SPIKED (A Sports Romance)

by Harper James

  “Oh god,” he said, his mouth turning desperate against my neck, biting and sucking and swirling, his mouth and his rhythm growing faster, more aggressive.

  I raked my fingers across his back as a wave of heat pulsed and grew. My cries got louder, my moans growing desperate.

  “I’m going to come,” he said, his hips bucking wildly against me as one hand buried into my hair, twisting around his fist.

  I found my wave as he bucked hard against me. His long, thick cock throbbed inside me just as I gasped out, my own pleasure washing over me.

  It lasted for what seemed like an eternity, a throbbing, crashing pleasure as he collapsed on me, sweaty and hot.

  Silence won out, the only sounds that of my pulse throbbing in my ears, and his steady, quiet breathing. I closed my eyes, wanting to sink into the carpet, so blissful I could almost fall asleep. I wasn’t sure how long we lay like that, me so out of focus I’d practically forgotten my own name.

  Finally, he shifted, his cock slipping out of me. And like that I was awake again, mourning the loss of him.

  “My god that was good,” he murmured against my neck, kissing me softly.

  “Mmhmmm,” I said, still too relaxed to want to move.

  He lay against me, wrapping me up against him as he reached for a blanket behind him, half-slung across the couch. He slid it over my body, wrapping me up against him.

  “We’re going to need to move, eventually,” he said, but his voice was so relaxed, so totally at peace, I didn’t even shift an inch.

  I was laying on my back, with his leg slung over mine. His arm crossed my body, and his still erect cock pressed into my hip.

  “We’ll move after round two,” I finally said.

  His cock throbbed against me in response.

  5

  Dawn light filtered through the trees outside of Landon’s enormous bedroom window, and I burrowed further into the red silk sheets. It couldn’t be dawn. Not yet.

  Landon’s arm lay heavy across my waist, snaking upward so his hand brushed one breast. I tried to ignore the prick of arousal as I realized it, tried not to squirm my ass up against him.

  His breath was hot on my neck, his skin warm against my backside. We hadn’t dressed last night. I’m not even sure when we fell asleep. At some point we’d scooped our clothing off the floor and ascended to the second floor. I’d wrapped a soft cashmere blanket around my shoulders and it had trailed after me like a royal robe.

  Something jingled in the background, and it took me several long moments to realize it was his phone, on the nightstand. His ring tone was surprisingly elegant, something classical.

  He groaned softly under his breath, and then turned away from me, and I mourned the loss of his warmth immediately.

  His fingers slid across his nightstand, and then his phone was in his hand, pressed up against his ear.

  “Yes?”

  His voice was crisp, clear, nothing like the man of last night. For a moment, I could picture him in a boardroom commanding a dozen men to do his bidding.

  “I’ll be there in twenty.”

  He slid out of bed, bending forward to reach for something on the ground. The muscles in his back rippled, and I wanted to reach out and touch him again, ask him to come back to me.

  But he wasn’t the same now. He was the Landon I didn’t know. He stood, his ass bare, so damn perfect. I couldn’t help but stare until he slid his boxers up to his hips. He walked to the adjacent bathroom when I caught his eye and he hesitated, realizing I was awake.

  “Good morning,” he said, walking back to the bed. He leaned over, kneeling on the edge of the mattress as he kissed me on the cheek. It was too sweet and soft compared to the possessive man I’d gone to bed with the night before.

  I wanted to throw the blankets over my head.

  “Have to go so soon?” I asked, as he turned away again.

  “Yes. I’m needed at Prestige. Help yourself to breakfast.”

  He stepped away. And left me hollowed out inside, realizing how easy it was—how practiced it seemed—for him to just leave me there in his bed.

  “Wait. How am I supposed to get home?”

  “Take one of my other cars. The keys are hanging outside the garage door, down the hall from the kitchen. I’ll send my assistant to pick it up from you later at the mall. She can bring you some of the new supplies for the stand around noon.”

  I couldn’t say anything else before he disappeared into his bathroom, and the shower clicked on.

  Somehow, everything had changed between us.

  The man who’d climbed inside me, enveloped me, made me feel safer and more loved than anything I could remember—that man was gone. And left in his place was this new man, hell-bent on world domination and seeming to have forgotten that last night had ever happened.

  It reminded me of how quickly Landon could change. Three years ago we’d shared a similar, though less physically intimate night together—and then he’d left me without so much as a phone call, an explanation.

  He’d left me with nothing.

  Why did I think last night would have changed anything? He was getting ready to kick me out of his life for the second time.

  My stomach contracted painfully.

  The thought of what had happened three years ago was enough to propel me to my feet. I found my frayed jean shorts, slipping them on quickly. I wasn’t sure where my destroyed set of panties were. Hopefully not with a pile of others, like some kind of trophy.

  I had a sinking feeling that he’d done this kind of thing a time or two. Of course I knew that, and yet I’d stupidly and conveniently forgotten his womanizing tendencies.

  Because I wanted him, and that was more important to me than my self-respect, apparently.

  I quickly pulled on my bra, then my shirt.

  I was leaving. Now. I wasn’t going to use one of his cars or do anything else to further lower myself. He couldn’t even be bothered to drive me himself. Landon was dumping me already?

  Well, I would beat him to the punch this time.

  I was out of the bedroom and heading out of his house before the shower had even stopped running.

  I caught a cab back to the mall to get my car, and then I remembered that I’d forgotten to properly lock up the kiosk. Even though I wasn’t intending to continue working for Landon anymore, I knew that I should still make sure the kiosk was properly locked up before leaving it for the day.

  However, I wasn’t going to unload or organize any of the materials that had been shipped over for the new center.

  If Landon wanted this crap organized, he could do it himself. And hopefully be missing me the whole time, although I knew that would never happen.

  He hadn’t missed me these last three years, I doubt he’d miss me after one misspent night together.

  As I was finishing locking up the kiosk and getting ready to get into my own car and drive home, someone called my name.

  “Taryn?” The voice came from behind me, and I turned around to find a familiar face… but one that didn’t belong in the mall.

  “Professor Valdez,” I said, surprise evident. “If you’re looking for some St. Johns’ Wart, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”

  Professor Valdez didn’t smile at my lame attempt at a joke.

  My cheeks warmed, and I tried not to cringe. I couldn’t ignore the way he looked at me, probably thinking, my, how far you’ve fallen.

  Professor Valdez had been my favorite teacher. Inspiring, passionate, and smarter than anyone I’d ever met. He may have been ruthless with his homework, but I had always loved working hard and seeing that he appreciated my efforts.

  The professor gave me a probing look. “When your father said I’d find you here, I thought he might’ve been mistaken.”

  I swallowed. He hadn’t meant it as an insult, but it wormed its way under my skin just the same. “Well, here I am.”

  “We’ve missed you in class,” he said, twisting a key-laden ring in his hands.
Professor Valdez oversaw the entire chemistry department at the University of Washington. Those keys might as well have been to the pearly white gates, for all they meant to me. They were for every lab I’d ever been in. Every classroom that had sparked my passions. “I thought you’d be back by now,” he added, his voice taking on a new note of concern.

  I nodded, pursing my lips as I struggled to maintain eye contact. “I thought so too.”

  “And?”

  I stared down at the ground, at the swirls in the hardwood. “I don’t know. It was like once I got out of the swing of things, I just… didn’t know how to go back. It felt like I’d missed so much and was so behind.”

  “It’s not too late,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft, compassionate. He ruled his classroom with an iron fist, his expectations higher than any teacher I’d ever worked with. And yet there he was, at the mall, encouraging me to return despite my dropping the ball.

  I cleared my throat, feeling like my face was about to burst into flames. This was almost worse than Landon seeing me there. “I’m hoping to return this fall.”

  “Does that mean you don’t have any plans for this summer?”

  Now that I was quitting this job, I certainly didn’t. I shrugged, feeling ashamed in so many ways, I didn’t even know how to respond. I was lost and my professor knew it all too well. I could see it in his eyes.

  He went on. “The thing is, Miss James, the internship is open.”

  I froze. “The biotech internship? But the applications were due months ago. Last year I turned mine in around February.”

  He tilted his head. “Normally you’d be correct. Unfortunately, another student was awarded the position… but he just broke his femur in a car accident. They need someone else immediately and you’re top of the list.”

  I shook my head, backing up and bumping into the cart. “Surely there are active students who qualify.”

  “None who completed biochemistry with a 4.0, and passed the screening process.” His grin widened as he presented me with my dreams on a silver platter.

  My heart soared, racing with possibilities. “But I didn’t even apply.”

  “You did last year. And even though you withdrew your application when you left school, they’d already conducted the initial screening. You were going to be selected, but you walked away before knowing it.”

  I couldn’t decide if this news broke my heart or made me feel lighter than air. I would’ve been awarded one of those most competitive internships in the country. Only one student from each state was given the chance to participate. Professor Valdez prided himself on the fact that that student would come from UW.

  From his classrooms.

  A lump formed in my throat, choking me with emotion. Pride and regret warred together in my stomach. “You sure there’s no one else available to take the spot?”

  Someone who deserves it more? I nearly added.

  “Of those who qualify, no. If you don’t take it, we won’t have a representative on the team from UW.”

  “Oh,” I said, my head spinning. How had everything changed in twenty-four hours? “When does it start?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Yes,” he said, amusement sparking as he flicked a glance at the cart. “Unless you have a better opportunity occupying your time.”

  I blushed. “But isn’t the internship in Dallas?”

  He nodded. “Of course, it’s out of town and lasts six weeks, but the opportunity is priceless for someone who wants to do serious work in this industry.”

  “It’s just very sudden. I didn’t see this coming.”

  Thoughts barreled through at a mile a minute. I’d wanted this internship a year ago. Desperately. A week before the selection was announced, my mother took a turn for the worse, and I had to withdraw.

  And now it had just fallen into my lap. A second chance. Mine for the taking.

  I pursed my lips, sliding them back and forth as I considered it. “I’m not sure I’m ready,” I said, thinking not just of school—but of leaving my father, my brother…and Landon.

  I pushed him out of my mind. Landon had already made his decision—that was clear enough in how he’d treated me this morning.

  “Of course you’re ready,” my professor insisted. “You were my most promising student. Think of it as a way to get back into the swing of things. You’ll be immersed in science for six weeks, and then come back and finish your junior year.”

  It sounded good.

  Really, really good.

  But somehow, despite all of it, my heart felt like it was breaking as I responded.

  “Okay,” I said, hesitantly. “Yes. Let’s do it.”

  He beamed. “This will be good for you.” He started to turn away and then paused, looking back at me. “Don’t disappoint me.”

  And then he spun on the heel of his polished leather shoes, leaving me with my empty kiosk.

  Telling Matt and my father about the internship had been both easier and more difficult than I’d anticipated.

  Easier because both of them seemed genuinely happy for me—especially my father. Matt’s enthusiasm was muted, but then again, that was Matt in a nutshell. At least, that was how Matt seemed to be lately. Muted. Distracted.

  But both of them understood the tremendous opportunity this internship offered me, and how I couldn’t afford to pass up any more chances.

  “You’ve given up enough for this family, and for me,” my father had whispered in my ear as he held me tightly.

  The hard part came immediately afterwards, as I lay in my bedroom, alone, crying. I was crying for everything that had happened these last three years.

  Losing Landon.

  Losing Mom.

  Losing my shot at college and meaningful work and the sense that I could make a new life for myself.

  Seeing my father crumble as our family struggled to survive the fallout of my mother’s illness and passing.

  It all seemed to hit me in a wave, a crushing wave of grief. Especially now that I was going away to Dallas, which meant I would be losing Landon all over again.

  I knew that he didn’t care as much as I did. But still, the night we’d spent together had been like nothing I’d ever imagined. And it had ended so quickly.

  After I was all cried out, my sadness turned slowly to rage.

  Rage at Landon for leaving so abruptly those three years ago. It was almost as if all of the bad things that happened to our family came as a direct result of his leaving. As if he’d somehow cursed us with his absence.

  Rage at him for being so happy and complete in his new life.

  Fury that he seemed willing to drop me all over again, dismissing me that morning like I was some escort whose services had been rendered.

  The rage and resentment I felt toward Landon was like a protective suit of armor, and I almost welcomed it. Anger was easier than feeling desperately sad and lonely without him.

  Suddenly, lights washed across my bedroom wall—headlights to be more precise.

  I got out of bed and went to the window and that’s when I saw his car sitting there, idling, waiting.

  Landon was at my house in the middle of the night. But why?

  Did Matt tell him about the internship? Did he know I was leaving and he’d come to say goodbye?

  I left my bedroom and went to the front door, heart pounding hard in my chest. I was shaking with barely suppressed anger, but also excitement. Relieved that I would see him one last time before I left town tomorrow.

  When I swung the front door open and stepped outside, he was already getting out of his car.

  “What are you doing?” I said, my voice a half-whisper. “It’s late. Everyone’s asleep.”

  “I needed to see you,” he said, his voice sending chills up my spine.

  “Okay, well—you’ve seen me,” I said, folding my arms and giving a shrug.

  “Taryn,” he said, coming closer. His voice sounded strained.
/>   “What?”

  “Let’s not do this,” he replied.

  “Do what?” I asked innocently.

  “Let’s not pretend that what happened last night was nothing.”

  I laughed. “That’s your area of expertise, Landon. Pretending like nothing happened and nothing matters.”

  “You didn’t even wait for me this morning,” he said. As he drew closer, I could see the whites of his eyes, and his pupils, black as he stared at me. “I told you to take my car. But you just left.”

  “I needed to go.” I sighed. “And now I need to go inside and get some sleep, Landon. I have a lot to do tomorrow.”

  He grabbed my wrist before I could turn away. “What do you have to do tomorrow?” he asked. “You work for me. Maybe I’ll give you tomorrow off.”

  That’s when I realized that Landon didn’t know.

  He had no idea that I was leaving, that it was over. He still thought he was the one holding all the cards, the one with all of the power over me.

  “Fine,” I said. “Either way, I’m going to bed now.”

  “I’ll come with you,” he said, his voice a throaty growl.

  My nipples stiffened and I realized that I actually wanted him to do it. Wanted him to come to bed with me, there and then. One last time before I left him for good.

  It seemed somehow fitting that I would do to Landon exactly what he’d done to me three years ago. Spend the night together and then leave town the next day without so much as a wave goodbye.

  “Okay,” I said. I went inside and Landon followed quietly behind me.

  His hands trailed to my hips as we walked over the creaky floorboards, past Matt’s bedroom and finally to my own room. I went inside and he followed, before closing the door behind us.

  Now it was just him and me, alone in my bedroom together.

  “Kind of like old times,” he said softly, raising an eyebrow.

  I didn’t smile at his joke.

  Without breaking his gaze, I reached down, unbuttoning my t-shirt and slipping it off my shoulders. He didn’t move, as if he was rooted to the spot. The cool air of the room blew over me, causing goosebumps.