by Aria Cole
I swallowed, pushing a hand through my hair. My mind reeled as he walked away. He’d stopped me before I could even get a word out. He knew me so well already, knew that my irrational fears would get the better of me and my defense mechanisms would do their best to send him packing. But that hadn’t happened. He’d cut me off, and somewhere deep down inside, I liked it. He’d stopped my stupid emotional trigger in its tracks and left me thinking maybe what we had was different from anything I’d ever known. I only had to give it a chance.
I sighed, throwing my bag over my shoulder. I needed a hot shower to shake Cash’s talented tongue and those incredibly long fingers from my mind. I sped down the long hallway, turning the corner just as I ran into a wall of a body.
A body that reeked of whiskey.
“Hey, why the rush?” Rodriguez’s hands came around my shoulders. He was clearly unsteady on his feet.
“What are you thinking? I’m disappointed in you, Rodriguez. You’re not gonna get your stats up if you’re more concerned with partying. Go home and get some rest.” I pulled away from him, taking a step back and right into Cash’s broad chest.
“What’s up, Rod?”
“Just seein’ where your girl is off to. I don’t think she likes me very much.” Rodriguez glanced from Cash to me.
“I think she’s right. You need to go sleep this one off. I’ll stop by later for pizza and we can talk about the game.” Cash clapped his teammate on the shoulder.
“Nah, man. Don’t need your help.” Rodriguez shrugged Cash off.
“Like hell you don’t. If you don’t sober up, Coach is going to bench you the rest of the season and force you into rehab, man. You know that.”
“Fuck off.”
“He’s right. You’re off your game; the numbers show it,” I offered, not wanting to push too much but knowing Rodriguez had too much talent to drink it away. Just like someone else I knew.
“Here, let me get you home.” Cash clasped a hand around Rodriguez’s shoulder, shot me one last long look, and led him down the long hallway.
The depth of Cash’s compassion astounded me. I’d never met anyone like him, much less a ball player. They were usually so self-involved they couldn’t see beyond their own ego, but Cash put everyone first. Even me.
I sighed, watching them leave, glad that Rodriguez had a friend like Cash to help him when he was down. We could all use someone like that in our lives.
Later that night, long after the game and the little run-in with Rodriguez, I turned the corner in the hotel, thinking I should do some packing if I had any chance of making the early flight in the morning, and I heard a voice murmuring low.
I frowned, stalling when I turned the corner to find Cash leaning against the wall near my room, speaking into his phone. I hadn’t seen him since our tryst in the bleachers this morning, but now he looked upset. Really upset. His brow was furrowed, and a deep frown marred his normally relaxed face.
I almost turned to leave, trying to avoid betraying his privacy, then thought better, frowning as I moved closer, my hotel key already out and ready to swipe.
Cash’s eyes rolled up my body as soon as I was close, his darkened irises landing on mine and swimming with something painful. His look swept the breath from my lungs, and I knew instantly I couldn’t leave him, because whatever that phone call was about, it wasn’t good.
Cash murmured something else before promising to do what he could, then hanging up the phone.
“Are you okay?”
Cash froze, no words falling from his lips before I dropped my bag on the floor, not even sure what I was doing beyond comforting him the only way I knew how. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and his arms encircled me, and we held each other. He held me so tightly for long minutes, I thought he might crush the air from my lungs, but it was the best hug I’d ever received.
Warmth rolled in waves from him to me, and before I knew what was happening, Cash’s hands were crawling up my skin, his lips tracing mine, and his tongue pressed at the seam of my mouth. I opened, and our tongues tangled intimately, my brain blurring with images of earlier images of him, images of us, together.
Without words he lifted me into his arms, taking my keycard in one hand and swiping it at the door before it buzzed and we crashed into my hotel room. He dropped me on my feet, and without thinking, with all the pent-up energy from the orgasm earlier and the memory of his hands and his lips on me, I pulled my top over my head and stood in the middle of the floor in my pants and a bra.
Cash’s eyes narrowed, and he pulled his own shirt over his head, then pushed his hands through my hair, and we both fell down onto the fluffy bed. “I need us tonight.”
“Yes, yes,” I gasped against his lips, my hands tugging his hair, the scent of him surrounding me and sending my mind hazy with lust. Cash’s lips kissed across my collarbone, then he drew his tongue over the flesh of my breasts, pushing the straps down my arms. With frantic movements, he shoved my pants and panties down my legs, grazing his fingertips across my bare pussy before nestling his hips between my thighs. The hot, thick ridge of his cock pressed against my clit and sent me arching up on the bed, desperate for more of him now.
I didn’t know what we were doing, I didn’t know what I was thinking, because this was certainly not the place I expected to be tonight, but I was sick and tired of denying whatever this was between us. In the far reaches of my mind, I thought maybe this would satisfy the itch. Maybe we could do this tonight, then wake up tomorrow satisfied, the banter and sexual tension no longer pulsing uncontrollably between us.
“You make me crazy, Delilah.” He hooked a hand behind my head and brought his lips to mine, kissing me until I was breathless, bruising my lips until only the memory of him remained. Cash pulled the waistband of his workout pants down his thighs, and suddenly his cock was right there, pressed against me, sliding along the slit of my pussy, sending me into another world with frenzied need.
“I don’t want a single thing separating me from you.” Cash’s words made my stomach flutter. I’d never felt so wanted on such a primal level. His hands clutched at my hips as he lined his cock up with my entrance, his eyes searing into me, dark with lust and barely contained need. “You drive me fucking insane, but I can’t stop thinking about you.” In the next breath he was pushing into me, my body stretching around him as he caressed every inch of skin he could reach.
“I...” I sighed, struggling for words. “I've never been with anyone Cash... Only you.” Shallow breaths punctuated my words as every slow centimeter of him filled me. I arched, digging my nails into his back as his lips melded with mine. I was his, the touch of his lips and the press of his fingers on my body confirmed it. The pinch and burn of his cock stretching my insides, his body breaching mine for the first time, everything about him left me breathless and craving more.
He kissed me in measured strokes as his dick delved deeper inside my body. “We're each other's first, and each other's last.”
Cash was made for me, our bodies meeting and reacting like chemicals, the reaction too explosive to ignore, burning up the space between us and creating something new and irrevocably bonded.
There would be no going back for us.
Cash’s hips sped up, his rhythm matching mine as we tangled on the sheets, sweat and sex scenting the air while his hands crawled over my body, owning every inch of me as if he was leaving a brand on my skin. “Christ, you don't know what it does to me to know I've the only man that's been here.”
My heart thrummed in my chest at his words. I knew them to be true, this night would make us more desperate for each other.
“I want you now,” I moaned as his hands clutched my hips and he drove me to the edge.
“I want every day with you, Delilah. We’re nowhere near done yet.” He pulled me from the bed, lifting me in his arms and pushing me up against the cool glass of the French doors that led to a balcony.
Hitching my legs over his hips, he slid his cock deep i
nto my body, every cell screaming for more, harder, faster, now. “I’m going to fuck you until you can’t think straight, Delilah. I’m going to fuck you until you can’t form a word with that pretty, sassy mouth of yours.”
I pushed my hands through his hair, then attached my lips to his, loving every combustible moment of his skin against mine.
“I can take care of you, Delilah.” He accented my name with a ragged thrust. “I can give you everything.”
Tears burned behind my eyelids as I clutched at the threads of his hair, one of his hands sliding down between us and swirling at my clit. “I want your cum all over my dick.”
I gnashed my teeth as his thumb sped up and the sensations overtook my body.
“Cum, gorgeous.”
My muscles tensed as release crashed through me. My toes curled and my breaths heaved as waves of pleasure seared every nerve.
“You and me, Delilah, we’re forever.” Cash’s lips caught mine as he plunged his tongue between them and fucked me as his body shuddered and slowed, his release emptying into me in powerful waves. He wrapped his arms around my body, his head falling on my shoulder as he sucked in the flesh at the curve of my neck. “You taste like heaven.”
I was unable to form words, my body overwhelmed by his touch, my mind raging with his all-consuming attention. Everything he did and said was right. He was perfect.
But no one was perfect.
Something had to mess this up. I didn’t believe in fairy tales, and Cash Greenwood was not my Prince Charming, no matter how much he tried to be.
“You’re thinking again, Grey,” Cash murmured against the shell of my ear, sending a shiver through me.
“It’s a curse.” I smiled ruefully, then placed a quick kiss on his chin.
“You’re my curse.” The slow drag of Cash’s cock as he pulled out of me sent leftover sensations pulsing through me. “But it just so happens I love being wrapped up in you.”
“You’re a charmer, Cash Greenwood.” I rolled my eyes.
“Only for you, Delilah. Only for you.”
11
Cash
I woke up later that night, untangling myself from the beautiful girl I’d fallen into bed with in an act of quiet desperation last night. Delilah’s silky hair spread out on the pillow around her, the sheet slipping off her body to reveal her sweet curves, she was a slice of Heaven.
Just looking at her now made my stomach twist with desire to protect her, and make her happy. I remembered reading somewhere that we were all in search of someone whose demons play well with ours, but in my case Delilah cast out my demons. Everything that haunted me and had me running from my life, she dulled. With her by my side, none of it mattered anymore. The only thing that mattered was her. My whole life I was searching for the light, and in Delilah I finally found blinding peace.
I loved the way she twisted her lips in a cocky grin when something was on her mind, I loved teasing her and listening to her laugh. I loved her hands touching me; it felt like silk caressing my skin. I loved making love to her. I loved seeing the way we fit perfectly when we made love, until I lost the concept of where she began and I ended. It wasn’t me and her anymore, it was us.
I loved everything about her.
Which is what made this next part so complicated.
I snagged my phone off the table, then headed for the balcony, stepping outside in the cool air to clear my head. I had to do something about the phone call I’d received earlier. Falling into bed with Delilah wasn’t exactly dealing with it. I typed a few terms into the search bar, looking for ideas on how best to help the situation. It wasn’t a new one, I’d been getting calls just like this for years, I was just sick of never finding a resolution to all the pain that seemed to follow me.
“Everything okay?” Delilah’s angelic voice whispered. There she was, stepping onto the balcony to join me.
“Mmm, I’m perfect.” I sat down and pulled her into my lap. With the sheet wrapped around her body, I wanted to unwrap her, kiss every inch of her skin and make love to her all over again. “You smell like me.” I loved that. I loved that her scent was now mixed with mine, like I had marked her. In some weird way, I was proud. I was proud that this amazing woman with so much passion, strength, and beauty would let me in. She welcomed me into her warmth and I was determined to show her, for the rest of my life, just how much I worshiped her. She would never again be lonely, scared, or want for anything. I would let her know just how much she meant to me. Every breath I took would be for her, every action, every thought for her and her alone.
Delilah’s smile deepened as her eyes closed and she nestled into my neck. Stray strands of her hair danced on the breeze and curled around my face. Christ, how I loved having her in my arms.
“What are you doing out here?” Delilah asked.
I sighed, hesitant to unload all of my baggage on her at once. “Got a phone call from home. My dad needs some help.”
“Is he okay?” The concern bleeding from her eyes cracked open my heart.
“He’s okay right now, but I guess he’s having some issues…” I paused, unsure of how to say the next part.
“You can tell me, no judgement.” She smiled softly before pressing a kiss to my lips.
“My dad is an alcoholic.” I thrust a hand through my hair. “I’ve been sending him money, more than enough to cover his bills, but apparently he’s not paying them. He’s behind on the mortgage. I knew I should have just paid it off, but he insisted he didn’t want my money. God knows what he’s been doing with the money every month, but one of his buddies gave me a call and said he’s been hanging out at the local casino,” I finished, feeling a little lighter for having shared it with someone.
“I’m so sorry.” Delilah pushed a piece of hair off my forehead. I was so glad she was here. Going back to my room alone last night had felt like a nightmare. I wanted to lose myself in her, forget about all the tough stuff and just be us together.
“I don’t know what to do. The old man is so stubborn. It’s like he almost resents it when I offer to help.”
“Has he ever gone to an AA meeting? Maybe that could help…”
“Nah, he refuses. People like him don’t need community support, he likes to say. I don’t get it, but what I know for sure is this isn’t the right path. I haven’t even been to see him in over a year, says he’s too busy for company.”
“Cash…that’s terrible.”
“I’m used to it. He’s been this way most my life. That’s even the reason I started playing baseball. It was his favorite sport. The only time we ever spent time together was in front of the TV watching the game. I thought if I played, he’d hang out with me more, be proud of me, and for a while he was, at least I think so, but the older he got, the more he started drinking, the less he cared. Then baseball became my escape, suddenly it was something that was mine, and I didn’t want him to have anything to do with it. Thank God for practice six nights a week—it kept me out of that house where he was drinking himself to death.”
“What does your mom think?”
I looked up at the spray of silver stars in the sky and closed my eyes. “She died when I was fifteen. A massive heart attack. He’s been worse since.”
Without words, Delilah wrapped her arms around my neck, holding on tightly as my hands trailed around her back. I sucked in a deep breath, memories of little league and home runs and hotdogs flooding my memories. Dad hadn’t always been there, sometimes too drunk to even wake up in time, but Mom had always gone. She’d sit in the bleachers every game those first few years, cheering me on, until life had gotten the best of her. My mother was such a gentle and beautiful woman. I missed her. I missed the sound of her voice, the way she always smelled like fresh-cut violets, I even missed how she would scold me. I just missed her.
I’d raised myself after she died. My father had never really been a dad, but my mom, she always made sure that I did the right thing, pushing me to succeed in life. When she died I could
have gone in so many directions, but to honor her memory, I did the right things. I never wanted my mother to be ashamed of me. I hoped that, wherever she was, she was smiling down on me and proud of the man she raised me to become.
“How can we help your dad?” Delilah asked a few minutes later.
“Well, I'm gonna call the bank in the morning and get his payments straightened out. I’ll probably just pay off the damn house. I’m so sick of dealing with this. And then I don’t have to worry about sending him checks that he’s spending God knows where. But he won’t go to rehab, Delilah, I know him…”
“Maybe he could talk to an addiction specialist. Send one to his house, even just to get a read on his situation.”
I nodded, her words sinking in. “That’s a good idea, I don’t even think he’d let me in the house if I went.”
“You send him a check every month, but he won’t talk to you?”
I shook my head, feeling the sting of what seemed an impossible situation. “Sometimes it’s easier to say nothing, I guess.”
“I know what you mean.” Her eyes turned away, her fingers twisting together before she continued. “My dad played ball for a lot of years. My entire life was spent on the ball field, and it seemed like he didn’t want anything to do with us unless we were talking about baseball. He let the life get the best of him.” Delilah peered up at me. “My dad spent the offseason drunk, running around on my mom. I think he figured life wasn’t worth it if he wasn’t playing baseball.” Her beautiful lips turned down sadly, and I wanted to kiss that sadness right off her face. “There were always guys over at the house all hours of the night, I even caught him stumbling and drunk with a groupie one night. It was bad. I swore I’d never subject myself to that once I was old enough to leave. I swore I wouldn’t find myself in my mom’s position, trying to tame a wild animal. He shouldn’t have had a family. He didn’t know how to love them enough.”