by Sosie Frost
I wasn’t giving her the truth, so I offered the obvious instead. “The league is all about player safety. When your twinkle-toes quarterback has a hundred-million-dollar contract, you gotta protect him. They added new rules, and now we play differently. More conservatively with a kinder, gentler tackle.
“But, aren’t you just…smacking into someone? I didn’t know there was a tackling technique.”
“Want me to show you?”
“Uh, I rather not get hit, thank you very much.”
I didn’t want to hit her either, not unless it was a good spank before a deep thrust. I curled my finger, beckoning her closer. “I won’t hit you. Just trust me.”
“Oh, sure. No problem.”
“You afraid of a little hands-on experience?”
Piper’s lip twisted, an amused smile. “All in the name of education?”
“Of course. Come get me. Show me how you’d tackle me.”
She glanced over the kitchen. “Here?”
I loved her confidence. “Do you really think you can bring me down?”
“I could bring you to your knees in an instant, Cole Hawthorne.”
Wicked woman.
“The key to a clean hit is extending yourself across the ball-carrier’s body.” I took her arms and laid them over me, where she would have gripped me in a tackle. Piper played along, rolling her eyes. “Wrap me up. Aim with your shoulder, not your head. Drive forward.”
Piper barely touched me, but the warmth of her arms stirred through me. She shrugged, her citrus scented curls tickling my chest.
“I’m half your size. It’s ridiculous.”
Rose darted around our feet. Somehow she found one of my shoes. The damn thing was as big as she was, but she presented it to her momma like it was some sort of treasure.
I had an idea. It was a bad idea. A terrifying idea, but I knew how to win her over.
“Think of tackling like it’s a big, intense hug,” I said.
I reached down, grasping the kid under her arms. Rose giggled as I accidentally tickled her, but at least she didn’t scream.
I lifted her from the ground, amazed by how little she weighed and how easily she surrendered to being hauled into the air. I presented the baby, held out at arm’s length.
“There,” I said. “Tackle her.”
Piper wasn’t amused. “You want me to tackle my toddler.”
“Aim your shoulder low, keep your head high, wrap her up, and drive it home.”
She laughed, but she pantomimed what I asked. Rose giggled as her momma leaned in and squeezed her tight. But my lesson fell apart as Piper lifted her baby’s shirt and blew a raspberry on her chubby little stomach. Apparently, Rose found this hilarious.
“Like that?” Piper asked, taking Rose back.
“I have a feeling blowing bubbles on Jack Carson’s tummy will draw more penalties than pile-driving him into the dirt.”
Piper giggled. “Might get more women to watch the games.”
“They say I’m a dirty player, but I’m not that dirty.”
Rose wiggled, and Piper let her scurry on the floor. “Are you a dirty player?”
“What do you think?”
She bit her lip. “I think you’re stronger than you realize.”
“I think I’m exactly as strong as I realize.”
“And that’s why you don’t trust yourself.”
We weren’t talking about football anymore. “Do I scare you, beautiful?”
“Should I be scared? Do I have anything to fear?”
I wished I had an answer for her. “Unless you strap on an Ashenville uniform this week, you should be fine.”
“And if I was an Ashenville player? And you wanted to hit me dirty? What kind of tackle is that?”
She bit her lip, and I stared, enraptured. Was it possible to be jealous of her own bite?
I edged close to her, sensing her heat and inhaling her scent. My cock hardened as her mouth parted, puffing a hesitant breath as she waited my answer.
“There’s a couple illegal maneuvers.” My voice lowered. “I’m not allowed to launch myself at someone, feet off the ground.”
“Like a pounce?”
“It happens so fast, it’s hard to control it. You see what you want and…grab it, anyway you can, before it gets away.”
Piper didn’t move in time. I trapped her in my embrace, tugging her close.
“That…must be dangerous,” she whispered.
“Extremely.”
I pressed against her, reveling in the subtle shudder that raced over her body. She tested to see if I’d let her go. I was a strong man, but even I didn’t have the power to release her now that her curves fit against my body.
Piper licked her bottom lip, but she didn’t fight. Her fingers brushed my arms.
“No wonder this is illegal.”
“There’s worse crimes than this. I’m not allowed to go after someone who is…defenseless.”
“What makes someone defenseless to you?”
“When they can’t fight back.” I tightened my grip on her, earning a soft murmur from her perfectly plump lips. “If they’re already on their back. Or if they’re already going down. I’m not supposed to hunt those who have surrendered.”
A surge of heat hardened by cock until it hurt. I ached, but I liked the pain, the teasing, the chase.
“The rule exists to protect the helpless from ruthless men like me.” I tucked her hair behind her ear, revealing the sweet hollow of her neck. “I’m the kind of man who might take advantage of someone so…vulnerable.”
Piper straightened. “And what if they aren’t so vulnerable? What if they can take it?”
“Not many can.” My voice dropped deep, rough and threatening, that same monstrous edge that drew women in only to scare them away. “They’d have to be…strong.”
“Some people are stronger than they appear.”
“But I’m bigger than I look.”
Piper licked her lips, soft and brown and begging for a bite. “I’ve seen enough.”
“You hardly saw anything. You spied on The Beast, invaded my house, trespassed on my privacy.”
“And I survived.”
“But now I have you as a guest in my home, all for my very own.”
“Doesn’t scare me.”
“Good. I haven’t tried to take you down yet.”
“Do you think you can?”
“Easily.”
Piper’s hands traced a little higher, drifting over my biceps, tracing my tattoo with a curious finger. “Would you take me down clean or dirty?”
“Very dirty.”
“How?”
“With the worst tackle of all.” I leaned down, my lips brushing her temple, her cheek. “A blow to the head.”
I grabbed her, hard, and lowered for a kiss.
It worked.
Piper gripped my chest, her legs weakening and body trembling for me.
I stole her kiss, her air, her very strength. Her skin tasted of citrus, and I and kissed the warmth of her throat. Her heart pounded fierce and hard, and I bit where it throbbed the hardest.
“I know you want to submit,” I whispered. “Surrender to me. Let me fuck you the way you were meant to be fucked.”
She panted against me. “How?”
“On your knees. Offering yourself to me. Mounted like an animal. Wild.”
Piper groaned. I silenced her with another kiss. This time, I was rough and demanding, flicking my tongue over hers with an expectation of something more devious to come.
I’d have her against the wall as I knelt before her, legs spread, that beautiful pussy waiting for my taste, my bite, my pleasure. I nearly took her once, but the water separated us. Only my fingers found that perfect heat between her legs.
I’d have it.
I’d take her.
Again and again.
Through the night, hours of pleasure and fucking. Her body would be used, abused, and worshipped as the goddess sh
e was.
I didn’t expect the sudden collision to my knee.
Or the giggle.
Or the little hands prying our legs apart.
“Mamamamama!”
Rose bounced and clapped. She edged between us just to hook her little arms around Piper’s leg. I froze as she reached for me, squeezing my calf as tight as she could get it.
She smiled, thrilled to be tucked between us in the most inconvenient hug imaginable. She was the cutest cock-block ever, and Piper and I pushed away from each other.
Why wasn’t this child afraid of me?
“I…” Piper’s words trembled, breathless. “She needs to go down for a nap. I really…I should…I have to take care of my daughter, Cole.”
She didn’t just mean for the nap.
It was a warning. No. An excuse.
And I wasn’t having it.
She rushed to the stairs with the baby. Rose waved bye-bye. I sucked in a pained breath.
It didn’t matter that Piper had a kid. Didn’t matter that she thought she was protecting herself by denying both of our desires.
I’d take Piper just the way she wanted it, how she needed it.
Hard. Fast. Bestial.
Because I didn’t know any other way to fuck a woman.
But for her…I’d learn.
12
Piper
“Cole Hawthorne will be your biggest mistake.” Dad lowered his voice, muttering his chosen insult. “Well…your second worst mistake. I don’t think you’ll get pregnant again.”
I had a packet of birth control pills in my purse, but they’d find a better home stuffed up Dad’s ass.
Why did I even answer the phone? Two weeks of radio silence from Dad had been merciful, but he’d finally called to learn why and how I was acting as representation for Cole.
I considered hanging up, but no one insulted my daughter—least of all her grandfather.
“Leave Rose out of this.” I kept my voice soft as she slept in the crib. And here I thought her granddad wanted to Facetime to see her. Apparently, he just wanted to fight. “And I didn’t ask your opinion of Cole Hawthorne.”
“Obviously not. I would have warned you not to take him as a client. You have no idea what you’re doing. He’ll ruin your career...and your life.”
“Don’t start.”
“You’re living with him?”
I wasn’t having this conversation. “It’s none of your business. I can take care of myself, Dad.”
“Or you can let Jasper do it.” He sighed. “Piper, please. He’s a decent man. You and him used to get along so well. Marry him and stay at home. Raise Rose and have a bunch more babies. That’s all he and I want for you.”
“Now you want me to have babies?”
“I want you to settle down. This agenting life isn’t for you, and you’ve always been the…intellectual sort. You could have your babies, take care of your husband, and study all those books you love at home—nice and comfortable.”
I nearly popped a vein. I gritted my teeth and counted to ten.
Didn’t work.
How did Cole cope with his anger issues all the time?
“I want more in this life than to be Jasper’s baby-momma,” I said.
“It’s a little late for that, Piper…unless you plan to be Cole’s too.”
I ended the call and almost swore.
Did he think I was helpless? Like I couldn’t care for my daughter and manage my client and live my own happy and healthy life without him?
Or worse—without Jasper?
I had better things on the horizon for me than to be Jasper’s mindless little sexpot, personal chef, and womb-on-demand. He didn’t want me. He wanted the kids, the image, the pretty woman on his arm.
I was no one’s trophy.
But for the past two years I’d lived in the shadows, fearing I blew my chance to change my life. Well, no more. It was time to take that first step and search for the adventure I wanted.
And I knew exactly where to find it.
Rose immediately fell asleep after a long day of paddling in the pool and running in the garden. I carried her baby monitor with me and crept through the mansion. Cole’s room was in the west wing. He’d warned it was a forbidden place to me…unless I wanted to get trapped in his bedroom.
Once upon a time, it was just a tease.
Tonight, I wanted to make it a reality.
It had been four days since our kiss—four days of avoiding him and sneaking through a house large enough to lose myself and still end up in his shadow. The Monarchs were away again this week, flying out tomorrow morning for the west coast game. Not many men went to bed early on a Friday night, and Cole was no exception.
I knocked, and it was like he knew I was coming.
I stepped into the largest chamber in the mansion, a room complete with crimson accented sitting parlor, full master bath, and a beautiful balcony overlooking the rose garden. My apartment might have fit within the walls, but the dark, sullen decor cast it in shadows. It made the space draw close. Smaller. Confined.
His own cage.
Black sheets draped his bed. Silk. Regal. Could a bed be intimidating?
“Did you get lost, beautiful?” His words rumbled through me, layering me in a curtain of shivers. “You know what happens to little girls alone in the woods.”
“Am I interrupting you?”
“Interrupting me?” His eyes flashed—blue and fierce. “I haven’t seen you for days. That’s one epic game of hide and seek you and Rosie are playing.”
“I needed time to think.”
“And I suppose you’re here to drop a grand revelation on me?”
“Something like that.”
I set the baby monitor on the couch, volume up. Rose didn’t make a sound.
I paced the room. How many women had been to the lair of The Beast? Any he liked? None of them? Cole talked about his prowess, but I couldn’t imagine him sharing his home, his space, his life with anyone. He didn’t do small-talk, and he couldn’t handle intimacy. Cole knew what he wanted, and any woman crazy enough to give herself to him understood what he had planned.
Was I that brave?
That stupid?
That curious?
“A little over two years ago, I got pregnant,” I said. “And I gave up everything. My education. College. My life.”
Cole let me talk. He hadn’t judged me, not like the rest of the world when I announced the pregnancy or held Rose on my hip without wearing a wedding ring. He was obviously terrified of my baby, but it hadn’t changed his opinion of me.
That was a rare quality in a man. In a person.
In a friend.
And I hadn’t considered him a friend until now.
“I haven’t had romance in my life,” I said.
Cole’s smirk grew. “You got pregnant without any romance?”
“Jasper wasn’t the most attentive.”
Cole crossed his arms, the muscles in his bare chest tensing. “I don’t know how a man could take his eyes off you, let alone his hands.”
That was the idea, and the rough growl in his words sent an intense shiver along my spine.
“I studied French literature,” I said. “The classics. But I was always looking for passion. Excitement. That moment of pure romance and ecstasy. It was my own little adventure without stepping foot outside the library. It was…safe.”
Cole exhaled. “There’s nothing’s safe in here, beautiful.”
“Do you promise?”
“Feeling brave?”
I was feeling a lot of things. “I spent my life wanting more than what I’ve been given—more than an office job or a loveless marriage of convenience that would only benefit my husband. But I got stuck longing for that life-altering moment for me and Rose.” I met his gaze. “I never chased after that wild unknown that I wanted. I didn’t know how to find it.”
“Until now,” he said.
“Until now.”
&nbs
p; His jaw clenched. A warning or an invitation?
I don’t know why I explained myself to a man who wasn’t moved by grand declarations and moments of revelation. Cole acted. He took. He seized. Nothing about a night in his arms was cerebral or planned—it just was. Uninhibited and passionate.
Everything that once scared me.
The only thing I wanted.
“I need you,” I whispered. “For one night. Just to feel it. To experience it—and you. That power and strength and danger.”
“And what makes you think I’d give it to you?”
“Because I know how much you want me. You can’t stop looking at me. I felt it in your arms. I tasted it in your kiss. And I want you too, Cole.”
“Do you?” His voice lowered. “You want The Beast?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
Was it my imagination, or did he grow? Cole towered over me, a pillar of muscle and fierceness that promised the ravishment I craved. Dark, despite the fairy tale blue of his eyes. Wild, even with his golden hair falling to his shoulders. Treacherous, though I knew I could trust this monster of a man to take me, mount me, and offer every pleasure I’d denied myself.
“I’m yours,” I whispered.
“You don’t know what you’re promising…can you handle it?”
“Just try to keep up with me.”
Cole’s smile bared his teeth.
I had no chance to breathe. No opportunity to get ready. No moment to soothe my trembling nerves before he was upon me.
Cole seized me, and I was trapped. Penned against a mountain of muscle and a man more animal than human. He growled, gripping my hair in his curling fingers to hold me still. Presented for him.
Immobilized.
He stared at me. “Have you been with anyone since…?”
I shook my head no.
“I should go easy on you.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Cole.” I whispered the words, clipped and broken so near to his lips. “I can handle a little beast.”
“But it’s not little, beautiful. If I fuck you, you take it all. Every inch. Every thrust. You get me?”
“We’ll see who breaks first, Mr. Hawthorne.” I stared at his mouth, waiting for that consuming kiss. “I’ve wanted you from the instant I saw you.”
“I knew I’d take you from the minute you stepped into my house.”
