She opened her eyes. “You stayed.” She smiled.
“I did.”
She rolled to the side and I stretched my arms overhead, regaining some of the circulation.
“You didn’t have to. I don’t want to make you do something you don’t want to do.”
“Stop right there.” I pressed a finger to her lips. “I do exactly what I want to do. And I wanted to sleep with you. And I’ll do it again if I want.” I winked at her.
She giggled.
“You realize this is insane, right?”
“How so?” I sat forward, rolling my neck to the right and then the left.
“I have work. You have work. This is the Olympics. Your Olympics.”
“Some have said that.”
She glared at me. “Everyone says it. It’s true. These are your games. You’re going to sweep gold in every one of your events.”
I put a foot on the floor. “Not if I swim like I did yesterday.” I looked around for my pants. “I have to swim this morning.”
I needed to get to the pool. I wasn’t the only one in town anymore. I was surprised Jim hadn’t tried to reach me.
“What was wrong yesterday? Do you have jet lag too? Because that would be understandable, considering how far you had to fly.”
“Jet lag? No. I was worried about a girl.” I flashed her a look.
“A girl?” Her cheeks turned crimson until she realized I was talking about her.
“Are you not feeling well? What time zone did you come from?” I sat back on the bed.
“I flew from Atlanta, which is one hour behind Rio. I think it was the travel week and getting ready for the trip. I just haven’t caught up on my sleep. I can’t shake it.”
“Huh.” I ran a hand over her hip up to her breasts. I hadn’t given them nearly enough attention last night. “You seem to feel okay to me.”
She sighed as I pinched a nipple between my fingers. I lowered my lips to her breasts and pulled the hard bud between my teeth. Fuck, she was so hot.
“I thought you said you had to swim,” she groaned, pulling my hair though her hands as I bit her nipple.
“It can wait.” I pushed her knees wide and settled between her legs.
“But I don’t want you to miss your practice,” she teased.
I was so fucking hard I wasn’t walking out of this hotel room. I rubbed my cock against her clit. Damn, she was already wet.
“Do you want me to fuck you or not?” I stared in her eyes, watching her breath quicken as I pushed slightly inside her and pulled out. I knew it drove her fucking crazy.
She pressed her lips together as her hands lifted over her head. I saw the lust hooded in her pools of blue.
“Fuck me, Blaine.”
I grinned as I thrust inside her tight, warm entrance. I could get lost in this woman. Every sound. Every touch. Every taste of her made me lose my mind. And when I finished fucking her, all I wanted to do was fuck her again. I couldn’t bury myself deep enough. I couldn’t make her come enough. I couldn’t lick or bite or suck her clit enough. Fuck, what had she done to me?
I pumped harder, hearing the sounds in her throat.
“Ohh, Blaine. Ohh, God.”
I knew her body was sore and swollen but she gave me everything she had as many times as I asked. And when I thought we were done, she started over again, stroking me, taking me in her mouth, fucking my dick until I thought I’d gone to heaven.
“Don’t stop fucking me,” she whimpered. “Don’t.”
I moved in and out of her, throwing her legs over my shoulder and shoving a pillow under her ass. Fuck, this angle was intense.
As her tits bounced in front of me, I knew I couldn’t hold off any longer. My balls tensed. My spine was rigid.
“I’m going to come, baby,” I groaned as I slammed into her with another powerful thrust. “You’re mine. Fucking mine.”
I unleashed inside her, pulsing and throbbing until my cock vibrated with aftershocks.
I rolled next to her, trying to catch my breath. “Now I have to go to the pool.”
Her nails scraped over my stomach. “You sure?”
“Yes, love. But I promise I’ll be back.”
She straddled me and took my lips between hers. “Promise?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the answer to me breaking another world record. Of course I promise.”
Her face scrunched into a frown. “So you’re using me for game advantage sex?”
“No, I’m using you for fucking incredible sex.” I slapped her on the ass. “What you do for my game is a bonus.”
She squealed when I rolled her off of me.
“I don’t know that it’s any better,” she taunted.
I reached for my pants. “Yesterday I fucked up in the pool because I fucked up with you.” I put one leg in, followed by the other. “Today, I’m going to kick ass because I fucked you. See the difference?” I grinned, knowing she was going to clock me for it.
“You are an asshole, Blaine Crews. A complete asshole.” She swatted at my shoulder, but I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.
“But you love it when I make you come.”
She tried to wiggle free. “Maybe.”
“And you love it when I fuck you from behind.”
Her breathing changed and her cheeks reddened. “Shit.”
I dropped her on the bed. “See?”
She picked up and threw a pillow at me. “You are an ass.”
I shrugged, liking the banter between us. “I’ll see you tonight, love. I’ve got to check in with my coach and see what the schedule is.”
She stood from the bed and reached for the wall. “Whoa.”
I grabbed her arm to help steady her. “What’s wrong?”
“The stupid jet lag. It makes me so dizzy.” She shook me off. “Do you think we should exchange phone numbers or something?”
Damn it. I was supposed to ask her that. “I have one while I’m in the city. Here.” I jotted the number down on the notepad next to the bed. “Text me and I’ll have your number.”
She reached up on her toes to kiss me. “Got it. Good luck at the pool.”
I opened the door. “Good luck with your articles today.”
She wrapped a sheet around her chest. “Go, get your world record. I’ll see you later.”
I closed the door and headed for the village, ready to kick some Olympic ass today.
16
Ava
Blaine closed the door and I ran to the bathroom. Holy shit. The wave of nausea launched inside me and I grabbed the counter. I splashed water on my face, trying to cool down. I was certain I was going to throw up, but it passed.
I was suddenly hot and dizzy. My head spun and I couldn’t think of what I had eaten last that might have made me sick. I walked back to the bed and unplugged my phone from the charger.
I pulled up my calendar and counted back to my trip to Sydney. Five weeks.
Holy shit. I counted again and checked the dates for my last period before I let the impossible hit me.
It couldn’t be. No way. We weren’t careful in Sydney. But there was no way. I couldn’t be pregnant. I grabbed my stomach. There had to be a rational explanation like jet lag or food poisoning. But I knew I didn’t have much reason to have jet lag from one time-zone change and I had been in Rio long enough to adjust. I had convinced myself over the past few days that it was the cause of my fatigue and dizziness.
I didn’t have dinner last night. I tried to think if there was anything else, and I remembered how I turned down the drink yesterday in the bar. I had heard pregnant women had a sixth sense about alcohol.
My hands rose to my breasts. I thought it was the epic sex, but my breasts had never felt so tender and my nipples were electric to Blaine’s touch, not to mention my clit. And holy hell, I’d never had orgasms like I did last night. One of my pregnant friends told me pregnancy sex was more intense than anything in her life.
I stood up. This couldn
’t be happening. No way.
I was not having Blaine Crews’s baby. No.
I paced in front of the window and threw open the blinds. Rio was waking up. The games started in six days. The city was alive with game preparation. Tourists were flocking, in along with vendors trying to make money off the countries who had come to cheer on their athletes.
Blaine had more pressure on him than anyone here. The world was watching him. There were expectations on him that no one else could understand. The world records. The gold medals.
His entire life was swimming. I knew what winning here would mean for his future. It was his future.
A baby would distract him. I couldn’t tell him any of this.
First, I had to make sure I was pregnant, but before I ever saw those two pink lines on the white stick I knew.
I took two more before I admitted the truth.
I was pregnant, and Blaine was the father.
***
I sat in another meeting while Vic rolled his sleeves to his elbows. The heatwave that hit Rio last week was starting to let up. I could walk outside and breathe now. I didn’t mind the extra ice in my drinks when I could get it.
I heard a few locals say that this was more typical of a real Rio winter. Even the girl at my favorite juice bar seemed happier with the temperature change.
“Tonight is Opening Ceremonies,” Vic announced. “You all have credentials to get in. I do expect to read quality work after this event. Find something that’s a real tear-jerker.”
Last week he wanted feel-good stories, and now he wanted the kind that made everyone need to stock up on tissues. But I kept my mouth shut. Keeping this job was more important than ever.
I was six weeks pregnant. I couldn’t be an unemployed single mom.
Someone suggested following a pair of pole vaulter twins from Montana who had to travel without their parents because the family couldn’t afford the trip. I guessed that qualified as a tear-jerker. I thought it sounded like something that belonged in Reader’s Digest.
I didn’t know where I would find my story today, but I’d get Vic what he needed. No more renegade investigative pieces. No more going outside the lines. I delivered exactly what Vic ordered. I was determined to be his new go-to girl. I had to count on this salary.
Sure, the baby’s father was a millionaire, but he didn’t know. And what would he do when he found out?
Were we going to raise a baby on two different continents? Were we going to ship the baby back and forth on an airplane? It was crazy. Nothing made sense.
But for the past week when I was with Blaine, I had these moments when I could see it. I could see us together, building a life, raising a baby. I blamed the pregnancy hormones for concocting ludicrous ideas like that.
But he was sweet and funny. He made me laugh when I was angry and annoyed with my boss. He was strong and masculine. I knew he was protective of me, possessive even, and he’d be like that with a baby. But how could I ruin his life like that?
I’d take away the freedom he had. I’d restrain him to a life of parenthood he didn’t ask for.
I walked out of the meeting, ready to search the city for my next public relations campaign.
I looked down when my phone rang. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it was Blaine.
“Hey, there.”
“Hey, love. How’s work?”
“Shitty. How’s the pool?” I stopped to sit on a bench. I couldn’t believe how much cooler it was this week.
“Jim thinks I can shave another half second off my turn. I’m working on it.”
I imagined his body slicing through the water as his massive shoulders came up out of the water. He was incredible. And for the past week he had been mine. All mine. I never once felt as if Blaine wanted one of those swim groupie girls. We didn’t talk about what this was, but I wasn’t naïve enough to think he wanted something after Rio.
I was a constant while he was here. He needed that to focus on swimming.
“That’s great. I’m heading out to look for a story,” I explained.
“Why don’t you stop by here?” he suggested.
“Because you have to focus,” I teased.
“I focus better when you’re here.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible.” When we were alone all he did was pull the clothes from my body and take me to a new side of paradise.
“Come watch me swim, love. I want you to be in the stands. Tonight is the ceremony and I won’t get to see you. Curfew starts tonight.”
It was going to suck, but from now until the end of the swim finals Blaine was off limits after eleven o’clock. No more waking up together. He offered to sneak me into the village, but that wasn’t going to happen. Not as long as he had a tiny twin bed and a roommate.
“All right. I’ll stop by. But I can’t stay long. I have to work, remember?”
“See you soon.”
He hung up, and I looked for the shuttle to carry me to the aquatics center. I had this funny feeling that I should tell the baby where we were headed, but I stopped myself. Again, I was going crazy.
I climbed onboard and enjoyed the ride through the city.
17
Blaine
Tonight was Opening Ceremonies and tomorrow was my first event. I had one final day to warm up before competition started. And I wanted Ava here.
I couldn’t explain it, but she fed something in me. Calmed my soul. Energized my blood. Fueled my strength. It had only been a week since I had found her again, but it felt longer than that.
Jim hovered over the edge of the pool. “Ready for the butterfly?” he asked.
I snapped my goggles into place and splashed water over my shoulders. I saw Ava walk in and I grinned.
“I’m ready now.”
She waved at me as she took a seat in the bleachers.
Jim dropped his arm and I dove into the water, ready to plow through and kick ass on this lap. By the time I touched the wall at the other end of the pool I knew I had done exactly what we wanted. I had cut time off my first turn.
Jim laughed. “Son of a bitch. You’re going to blow the other chaps out of the water. Now if you can do that on every turn, it’s going to be incredible.”
“That’s the plan.” I pushed out of the water and dragged my body over the side of the pool.
Ava watched as I walked around the wall separating the swimmers from the fans. I didn’t give a shit who saw me. I planted a rough kiss on her lips.
She licked her lips. “Mmm. Wet.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“That looked amazing. How did you do that with the turn?”
I admitted it was fucking hot as shit my girl knew what she was talking about when it came to sports. She never got tired talking about swimming or any of the sports at the games. She was a better listener than Jim was sometimes.
I realized how hot it was she was mine. Only mine.
“I don’t know. I’ve been working on it all week and it suddenly clicked. I couldn’t get it down in Sydney.”
“If you’re going to make a change like that, this is the time to do it.” She smiled.
“I have to hit the showers. Want to go get lunch?”
A fan leaned over Ava’s shoulder and shoved a phone in her face. I glared at him, but saw Ava’s warning expression before I grabbed the phone and threw it in the pool.
“Which lunch is this for you? First, second, or third?”
I cracked a smile. “I thought I dispelled those hobbit rumors with you. And it’s second lunch.” I winked.
“I can’t.” She shook her head. “I don’t have anything to write today and I really need to get something to my boss.”
I scratched the back of my head. “Dinner is out because of the ceremony. That’s going to take all night.”
“I’ll be here tomorrow,” she piped up. “I’m going to watch you swim.”
“That’s not enough,” I growled. “Fucking dictators keeping us in the
village. It sucks.”
“Think of it this way. You’ll get more sleep.”
There was truth there, but I’d rather fall asleep naked and inside Ava. I didn’t like that someone regulated when and where I could sleep. Not with the biggest games of my life in front of me. I needed her.
She was my release. She was my calm. She was fucking everything to me.
I kissed her quickly. “I’ll figure something out.”
She eyed me. “Blaine, what does that mean?”
“Don’t worry about it, love.”
She stood to leave, but I could see the hesitation. “Please don’t do something stupid. Call me tonight and have fun at Opening Ceremonies. I’ll be here tomorrow.”
“Me stupid?” I felt Jim’s hand on my back.
“Hi, Ava,” he greeted her.
“Hi, Jim.”
“Blaine, we’ve got press in an hour.”
“All right. Bye, love.”
He shuttled me to the locker room, but I wasn’t content. I had to see her tonight. Tomorrow was going to be my greatest swim, but I needed Ava Gold tonight if I was going to make that happen.
***
I knocked on the hotel door with my bag slung over my shoulder.
“Hold on,” I heard Ava call on the other side.
I knew she would be surprised to see me. It was late, but I came straight from the ceremony. It was an advantage walking in as one of the first countries. I carried the Australian flag proudly. Took the pictures. Waved to fans. And as soon as the fans focused on the dance show, I took off.
I wouldn’t head back to the village tonight. I had everything I needed for the swim tomorrow.
Ava cracked the door, banging it against the chain lock.
“Blaine?”
She closed the door, unlatching it to let me inside.
I looked around the room. Something was off. She was wearing a T-shirt slung off her shoulder and a pair of panties. Her hair was twisted into a bun on her head.
“Are you okay?” I asked. I felt as if I needed to pull her into a hug, or tuck her into bed. I couldn’t figure out which.
She nodded. “I’m fine. I just didn’t expect you. Aren’t you supposed to be at the ceremony?” She pointed to the TV. The commentator had a strong Portuguese accent. There were fireworks shooting across the screen.
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