Out Of Bounds (Brit Boys Sports Romance Book 3)

by J. H. Croix

  “A few minutes. Good morning,” I replied, unable to keep from grinning when the pink on her cheeks deepened. Hell if I knew why she blushed so often, but I fucking loved it.

  She bit her lip again. Oh, that was it. I slid my palm off her bottom—hard to do by the way—and up her spine to tangle in her hair. There wasn’t much space between us, so it took just the slightest movement to bring her mouth to mine. I wasn’t thinking—not at all—and the moment she sighed against my mouth, I slipped my tongue between her lips and poured the need burning hot and high inside of me into our kiss. She tensed against me for a beat, but when I slid my hand back down her spine and nudged her atop me, she relaxed. Our kiss went wild. Mentally thrown and emotionally disoriented by the effect she had on me, I flung myself into the heat of the physical moment between us. I latched onto it as if it were the only thing that could ground me. Meanwhile, I was like a train running off the tracks, barely hanging onto any semblance of control.

  The feel of her full breasts pressed against me and her slick folds sliding over my cock—because it was that perfect when her knees fell to the sides of my hips—nearly made me forget my promise not to bury myself inside of her post haste. When my fuzzy thoughts turned to clambering away from her to find a condom, reality nudged me, hard enough I rolled us over quickly.

  That didn’t help matters. At all. Now, my cock was nestled against her drenched core, and all I wanted to do was adjust my hips and sink inside. Condom or no, I had to get myself out of the danger zone. I shimmied down her body, probably a touch rougher than I should be with my lips, teeth and tongue as I made my way down. Bloody hell though, she didn’t help matters between her breathy pants, husky moans and her hands all over me. The moment I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth, I managed to get my mind off of what it would feel like to be inside of her again. Fuck. She tasted so good and when she buried her hands in my hair and arched into me, I sank my teeth in before pulling back to look at her.

  Her hair spilled over the pillows, stark and bright against the white. Her hazel eyes were a dark swirl of gold, green and brown, and her lips were red and swollen. Her nipples were damp and taut from my attentions. With her breath rising and falling rapidly, she arched into me, starting to curl those long legs around me. Uh oh. I had to keep moving. I tore my gaze from hers and mapped my way down her body, kissing, licking and nipping my way over the soft curve of her belly.

  I pushed her knees apart and almost groaned at the sight of her. Her folds were pink and swollen. I meant to ask if she felt okay, but she buried her hands in my hair. With the core of her mere inches away, consideration lost the war in an instant. I dipped my head and dragged my tongue along her cleft. The salty tang of her was an unholy temptation and I lost myself in exploring every inch. I sank a finger inside and felt her clench around me and tense. Finally, fucking finally, my mind shouted above the raw lust pounding through me.

  I drew back, and my breath lodged in my throat for a beat. She was glorious. With her skin flushed all over, those freckles that made me crazy scattered like constellations about her body, and her hair a tangled mess, it was a bloody good thing I wasn’t standing or she’d have brought me to my knees in more than the figurative sense. As it was, I had to give my head a shake to recall she’d tensed. My finger was still buried knuckle deep inside of her.

  “Are you okay?” I managed to ask, my voice taut with the need thundering through me.

  Her eyes widened, and she arched her hips into my touch, nodding vehemently. If anything, she looked annoyed with me as if I was an idiot for even asking. I couldn’t help but grin because that’s what happened when she was annoyed with me. “Just checking, luv,” I replied before getting right back to business.

  With her legs curling around my shoulders and her hips bucking into my mouth, I fucked her with my fingers and tongue for much less time than I wanted. Within moments, she was tensing and murmuring my name in a noisy burst, her channel clenching and throbbing.

  In a very short time, I’d discovered Zoe was rather expressive when it came to sex and didn’t hold back at all. I eased away and started to kiss my way back up her body, but she dislodged me. She was tall enough to throw me off, and she did just that, promptly sitting astride me again. Just like that, all of my control slipped until I was clinging to its edge with my fingertips. She didn’t give me much time to think and before I knew it, she was kissing her way down my chest and abdomen and curling a palm around my cock.

  I don’t know what I expected, but I certainly didn’t expect to be given the best blowjob of my life by a woman who’d been a virgin less than twelve hours ago. Alas, that’s precisely what happened. She had a wicked mouth and tongue and had me gripping the sheets as if my life depended on it. I was as close to the edge as she’d been, so the moment she drew me fully into her mouth, I was almost there. With her tongue swirling and the hot, wet suction around my cock, my release hit me with a roar and I spent myself in her mouth.

  Stunned, I fell back into the pillows as she slowly drew away and wiped the back of her hand across her delectable mouth that had just now shown me the peaks of its naughtiness. She eased up beside me and fell into the pillows, half draped over me. All the while, I was wondering if I could ever get enough of her. I should’ve been spent, instead all I could think of was what was next.

  Chapter 14

  Zoe

  I looked across my desk at Jana and bit back a laugh. We were on a conference call with another law firm, actually the same firm representing the idiot who’d punched Ethan, and Jana was making faces at the phone. I leaned forward and tapped the mute button.

  “Stop it! You’re going to make us both laugh,” I hissed.

  Jana rolled her eyes and brushed a lock of purple-streaked hair out of her eyes. “Why are you whispering? You muted the speaker.”

  I shook my head and gave into the urge to laugh. “Point taken. Oh my God. Ted loves to hear himself talk. I swear he’s talked for about ten minutes on the same point.”

  Jana gave the phone another eye roll. “That’s his thing. Yawn. He annoys the hell out of me. Why do so many people hire him?”

  “Because he knows how to market,” I said with a shrug. “We could probably learn a thing or two from him.”

  Now Jana glared at me. “No. We’re not plastering billboards with your picture all over the place. It’s so cheesy.” She paused and twirled a lock of hair around her finger, eyeing me thoughtfully. “On second thought, maybe we should. You’re totally hot. I bet we’d get a ton of new clients that way.”

  I tossed a paper clip at her, which she deftly caught and promptly returned to my desk. “I’m plenty busy. I don’t need to work more anyway. You’re always on my case for working too much.”

  She grinned. “True. But if we had more clients, you could hire more paralegals, instead of just me being your lonely paralegal slash receptionist. If we found some good ones, they could do all the grunt work and you could work less. Plus, you can’t tell me anymore you’re not hot. Ethan Walsh, practically the hottest ticket in town, totally has it bad for you.”

  Just when I was about to mouth right back at her, Ted said my name, loudly enough I realized we’d probably lost track of the conversation. Fortunately with Ted, we could gloss over that pretty easy. I tapped the button to unmute the phone and jumped back into legal mode.

  Later that day after a slew of meetings, Jana came into my office and plunked down in the chair across from me. For days, every time I had a minute to think, my mind went straight to Ethan. Just now, I looked across my desk and recalled he’d made me come right there on my desk with his wicked mouth and fingers. I gave my head a little shake and focused on Jana.

  “What’s up?” I asked as I hit send on an email and looked over at her.

  “It’s the first time in three days we’ve had time to talk. Yesterday I wasn’t here and today’s been nuts. Fess up. What happened with Ethan? Don’t try to tell me nothing because I saw how you looked after he c
ame out of here last week, and I might’ve seen a text from him on your phone earlier.”

  My cheeks got hot. I wanted to be annoyed with her, but it was half-hearted. I latched onto the phone thing because it was an easy target. “Since when have you started snooping on my phone?”

  “Since you left it sitting right in front of me while we were suffering through Ted’s monologue,” she retorted. “I didn’t see what it said, just his name. What did it say?”

  Ethan had taken to texting me like crazy. I didn’t know what to make of it, but I secretly liked it. A lot. He alternated between asking about my day, wanting to know how I was doing and flirting so brazenly, it made me hot all over just from reading a text. It wasn’t that I hadn’t dated. It’s just that it had been a while, and it had never been all that great. I’d figured losing my virginity would be more like finally taking care of a chore I’d been blowing off. I was entirely unprepared for the burning hot intimacy I’d experienced with him, and the fact it was seared into my body, heart and mind so deeply tiny reminders of him sent heat rolling through me all over again. I gathered my nerve, shoved away my embarrassment and looked over at Jana.

  She’d endured private and public humiliation over her unbeknownst-to-her affair, and she’d managed to pick up the scraps of her dignity and carry on just as boldly as before. I could handle being a little embarrassed about the fact I had no idea what to do about Ethan.

  “We had sex. I have no idea what to do and he keeps texting me and telling me he wants to have dinner,” I blurted out in a run-on sentence without a single breath in between words.

  Jana’s eyes widened. She watched me for a moment before her surprise melted into concern. “Hey, don’t look so worried. It’s perfect. You finally ditched your virginity, and he likes you. I’d have considered it a win if you got it on with him once, but it sounds like he wants more than that. Let me see the texts,” she said, wagging her fingers at me. “I’m guessing you need some interpretation.”

  Relieved, I gladly handed my phone over. She knew the password, just as I knew hers, and promptly keyed it in. After a minute of scrolling through my texts, she looked up. Her blue eyes were wide and her mouth fell open.

  “What? Why do you look like that? I don’t know what to do and he keeps texting and…”

  Jana recovered and let out a whoop. “Zoe. He likes you. He really likes you. This is so awesome.” She actually teared up as she looked over at me.

  “Oh my God. Why are you getting all emotional? You don’t even know if…” My words floundered as a sense of confused panic scurried through me. I felt buffeted by my emotions, which were all but flying loose as a leaf scuttles and spins in the wind. I was used to feeling calm and in control, and I couldn’t find the center to hold onto when it came to Ethan.

  She threw a glare at me. “I might’ve been stupid enough to have an affair I didn’t know I was having, but aside from that fiasco, it’s fair to say I’ve had more experience with men than you. Trust me, guys don’t send texts like this if they don’t like you. He’s texting you at least four or five times a day telling you boring shit about his day and asking all about yours. He’s flirting and he keeps asking you to dinner. Why the hell don’t you just go to dinner, instead of making excuses like you’ve been doing?”

  I opened my mouth to reply, but she held her hand up. “Hang on. The reason I’m getting all emotional is because you’re fucking awesome. You’re one of the nicest, smartest women I know. I respect the hell out of you professionally and did long before you hired me. You’re one of the few people from law school who didn’t look down their nose at me for being stupid about everything that went down. Whether you want it or not, you deserve a guy who appreciates you for who you are. I knew when Ethan came in to meet you that first time that he had a thing for you. Maybe he has a rep as a player, but he’s not treating you like that. That’s why I’m emotional. You deserve something other than a great career. I don’t know what might happen with Ethan, but it’s off to a smoking start.”

  She slid my phone back across the desk to me. If I hadn’t caught it, it would’ve fallen to the floor. “Text him back right now and tell him yes to Friday.”

  My jaw went slack as I stared at her. My belly clenched and my pulse shot off again. Anxiety tightened my chest, and I didn’t know what the hell to do. Part of me was elated at everything Jana said, yet I was also terrified. I didn’t like feeling tossed about inside like this, and nothing seemed to help. My boring life seemed so appealing compared to this emotional rollercoaster. I gave myself a shake.

  “Jana, that Friday thing is like a thing. I can’t go to a friends thing with him,” I protested.

  “Why not? It’s less intense than something one on one.”

  I eyed her with my belly doing little flips just thinking about seeing Ethan again. I wanted to say yes. Hell, it’s a miracle I hadn’t said yes to every time he’d asked. It had been four days since I woke up beside him, and he’d reliably asked me to see him in some form every day since. Even though it made me nervous, Jana had a point. Seeing him in a group might be a little less nerve wracking.

  She still had her wide blue eyes pinned to me with a brow arched. I could feel the silent dare.

  “Fine. I’ll say yes to Friday.” I snagged my phone and opened the text.

  “Why wait? See him tonight, so you can screw his brains out once more. You’ll be more relaxed that way,” Jana interjected with a sly grin.

  I had to admit it was tempting. So, so tempting. But I didn’t know how much of Ethan I could handle, especially when I longed to see him again and got wet just thinking about it.

  I glared at her. “Friday. I’m doing Friday.”

  “No, you’re doing Ethan.”

  I threw another paper clip at her and texted Ethan while Jana’s laugh followed her out of my office.

  Ethan’s reply was swift.

  Perfect. I’ll meet you at your place at 6. What about tonight?

  I’m busy.

  I’d never been great at manufactured excuses. I could always be busy because there was always work to do in the evenings, poring over case law and preparing legal documents. So my answer was true, although it left out the fact that my mind was stuck on an endless loop of Ethan when I wasn’t totally focused on something else.

  If you hadn’t just told me you’d have dinner tomorrow, I’d think you were avoiding me.

  Oh, he knew how to get under my skin.

  I am NOT avoiding you!

  Perfect. Then you won’t mind me stopping by your office in a few. On my way up right now. ;)

  Gah! I threw my phone down and then froze. What the hell was wrong with me? I resisted the urge to run and check my appearance in the mirror. It had been a long day, and I knew I probably looked a little worse for the wear. But I would not start acting like an idiot all over a man. While I had a stern little chat with myself, my belly clenched and I got flushed just knowing I’d be seeing Ethan any second now.

  My phone buzzed and I tapped the speaker. It might not be him, so I needed to act normal.

  “Yes?”

  “Ethan Walsh is here to see you,” Jana replied cheerily.

  I could feel the sly joy in her voice. I forced myself to play it cool because I knew he could likely hear me. “Thank you. I have a few minutes free,” I said, keeping my voice level.

  The speaker clicked off and I stood and walked to the windows, restless and about to jump out of my skin. I heard the door open and close with a click, but I forced myself to keep looking out the windows. I didn’t quite know what to do about the effect Ethan had on me. It was beyond ridiculous, and I was starting to feel more than a little foolish. I was used to not noticing men, which was much easier for me. Knowing what I knew of him, I knew he was accustomed to women throwing themselves at him. I didn’t want to be as consumed as I was by my desire for him.

  His footfalls were muted on the carpet, and I felt him come up behind him. My body was drawn like a magnet to his
—I could feel the heat of him before he reached me. I jumped when his hands slid down my hips and he dipped his head to drop kisses along the side of my neck. His touch was like a flash of fire roaring through me.

  “So you’re not avoiding me, luv?”

  Oh. My. God. How the hell was I even supposed to think I could get control of myself when this was how he greeted me? His question was a murmur against my neck, the subtle motion of his lips on my skin sending a prickle of heat down my spine.

  I swallowed, wrestling mightily to get control of my body. It was no use. I melted against him when his arms slipped around my waist, one palm coming to rest just above the apex at my thighs. I could already feel the wetness between my thighs. All I wanted was to feel him inside me again.

  “I must’ve missed your answer,” he murmured before he nipped at my ear, sending a ripple through me.

  Sweet hell. I might as well have given up right then and there. I wanted Ethan so much it made me crazy. I clung to what little control I had and cleared my throat.

  “I’m not avoiding you. I’ve just been…” My voice cracked when he slid a hand up and palmed a breast, lazily drawing his thumb back and forth across my nipple, which was taut and all but begging aloud to be touched. “Busy,” I finally managed on the heels of a gasp.

  I scrambled to get control of my body, but then he slid his other palm down to cup my mound, exerting a subtle pressure over my clit. A little moan escaped, and there was nothing I could’ve done to stop it. “Ethan, you can’t…”

  My words trailed off again. Really, what was I supposed to do? With his lips hot on my neck, his hands teasing me to madness and his hard, hot cock nestled against my bottom, I was pretty much a slave to him whether he knew it or not.

  He lifted his head. “Can’t what?”

  Before I managed to form words to reply—because it wasn’t easy with my brain all but mush—he reached up and deftly slid the pins out holding up my hair.

  “You should wear your hair down more often,” he said, his voice gruff as he sifted his fingers through it and turned me in his arms.