Played

by Colleen Charles

  “Are there cameras in here?” I asked, twitching so hard it proved painful. But Harper’s teasing fingers meant the pleasurable kind of ache.

  “Probably. Why?”

  “I want you on your knees.”

  With that request, I swept her into my arms and kissed her, plundering her mouth just like I’d do to her pussy later. I kissed her until she reeled and wobbled underneath the assault. Only the ding of the elevator and the swish of the doors caused me to pull away.

  I hefted her tiny body over my shoulder, caveman style. Since she resided in the penthouse and had already activated her keycard, the opulence of her huge condo greeted my hungry eyes the moment I stepped off. I took in the hand scraped hardwood, quartz countertops in the chef’s kitchen, and the floor to ceiling windows offering a glorious view of the Rochester skyline. But none of that mattered. The only view I really wanted was the one that involved Harper naked and writhing, splayed out for my pleasure.

  “Bedroom, woman. Right. Fucking. Now.”

  She raised an arm to point down the only hallway. “Last door down the hall.”

  Only when I reached the bed did I allow my squirming human package to deposit itself on the huge king bed. Her bedroom was tastefully decorated in muted and subdued colors and textures. Classy. Much like the woman who slept in it. But sleeping wasn’t going to happen tonight. Nope. Sleeping wouldn’t happen until tomorrow.

  Fucking was going to happen. So many times, she wouldn’t be able to walk without a limp. I pressed down on top of her, anxious to get her clothes off. I didn’t want any barriers between us, no matter how thin. Not fabric, not withholding important information, not lies. Nothing. No more secrets of any kind between us again, ever.

  “You take my breath away.”

  “Reed, I feel so hot and then cold. What’s happening to me?” she whispered, her baby blues wide with dilated pupils.

  “That’s lust, kid. Stick with me, and we’ll fan the flames and send it into the stratosphere.”

  As I talked, I unbuttoned the pearl fasteners on her prim and proper cotton shirt. I almost wanted to ask her if she still had her glasses to complete my sexy librarian fantasy. Each tug exposed more of her silky soft skin to my hungry eyes. With every peel back of the fabric, I kissed the heated flesh underneath. Harper moaned and gave a little twist of her hips once I reached her belly button. I swirled my tongue inside, delighting in her scent. She always smelled good enough to eat. I didn’t know if it was perfume or lotion or some secret feminine concoction I’d never heard of, and I didn’t give a shit.

  “Reed—”

  “Shh…” I said, putting a finger to her lips. “I have an idea. Are you down?”

  “Does it involve swinging from my chandelier?” she said, snarky Harper returning. I liked her. She could stay.

  “Nope.” In one swift movement, I flipped onto my back, taking her with me. Her skirt naturally rode up to expose her lacy thong, so I deposited her right on top of my straining cock. “Much better.”

  With her hair flying around her shoulders in a platinum halo and her shirt open to expose her sexy bra, I hissed in a breath because she looked like a sex goddess.

  “What am I supposed to do?” she asked, hesitant. Her full lips turned into a tempting pout. I’d kiss them soon. But first, I needed something else.

  “The shirt. Take it off. Slow.”

  I watched her straddling me as she shrugged out of the cotton dress shirt and sent it to the plush carpet. “What next,” she teased, her eyes glittering. Well, two could play at that game.

  “The skirt. I don’t want it off. Bunch it up around your hips.”

  “Like this,” she said, moving extra slow so her full tits burst against the confines of her bra.

  I could see her nipples straining against the fabric, aching for my lips and tongue. Harper had caught on to my motivation in record time, and now the controller had become the controlled. My cock was throbbing so hard it hurt, and all I wanted to do was end this madness, flip her over and spear her wet pussy. I could feel the heat right through the fly of my jeans.

  When she reached behind her body to take off her bra, I stopped her.

  “No,” I demanded, grabbing her wrists, and placing her hands on my abs. “Like this.”

  I hooked both my index fingers on the lacy edge of her bra and pulled the cups down, exposing her nipples, the fabric giving them a glorious lift. Harper’s head flew back when I circled them with my fingers, tugging and rolling them until she let out a moan.

  “What next?” she said, struggling with the words.

  “Your thong, push it to the side. Then, you’re going to take my cock out and ride it. I want you to slide yourself down on top of me and grind until you come. No condom. Nothing. Not one fucking thing between you and me.”

  She exhaled, and her eyes widened. “But what if…”

  The question dangled between us.

  I linked my fingers with hers. “That’s what I want, Harper. You’re my future, and neither one of us is getting any younger. We got over the trite getting to know you period over twenty years ago. It’s time. I want all of me inside of you. Right now.”

  “Oh.” Her mouth formed a perfect oval as she considered my latest demand. At first, I thought she might balk. But then, her delicate fingers moved to my zipper, slowly bringing it down until I sprang free of the constraints of denim. Shit, I’d forgotten my decision to freeball it today.

  “Reed, how do I—”

  I didn’t even wait for her to finish, just picked her up and put her on top of me. With my hands clutching her hips, she sank down until every inch of me was fully seated within her. Damn. Heaven. I wondered if I’d ever get tired of the feeling of her tight, wet pussy choking my cock in the best way possible.

  She threw her head back, the ends of her hair tickling my thighs. “Mmm… that feels so good.”

  You’re not kidding, Harper Payne.

  “You’re in charge, gorgeous girl. You have to move.”

  She gave a tentative lift of her hips, and only a few inches escaped the confines of her moist heat. “Like this?”

  Even though I wanted to buck my hips upward, I wanted to let her lead. A sex fiend lay just underneath the confines of her tailored garb, and in order to unleash it, I had to let Harper find her own way.

  And she did.

  As I watched, she tested the range of movements, bouncing, gliding, grinding… driving us both crazy as our bodies grew familiar with the other. Soon, she was a pro, and I laid there, watching her tits bounce as she slid up and down. I read her signs—flushed skin, erect nipples, erratic inhales. Reaching between us, I thumbed her clit until she convulsed around me, sucking me dry.

  Come on, little swimmers. I hope you hit pay dirt.

  My lips curled upward at the thought of planting my baby deep within Harper’s womb. Nothing sounded better to me right now. Nothing. She fell over on top of me, and I captured her mouth in a searing kiss to seal the deal.

  “I’m going to make you so happy,” I promised her against her lips, turning us until I was riding her. “I’m going to love you as you’ve always deserved. Make up for all the lost years while I was being an idiot.”

  She laughed and kissed me harder. “I look forward to it.”

  Epilogue

  Reed

  “Fuck, I’m nervous.”

  “Hey. No swearing in church, Grunt. I’ll throw you in confessional so long you’ll miss your honeymoon. Mr. and Mrs. Adamski would frown on that.” He stopped his censure only long enough to throw in a long-suffering sign of the cross for good measure.

  “Color me warned,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “The only time I want to spend on my knees is while worshipping my wife’s pussy.”

  Milo slapped a hand on his forehead and frowned. “Aren’t you listening? That’s not church appropriate either. But as for the worshipping part, you’ve got that right. You better kneel until they’re raw and skinless as penance for your bullsh
it of the last twenty plus years,” Milo said quietly, a reproachful smirk on his face.

  “Hypocrite,” I teased, slapping my best friend and best man on his solid shoulder. “You said no swearing. Mr. and Mrs. Adamski, and all that.”

  “Shh. They’re starting,” he whispered, just as the first notes from the organ sounded. “You’d be ill-prepared for your own funeral.”

  The magnificent chords of the antique pipe organ echoed in the soaring, vaulted space, and I wondered what the hell I’d done to deserve this lavish Pope-worthy spectacle. I half expected him to be carried into his place of honor in the first pew, behind his bulletproof glass enclosure. My Polish twin pulled a few strings to have the wedding take place in his family’s traditional place of worship. Was there a grander, more ostentatious structure as a Polish Catholic Church? If so, I’d never been inside one. My first wedding had been more like Viva Las Vegas.

  I buried the last thought about my painful, roller coaster history with a confident finality. After all, there was a graveyard attached to this building, no more appropriate place to let go of the ghosts of the past. My life stretched before me, looking like a wide expanse of happiness and love. It hadn’t really begun until this moment. I had my best friend by my side, and my daughter walking gracefully and joyfully down a carpeted path toward me. Her small face bore a healthy glow that wasn’t only due to miracle drug treatments. Her happiness and excitement over this day made her positively radiant.

  Daddy, can I have a mommy again? I’m so excited about my new mommy!

  Her words of hours before continued to caress my ears. They echoed and thrummed until I thought my heart might burst out of my chest under the weight of the emotions. I struggled to keep the man-tears at bay as I watched, transfixed at the sight of her leading the way up the aisle clutching a basket of trailing mini-roses in her tiny hands as her, once again, thick chocolate tresses cascaded over her shoulders.

  She’d insisted on having her hair styled ‘just like Harper’s’ and her dress was a short version of the bride’s. Jessica had already turned into Harper’s little mini-me, worshiping at the altar of her love and kindness. And Harper? She’d taken to Jessica as if she were her own child. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Part of me wondered if Jessica’s lack of a motherly influence had contributed to her illness. While I’d tried my damnedest to be both parents, I didn’t have much of a feminine side. Ever since Harper had entered the picture, Jess had flourished in a way she hadn’t since Robin’s departure. Probably ever.

  She smiled at me, freeing one hand to send me a little wave, and I lost it. Complete, total breakdown of my emotional scaffolding, and I didn’t give a shit who knew it. Who saw me blubber.

  “Keep it together, Grunt. It’s all good,” I heard Milo say.

  Despite the thunderous strains of Mendelssohn issuing from the massive organ pipes above us, my ears seemed to shut down in favor of my watery eyes focusing solely on the vision in white that appeared at the entrance arch.

  If I’d called her beautiful before, those inadequate words were trapped in the vicinity of my parched throat. Wrapped in gorgeous antique satin, Harper stood under the flowery arch, a cloud of gauzy veil pinned to her expertly coiffed blonde locks, but leaving her lovely face uncovered. The superbly fitted dress hugged every voluptuous curve of her lush body, each of which I’d become intimately acquainted with in the last eight months. If you’d asked me my favorite part of her body, I’d say I loved all of them equally.

  We weren’t school kids anymore. The strapless, straight neckline showed off the curved mounds of her breasts to perfection. She was a grown, mature woman now, as proud to show off her hot body as I was to appreciate it. And I did. As often as possible.

  With both of us over thirty, and Jessica currently blossoming under her doctor’s care, we didn’t waste any time setting the date for this event, and Harper said she’d always dreamed of a fairytale June wedding. I couldn’t wait to get to the consummation. We’d been working on expanding our family. I stared at her taut stomach. Maybe my child already rested there. Of all the chalk-talks I’d ever been part of, asking Harper to marry me was a rock-solid game plan I didn’t hesitate to execute. A fairytale, Cinderella finish for the most important team of all.

  My family.

  As she strode toward me with the pool of satin train following in her wake, the heavy columns, the stained-glass windows, the pews and our three hundred guests all faded into the background. Between my teammates and Harper’s charitable contacts, employees and colleagues, the list had lengthened. But she hadn’t cared, insisting in her kind, inclusive way that everyone and anyone was welcome to share our joy.

  Her brilliant smile was enough to hold me upright, dry my eyes and obliterate even the smallest complaint from my trick knee. She was my light and my strength. Always had been, and I planned to make up for all the thick-headed years I’d pushed her away, not realizing that what I needed was what I already had.

  I barely noticed the priest’s predictably long and cryptic litany during the ceremony, only awakening to Milo’s nudging when a response was required from me. It all seemed a blur and was over before I knew it. After the congratulations, hugging and hand-shaking, Harper and Jess and I were all stuffed happily inside a luxury limo pulling away from the church.

  “What’s Mexico like, Daddy?” Jess asked, still admiring the tiny rose petals in her bouquet basket.

  Dr. Neilson and her team were so optimistic about a long-term remission, they’d given us the green light to take her on vacation. Honeymoon. Whatever. We just wanted to be together, all three of us, away from here, to appreciate all the fine gifts we’d been given. Hope. Love. Time.

  And second chances.

  “It’s like Paradise, sweetheart. The kind of place you want to stay forever,” I answered.

  I’d been there once. Didn’t remember much except palm trees, beaches, and the ocean of booze I’d consumed. But I knew now that paradise didn’t only exist as a place. It was a state of being, and I was in it right now.

  “Don’t get too comfortable with that forever idea, Mr. Matheson,” Harper said, snuggling in for a kiss. “You have a date with the camera at the SportsNet studios two weeks from today. Your new show is going to be a hit.” I’d been a color man for the past six months now and would be the host of my own weekly show.

  I bestowed the first smooch of our married life together onto her familiar, dewy-soft, waiting lips.

  “Thanks for setting my calendar straight, Mrs. Matheson. And my career. You’re a top-notch PR agent, swinging my first off-ice gig. Bet you’ll make a pretty good CEO someday.”

  I laughed as she fired a playful swat to my chest. I gazed into two sets of gorgeous blue eyes as they both fixed adoringly on me. For a guy who thought his luck had run out along with his bank account and a chilling medical diagnosis barely a year ago, my luck had turned.

  “As for forever, the only thing I thought I’d do forever was hockey,” I said, drinking in the sight of them—my wife and daughter. “But there are much more important positions I want to play. Dad and Husband to the two best girls in the world.”

  BONUS STORY - HOOK

  Alpha Billionaire Romance

  By

  Colleen Charles

  Chapter One

  Chase

  “Myrna!”

  When no response came from my assistant’s office right outside mine, I rolled my eyes in frustration and slammed my fist down onto my new Parnian desk. This day had been one suckfest after another.

  “Myrna!” I yelled again, my fingers smarting in pain. I shook my arm in a feeble attempt to return the blood flow and stop the burning traveling up my arm. “Where are you?”

  Damn and double damn. How the fuck am I supposed to get anything done without my fucking assistant? I need coffee. I need my driver.

  I need to get laid.

  “Mr. Bradenton?”

  My head snapped up. An unfamiliar girl hovered in the doorway, bi
ting her lip. She was almost cute, in a mousy kind of way. And she looked vaguely familiar – had we met somewhere before? Had God heard my prayer and sent a feminine present. I shook my head of the hangover cobwebs that had been torturing me all day. I probably should have made some bullshit excuse to stay home today. I’d been less than worthless in this condition and everyone had avoided me and my temper all day.

  “What?” I squinted at her. “Who are you? And where’s Myrna?”

  The girl’s cheeks colored. A delightful rosy shade of newly fucked pink. Damn. This was a place of business, and I had to stop these baser thoughts. But I hadn’t had any since I returned to the city and my cock twitched in protest.

  “Myrna left just a little while ago,” she squeaked in a voice just above a whisper. “She left a voicemail telling you that she was sick.” She looked like a frightened deer about to scamper away. I made a concerted effort to soften my expression, and my efforts seemed to calm her. “My name’s Angela. The new intern.” There was a pause. “We met last week, at orienta–”

  The look on my face shut her up. I’d just been told my right-hand woman, the keeper of my calendar had gone home early and I hadn’t even known. Did no one really want to talk to me today? Was I that big of an asshole?

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No, sir, I–”

  I lifted my hand. “Just go,” I muttered. “I just need my damn driver.”

  But in that moment, I realized that without Myrna, I wasn’t sure I could handle jack shit in my present state of dehydration. Blushing the deepest shade of scarlet that I’d ever seen, Angela skittered away from the door.

  With a sigh, I flopped back into my chair and spun in a lazy circle, regretting it immediately when the room continued to travel round and round. Maybe I was getting sick too. Surely no hangover could last this long.

  I blew out a breath and tried to focus on my work again. It was my first year at Banks Realty, and I wasn’t exactly knocking it out of the park. Not that Nolan would mind – anything less than stellar from me was still way better than what most people could attain. Besides, we’d been best friends for over ten years. He knew I wouldn’t let him down.