Anna took the pain reliever with her juice. Lots of water, ibuprofen and warm soaks would help sore muscles. Apparently his home remedy was working for his teacher. She loosened up.
“You got the paper?” she asked while they washed the dishes several minutes later.
“On the front porch,” he answered.
“Well let’s see it, hero.”
Slapping her fine ass with his dishtowel, he went to get the Alexandria Journal. It would figure that Brenda Jamison would work for the paper he’d arranged to have delivered.
“Kyran, have you considered having Brenda investigated? I mean for, like, stalking history or something like that?”
“She’s a pain in the ass,” he said from the front door.
“And vindictive, you said so last night.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“The fact that she followed your Escalade last night, wrote a story about us, labeling it, that’s beyond sports news, Kyran. It’s wrong. An invasion,” Anna remarked.
Kyran agreed. He’d asked Alex to look into Jamison’s background after she’d printed that story that ruined his relationship with Seville. Brenda graduated top of her class in journalism, her writing was good. Something changed along the line. She’d gotten a cushier job with the Sentinel, covering the Griffins. The stories were fodder for gossip. Maybe she was trying to save her career or earn extra money now that the economy was tough.
“Alex had Brenda investigated before. She hasn’t done anything illegal so far. Because of what I do for a living, news hounds and paparazzi show up in my life at wrong times. I can deal with that.” He returned to the kitchen, set the paper between them. “I’m not going to sit back and let her write trash about my girl.”
“Hardly a girl, Kyran,” Anna reminded.
“Well last night, you were bad a time or two, or three, as I recall,” he said with a wink.
“Think I lost count. And I kinda liked it. But I loved being in bed with you the most, specially the lovemaking.”
“Kinda?”
“Okay, I loved it, all of it.”
“Then rest when you can today,” he suggested. “There’s no way I can be with you tonight and not want you.”
“Don’t you have team practice or something?” she asked.
“Monday morning. Coach gave us a few days to rest up.”
“You should do that. I’ve seen you tense a time or two when cooking that omelet.”
“I’ll be good all day, Anna James, promise. Later, not so much, as long as you’re not too sore,” he said.
Anna drank more of her juice. Her glass was drained and he gave her more of the orange, apple and pineapple mixture that he’d made fresh yesterday morning.
“Let’s see it,” she finally said.
Kyran knew what she meant. He unfolded the paper, expecting to leaf through to the sports section.
“Oh my god, that’s us in the locker room!” Anna shouted, punching at the front page.
Beneath the white “Cougar and Rebel” headline was a photo of Anna in Kyran’s arms. It was a little blurry. Yet it was unmistakable. He was kissing her, their first of the night in the locker room. Her griffin costume was down at her ankles. Her back to the door, her flesh-toned leotard making her look nude, it was an embrace of two soon-to be-lovers made to look tawdry.
“Fuck,” he groused.
“Um, what are Furries?” she asked, as she read something in the article labeling them as Furries.
“People who enjoy being in costume, usually some type of animal or cartoon character,” he answered.
“I’m the Griffins mascot. That makes me one?”
“For some, Furries are a fetish.”
“Oh…oh,” she repeated herself, getting it.
The article made it seem like they had gotten off because of the costume. Even if they had, what they did in private shouldn’t be front page news.
Kyran was furious. Brenda Jamison claimed that when she spoke to him after Friday night’s game, she’d asked if he planned to stay with the team after the season because of his newest fling. Like always, he’d seen her coming, had no idea what she’d asked, answered, “Yeah, no comment,” and went to find Anna, hiding with her. He barely remembered the fling part of the question, couldn’t be certain she’d asked him about it or not.
Anna took it well, but he saw her eyes glance to the article. Her face was flushed, her tension right back to where it’d been when she heard the cougar tag.
“I’m calling Alex. You’re right. Brenda’s messed with my private life one too many times. This time she’s way out of line. This is you,” he said.
“It can’t get worse, right?”
He didn’t know. How the fuck did Brenda get that shot? She wasn’t that good of a reporter if she had to write sensationalized stories. The photo sucked yet it’d had done the damage she’d intended.
A jazz tune sounded from across the room. Kyran went to answer, recognizing Alex’s ringtone. “Yeah, Alex, we read it. Make an appointment with the Journal. I want to know why they’d print that when they’re usually a fair press.”
Anna came up behind him, wrapping her arms about his waist. He listened to his agent, made some suggestions. All the while, his woman kept him close, easing the sting of Brenda Jamison’s attempt to ruin something he wanted to go right.
He wasn’t going to screw this up with Anna. Five times in one night was good, even for him.
Chapter Ten
Anna let Kyran speak to his agent privately so she could get ready to go. In the loft, she found her jeans in the bathroom. Going back downstairs, she could hear Kyran’s voice, the accent deeper by the minute.
He was an enigma with his auburn hair, warrior height and Celtic tats, coupled with an ingrained Southern honor that made him protect her. She believed that he’d cared enough to not hurt her just for a quick fuck.
But she was still worried. This morning, well, she hurt! Sore in places she’d not known existed, she was amazed she could walk and not reveal the aches.
Not that she’d complain, especially to Kyran. She’d wanted to have sex with him this morning, prove she was capable of taking him again. The article calling her a cougar had stung, more so than the Furry thing. She didn’t want him to see her as too old to handle his sex drive.
But she couldn’t deny it. She was ten years older than her boyfriend. Holy cow, she’d thought of Kyran as her boyfriend. She had, yes, she had. Somehow she’d fallen in love with her favorite QB in one night.
The fact was a decade would always separate them. If her GYN was right, she could go into perimenopause in a few years, maybe sooner. It was impossible to know for certain, but her mother had gone into menopause early. Her likelihood of not having a baby was a reality if she didn’t try sooner rather than later. She didn’t know if Kyran wanted kids at all, or if he intended to stick around long enough to give fatherhood a try. She also didn’t want to take that chance away from him if her clock stopped ticking.
If the article damaged his career or reputation, she’d fight tooth and nail to protect him. What it hadn’t done was lessen her respect for the man she learned he was, a good man. If she balked now, she might save her heart, but she’d never know whether she had a real shot at keeping Kyran Black as her man.
His career, the injury at the top of his game and the battle back made him seem older than she was. Perhaps age wasn’t a big deal, even though she was feeling every bit of forty this morning. She found her jeans and pulled them on, refusing to wince at the soreness that lingered between her thighs. She liked wearing his shirt so she kept it in place.
“Here, got you something, Anna,” he said.
She looked around. He didn’t have the cell phone. In his hand was a football jersey. Not the one she’d worn last night. It was the real deal, one of his.
“Oh no,” she said. “I can’t take that.”
“Yeah, you can. This one is older, see?” He showed her the jersey. It was an original Ale
xandria Griffins design, with his name and number on the back. “This is what I wear around the house when I want to be comfortable. Team had it made for me when I signed on.”
“Then it’s your favorite,” she pointed out.
“Right, come on. It’d mean a lot if you’d take this from me.”
She couldn’t help it. She smiled. Even though he’d returned to calling her sugar and she wasn’t certain why, he was sincere. “You’re making me feel like I should wear this because we’re going steady.”
The word steady made her feel ancient. That wasn’t good. Maybe the floor would swallow her up so she could hide.
Kyran didn’t notice. He came up close, right into her personal space. There, he caught her shoulders, bringing her up against him. “Your face went white. What’s wrong?”
“Not as young as I used to be,” she said, trying to shrug. “More aware of it this morning than last night, that’s all.”
“Believe me, I’m feeling the effects of the game and the sex,” he confided. “Anna, don’t worry. I’m your guy no matter the aches we are both feeling today or piranhas waiting to bite.”
Anna smiled wider. Her tummy did that little flip-flop of anticipation. “You are, huh?”
“You bet. In a few days, the Journal’s story is going to be forgotten by someone else’s fifteen minutes of fame.”
“Amazing what happened in one night, really.”
“No woman has worn me out before. Does that tell you anything?”
“Sure, that you’re really good in bed.”
“Hey, I wasn’t alone last night. You were right there with me.”
“Well, I did climax more times last night then I had during my entire relationship with my fiancé.”
Kyran’s hands tightened. “What fiancé?”
“Ex, sorry, ex-fiancé,” she said. “I was engaged for two years.”
“Ah, the guy that couldn’t get you off,” Kyran replied, grinning like the cat that ate the canary because he did, multiple times. “He wasn’t right for you.”
“Same one who fucked a grad student on his office desk,” Anna confided.
“Damn idiot. Let me guess, wasn’t the first time?”
“Honestly don’t know for sure,” she said. “When I caught him, he accused me of being lousy in bed. Made me feel like it was my fault he couldn’t keep it up. Once I suggested ED meds. He flipped out, almost hit me, but stormed out before things got way out of hand. He apologized and seemed genuinely upset for getting violent and we stayed together for a little while. I think that’s when he started cheating on me instead of hitting. For whatever reason, he stayed hard long enough to do it with that grad student, not me.”
“Is he older than you?”
“By five years,” she said. “Before that, the only serious guy in my life was in college. We dated most of the way through, then went off to different cities.”
“Wish I could say the same,” Kyran said. “I won’t knock down the women I’ve known before you though. Looking back, it all seems hollow. I went for sex and missed the making love part.”
“If we start dating for real, I hope we do it all, make love, fucking, you name it, I want to try.”
“We are way past if.” Kyran leaned down, kissed her quick. “Who were you with in the locker room, Anna?” he asked.
“You, silly.”
“Who fucked you in the Escalade?”
Anna scowled. “That’d be you.”
“Where’d you spend the night?”
“Here with you, in your bed.”
“Good, last question.”
“Uh oh, better be good.”
“Where will you be tonight?”
“On a date with this guy, Kyran Black,” she teased. “Maybe you’ve heard of him, super sexy football stud, capable of giving a lady a good time.”
“Well all right, you know where we stand.” He kissed her again, taking time to make her toes curl and her heart pound so hard she was sure he felt it.
Sometime later, his cell phone went off in the kitchen. Kyran groaned, kissed her hard and went to answer it. Anna saw that the jersey she’d worn last night was on the bar chair where he’d taken her so hard, she’d never forget it. Quickly, she replaced the shirt she was wearing with the shirt he’d just given her.
Unlike the one she’d gotten at a store, his was amazingly soft. Obviously, it was important to him. It smelled like fresh laundry soap and an outdoorsy dryer sheet. Still uncertain where the rest of her stuff was, she headed to the kitchen.
Kyran had a fresh cup of juice waiting for her. He’d finished his call. “We have to go, Anna. There’s more stuff that came up with Brenda. I’m going to take you home and to practice, then make my way to Alex’s office.”
“Okay,” she said.
The night officially over, she watched him gather up his wallet, cell and keys. In the garage, he helped her into the monstrous SUV. Her gym bag and costume were in the back. He’d remembered to grab her purse and placed it on the floor of the passenger seat.
“You know, I’m not a real fan of commando,” she admitted when he was in the driver’s side. She didn’t have on panties and wondered if he’d skipped the boxers.
Garage door went up, the SUV came to life. “Not giving the panties back, Anna,” he said, winking as he backed out. “Whatever you’re thinking, answer’s probably yes.”
Anna said nothing. The condo community was quiet. It was just past eight. They had time before football practice.
“Kyran, have a question.”
“Shoot,” he said.
“What did you do in the off season? I feel awful that I didn’t ask ’til now.”
He shifted, heading for the main gate. “That’s an answer that stays with you, get me?”
“Goes without saying,” she replied.
“We went out on a Friday, remember?”
“Sure do, best date of my life ’til now.”
Kyran grinned, shifting again. “That following Sunday was the Griffins last game of the season.”
“That’s right. You played the last quarter. Griffins won. I was so happy for you, hoped you would call to ask me out.” It still kinda hurt to think that he hadn’t. But she realized she was partly to blame for the misunderstanding.
“Oh sugar, I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“It’s okay, you explained why.”
“What I didn’t say last night was that I was confused about the bogus number.”
“A mistake,” she reminded.
“‘Cause you were afraid,” he said. “Same for me, Anna.”
“You were afraid of me?”
“Yeah, going home alone was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I jerked off most of the night, thinking of getting you into my bed. Scared the hell out of me, Anna, I admit it. I called you on Saturday and got that message about the number. Thought you did it to avoid me the next day. It’s happened before, with other women. Didn’t want you to be like them or get hurt.”
“Oh no, I can see now why you’d think that,” she said.
“Let’s be honest. I came on pretty strong. I scared you.”
“You did. But it’s your personality, Kyran. You’re prime A-type.”
“Can’t deny it,” he said. “I’d planned to ask Alex to help me find you Sunday after the game. Got sacked in my last drive, strained my knee, changing everything.”
“Oh my god, Kyran, I had no idea!” The Griffins had won by seven points, but his last pass of that game was intercepted. The defense came onto the field and kept the score where it was ’til the end. No one had known he’d been injured.
“Only the team docs and trainers knew. They sent me to my orthopedic specialist for an MRI and rehab.”
“Wise move on their part. How bad were you injured?”
“Not enough to require surgery, just needed serious PT.” The SUV slid out of the gate and they were heading for the highway. “I stayed in California for a while, reconditioned, got ready for this
season.”
“Makes sense,” Anna commented.
“Thing is, the time away made me realize I wanted to see you when I came home.”
“When did you come back?”
“A week before practice began. I waited ’til last night to see you again.”
Kyran was being honest. She was grateful. “You were preoccupied. I understand.”
“Thanks,” he replied. “It’s still not an excuse.”
“You were dealing with your knee. It’s okay.”
“Yeah, and I was still nervous. If I found out you weren’t interested it would have been my fault for not trying harder to reach you. I knew that, but had to take a chance.”
“I’m really glad you came to the locker room, Kyran. Last night was the best night of my life, so far. I hope to have more with you.”
“Me too,” he said.
He concentrated on driving for a bit, maneuvering about the highway with ease. A few minutes later he handed her his cell phone.
It was one of the fanciest things she’d ever seen. “Hit the navigation app. Plug in your home address.”
“I could just tell you,” she said with a grin, laughing as she fiddled with it.
“When you’re done, put in your phone number.”
“Ha, caught you. That’s what you really want.”
“You bet. If it’s the wrong number, I’ll know where to find you,” he teased.
“Won’t do that again,” she promised.
“Good to know,” he said.
Anna put in the information. Amazing little device started talking, a female voice giving directions to her house in Baltimore.
They reached her small, rented cottage in Baltimore County. Located in a suburb near Towson University, her neighborhood consisted of commuters to Baltimore City, D.C. and college grad students interning in the area. Her school wasn’t far from her house. It wouldn’t be too far out of Kyran’s way to take her there.
He parked his SUV in her paved driveway. Gentleman that he was, he helped her inside the house. “You go get ready for practice. I’ll bring your stuff in.”
“That’d be great,” she said.
Anna did exactly what she needed most. She showered, using the hot water to ease her tense muscles. Kyran’s remedy with the washcloth had helped reduce the soreness she’d felt between her legs. She copied what he’d done and felt much better. The ibuprofen helped too.
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