by K. A. Linde
She was holding on by a thread. He brushed her clit with his tongue, and her whole body shook with her lack of restraint. She was not going to be able to keep this up. Her body was already turning to putty.
His fingers skimmed up her leg and then down the length of her lips. She was already so wet and easily coated him.
“Fuck,” he said against her skin.
She was a goner.
He slid his fingers in and out of her, and he had to use his other arm to hold her body down. She felt herself coming undone. She couldn’t hold out any longer. It was as if he already knew exactly how to work her. He knew her body like he knew her mind.
She came hard at the insistence of his fingertips and the tip of his tongue. She honestly wasn’t sure if she had ever come this hard. She was swimming in a sea of euphoria. Her body was coated in the stars. Her mind was basking in the glow of the sun. She was away—far, far away—where nothing could reach her as she rocketed through the sky.
She must have cried out because suddenly Eric’s mouth was on hers. He tasted of her, but she didn’t pull away. She felt blissfully alive, endorphins hitting her body with the force of a bulldozer.
“You’re amazing,” he said.
“Me? You’re the one who made me orgasm,” she muttered.
He laughed. “I like you like this.”
“You can make me like this…anytime.”
“I plan to.”
Eric stripped out of his boxers and settled himself between her legs.
She put her hand out to stop him. “Wait…don’t you want me to make you feel good?”
“This is going to make me feel very good,” he said as he slid inside her without protest.
He buried himself deep until she was completely full. Her body contracted all around him.
“Next time,” she whispered. Then, she lost her train of thought.
“Next time, I will fuck you, too. And the next time and the next time.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
He laughed into her neck. “You agree so easily. I could get used to this.”
“You’d better.”
He lovingly kissed her neck once and then started up a slow pace, testing her. She gripped his muscular back, digging her fingernails in. He felt incredible. This was a thousand times better than when he had taken her in the locker room, and that had been mind-blowing. But this time…he was hers.
It blew her away that Eric Wilkins was hers. She had idolized him as a football player, thought he was gay, hated him, become friends with him, and then fallen in love with him. It all felt…surreal. Here she was, not just fucking Eric, but making love with him. This was terrifying in the finality of it, but she wanted it. She wanted him.
Sensing her emotions, Eric picked up the pace. He slammed into her relentlessly. As she felt him getting closer, he wrapped his arms around her back and hauled her up into a sitting position. Then, he worked her hips, so she was bouncing up and down on top of him. He pushed into her so deep that she didn’t think she could hold out any longer.
“Oh, fuck,” she cried.
“Come for me, Bri,” he demanded.
“Come with me.”
And they did. Her whole world tilted, and suddenly, as if it had always been that way, it started to revolve around this wonderful man. He held her in his arms as they both came down from their climaxes and lightly kissed her all over. First, on her hair, then her forehead, cheeks, chin, nose, and finally, her lips. Featherlight kisses that promised so much.
He pulled back to stare into her eyes and then smiled. “I love you,” he reminded her.
“I love you, too.”
He looked relieved.
She nudged him. “I’m not going to change my mind.”
“Well, certainly not after that,” he joked.
She sighed and lay back on the bed. “I feel amazing.”
“I feel like I’m going to need another shower.”
She looked up at him with mischief in her eyes. “I could help with that.”
They spent the rest of the night locked in each other’s arms, making up for lost time. They knew that not everything would be fixed between them so easily, but this was the first step.
Bryna woke up the next morning to light filtering in through the window. Her body was pleasantly sore but utterly content. She opened her eyes to find herself in Eric’s bed. A smile touched her lips, and she relaxed back into the pillow.
Memories of last night washed over her, and her body heated at what had happened. The clearest thing of all was her confession. She loved him. She had told him she loved him. Even when she had thought she felt that for Jude, she had never told him. Now that she was looking back on it, she wasn’t sure she had even loved Jude. She had loved the idea of Jude. How could I have loved someone I knew nothing about?
Eric was different. She knew him completely. He was the person she always wanted to run to when times got tough. He made her feel safe, whole, happy.
His arm was wrapped around her waist, and he tugged her tighter against him as if refusing to let her go. She didn’t fear that when he woke up things would be different or that he would push her away after the haze of the night was gone. This just felt right.
She slightly shifted her weight, and he groaned.
His lips touched her shoulder, and he squeezed her once more. “Morning.”
“Hey.” She entwined their fingers together.
“You feel nice in the morning. I’m going to stay in bed and have you for breakfast.”
“I think I could allow that.”
He kissed her again. “I’m glad you’re still here.”
She turned around to face him. “Where would I go?”
“Dunno. I was worried last night was a dream,” he said with a cocky smile, “and I’d wake up to find I’d imagined you here.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“It would have been one hell of a vivid dream.”
“How vivid?” she purred in his ear.
“Let me show you.”
Eric gripped her hips and pulled her effortlessly on top of him. She realized he was already hard for her. They had slept in the buff, which made this really easy. He eased back inside her. She was tender from all their activity last night, but the pain soon disappeared as pleasure took over.
When she finished, she fell against him, panting.
He kissed her forehead. “I could get used to this,” he whispered.
“Me, too.”
After they both cleaned up, they crawled back into bed and lay in each other’s arms.
Bryna was struck with how completely normal it was. There was no awkwardness. There was no wondering whether they would go out for breakfast or if she should just hurry out. There hadn’t even been a question of whether or not they would make love again in the morning. It had just happened. Just like them.
“So, where do we go from here?” she asked him, her head resting against his shoulder.
He ran his hands through her hair contentedly. “Let’s take it one day at a time. I don’t want us to rush out and tell everyone what’s going on yet. I’m going to keep you all to myself for a little bit longer.”
“You want to hide me?” She was mostly joking, but the fear pricked at her regardless.
Eric laughed, reading her question for what it really was. “No. But I want us to get to know each other again as a couple without the public scrutiny of the entire football team and cheer squad.”
Bryna nodded. “That’s true.”
“As long as you’re mine and there’s no more running away, then it honestly doesn’t matter to me what we do.”
“No more running away,” she agreed.
“Good. Then, we’ll figure it out.”
“Unfortunately, I still have to get to class today,” she told him.
“Skip it.” He held her in place against him.
She giggled and kissed him. “I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“
Okay. Then, come over right after class before practice.”
“I will,” she promised.
She reluctantly disentangled herself from Eric’s arms, put her clothes back on, and headed home to change before she had to be on campus. Stacia and Trihn were both in the living room when she arrived.
Both of their eyes widened in surprise.
Trihn arched an eyebrow. “That must have been one hell of a study session with Cam last night.”
Stacia giggled. “I want to hear all the details.”
“We broke up,” Bryna told them.
It felt great saying it out loud. That felt like a lifetime ago compared to what had happened with Eric last night.
Stacia gasped.
But Trihn smiled. “About time.”
“Yeah, it was,” Bryna agreed. She walked over to the couch and plopped down. “Cam found out that I used to sleep around or dig or whatever, and he tried to take advantage of me.”
“What? Did you knock him out?” Trihn asked.
“What a douche bag!” Stacia cried.
“I know. I couldn’t believe it, honestly. He seemed like such a nice guy, and he didn’t know my reputation. But then as soon as he did, all went down the drain. So, I dumped him.”
“Good. He deserved much worse than that,” Trihn said.
“Yeah, like a swift kick to the nuts,” Stacia agreed.
Bryna laughed and nodded.
“Where were you all night then?” Trihn asked.
“So…afterward, I went over to Eric’s.”
“Yes!” Stacia cried.
They both looked at Stacia questioningly.
“What? A football player or an artsy guy? It’s not even a choice.”
Trihn narrowed her eyes. “Thanks!”
“Hey! I’m just saying.”
“Tell us about Eric,” Trihn encouraged, ignoring Stacia’s barb.
A smile came to Bryna’s face, unbidden. Eric had that effect on her.
“We’re kind of keeping it on the down-low right now, so you can’t say anything to anyone, but I think we’re together. We got into a big argument about everything that had happened between us. After I explained that I wanted to be with him, he came around to the idea. I told him I loved him,” she confessed.
“Aw,” Stacia crooned.
Trihn smiled brightly. “Finally! It’s about time.”
Bryna giggled. “You’re so right. It’s about damn time.”
WHEN BRYNA WAS WITH ERIC, time seemed to fly. All the best things in the world were tucked into the hours she spent at his house, lost in his arms. And just as good was the fact that she had her friend back. When they weren’t lying around in bed in a state of ecstasy, they would hang out by the pool, have margaritas, grill burgers, and generally enjoy each other’s company. There were still some lingering problems from their separation, but they were working through it one day at a time.
Without even realizing it, the away game against Colorado was upon them, and the entire team would be flying into Denver. Since the team still didn’t know about their relationship, she and Eric had agreed to drive to the airport separately. She was sure some people had suspected by the way they acted around each other, but their relationship was in its infancy, and they didn’t want the scrutiny.
Stacia and Bryna arrived at the airport in Stacia’s SUV. They grabbed their bags out of the trunk, and then Stacia locked up. As they walked inside, Stacia had a bounce to her step.
“I cannot wait to fuck Pace in the hotel room,” she said.
Bryna cringed. “That’s disgusting. I can’t hear you talk about him like that.”
“Come on, B. He’s not your real brother! And you’re going to do the same with Eric anyway.”
“Shh!” she chided. “People don’t know yet.”
“Sorry. Sorry. But you are, right?”
“I don’t know. We’ll see.”
“That’s a yes,” Stacia said.
They checked in with the cheer coach, and then they were ushered on the plane, which had already been open for seating. Stacia walked on first, eager to get to her seat next to Pace. Bryna didn’t know where her seat was, nor did she care. She had every intention of sitting next to Eric. This was their first away game together since last year, and there was no way she was going to sit next to anyone else even if it made people more curious.
As she walked down the aisle, she noticed someone was seated next to Eric. It was Bethany, the freshman girl who had been talking to him after practice that one day. Whatever she had said, he seemed to find funny because he laughed at her, and she giggled. Bryna’s temper went from zero to sixty faster than a Bugatti.
She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Eric loved her and that she had no reason to be pissed off. But she was. It was just the fact that this girl thought she could flirt with him. Bryna had never felt such intense jealousy. Even though they weren’t out as a couple, he was hers now.
“Ahem,” Bryna said. She crossed her arms and stared down at Bethany with the best bitchy Queen Bee look she could muster.
Bethany’s eyes widened. Clearly, she knew to be afraid. “Hey, B,” she said.
“You’re in my seat,” Bryna pointed out.
“Oh.” Bethany looked down at her ticket. “It says I sit here.”
Bryna took the ticket out of her hand and then passed the one she had been holding back to Bethany. “Now, it doesn’t. Scoot along.”
“Um…” Bethany looked at Eric, hoping he would say something so that she could stay sitting next to him, but his eyes were locked on Bryna. He looked amused. “Eric?”
He turned his attention back to her and shrugged. “Bryna normally sits here.”
“I’ve sat here the last two games.”
“Yeah. She sat here every game before that.”
Bethany scrunched her eyebrows together as if she didn’t get it.
“You’re new,” Bryna said. “You’ll figure it out.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see you later,” she said to Eric with a big smile before disappearing down the aisle with Bryna’s ticket.
Bryna sank down into the seat and turned to look at him. “So…you were going to sit there and flirt with her?”
“I wasn’t flirting with her. We were talking.”
He gave her a serious look, and she wanted to bite her tongue, but she wasn’t one to let things go.
“You were laughing at whatever she was saying, and she was trying to stay seated next to you. Flirting.”
“I was laughing because she’s a little slow. I have no interest.” He lowered his voice and leaned forward toward her. “You’re really cute when you’re jealous.”
Bryna wrinkled her nose. “Cute?”
He laughed and reached down for his headphones. “I know you love that word.”
“You use it on purpose.”
“I’m going to do a lot of things later on purpose, too.”
Their eyes met, and her stomach flipped.
“I like where this is going.”
“You’ll like it more later when I sneak you into my hotel room.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Last time I was in your hotel room, I didn’t have to sneak in there.”
“Coach is trying to crack down on pregame fun, and you’re my fun. So, we’ll have to be more careful,” he told her.
“Sneaky. I like it.”
She leaned toward him, eager for a kiss, but he gave her a look.
Later.
They weren’t officially out to everyone yet, and she had completely forgotten while trapped in his gaze. She covered by reaching for her own headphones.
“Ugh!” Eric said.
Her head snapped up. “What?”
“Your fucking stepbrother.”
“Pace?” She glanced around and saw that he and Stacia were only a couple of rows behind them. “What about him? I mean, besides everything.”
“I can’t stand the sight of him, knowing his part in what happened with Cam,
” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “Did you ever confront him about what he did?”
She shook her head and turned away from Pace. She wasn’t happy about the fact that he had manipulated Cam into thinking she was a slut he could use. She didn’t know what exactly Pace had said. Even though she always thought the worst of him, she didn’t want to believe he had actually convinced Cam to hurt her…to try to sexually assault her.
“No,” she said softly. “Just let it go. He’s not worth it. Plus, Stacia is happy. We made amends about her and Pace this summer. I don’t want to start anything and risk my friendship. She is more important to me than Pace.”
“He got you attacked!” Eric growled.
Her eyes widened. “Keep it down.”
“Sorry. It infuriates me.”
“I don’t think he knew it would lead to that. Trust me. I don’t want to defend Pace, but I don’t want to get into it with him.”
Eric nodded and tore his attention from Pace, but he didn’t look happy about it. She could see he had murder on his mind. She didn’t know how to quell it or even if she really wanted to. Pace had it coming to him, for more than what had happened with Cam. He was a little shit, and his actions had far-reaching consequences.
The flight was easy enough, and soon, they were transported a couple of miles from campus to the hotel where they would stay for the night. They were all instructed to stay in their rooms and not make a disturbance. A special announcement was made about anyone getting in serious trouble if found in a room with a member of the opposite sex.
Bryna shrugged it off, as did everyone else. Most of the girls were dating someone or at least sleeping with someone on the team. She didn’t understand what the big deal was.
“Big plans tonight?” Stacia whispered amidst the group of students congregated in the lobby waiting to be dismissed.
Bryna shrugged. “You?”
“I was wondering if we could use our room…if you’re going to see E?”
She bit her lip. “You haven’t told Pace that Eric and I are together, have you?”
Stacia bounced lightly from one foot to the other. “I’m sorry!” She covered her face and shook her head. “I’m so bad with secrets. I only told him, and I made him swear not to say anything to anyone, not even you! He hasn’t said anything. I promise. I’d kick his ass if he told anyone.”
