Bet on Me (The Love's a Gamble Series Book 1)

by Saxon James

  “I’m okay.”

  When he starts to move them again, the pain is dull and holy hell, every nerve ending in my ass starts to come alive. Then he pegs my prostate.

  “Holy fucking shit!” I say on a gasp.

  Elliot smirks, picking up the pace, even as I reach over to my bedside table and pull out a condom. He adds a third finger, the stretch challenging my will to relax but not enough to take me out of the moment.

  I roll the condom over his leaking cock, covering it in a generous amount of lube, and then, I take back control. I pull his fingers out and pin both his wrists above his head before taking his cock and lining it up against my hole.

  I want to sink down, prove I can take all of him, but my ass clenches at the thought. So instead, I take my time, relaxing and applying pressure until I take in the tip. A weird grunt leaves me as I feel him breach my hole, but Elliot’s head drops back into the pillow, exposing his throat.

  Acting completely on impulse, I lean forward and bite into his shoulder as I work my way in shallow thrusts down onto his cock. The more he stretches me, the farther I go, the less it hurts, and when I finally bottom out, the backs of my thighs pressed into his hips, I release his shoulder and give him a cocky smirk. “I’m gonna make one hell of a power bottom.”

  Humor breaks through his arousal, and he lets out a quick laugh before his cock pulses inside me and his face relaxes again. “Somehow, even with my cock inside you, you’re still Mr. Toppy.”

  I nuzzle in against his face. “Top, bottom, I don’t give a fuck.” One hand tightens on his wrists as I grab his jaw, tilting his face up to mine. “All I know is I’ve missed being rough with you.”

  “Do it,” he breathes.

  I growl as I straighten, releasing his wrists so I can plant both hands on his chest. Before I get started, I calm enough to say, “Tell me if I hurt your legs, okay?”

  He nods and it’s all I need.

  My body weight presses him into the mattress as I push up onto my knees and start to fuck myself on his dick. I’m not in the mood for slow or sweet—I can make love to him another time—now, all I need is to hold him down until we both come.

  Elliot’s hips start to give short, quick thrusts as I pound down against him, and fuck me—literally—I’m not going to last very long. My hands tighten in his hair again, and I yank him up toward me, until my cock is rubbing between both our stomachs, smearing precum over our skin. The new angle takes him even deeper, and when his cock slams into my prostate, my thighs start to tremble.

  Elliot kisses me, deep and all tongue, while he grabs my hips and starts to guide my hard, fast rhythm. I moan into his mouth. Still rutting against his stomach, I pull back enough that I can suck his bottom lip into my mouth and then bite down hard.

  His eyes roll back. “Taryn, I—”

  “Look at me.” My fingers tighten in his hair, holding his face in front of mine. As soon as his gaze meets mine, it’s all over. I cry out as my cock erupts, shooting all over Elliot’s stomach, his chest, and when he pulls back a little to watch, a final rope of it hits his bottom lip. I ride him right through my orgasm, completely losing touch with reality, and when I lean forward and lick the cum from his mouth, Elliot’s hands tighten on my hips. He yanks me down as his cock starts to jerk inside me, and he lets out a shaky groan.

  “Fuck…” he moans, dropping back onto the bed, face flushed and hair sticking out all over the place with sweat. He’s never looked more perfect.

  Pulling off him makes my ass throb a little, but it’s not completely unpleasant. I deposit the condom in the trash then grab the tissues on my bedside table and wipe as much cum off us as I’m able. We can shower later.

  I slump beside him, and Elliot looks like he’s seeing stars. I know I sure as hell am.

  “Jesus…” he whispers, his voice still sounding lust drunk. “That was…”

  “Interesting.”

  He snorts out a laugh. “Unexpected was the word I was going for.”

  “Why? I told you I’d been practicing.” And now that I’m no longer horny, now that I’m coming down from my high, I want nothing more than to wrap him up in my arms and show him how much I love him.

  “Yeah, but… I thought you didn’t like it.”

  I roll onto my side to press lazy kisses to his chest. “It was an experience, that’s for sure.”

  “You didn’t enjoy it?” The panic that hits him is adorable.

  “Umm… did you somehow forget that I shot you in the face?” I snigger then bite down on his nipple, making him hiss. “Fucking you is definitely my preference, but I’m very down for riding your cock every now and then.”

  Elliot’s whole body seems to relax. “I want to be clear that it’s not a requirement.”

  “I never thought it was.”

  “Good.” He grins suddenly, pressing a soft kiss on my mouth. “As soon as I’m all healed, you can bend me over and do all the filthy things you like.”

  An affirming noise rumbles from my chest as I pull him closer, bare skin flush against bare skin. “Fuck, I love you.”

  “It still weirds me out to think that a few months ago I nearly walked away from you.”

  “Let’s face it, you were always coming back.”

  Elliot rolls his eyes. “Easy to feel cocky when you’ve got me naked.”

  “Again, that’s a thing that was always going to happen.”

  “I want to disagree, but your muscles and tats and cock put up a good argument.”

  I release him with one arm and lift it to flex my bicep. “Oh, you mean these muscles.”

  His stare lingers on my arm even as he tries to play it off. “Yeah, yeah, sexy football guy, I get it.” Then he grabs my arm and drags me closer, running his tongue along the vein on my bicep.

  “Your resistance levels are at a ten, for sure.”

  “Shut up.” He leans in and inhales deeply. “You blew my mind. I’m still not firing on all cylinders.”

  “Fine by me. But…” I swallow thickly. “You meant what you said? About moving in.”

  “Honestly, I’m terrified. But I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  “And”—I clear my throat—“I don’t want you to think you need to find a job right away.” I rush to get the words out. “I know how you feel about money, and I get it, but I really want you to get better first, then find something you love.”

  “Taryn—”

  “Let me pay for everything until then. Only until then. You have no idea how much I want to. And that way, you keep the money you have left so you’ll never be worried about feeling owned.”

  “Taryn.” He slides his hand over my mouth. “Money or no money… I’m not worried. Not with you.”

  My chest explodes with happiness, and it’s lucky we don’t have any other plans today because we won’t be leaving this bed any time soon.

  “I thought I had it all planned,” he whispers against my ear. “But I never planned for you. I never planned for someone who could make me feel so whole while I’m so broken. And I have no clue where things between us are going, but it’s kind of exciting. I’ve always hated unpredictability, but I think for the first time ever, I like the not knowing.”

  “I know what you mean. Things with Liam were smooth, very few issues until everything was the issue. I don’t want that again. I want it to be you and me and taking it each day at a time. We take each step as it feels right, no matter what timeframe we put on it.”

  “Maturity? That’s kind of hot.”

  “Oh yeah? Wait until I start investing in stocks and buying sensible shoes.”

  Elliot groans and arches his back. “Talk dirty to me.”

  I pinch his side, and he tries to squirm away, but with my weight and his legs, he doesn’t stand a chance. “Good luck getting away from me now.” And I’m not only talking about on the bed.

  “You say that like I’d want to.” He gets a spar
k in his eyes. “Babe, you’re never getting rid of me.”

  And his cheeky smirk shows he’s trying to make it a threat, but I’ve never heard anything better. I’m practically floating, still trying to process how I can possibly have it all. How I can possibly feel so happy, so full, so damn unworried about everything in my life.

  But then I look at him, and I stop trying to make sense of it. Because I don’t need to.

  All I need is Elliot, and the promise that there’s more to come.

  ***

  Gary follows through on his promise. Elliot had been right that his boss was having him followed, and while the people tailing him hadn’t seen him get taken, they’d been suspicious of his sudden disappearance. Gary had a list of the license plates of every unusual car that went by his office and had already passed it onto a friend on the police force. After our visit, it took him forty-eight hours to find Elliot’s attacker and another twenty-four to “convince” the guy to turn himself in.

  I shudder, thinking about the tone Gary used when he briefly explained. “Your boss is one scary fuck,” I say to Elliot as I circle the block, looking for a parking space.

  “Definitely yes, but he’s loyal too.”

  I raise my eyebrows a little at that. Sure, Gary might have had Elliot followed because he’d suspected foul play, but he’d also suspected that Darcy was going through Elliot purely because of his connection to me. If that was the case, we were both going to be used to take the fall. “Loyal is a strong word, but I can’t deny he’s smarter than I’ll ever be.”

  “Oh, babe, you’re a football player. Isn’t everyone smarter than you?”

  I reach over to pinch his thigh, but he bats my hand away. “For that, you’re giving me a blow job tonight.”

  “Oh, can’t. Injured. Sorry.” He smirks, and it takes all my willpower not to smile back. Cheeky bastard. Normally people can walk a day or two after surgery, but that asshole really fucked Elliot up. The doctor said the tissue damage was so bad on one side it might never return to normal, but we won’t know for sure until the cast is removed, just after Christmas.

  Anger tries to take over again, but as with every other time, I force myself to breathe through it. I wish I’d been there with Gary when he did… whatever it was to this guy, but as much as I might talk big, I’m not really sure I want to know.

  Elliot taps my shoulder, pointing out a parking spot, and just as I’m pulling into it, my phone starts to ring.

  “It’s your coach,” Elliot says, staring at the car display. We trade a quick glance before I answer.

  “Hey, Coach. You’re on speaker.”

  “Adderson, good I caught you. The boyfriend there too?”

  “I am,” Elliot answers.

  “Excellent. I have some, ah… well, I wouldn’t say good news, but I have an update.”

  “About?” I ask.

  “The match fixing. Turns out some evidence has appeared, and it’s, well, I can’t see him getting out of it now.”

  I switch off the ignition, sure I know exactly what evidence Coach is talking about. When Gary made the fucker who took Elliot turn himself in, he gave him screenshots of the conversation between Fallins and Charlene, all with her name omitted. I still don’t know how he’ll stop Fallins from mentioning her, but if he pulled off this much, I’m sure he’ll manage.

  “Ah, who?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

  “Doctor Fallins. We were right about him. This new evidence paired with what I already had was enough to get him talking. Seems there were four team doctors all in on the scheme. He named them this morning, but I don’t think giving them up will be enough to reduce his sentence, given the fact he hired a guy to rough up Elliot. It won’t be long now before the media picks it up, so I’m calling all the players and letting them know first.”

  Holy shit. Looking over at Elliot, the relief I’m feeling is clearly reflected on his face.

  “So that’s it?” Elliot asks. “It’s all over?”

  “For you and Adderson, yes. You boys did good, but I can’t guarantee you won’t be questioned during all this. For now, the commission will take over. We’ve got a few press conferences they’re trying to pull together, and Taryn…” His voice softens. “I’ve asked that we do the press conference to announce your relationship in the midst of it all. I’m hoping people will be way too distracted by everything else going on so you and your boyfriend won’t get much of a thought.”

  Elliot wraps his hand around mine, and I offer him a small smile. Honestly, with everything else going on, it doesn’t scare me as much as it used to. A few guys on the team are pretending like I don’t exist, but most are pretty good about it.

  “Thank you.”

  “It’s no problem. And just a reminder, if anyone starts asking you questions about the scandal, your response is ‘no comment,’ got it?”

  We say our goodbyes, and after hanging up, I just sit there for a moment. That’s it. Everything is out in the open, and now it doesn’t matter if I want to hold Elliot’s hand or make a social media post about us… I can. It’s both exhilarating and terrifying.

  “You okay?” he asks.

  I smile. “I really am.”

  It’s slow going for him, and as we move from the car to the restaurant where we’re meeting Zane, I have to help him along. Elliot, like with everything, is pretty chill about it and has finally agreed to start working with a PT to strengthen his legs again and see a therapist to help with his memories of that day.

  When we make it to our table at the back, Zane is already there, and he hurries to kick out a chair for Elliot. I can feel the weight of people’s stares on me, but I face away from the room and do my best to ignore it all. I’m not technically out just yet, but I’m no longer hiding.

  “Hey, man,” Zane says, patting me on the back. “How have you been?”

  As we get settled, I eye Zane, trying to find any resentment or anger over missing the back end of the season. With only one game left, we’re out of the playoffs, so it’s not like he’s missing much. “Good, actually. I’m trying to keep a low profile while I look after this guy, though.”

  Zane grins at Elliot. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for all that.”

  “You had your own shit going on.”

  “Yeah, but I’d already figured you two out. And I’d planned to be there when you finally felt comfortable letting us know. It was going to be this whole thing, where you told us and I stood beside you like, I got you, brother.”

  Elliot laughs and after a second I join him.

  “Wait, you figured it out?”

  “Yep.” He takes a self-satisfied sip of his coke. “I dunno how the other idiots didn’t see it.”

  He had Elliot and I figured out after one night, but never suspected anything about Liam and I after years. I guess that says more than I ever could.

  “Well… I figure if I let people slowly get used to us, by the time next season starts, no one will care that I’m gay.” My stomach clenches even as I say those words because I know no matter how much I’m trying to normalize our relationship, it’ll never be something that people don’t notice or comment on. Having Elliot and having football is always going to be an issue.

  But for the first time ever, neither of those choices feels like a sacrifice.

  “Well, I’ll have to send you my luck.”

  “Or help me kick the asses of anyone who gets in my face about it.”

  Zane smiles faintly, tipping his glass from one side to the other and watching the Coke bubbles form patterns around the edge. “About that.”

  His tone immediately sets me on edge.

  “I’m out.”

  “What?” I ask, voice too loud for the restaurant.

  “I’m done. Finished. My ankle is going to keep giving me issues, and now that I know who’s responsible, I’ve already spoken to my agent about next steps. It’s going to suck up a lot of my time.”


  “Coach called you?”

  “About half an hour ago.” His expression darkens. “I can’t believe that fuck got me injured on purpose.”

  I shake my head, not sure what I can say. If Coach hadn’t caught my injury in time, I might be having to consider the same thing Zane is.

  “He’s an asshole alright,” Elliot agrees.

  “That’s not the only reason,” Zane says. He bites his lip and turns away. “Don’t want you to think I’m stealing your thunder or anything, but I’m bi. Way further into dudes than chicks, though, and… well, I really want to see if I can have what you guys have.”

  “That’s not a reason to give up playing, though.” Hell, I’m not going to.

  He draws a line through the condensation on his glass, distracting himself from the conversation. “Theoretically, I could keep playing, but I don’t have the energy, Taryn. Not only because of the homophobic shit. But the traveling and the distance… I think it’s time to settle down.”

  “Fuck.” I run a hand over my face. “Well, good for you. Obviously. That’s a big choice to make, but if it’s what you want, I’m happy for you. I… can’t imagine you not being there next year. Who am I going to share a room with now?”

  He shakes his head, grinning. “Who knows? But shit, brother, if we’d actually talked to each other, maybe this would have come out sooner.”

  I hum in agreement. “Might not have been so lonely.”

  “Might have had someone safe to hook up with.” He grins and shoots a wink at Elliot who rolls his eyes. “But then I guess Liam would have been pissed off.” He hurries to take a gulp of his Coke and something in the way he said the name pings my suspicion.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Well, you guys were clearly dating, right? I mean, a guy friend you brought to all the events we had? I feel like an idiot for not realizing it sooner.”

  I lift a shoulder. “How could you? I was determined to hide it.”

  He stifles a shaky breath. “Yeah. Me too.”

  I look across at his dull eyes, understanding him more than ever, and only now letting it hit me that he won’t be coming back. “Jesus, it’s not going to be the same.”