To Win Her Heart (Players)

by Mackenzie Crowne

  She’d do the deed herself.

  She rolled her head to the side and glared at the open doorway. He’d all but said he was hers for the taking if she was okay with him walking away afterward. Of course she wasn’t. How could she ever survive seeing him with one of his temporary women, knowing she hadn’t been enough to hold him? How could she survive seeing him period? Then again, being Max, he’d probably go all noble and cut himself off from the family in order to minimize the hurt, and that would surely break her heart.

  Yet, how could she not take the chance? Max was a man worthy of a life full of love and laughter. A life surrounded by family who would share in his victories and help lessen the sting of defeats. Unfortunately, the past and its scars kept him from seeing himself the way others did. A man whose natural charm and giving nature endeared him to those who called him friend and garnered the respect of strangers.

  Given time, surely she could help him see that. Time, however, wasn’t on her side. He saw their arrangement as temporary but damn it, from the moment she’d met him, she’d wanted Max Grayson, heart and soul. Nearly five years of yearning had taught her she wouldn’t win him by sitting back and waiting.

  When this is over, I’ll move on to the next woman. If you can live with that, I’m more than happy to accept what you’re so determined to give.

  Though his offer had been intentionally insulting, designed to scare her off, he’d opened a door she hadn’t managed to crack, despite trying. She shoved to her elbows and glared at the open doorway. What the hell? Nothing worth having came without a price. If she rolled the dice and lost, she would learn to live with it. At least she wouldn’t forever suffer from what-ifs.

  Scrambling to her feet, she ran her fingers through her hair. She caught her reflection in the mirror and wished she’d brought along something sexier than one of Tuck’s old Marauders T-shirts, but it would have to do. Hopefully, she’d be naked before Max realized she’d arrived to accept his terms while wearing his best friend’s number emblazoned on her chest.

  Frowning, she reached beneath the shirt and shimmied out of her panties. Ha! That ought to save time, in case he tried putting up a fuss.

  She padded across the room to the stairs, her bare feet silent on the smooth wooden steps. Tiptoeing down the hall to Max’s closed door, she froze when a board squeaked beneath her toes. She held her breath and listened. No sound came from the other side and her shoulders sagged with relief.

  She stared at the glossy wooden door. Her palms went damp, and she bit her lip. What was the protocol when a woman decided to call a man’s bluff by taking him up on his insulting offer of no-strings sex? Knock or don’t knock? And, once inside, what was she supposed to say? Hiya, Max, I’m here to get laid?

  Should she play it coy? Get her best vamp on? Or should she simply pounce on him and let their bodies do the talking?

  She rolled her eyes. Oh, for heaven’s sake. You’re not wearing any underwear. Are you going to do this or not? She grasped the doorknob and stepped inside.

  It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark. As the shadows finally shifted and made sense, her gaze fell on the bed. Sound asleep, Max lay on his stomach, a muscled bicep bulging above the forearm tucked beneath the folded pillow. The black swirls of his tribal tattoo rode the well-defined contours of his naked back and shoulders. A light colored sheet tangled around his thick thighs. His ass was bare.

  She stared at the firm swell of the smooth mounds and swallowed. “Max.”

  His head shot up from the pillow, his tone confused and groggy. “What?”

  “Max,” she spoke a little louder.

  Rolling to his side, he turned and looked her way. He blinked and one arm shot out to snatch at the sheet. “Jesus.” Yanking the cloth over his lap, he pushed up with an elbow to sit. His fingers clenched the sheet and he glanced around the room, his eyes narrowing as they landed on her once more. “What’s wrong?”

  She wiped her sweating palms over the hem of her sleep shirt. “Um, nothing.” Oh, yeah. Very vamp.

  Shoulders relaxing marginally, he shook his head. “Then why are you here?”

  Get it together, Jessi. It’s now or never. Lifting her chin, she took the plunge. “I’ve decided I can live with it.”

  His steady gray gaze pinned her to the spot. One moment passed, then another. He dragged a hand over his face. “Don’t do this to me, Jessi. Go back to your room.”

  Disappointment fired her blood. “I can’t do that.” She wouldn’t. Whether he knew it or not, she was doing this for both of them. She’d be damned if she let him talk her out of it.

  He dropped his hand to his thigh. “Were you not listening to any of what I said?”

  “I heard every word, but the thing is,” she sucked in a bracing breath, “I love you, Max.”

  His eyes slid closed and a pained expression crossed his face.

  She stepped forward. “I know that’s not what you want to hear, but too bad.” She held his gaze as he opened his eyes. “It’s my heart and my love. I’m entitled to give them to whomever I please.”

  He shook his head and shifted. Before he could rise, she scrambled onto the foot of the bed and crawled toward him. “I heard what you said, and I’m here anyway.”

  And if you make me beg, I’m going to slug you.

  Pressing a hand to his chest, she shoved gently. He surprised her when he didn’t resist, falling back against the pillows.

  He stared up at her, and his eyes gleamed with a gentle pleading. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She didn’t want to be hurt either, but she couldn’t back down. Not when the stakes were so high. “Then don’t.”

  If she was going to win the game, she needed to play her best hand. She curled shaking fingers under the edge of the sheet and tugged it down his thighs, then gulped as her gaze fell on his growing erection, twitching against his belly. Straddling his hips, she grasped the hem of her sleep shirt, tugged it over her head, and dropped it to the floor beside the bed. He swallowed harshly. Her nipples puckered and she grew wet as his dark gaze catalogued her body.

  Lowering her hips until the heated folds between her legs slid against his hardened cock, she didn’t bother suppressing her shiver. “I’m a grown woman, Max,” she dipped forward to brush her lips against his, “and I’m here by my own choice.”

  He cupped her face with both hands and, as if he’d finally given free rein to the desire he’d tried to hide from her, his gray eyes flared with a heat so intense, she should have been singed. “Then God help us both.”

  He dragged her down until their lips fused. The world and its worries held no power against the pleasure of his kiss and touch. His wide palms slid over her shoulders and around her back, sweeping away concerns about the future. Hot and demanding, his mouth claimed hers and banished all thought of family or career and, when he rolled over to tuck her beneath his big body, time and place faded as well—until he reached out to click on the lamp.

  Soft light filled the shadows. Panting, she blinked up at his sober face inches from hers. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing.” Propped on one elbow, his hot gaze slid down her body. “If we’re going to do this, I want to see everything.”

  The flood of relief left her lightheaded. Her gaze followed his trailing fingertips. They danced over her collarbone to trace the full curve of one breast. Sweet friction made her breath catch as he dragged the rough pad of his thumb over the tightened bead of her nipple. He slid his fingers lower, circling the dip of her belly button. Masculine and tanned against her pale skin, his wide-palmed hand skimmed her lower belly to cup the auburn curls covering her mound.

  Wet warmth gushed through her, and she moaned at the telltale throbbing between her thighs. Lord, he was doing it again. Shooting her toward climax with a simple touch. She squeezed her thighs together, and he looked up. Hot and intent, his gaze paused on her peaked nipples before rising to her face.

&
nbsp; One corner of his mouth quirked. “So sensitive. Are you that close?”

  A blush heated her cheeks and she squirmed beneath his hand. “I can’t seem to help it. Apparently, I’m a premature orgasmer.”

  His deep chuckle and the devilish smile playing on his mouth only made matters worse. Pleasurable forerunners to her impending explosion rippled through her. She whimpered.

  Without breaking eye contact, he dipped his head until his lips hovered within a breath of her nipple. “Sex isn’t a zero sum game. We’ll find plenty more of those before we’re done.” He stabbed his tongue at the tightened bud and plunged a finger inside her, withdrew, and plunged again. “Go ahead, baby. Come for me.”

  As if she needed encouragement.

  His sensual touch and roughly spoken demand sent her over the edge. Her eyes slammed shut and bright shards of color shattered behind her lids. Harsh waves of pleasure battered her body in a rolling storm of unspeakable delight, and she surged beneath the added stimulation as he massaged her clit with the heel of his palm.

  “Max!” His name burst forth on a keening cry.

  “I’m here.”

  Spinning on a manic arc, she was vaguely aware of the rustle of bedding as he shimmied down the bed. A languid heaviness settled in as the sparks of her orgasm faded like stars winking out with the sunrise.

  Warm fingers dipped between her tightly clenched legs, gently guiding them apart. Strong hands controlled the jerk of her body as he swept the tip of his tongue over the sensitized bead of flesh between her thighs, then repeated the torturing caress. She tossed her head back and forth on the pillow, helpless against the delicious spasms the loving lashes called forth.

  Sliding his hands beneath her, he cupped her bottom, and held her in place for his feasting mouth. His lips and tongue savored and demanded. Relentless in his ministrations, he drove her back to the peak and, when she once again teetered on the edge, he sucked her in, devouring her with an open-mouthed kiss. She shattered with a scream that was his name.

  Moments later, the scrape of an opening drawer pierced her lethargic mind. Boneless and replete, her lashes fluttered open. Beside her, Max fisted a condom onto his engorged cock. Taut with unquenched desire, his chest and forehead glistened with sweat. The muscles of his neck stood out in corded relief and, as he turned toward her, fire burned in his eyes. Slipping a muscled thigh between hers, he rose above her.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I can’t wait another minute.” He guided himself into place and, with a single powerful thrust, buried himself deep. His guttural groan bathed the shell of her ear with moist heat.

  If she’d had the energy to speak, she would have told him waiting wasn’t necessary. As it was, it took some doing to get her wrecked limbs to obey the demands of her brain. Locking her hands behind his neck, she clung to him as he began to rock against her. Amazed she could feel anything when her body was so done in, she shivered at the pull of his thick length against her over sensitized inner muscles.

  She wrapped a leg around the back of his thigh, and he lifted his head. Heavy-lidded and intense, his slate gray gaze held hers. The fingers of one hand gripped her chin and jaw. He claimed her lips in an opened-mouth kiss. Driven by long denied passion and need, he consumed her. The stab of his tongue mirrored the pump of his hips. Thrust, retreat, and thrust again.

  A rush of liquid pleasure deep in her core signaled her renewed awakening as his passion called out to hers. She strained against him, their bodies entwined. As if they’d danced to this sweet tune a thousand times, her body fell into step with his, arching, falling, twisting toward ecstasy, until her groan of release was nearly drowned out by his shout of completion.

  * * * *

  Max dipped his chin and pressed a feather-light kiss to Jessi’s hair. His eyes slid shut against the sight of her tucked to his side, her slender arms wrapped around him like a vine as she slept. If only the battle raging in his mind could be so easily shut out.

  Christ, what a mess. He should have known Jessi would take his comments earlier as an opening instead of the warning they were. Though tiny, every inch of her sexy little body was packed full of the determination and grit that had catapulted her to the top of her industry. Any other woman would have snarled at his insulting proposition and told him to go fuck himself. Not Jessi.

  With as little experience as she had in the sex department, she’d stood before him, as bold as can be, and called him out. She claimed she’d heard his message loud and clear, but like Tuck had said, once she got an idea in her head, she didn’t let go. Sliding into her hot, mind-blowingly tight sheath, it was impossible to miss the hope of forever in her eyes.

  Guilt made sleep impossible, despite the heaviness of his body, his muscles loose with completion. No matter what happened when their time together ended, he was screwed. Although he’d agreed to her plan for a good reason, ultimately, he’d betrayed her trust. There would be hell to pay if she ever found out but, more than that, she hadn’t simply offered him her body when she climbed into his bed. She’d handed him her heart.

  She loved him. Him. A street brawler with blood on his hands. Christ, his heart had nearly stopped in his chest when she’d said those words.

  A part of him wanted to shout and dive into the promise in her earnest blue eyes. Cling to the idea of a family with a woman who loved him, a good and giving woman he wanted until he couldn’t think straight. He yearned to grab hold of a future where love wasn’t ripped away in the blink of an eye. Where a safe place to sleep was a given, and children didn’t need to fight for the right to survive…but he knew better.

  Security and financial wherewithal would never again be an issue, but love? Love died. Or it judged and found wanting. She loved him, but God knew, he’d done things even the most giving of hearts would find unforgivable. When push came to shove, true colors showed, and his were as black and heartless as the Krandall blood running through his veins. He couldn’t, wouldn’t taint Jessi’s sweet soul with the guilty gore staining his.

  She murmured in her sleep, and he tightened his hold. She’d come to him willingly, and he was selfish enough, greedy enough, to take what she offered while he had the chance, but they would both pay a price in the end.

  She would end up hating him, and he’d spend rest of his life mourning the death of the love in her eyes and smile. Once this was over and the stalker was found, he’d never again stroke the silkiness of her skin or marvel at the completely unselfish way she gave of herself with no barriers and nothing held back. His taste buds and nostrils would never be clear of her sweet taste and scent. Every woman he met in the future would fall short of the one who fit against him, around him, under him as if she’d been designed specifically with him in mind.

  Christ, he’d fucked up. And had no one else to blame.

  Chapter 17

  “Have they found anything yet?” Max slumped against the deck rail with the phone pressed to one ear and a cup of coffee in his hand.

  “Nothing.” Ryan sighed. “So far every lead is a dead end.”

  He grunted, accepting the subtle relief loosening his shoulders. For the moment, the status quo hadn’t changed. Once the asshole threatening her was caught, Max would do what had to be done, but for now, Jessi remained his.

  “How is she?”

  Max flicked a glance through the French doors into the empty kitchen. “Better, I think. She hasn’t had a headache since we arrived and, while she still isn’t sleeping well, she’s out cold at the moment.” Thanks to the exhaustive hours they’d spent exploring each other’s bodies last night. He wasn’t about to share that detail with her father, however.

  “That’s an improvement. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up.”

  Max choked on his coffee. Keeping it up wasn’t going to be a problem. He’d had to force himself to climb from his bed this morning instead of rolling her over and picking up where they’d left off only hours before. The quick, cold shower hadn’t worked fo
r shit, not with visions of what they could do beneath those six jetting showerheads or in that deep Jacuzzi tub flooding his mind.

  “Will you be returning to Manhattan first or going straight to the Super Bowl warm-up in Tampa? Spence is getting antsy. He’s concerned about a low spot in the show and thinks they need to work on it before Friday.” Ryan’s chuckle came through the phone. “Apparently, she’s not taking his calls.”

  Max snorted. The fact that Jessi had disappeared with Max had to burn the guy’s ass. That worked for him. She was too good for her pretty boy partner. “I’ll leave that up to Jessi. She’s free to go home any time she wants. In the meantime, light a fire under the FBI boys. We need to find this guy.”

  Disconnecting the call, Max drained his coffee and returned inside. He poured a second cup for Jessi before padding up to his bedroom. A smile teased his lips as he lowered a hip to the edge of the bed. She lay curled on her side with her hands folded beneath her cheek. The sheet left her nude from the waist up and her wild tangle of russet curls played peek-a-boo with sandy pink nipples. At the moment, country music’s princess looked like a cross between an angel and a college coed gone bad.

  He shifted the mug to his left hand and brushed a fingertip over one puffy nipple, then the other. They puckered immediately as if in greeting, and he smiled. Her lashes fluttered open, closed again, and popped open wide.

  If he was expecting shyness or embarrassment over what had passed between them last night, he got neither. She yawned and sat up, the sheet pooled at her waist. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself.” He handed her the mug. “How’d you sleep?”

  She sipped from the mug and moaned in appreciation. “I think we may have found a solution to my insomnia.” A healthy glow tinted her cheeks. “Too bad we can’t bottle it. We’d make a fortune.”

  Her grin was infectious. Because he could, he leaned forward and captured her smiling lips in a long, wet kiss. He sat back before the demands of his body derailed his plans for the morning. “Drink up.”