The Player Gets Coached

by Janet Nissenson

  Delilah had barely removed her panties, but hadn’t had time as yet to kick off her shoes, when he wrenched her thighs apart then thrust deep inside of her without a moment’s hesitation, hard enough to bang her head against the headboard.

  “Shit,” he grunted, forcing himself to remain still while he gently massaged her head. “You okay there, baby?”

  In reply, she merely wrapped her legs around his hips, then dug the heels of her stilettos into his bare ass. He winced in reaction, briefly wondering how deep of a mark that was going to leave, then just as quickly decided it would be worth it. He would have given anything to have this woman back in his life, back in his arms, and by some miracle his wish had been granted. And there was no way in hell he was ever letting her go again, even if it meant having a permanent scar on his backside.

  “Easy,” he soothed upon hearing the breathless little gasp she made when he began to move inside of her. He bent low over her prone body to capture her lips in a long, lush kiss, taking the time he should have earlier to seduce her, to tease and caress and arouse her. But he’d been too needy to posses her for the first time in weeks, too desperate to feel her hot, tight little body clenching around his cock and welcoming him back. The feel of her now, the way her vaginal muscles squeezed him like a fist, was nearly enough to bring on his climax even if he remained perfectly still and let it happen.

  She sighed blissfully when his hand cupped her breast, then as he gently plucked the nipple between his forefinger and thumb. “So good,” she whispered. “Missed this.”

  Finn ran his tongue around the nipple, making it wet. “Missed doesn’t even begin to describe how much I’ve wanted this, baby,” he murmured against her breasts, kissing a path between the full, firm mounds all the way up to her throat. “And I never thought I’d get to have you again this way, Delilah. Figured I’d ruined everything, messed up the best thing that had ever happened to me. And that there was zero chance - ”

  “Shh.” She placed a finger over his lips, then shook her head. “Not now, Finn. In fact, don’t talk, okay? At least not until you fuck me hard enough to see stars.”

  He grinned, sliding his hands beneath her buttocks and lifting her slightly. “Now that I can definitely do, darling Delilah. As usual, your wish is my command.”

  He pulled out of her nearly all the way, leaving just the tip of his cock still inside of her before pushing back in until he was once again fully sheathed. She cried out in reaction, but he knew from past experience that hers was a cry of pleasure, of passion, and not of pain. And even though it had been endlessly long, heartbreaking weeks since he’d enjoyed her body this way, it felt as though they had never been apart. He knew her body intimately, nearly as well as his own, and was very well aware of exactly how to give her the ultimate pleasure - how deep or how shallow to make his thrusts, how to angle his hips a certain way in order for his penis to touch a particular spot inside of her, to sense when she wanted it harder or slower.

  “So good,” she breathed, her head falling back limply against the pillow. Her eyes were half-shut, heavy lidded with desire as she gazed up at him.

  Finn groaned at the erotic picture she made, with her masses of dark hair spilled across the pristine cream bedsheets, her plush lips parted as she breathed erratically, her reddened nipples hard and pointed. He was crazy about this woman, crazy in love in a way he’d never believed himself capable of being, and knew there would never be anyone else for him but Delilah. He’d waited forty years to find someone like her, had very nearly lost her forever because of his rampant stupidity, but he had zero intention of ever taking a risk like that again.

  “The best, sweetheart,” he murmured against her throat, his lips teasing her earlobe. “The best I’ve ever known. And all I could ever want from here on end.”

  “Finn.”

  His name escaped her lips in a long, low moan, her pelvis arching up off the bed to meet him thrust for thrust. Her head thrashed back and forth, her lower body bucking wildly now as she climaxed, her moans becoming screams. Her nails dug sharply into his biceps, while the heels of her shoes scraped against the backs of his thighs, but Finn wasn’t even aware of the slight pain. Instead, it was pleasure that he felt, only pleasure, and so much of it that time and space and awareness ceased to exist, as every single one of his nerve endings and senses rejoiced to feel that pleasure again. His cries of fulfillment mingled with her shrieks of reaction as he came so hard there were little black spots dancing in front of his eyes afterwards.

  Finn collapsed onto the mattress weakly, still maintaining control over just enough functioning brain cells to not crush Delilah’s much smaller, daintier body beneath his. He flung an arm limply across her midsection, as though to hold her in place and prevent her from slipping out of his bed. But when she gently interlaced her fingers with his, bringing their joined hands to her lips, he forced open his eyes to smile at her sleepily.

  “Hey,” he whispered in a husky voice. “Please tell me this is real and not just another one of my really great but also really frustrating dreams. They’ve been great while they lasted, but frustrating as hell when I wake up to find they weren’t real.”

  She snuggled up against him in response, nestling the top of her head beneath his chin. “It’s real, all right,” she assured him. “So real that I don’t think I’ll be able to walk a straight line for a couple of hours.”

  Finn snickered. “Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a brand new collection of scratches and bites thanks to a certain she-devil. And new rule, babe - as sexy as those high heels you like to wear are, I don’t think while we’re having wild monkey sex is the best time to be wearing them. Ouch.”

  Delilah laughed when he rubbed his abused posterior, and kissed his shoulder. “Okay. We can add that to the list I handed to you. The one you didn’t even bother to glance at before you agreed to do anything I wanted. For all you know, Finn McManus, maybe one of the conditions I wrote on that list is that you have to wear stilettos to bed from now on.”

  He grinned. “You really are a devil, aren’t you? Though I’ll tell you now. Not only would I agree to wear the shoes but a garter belt and stockings, too, if that’s what you really wanted.”

  She scrunched up her nose in distaste. “Uh, no thanks. I just tried conjuring up a mental picture of how you’d look dressed that way and let’s just say it didn’t do a thing for me.”

  “Good,” he chuckled, running a hand down her back until he was caressing her ass. “Let’s agree right now that you’ll be the only one in this relationship wearing sexy lingerie and high heels.”

  She reached over to drop a kiss on his mouth. “Deal. But aren’t you even the tiniest bit interested in reading that list? And, by the way, there’s only a few items on there, so no need for you to panic.”

  “I wasn’t panicking,” he assured her. “Not even a little. Though I can probably guess a few things on that list without even having to look.”

  “Be my guest and try,” she offered. “Though I’ll put your mind at ease right from the start, Finn. I would never, ever ask you to quit your job, in spite of the fact that you offered to do so in that incredibly sweet letter you sent me. I’m nowhere near that insecure or mistrustful, and I could never be that big of a bitch to anyone.”

  Finn cupped her cheek in his hand tenderly. “You don’t have it in you to be bitchy,” he told her. “No matter what Calvin says.”

  Delilah gave a little sound of outrage. “That little jerk,” she burst. “He’s getting way too cocky for my liking, you know. Especially since I know for a fact that he’s been keeping you informed of all my comings and goings. He’s not fooling anyone by putting on that innocent act.”

  He guffawed. “Hey, I owe the guy big time. Even if he does like to mess with my head and flirt every time we talk. And he was really worried about you, Delilah, was convinced you were heading for a nervous breakdown if you didn’t take better care of yourself.”


  “Yeah, I know,” she acknowledged sullenly. “Though it wasn’t bad enough for him to have had all these not-so-secret conversations with you. No, he had to conspire with Jordan and Max the other day, too.”

  “What?”

  He propped himself up on one elbow, frowning down at her. “What about Jordan and Max?” he asked warily. “Please tell me those two clowns didn’t call you. Especially after I made them promise not to.”

  “They practically kidnapped me is what they did,” retorted Delilah. “Ambushed me outside of my office - and not so coincidentally it was the first time in weeks that I actually took a walk. And guess who more or less shoved me out the door to take that so-called “walk around the block to get a little fresh air”? The same sneaky bastard who very obviously was in cahoots with your buddies.”

  “What exactly did they say to you?” inquired Finn worriedly.

  She patted his arm reassuringly. “Nothing for you to be concerned with. And while I was a little pissed off at their underhanded methods at first, I realized how much the two of them really care about you. Especially Max. That’s so sweet of you to invite him to have Christmas with your family every year, Finn.”

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure if sweet is the right word. But I think of Max and Jordan as my brothers, every bit as much as I do my biological brothers. And while Jordan’s family life was pretty messed up, at least he knew his parents loved him and he spent most holidays with one or the other. Max, though, had nobody. Still doesn’t. And he’s such a loner I’m afraid he’ll be alone for the rest of his life. But at least I’m still able to bully him into spending Christmas with my family every year. Well, more like my mom bullies him into it, but same result.”

  “Hmm.” Delilah trailed her fingers along his stomach, grinning when she found a ticklish spot. “I had an interesting little conversation with Max at that lunch he and Jordan bullied me into. I’ll tell you about it later. Not that I learned a whole lot, of course, since this is Max we’re talking about. But in all seriousness, your friends just wanted me to know how much you cared about me, and how hard you were taking things. And, well, it made me feel a little guilty about the way I was handling everything, how stubborn and closeminded I was being. It felt like everyone was taking sides in the drama - your friends, Calvin, even my sister - and all of them seemed to be on your side. So I thought about everything that had happened, and realized that I was just as much to blame as you were.”

  “No. No,” denied Finn emphatically, shaking his head. “Babe, how can you even suggest such a thing? I was the one who had too much to drink, and who let myself get talked into joining that rowdy group. I was the one who had some skank sitting on my lap.”

  “Not to mention the other two rubbing up on either side of you,” pointed out Delilah in a snarky tone. “And, yes, I’m well aware that you made some very poor decisions, Finn, and that you were angry and hurt and felt neglected, which is why you acted out. But I’m the reason you felt that way. Because I was so busy chasing my dreams and making sure this deal with Bloomingdale’s went smoothly I totally neglected you. And I’m not sure what I could have done differently at the time, but I know I should have at least tried to do better.”

  Deeply touched by her admission, Finn took her into his arms, cuddling her close. “Both of us should have,” he corrected. “Yeah, it hurt when you couldn’t make time for me, but I shouldn’t have taken it so personally. I knew this was a big deal for you, the biggest deal of your life, and you were exactly right about how I’d already had not one but two successful careers. My stupid oversized ego couldn’t handle not always coming first in your life, so I reacted like the immature high school boy Max once accused me of being.”

  “We were both at fault,” agreed Delilah. “Which means that we need to do a better job in the future of discussing our feelings when something bothers us. That’s actually one of the items on my list, you know. To talk things out - reasonably - when one of us is bothered about something. And, yes, I know that’s not going to be easy. For either of us, by the way. For you because ours is the first real relationship you’ve ever had, and for me because it’s so hard to trust anyone after what happened with my father. But I’m willing to try if you are, Finn.”

  He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Of course I am,” he told her fiercely. “And I think the first thing we should reasonably discuss is the rest of this list. Do you need me to go find where I dropped it?”

  She shook her head. “Not necessary. Like I mentioned before, it’s a pretty short list, and easy to remember.”

  “So, go ahead,” urged Finn. “In addition to discussing our issues like levelheaded adults instead of acting like immature teenagers, what else do I need to agree to?”

  “First,” began Delilah, holding up one finger, “there is to be no flirting of any sort with any female other than myself. At least, nothing serious. I realize that flirting is part of your nature by now, so asking you to completely stop might not be possible. However,” she warned ominously, waggling that same finger at him, “if I ever see another woman cozying up to you, whether it’s in person or in some tabloid, you will regret the day you were ever born.”

  He held up his hands in surrender, grinning madly the whole time. “I swear to you, Delilah Ferris, that from this moment forward you are the only woman I will flirt with, and definitely the only one I plan on doing any cozying up to. What’s next on your list?”

  She added a second finger to the first. “Second item on the list - no more making a fool of yourself in public, especially if I’m not glued to your side. That means not getting sloppy drunk, raising a ruckus, or any other over the top behavior that’s guaranteed to make you fodder for the tabloids.”

  Finn put his hand over his heart. “Consider it done. In fact, until I had a beer at the baseball game Jordan and Max dragged me to the other day, I hadn’t had any booze since Vegas. I can say with confidence that my days of wild, out of control partying are done. That doesn’t mean, however,” he added slyly, “you and I can’t have some wild parties of our own - private parties, of course.”

  “Of course.” Delilah rolled her eyes. “Now, there were just two more things on that list, and I think you’ll agree both of them will be pretty easy to abide by.”

  “I’m all ears, baby,” he said enthusiastically. “Let’s hear it.”

  “The third requirement,” she murmured in a low, almost shy voice, “is that we tell each other “I love you” every single day. Think you can handle that?”

  He squeezed her so tightly she gave a little yelp of alarm. “Yup. In fact, I might take that one step further and make it every hour. How does that sound?”

  Delilah smiled at him tenderly, brushing a damp strand of hair off his forehead. “Pretty damned good. And now for the fourth and final item on that list.”

  Before he could anticipate her next move, she’d somehow pushed him onto his back, and then straddled his thighs, her brown eyes twinkling naughtily.

  “I get to be on top whenever the urge takes me,” she announced, her lush mouth quirking up in a smile.

  Finn laughed heartily, then hooked an arm behind her neck, pulling her down to meet his kiss. “Somehow I figured that would have to make the list! Baby, that’s a no brainer. And since it’s a win-win for both of us, how could you even imagine I’d say no to a demand like that?”

  She ran a finger over his lips, all seriousness now. “I love you, Finn,” she told him earnestly, her brown eyes shining with the proof of that emotion. “And I’m sorry I was so stubborn and unforgiving and - what did Calvin call me when he just thought I couldn’t hear him - oh, yes, such a beyotch.”

  He captured her wrist, sucking her finger into his mouth. “You were no such thing,” he insisted. “Especially since I deserved your wrath after the way I acted.”

  “Hmm.” Her breath caught in her throat as he rolled his tongue around her finger in a very suggestive manner. “I, ah, might have thoug
ht of just one more little thing to add to my list of demands.”

  “Yeah?” chuckled Finn. “And what would that be?”

  Delilah brushed her thumb over his lips. “Since you have such a talented, and - let’s call it inventive tongue and lips - I insist that you put them both to very, very good use at least three or four times a week. Agreed?”

  She squealed in surprise as he swiftly changed their positions, and then just as quickly slid down her body until his head was between her thighs.

  “Agreed,” he replied throatily. “So long as we begin right now.”

  Delilah gasped as he rimmed the opening to her body with his tongue. “You - you drive a tough bargain,” she panted. “But since relationships are all about - oh, God! - compromise, I guess I’d better say yes.”

  Epilogue

  Christmas Day – Colorado

  “Having fun yet, babe?”

  Delilah smiled as Finn sat down beside her on the loveseat in his parents’ family room. “I’ve been having fun since the minute we got into town two days ago,” she assured him. “Frankly, after seeing your family in action, I don’t think it’s possible not to enjoy yourself when they’re around. Especially your nieces and nephews. It’s always more fun to have little kids around at Christmas.”

  “I totally agree. Even Max seems to loosen up a little when they’re around. And even though he’d never admit it, I can tell he loves it when they call him Uncle Max.”

  She laughed along with Finn. “I still think it’s so sweet of you and your parents to include him every year. Though I imagine after more than twenty years of spending the holidays with them that Max feels like part of the family.”

  “As much as it’s possible for him to feel like part of anything,” mused Finn. “He’s still alone way too often, too closed off. One of these days we’ll get the story about what really happened in Seattle.”

  “One of these days,” agreed Delilah, placing her hand on his thigh. “But definitely not today. It is Christmas, after all, and only happy thoughts are allowed today.”