by Melody Anne
BY THE END OF the run, they were both red-faced and panting. She’d intended to go on a leisurely jog to wake up her achy muscles; instead she’d gotten an all-out race on the overgrown, hazard-ridden path. Once inside the cottage, they collapsed on opposite ends of the sofa. Lainey wished they were breathing heavy from something else, instead of sitting there exhausted and sexually frustrated. But she still couldn’t figure out if he was attracted to her or just messing around. When she finally caught her breath, she trudged over to the linen closet and grabbed a couple of towels.
“The hot water is limited, so you should take the first shower,” she said, handing him a towel.
He gave her a stern look. “In spite of what you think of me, I’m a gentleman, and I insist you shower first.”
She’d experienced enough of his resolve over the last few weeks to know there was no point in fighting him on this. Despite the tiny bathroom, the shower stall was full-size. Her uncle was a big man and knew better than to scrimp on the essentials when he built this place. She stripped off her clothes and turned the cold water on. Besides wanting to save the hot water for Gabe, she needed to quench her sexual frustration.
She stepped into the stream of water and let out a small shriek as the cold lashed her skin. She shrieked even louder when the glass shower door swung open.
“A little chilly, huh?” Gabe said, reaching a hand under the spray. Lainey’s jaw nearly hit the floor. He was naked. Completely and utterly and beautifully naked, standing in front of her like an Adonis with an erection. He stepped into the stall, cornering her with his powerful limbs, and twisted the tap to full-blast hot. She tried not to stare at his penis, but it was the most impressive thing she’d ever seen. “That’s better. Now we can both have a hot shower.”
Apparently, they had different ideas of what constituted a “hot shower.”
Gabe cupped her face and brushed a soft, slow kiss over her lips. Their tongues met briefly before he released her. He spun her around and lathered her hair with the sweet-smelling shampoo. It was the most tender, sensual thing Lainey had ever experienced, and every ache in her body faded. The only thing she could feel was his fingers making contact with her skin and the hungry press of his thick cock into her back. Silently, he rinsed her hair and soaped her body. First her arms, then her chest, placing soft fluttery kisses on her neck and shoulder. Steam clouded the walls, while imprints of their hands and bodies streaked against the condensation.
“This is probably a bad idea,” she forced herself to say, despite her body’s protest.
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No,” she said in a shaky voice. “I’m just, uh, stating that for the record.”
“Then let the record show I’m guilty of thinking some very dirty thoughts since the minute I met you at that press conference.” He traced his hands down her body, cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples with delicate pinches, stealing her breath away. Anticipation kindled in her belly as his strong hands massaged their way down to her ankles, and back up again. He gave her a soft, soapy stroke between her legs, caressing her folds like a maestro. Lainey moaned.
“More,” she uttered. He complied, working her clit with slow circles until it plumped, like he had a sixth sense of exactly how to please her.
She was on the verge of climax, but the urge to touch him overwhelmed her. She wanted to explore his taut, powerful body. She wanted to learn how to bring him to his knees and hear his breath hitch.
She wanted to connect with him at every level.
Lainey took the soap from him and placed a kiss on his incredible chest before sudsing it up. She liked how he was built—she was attracted to strength and power in every facet of her life, and Gabe was the walking epitome of that.
She ran her fingers through the patch of hair on his pecs. It was something she’d wanted to do since he’d taken his shirt off at the skills competition. With shaky palms, she worked her way across his body, down the cut line of his hips, to the silky skin of his cock. He shuddered as she eased her hand up the hard, veined length of him until she reached the head.
“Lainey,” he whispered, cock pulsing in her hand. She loved the way he said her name, like it was the only thing anchoring him to the world. She cupped the heavy weight of his balls with one hand and worked his shaft with the other. Her arousal intensified as she listened to the measured panting of his breath. It was the most erotic thing she’d ever heard. She pumped harder, craving the hot, sticky explosion of his desire on her skin.
He clasped his hand over hers, halting the motion of her wrist.
“Not here,” he murmured, raising her arm to his mouth and gently sucking on the pulse point on the inside of her wrist.
He reached up to the showerhead and angled it to let the water rinse the soap from their bodies, then turned the tap off. He opened the shower door and took one of the large towels that was perched on the edge of the sink and wrapped it around her before grabbing another for himself and leading her to the bedroom.
He lowered her onto the bed, tossing both their towels to the ground. The late-morning sun gleamed through the window, highlighting his still-wet body. Gabe’s hands glided up from her ankles to her knees and eased her legs open.
“Let me see you,” he said, gently pushing past her hesitation.
The hungry look on his face made her feel like the sexiest, most beautiful woman in the world. She wanted to be that woman for him and for herself. She let her legs part.
He growled and leaned forward, cupping his hands around her bottom. The power of seduction she felt was intoxicating. Her chest tightened with anticipation as his hot breath trailed along her inner thigh. He reached her most sensitive spot, licking and caressing until she couldn’t breathe. Just as she thought he’d pushed her to the edge, his fingers slipped inside, pumping rhythmically while he sucked and stroked her clit with his mouth. She screamed his name as she came.
Panting, she pushed her damp hair out of her eyes, then reached for him, wanting to give him the same torturous pleasure she’d just experienced. He pushed her back to the bed and lowered his mouth to her navel.
“I’m not done with you yet,” he said in a tone that made her shiver. He worked his way up to her breast and swirled his tongue along her nipple. “You called out my name when I made you come. It was the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard. Say it again.”
Her throat was tight.
“Say it.” He drew her nipple into his mouth.
“Gabe,” she whispered, fisting the sheets and arching into him.
He gave her other breast its fair share of attention, then leaned back with a lustful smile and grabbed a condom that was lying on the bed beside her. She didn’t know or care where it came from; she was just grateful to see it. He ripped the package open with his teeth, never taking his eyes off her, and rolled the condom over his long, throbbing erection.
He guided his cock into her with agonizing deliberation, studying her reactions to see what moves set her every nerve on fire. He filled her so deliciously and completely. A flurry of emotions erupted inside her as he slammed his cock into her slick, hot core, holding nothing back. Gabe hoisted her leg around his waist, deepening the angle until Lainey lost all inhibitions. He pumped his thick cock into her slowly at first, pulling almost all the way out until the threat of emptiness had her writhing beneath him, and rammed back into her. She worked her hips against his, desperately wanting to lose herself in him completely. He groaned and gripped her hips, amplifying the intensity of her swiveling pelvis against his.
“Come with me,” she begged.
“Say my name,” he ordered, picking up the rhythm to a dizzying pace.
“Gabe. Oh god, Gabe.” She repeated his name over and over again until the pressure building inside her shattered into the most explosive, sweet ecstasy. Seconds later, he cried out and collapsed on top of her, the whisper of her name trailing on his lips.
13
How hard is it to be a female athle
te? Well, I run like a girl, I kick like a girl, and I play like a girl. And that’s why I’m the best.
—Lainey Lukas, quoted in Sport Fitness Magazine
GABE RAN HIS FINGERS absentmindedly along Lainey’s arm, marveling at how right it felt to be snuggling with her in their postcoital glow as she curled into his chest. He’d expected sex with Lainey to be explosive and angry, based on the kind of chemistry they’d had leading up to this weekend. He hadn’t expected to feel like his heart had been scrubbed raw afterward. This was more intimate, addictive, and mind-blowing than he could have ever imagined. He wasn’t just attracted to Lainey Lukas, he actually liked her a hell of a lot. Once with Lainey would never be enough. He needed to know her, feel her, experience everything she had to give. The moment wasn’t even over, and all he could think about was how to make it happen again.
The truth hit him so hard, he could barely breathe. This enigmatic woman who kept everyone at arm’s length had just let him into one of the most secret and vulnerable places in her heart and body. And he was probably going to fuck everything up.
A low rumbling growl filled the still air.
“Was that your stomach or mine?” Lainey asked lazily, playing with his chest hair.
“I have no clue, but I’m starving,” Gabe said with a chuckle.
“There’s not much food in the fridge, but I know a great hole-in-the-wall serving all-day breakfast a few miles out.”
“Sounds perfect,” he said. Any excuse to linger in her presence would be perfect.
He eased up to a sitting position, but Lainey pushed him back and straddled his lap with a serious expression. “I need you to answer one question before we leave this room.”
His heart sank. She was probably going to ask him to forget their encounter ever happened. “Whatever you need, sweetheart.”
A wry grin spread across her face. “Any more of those condoms? It’s my turn to be on top.”
AN HOUR LATER, THEY grabbed a quick meal at a greasy spoon a short jaunt off the highway. Gabe had expected some awkwardness to set in between them but instead they ended up laughing together at the perplexed reactions they got from the other patrons. Apparently, it wasn’t every day that Hank’s Hankerings Diner and Convenience Store had customers wearing tuxedoes and cocktail dresses and pulling up in fire-red Porsches.
In true Pacific Northwest fashion, the morning sunshine made a hasty retreat by midday, replaced by ominous gray clouds and howling wind. Any other time, Gabe would’ve been freaking out about his car, but considering he was stuck in a cozy booth listening to Lainey reveal precious details about her childhood, all he could do was smile with every howling gust of wind. Lainey shared a few snippets of her life growing up on a farm in Nebraska, coming out to Seattle to live with her aunt and uncle as a teenager, and eventually landing a scholarship to the University of Washington.
“So where did this drive to win come from?”
Lainey shot him a pointed look. “Have you ever been asked that question? Just because I’m female doesn’t mean my motivation is any different than yours. I’m an athlete. It’s my job to win.”
“Fair enough. But you’re special, and you know it. Not because you’re a woman, but because of your determination and focus. It’s completely out of this world. I’ve been around professional athletes my whole life, and I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“Tractor.”
He frowned. “Are you just throwing out random words to distract me?”
She sighed. “Growing up on the farm, I never got to drive the tractor. Even though I mastered the beast by the time I was eight years old, my two older brothers always got to drive the tractor. Every day after school and all summer I was forced to stay in the kitchen helping my mom do dishes. I used to think that Eric and Tim got to do all the cool jobs on the farm simply because they were older than me. But then my younger brother Kyle turned nine, and suddenly he was driving the tractor, too. I realized then that I needed to get off the farm one way or another. That’s why I begged my parents to let me join a soccer league in a nearby town. I had to walk three miles to the next farm so old Mrs. Holloway could drive me to my games. Turns out I was good. Really good. I got scouted by a premier league coach in Lincoln by the time I was twelve. But Mrs. Holloway didn’t like to drive that far, and my parents couldn’t leave the farm in the summer. So I moved to Seattle with my aunt and uncle, and the rest is history. Soccer was my way out of the life I never wanted, but it was clear to me that only the best got to move up the chain. Being second best was as good as losing.”
He knew she wouldn’t appreciate his sympathy, but his heart ached for her as she continued to nonchalantly divulge her own family’s indifference to her soccer career. She had no one cheering for her in the stands in Norway when she won the Cup, no one with her in the hospital as she recovered. Her parents and siblings couldn’t leave the farm during combining season, she explained as though it were a perfectly logical excuse. None of her teammates could afford to change their flights to visit her in the hospital after she woke up.
Gabe couldn’t imagine achieving what he had without the support of his friends and family, but Lainey had done it all entirely alone. A heavy weight settled over him when he realized just how much she didn’t need anyone. The fact that she’d even revealed this little bit about herself to Gabe was a major step for her. He felt like a beggar, clinging to any scrap of information she tossed his way.
“I see that look on your face. Don’t you dare pity me.”
“Of course not. If anything, I’m the one who deserves pity here. You actually won the World Cup. When I played for Team USA, we only got as far as the quarterfinals before Croatia slaughtered us.”
“Yeah, well, because I was in my sophomore year at U-Dub at the time, I got to see your first match with the Surge. It was pretty glorious,” she said, snatching a piece of bacon from Gabe’s plate.
“I told you to order your own bacon.” He smacked her hand playfully and pointed to her with his fork. “And you’re making me feel old with that story.”
“You are old.” She grinned. “I remember that day because it made Seattle get excited about soccer for the first time. The homegrown star came back to play for his local team. It was a big deal. Even people who didn’t watch soccer started tuning into games to get a glimpse of you.”
Gabe smiled. Somehow, those memories seemed so long ago and disconnected from the man he was today, like she was talking about an entirely different person. Back then, the roar of his name in crowds was like a high every time he stepped onto the field. He still loved his fans, but their adoration didn’t thrill him in quite the same way. “I think that was the first compliment you’ve ever given me, unless you count all the proclamations of how amazing my superpowered penis was this morning.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I never said that!”
“It was implied in all the moaning.” He flashed her a cheeky grin.
Her face flushed. “It was good,” she said in a shy voice.
Gabe suddenly felt like an asshole for teasing her.
“Best I’ve ever had,” he admitted, laying down a twenty to cover their bill. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
With a hand on the small of her back, he escorted her to the door. He pushed against the glass and was met with the heavy resistance of the howling wind. A sharp crack followed, and Gabe watched in horror as a nearby tree snapped at the base and toppled over mere inches from his back fender, trapping the car in the parking lot.
“Huh,” the portly waitress who’d served them earlier said over Gabe’s shoulder, as though falling trees were a regular occurrence in these parts. Maybe it was, for all a city boy like Gabe knew. “Looks like you’ll be stuck here a while longer. Can I get you two some more coffee?”
Gabe jogged outside to check for damage. Luckily there wasn’t any, but it didn’t look like they’d be getting back to Seattle any time soon. He pulled out his cell phone. No reception.
There was only one thing Gabe could do: sit back and enjoy the fact he’d be waylaid in Lainey’s company a little longer.
Lainey followed him out of the diner and gasped at the wreckage. “Don’t worry, babe, no harm, no foul. The car is fine,” he reassured her.
“What are we going to do?”
Gabe wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “I can think of a few things. Most of them involve my tongue and you screaming my name.”
He managed to pull a brief half smile out of her before she pushed him away and a look of panic resettled on her face. “I have practice in two hours. I can’t believe I was so irresponsible this weekend. What the hell was I thinking?”
Ouch. Not exactly the words a guy wanted to hear after what he considered the best weekend of his life. Wanting to be her hero, he grasped the rough bark and tried to pull the trunk away from the tires. It didn’t budge.
“You’re gonna need a chainsaw to move that,” the waitress said from the doorway. She craned her neck to look back toward the diner. “Hank! Get the chainsaw, will ya?”
A few moments later, a hunched-over, gray-haired man wearing a flannel shirt and waders emerged from the side of the diner with a chainsaw in hand. He passed the heavy machine to Gabe. “Here ya go. You’ll be outta here in no time.”
Gabe stood there with absolutely no clue how to proceed.
Lainey rolled her eyes and grabbed the saw, giving him her sweater to hold instead. “You got a pair of work boots, too?” she asked Hank.
Of course he did.
Lainey followed Hank to the back of the store. When she stepped back out a few minutes later, Gabe’s jaw dropped. She wore a pair of clunky steel-toe boots about four sizes too big and protective glasses that looked ridiculous with her sexy-as-hell dress. Whatever opinions he previously held about provocative women’s footwear were completely obliterated in that moment, because he’d never been more turned-on in his life. It was like she’d just knocked his whole world off its axis, forcing it to revolve around her.