by Ann Jacobs
Was it her imagination or had the room suddenly gotten cooler?
Keith’s gaze on her body scorched her in spite of the breeze that had her pores puckering. His long, thick sex registered appreciation too, curving upward against those rigid, well-delineated abs. Its tip glistened with lubrication, as though it was eager to get inside her.
“You’re wrong, honey. You’re exactly what I want.” He moved a step closer, cupped the breasts she’d always wished were larger. He bent and drew a nipple into his mouth then stood and looked at her, his expression serious. “And I won’t have you thinking like a gaping groupie, not looking past the Photoshopped images on billboards and ads, and all the media hype that goes along with my job.”
He paused, skimmed his hands over her torso then drew her face to his chest. “Believe me, I’ve got scars you can see and ones you can’t. You’ll be getting a guy who’s close to passing his prime in his profession. A guy who had to have help from doctors to get his wife pregnant. Then there are a collection of interesting cleat marks and surgical scars you haven’t looked at very closely yet. They’re anything but pretty. To me you’re the perfect one.”
She couldn’t believe him, but oh, how she wanted to. “If you really think that, then take me to bed now. Show me.”
In one smooth motion he picked her up, placed her in the middle of the king-size bed and came down over her, a hot look in his eyes. “See how perfect I think you are?” He guided her hand to his hot, swollen sex. “I don’t get hard-ons like this for every woman I see.”
He was huge, hot and throbbing against her fingers. She wanted him inside her. He was using his free hand to skim over her body, as though he wanted to learn every inch of her, as if he found her desirable—as desirable as his beautiful dead wife, as sexy as the faceless groupie he said he’d celebrated with after the Super Bowl a week ago. His hot breath scalded her when he bent and found a sensitive spot above her prominent collarbone.
Her nipples tightened at the touch of his calloused palm. Her pussy clenched. Her heart beat faster when he laid one leg over her belly, and his erection branded her mound with its throbbing intensity. She wanted him to take her now. Claim her. But he only explored her with his hands while he claimed her mouth, holding her still beneath him so she couldn’t spread her legs, invite him in.
Firm yet velvety soft, his lips caressed hers, coaxed them open. He sampled her mouth with his tongue. It felt wonderful but she wanted more. She wanted him to slide his long, thick cock inside her pussy, pound into her with reckless abandon.
Squirming beneath him, she tried to get closer. “Easy, little one, we’ve got an hour or so before Jack wakes up. Let’s make the most of it.”
“I need you inside me. Please.” She wanted Keith now. Not just his mouth and hands. While she loved him touching her, caressing her all over with his big but ever-so-gentle fingers, she needed it all. She wanted him to brand her with his hard, muscular body, fill her aching sex with his throbbing heat. The foreplay, sweet as it was, could wait for later, after he satisfied this gnawing need in her belly. “Make love to me. Please.”
“I am. God but you have the sweetest mouth, the softest skin.” He kissed her again, long and deep, as he found her core with one hand and plunged two fingers inside her wet, swollen flesh. “Tell me you want my cock in your hot, wet pussy.”
Sex talk that usually put her off now made her even hotter. “Oh yes. I want it. I want it badly. Now.” When she spread her legs wide apart, he slid down, found her, pressed barely inside her outer lips then plunged in all the way.
“Is this the way you want my cock?”
“God, yesss.” She loved the feel of him throbbing inside her, stretching her tender flesh. His heart beat solidly against her breasts. “Don’t stop.”
“I won’t. Not ever. Your pussy’s just right. A perfect fit. Hot and wet and so tight I want to come right now but I want to keep fucking you all night. Does this feel as good to you as it does to me?”
His breath felt warm and damp against her ear. “Oh yeah. I love it.” Love you more than I’ve ever loved anybody in my whole life. His hot flesh throbbed inside her, stretching her almost painfully. Yet it felt incredible. Better than anything she remembered or could have imagined. Heat spread through her veins and her body tensed, as though a bubble inside her was about to burst. “Omigod.”
“I’m not wearing a condom. Want me to pull out and put one on?” He slid halfway out then hesitated.
“You’d better.” She didn’t want him to leave her, even for the few seconds it would take him to sheathe himself. But she didn’t want to take a chance, either. If they married, and if they decided to try for a pregnancy, that would be okay. “It wouldn’t be okay for us to risk having a shotgun wedding.”
“Okay. Only we’re not waiting to get married long enough for us to know if a shotgun might be in order.” Getting up, leaving Tina feeling empty for a moment, he moved off her and tore open a condom. “I’d forgotten how much I hate wearing these things,” he muttered, settling back between her legs and sliding slowly back inside her warm, welcoming channel.
“You don’t have to.”
“Yeah, I do. Wrap your legs around my waist. We can pretend we’re kids again, celebrating a win by fucking under the bleachers at the high-school football field.”
Then Keith realized what he just said. “Oh hell, I didn’t mean that…”
Tina locked her smooth, slender legs around his waist. “You didn’t?” she asked, her tone making the question sound ridiculously innocent.
He couldn’t hold back the laugh that bubbled from his belly, and that sort of negated the horror of what he’d just said. “No, baby. For a minute there, I forgot there’s half a generation between us. Honest, I’m not really a dirty old man.”
“No, you’re not. Think about those bleachers if you want. Imagine us doing this there, now, only we’re both seventeen. That’s the nice thing about fantasies. They can be whatever you want them to be.” Tina touched his cheek, shot him an impish grin.
“By the way, I love the way your cock feels inside me.”
Damn but she knew how to get his mind away from the gaffe he’d made and back on fucking. “Did I remember to bring a blanket?” he asked, rubbing his hand between her smooth skin and the smoother surface of the fine Egyptian cotton sheet. “Or is your cute backside getting scratched by all the blades of cold, dead grass?”
“You’re a considerate lover. You brought along a nice, soft blanket. Even a pillow. And you didn’t forget the condoms. After all, you’re the team’s star quarterback. You know how to make a forward pass and do it right.”
“Yeah, I do. So do you, baby.” He dipped his head, drew a pink, pebbled nipple between his teeth and sucked it while sliding in and out of her wet, hot cunt. Her clit felt hard as a rock when his cock rubbed against it. Moving to her other breast, he bit the nipple lightly then flailed it with his tongue.
She bucked against him, took him in all the way to his balls. “Omigod! Don’t stop. I’m—I’m coming. Feels so good. I’ve never come like this before.”
He felt her contracting around him, the welcoming wet glove that made him forget he was wearing that condom. Her nails dug into his shoulders, hard, but he didn’t care. His balls tightened. He wasn’t gonna hold out much longer. Keith hadn’t felt so hot in years. “Baby, I’m gonna love being married to you.” His muscles tightened as he tried to hold back, but he couldn’t. Not now, when she was milking his cock, digging her nails into his chest and screaming out her pleasure. “God, yesss, I’m coming.”
When they quit shaking and he rolled her on top of him, Keith shot Tina a shamefaced grin. “Baby, I’m sorry this went so fast. Next time maybe my cock won’t decide to pretend it’s seventeen and almost-virgin. Honest, I’ve been able to hold out a lot longer.”
“You did fine. All I need to do is look at your gorgeous body, and I’m ready to come.”
He drew her down on him, took her sweet,
sexy mouth. “We’re getting married next week. Hey, isn’t that Jack making noise like he wants some attention?”
“It sounds like he’s awake and tossing around his toys. We’d better get up now and take care of him.”
“Not until you say you’ll marry me.” He pulled her down hard, clasped both hands around her slender waist. “Say it. Please.”
She looked down at him, silent for a long, scary minute. “All right. I’ll marry you. But there’s Jack, starting to cry. If you’ll let me up we can go see what Jack wants.”
So that was why she was hesitant, he thought as he rolled over and got up, extending his hand to her. He saw it in her eyes, and he didn’t blame her. Most women wanted a declaration of love along with the proposal, and Tina deserved one. “You know I love you, baby. Maybe I just want to tell you the right way, the right time.” Even though she wouldn’t expect all the hoopla of diamond rings and engagement parties, he wanted more than anything to watch her eyes light up with surprised delight.
And he wanted to set his family, Jackie’s parents, his teammates and the whole goddamn world straight. Tina was his woman, his life, his love, and nobody better dare say otherwise. “I’m gonna spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me.”
Chapter Seven
Tina’s head was spinning. She could hardly believe all that had gone on in the two days since she’d agreed to marry Keith.
First thing when Mrs. Gardner returned, Keith gave her notice. She’d stay until they moved or until she found a new job, whichever might come first. Meanwhile Tina would look for a housekeeper or housekeeping service both she and Keith could trust fully.
He put his house on the market, furnished, because he said he wanted them to have everything brand-new. They sat in the game room with the realtor while Keith described the sort of place he wanted for them. “Something big enough that we can entertain our friends. But I don’t want anyplace that’s so grand it will intimidate anybody, including me.”
He went on to insist on tight security, which she approved of heartily. While she had no doubt Keith could and would protect her and Jack, she didn’t want groupies climbing down the chimney, or would-be kidnappers maybe getting close enough to grab Jack.
The next morning Keith left for a while. Movers arrived and took down Jackie’s portrait. They were carrying it out when he came back in and looked wistfully at the blank, slightly darker spot on the pale cream colored wall where the painting had hung. “I’ve got more pictures of Jackie. I’ll save some for Jack to have when he’s older. But it was past time for that one to go.”
Tina agreed. It would be hard enough for her to keep from worrying about gorgeous groupies who were very much alive and lusting after Keith. She refused to be jealous of a ghost, and not having that portrait around would make it much easier to keep that little green monster inside her from rearing its head.
“Come with me. Jack’s napping, and Mrs. Gardner will watch him for a little while. We’ve got a few errands to take care of.”
* * * * *
They made a quick visit to his lawyer. Afterward they stopped at the training center where they spoke with Coach Lyle and Keith picked up the ring he’d asked the coach to collect this morning from Memphis’ best-known jeweler. He wanted to have everything ready for the surprise he had in mind for later.
Oh no. When they pulled into the driveway back home he saw a black limo parked at the front door, he knew. Mrs. Gardner apparently had done her last spy job for Georgia and Ted because he was pretty sure they were here and all hell was about to break loose.
“You’re the woman I intend to spend the rest of my life with. Keep that in mind,” he said, squeezing Tina’s hand as they walked inside through the garage door. “I’m afraid we’re in for some unpleasantness.”
She tightened her arm around his waist when they moved through the kitchen toward the front of the house. “It’ll be okay. I love you.”
The empty spot where Jackie’s portrait had been stared at him as he stepped inside the living room. He tried to maintain his composure, but it wasn’t easy when Jackie’s parents were standing stiffly, staring him down with as much malice in their expressions as a pair of linebackers eager to overrun his protection and smash him into the ground. “Georgia, Ted, this is Tina Black. My fiancée. You should have let us know you were coming today.”
Silence reverberated against all four walls of the huge room. Georgia’s sky-blue eyes, so much like her daughter’s, welled up with tears. Grief? The woman obviously was still feeling the pain of losing Jackie, but beyond that Keith sensed her fury behind a barely there screen of civility. Ted just looked miserable, as though he didn’t like the awkward scene but couldn’t figure how to escape it.
Keith couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “Since you’re here, would you like a drink? Some coffee? We might as well sit down. There’s no need for us to stand here staring at each other.”
“How could you?” Georgia took a step toward Keith. “It’s only been a year since you killed my little girl and here you are, selling her house and planning to marry her baby’s nanny.”
When he felt Tina start to tremble, he tightened his arm around her waist, a silent message that everything would be okay. Then he met Georgia’s icy gaze. “I love Tina. So does Jack. I won’t have you saying anything against her. If it makes you feel better, blame me for not dying along with Jackie.”
Ted shot a miserable look toward Keith and Tina. “I’m sorry, Keith. I know you didn’t cause Jackie to die. But Georgia…she misses her so much. And it’s so soon…too soon for you to forget her.”
“I’ll never forget Jackie. We had twelve years together, and I see her every day in our little boy.” Keith paused, looked down at Tina, hated that he could still feel her trembling in his loose embrace. He’d have given anything to have managed for her to avoid this scene. He looked back at Ted. “But life has to go on. Jack needs a mom, not a nanny. And I need Tina.”
Georgia stepped a little closer, as though she intended to slam a bejeweled hand into him or Tina. “Stop right there, Georgia, before you do something you’ll regret.” Keith ground the words out, hoping he sounded as menacing as he felt.
She stopped but shot him a disgusted look. “You—you animal. What you need is a woman to warm your bed. You always did. Jackie said so. It’s a pity nobody ever told you that you don’t have to marry every woman you dip your—”
“Georgia, that’s enough.” Ted put his hands on his wife’s shoulders, drew an evil look from her. “Your hate’s got to go or it will kill you, and I don’t want that. Our daughter picked a good man in Keith. And he didn’t kill her. She did that to herself because she wanted a baby the doctors said she mustn’t have. If her dying was anybody’s fault, it was ours, because we spoiled her rotten all her life. Come on, let’s go home.”
Keith looked at Jackie’s father with new respect. He’d never have believed the mild-mannered gentleman would stand up to Georgia—but he had. “If you’d like to see Jack while you’re here, we’ll go upstairs and see if he’s up from his nap.”
“Next time,” Ted said. “I think what Georgia needs now is to think about some things she’s said.” When he stepped up and held out his hand, Tina extended hers when Keith hesitated. “Be happy, both of you, and take good care of Jack. When you think he’s old enough, let us know and we’ll send him one of Rufus’ pups when it’s weaned. If Tina doesn’t mind, that is.”
“Tina doesn’t mind at all,” she said, smiling at Ted and then at Keith. “I think a pup would be wonderful for all of us.”
Keith hadn’t asked her, but somehow he’d known any woman who took to a baby the way she’d fallen for Jack would love animals, too. “This one will grow up to weigh about sixty pounds,” he warned her after they’d walked Georgia and Ted to their limousine.
“What kind is he?”
“A chocolate lab. At least I guess he’ll be chocolate, although he could be black, I suppose. Ruf
us is brown, with light golden brown eyes. Jackie got him the first year we were married.”
“They took him?” Tina sounded surprised.
“Georgia insisted he’d be too rambunctious, that he might hurt Jack. I miss him. It will be nice to have one of his pups—after we get back from our honeymoon.”
“Mmmm. I can hardly wait.”
An idea crossed Keith’s mind, one he hoped would take the last of the sting from this unexpected encounter. “Come on back to the car. Jack will be okay with Mrs. Gardner for another hour or two. I have a surprise, and I know the perfect spot to give it to you.”
* * * * *
A few minutes later Keith was opening the passenger door of the Escalade, helping her inside before moving around to the Lexus and retrieving some remote controls. “Why aren’t we going in your other car? It’s already warmed up.” She turned to him after he slid behind the wheel and started the powerful vehicle that, so far as she knew, he’d never used since the local Cadillac dealer had brought it to the house.
“You’ll see.” He reached over, took her hand and placed it on his thigh. “We’re going someplace that belongs to us. Just us. And the SUV has more room inside.”
Had the realtor found them a house already? Tina didn’t think so. In the first place, he’d turned out of the gated community where they lived, in the direction of downtown rather than toward the area where the realtor thought they might find the home they wanted.
Then she saw the stadium and realized Keith was bringing her here, to the place where they’d spent their first hours together away from home, where she’d watched him throw passes for the first time at a home game in early December. Tears came to her eyes.