Keeping Score

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Keeping Score Page 12

by Sara Rider


  She flexed her toes and stretched out her body, trying to ward off a yawn. She rolled toward him and said, “That was incredi—”

  The tip of her nose bumped into his, stealing her words. She hadn’t been expecting his face to be so close to hers, like he’d just rolled toward her, too. Or had he been watching her the whole time?

  No. That was a ridiculous thought. But it always seemed like beneath his tightly wound exterior, he was holding back a torrent of emotions on the verge of bursting through the cracks. A thread of desire wove through her body as she studied his unbearably handsome, moonlight-kissed face. Without thinking, she leaned forward and placed a quick, soft kiss on his lips.

  Regret filled her the moment she pulled back and saw his stunned expression.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have,” he said in a voice so low it was nearly a growl.

  She pulled away, but he reached a hand to her nape and pulled her toward him for a crushing kiss. It was urgent, passionate. She’d never been kissed like this in her life. It felt like being caught in a tornado, leaving her breathless and dizzy. And yet it was completely, mind-blowingly amazing.

  His tongue prodded the seam of her mouth, urging her to open for him. The contrast of his rough lips and velvet tongue was intoxicating, sending a frisson down her spine, right to her sneaker-clad toes. She pried his glasses off, set them on the ground, and cupped his strong jaw, unable to get enough of him. He responded by pushing his knee between her legs, giving her a hint of the friction she craved.

  It wasn’t enough. There was no shallow end when it came to Alex. Every time he touched her, it was like diving headfirst into the middle of the ocean without a life preserver. She needed to take control.

  She flattened her hands on his chest and pushed him to his back, breaking the kiss long enough to straddle him. “Ten. Definitely a ten,” she said breathlessly. Her skin was on fire with need. The layers of cotton between them felt unbearably oppressive. She unzipped her hoodie then splayed her hands along his abdomen.

  “Let’s aim for eleven.” He gripped her hips, pulling her toward him.

  A solitary set of headlights zoomed past along the highway, briefly flashing a stark white spotlight on them, reminding her that they hadn’t actually carved out their own private space and time in the universe.

  “Wait. Is this really what you want?” It took all her self-control to slow down enough to get the words out.

  He ran his hands along her lower back, like he was trying to memorize her curves. “I want all of you, Jaime. But I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me.”

  “Will you feel the same way tomorrow morning?” She wanted him so badly, but the thought of him looking at her with regret the next day was the one thing that could halt the tidal wave of desire building inside her.

  His fingers stilled against her skin. He dropped his head back and sighed. “You’re right. This is wrong.”

  She winced. He didn’t mean it as an insult, but it stung nonetheless. What was the matter with her? Did she really expect him to say a quick romp with her was worth jeopardizing his career? She slid back onto the blanket next to him. “Probably for the best. Some itches can’t be unscratched, right?” God, it was embarrassing how her voice cracked like a dropped egg.

  “Wise words.”

  “You know, this a very adult decision we’re making. I’m rather impressed with our maturity.”

  “We are adults. Acting mature isn’t supposed to be impressive.”

  “It’s that kind of thinking that keeps you so stiff all the time.”

  “Stiff?”

  She burst out laughing. “I so didn’t mean it in that way.” The thrum of desire still pulsed through her, but she felt more relaxed than she had all evening. Silly banter was her comfort zone.

  “It’d probably be less insulting if you did.”

  She smacked him lightly on the chest. He grabbed her hand and held it firm against him. His eyes darkened to the deep obsidian the way they always did when his mood hardened.

  “What?” She followed the trail of his gaze to her chest. Her tank top had gotten mussed in the action, slipping slightly off her shoulder and letting the lace edge of her pale pink bra peek through.

  “Is that the one from the store in Miami?” His voice was sandpaper rough.

  Jaime bit her lip and nodded. “I couldn’t resist buying it. You have surprisingly great taste in lingerie.”

  He pushed her hoodie off her shoulder and tugged the strap of her tank down to expose more of the bra. The rough pad of his fingertip made her shiver as it trailed along the scoop neck of her tank, pulling it down just far enough to reveal the lacey tops of the cups. She sucked in a breath, causing her chest to rise exaggeratedly.

  His lips curled into a dangerous smile, eyes burning with lust.

  How did they end up back in this situation so quickly? She really needed to knock her brain back into her head and be the voice of reason. “I bought the matching panties, too. I’m wearing them right now.” Reason was never her strong suit.

  “Only one way to know if you’re telling the truth.” He hooked a finger into the waistband of her yoga pants and peeked inside, then exhaled sharply. “You’re killing me, Jaime.”

  She nodded and swallowed, knowing he’d wait for her permission before crossing the line of no return. His hand crept below the stretchy black material and cupped her mound, making her shiver. He ran his finger along the edge of her panties at the crease of her thigh, teasing her.

  She’d never done anything like this outside of a bedroom. Even with the dark cover of night and no one around for miles, it was shockingly erotic. “Please, Alex. More,” she begged, clasping her hands around the hard, corded muscles of his arm.

  “I want to enjoy this, babe. I want to feel every inch of you.” But he did comply. He stroked his finger over the swath of fabric covering her labia with a teasing, feather-light touch, making her whimper. “You’re so wet.”

  “Yeah, that just sorta happens every time I see you.”

  “Every time?” He gave her a smoldering look.

  “Every single time. It’s becoming a terrible epidemic.” Her breathing was so rapid, there was no way to hide the heavy rise and fall of her chest. He dropped his forehead until it rested against hers and circled her clit with his finger, pressing the delicate lace against her sensitive bud. She whimpered, and he responded with soft kisses along her jaw and neck.

  His touches were so agonizingly gentle, like the most exquisite torture. Deliberate and filled with restraint. Every one of her reactions, from the smallest twitches to the tiniest sounds escaping her lips, was completely on display for those dark eyes that took everything in. It was more raw and vulnerable than she had ever been before. Her arousal built with every soft stroke and caress, culminating in a thunderous crescendo. He captured her cries with a hard kiss as the most incredible orgasm of her life exploded through her. She tightened her grip on his arm, clutching him like an anchor while she rode out the aftershocks.

  Once her body finally stopped trembling, he slipped his hand out of her pants and made quick work of her shirt, shoving it up to reveal the cups of her bra. He settled his body on top of hers and gently fondled her breasts. He brushed her nipples with his thumbs, pulling them to attention. Jaime arched into him. Her breasts were incredibly sensitive, and she loved having them touched. The only thing better would be to have his mouth on them.

  He pulled the cups down and squeezed her breasts, staring at her body with absolute reverence. “You’re so beautiful.”

  He leaned forward and sucked a nipple into his mouth, flicking and circling it with his tongue, and pinched the other with his fingers. The tiny burst of pain mixed with wet heat was exhilarating. He shifted his weight to press his rock-solid erection between her thighs, and ki
ssed a trail across her cleavage to lavish her other breast with his tongue.

  She grabbed his ass, something she had fantasized about doing for weeks, but he didn’t give her any time to explore the hard, sexy muscles. He slid down her body, leaving a trail of slow, wet kisses along her ribs and stomach, like he was determined to cover every inch of her body with his lips.

  He hooked his fingers into her waistband. “Lift for me, querida.”

  “Again?”

  “Again,” he growled.

  She raised her butt off the ground so that he could drag her pants and underwear down to her knees. He kneaded his thumbs along her inner thighs, coaxing her to open for him. The elastic material of her pants stretched just enough for him to dip his head between her legs, tickling her skin with his soft hair, and flatten his tongue along her core. She cried out and dug her fingers into his hair, which only made him lick and suck faster until she was writhing beneath him. He knew the exact rhythm, the exact pressure that drove her wild.

  He slid two fingers inside her while his tongue worked its magic on her clit and sent her right over the edge. Her second orgasm was even more intense and explosive than the first, and this time, his mouth was too preoccupied to smother her cries.

  “That,” she said through heavy, gasping breaths, “was incredible.” Her legs wobbled like she had no bones left when she lifted her butt to hoist her pants back up. Luckily, her arms still had some strength left. Enough to shove her tits back into her bra and get to work on Alex’s fly.

  She’d managed to pry the button of his jeans open before he stilled his hand over hers. “I don’t have any condoms,” he said.

  “Then I’ll have to just make good on my promise.” She smiled, yanked his zipper down, and reached inside his boxers to circle his hot, rigid erection, making him hiss with pleasure. His cock was so thick, her short fingers couldn’t wrap all the way around him as she worked to unleash him from his jeans. When she finally succeeded, she had to pause to catch her breath once more. Even in the pitch-black night, he looked intimidatingly large. “So you just carry that around with you all the time like some sort of secret weapon?”

  A chuckle rumbled in his chest. She tightened her grip on his shaft, making his cock twitch in her hand. “Jaime—”

  She laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Stop talking and get to it.”

  “No, I love your sense of humor,” he said earnestly. “I just want you to know you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

  The iceberg around her heart melted a fraction. Never had anyone been so concerned about her comfort this deep in the throes of passion. “I may not always know what I want, but I do know what I like.”

  She angled herself to take him deep in her mouth. He hissed when her lips covered the tip of his cock. She could feel the muscles in his body clench from trying to restrain his reactions. She wanted to drive him into a frenzy the same way he’d just done to her. She wanted to be the one to make him abandon the unbreakable layer of absolute control wound so tightly around him.

  She swirled her tongue over the incredibly smooth skin, using the pace of his breathing to figure out exactly what he liked. She toyed with him, sucked and licked the tip until his entire body vibrated with anticipation, then slowly eased him deeper into her throat. When her lips finally reached the base of his shaft, he groaned. It was the sexiest sound she’d ever heard. She pulled back, creating a deep suction with her lips, then descended once more with the agonizing slowness, determined to torment him a little longer.

  He threaded his hands through her hair, fingers stiff like he was fighting the compulsion to direct her tempo. She covered his hands with hers, letting him know she wanted him to give in to his urges. That she trusted him not to hurt her. But he didn’t pull. Instead, he stroked her hair sweetly while she bobbed up and down on his cock. When she felt like she had driven him to the brink of insanity, she cupped his balls and worked him with frantic speed.

  His grip tightened in her hair, tugging her head back. “Querida, I’m going to come.”

  She waved off his warning without breaking her rhythm and let the hot, salty tang of his orgasm fill her throat. When it was over, she zipped him back up and lay down beside him, resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her, cuddling her tight to his body.

  “That was amazing. Thank you.”

  She meant to return the compliment, but the moment she opened her mouth, a protracted yawn escaped.

  “Please say that you’re yawning because I wore you out with my awesome sex skills and not because I bored you to death.”

  She traced tiny circles on his chest with her finger. “Definitely the former. It turns out that back-to-back orgasms are a fantastic cure for insomnia.”

  “That’s good. You need some sleep. I’ll wake you when our ride is here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He kissed her forehead. “That was an order, not a suggestion.”

  She closed her eyes and entwined her legs with his. A strange feeling spread across her chest, one she could only describe as happiness. Alex was making her feel things she had never experienced before. Feelings she wanted to experience again.

  The last thought that trailed through her mind as she drifted off to sleep was that she was in big trouble.

  JAIME WAS STILL IN a groggy haze by the time the van dropped her and Alex off in front of the hotel in the early hours of the morning, but she still had the presence of mind to know she desperately needed a shower before boarding the replacement bus for another long haul to Chicago.

  “Go do what you need to do,” Alex said. “I can handle unloading the gear by myself.”

  She lifted up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. It was a sweet kiss, but one that lasted a fraction too long to be considered chaste. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Just do me a favor, okay?” He tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t say anything about last night to anyone. I need to figure some stuff out first.”

  “Like?”

  “Damage control.”

  “Of course. I won’t say anything.” The giddy feeling in her chest dropped like a sharp rock in her stomach. She battled with the muscles in her cheeks to keep her smile in place. She’d had her fair share of stinging rejections before, but this had just set the bar to a new low. Last night had felt like something special. He’d been sexy as hell, but also tender and sweet with her. He made her feel like the most incredible, desirable woman in the world.

  And he clearly regretted every moment of it. But that was fine. She wasn’t the kind of woman who did expectations. She would respect his wishes and let him take care of whatever he needed to do.

  She walked through the automatic glass doors, too distracted by her jumbled thoughts to notice anything or anyone around her. Until Gina stepped in front of her with her arms crossed and a sour look pinching her mouth. “I guess we know what kept you so busy that you missed your ride back to the hotel last night.”

  Oh shit.

  13

  BY THE TIME THE Falcons made it to Chicago that evening, it was too late for a decent practice session but too early to head to bed. Which meant that the players were probably heading straight for the hotel bar, and Alex was knocking at Victor’s door to face his inevitable reality. He’d rather walk into a steam bath in hell than do what he was about to, but it had to be done. He’d crossed a line last night, and he needed to make it right before crossing another. Coach was a fair guy. He would understand. He had to. Alex’s entire career depended on it.

  Except it wasn’t just his career he was worried about. This thing with Jaime was wrong on so many levels, but there was no more denying to himself that he was in deep. He couldn’t get the sound of her raspy moans as she came out of his head. Or the feeling of her luscious, wet lips wrapped around his cock. The sweet, trusting expression on her face as
she slept in his arms. The way she made him laugh and live in the moment again. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt that way.

  He’d made some stupid mistakes in his life, but walking away from a woman like Jaime wasn’t going to be one of them.

  Victor opened the door and wordlessly motioned Alex to take a seat in front of the flat-screen TV mounted atop the hotel dresser. They were seventy-eight minutes into a Juventus–Lazio game. Victor cracked a beer from the minibar and handed it to Alex, never once taking his eyes off the game. When a commercial kicked on after the Lazio striker sent the ball wide of the net for a goal kick, Victor finally glanced his way with his eyebrows raised. It was as good an invitation for a heart-to-heart as he was going to get.

  “Here’s a list of the top sports physiotherapists in Seattle. I’ve already checked, and all of them will take a referral from me on short notice.” He handed the list to Victor, who set it among the piles of paper strewn across the bed after giving it the briefest token glance. “I can’t treat Jaime Chen anymore.”

  Victor took a long sip of beer. “I know.”

  “What? How?”

  “Jaime came by first thing this morning when you got back from your little excursion.”

  Searing betrayal hit him like a punch to the gut. “What did she tell you?”

  Victor took a measured breath, like he was bored by the conversation. Alex knew the opposite was true. In spite of the coach’s aloof behavior and seemingly disorganized state, he was one of the sharpest, most deliberate men Alex had ever met. Victor fished his reading glasses out from under the mess of papers on the bed and read from one of his notebooks. “She said that she, quote, ‘threw herself at you like a brazen hussy jacked up on Cialis in what can only be described as an act of ruthless feminine entrapment and that you reacted as a consummate professional and gentleman, but her embarrassment is now so severe that she fears she has created an untenable situation due to her treacherous libido.’ There was more, but I think that provides an accurate enough picture.”

 

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