by Ann Jacobs
“No. But I don’t want you to hurt yourself any more. You probably should be in a whirlpool or something.” When she laid her hand over the bandage on his side, he grabbed it and brought it to his lips.
It made him feel good, suspecting that his hot, gorgeous groupie hadn’t been handing herself out to every player she came across. He was pretty sure now that what he felt for Marly wasn’t just a matter of scratching a mutual itch. It was more. He didn’t know how much more, but he was eager to find out. “Honest. It’s nothing. I’ve gotten hurt worse in practice.” That wasn’t exactly true since quarterbacks wore distinctive colored shirts in scrimmages that made them off-limits to potential tacklers, but if it made her feel better…
“Under the bandage there’s an ugly looking cleat cut where I got stepped on during that sack in the fourth quarter. But it’s not serious. The trainer said it didn’t need stitches and that he expected it to heal in a few days. Come on, baby, you’re killing me.” Not waiting for her to answer or finish undressing him, he hooked his thumbs inside the waistband of his boxers and slid them down his legs. Her sharply indrawn breath made him smile as he sat on the bed and peeled off his socks. “See something you like?”
“You—you’re huge. I’m not sure you’ll fit.”
Apparently the sight of his erection had cleared her mind of worries about him being hurt. “Trust me. We’ll fit together just fine. Come here.”
When she did, he pulled her close. She felt good, all silky skin and curves just where a woman should have them. Slowly, as gently as he could manage, he ran his hands along her back, clasped her sweet, rounded ass and brought her so close he could inhale her flowery scent, smell her arousal. When she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight, he felt her ragged breathing against his nipples. Her heart beat in synch with his own, strong and fast.
The smells of sex surrounded them, fired his need to fuck her now, with no more preliminaries. “Lie down on the bed, baby. I’ve got to get some condoms.” Why hadn’t he thought of putting some in a drawer of one of the night stands by the bed? Fat lot of good they’d do stuck in the bathroom linen closet, unless…
Maybe they’d have some leisurely sex in the hot tub after they took the edge off this lust he’d never felt so strongly before. Bobby tore open the box and grabbed a handful of protection, tossing all but one onto the night stand closest to him as he looked down at Marly.
She’d turned down the coverlet and top sheet, and she lay in the middle of his bed, gloriously naked, her legs slightly apart. He figured she must like sunning herself, because while the rest of her was deeply tanned, there were triangular patches of pale, creamy skin on her breasts. The outline of relatively modest bikini bottoms drew his eye, but only for a moment before his gaze moved lower.
Her clit poked out between satiny outer lips, and he had to taste her. Bending over her, he lapped at the little button, felt it go hard beneath his tongue.
“Yes, please. Don’t stop.” She sounded breathless, as hot as she looked. When she caught his hair and pulled him closer, he knew she liked this. A lot. “Turn around and let me taste you, too.”
Bobby raised his head, looked up at Marly. “Next time, you hot little bitch. Sixty-nine’s damn near impossible when you’re such a tiny little thing. If you want, though, you can tease me with your hands.” He shifted so she could reach him.
Omigod. The way she gripped his cock, squeezed him, was almost enough to make him come. And when she cupped his sac, rolled his balls against her small, soft hand… “Stop, or it’s going to be all over.”
“Fuck me, then. I’m so hot for you. Don’t want to wait.” Her words came out harsh, fast. The way she stroked his thighs and belly had nearly the same effect on him as when she’d been playing directly with his balls.
He grabbed a condom and handed it to her. “Put it on me. I want you, so damn much.” Even her touch as she rolled the condom over him had him practically jumping out of his skin. Never before—
God, but she was everything he’d ever dreamed of in a woman—gorgeous, smart, and sexy as hell. And she seemed to want him, not just the jock image but all of him. “Hurry, baby. I can’t wait much longer.”
“There. All done.” Marly lay back, every nerve in her body humming as she spread her legs and raised her knees to give Bobby room. He was so fucking hot, so everything she’d dreamed of in lonely late-night fantasies. When he came over her, his expression taut as though he was barely in control, she held out her arms, welcomed his heat and hardness, the feel of his weight on her, his soft chest hair tickling her. Arousing her more than she’d thought possible.
“Put your legs around my waist.” He whispered in her ear, his breath hot and sweet, reminding her that his huge, rigid sex stood poised to impale her. “I’ll be careful. Don’t want to hurt you.”
That was the last of her worries now, when she was beneath him, loving the way his hard, perfectly sculpted body controlled her, the pulsating heat of him outside the opening to her sex. She wanted him. Longed for him to take her, stretch her. She wanted him to claim her as his own.
She raked his back with her nails, softly, the tips of her fingers exploring the smooth, warm skin, the taut muscles beneath. Then she felt it. The bandage. And she imagined how much pain he’d endured to finish the game after being stomped on with a cleat attached to a lineman’s beefy foot and leg. “Are you really okay?”
“I will be as soon as you let me inside your sweet, wet sheath.” When she spread her legs farther apart and draped them over his tight ass, he pressed the blunt head of his cock inside her, slowly, gently as if he was afraid he might hurt her. “Omigod. You’re tight. So hot and wet I don’t know how long I can last.”
It hurt. But it also felt delicious, him stretching her almost beyond what she could take. “Yes, honey. Fuck me. I love having you inside me this way.”
When he propped his upper body up on his extended arms, his whole body trembled. Sweat beaded on his brow. From his clenched teeth and bulging biceps she guessed he was having trouble going slowly, imagined he longed to sink all the way inside and fuck her hard. “It’s okay. I won’t break.”
“No it’s not. I want you to enjoy this as much as I am.” His breath was hot and incredibly arousing against her throat when he lowered his head and licked the upper curve of her breast. “You’re so wet. So fuckin’ tight. Relax, baby, Let me in.”
She framed his face between her hands, looked into his lust-glazed eyes. “Just do it. Please.” She didn’t think she could stand another minute in sexual limbo, wanting him to claim her fully as she hovered on the cusp of an orgasm she somehow knew would be the best she’d ever experienced. “Really, I won’t break.”
On his knees now, he grasped her hips, withdrawing a little then coming back, deeper with every careful stroke. The delicious fullness expanded as he fucked her, still slowly but deeper, their bodies making the erotic slapping sounds of sex. She turned her head and closed her eyes, concentrating on the wetness, the heat, the heady smells of him and her mingling around them, joining them as close as a man and woman could get.
His balls were tight, throbbing against her slit when he finally came inside her all the way. She felt the pressure of his cock head at the mouth of her womb, the throbbing of his hot shaft against her vaginal walls. Omigod, she was going to come and there was nothing she could do to hold back.
“Oh, yes. Please don’t stop.” She wanted him to drive her higher, higher than she’d ever been. And he obliged her. Every cell in her body felt as though it would explode, and waves of fulfillment poured over her, shattered her control. Nothing mattered but Bobby. And how he was making her feel.
His big body trembled then tightened. His muscles bulged. His teeth clenched, he held back his own climax as she flew higher with each hard, fast thrust. “God, baby, I’m coming,” he said, gasping. The force of repeated bursts of his ejaculate into the condom set off another wave of pleasure. It flowed through her like molten fire
.
She trembled in his arms, panting, gasping out words that sounded a lot like “I love you” and “Oh God yes”, her breath ragged as she clasped him with her legs and dug her nails in his shoulders. He’d never felt so powerful, so in control. And he’d never wanted so much to be everything his beautiful lover wanted.
“It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you. Won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know.” As if the last bubble of her climax finally had burst, leaving her limp and satiated, she loosened her grip on his flesh, stroked where her nails had bitten in. “That was good. So, so good.”
“Oh, yeah. And that was just the beginning.”
He rolled to his side and took her with him, holding her as if he’d never let her go. Sweat mingled on their bodies, slick and warm as they explored each other not with fevered passion like before but in the rosy aftermath of the best sex she’d ever had. From the possessive way he ran his hands along the curves of her neck and back, she thought he’d liked it, too.
She hoped he liked her and wanted, as he’d said, to explore feelings that had erupted like wildfire even before—
“Marly?”
His breath was warm, sweet. It ruffled her hair, had her heart fluttering again. Certainly he couldn’t want more. Not so soon. “Bobby?”
“I’d like to meet your folks. And I’d like to see where this goes. It’s not just the sex, it’s a feeling I have that we’re gonna click in other ways, too.” He stretched out, his long body taking up a big chunk of the bed as he lifted her and set her on his belly. “I’m hoping you feel the same.”
“I do.” She’d never felt so complete, and though she’d never before believed in love at first sight, she thought, just maybe, it could happen. That it had happened that afternoon in the training center parking lot. “And I’d love to take you home to Mom and Dad. Do you like Italian food?”
He cupped both breasts, brushed her nipples with his thumbs. “Spaghetti and meatballs. Love it. I’m beginning to think I may love you, too.”
Did he really say that? The words echoed in Marly’s ears, so sweet yet so frightening.
But were they, really? He hadn’t sworn his love or declared any forever intentions, which would have set off warning bells in her head and triggered memories of the college boyfriend who’d said the words flat-out then dumped her. No, Bobby’s words were honest, trustworthy, devoid of empty promises to be broken. I’m beginning to think I may love you echoed in her ears.
She could accept those words, cherish them, even hope a little bit that the day would come that he’d declare himself without reservation…and she’d dare to repeat them.
Meanwhile she’d try not to think of all the other women who’d be chasing Bobby, and to concentrate on him.
Chapter 4
But Marly wasn’t very successful at keeping the competition out of sight or out of mind. With every Gamblers victory, Bobby’s star was rising. Number four jerseys were showing up at home games in larger numbers each week he started in place of Keith Connors. Gorgeous women stalked him. Why not? The man was the ultimate groupie magnet even though he was only twenty-two and on the second rung of the Gamblers depth chart in spite of the fact he was playing every week while Keith‘s stretched biceps tendon healed.
She couldn’t help noticing the women, the way they looked at him. Every time she saw a woman staring at him, practically salivating, her own insecurities tried to rear their ugly heads. She’d think about the college boy who’d sworn he loved her days before going home for a weekend and bringing back a brand-new bride. He’d been a hot one, but Bobby was so much hotter, not to mention he’d just been named on Memphis’s most eligible bachelor list. Even with long-time friends and family, he drew hot looks and subtle flirting from women from eight to eighty.
When she’d taken Bobby to her dad’s restaurant after the third game he’d played in, even the waitresses there who’d been her friends since she was a kid fawned over him. And total strangers asked for his autograph when they went to the mall. Marly would have been flattered if only she’d been positive she wasn’t just the rookie passer’s flavor of the month.
But she wasn’t at all sure. The self-confidence she’d reconstructed piece by piece after her college boyfriend dumped her for his high school sweetheart started to flag under the weight of the adulation Bobby was getting. She’d convinced herself she was strong enough to reach for the moon if it struck her fancy, that she could fight off anyone who might want Bobby for herself. But now she was staying up nights, wondering when the bubble of her fantasies was going to burst. She was beginning to stay up nights, wondering when she was going to be dumped for somebody hotter, smarter, or with family connections that could further his career, like the willowy blonde who’d practically attacked Bobby after the Monday night game. The shameless hussy just happened to have been a niece one of the team owners.
Stop it, Marly. Bobby treats you great. He doesn’t pay much attention to the other women who want a piece of him. She listened to her inner voice and got out of the chair where she’d been indulging in a pity party for one.
“What’s the matter, baby?” Bobby asked when he picked her up after practice the next day.
So it showed? Marly tried to put on a happy face. “Nothing, I was just missing you.” No need to feed his ego by letting him know she’d stayed up half the previous night, agonizing over the possibility of some hussy snatching him out from under her nose.
“How about going over to my place?” He helped her with her jacket then draped his arm around her as they walked out to his truck.
“Mm. What do you have in mind?” A hot roll in the hay would do a bunch toward bolstering her shaky ego, but another voice—her evil twin—whispered in her head that he might have had another woman there last night, when he’d begged off coming over saying he was too tired to move.
“That, too, honey, but I want to talk with you first.”
Talk. Good talk or bad talk? Marly tensed. It couldn’t be too bad if he was planning on some bedroom action afterward. She simply had to get over this nagging anxiety or she would lose Bobby for sure. “Okay. Want to give me a hint about what we need to talk about?”
“Living arrangements. Yours, mine and ours.”
His twice-a-week housekeeper had done it up right. Bobby glanced around the living area, saw the catered dinner set out on the glass-topped dining table he’d never used before. She’d even dragged out his landlord’s good dishes and put some candles in the middle of the table. “Want to eat?”
“Sure.” Marly looked a little puzzled when she looked at the table. “How’d you manage this?”
“My housekeeper. I’ll have to slip her a few extra bucks. I’d never have thought about doing all this—I just told her to stay and arrange the stuff I ordered from the caterer. Sit down.”
He could bark out orders to ten guys, most of whom outweighed him by sixty pounds or more. He had no trouble calling audibles at the line of scrimmage. Why was it, Bobby wondered as he buttered a roll, that he was having trouble deciding how to ask Marly to come live with him?
Maybe it was his upbringing. People in Hedgecock didn’t generally move their girlfriends in unless they married them, and when they did, the people in question became the major subjects for local gossip. Why don’t you just ask her to marry you? Bobby heard his mom’s voice in his head, even though he hadn’t discussed the subject with her.
Hell. This wasn’t Hedgecock and Marly wasn’t a semi-innocent former virgin he’d deflowered then banged every time he got a chance until the worst had happened and they’d gotten caught. He had no reason to hesitate.
He looked across the table, loved the way the candlelight flickered over her face, put highlights in her hair. She ate quietly, as if she was in her own world wondering what was going on. Sort of like he was. “Marly?”
Her smile warmed his insides. “Yes?”
“I’ve never done this before, so bear with me.” He hoped he didn’t sou
nd too fucking stupid. “I want you to come live with me.”
“Why?” She looked even more confused than she had when she first saw the table all gussied up.
Why, indeed? He wanted to sleep with her, have her there so he could wake up and make love whenever the need arose, but somehow that didn’t sound like a reason a woman would want to hear. He wanted to let her know she was his only woman, and that the women who chased after him meant nothing to him. He also wanted to be with her whenever he could, just because he needed her, wanted her nearby. And he didn’t want to sneak around her house like a horny teenager, waiting until her folks left before fucking her in that frilly bedroom of hers.
Before speaking, he chose his words carefully. “Because I want you with me. Because I want to wake up looking at your beautiful face. Damn it, Marly, I want you to live with me because I love you.”
She dropped her fork onto her plate, as if it had suddenly gotten too heavy to handle. “You love me?”
“I just said I do.” He’d done everything short of saying the words pretty damn regularly over the past weeks. So why did his saying it have her all flustered? “Well, will you move in?
“My parents…”
“Your parents know you’re a grown woman. I’m fairly sure they’ve figured out that we don’t spend all our time together watching DVDs or playing cards.”
She frowned. “They still won’t like it. They’re pretty old-fashioned. But I’ll do it. It’s not like I’m an eighteen or nineteen-year-old innocent. If you want me around 24/7, then I’ll be here.”
“I do, baby. And I’ll take good care of you.”
Her eyes glistened with tears. “I know. And Bobby, I love you, too.”
But she should have looked happier. It bothered Bobby that Marly still had that half-scared look in her eyes. “Let’s go tell your folks now.” Maybe if they got that over with, she’d revert to the Marly he’d fallen in love with, and they could do the physical celebrating without the nagging doubts she’d exhibited the past couple of weeks.