Discovering...Love?

His hot greedy mouth fed off mine as his hands traveled beneath my shirt. His warm strong hands moved up to my ribs, taking my shirt with them. Breaking the kiss, he lifts it over my head and throws it to the floor.

Our mouths connect, again, causing sparks to fly. Tongues tangle and teeth scrape, as we get caught up in the heat.

He suddenly and breathlessly pulls away, his hands not leaving my hips.

"We need to slow this down,"he says catching his breath, his dark Carmel eyes starring into my dark brown ones.

"You're right. There's no need to hurry, we've got all day," I grin, refusing him for a moment, when he bends his head down to kiss me. He smiles and tries connecting his lips with mine again. I laugh and bite my lip. He grins at the challenge and his one hand leaves my hip to free my hair from its loose braid. He spreads it out in his hands, and then sweeps it to my one shoulder. I can feel the weight and dampness of it as it falls from my shoulder to my back. His lips connect with my neck and he finds that one spot to make me moan. I feel him smile against my skin, as his mouth travels back up to mine. I give in to the temptation of his big pillowy lips, allowing him to slowly kiss me.

His tongue passes over my bottom lip, and I am quick to let him in. My hands come up to his neck from his broad shoulders, my fingers playing with the curling hair at the base of his neck. His hands travel up from their place on my waist to my back, finding the clasp of my bra.

"You sure?" he asks breathlessly against my lips.

In the heat of the moment he still remembers his manners, gotta love him.I smile and open my eyes to look deep into his. He has a very serious expression on his face, and I can tell he wants me to be sure.

"I don't want you to do this, if you don't want to," he says, his voice husky but forceful at the same time. His hands begin to move away from the clasp.

I stop his hands with mine, moving them back up to the clasp and look at him seriously.

"Sidney Crosby, if you don't finish this right here, right now. I will personally make sure that you do not finish the hockey season," I say struggling to keep a straight face and serious tone. A smile slowly creeps on his face before he laughs lightly.

"Yes, ma'am,"he growls before his mouth is down on mine again.

His swift fingers quickly unsnap it, sending it to join my shirt on the floor. He traces his hands back down my curves, teasing me by pressing his palms against the sides of my breasts, and down to the button of my jeans. He unbuttons them and slowly guides the jeans over my hips and down my thighs before adding them to the pile of clothing on the floor.

His mouth coming up to meet mine again. His hands come down from their place in my hair, tracing all of my curves, leaving a tingling sensation where they once were. Then those blessed hands come up to cup my swollen breasts before he breaks his mouth away from mine so that it can replace one of his hands.

I groan as his hot mouth clamps down on me, threading my fingers through his hair, still stiff from last night's gel. My back arches involuntarily, giving him better access. As his mouth works on one, his hand falls from the other, trailing down my abs and on to my inner thigh.

His hand moves north again, pushing the elastic of my underwear to the side, and dipping a finger in, to find me wet and ready. He groans in satisfaction, as his mouth leaves my breast. He impatiently tugs the rest of my clothing away, and throws them with the rest of my clothing.

I smile, as my hands travel from his broad shoulders, down his chest, across those amazing abs, and to the waist band of his boxers. (The only thing he has been wearing this whole time.) I sneak one hand inside to trace his hardened shaft, with gentle but firm motions. He groans against my neck as I slowly slide them off and toss them on the floor.

My hands move back down his abs to find him again, but he catches both my hands by my wrists, pulling them over my head.My breathing is deep and heavy as his eyes travel over my body. I can see the heat and lust in his hazel eyes. I need him now.

Apparently I'm not the only one. As if reading my mind he readies himself, the tip of his erection barely touching me.

"Sidney," I moan impatiently.

I hear him laugh lightly in response, knowing that he is doing this on purpose, but I can feel that he is very tense, trying to hold back.

"You are so beautiful," he whispers, his voice husky against my ear as he lets go of my wrists and slides into me, filling me completely. I bite my lips to help muffle the scream that breaks free, managing to make it come out as a loud moan instead.He pulls out of me almost completely before he slams back into me, making me go insane. My finger tips digging into the solid muscle of his shoulders, as he began to pick up the pace. So much for taking it slow.


Later... much later... we lay there, catching our breath for several minutes before Sidney speaks up breaking the silence.

"Sorry Ace, I know we wanted to take it slow the first time, but after 4 years without you, I couldn't wait another minute."

"That's ok, you made up for it the 2nd, and 3rd time," I sigh as he pulls me into him, resting his head on my shoulder, and spooning me, fitting against me perfectly. Sleep was starting to over come me, I had quite the work out. I had gone on a 3 mile job and then that performance, errr, those performances with Sid, yeah, I was a little tired.

"Caitlin?" Sid whispers against my shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, Sidney," I smile, feeling his grip on my waist tighten.



"I'm sorry. It's just that everything happened kind of quickly, and... no... no of course not," I hear Sid whispering into the phone, "I just, it only just recently happened."

I moved in bed quietly, and gently sat up, the sheet draped over me. I leaned back on my elbows and watched him pace around the room, waiting for him to notice me. Much to my dismay he has slipped on a pair of jeans. Bran has come out of hiding in the bathroom and is now sleeping by my feet.

"Look Dad, I gotta go... no I'll talk to you later. Yes as soon as I get back to Pittsburgh," he says struggling through the conversation with apparently his dad.

"Your Dad?" I mouth to him a little shocked. We had talked about his parents and sister, but I never really knew if they knew about me or not.

"Okay Dad, love you too," he nods to me, answering my question.He hangs up the phone quickly, as if he doesn't want to be sucked back into a conversation.

"Hi," he smiles at me, coming over to sit on the bed.

"Hey," I smile as he kisses my cheek. "So how's your dad?" I ask slowly.

"Umm... well... he's kinda pissed," he replies hesitating.

"Why?"

"Well... I kinda didn't tell my parents we were dating and they found out when the watched the event on TV last night."

"Ugh, Sid," I groan, knowing this wasn't going to be good. His parents find out he's no longer with his fiance and dating another girl, GREAT!

"They had no idea I even existed?"

"Well, no not completely. I mean they knew we were friends and that I spent Christmas with you. Then I told them, I broke up with Victoria before I said that to the world..." he begins looking at his hands.

'OK. At least they knew he wasn't with Victoria,' I think.

"But we've been so busy with the games. And then you with the avalanche. I mean, when I went home I told them that I broke up with Victoria for you, but I never told them we were actually together."

"Great. So now your parents hate me, before I even meet them," I groan, rolling my eyes.

"They don't hate you, they're just upset that I didn't tell them," he says looking at me.

"So when am I gonna meet them?"

"Huh? What makes you think..." he begins looking at me.

"Well, you are Sidney Crosby. And the whole world must know that we are dating by now, so I'm just assuming that they want to meet me."

"I told my dad that we'd set up a time, when we got back to Pittsburgh," he sighs leaning his head on my shoulder.

"Alright,well how about..." I begin planning out the date.

"No, not now. Not until we get back to Pittsburgh, right now just forget about them. Right now, you are all mine," he says grabbing my shoulders and looking me in the eye. His lips coming to meet mine in a tender kiss... which of course upon contact begins to become hotter than anticipated.

After a few minutes I manage to break away, and crawl out of bed. I walk to the bathroom, putting an extra swing in my hip to gently tease him.

"Where are you going?" Sidney says, clearing his throat.

"Shower," I smile looking back over my shoulder with a grin.

"You may need some help with that," he grins from his place on the bed.

"I just may, I mean showering can be a very difficult process. I mean thing of all of those places that need to be cleaned," I grin at him mischievously.

He quickly jumps off the bed and makes a run for me. I laugh and run into the bathroom. He follows me in, closing the door behind him.He comes over to me slowly, turning the shower on, as he makes his way over.

"Gotcha!" he growls his hands coming to my hips. The air thick with the moisture from the shower. I grin as his mouth crashes down on mine.

The rumbling noise got louder, and louder, until I too was swept up in its wrath. The deafening sound continued as I was tossed around like a rag doll. It seemed to go on for an eternity, until it suddenly stopped. It was so dark, and I was losing oxygen. I heard a terrified scream next to me.

"Caitlin, Caitlin wake up," I felt someone shaking me.

I gasp as I open my eyes, I was sweating and disoriented. Then a pair of concerned hazel eyes come into focus, which I realize belong to Sid. The scream seemed to echo in my head, the little face came back to me. I just breakdown.

"Shhh... it's ok, it was just a dream," I hear him say, pulling me close to him.

I cry into his shoulder, as he tries to comfort me, before I eventually give in to my heavy eyes and fall asleep.



"Ruff."

Something cold and wet touches the back of my neck.

"Ruff."

I inhale deeply and slowly open my eyes only to see skin in front of me. His slow steady breathing told me he had yet to wake up. I look up to see his eyes closed with his long eyelashes gently touching his cheeks. His big lips were slightly parted as he breathed from his mouth. He hadn't taken a shower before we went to bed, so his hair still had gel in it. But a few curls had come loose and were falling on his forehead. It always seems to amaze me how even the toughest guy could look like a little boy when he was asleep. Not that Sidney was a tough guy, but you get my point.

"Ruff"

This time it was a little more urgent. I turn my head and look over to my other half waiting for me, his blue eyes perked up when he saw that I was awake. His thick black tail wagging slightly.

"Good Morning," I whisper to him. He licks my nose in response, causing me to laugh quietly. I look to the clock, 8:00.

"Thanks for letting me sleep in today bud, I needed it," I smile.

I carefully, and with much difficulty manage to crawl out of Sidney's firm grip on me, without waking him. I gently slip out of bed and go to my suit case to pull out some running clothes. Right now, Bran needed to go out and I needed to clear my mind, so a good run was just the thing to do that.

I walk into the bathroom, and change into warm running clothes before going back out into the room. I grab a safety pin that I found left in the bedside drawer and write a note to Sid, pinning it on my pillow. I glance over at him, sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed. I smile and can't resist pushing a curl off his forehead and lightly kissing his cheek.

"Ruff."

"Okay, okay. Let's go," I whisper shout to Bran who is waiting for me by the door. I grab his leash, because it's the law in a city to have your dog on a leash, not that Bran really needs one, but still. I open the door, and we're off walking through the quiet hall of the hotel filled with sleeping NHL players.

After running around Montreal for an hour, I decide to go back to the hotel room. On my run, I had thought a lot about what has happened since I met Sid, both the first and second time.

The first time I met him on the beach, I knew that I loved him, even at such a young age. And even though it hurt like hell leaving him, I needed to. I needed to discover myself, before I could completely discover love. If I had stayed with him, would I be the person I was today? Probably not. I had always taken pride in being independent, but now, I was getting lonely. I mean don't get me wrong, I was always with someone, usually a dog. But this time with Sid, waking up next to him in the morning, having dinner together, just laying on the couch together, someone to just count on to be there, it opened my eyes to what life could be. Now I wanted someone to be there. I wanted Sidney to be there.

Getting caught up in my thoughts made time fly and before I knew it, I was back at the hotel, jogging up the steps.

I slip into the room, to find it still very dark, there was not even the glow of the TV to light the room. Was he still asleep? The deep breathing from the bed answered my question. I look in to find him hugging one of my pillows. I walk over, knowing that he would want to be up by now. I sit on the bed, pulling the earphones out of my ears and setting the iPod on the nightstand, ripping the note off the pillow. I look over at him, and see that boyish image stretched out across the bed. He looked so peaceful. I resolve to let him sleep a while longer while I get a shower.

I love the feeling of the hot water running over my tense muscles, washing away my sweat. I step out of the shower and dress in a pair of fitted jeans and a soft yellow tank top. I twist my hair in a rather loose braid, and apply some lash tint before going back out into the room. To my surprise he is still asleep, I thought for sure he would wake up when I was in the shower. After all, he is an early riser and it is already 10:16. I figure I should wake him up now.

"Sidney. Sid, wake up," I say quietly, shaking his shoulder gently. He groans and turns on his other side, facing away from me. I crawl onto the bed to get closer to him.

"Come on Sid, wake up," I say a little louder.

"Nuh uh," he groans snuggling into the covers more.

Hmmm... how to get a hockey player up. I smile.

I move myself so I am straddling Sid's waist, sitting gently on his abs. I bend down slowly, and swear I see a smirk on his face, before I attach my lips to his. He inhales slowly, as his hands find their way to my hips. I can feel him smile against my lips and begin to kiss me back.

"Good Morning," I murmur as I move my lips to his jaw line.

"Morning," he responds in a sleep groggy voice.

"You were quiet the heavy sleeper, it's already quarter after 10. Rough night?" I ask, slipping off of him to lay next to him.

He looks over at me in surprise. He props himself up on his elbow, looking at me with a confused look on his face. His hazel eyes filled with concern.

"You mean you don't remember?"

"Remember what?" I ask curiously.

"You woke up crying, and shaking, 4 times last night!" he says looking at me seriously.

"What?!"

"Yeah, you kept crying and telling me you kept seeing 'her face'. You mean you don't remember?"

"No," I say struggling to remember what exactly I was dreaming about. I knew who the face I was seeing belonged to, but I had absolutely no recollection of my dream. "That's strange I usually remember my dreams. I'm sorry I woke you up so much last night. Had I been conscious of the fact, I wouldn't have."

"Babe, it's ok. Stop apologizing, it not your fault."

"I know," I say looking down at my hands. Sidney slowly lifts my chin up and plants what has to
be one of the sweetest kisses I have ever received on my lips.

"Listen. I love you, and all the package you come with. Caitlin, you aren't in this alone, I'm with you 100%. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for," he replies, his face serious as he looks into my eyes.

"Thank you Sidney, for everything," I sigh moving into him.

"Do you want to talk about it?"he asks cautiously.

'Wow, is this guy for real? Did he really just ask me that?' i think to myself.

"Damn you are perfect" I whisper.

"What was that?"he asks.

"Oh, nothing. But no, I don't. I mean, I just can't anymore. I need to forget for awhile," I say in concentration.

"Ok. That's fine," he says kissing my cheek, "So you went for a run this morning, eh?"

"I thought you were asleep!" I laugh, looking up at him.

"Yeah, well, sometime after you left, I woke up and you weren't there and I saw your note. But i was just really tired so I went back to sleep," he shrugs.

"Are you still really tired?" I ask, grinning devilishly.

He looks down at me, confused for a minute, then grins upon seeing my smile.

"No, what did you have in mind?"he grins, pulling me closer.

"Well, you never helped me out of my dress like you said you would. And Mr. Crosby, you have started things a few times, but you have yet to finish," I smile, pushing myself up so that my lips are centimeters from his.

"I did promise you didn't I," he laughs.

"Yes, sir," I smile leaning in a bit closer.

"Then, maybe I should finish what I start this time," he growls before his lips crash onto mine.