by Aubrey Irons
And she certainly seems to have Emily’s attention.
“Landon, I should really just-”
“In, now,” I say firmly. I grab her wrist and pull her inside. “Here let me-”
She quickly pulls away from me as I move for her coat. “No, that’s okay.”
I frown. “Serena it’s eighty degrees outside, let me just take your-”
“No, that’s really okay.” Her eyes flash, like she’s trying to tell me something. She nods her chin meaningfully at Emily before glaring at me again.
“Emily, honey, why don’t you go back to the TV room while I help Serena.”
Emily spins on a socked-foot and bounds back down the hall. “I’ll save you a cookie, Serena!” she yells as she disappears around the corner.
“What’s your deal?” I mutter after I hear the TV kick back on.
“I thought you lived alone,” Serena says sharply.
“Well, surprise.”
“Yeah, well, I…” her face goes red as she swallows quickly. “I should go.”
“Look you’re here, and there’s an eight-year-old that’s going to be pissed if I send you away before she can use you as an excuse to eat more cookies. Just take the fucking coat off and stay for a-”
“I can’t take the coat off.”
“Why the hell-” my mouth suddenly snaps shut as the realization hits me.
The heels, the black stockings, the trench coat.
I grin as my eyes move back to her bright pink cheeks. “You’re kidding me.”
Her face darkens.
“Please tell me this is what I think it is.”
Serena’s face goes dark as she rolls her eyes. She shoots a quick look down the hallway before she swallows and peels open the neck of the coat, giving me just the quickest flash of sheer black lace bra.
Fuck.
I’m hard. Instantly.
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” she whispers quickly. “Yes seriously. And I seriously need to go.”
I reach out and stop her with a hand on her arm as I chuckle. She turns, her eyes glinting as she looks up at me.
“I’ve got an idea.”
“Would you like another cookie, Serena?”
“I think that’s enough cookies for one night, kiddo.”
Emily gives me one of those practiced, honed pouts that only especially cute eight-year-olds can pull off. “But Dad, I don’t think Serena got enough!”
It’s scary how good my kid is at bullshit at this age.
“You don’t think Serena got enough, or you don’t think you got enough.”
Emily turns and grins conspiratorially at Serena.
“You ask,” she whispers in a complete non-whisper.
Serena looks up at me, wagging her brows and shrugging. “I mean, I could go for one more?”
Emily grins triumphantly as she whirls back. “See?”
Serena and I lock eyes over her head. “Nice,” I mutter, grinning at her. “Real nice.” She shrugs, grinning back at me as she pulls the plate of cookies towards her and Emily’s corner of the kitchen table.
Her coat’s off now, as are the heels and the stockings, sadly. They’ve been replaced by an old Rattlesnakes t-shirt and a pair of sweats of mine.
And she looks fucking fantastic.
“Are you sleeping over?”
Serena jerks her eyes away from me at Emily’s sudden question.
“Oh, no,” she shakes her head and smiles at my daughter. “No, I’m not, Emily.
“But you’re wearing pajamas!”
“Emily-”
“We rented a movie, you know.”
Serena grins at her, her brows rising. “Oh yeah?”
“Mhmm,” Emily nods before whirling eagerly to me. “Dad, can she stay and watch it?”
“I think Serena has to go home,” I say quietly.
Emily’s face falls. “Just the movie? Please?” She turns a hopeful look to Serena, who looks up at me and smiles.
“I could watch a movie.”
“Yay!”
Chapter Sixteen
Serena
“Wow, you’ve got an awesome room!”
“Thanks, I know,” Emily says matter-of-factly.
The movie’s finished, and she’s insisted on showing me her room while Landon cleans up the cookie making debris downstairs. I turn my head, taking in the pink walls, the shelves of books and dolls, and the posters of various Disney characters. But the big-ticket item is clearly the kid’s bed that’s built to look like it’s part of a castle, complete with painted-on stonework, parapets at the corners, and flags with “Princess Emily” stenciled across them.
“My dad made it,” Emily says, bounding across the room and quickly scaling the three-step ladder up to the raised bed.
“Wow, really? That’s pretty awesome!” I say, genuinely impressed. "My bed isn’t nearly this cool.”
She beams at me from her castle-bed before making the pout face I saw earlier. “Are you sure you can’t sleep over?”
I freeze, my eyes darting back to her. “Oh, no. I wish I could, Emily, but I don’t think I can.”
“It’s okay if you do, my mom isn’t here.”
My brow furrows. The thought of Emily’s other parent has obviously crossed my mind over the course of the evening. But Landon didn’t offer any explanation beyond mention that he’s not married, and it’s certainly least of all my place to ask about his divorce.
“Oh she’s not?”
“Yeah, she died.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the stomach, and my mouth falls open as I gasp for words.
“That’s enough, Emily.”
Landon’s voice comes from behind me. Steady, even.
“Why don’t you go brush your teeth, honey,” he says quietly.
“Fiiiiine.” Emily jumps out of bed and slips past me.
I turn, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Landon I-”
“Don’t,” he shakes his head.
“I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t,” he says quietly. He shakes his head and looks away. “Look, it’s fine. It was a while ago.”
I’m stepping forward before I know it, my hand rising to rest on his arm. And it’s not sexual, or flirty, or anything remotely like that. It’s just there as a comfort, because this is a story I know.
Mom gone young, a dad left alone to raise his only daughter?
Yeah, I think it’s fair to say I’ve heard this song before.
“I’m so sorry, Landon.”
He glances up, his eyes finding mine.
Just then, Emily comes dashing back down the hall, pushing past the two of us as she darts across the room and hops back into her bed.
“All ready for sleep, kiddo?”
“Yep!”
The smile that spreads across his face as he moves to his daughter’s bed simultaneously lifts me up and breaks my heart.
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight Dad.” She looks past him. “Thanks for watching a movie with us, Serena.”
“Anytime,” I say with a smile as Landon tucks the blankets around her. “Thanks for the delicious cookies!”
She beams at me.
“It was a long time ago, she doesn’t remember it.”
We’re standing in his kitchen later, after putting Emily to sleep. Landon pulls a bottle of beer from the fridge and twists the cap off before offering it my way. I nod, bringing it to my lips as he pulls out a second one for himself.
“There was a crash.”
I nod, chewing on my lip. My eyes follow him as he moves across the kitchen and leans against the kitchen counter beside me. He takes a big sip from his beer.
“You don’t have to tell me.”
He looks up, a wry smile on his face. “Nah it’s okay. It was just one of those shit things that happens. It was quick, she didn’t suffer. Emily was two, a friend of ours was watching her.” He sighs loudly, taking another big pull fro
m his beer. “Things just happen, Serena. I lost my wife, and my career as a player. But I got Emily, and I got a job I love even more than I ever loved playing ball. He shrugs. “The world works in fucked-up mysterious ways, I guess.”
“Believe me, you don’t have to tell me that.”
He smiles at me, his eyes locked on me as he nods. “This is why I love the team and why I’ve been hard on you, just so you know. The team and Sam’s legacy is my family. It’s my everything right now, aside from Emily.”
“I understand,” I say quietly. He looks up. “I mean, the whole single dad working in sports with a daughter thing. Believe me,” I shrug and take a sip of beer. “Been there.”
Landon nods, taking a drink from the bottle in his hand.
“Well, so there it is. There’s my deal. My dirty secret.”
We stand in silence for another solid minute, just drinking quietly and letting the revelation sink in.
“I can’t have children.”
The words come out faster than I ever thought they would - so fast that I don’t have time to even consider whether or not I should be telling him this.
Landon looks up sharply, and I swallow the lump in my throat as I nod, looking at the floor.
“My secret.” I shrug before glancing up at him. “It’s why David left. He wanted a family, and so did I, but I can’t.”
Landon’s brow crumbles as he slowly shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Serena.”
“It’s fine.” I force a smile to my face as I meet his eye. “I wanted to adopt, but David was against raising a kid that ‘wasn’t his’. Then he left me for this girl he worked with, and now they’re married with a kid together.”
A shadow crosses his face as his jaw tightens.
“So, there’s mine.”
He nods. “Guess we know each other’s secrets now.”
“Looks that way.”
We stand like that for a minute, side by side against the kitchen counter, looking at each other in the silence of the kitchen.
His hand moves to mine.
Neither of us speaks a word as our fingers slip together. His thumb brushes across the top of my hand, my fingers tighten within his. I swallow, feeling my breath come quicker as we hold each other’s eyes with that single point of contact between.
Landon puts his beer down as he turns his body towards me, and I’m moving against him before I can stop myself. I set my own drink down as he moves in front of me, his other hand finding mine.
I look up into his eyes. No words are spoken out loud, but there aren’t any needed.
It’s the last thought that slips through my mind before he leans down, brings his lips to mine, and kisses me.
Chapter Seventeen
Serena
Landon’s kiss is punishing and demanding, his lips searing into mine as his tongue finds my own. A hand slides to my waist as he pushes me against the kitchen counter, and another slips up and into my hair.
My hands move to his waist, pulling him into me before sliding up his chest. I’m searching for something to hold onto; wanting this. This is escape, and release, and a breaking of the storm that’s been building up to a frenzy inside both of us since that day in the lawyer’s office.
“We- we shouldn’t,” I gasp quietly, pulling back. It’s a pathetic protest, meant mostly for myself. But my body ignores the warning as much as he does as he pulls me back against his lips, kissing me fiercely.
“Terrible idea,” he murmurs, his hand sliding around my waist and pulling me tight to him.
I moan as I slide my hands between us and grab at his belt. His hand slips under the t-shirt I’m wearing, finding bare skin and tracing over it with his fingers. His second hand joins the first, and I gasp as he starts to pull the cotton shirt up. I raise my arms, letting him tug it off of me before kissing him hotly. His hands move back to my bare back, teasing over my skin and leaving goosebumps in their wake as he traces over the lace edge of my bra.
“I like your outfit”, he murmurs with a grin, pulling back and letting his fierce eyes sweep over me standing there in sweatpants and the sexy black lace bra.
“Oh, yeah, sweats are always real sexy.”
“Maybe we better take them off then,” he growls into my lips. I nod eagerly, my hands sliding up into his hair and yanking him hard against my mouth.
His hands slip around the front of me, making me shiver as they tease over my belly. They push at the elastic waist of the sweats, pushing them down over my hips as his hands delve between my legs.
I whimper.
I’m so wet for him - so wet that I’m soaking through my panties, and I know he can feel it as he growls into my lips.
The sweats drop to my ankles, and I’m stepping out of them and gasping as Landon’s hands move to my waist. He effortlessly picks me up and slips me up onto the counter, spreading my leg wide as he moves between them. My chest is rising and falling as I pant, pulling at his shirt as I feel his body mold against mine.
His mouth drops to my jaw, and then to my neck - kissing, sucking, biting, demanding. I gasp as he moves lower, lips moving over the tops of my breasts as his fingers find the edge of my panties and start to pull.
I gasp again and he moves back up to my lips. “Can you be quiet,” he growls. I gasp as his fingers push my panties to the side, feeling one thick digit drag over my opening.
“Yes,” I practically whimper.
“Very quiet,” he growls again.
I nod quickly, my eyes closing as his thumb brushes against my clit.
“Yes!” I husk out as he sears another bruising kiss against my mouth.
His hands pull at my panties, and I’m raising my ass as he slips them off and down my legs before dropping to his knees between my legs.
Strong hands push my legs wide, and I moan as quietly as I can when I feel his breath hot against my thigh. His tongue drags over my slit, and I literally bring a hand up to my mouth to muffle the sound. I groan and bite my hand, throwing my head back as I feel his wicked tongue push deep inside before dragging up through my folds. His lips fasten over my clit, his tongue swirling over it as my legs shake and my teeth dig sharply into my palm.
I reach behind me and unclasp my bra, letting it drop onto the counter next to me as my breath pants jagged in my throat. My hands slide to my breasts, fingers finding my hard nipples and sending electric shocks through my body as I roll them under my thumbs.
Landon’s tongue moves faster and faster, delving down against my opening and lapping deeply as he growls hungrily into me. He moves back to my clit, sucking it gently between his lips as he flicks it again and again with his tongue.
My moans are coming faster, and louder, but there’s no way to stop it. Landon’s tongue curls around my clit again, and I cry out momentarily before snapping my mouth shut and whimpering into my clenched lips. Landon growls again, his hand sliding up my belly, fingers moving over my breasts and my nipples before pushing higher. He pushes my hand away from my mouth and covers it with his own, making my pulse spike and my pussy flood his tongue with wetness.
He clamps his hand over my mouth as his tongue works faster and faster, and it’s so fucking hot that I start to feel myself fall apart. I moan as I open my lips and suck one of his fingers inside as I start to shatter, and my climax slams into me with no warning. My hips arch off the counter against his wicked mouth as I bite down hard on his fingers. His tongue is ceaseless, swirling over me again and again and pushing me right over that edge until I’m gasping and pulling him away from me.
He stands and moves between my legs, his lips fastening on my neck.
“Sorry about your hand,” I groan as his hands scoop me up against him, my legs fastening around his hips.
“I didn’t need that finger anyways,” he growls as he carries me through the large house. He kicks open a door and strides through, his hands grabbing my ass as his lips move up to my jaw, making me moan. He throws me down onto his bed before he starts to peel his shirt off
.
“We can be slightly louder over here since it the other side of house from Emily’s room,” he growls as he reaches down to yank his jeans off. “But not that much louder.”
He slips his Jockeys down as he stalks towards the bed I’m sprawled across, and I swallow heavily as my eyes slide over every inch of his toned, muscled body.
There’s nothing “boardroom suit” about this man without his clothes on. He’s got the body of freaking Greek god.
Landon crawls over me, his mouth dropping to my lips as his hands move over my body. He pulls me into him, one hand sliding around to the hollow at my back to hold me close. My nipples pucker to points and graze electrically against his chest hair, my legs parting as he moves between them.
He reaches for the side table drawer, his hand coming back holding a foil wrapper, which he tears open with his teeth. He sits back on his knees as he rolls the condom down the length of his impressive cock, stroking himself slowly as his eyes dance over me.
I yank him back down, my hands sliding into his hair as our mouths crash together. Tongues slide against the other’s as my legs part, and I moan as I feel his thick head ease against my opening. He drives in with a single stroke, burying himself to the hilt as I cry out into his shoulder. My legs wrap around his grooved hips, my hands gripping at his back as he grinds into me, his breath hot in my ear.
We start to move, my hands pulling at him, fingers stroking his skin and urging him on. It’s raw, and it’s urgent, and it’s sweet release as he fucks me with deep, deliberate strokes. His biceps flex as he holds himself against me, one hand moving down to grab my ass hard as he buries himself to the hilt. My fingers claw at his back, my legs pulling him in again and again as I feel the pressure start to mount and the wave start to crest over me.
Landon drives his cock in deep once more, his pubic bone grinding against my clit, and I shatter.
This time I bury the scream in his neck, biting at the skin hard enough to leave marks as the orgasm blasts through me. He groans, scooping me into his arms and driving deep inside me as I feel his cock throb with his own release. His body tenses and I lose myself with my forehead against his chest, gasping for air.
