The End Zone: SPORTS ROMANCE (Contemporary Sport Bad Boy Alpha Male American Football Romance) (New Adult Second Chance Women’s Fiction Romance Short Stories)

by Jenna Payne

  “I hate to do this, Miss Cox,” Mr. Cross said, leaning over and looking straight into her eyes. “I really don’t want to put any student at risk. But at this point, we have no choice but to deploy some of our students to help out in this mission. It could very well be our last chance at destroying those evil aliens, protecting the earth, and finally achieving peace and order in the universe.”

  “I’ll do it, sir,” Carrie immediately responded with intense determination. “It has always been my dream to fight those Sphunkons. I will do whatever it takes to defeat them.”

  “I admire your willpower and dedication,” he answered slowly, seemingly choosing his words carefully. “But I believe you can do a better job if you keep your emotions in check. Don’t make it too personal because your pain might become a weakness instead of your strength. Remember that this is a life and death mission, Miss Cox. So many lives are at stake, not just yours.”

  “I understand,” she automatically responded. But deep inside, she knew she would still do it for her father. She would complete the mission he had started.

  “Good. Since you don’t have prior experience in outer space except for the few times we took our classes there, each student will be partnered with a veteran space fighter. You’re quite fortunate because in your case, you will have the chance to be mentored by an amazing fighter and to actually work side-by-side with him.”

  Carrie gulped as she anticipated what was coming next.

  “Your partner is Mike Gomez,” he continued, saying the name she knew he would. “He was the one who chose you, actually.”

  Now that was a piece of information Carrie wasn’t prepared for. “He did?” she squeaked in astonishment.

  “Yes,” Mr. Cross confirmed with a smile. “During his stay here, he’s had nothing else to say about you but praises. He said you were even more prepared for battle than the other new and not-so-new space fighters in the army.”

  “But he’d been so mean…” Carrie couldn’t help muttering.

  Mr. Cross chuckled. “That’s Mike for you, always seeming mean and tough. But maybe he just wanted to keep pushing you. He saw your potential from the very beginning.”

  Carrie’s heart fluttered as visions of their encounters came back to her. She suddenly realized how much she’d been waiting to hear something like this. Of course it had not come from Mike himself, but it was good enough.

  “He’s really a good guy, you know,” Mr. Cross then said. “My nephew Lance was one of his teammates in the army. Both of them were under your father’s tutelage for many years. Everything they know now, they learned from him. And he always told me that because Mike had grown up an orphan, he was truly grateful for how your dad Carson had treated him like a real son of his.”

  Carrie’s heart began to constrict. She could not believe what she was hearing.

  “I’m telling you this because I want you to understand him,” Mr. Cross said truthfully. “Sometimes he may confuse you. He can be difficult and may appear cruel. But he is a good man. Your father spoke highly of him.”

  A tear rolled down Carrie’s cheek, which she quickly brushed away with the back of her hand. “Thank you, Mr. Cross.”

  Mr. Cross gave her a gentle smile. “Expect another meeting tonight with the other chosen students. I will brief you before the representative from the military comes tomorrow to pick you all up. Good day, Miss Cox.”

  *****

  Within 24 hours, Carrie and about ten other students had been oriented on what to expect and what to accomplish, and then deployed to the outer space headquarters. As Carrie entered the enormous structure floating in the cosmos, her nervousness and excitement were amplified. A legion of space fighters in their classic blue uniform was busy with their own tasks.

  Carrie looked down at the exact same uniform she’d been asked earlier to put on. Fingering the badge attached to her space suit’s belt, her heart surged with pride and joy. This was a dream come true. “I can’t believe it, Dad,” she whispered, thinking of her courageous, heroic father. “I’m finally here. Let’s do this.”

  In a short while, she found herself standing in front of a small fighter ship inside a glass-enclosed podium. She suddenly felt self-conscious as she saw her former academy instructor approaching. He had an austere expression on his face as usual, but his gray eyes seemed milder today.

  As he came closer, Carrie saw how handsome and regal he looked in his uniform. The muscles in his arms were still evident through the thick material of the suit, reminding her of how he’d held her in his arms. His reddish lips were set in a grim line, but still they elicited the beautiful memory of his kisses that she would never, ever forget.

  “Cox,” he greeted gruffly, nodding at her.

  She looked up into his eyes, her heart pounding wildly. She was afraid her eyes might give away how she truly felt about him. She’d been denying it even to herself. But now that they were inches apart, there was no refuting it anymore. She was attracted to him – big time.

  “Gomez,” she greeted back, calling him by his last name too, which obviously surprised him. Despite her feelings, she wanted to show him that she was no longer his student now but his equal. Was that a smile she saw coming onto his lips?

  “It’s time to go,” he told her, leading the way into the fighter ship. A pilot was positioned in the cockpit. Mike introduced her to him before closing the cockpit door, leaving the two of them all alone. As they sat strapped to separate seats before takeoff, he briefed her on how they were supposed to jump off the ship and sneak into the Sphunkons’ main ship while it was under attack.

  A few minutes later, they were floating in outer space smoothly and quietly. They took off their seat straps and stood facing one another. The ship had a revolutionary gravity-inducing device that enabled them to stay grounded while inside.

  Mike was about to turn his back when Carrie grabbed his arm. The touch immediately made her quiver with exhilarating desire. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

  “About what?” he wanted to know.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that you were… you were like… a son to my dad?” she managed to utter. Mixed emotions threatened to squeeze out her tears but she maintained her composure. “Were you there when he died?”

  At first, she thought he would not answer. Then slowly he met her gaze and nodded. “I’m sorry for your loss, Carrie. If it means anything, even though he did not get to spend as much time with you as he would have wanted, you meant everything to him. He always talked about finishing the mission so that he could retire already and just be with you.”

  She could not hold back her tears any longer. And when she let the first few drops come out, they would not stop. She sobbed openly, leaning against a nearby wall and just letting it all out.

  Mike came forward then and wrapped her in his arms. She embraced him back and cried on his shoulder until there were no more tears left to release. When she quieted down, he began to speak. “Carrie… the way he talked about you every day, I felt as if I knew you already even though we had never met. He showed me all your pictures as you were growing up from high school until you got into the prestigious academy. He was so proud of you…”

  “I miss him so much,” Carrie whispered.

  “In a sense, I can understand how you must be feeling,” he said, his fingers stroking her hair tenderly. “I never had the chance to get to know my biological parents. I grew up in an orphanage and never came to know a real parent… until your father came into my life. He became the dad I never had. And losing him... was… very painful.”

  Carrie embraced him tighter. There was an invisible bond that had formed between them right then and there. She felt so strongly attached to him in many ways. Pulling back a bit to face him, she said, “Thank you, Mike. Thank you for being a good son to him.”

  “That day he died…” he choked. “I couldn’t save him, Carrie. Before he took his last breath, he told me to find you, to take care of you even in my own l
ittle way…”

  Carrie inhaled. “It was you,” she breathed. “It was you all along.”

  Mike nodded, tucking a strand of her straight black hair behind her ear. “I meant to introduce myself so that I could better look after you like a big brother… But I thought that maybe, it was best to keep my distance so you could mourn in peace and then move on with your life without having a constant reminder of the painful loss.”

  Carrie thought of the many times she had received meaningful gifts and tokens during the times when she was most sad and lonely as well as when she was celebrating small successes. She remembered several occasions when she had almost gotten into trouble or was almost put in danger. But somehow she was always saved.

  “Were you… at the club… because you had followed me?” she then asked as the thought occurred to her.

  “Yes.” He took her hands in his and squeezed them expressively. “I’m so sorry for treating you badly in class, Carrie. I didn’t realize I was making an extra effort to not get attached to you and to not let you find out. And to be honest, I’m really not good at expressing how much I care about someone.”

  Warmth spread across Carrie’s body as she tried to digest what he was trying to say. “That night at the club…” she started.

  He suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry I took advantage of you while you were tipsy. I, uh, got carried away. And I felt so guilty afterwards, which is why I left the campus immediately.”

  “Oh,” Carrie said, understanding dawning on her. “What I was going to say was… I think we should pick up where we left off…” Her eyes flickered with desire.

  Mike looked confused for a moment. Then his manly yearning took over, making him literally sweep her off her feet and press her against the wall. He kissed her hungrily, to which she responded eagerly. Their tongues twisted in a harmonious dance of fire while their bodies heated up intensely.

  As they kissed, their hands groped each other’s body. Together they stumbled toward one of the two small sleeping quarters. Mike closed the door behind them, then turned Carrie to unzip her suit. The entire bodysuit fell to the floor, leaving her stark naked. His eyes voraciously swept down her back to her buttocks, which he began to caress with one hand while his other hand snaked onto the front of her body and started to fondle her breasts.

  In a swift motion, he then took off his own suit, stepped out from the material lying on the floor and pressed his growing stiffness on the top of Carrie’s behind. She was so aroused that she turned around at once and began kissing his neck. Her tongue and lips playfully trailed down the side of his neck toward his collarbone and down to his huge chest. He let her kiss him for a while, his hands stroking her hair and her bare back. She went down on her knees then and let her tongue twist around the little curly hairs in between his legs before she started tracing the tip of his hardness with her frisky little tongue.

  Mike moaned in pleasure and longing, prodding Carrie further. She circled the tip repeatedly until he could no longer take it. He placed his hands on her head and gently pushed her closer. She willingly opened her mouth and took him inside, pleasuring him repeatedly.

  She didn’t know how many minutes had passed when he lifted her up and gently eased her down the bed. He climbed on top of her and slowly teased her wetness with the edge of his rigidity, making her moisture drip down to the sheets as she was further stimulated. All of a sudden, he entered her firmly with a hard shove, which made her utter a short scream. He lifted himself up again and then shoved hard once more, causing streaks of intense sensual pleasure to blaze up in her body. He drove her faster and harder while she let her body take over, the amazing sensations bringing her to a higher state of pleasure. She arched her back instinctively as she finally climaxed with incredible gratification.

  He continued to move up and down, lighter this time, driving her sensitive area to burst into intensified heat and make her tremble more. Finally, he also reached his peak, moaning as he pushed into her one last time.

  She lay on his shoulders, both of them spent but satisfied and blissful.

  *****

  The mission had started and the attack had begun. Carrie and Mike were on the Sphunkons’ main ship.

  All around them, sounds of laser blasts and skirmishes went on raucously as the human space fighters fought the greatest battle of their lives. Carrie quickly crouched down beside her partner Mike as they hid from passing alien scientists inside the Sphunkons’ main ship.

  “Shouldn’t we shoot them?” Carrie hissed.

  Mike shook his head and put a finger to his lips to signal her to keep silent. The footsteps quickly went by. But not long after, they heard a reverberating clash, followed by the resonance of muffled gunshots.

  Carrie sneaked a peek and saw that a few of their teammates had gotten to the aliens who now lay motionless on the shiny deck of the ship.

  Mike grabbed her hand and they shuffled quietly down a long hallway. This part of the ship looked quite empty. Perhaps the aliens had all gone out to combat with the space fighters.

  Finally they ceased in front of a plain metal door. “This is where the Sphunkon leader transmits his orders to the rest of the battalion,” Mike quickly explained. “It’s the control room that we have to blow up. But we might have to kill the leader and his guards first.”

  Carrie’s heart lurched with anxiety. But she nodded resolutely, positioning her weapon in front of her. It was the same weapon that Mike had challenged her with in class, but now she had mastered its use.

  Mike took out a grenade and affixed it to the door before the two of them ran to take cover. The door blew up into pieces in a loud explosion, white and grayish smoke billowing from it and causing Carrie to be blind for a moment.

  About five hideous-looking armored Sphunkons rushed out yelling and charging toward them. Mike and Carrie blasted at them expertly and caused them all to fall down to their deaths. But before they could move forward, another group came out to meet them. They were able to shoot all except for one who pounced at Carrie and tackled her legs. The force drove her down and caused her weapon to topple to the ground about a foot away. She reacted quickly, kicking his monstrous, warped face hard. He screamed in pain and she took the opportunity to break his nose with a solid punch, and then twist his leg around. She scrambled to her feet then and was about to run when she felt his hand on her ankle. Before she could react, though, she saw a laser beam hit his hand and then his torso. Blood splattered all around, some spraying on her spacesuit.

  “Come on,” Mike said, holding her hand. Together they went into the control room and started planting their explosives.

  “Where’s the leader? Did you kill him?” Carrie asked breathlessly.

  “Not yet,” Mike replied. “He doesn’t seem to be here.”

  Carrie was about to finish setting up the explosives on her side of the room when her nose caught a pungent scent and a strong hand suddenly clamped over her mouth. Her scream was muffled, but she reacted quickly, biting the hand with all her might and trying to squirm free from the grasp of her assailant.

  A blow on her head made her stop moving as intense pain shot through her and somehow blinded her momentarily.

  “Stop!” Mike’s voice shouted from the other side.

  Carrie was still conscious, though. She felt and could smell the sticky blood oozing out from her head down the side of her face. Her head hung limply while the huge Sphunkon trapped her arms with his. “Stay where you are or she dies,” he threatened Mike in his croaky voice.

  “Don’t touch her,” Mike warned, gritting his teeth while trying to control himself.

  The Sphunkon leader let out a cruel laugh. Then with his eyes still fixed on Mike, he leaned over and licked Carrie’s cheek. Carrie remained steady despite her disgust, her mind whirring with possibilities and options.

  “I will do whatever I want with her,” the alien said. “And you can’t do anything about it, just as you were not able to save her father.�
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  Carrie could feel her anger surfacing at the mention of her father. Is he the one? Was he her father’s killer?

  “Drop your weapon,” the leader commanded to Mike. “Or I’ll not just break her legs like I did with yours.”

  Mike didn’t have a choice. Slowly he crouched down and dropped his weapon to the ground. He looked as if he was still calculating his moves. One wrong move and he might lose Carrie too.

  “What do you want?” Mike asked.

  The alien chuckled viciously, snorting as he did. “This girl’s got spunk. She’s tough like that Carson Cox, but not tough enough for me… I want her as my queen!” He laughed then, before turning serious again. “If you’re smart, you’ll walk away right now and save your own life. Don’t make the same mistake again trying to save your partner’s ass.”

  Mike stood his ground, not saying anything.

  The Sphunkon leader continued, “Remember how you offered yourself to be imprisoned in exchange for Cox’s freedom? What a stupid decision! You ended up getting tortured repeatedly and losing your human legs in the process. You were lucky enough to have escaped, but I still got to Cox. He was another stupid human, thinking he could outsmart me.”

  Carrie almost cried when she heard that revelation. Her eyes shifted to Mike’s cybernetic legs, imagining the torture he must have endured from the Sphunkons. He had been turned into a cyborg because he had tried to save her dad. The fury that was building up inside her flared up into a strong, raging fire that made her adrenaline rush across her body. In a split second, she stomped on the alien’s foot hard and crushed the little bones on his toes with her renewed strength. At the same time, she maneuvered herself out of his grasp and twisted his arm as she did, causing him to squawk in great agony.

  Mike reacted fast, charging forward with his laser gun and shooting at the alien repeatedly until he fell backward, bringing Carrie down with him. She released him right away and crawled away as Mike angrily shot at him more. The alien’s body shook uncontrollably on the floor and his eyes rolled upward. Blood spurted from all over his body while Mike continued to shoot.