Crashing the Net

by Jami Davenport

“You’re most welcome. You can call on me any time, and I mean that. I truly do.”

  “That means a lot to me.” And she meant that, she truly did. “I don’t want to talk about them anymore.”

  “Okay.” He darted a glance in her direction and blew out a long breath. “So do you think a Neanderthal like me stands a third chance with a classy female like you?”

  “If you’re referring to between the sheets, then yes, you stand a good chance. A damn good chance.” Grateful for the distraction from her family and financial woes, she slid her gaze down his fine, if somewhat soaked body, and back up to his face. The light of the dashboard cast shadows across his hard male angles, making him look dangerous and formidable.

  Just her type of guy.

  “How mad will Betheni be if we don’t show up for a few hours?” he asked.

  “She won’t give a shit. By now she’s drank half your good whiskey and is watching some pay-for-view movie.” She needed his touch tonight, his assurance everything would be okay, at least for a short time. She’d forget all her troubles and lose herself in a hot man with a very large bulge in his pants begging to be set free.

  He nodded and licked his lips. “I think we can find a private place for a few hours.”

  “And where would that be?”

  “Fuck if I know, but I’d better think of something fast.” Cooper rubbed his chin and stared straight ahead, his dark brows furrowed. Putting his car in gear, he pulled out of the parking lot onto the rain-slicked city street.

  “Ever done it in a pool?”

  She smiled and ran a hand over the corded muscles of his thigh. “No, but I’m ready.”

  “So the fuck am I.” His gaze burned down her body and should’ve turned her clothes to ashes.

  Several minutes later, he pulled down a familiar tree-lined street.

  “Isn’t this the way to your house?”

  “Yeah, but we’re not going home. My neighbors left on a cruise and asked that I keep an eye on their house.”

  “What if they have cameras installed?”

  “What if they do?” He grinned like a naughty boy willing to take a risk stealing cookies from the cookie jar. He could steal her cookies any damn day.

  “I like the way your naughty mind works.”

  Cooper pulled down a long driveway a few doors from his own house. He jumped out and lifted Izzy out of the SUV, leading her toward a fence gate. Izzy ran to keep up with him.

  “Aren’t we going in the house?”

  “Afraid of a little rain?”

  “Not in the least.”

  They snuck around the back of the house across the wet lawn. In the backyard was a pool with an attached hot tub. The rain pitter-pattered on the patio.

  “I’m wet,” Izzy slid up to Cooper, burying her hands in his hair.

  “I hope to hell you are.” He stared down at her, his dark eyes even darker. Rain water slid down his nose, and she leaned up to lick it off. He pulled her to him, his mouth rough and demanding. She parted her lips and welcomed him inside. He attacked like a starving man, and she clung to his hard body. The heat between them should’ve caused steam to rise from their wet clothes.

  With a groan, Cooper pulled away and held her at arm’s length. “Get those wet clothes off. Now,” he ordered.

  “Aren’t we bossy?” She teased even as she tossed her coat and T-shirt over a nearby patio chair. Water trickled down her neck and between her breasts. Her nipples stood erect in the lace cups of her bra, and Cooper’s gaze went straight to them.

  “You are so fucking beautiful.” He stared at her for several long seconds.

  “So are you. Now let’s see some skin,” she bossed him right back. His determined expression didn’t bode well for her remaining the one in control.

  He added his shirt to the growing pile of wet clothes. “Satisfied?” he smirked.

  “Not even close.” Izzy tugged and yanked until she was free of her jeans. “Your turn, handsome.” Before he could respond, she dived into the heated pool, which was about to become more heated.

  When she surfaced, he stood on the edge of the pool, completely naked. Rivulets of water ran down his chest to his erect penis.

  “What are you waiting for? The water’s warm, and my body’s hot.”

  His purely wicked grin made her heart pound inside her chest. He dove in, his body all male grace and fluid motion, surfacing near where she treaded water. A second later, he was all over her with his hands and mouth, entwining his legs with hers, as they stood in chest high water.

  “I’ve been waiting for you my entire life,” he said against her ear. He left a trail of kisses down her jaw and bit her shoulder.

  She groaned and nipped at his stubbled chin. “I doubt it’s been that long,” she teased.

  “It feels like no one else counted until you came along. Like you’re the missing piece of my heart and soul.” The truth of his words shone in his eyes.

  Normally Izzy would’ve run hard and fast away from any man who ever said words like that, but she dismissed them as the words of a sexually drunken man wanting to get in the pants of a woman who’d made him wait several weeks. A guy would say anything to bury himself in a woman after she held out on him, especially a man who loved challenges as much as Cooper.

  “I want you.” She literally climbed up his body, wrapping her legs around his waist, and sucking his tongue into her mouth. “I really want you, Cooper. Show me how badly you want me.”

  Wading through the warm water, Cooper plunked her ass on the edge of the pool. “How do you want me?”

  “I want you wet, wild, and willing. Don’t hold back.” She pressed her crotch against his erection, taunting him, and he growled.

  Cooper yanked the lacy bra under her breasts and took a taste of each one before sucking a nipple into his mouth, tormenting it with his tongue, and biting down gently. A sliver of pleasure-soaked pain jolted through her, and she clawed at his back. He moved to the other nipple, repeating the process. Izzy’s vision blurred as she almost came.

  Not yet. Not until she took Cooper with her. She grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled his face back to hers. “Condom?” she almost snarled.

  He stared at her with unfocused eyes, as if his brain had lost the power to process words.

  “Condom?” Izzy repeated, her voice taking on a desperate tone to match the throbbing between her thighs.

  Cooper gave a quick shake of his head and nodded slowly. “Yeah, don’t move. Not one muscle.”

  “Get the condom now,” she ordered, not caring how bossy she sounded.

  Cooper took no offense. His mouth kicked up at the corners. He swam across the pool, crawled out, and dug a packet out of his jeans pocket. Izzy watched as he rolled it onto his magnificent dick. A second later, he ran around the pool and lowered himself into the shallow end near her.

  “I need you inside me now. We can worry about foreplay later.”

  “Honey, I’m your man.” He bowed low in the water and rose to run his tongue across her bare stomach. “But these have to go.” He tugged on her panties, and Izzy raised her legs. He yanked them off and chucked them over his shoulder.

  “Now,” he growled in her ear, “where the hell were we?”

  “We were about to have mind-blowing sex in the middle of a rain shower on the edge of your neighbors’ swimming pool. Get your ass over here and satisfy me.”

  “It’s not my ass you want.” His dark eyes glowed as he parted her thighs and positioned himself between her legs. He guided his thick, heavy cock to her entrance.

  “Get ready for the ride of your life, mister.”

  “We’ll see who’s riding who.” He pushed inside, stretching her, and Izzy leaned into him, taking him deeper as he filled every empty spot inside her with his dick and his overwhelming presence. She’d been with a fair amount of men since her high school days when a former drummer in her parents’ band took it upon himself to teach her about sex. She’d been an able pupil, findin
g she enjoyed sex as much as any woman.

  Focused on caring for her sisters, she’d had a modest sex life throughout the years up until this recent drought and her current obsession with Cooper, but none of those other men had a body that came close to Cooper’s athletic body. The hard muscles of his pecs and his tight nipples rubbed against her breasts as he held her wet body to his. She could feel them flexing, tensing as he sought to control himself, and she loved the pure strength of his unleashed power.

  With a final push and a satisfied grunt, he fully seated himself inside her. For a long, torturous moment he held still, his face buried in her hair. He trembled.

  “I want you so fucking bad I’m in pain.” He licked her neck and found her mouth again, silencing any spoken comment she might have made, so she spoke with her body. And damn did her body talk.

  Panting, Cooper looked into her eyes. He wrapped his big hands around her ass and pulled her closer against him, going deeper inside her than any man ever had before.

  Dragging her mouth from his, she gasped for breath. She could stay this way forever, yet as heavenly as it felt, she needed—wanted—more, needed him moving inside her, needed him claiming her in a way as old as mankind itself.

  “Take me,” she whispered in his ear. Izzy squeezed her eyes shut and bit down on his neck, marking him, and begging him to let loose.

  “Not yet.” He didn’t move. The bastard was toying with her, sacrificing himself to torment her fevered body. Two could play at that game. She’d make him lose control.

  Izzy slid her hands up his chest, running her fingers through his chest hair. She rubbed his nipples, eliciting a moan from deep in his throat. Taking each nipple between her thumbs and forefingers, she pinched them. Pinched them again. Hard. Cooper let out a sharp gasp. Izzy smiled against his neck and pulled on his nipples, twisting them.

  “Oh, fucking hell.” Cooper roared and leaned back, grinding his dick hard into her. “You’re going to be sorry you did that.”

  “Make me sorry, gorgeous. Let that caveman out and pound into me. Take. Me. Now. Don’t hold back.”

  “I will.” His strained voice betrayed how hard this was for him, too, but he didn’t give in. When he still didn’t move, she wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned back against the cold tile of the pool deck, arching her back, and shoving hard against him.

  “Awww, damn, honey. Damn.”

  Her eyes half-lidded, she smiled her best sultry smile. “Come on, you know you want it.”

  “Oh, yeah, I want it.” His gaze raked over her body as rain peppered her skin with droplets of water. He leaned over her, holding her chest against his. Their slick bodies slid easily against each other.

  Slowly Cooper pulled out halfway and slid back inside her. She purred like a kitten and savored the luxury of this man’s extraordinary body training hers to crave only him. She didn’t care if he ruined her for any other man. Didn’t care if no one else would ever satisfy after she’d had her fill of Cooper.

  How could she care? Tonight, her body belonged to him as much as it belonged to her, and there was no turning back. Not that she wanted to turn back or even take a slight step back. She gladly followed this path whether it led to paradise or an eventual dead end.

  Cooper continued his slow assault on her pussy and her heart. With deliberate, forced patience, which took a toll on his body judging by how hard his arms and legs shook, he slid in and out of her. She didn’t want deliberate and controlled. She wanted wild, unrestrained sex, wanted him to be as crazy for her as he’d made her for him, needed proof that this man couldn’t do without her any more than she could do without him—it was her best kept secret, even from herself. Up until the moment Cooper’s cock filled her, she might have been able to turn back and salvage some measure of sanity.

  Not now. Not ever again.

  She pulled Cooper down on top of her, their tangled legs dangling in the warm pool, and mounted a frontal assault on his mouth by sucking his tongue then biting down gently.

  “God fucking dammit,” he swore, his eyes stormy with swirling desire. She blinked up at him, squeezing his passion past his control point by gripping his ass and arching into him

  “Give me the best you’ve got, hockey star,” she taunted him. His guttural growl didn’t sound quite human. The next thing she knew, he was slamming into her over and over, lifting her hips off the slippery tiles with each inward thrust.

  Waves of pleasure cycled through her, signaling an imminent orgasm and making her forget her name, but she wasn’t about to forget his. She called it out over and over again. Just before passion exploded behind her eyes, Cooper dragged her into the water, still deep inside her and maneuvered her into deeper water. Her feet barely touched the pool bottom and made her body maneuverable and buoyant. He bounced her up and down on his submerged penis, their slippery bodies adding to the erotic feel of wet skin on wet skin.

  She shuddered, and he drove harder, wringing every last drop of passion out of her until she flew into millions of tiny pinpoints of light, like a sun exploding with mighty force. He came right after her, spasming in the water as Izzy clung to his hard-muscled chest.

  She’d just had the best debut sex with a man who took no prisoners. Or maybe she was wrong about that. Maybe he had taken her prisoner, leaving her with no hope of ever escaping his magnetic pull.

  Cooper leaned against the side of the pool, holding Izzy tight, their bodies mirror images of each other as they sought to get their blood pressure and pulse rates under control.

  Time seemed to stand still as they held each other. It could’ve been seconds or hours. Hell if she knew or cared. Izzy buried her face in his wet hair, smelling chlorine and Cooper. She’d never see a pool the same way. But then she’d never see Cooper the same way either.

  “That was fucking awesome,” Cooper said breathlessly.

  “It was.”

  “I want us—”

  “We will be doing this again. Trust me. Once will not do it for me.”

  “Or me. You’re the perfect puck for my stick.” He grinned at her, and she laughed.

  “Did you say puck or fuck?”

  “Does it matter?” he asked.

  Izzy shook her head, spraying droplets of water around them. “We’d better go. Betheni will be wondering what happened to us.”

  Mutely, he nodded.

  It wasn’t until they were somewhat dressed and driving the few blocks to his home that it hit her.

  They’d left her lace panties floating in his neighbors’ pool.

  Chapter 9—On Ice

  Riley sprinted to the sidelines when he saw Izzy and Tanner standing near the edge of the field behind the home bench. They’d come to watch him play.

  No one had ever bothered to watch him play sports. All the other kids had family at every game, but Riley had never had anyone. Now he had the quarterback for the Seattle Steelheads and Izzy. His teammates and coaches noticed¸ too, and Riley puffed up with pride.

  He’d be big man on campus tomorrow.

  Which should have made him feel really good about himself and his current situation.

  And it did. Except—

  He glanced around as he jogged up to Izzy and Tanner.

  “Hey, you made it.” He grinned as he shook Tanner’s hand. Izzy gave him a big hug. Man, would the guys all be jealous that this hot older woman just hugged him. He didn’t know which would impress them more, Tanner or Izzy.

  They were guys—so he’d vote for Izzy.

  “I wouldn’t miss seeing my best guy play for anything,” Izzy said, as she straightened his shoulder pads. “You look tough in that uniform.”

  “Thanks.” He shuffled his feet, suddenly embarrassed.

  “I’m always game to watch young talent.” Tanner winked at him, as several of Riley’s teammates crowded around Tanner, all talking at once.

  With Tanner occupied with the guys, Riley turned toward Izzy. “Where’s Uncle Coop?” His voice sounded too hopeful. He
didn’t want anyone to catch on that he cared.

  Izzy narrowed her eyes and her mouth drew into a thin line. “I’m not sure he’s going to be able to make it. He’s working late at the training facility tonight.”

  All the good feelings from earlier drained out of Riley. Like sister, like brother. His mother never made it a priority to attend any of his school events or games. Not even one time. But his mother didn’t like team sports much, and Cooper did.

  Izzy must have read the disappointment on his face. She reached out and squeezed his arm. “I know he’d be here if he could.”

  “I don’t care. He’s a selfish jerk anyway. He doesn’t matter to me. I just want to find my mother and get out of his house.” Riley felt hot tears well up in his eyes, which fucking pissed him off. Uncle Cooper didn’t deserve his tears or anything else.

  Riley expected Izzy to chew his butt for calling his uncle a jerk, but she didn’t. In fact, he got the impression she agreed with him.

  “He’s not a football guy anyway,” Riley added, as if that made Cooper’s absence okay. They both knew it didn’t.

  “Guys, get back over here. We have a game to play,” Coach yelled at them.

  Riley pulled on his helmet and smiled at Izzy and Tanner. “Later.”

  Tanner grinned at him. “Have a good game.”

  “I will.” Riley ran to the bench near the sidelines. He’d wanted to play quarterback, but years of off-and-on participation in sports didn’t help. For a quarterback, he was too far behind the other guys. So Coach put him at tight end because he was big, strong, and athletic. Surprisingly, he had good hands, too, with a great vertical leap and better than average speed. Must be those Black genes. From what his mom told him, they’d all been good at sports.

  So despite his lack of playing time, Riley was starting in his first freshman football game. Winning a spot gave him a rare sense of accomplishment. He’d spent so much of his life watching out for his mother that it felt weird to do something completely for himself. For once, he didn’t let the guilt ruin his day.

  Riley caught three passes, one that he ran in for a touchdown. He could hear Izzy and Tanner cheering from the sidelines.