His mouth crushed over mine as he soared inside me a piercing thrust.
“Oh, God,” I rocked toward the ceiling to meet him.
The slower and deeper he moved, the more I felt as if we were lost together in an ocean. Our bodies, drowning in each other, spinning and colliding through waves and peaks. Lulling to catch our breaths before the tide tumbled over us and we washed back out to sea.
“Forever, Natalia,” he whispered in my ear.
I could only nod in agreement as my fiancé plummeted me into an abyss of love and ecstasy. Pleasures that only existed between us. Sinful, dirty moves that we loved to perfect. He threw my ankles over his shoulders while he reached for a stack of pillows, wedging them under my bottom.
He grinned. “So fucking deep,” he promised. He kissed my calf, licking and sucking on my skin while I pushed against the headboard with my palms.
“Oh, Sam.”
He always knew what the next step should be—how to send me into a rip current of erotic sensation. His thumb pressed lightly at first and then circled rhythmically over my swollen clit. I thrashed under his touch, clinging to his cock, whimpering his name, reveling in the pureness of what his body could do to mine.
My eyes flew open as the orgasm crashed into me. He drove harder and faster, making sure we rode this one together. My ring banged against the headboard, but we kept going. Fighting the tide and the current. Holding on for life while our bodies were tossed in endless pleasure. With one final thrust, Sam plunged into me and I felt his release as his body tensed before he lowered his lips to mine and kissed the hell out of me.
“Oh my God.” I breathed heavily. I traced the dragon on his arm.
He kissed my collarbone. “You’re fucking incredible. How did I get so lucky?”
“You?” I couldn’t catch my breath. We had outdone ourselves.
He tucked me against his arm. “Is it okay if we sleep some before dinner?” he asked. “And I brought two bottles of champagne.”
“Two?”
He nodded over my head. “One for the audition and one for the engagement.” He sounded drowsy.
“Naked nap, yes.” I closed my eyes in my fiancé’s arms and fell asleep to the sounds of the lake waves hitting the shore.
Sam
I sat on the stoop of the cottage and held the fresh cup of coffee between my hands. I ran to the office to pick up one for Natalia while she slept. I didn’t want to wake her, so I waited here instead and watched the birds fly over the lake.
The lake was peaceful in the morning. We needed this time together. Time before we announced our engagement. Time before Natalia began rehearsals with the troupe. And for me, time before I had to start spring training. It was only a few weeks away.
I took another sip and thought about what was in front of us. I thought about my season and how far I’d come with the Wranglers. We may not have won back-to-back titles, but I had outperformed my rookie statistics. If it hadn’t been for Natalia though, I don’t know if it would have happened.
Maddie had screwed me over. I was convinced that I’d never date another woman during football season because of her. That was until I met Natalia. She was patient with me when no one else would have put up with my shit.
She shared herself so willingly, so easily, that I trusted her. It was the trust I needed to get over the fear that she’d leave. I was terrified she’d walk out like Maddie did. And it was the fear that got in my head—not the woman. It was the fear that distracted me. The fear that kept me off focus. I was a fucking idiot. I had trust issues and didn’t know it. I could have lost the best thing that happened to me because of it.
I heard the door creak and I turned around.
“Good morning.” She smiled. The sheet was draped around her shoulders. Fuck. She was still naked. “Can I join you?”
I scooted to the side. “I got coffee for you.” I handed her the cup as she settled in next to me.
“Thank you.” I watched as she inhaled the steam. “It’s so quiet this morning.”
“The opposite of last night.” I winked.
She whipped around. “Holy shit.”
“What?” I followed her eyes.
“Our windows were open?”
“Yeah. I wanted to hear the lake. I might need to jog back to the office for a refill.”
“The entire time? The windows were open since we got here?”
“So I aired out the place? It was stuffy. There’s not a single person here. And you’re the one sitting outside practically naked.”
“No one except the little old couple in the office.”
I laughed loudly. “Now you’re modest?”
She smacked me on the chest. “Do you think they heard us?”
“Have you tried to have a conversation with them? They both wear hearing aids. I think your double sex life is still safe.” I winked at her.
“It’s not a double life.” She pursed her lips together.
I kissed her on the cheek. She was cute when she was pissed at me. “So, how does the rock feel this morning?”
She extended her hand and her frown was replaced with a beautiful smile. “Unreal.”
“I’ve had that ring for two months, trying to decide when the right time to propose was.”
“Two months?” She studied the rainbows bouncing around the porch.
“I thought it might be at the Super Bowl.” I didn’t want to think about what a punch to the gut our season was. “But I knew that wasn’t the right time, even if we had made it.”
“And how did you know yesterday was it? What if they had rejected me and I was a crying mess? Would you have still done it?”
“That wasn’t going to happen. There was no way they weren’t going to offer you the position. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked the past few months. You’ve thrown everything into ballet. You were meant for this, Natalia.”
She pressed a sweet kiss to my mouth. “I think I was meant for something else too.”
My eyebrows rose.
“For you. I’m meant for you.”
There was an instant pang between my ribs. I had done a lot of wrong things in my life. I’d made some shitty decisions and paid the price. But I didn’t know what I did to deserve this woman. This woman who could take me to my knees and then send me higher than a fucking kite. This woman who made dirty seem right, and love seem even better.
I had gone down on one knee yesterday, praying like a little kid that she’d say yes. That she’d join me in this crazy life I had. That she’d put up with my bad habits and my insane schedule. That she’d overlook the microscope I lived under as a celebrity. That she’d embrace my culture and realize we’d never live in Paris. That more than anything she would accept how much I loved her and wanted to protect her. I’d never had instincts like this to cherish someone. It felt natural to want to keep her close. I wanted her to be safe and happy, and nothing was more important.
She sighed over my shoulder. “How long do we get to stay this time?” she asked.
“I might have checked with the troupe ahead of time.”
“Oh?”
I nodded. “Sure did. And you have about ten days before they need you in Austin. So what if we spend three or four days here?”
“Are you serious?”
“Sound good?” I already knew the answer before she said anything. Her face was elated.
“It’s the best engagement present ever.”
“It gives us some time before everyone finds out. Before the media circus begins.” I was dreading that part, but it came with the territory of being a professional athlete.
“I thought maybe when everyone found out we were dating the fascination would have been over.”
I shook my head. “Have you seen you?” I eyed the dip at her breasts where the sheet was starting to come undone. “They will never want to stop taking pictures of you. I don’t think they care about me so much anymore.”
She giggled. “Not true. I see how
the girls look at you.”
“Jealous?”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Maybe a little.”
I grabbed the edge of the sheet to test how tightly she was holding. It fell off her shoulders.
“Sam,” she warned me.
I licked my lips. I wasn’t going to stop there. Natalia was mine. My fiancée. My love. My life. And soon she would be my wife. I had to make the most of this honeymoon preview.
“If you don’t want that little couple to see what I do to make those sounds come from your gorgeous lips, you better get inside.”
“You wouldn’t.” She looked incredulous.
“Wouldn’t I?” I winked.
She scampered up the stairs, gathering the sheet around her waist, and ran inside with laughter. I dropped my coffee and pounced after her.
Natalia had taught me something the first night we met and it was a lesson I wouldn’t forget. No matter what—never let her get away.
###
DIRTY GAME
Prologue
This was the last place I should be. The absolute last place. I’d woken up this morning in hot and dusty Dallas, and now here I was standing outside of the Dock House while boats rocked in their slips.
My heel made a hollow sound as it hit the parking lot pavement. I slammed the car door behind me and inhaled, taking in this place and all the memories we had made.
The wind whipped through my hair. I hesitated. This was all wrong. I shouldn’t be here, but I had to know. I had to see him again.
I pushed open the door, my heart in my throat, my palms dewy with perspiration, my breath fevered.
Was any of it real, or had it all just been a flash of summer heat?
1
Blake
I had been called a brooder, and at times much worse. I liked beer, an occasional dip, and I loved to fuck. At twenty-six, I valued my time and space more than the warmth of someone sharing my pillow. I didn’t have time for relationships.
And what quarterback did? I didn’t need a girl to get in my head or under my skin. One climbing into my bed was an entirely different story.
I closed the locker under where Wiley was engraved into the wood.
“You headed out?”
I turned to see one of the conditioning trainers behind me.
“Yeah.”
He shook his head. “You’re the only guy on the team who isn’t going to Cabo or Rio. You know that, right?”
“Fuck.” I laughed. “I don’t need that shit. I get enough of it during the season. The last thing I want is the fucking press following me around.”
“Going to your fishing hole?”
That’s what the guys around here called it anyway. They didn’t know shit about where I was from. I was ok with that. I kept my personal life personal. I never took them. Never even invited them.
“Something like that.” I pressed my lips together.
Jones strolled through the locker room. “Dude, you’re not going to Cabo with us?”
“Not this time.”
I got enough of these fuckers during the season. I only had one break a year. And I wasn’t going to waste it in the spotlight.
“Too bad. The girls are hot as fuck down there.”
“So I hear,” I answered.
“We’ll miss you.” Jones slapped me on the back.
The trainer bumped my fist. “Keep up the stretching and don’t tweak that knee.”
It had been giving me problems since spring training. One twist the wrong way and I had been on the ground gripping my leg. The last thing I wanted was for any of the guys to see me down. There was no room for weakness on the field.
I had put off having surgery, but I was working through a vicious therapy regimen.
“Got it.” I lifted my bag to my shoulder. “See you guys way too soon.”
I walked out of the locker room ready for my time off to start.
It was only a month until practice resumed. It wasn’t like I had months to travel the world and party my ass off like these other mother fuckers.
My job required meetings. Strategy. Planning. While they were drinking their asses onto the floor I was watching tape. I was writing plays and studying the competition. I dealt with the Sports Now speculation. I had to meet with rookies. QBs never slept.
So I took my month off. And I made sure nothing interfered with it. Nothing.
***
I carried my 6’5” frame with confident strides across the sandy parking lot, and threw a six-pack of beer into a cooler. Beads of perspiration started a slow trickle down my forehead. If I didn’t get on the water soon, the fish would be running from the sun just like I was. Damn it. This Fourth of July was hotter than hell.
I didn’t practice in fucking heat like this. That’s why we had an air conditioned facility. But I wasn’t in Orlando. I was back home for most of the summer. If there was one place that didn’t give a fuck that I was an A-rated American Football Association QB, it was this island. This tiny piece of land where I grew up.
I guided my truck under the water oaks, keeping the shoreline in sight. The road seemed to follow the curvature of the small coastline where years of ebbing and tiding had crept up on the pavement. I couldn’t tell you a spot on the island where you couldn’t see the water. As far as I was concerned, if it did exist, it wasn’t worth mentioning.
This was my place. The only town on this planet that didn’t bother me for pictures or autographs. I could do exactly what I was doing today—go fucking fishing with my cousin without worrying about a mob of fans.
I slowed the truck to turn onto the grassy path leading to my boat.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her. I’d recognize those legs anywhere. I wasn’t sure if it was the lips, the blond hair, or that attitude of hers I wanted to break. I’d always wanted to break. Fuck.
She was the kind of girl who thought she was too good for the island. The kind that only cruised with champagne in her hand, and nothing was ever good enough. But she might just be the sexiest woman I’d ever known.
When had Sierra Emory got back in town? And why was she here this summer? And why the fuck was she leaning over the bridge?
In the meantime, Cole was probably revving the boat impatiently and already a few beers ahead. We had a full day of fishing ahead of us.
My cousin sat on the bow with a goofy grin and a beer in hand. “Let’s go, man. Where in the hell have you been? I’ve been sitting out here thinkin’ you weren’t going to show.”
“You know I’m not going to bail on you.” I smiled and popped the top of my first beer. “I had a lot of shit to get done today. I’m ready now.”
I loaded the cooler, a box of tackle, and a bag of sandwiches I had picked up from the Seaside Café into the toolbox at the stern of the boat.
She still didn’t have a name. I knew it was bad luck not to name my boat, but I wasn’t superstitious. For now, she was nameless, but I trusted her. I had handpicked every limb of her frame and driven every nail into her seams. My father had tried to help, but I’d refused the free pair of hands when I had them.
I felt the back of my throat clutch at the thought.
“Can you believe it’s already the Fourth? Man, this summer is flying by.” I positioned myself behind the steering wheel. “I have to report to fucking camp soon.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. I loved this place, as much as I loved football. And right now, I didn’t know which one I needed more.
“Hey, did you know Sierra Emory was on the island?” I asked.
Cole shook his head. “No. Hadn’t heard that.”
I didn’t want to make a fucking big deal about it. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah, we better steer clear of the cape today. It’ll be full of those damn ski boats, scaring off the fish,” Cole agreed.
Cole loosened the sailor’s knots and tossed the ropes up on the dock. With one hard shove, we started drifting in the creek, and I cranked the engine. The c
reek was alive with jumping mullets. I steered us under the bridge and headed east.
2
Sierra
From the small peak at the top of the bridge, the island didn’t look like much. In fact, it really wasn’t much at all. It never had been. No coffee shops. No yoga classes. There wasn’t even a gym. I didn’t know how I was going to manage the rest of the summer here.
It always felt like time travel when I came home. Home. It was a weird word to associate with this place.
I might as well have jumped in a time machine. I gripped the bridge’s railing. Damn, this island was hot. I shielded my eyes from the reflection and tried to focus on the two fading figures laughing and sipping from koozies.
The island wasn’t more than two miles wide and five miles long. When I was a kid I’d known every square inch of it. That seemed like a million years ago now. Exploring this place was the last thing I wanted to do anymore. That girl no longer existed.
I shouldn’t be here. Leave it to Aunt Lindy to pass her estate to me in the heat of the summer.
The boat was on the horizon now. I probably had known those guys in my past life. There’d been a time when I’d known all the island guys. They wore T-shirts, deck shoes and most of them walked around with a cigarette.
Sweat trickled down my neck, and I piled my hair on my head, hoping a breeze would find me. I had wandered a little farther than I’d planned. My mission had been to jog to the store and pick up some ice for the cooler, but once I’d reached the market, I’d kept running. Maybe I was trying to outrun the heat or just outrun this feeling that I was going crazy.
I didn’t know if I could handle opening one more drawer only to find it was stuffed to the top with moth balls.
I turned from the bridge and wondered why I had ventured this far without a car. I still had to stop by the store and walk home with a bag of ice. The ice maker was broken and nowhere among the piles of Tupperware and casserole dishes had I found any ice trays.
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