by H. J. Bellus
“I knew the day I met you that I was going to marry you. Found a little shop in downtown, and this was the ring I saw. It was fated to be on your finger.”
Our clothes are off before I count to ten, and the next thing I know, the greedy woman is pulling me down on top of her. I give her just a bit of my weight.
“You’re gorgeous.” She is so damn beautiful my chest aches when I look at her. That barely noticeable bump is the sexiest thing I’ve seen.
Her breathing picks up when I bring her hand to her chest, so I get a better view of her cotton-candy-pink, princess cut, two-carat diamond ring. Pink is her favorite color. I’m so damn glad she still loves it.
I lean down and kiss the juncture where the metal meets her flesh, and squeeze my eyes shut praying like a man who has everything. Pleading with God to always protect us.
“Liam.”
“Mmmm,” I answer, sliding my mouth from her hand to the slope of her breasts.
“I need you.”
Not as much as I need her.
“Tell me what you want,” I demand.
“I want you to fuck me.”
The beautiful turmoil of emotions inside of me breaks free. I’m kissing, licking, and biting my way down her curves, making sure I leave no fucking part untouched. We both want the same thing. Placing my hands on her thighs, I push them open, and her moans are sweet fucking torture when I bite down gently on her clit.
I coat my face, my scruff grazing her thighs, and when she lifts her hips, I let my taste buds have a feast on her pussy until the agonizing pain in my balls tightens and I could come. I’ll be damned if I let loose without being buried deep inside of her until she’s crying hard for me to fuck her harder.
Crawling back up her body, I flip us over, her legs straddling my waist. She guides herself to my cock and impales herself on me in one deep, hard thrust. “Fucking hell.” There isn’t anything that has ever felt this good. My hands roam to her ass, her hips move up and down, and our minds turn into a dirty frenzy.
I hike up and grab her by the back of the neck, her tight nipples brushing across my chest, my mouth claiming hers just as she slams down on my dick.
“God, Liam,” she moans into my mouth. I am so ready to blow, but not before I have her coming all over me.
“We’re getting married,” I confirm and place kisses up her neck. “And we’re having a baby.” I tweak a nipple, being careful of the sensitivity. “Your pussy is addictive.” I tweak the other.
Justice moans as she continues to rock her hips against me. She repeats the motion over and over. My cock is begging to fire off. It takes all the willpower I have not to let go. My goddess plants her hands on my chest, sitting up and cupping both of her breasts. The sight of our forever shining back at me causes me to lose all sense of control.
When her slick, hot pussy clamps down, I see my future ahead of me, and I come harder than I ever have before. My world shifts. Nothing has ever throttled me and knocked me down with this amount force.
“You do know you’re talking to someone who understands stalkers, right?” I damn near growl at Cain while pouring my protein powder into the mixer.
Justice is finishing getting herself ready to go to the airport with her dad to pick up Danika, and I’m going to take a run and set up dinner plans. Last night, we ravished each other until my dick was sore. I need to take her out to dinner or something to celebrate. Also need to call my publicist to see how he wants to handle telling the world about our engagement. The rock on her finger isn’t going to go unnoticed for long.
“Cain. Goddamnit, you going to tell me what was in the package?” I flip on the blender to drown out my voice.
I need to get a grip, and so does her dad. I’m no idiot. I know once this fucker is caught, Cain isn’t going to let up on her security. It’s the way it has to be, and I’m okay with it, but if he doesn’t spill and tell me what was sent, he’s going to need security from me because I’m about to lose my shit and go off on his ass. And after the beauty of last night, there is no way in hell either one of us wants her hearing about this. Not sure if I’ve ever seen Cain this shaken up, not even the night we first found out.
“It wasn’t a package; it was a picture.” He tosses a folded-up piece of paper on the counter; his hands are shaking like crazy.
I pull it from its resting spot, unfold it, and all my nerves take a dive to the floor. “How the hell did someone take this?” My own words echo in my head. “Son of a bitch.” I grip the counter so tightly a sharp pain shoots through my shoulder.
“You getting it now. There’s not a chance in hell that whoever is doing this doesn’t work for us. The thing is, we had security everywhere. It’s going to take me days to comb through every person who works there. Fuck, Roan and I have checked out everyone thoroughly. We were the ones who brought half of our security from home out here. Double checked our new hires. I haven’t made a mistake in years, and now some crazy fuck is after my daughter. If she finds out about this, it will forever ruin your proposal.” He doesn’t have to worry about me telling her.
I can feel the fear in my chest threatening to rub me raw. It sits there until my anger drives me toward wondering why people think they can barge into someone’s life and twist them up. I switch the blender off. My protein shake isn’t desirable to me anymore; neither is running. What I’d love to do is ram my fist into the chest of the cold-hearted motherfucker behind this. Fear and anger tighten in the pit of my stomach. My life has gone from the best I’ve felt to the worst in less than twelve fucking hours.
“At least you have a lead of some sort. Do you think this is mafia related, someone infatuated with her, or some sick fan of mine?”
The thought of this coming down on Justice because of me makes sick. I can’t go down that road right now because it would tear me in half. I hand him back the picture of all of us standing around last night while I proposed. The sick fuck who took the picture made sure to zoom in on Justice and me while kissing.
Angered words are written at the top in thick, fiery crimson marker. You’ll never marry him, bitch.
“I don’t know. That’s the problem. Some days we think it is, others we don’t. You’ve never had a problem in the past, and neither has she. This entire thing has me baffled.” Cain runs his hands through his hair. “I just don’t fucking know what to think anymore. Until we figure out who this is, I’m pulling the men I have following Justice off her, and I’m watching her myself.”
I nod, swallow the thick worry clogging my throat. “Thanks, Cain, and thanks for not keeping me in the dark on this.”
“No problem, son.” He pats my shoulder and strides out of the room. The man owns the room once he’s in it, and you feel his presence long after he leaves.
I don’t miss the fact he referred to me as son. He doesn’t use that term loosely. My chest swells with pride. We will get through this one way or the other.
Even though the last thing I want to do is run, I force myself once Justice and Cain leave. I don’t take advantage of the late Indian Summer day; instead, I go down to my personal gym in the basement. The room doesn’t have much besides a treadmill, stair stepper, and bench press with weights. It gets the job done.
I keep a steady pace, not wanting to overwork my body before the next game in a few days. The picture, the lingerie, and hot pink flowers drift through my mind, and before I know it, I’m pushing my body to complete exhaustion in addition to a grueling practice today.
25
Justice
The sight in front of me never gets old. It’s a perfect scene I’ll treasure for years to come. The emerald-green field, perfect white lines, and the Idaho Diamonds logo shining brightly in the middle of it all. Goosebumps race up and down my arms. I shiver even though I’m nuzzled in one of Liam’s hoodies. He has a dozen of them in all different colors and styles, but the one thing they have in common is his scent. My favorite.
“This freaking rocks, Justice.” Danika bounces
up and down in her seat. “I’m speechless, and you know that never happens.”
“Am I going to need to pop you a Xanax during the game if you’re this wound up about a walkthrough practice?” I shake my head.
“I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight, that’s for damn sure.”
I grin to myself knowing damn well I’ll sleep just fine tonight. I always look forward to our game day ritual. I shiver and sink further into the stadium seat. The early November air is crisp and chilly. It won’t be long until winter is upon us.
I look up to the sky, the retractable roof wide open. The head coaches decided to keep it that way until the snow comes to prepare our players for games in Chicago and Wisconsin.
“There’s nothing sexier than muscles peeking through those cut-off T-shirts, and don’t get me started on the shorts,” Danika whispers, watching as the players finish up.
“I’ve only noticed the tight ass on one player, and believe me, there is something sexier.” I rise to my feet keeping my vision on Liam, the same way I did when we were in college. I elbow Danika. “Watch this and remember he’s all mine.”
Liam jogs with a steady precision to the sidelines, snags his water bottle, and tilts his face to the sun. It’s the same every single time. I’m not sure if he even realizes he’s doing it. He pours it on his face, cooling himself down, picks up another, and chugs it down. But it’s the next action that always gets me heated up to the point my core tingles, and I countdown the seconds until my hands are on him.
In that sexy smooth-as-hell way men do it, Liam reaches behind his back and pulls his practice jersey over his head in one jerk. My fingers itch to be the ones undoing his pads instead of his, and I swear to God, when he bares his chest, he could be the next man in the Dr. Pepper commercial.
“Jaw up, Danika, jaw up,” I sing out, watching Liam leap over the low railing and take two steps at a time until he’s in row five, pulling me into his side. I rub my hands on his chest, loving the slick sensation of his sweat on my skin.
“Ladies.” He nods, then dips his head, giving me a chaste kiss on my cheek. Then shoots me his evil eye.
“Don’t you dare!” I warn, trying to push his chest. “I mean it, Liam Blake.”
“What are you talking about?” Danika asks.
I back out of the row, putting distance between Liam and myself, smiling the entire time.
“Liam thinks it’s funny to play the wet dog trick. Last time was back in college, but he keeps threatening me with it.” I shake a finger at him. “No sex for a week!”
Not much of a threat, since his reaction is a full-out belly laugh. Danika joins in on the fun harassing me about my lack of self-control when it comes to Liam. I hold my ground, sticking up for myself until Danika so eloquently points out the steady beat that was coming from the pantry last night.
I shrug and grin like a fool in love, well, because that’s what I am. “Fine, but not fair siding with him, Danika. You’re a traitor.”
“Oh, baby, can’t help my natural charisma.” Liam strides toward me.
His sweaty body presses into mine along with droplets of water falling from his hair. All his hard work and determination would make an ultimate meaning of sexy in a book.
“Love you, baby.” I reach up on my tiptoes and kiss him. When our lips meet, a strong flutter floats around my abdomen.
I pull back and drop my hand to my baby bump. At first, fear strikes. This feeling is entirely different from the clenching when I was going through morning sickness. My stomach feels as if tiny bubbles are popping.
“What’s wrong?” Liam grabs my face, forcing me to look up at him. “Are you going to be sick?”
I shake my head from side to side in slow motion. It happens again. I grab Liam’s hand and bring it to our baby bump.
“I… I think Chip is moving,” I stutter.
Liam’s eyes go wide. Both of his strong hands are now on my stomach. My eyes well with tears. Chip is the nickname Liam started calling the baby because of my obsession with chocolate chips lately. I eat them with everything. It’s a serious addiction.
I run my hands through his hair while watching his facial expressions. “I don’t think you’ll be able to feel it for a couple of weeks yet.”
“Was that the first time?” he asks.
I nod.
I look over to Danika, who has tears running down her face. She’s armed with her cell phone, snapping pictures of the moment. I whisper “Thank you” to her.
“Just when I think life can’t get any better. Our baby moved. I can’t wait to feel you kick, Chip. I’m happy as hell I was here to witness this.” Liam leans in and kisses my belly. It flutters all over again. The smallest of pops. Incredible.
“You better shower so we can get to the hotel. I promise to tell you if it happens again,” I tell Liam.
He doesn’t move right away, and I’m not going to force him. This moment is too special. A miracle.
Not sure how long we stand there this way. I really don’t care. I miss his hand when he eventually jogs back down to the field and heads for the locker room.
Once he’s out of sight, I link my arm through Danika’s and walk toward my dad and explain how the entire team stays at a hotel even before home games. The purpose being getting the entire team on the same page.
“They’ll go through a final review in a private conference room, eat a healthy dinner, and then it’s lights out early.”
“So, not much of an opportunity to hit on a fine-ass football player tonight?” she asks, quirking a brow as we lean against the wall.
I look over my shoulder, noticing familiar faces from New York that weren’t here before. I wonder if something is going on.
“Absolutely not. You do know you’re talking to the woman more invested in this team than anyone else. Unless you want your ass officially kicked by me, you are on your best behavior.”
“Off season?” she pleads.
I’m doing my best to pay attention to her while watching my dad point in different directions, his hands and mouth moving in sync. Mom stands beside him. Her eyes are glued to mine.
My stalker has suddenly stopped all contact with me. I have a horrible feeling something is going down and they are keeping it from me.
“Promise. You can have all the surveying and mingling time you’d like in the off season.”
My gut clenches when my parents stroll up to us with my bags. I swear with everyone pampering me while I’m pregnant, reality is going to be a real bitch once I have this baby. I’m one spoiled girl.
“What’s going on?” I tilt my head to the side and study them.
“Nothing is going on. You ready?” He’s lying to me, and when we step outside, I know for a fact he is when Alex joins us and they act like we are one big happy family, which we are.
Danika and Alex have always enjoyed ribbing each other. It’s their thing. It would normally soothe my soul to hear them banter back and forth.
“Are you guys keeping something from me?” I blurt out.
A light chuckle escapes me at how insane and yet perfect my life is right now. It’s too perfect. Things are too quiet.
“If something were happening, I’d tell you.” Dad gives me a sideways stare.
“That’s not true. You wouldn’t tell me.”
I climb into the back of the SUV, and even though I want to smile when I see Alex sitting in the middle, I can’t.
“Like old days, but the backseat version.” Danika leans forward with a smile. “It was always Justice driving, Alex in the middle or backseat, and me riding bitch.”
“Jesus, when are you going to grow up?” Alex wipes his face.
Mom laughs lightly, I’m sure recalling the good old days when we were young, wild, and up to no good. Too many memories to count. Dad pulls out of the parking lot, weaving his way through traffic. He turns up the radio, which so happens to be playing Elvis Presley’s Fools Rush In, and I don’t miss Dad putting his hand on the co
nsole, covering Mom’s.
They are still so in love. A true testament to the life they’ve endured. They are perfect role models. A love story any little girl would die to live out. As I’m studying them, I notice Dad check the rearview mirror. He goes to open his mouth, but doesn’t have a chance to get a word out before the back of the SUV is jolted forward.
Confusion strikes. My seatbelt locks with my chest thrusting forward and neck snapping back in a rush. The car spins out of control. When it comes to a stop, I’m still drowning in chaos, wondering what in the hell just happened. Everyone is safe, and Dad is hollering for us not to get out.
I glance to my left just in time to see a bright flash of white before the sound of metal grinding against metal envelops me in the racket that ensues. I slam into Alex’s body next to me, and then we are spinning out of control.
All my senses are lost at the smell of smoke, and the paranoia assaults me.
Once the vehicle comes to a stop, I’m barely able to focus on one thing, let alone anything at all. There are voices screaming. I reach up to wipe something wet and warm from my face the same time the same sensation crawls up the back of my throat. I can’t get oxygen. My chest is heavy, as are my eyelids. I let them flutter shut and see Liam’s bright, dazzling smile reflecting back at me. He’s standing before me with his arms wide open.
Someone splutters in a choking cough. I struggle to find where the noise is coming from, but there’s too much smoke. Then I realize it’s me at the same time a hand wraps around my biceps and tugs me.
“No.” Alex’s fist flies in front of my face.
I fight to inhale one more long pull of oxygen before my world goes completely raven black. Liam isn’t waiting behind my eyelids this time. No one is.
26
Alex
Even though it’s cold as fuck out, I can feel the sweat drench my skin, the throbbing behind my eyes from the smoke burns, the ringing screams from a moment ago vibrate in my ears, and the thumping of my heart against my chest pushes me forward as I sprint after this fucker who ran into us.