his lips to hers. "I will make it good,

lyubov

, trust me."

She did trust him. She trusted him with everything she had. Her heart, her pleasure, every inch of her overheated body. And he delivered. Oh boy, did he ever.

His muscles tensed under her hands a second before he pressed deep, sliding all the way in until he filled her up completely. She cried out, all her nerve-endings singing with pleasure that she'd never had before.

He kissed her face, her lips, sliding his tongue into her mouth and swallowing her noises as he began to move. God, so slow, so very slow, every inch of him dragging through her and back in again. Slow withdrawal, agonizingly slow back inside. All the way in, all the way out, over and over.

Charlotte tossed her head on her pillow, moaning at each move he made. Her nails raked over his shoulders and down his back as she lifted her legs, cradling him closer. His hand slid under her neck, holding her as he licked her skin, kissing her lips, her neck, her ear, anywhere he could reach with his mouth. All the while, his body moved in hers, that same devastating pace driving her out of her mind.