by Lily Harlem
My legs were lead, my mind whirring. Rick had just made our relationship very public. All I could see were a mass of microphones and a sea of camera lenses angled my way.
“Go on,” Carly said, pushing at the small of my back. “Go to him.”
In a daze I moved forward, people stepping out of my way and cameras following my movements. When I reached Rick, he grinned down, his eyes intense and his skin shiny. There was a trickle of sweat at the angle of his jaw.
“Hi,” he said. “Enjoy the game?”
I nodded.
Rick glanced at one of the cameramen. “You still rolling, Phil?” The cameraman gave the thumbs-up sign.
Rick grinned then reached forward and grabbed me. Suddenly I was flattened against his big, hard body as his lips took hard possession of mine. I scrabbled for purchase on his stiff shoulder pads as he tipped me backward, lower and lower, my spine arching and my long hair surely skimming the floor.
On and on he kissed me, his tongue probing, his scent, his taste filling my senses and my mind. My heart swelled with love and I kissed him back with as much enthusiasm as he was kissing me. Out in the stands, thunderous applause rolled through the arena, followed by excited screaming fans. The sound of clapping in the tunnel rang through my ears and still Rick kept on kissing me, holding me tight and secure in his arms as if he didn’t ever want to let me go.
Eventually our kiss paused, but only long enough for him to murmur into my ear, “I love you, Dana Wilcox, event organizer.” Then he was kissing me again, this time as if he might truly never stop.
Epilogue
Standing on the chariot, I smiled for our cheesy arrival shot at the engagement party. I was wearing a full-length strapless white dress that hugged my figure and was as toga style as I was prepared to go. It had gold strapping around my waist and under my breasts and I’d piled my hair high and weaved a thin gold braid through it. I’d added thick black eyeliner and ruby-red lipstick and was pleased with the overall look.
Rick, like a lot of the players, had gone for a gladiator outfit, and I had to feel sorry for the barmen who were also wearing shorts and gold armor but looked like a bunch of wimps in comparison to the beefy hockey players.
As we stepped off the chariot, Carly and Brick were waiting to greet us. Carly wore a beautiful pale-pink dress, similar style to mine, and had placed a gold leaf tiara on her head. Brick looked like a pumped-up Julius Caesar in a white tunic top, leather sandals and a crown similar to Carly’s. I couldn’t help but wonder just what she’d done to persuade him to wear it. I didn’t think it would be wise to ask.
“Dana,” Carly said. “Everything is going wonderfully, Maddie is a superstar.”
I glanced over at Maddie chatting to the catering supervisor. She had the clipboard clutched tight against her chest and wore her most serious expression. Next to her stood Cassie, directing two men carrying sound equipment. Mae had offered to sing several of her hits as an engagement present to the couple.
“Great,” I said. “How’s the ice sculpture holding up?”
Brick laughed. “It’s dripping, but you can still make out it’s the Trojan horse.”
I smiled and took a glass of champagne a passing waiter offered. “Is the food okay?”
“Beautiful,” Carly said, reaching a fresh glass for herself and knocking half of it back in one go. “People are already tucking in. The fruit is out of this world and the bread and cheese is amazing.” She paused and looked over my shoulder. Her face lit up. “Hi, Brooke, how are you?”
Rick and I stepped aside as Phoenix and Brooke Taylor joined us.
Brooke smiled and pushed curly blonde hair over her shoulder. “Fine, thanks, Carly, and congratulations to the both of you, the party looks great.” She wore a wide white toga-style top and a huge collection of gold bangles on each wrist.
“She’s tired,” Phoenix said, stepping up close to his wife and resting his hand on her swollen belly. “We agreed that she could come if she spent at least eighty percent of the time sitting down.”
“When are you due?” I asked.
“Not for another seven weeks, but he will not stop fussing.” She rolled her eyes but then smiled lovingly up at her husband.
“I’m not fussing,” Phoenix said in his gruff voice. “I just don’t want you to overdo it and be ill like last week.”
“Oh, that was nothing,” Brooke said, waving her hand in the air.
Phoenix shook his head then grinned at me. “It’s nice to see you again, Dana.”
Brooke held out her hand and shook mine. “It’s great to meet you. I’ve heard your name mentioned several times lately.”
“All good I hope,” I said, taking a sip of my drink.
“Oh yes, all good.” Brooke smiled, and I couldn’t help but think how pretty she was. Even though she looked tired there was a glow to her skin and her stunning blue eyes were sparkling.
“We should go out back,” Brick said, curling his fingers with Carly’s. “Your dad wants to make a speech before Mae starts singing.”
“Okay.” Carly nodded. “You all coming?”
“Are there chairs?” Phoenix asked.
Carly laughed. “Yes, there’s chairs.”
Rick rested a hand in the small of my back and we followed the other guests through Carly and Brick’s grand home to the back garden. A stage had been erected, complete with sound system and microphone, and two Roman-style pillars wrapped in fake ivy dominated either side. Enormous vases of tropical flowers were dotted around and the pool had been sprinkled with water lilies and had a huge fountain set in the middle.
“It looks very Roman,” I said to Rick. “The girls really went all out with the theme.”
“Yeah, you should be proud.”
I nodded. “Yes, but it’s hard to let go of the reins. Best Laid Plans is something I’ve worked hard on for a long time.”
A passing waiter switched our empty glasses for fresh ones.
Rick pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I know what you mean. Control is something I like too, but one thing I’ve learned as captain is sometimes you have to delegate, trust other people to do what you’ve asked and also allow them to make decisions without you. It’s called teamwork.”
I nodded and was about to reply when I spotted a gentleman with wavy gray hair taking the stage. The crowd hushed and Brick wound his arms around Carly and looked up expectantly.
The gentleman on the stage tapped the microphone. “Testing, testing,” he said in a booming, echoing voice.
I jumped at the sudden noise and Rick stepped in close behind me, wrapped one arm around my waist and pulled me into his body.
“It’s working then.” The man laughed and everyone chuckled with him. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Carly’s father.” He paused and smiled at his daughter who beamed up at him. “I’d just like to take a moment of your time to say how thrilled I am, I mean we are…” He pointed into the crowd toward a woman who looked so similar to Carly it would have been impossible not to put them together as mother and daughter. “How thrilled we are that Carly and Brick have made the delightful decision to spend the rest of their lives together. Marriage has to be worked at, but the more laughs you can throw into the mix the less like work it feels. And when I see Carly and Brick together it always warms my heart to see how much time they spend laughing, surely a great starting point to a lifetime together.” He swallowed and his eyes looked moist. “So please, can I ask you all to raise your glasses and congratulate Carly and Brick on their engagement.”
I lifted my glass, murmured, “Congratulations,” and leaned back into Rick, sipping my champagne. He slid a hand down my waist, over my hip and onto my thigh.
“You ain’t wearing panties?” he whispered, re-exploring my hip area for signs of underwear.
“Of course not, they’d ruin the outline of my dress,” I said, feigning horror.
He pressed a hand over my belly and pulled me closer. The hardness of his growing erec
tion jabbed into my lower back. “Oh jeez,” he muttered. “Now look what you’ve done.”
“Hi.” Mae came bouncing up, looking every bit the country-and-western star she was. “Great to see you.” She flashed a grin up at Rick then looked back at me. “Awesome party, Dana. You always manage it.”
“Hello, Mae,” I said and started to step sideways. Rick clamped his hand on my waist and held me tight in front of him. He was using me to screen what now felt like a full-blown hard-on. “Congratulations on your latest single,” I added.
Mae rubbed her hands in glee. “I know, it’s already in the top ten and it was only released last week.”
A naughty devil on my shoulder told me to wriggle against Rick, just a little, just to hear his sharp intake of breath and feel his body tense against mine. “The video is great, I saw it on CMT,” I said conversationally, acting for all the world like a cock primed for action wasn’t straining against me.
“You like the video?” Mae asked. “I worried it was too raunchy for some of my fans.”
“Nothing wrong with raunchy.” I giggled and, as Mae’s attention was caught by someone onstage, I slipped a hand behind my back and, through Rick’s shorts, stroked my fingertips along the length of his cock.
His hold on my hip tightened and his fingers pressed into my flesh. “You’ll pay for that, wild thing,” he muttered. “Big-time.”
“Mmm, I hope so,” I said, putting my empty glass on a passing waiter’s tray.
As the waiter paused, Rick put his half-drunk champagne down, too.
“Right, that’s my cue. Enjoy the party, catch you later,” Mae said over her shoulder as she walked through the crowd.
As the first chord of Mae’s latest hit belted out, Rick released me, grabbed my hand and dragged me back into the house.
“Where are we going?” I asked, tottering behind him.
“I’m going to show you what happens when you tease me in public.”
My heart rate tripled and my stomach somersaulted. He was walking with such purpose and the expression on his face was only comparable to the look he gave the net just before he’d driven the puck home in Tuesday’s game.
“But Rick, we can’t—”
We rounded a doorway and Rick crashed headlong into Brick, who was dashing back outside.
“Hey,” Brick said, steadying himself. “Where are you going? You’ll miss Mae singing.”
“Won’t be long,” Rick muttered, pushing past him.
Brick ceased all movement, narrowed his eyes and studied Rick. “Ah, I get it, okay, well, in that case, second bedroom on the left has a lock on the door.”
Rick grunted a response and the next thing I knew I was trotting up the wide staircase behind him. As we reached the landing, Mae’s smooth, high-pitched voice flooded the house and the beat of her song became a drum pounding the walls and floors. “Rick,” I gasped as he threw open the second door we came to. “We can’t do this here, what about Brick, he knows—”
“Brick knows lots of stuff about me. He’s not going to worry about us borrowing a bedroom.”
He tugged me inside the darkened room. “But I—”
The door slammed shut, the lock clicked into place and Rick’s body pinned me against the wall. He stared down at me with a look of such carnal need and impatient desire that I couldn’t help but tremble at what I’d started downstairs.
“I need you,” he said, harnessing both my wrists, lifting them over my head and trapping them against the wall in just one of his hands.
“I need you, too,” I gasped as my fingers flexed and unflexed in his tight grip.
He explored my waist and hips with his free hand, feeling me through the silky fabric of my dress. He squeezed my breasts a little roughly, enough to make me groan with part pleasure, part discomfort. I was getting wet for him, burning up for him.
“How does this thing come off?” he asked, sucking in hurried, rasping breaths and tugging at my dress.
“Zip, left side.”
He fumbled until he found the slim catch for the zipper. With a quick yank it was down and my dress released and fell to the floor, bunching around my sandals and leaving me utterly naked and trapped against the wall.
“Fuck, you weren’t kidding about the no underwear thing,” he muttered.
Blood rushed to my face, my pussy and my breasts. Rick was so enormous, looming over me, owning me, taking me. The bass of the music was loud and thrummed through my ears but the sound of my own pulse racing was louder and faster.
Rick gave me a quick, hard kiss then traveled down my throat, nipping at the cords of my neck.
I groaned and squirmed, wanting more, wanting all of it. It was so exciting to be naked and pinned in place for his exploration.
He tightened his hand on my right breast, squeezing and lifting it to his mouth. He suckled and licked, drawing the nipple to a stiff point. My knees weakened and my back arched into him as my body sought more sensation. I needed to orgasm, I needed more of the strange pleasure-infused emotions that surrendering to Rick gave me, allowing him to do what he wanted, the bite of erotic pain and the push to try something new.
He straightened and cupped my chin in his palm. “You know what you’re going to get for teasing me, don’t you?” he asked with a wickedly smooth grin.
I shook my head. My chest was heaving, my pussy quivering.
His grin broadened. “A spank.”
Instantly heat flooded my buttocks. The skin actually tingled and tightened just at the word spank. “But…but what if someone hears?” I asked in a shaky but excited voice.
He let go of my chin and traced his fingertip downward, over my sternum, my belly and onto the slit of my pussy lips. “Over Mae’s noise, I don’t think so.” He smiled wider and dimples pitted his cheeks. “I take it you’d like it hot and fast on your butt, then.”
Spank me, God, yes, please spank me again.
I didn’t have a chance to answer with more than a brief nod because Rick scooped me up, took four ground-eating paces to the bed and sat at the edge with me over his knee. As the world turned upside down, my legs flailed and so did my arms, but he held me tight over his lap, my toes just touching the floor and my hands gripping the side of the bed.
“Such a pretty ass,” he said, smoothing his calloused hand over the soft round globes. “I adore your ass, Dana, so pretty and pale.” He adjusted his legs and I fell farther over him, my breasts hanging loose, my body molding neatly to his thighs. My bare butt was the highest point of me but despite the vulnerable position I felt safe, I knew what was coming, I knew how Rick could make me feel when he brought me to climax this way. I writhed, feeling impatient and also embarrassed by my agonizing arousal and my desperate need to feel his hand sparking pain into my flesh.
But he didn’t slap me. Instead he explored between my legs, his thick fingers sliding down the cleft in my buttocks, over my anus to my sopping pussy. I groaned and spread my legs wider. Opened my eyes and saw several loose tendrils of my updo brushing the carpet.
He spread my juices with his fingertip, sinking into my needy pussy then reaching to fret my clit. I groaned, praying for release from the ache sizzling in my pelvis.
I didn’t get relief. His finger trailed back up, rubbing at the smooth patch of skin between my entrance and my back hole, tenderly working it, gliding over it then finally resting over my tight rosebud.
Clenching at the intimate touch, I wriggled and fisted the sheets I could reach. “Rick,” I gasped.
“Shh,” he soothed. “Nothing unless you ask, baby.” He smoothed over the wrinkles of skin but didn’t penetrate me. Blood rushed to my head, fuddling my thoughts. But my overwhelming emotion was the memory of him touching me there before, probing my bottom at the moment of orgasm. It had been a wild ride of sensation, a split second of being completely owned and penetrated. Part of me wanted him to take the decision out of my hands, slip his digit into my forbidden entrance again. But part of me was too scared to tak
e that step.
Out of nowhere came a slap. It landed sharply against my right butt cheek, surprising me with its force.
Instantly the hot bloom shot to my clit. I bit my bottom lip, not wanting to make any more noise than we were. Though Rick was right, the music was at night-club level, no one would hear a thing. I groaned and whimpered as his rough hand smoothed over the pain, stroking where he’d just seared tender skin.
As suddenly as the first a second blow rained down, left cheek this time. Flames of heat scorched across my skin, melting through my flesh to my pussy and clit. The need to both clutch the pain and writhe from it was equal.
More slaps hit. Fast, stinging strokes that held controlled power. My pussy was weighted, engorged, my clit aching, begging for stimulation. I winced at each slap, yet thrust up my ass for the next. Begging for it. Needing it.
“Oh baby, that’s it,” Rick said in a gritty voice. “Absolutely fucking perfect.”
As suddenly as the spanking had started it was over. Rick lifted me as though I were a feather and tossed me down on the bed. Heat was flaming through my belly, my pussy desperate for his attention. I brushed my hands over my breasts, which were flattened slightly in my supine position, and tugged at my nipples. “Please. I can’t wait anymore,” I begged.
Rick stripped off his clothes and tossed a condom on the bed. “Rick,” I groaned.
“I want you to come on my mouth, Dana, while I hold your hot, pink butt in my hands.” He kneeled at the end of the bed and pushed my thighs wide. Settled his shoulders between them and scooped my sore, smarting butt cheeks into his palms.
My stomach muscles tensed and a shiver of anticipation snaked up my spine. I shut my eyes and sucked in air, battling with discomfort and desire.
He licked me, starting at my entrance and working up through my soft, wet folds. He stopped at my clit and held his tongue there.
I squirmed and groaned, tugging my nipples to tight, painful points. “Rick, please,” I gasped, pushing down onto him.
He chuckled. “How often are you going to tease me in public, wild thing?”
