Blindsided: Renegades 7 (The Renegades Series)

by Melody Heck Gatto

  Another yawn hit her, and she was unable to stifle it.

  “Babe, you okay?”

  “Yeah, just tired.”

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  Sam worried about her more than he should. Her multiple sclerosis has been in remission since she was pregnant with Willow. She didn’t know why the disease hadn’t yet returned, but she didn’t question it. Being overly tired was something she was used to with the MS.

  “I’m fine. I think all that cold air yesterday really did a number on me. Plus, shouldn’t I be the one worrying about you?”

  “You’re right. I’m sure it was just from being out too long in that cold. I’ll make you a nice cup of coffee after nap time. Speaking of naps, is our little Willow still asleep?” he asked, with a sexy smirk on his face.

  Trina slid her stretch pants down her legs and peeled off her shirt. She dropped it to the floor with the pants before crawling under the covers. “Yep.”

  She curled in close beside him, running her hand over his warm, muscular chest. Under her touch, he flinched when her fingertips skimmed his ribs and six-pack. When his warm lips pressed to her forehead, she closed her eyes and leaned into his kiss. Wrapping her free arm around his waist, relaxation set in. Trying not to relax too much, her thoughts slowed anyway. His warm body was like a drug, lulling her to sleep. She lay nuzzled against his strong body until she could no longer fight it, and vivid dreams filled her thoughts.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Sam

  After taking a pain pill, Sam was energized. Maybe it was the fact that he was ready for a nap time filled with hanky-panky. But Trina was exhausted. He could see that, with how much she was yawning, so he didn’t complain when she fell asleep. Even if his hard-on was less than enthused. If she was tired, then she needed rest.

  However, with no form of relief, he was left unable to relax. The house was quiet. He could take care of the issue in his pants by himself, or wait until later. Waiting until later sounded much more fun. He was sure Trina would agree.

  Staring at the ceiling and listening to Trina lightly snore, he still had the problem of too much energy. Belle quietly sneaked into their room and rounded the bed towards Sam. Setting her white snout on the mattress by his hand, she stared at him with her crystal blue eyes. Siberian huskies had a look unlike any other dog. Where Toby looked like a teddy bear, Belle looked like a majestic wolf. Her long pointed nose and pointy ears gave her a dramatic appearance.

  “What do you need, Belle girl?” he whispered, and petted her soft husky head. She was such a good girl, calm, sweet and loving. “Mom’s sleeping, you need to be quiet.”

  Belle left his side, trotted to the doorway and sat down, staring at Sam. She did the half-bark-half-growl sounding thing she often did. She was bored. He hadn’t been taking her for walks like he used to since he got injured. He was feeling good right now though.

  Maybe I could take her for a walk? Just a small one, and test out how I’m feeling? Glancing at Trina’s side of the bed, he saw that Toby was curled up and sound asleep. No interest in a walk there.

  Sam grabbed his clothes and sneaked out of the bedroom with Belle in tow. After grabbing a jacket and sunglasses, he slipped Belle’s harness on. The winter air was cool, but just the kind Belle liked, being a Siberian husky.

  Walking didn’t make Sam feel labored or stressed. His head didn’t pound with the added activity, nor did it throb as his heart rate sped up. He might just be getting back to normal. Ready for the ice. Too bad that was up to the team doctors and not him. As they rounded their place for the third time, his heart was pounding, and his breathing had sped up, but his head felt good. No headache, no throbbing, nothing. Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, he took Belle for one more walk around the neighborhood before returning home.

  Walking in the front door, he found Willow watching television. As soon as the front door shut, she jumped up and ran to him, yelling, “Daddy!”

  She hugged Belle before Sam picked her up and gave her a quick squeeze. “Hey, sunshine. Watching TV?”

  Willow nodded before jumping out of his arms and back to the couch. Toby lay at her feet.

  Trina greeted them from the kitchen. “Hey! Where did you two disappear to?”

  “We went for a little walk.” Sam hung up the harness and his jacket. Pushing the sunglasses to the top of his head, he followed the panting husky into the kitchen. Belle’s tongue hung out of her mouth, and she went directly for her water bowl. Sam made a beeline for Trina. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her close, meeting her lips with his.

  She pulled back enough to look at his face. Her eyes went to the sunglasses on his head and then she ran her knuckle over his cheek. “Oh yeah? A little walk?”

  Not letting her pull away, Sam felt his hard-on returning. “Yeah. Four times around the block. Felt good to exert myself a bit, since I didn’t get to do that during nap time.” Adjusting himself against her to make sure she felt his growing boner, he smirked. “I plan on rectifying that later, by the way.” He placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

  “Sounds like a plan to me. And thanks for letting me sleep, by the way. I don’t know what came over me. I knew I was drained, but I guess I didn’t realize how much.”

  “You were tired, babe, no big deal. We’ll make up for it later.” Kissing her one more time before letting her go, he left his hand on her ass as she turned away. “I promise that.”

  “But you feel okay after walking Belle?”

  “Absolutely. Maybe I’ll take her again tomorrow. We might even add a few laps.”

  Trina smiled and nodded, although her eyes weren’t showing the excitement that he felt or had hoped to see. But her support never wavered. He hoped pushing to get back onto the ice wasn’t also pushing her away.

  She looked away and fiddled with something he couldn’t see. “Yeah, sounds great.”

  Sam was thankful that Willow’s bed time came quickly. He couldn’t stop thinking about the promise of fun he’d made to Trina, which meant he’d been dealing with a half-chubby the rest of the afternoon and all through dinner. Sam offered to put Willow to bed while Trina relaxed in front of the television with a glass of wine. He read Willow her favorite book and sang her a bedtime song. She was asleep before he finished the first verse of the song.

  Stopping off in their room, he changed into comfortable sleep pants. Softly, he hurried down to the living room, his bare feet not making a sound on the steps.

  Trina’s wine glass was empty. She turned to him with a smile when he tried to sneak up on her.

  “She’s asleep,” he whispered to her, and kissed her cheek.

  “Oh, good. Early to bed for me, then?” Sarcasm dripped off of her words as she stood up. She turned off the television and looked towards the steps, adding a fake yawn and stretch.

  “Is that how you want to play it? Huh?”

  Trina appeared to be holding back a giggle as he rushed towards her and grabbed her from behind. “We have very limited time left before I get back to the daily grind. I plan on taking advantage of every second of it.”

  She wiggled away and took off up the stairs. Quietly, she laughed. “You’ll have to catch me first.”

  Chasing her up to the bedroom just made him hornier. Catching up with her right inside their bedroom, he grabbed her wrist and softly shut the door, pushing her against it. Their faces inches apart, her breathing was hard and fast, matching his heart beat.

  Fiercely he ravished her lips, tugging at her shirt, trying to get it over her head. It didn’t help that they were locked at the lips. He pulled away just long enough to dispose of her shirt. And without issue, she ripped off his.

  Without his lips leaving hers, he kicked off his lounge pants. The sole purpose of changing into them—they were easy to slide off. Hers weren’t as accommodating. He tugged at them, but it required him to stop kissing her in order to get them off. After a bit of a hopeless struggle, Trina pulled them off herself.


  He pulled her hips into his, and with the same swift movement, grabbed the backs of her thighs and hiked her up onto his waist. Sam wasted no time getting inside her, filling her fully. The bed was only feet away, but it was still too far. After a long afternoon of waiting and longing, he needed her and needed her now.

  Not hearing any complaints from his wife, he used his weight to push her against the door while rocking hard into her.

  Trina gasped breathlessly. “I love when… you follow… through… with your… promises.” Her chest heaved as he bounced her up and down on his hips.

  “I always do.” Sam grunted.

  The sight of her heavy breathing and sound of her animalistic noises had him hard and ready to explode. But he wasn’t done with her yet. Maybe he was old-fashioned, but he needed to satisfy her before he gave in to his own pleasure.

  Trina clawed at his shoulders, trying to hang on without much luck. He had no intention of easing up until she was fully sated.

  Sam woke at three o’clock in the morning. The bright red numbers burned his eyes. His head throbbed and his eyes stung. If this was the backlash from his walk with Belle the previous afternoon, then getting back out onto the ice was going to be a bitch.

  The silence of the house made the screaming inside his head echo loudly, as invisible daggers splintered through his brain. He didn’t want to take a pill. He’d been doing so well. He was getting back to normal. Taking in a heavy breath, he closed his eyes and then released it slowly, willing the pain and agony to leave his body as well.

  It didn’t. In fact, it only grew worse.

  Not being able to take it any longer, he grabbed the prescription bottle. Fighting the need to take a pain pill was so much harder than he thought it would be. He just wanted the agony to stop.

  He looked at Trina. She was sound asleep. Peaceful. Beautiful. I should be more of a man than this. Taking unauthorized pills for the pain is a bitch’s way out. Stopping the pills would be better for his family, but taking them protected them from having to deal with his being sick and hurting.

  He had lasted more than half the day without one, dealt with lots of sunlight, fresh air, exertion and hadn’t even needed a migraine pill. But now the pain was deafening, and deep down he knew he didn’t have a choice.

  Is this what I’ll feel like if I stop taking these? Intense pain daily was a scary scenario. Right now, with this level of pain, he was unable to function. If this was his body’s reaction to the hit he’d taken, if this was how he’d feel normally without the security net of the pain pills, he wouldn’t be on the ice, he wouldn’t be playing forts or sledding with his daughter, and he most certainly wouldn’t be making love to his wife. That was a pain-filled prison he didn’t want. Pain-free was what was best currently for him and his family.

  Unconvinced he could handle it, he just wanted the hurt to stop. Just one more. He popped a pain pill.

  Looking in the bottle, he realized he was getting low on pills. He was going to need a refill soon. More than likely, they’d do a physical exam before letting him on the ice, right? Would the pills be an issue? He didn’t know the answer to that, and thinking about it made his head hurt worse.

  Sam lay back, closing his eyes. Worrying wouldn’t help him at this moment. It was the middle of the night, and he just wanted the pain to go away.

  It was as if he could feel the medicine working. A wave of numbness wove its way through his body. The pain quickly subsided, along with his worry, and only then was he able to sleep through the rest of the night.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Trina

  The coffee shop was busy, but it was nice to be out of the house with the girls. It wasn’t something Trina did often since her daughter was born, but every once in a while, it was good to get away with friends. Sam was at home with Willow; he took any chance he could get for Daddy-daughter time, which gave Trina some time to herself.

  “How is Sam doing?” Kat asked, before taking a sip of her coffee.

  “He’s doing much better, I think. He hasn’t been using the migraine meds too often, and he has been taking Belle for her regular walks again. Today was his first day back at the gym for a light workout. And he talked about taking Willow out to play in the snow while I was gone.” How her daughter loved the cold and snow so much was beyond her. What Trina wouldn’t give for a nice sunny beach day.

  “So, no headaches?” Gia asked. Her voice showed concern, while her actions had her focusing on a scone.

  “No. He hasn’t sat down to watch television, so maybe that bothers him, but he’s been out in the snow with no problem. I would think the sun glare outside would’ve caused him issues. Or if it does, he refuses to let me know. He was very excited to get back to the arena, so I hope he’s okay.”

  “It’s only been a week, but it feels like longer,” Gia said. “Pat says the practices just aren’t the same without him. The team misses him.”

  “I’m sure he was happy to get back into somewhat of a normal routine today. I mean, it wasn’t on-ice, but at least he got back to the arena. Sometimes that’s all they need to kick recovery into high gear,” Kat suggested.

  “Yeah. He was stoked to get back into it.” Trina laughed to herself at the thought of how he danced around like a little kid when he found out he was going in to work with the trainer. “I’m sure if he can, he’ll convince them to let him play soon. You know how he is.”

  “Tell me about it. Aren’t they all like that, though?” Gia picked at her Danish. “They are little boys in a grown man’s body.”

  Kat snickered, and nodded in agreement.

  They were absolutely right. Trina knew her husband couldn’t wait to get back out there with the boys, but her heart ached for what she would miss when he wasn’t home all the time anymore. This was a rare occasion when he shouldn’t be home, but he was, and it was nice. She was probably enjoying it way more than she should be.

  “Ladies, I need some advice. I know what our jobs are as wives, but I’ve really enjoyed having him home. I miss that during the season. Am I a bad person for thinking that way? I feel like a bad person.” Guilt washed over her. She was becoming clingy. She prided herself on never being clingy.

  “Tri, don’t worry about it. Seriously. More times than not, I wish Pat was home with me. It’s worse for me, because I don’t have a little one to run after.” Gia looked at Kat and chuckled. “Which is why I spend so much time over at my sister’s house, watching her run around after my nephew!”

  Kat rolled her eyes in humor. “What G is trying to say is that you’re not wrong for feeling like that. It’s not easy to do what we do as wives. If it was easy, everyone would do it.”

  Kat was right; it wasn’t meant to be easy, and no one had ever said it would be. Trina hadn’t gone into this thinking it would be. She knew better. Her job was taking care of her family. I love Sam, and that’s what matters. That’s all that matters.

  Walking into her house, Trina heard laughing and the sounds of fun. A twinge of sadness ran though her for missing out on it. This was what she’d been missing while she was out feeling sorry for herself. It was a wonderful sound. Trina was thankful to have the house filled with that all the time.

  “Mummy!” Willow screeched, and her face lit up when she saw her mommy.

  “Hey, little one!” Trina looked around the living room, at the toys scattered everywhere. The dogs were lying in the middle of the mess. Both of her loves had big smiles on their faces. And she was jealous that she’d missed all the fun. “Looks like you two had lots of fun while I was gone.”

  “Oh yeah. We had fun, didn’t we, sunshine?” Sam picked up Willow and tossed her around before dropping her back onto the couch.

  Willow jumped up and down on the couch cushions with excitement, her hands in the air. “Mummy’s home!”

  Sam flinched subtly at the screeching. It wasn’t unusual, because her piercing squeals could make anyone flinch. The dogs jumped around, following Willow’s lead. Toby ran c
ircles around Trina’s legs, while Belle danced around Sam. She only caused issue when she hopped on her hind legs and jumped at him with a high-pitched bark.

  “Belle! No!” Sam snapped, and tapped the husky on her nose. “Down!” he instructed.

  Belle immediately listened to her owner and sat in front of him, her attention on him, waiting for his next command.

  “That’s a girl.” He petted her head, but the irritated expression on his face had not changed.

  The situation was unusual for Sam, because he was more likely to let her leap into his arms and cuddle with him when she was excited than he was to scold her. A worrisome feeling ran through Trina. Maybe he wasn’t healing as well as she thought he was. Maybe he was just tired, or in a bad mood. Maybe she had missed an important telltale sign.

  Before she could stop herself from saying it, she asked, “You okay, babe?”

  Sam turned to her, his eyes hard. “I’m fine,” he snapped. His cold glare and his harsh tone cut her down like never before. Surprised, Trina took a step back, and Sam’s expression softened immediately. He cleared his throat and his shook his head briefly before he quickly added, in a much less harsh tone, “I mean, yeah, I’m good. Nothing to worry about, babe. I didn’t mean to snap at you; I’m just tired. I mean, I’ve been building forts and Legos all morning.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Trina pulled Willow off the couch and into her arms for a big hug. Not sure what to make of Sam’s outburst, she put all her focus on Willow for the moment. “Hey baby girl, did you wear Daddy out this morning?”

  Willow nodded and giggled. She wiggled out of Trina’s arms and jumped around. “Daddy? More Legos!”

  “Sure. Whatever you say, sunshine.” Sam’s voice was calm and kind as he followed Willow.

  Unconvinced that she imagined Sam’s prickly attitude, Trina kept a closer eye on Sam for the rest of the day. Little things niggled away at her gut. Unusual ways he was acting, and general things that could be categorized as weird for him. He might’ve just been tired from working his way back to playing. But it didn’t make her feel any better.