Protecting Her Heart: Indianapolis Eagles Series Book 4

by Samantha Lind

  Chapter Fifteen

  Laura

  Mark and I are lying in bed, limbs tangled together after a sweet and slow round of sex. There was no rush with things tonight, both of us just enjoying the feel of each other’s body as we ebbed and flowed together.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” he says, breaking the silence.

  “I have so much on my mind. Everything going on with the Macentires, with us, work, just life in general. Plus, my mom keeps bugging me about when I’m bringing you over for dinner.”

  Mark rubs his hand up and down my spine, the roughness of the calluses on his fingertips tickling my skin.

  “That’s a lot to have on your mind,” he simply comments.

  “Yep,” I say, blowing out my breath.

  “Let’s unpack all of it. What are you worried about with the Macentires?”

  “Just everything. No family should have to be going through what they are. To be preparing for your child’s death,” I say, a sob escaping my lips. Tears slide down my cheeks and hit Mark’s chest. I swipe at them, trying to get them to stop.

  “It sucks, majorly. I’ll agree with you on that front. But at least they have time to prepare, say their goodbyes, and get a trip of a lifetime like this one, to make some last memories before their life changes completely. Does he have any chance of fighting it? Any miracle treatments?”

  “No, from what Amber explained to me, the tumor isn’t operable because of how it wraps around his brain stem. His latest scans showed that it was growing again. They were going to try a new treatment to keep it from growing more, but if that doesn’t stop it, then she said the next step would be to stop all treatments and just keep him as comfortable as possible. They’d probably put him on hospice at that time.”

  “God, that sucks.”

  “It really does. I always find myself at a loss of words when I’m with all of them. I don’t want to say or ask something that upsets anyone. I watched the kids while we were watching the game, and I can just see the hurt they are already feeling, knowing their brother is dying.” I take another shuddering breath, then stop my tears and try not to think of their situation.

  “What with us worries you?” he finally asks, going back to my list.

  “Nothing, actually. I really enjoy what we have together. I know taking time to myself after separating and then divorcing Robert was necessary, and I’m thankful you were willing to wait for me. I know I haven’t told you much about what happened to end my marriage, and I just worry that the issues I dealt with then could become a problem in our relationship, if we were to reach that point.”

  I sigh, having just word vomited all over Mark. My insecurities from dealing with infertility in the past, and the likelihood that I will continue to have the issues with any partner I have, is a huge weight on my shoulders.

  “Are you ready to tell me what exactly happened?”

  “Yes. Our issues started a couple years into our marriage. We’d decided we were ready to start a family and tossed out the birth control. After a year of not one positive test, countless ovulation tests, and more tears than I can count, we finally got that positive test. I scheduled an appointment as soon as I did, and a few weeks later, we found ourselves in my doctor’s office being informed our pregnancy was over before it really got a chance to begin. I’d had an early miscarriage, which my doctor reassured us was very common, and there wasn’t anything I could have done to prevent it. She said we were able to try again as soon as we felt comfortable doing so.”

  I take a break, sucking in a few calming breaths. “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back in our marriage. Robert blamed me, even though my doctor assured us that there wasn’t anything I could have done to stop it from happening. He turned to drinking and became a mean drunk, would belittle me and put me down. I quickly realized his actions for what they were and left before the situation could get worse. I suggested counseling, and he basically laughed in my face as he drained another glass of scotch.”

  “I’m so sorry you went through all of that, but thank you for trusting me enough to tell me about it,” Mark says, rubbing my back as he listens to me.

  “One of the things I’ve always dreamed of being is a mom, and it’s one of the few things I feel like is slipping from my fingers as I age, and especially after dealing with everything a few years ago. Losing the one pregnancy we did have was the single hardest time in my life and I don’t know that I could make it through another miscarriage.”

  Mark’s hand stills on my back, and he tightens his arm around me. Clearing his throat before he speaks, he brings his other hand up to cup my face and tilts it up, so I’m looking at him.

  “I can promise you that if—no, not if, but when—we’re at that point in our relationship, where marriage and kids are on the table, that we’ll work through it together. We’re a team, and we’ll figure it out together. There’s more than one way to have a family, and if you can’t have biological kids, there are more than enough kids out there that need a loving family that we can adopt.”

  Where in the hell has this man been my entire life? Oh, that’s right, I was the idiot that kept turning him down for the last two years.

  “You’re pretty amazing, you know that?” I ask, pushing up to kiss him on the lips. Hearing that he wants a family with me fills me with such hope and love that I feel like I could burst with happiness. I know it’s early in our relationship, but it just feels right between the two of us. I’m not sure if that’s because we became friends over the past couple of years before I finally gave in to his date request.

  “I’m not that amazing. You’re the amazing one,” Mark tells me, rolling us so that he’s hovering over me and looking down at me as he talks. “You’re the one who has lived through a horrible situation and come out of it, strong and resilient. You took that pain and you channeled it into making your life better. You got yourself out of a toxic situation and found yourself again. There’s a lot to say about someone with your strength and determination, and I’m a better man just for knowing you. I’m the lucky one that you choose me to share moments like this with. That you feel comfortable enough with me to show your vulnerable side to. That you’ll show me the raw emotions that you do one hell of a job putting up a wall to block from everyone else. I could always see the hurt in your eyes, especially that first year I was here, but as the time went by, I could see you starting to change, starting to heal.”

  My tears return with his sweet words, and before I can try and wipe them away, Mark does so for me. He swipes them away with his thumbs and then kisses my puffy cheeks, as if to kiss my pain away. He pushes himself back up and takes his time looking at me.

  “I can promise you this,” he says, stopping to take in a deep breath. “When the times comes that we’re ready for a family, and I’m here to tell you that time will come for us eventually, that we—you and me,” he says, pointing back and forth between the two of us, “together will figure out how that happens. If that means we have every medical test available run on the both of us, and fertility treatments, or finding a surrogate to carry a baby, or adoption. We will have the family you so desire and deserve. You will get that wish to be a mother, and I just know that you’ll be a kick-ass mom.”

  This. Man. Seriously, what in the world did I do to deserve him? I didn’t actually know that they could be this good.

  “Now that I’ve put to rest your worries about our future, what’s got you stressed at work?”

  “Nothing specific. Just normal work stuff. Plus, this week was just a little more stressful with everything we’ve got going on, and I put that stress on myself, as I wanted everything perfect for Brayden’s visit.”

  “Good, so we’ve ticked off the Macentire family, your worries about us, and our future, work. So that leaves what, life and dinner with your parents?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Well, from where I’m sitting, I don’t think you have much to worry and stress over when it comes to life
in general,” he says, dropping kisses to my lips.

  “You’ve got a kickass job, with one of, if not the best, professional hockey teams in the league.”

  Kiss.

  “A team, that one day you will be the sole owner of, might I add.”

  Kiss.

  “A sexy boyfriend, who loves you more than life itself, and can’t keep his hands—or other body parts—off of you.” He smirks and presses his hard cock against my leg.

  Kiss.

  “You’ve got a loving, supportive family who just wants the best for you, and supports you in whatever decisions you make to find that.”

  Kiss.

  “So, the way I see things is, we just need to pick a day to go have dinner with your parents.”

  Kiss.

  This one lingers, and Mark deepens it, rolling his hips into mine as he grinds his erection against my clit. The friction sends shockwaves through my body and has me ready to go.

  I shift under him and he slips inside me on the next rotation of his hips.

  “Fuck, you feel amazing,” he says against my lips, then freezes. “I don’t have a condom on, babe.”

  “I know. I trust that you’re clean, and it isn’t like I’m worried about getting pregnant,” I tell him honestly as he pulls back some. “I’m also on birth control to regulate my cycles, so we’re covered.”

  “Of course, I’m clean. I can stop, if you want, and put one on.”

  “I wouldn’t have let you slip inside if I wasn’t sure,” I tell him, leaning up to kiss him. “Now, stop worrying and fuck me.” I thrust my hips up to meet his and take him in deeper.

  After another mind-blowing round of sex, we lie together in silence, as I enjoy listening to the beat of his heart. It’s very comforting and relaxing to hear the constant thump-thump, thump-thump it makes.

  “So, that dinner with your parents, when did you want to do that?”

  “My brother will be in town in just under two weeks. Would you like to do it then, so that you can meet him?”

  “Sure, if that’s what you want. He’s not going to try and kick my ass, is he?” he asks, and I hear the amusement in his voice.

  “Nope, he knows Daddy wouldn’t let you date me if he didn’t already approve of you, especially with you being on the team.”

  “Glad I don’t have to watch my back then,” he says on a full laugh this time. “So, we discussed everything on your list then, yes?”

  “Yes,” I confirm, snuggling in a little closer, if that’s possible.

  “Now, for something on my list. How about we get away for a night or two when there’s a break in my schedule. Go somewhere we can just relax, and let go of all the pressures around us.”

  “That sounds amazing.”

  “You figure out the dates and I’ll make the plans,” he tells me.

  “That I can do.”

  The next day, I stay busy running errands in the morning while Mark is at his morning skate. With it being a Saturday game, the office isn’t open today. I just have to be at the game tonight. Amber called me mid-morning while I was out and about, to let me know that Brayden wasn’t doing very well. He was having some issues with a headache that was also causing some vision problems and sensitivity to light, so they were going to skip the morning skate and would see how he was doing closer to the game. If anything, one of the adults would stay at the house with him while the rest of the family came down to enjoy the game.

  I finish up my errands and head home after stopping at the grocery store for a few items, and find Mark just getting up from his afternoon nap. I love that he feels so comfortable here in my house, and having him in my space, I can see him officially moving in soon. It just feels natural for him to be here. I’ve seldom gone over to his apartment that he shares with Austin and Johnathan, only stopping over there with him a few times when he needed to grab some of his things. I get it, that’s a bachelor pad, but I don’t mind us having our privacy one bit by being at my house.

  “Hey, sleepyhead,” I say, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “How was your nap?”

  “Good. Would have been better if you’d been here,” he says, reaching out and pulling me into his arms.

  “Is that so?” I ask bashfully.

  “Absolutely, I love sleeping with you in my arms.” He nuzzles my neck, dropping open-mouthed kisses along it.

  “Don’t be starting shit you can’t finish,” I warn him, bringing a hand up to cup his hard-on.

  “Who says I can’t finish?” he whispers in my ear.

  “The clock. You don’t have enough time, babe,” I break it to him and he grumbles.

  “Tonight then. Be ready for me,” he says, a promise of what’s to come once we’re back here later tonight.

  With one last kiss, Mark pushes himself out of bed and heads to the shower. While he’s in getting clean, I open my closet and pull out a suit for him to wear. One perk of dating a hockey hunk is getting to see him in all the sexy suits he has. I love that requirement from the league. Seeing a man—especially my man—in a suit so often, it’s no wonder my panties are always dropping for him so quickly.

  “Hey, thanks for pulling this out for me,” Mark says, as he comes walking out to the living room a little while later, buttoning the last few buttons on his dress shirt. He’s got the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off his sexy, sinewy forearms.

  “You’re welcome,” I tell him, getting my fill of his sexiness that fills out that suit, like it was custom-made for him, which it probably was.

  “If you don’t stop undressing me with your eyes, I can’t be held responsible for stripping you right here and making us both late to the arena,” he warns me, catching me red-handed.

  “Fine, but you’re just so hot in that suit. I think I might spontaneously ovulate at all your sexiness,” I whine, and Mark just laughs at me.

  “If you say so, babe.”

  “Did you want to ride to the arena together, so we only have one car to bring back home?” he asks, slinging his suit coat over his shoulder and holding it with his fingertips.

  “Sure, can you just give me a few minutes?”

  “Yep, I can spare probably five more minutes, is that enough time?”

  “Yep,” I tell him and jump up from the couch to go get ready.

  I slip into my master bathroom and freshen up super quick. I pull out my newest jersey I picked up from the team’s store, one with Mark’s name and number on the back.

  I slip on some comfortable flats, and after one more look in the mirror, I walk back out to the living room and when Mark sees what I’m wearing, his jaw just about hits the floor.

  Now, he’s the one undressing me with his eyes.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Mark

  Laura is standing in front of me with my jersey on, and holy shit, is it doing things to me. On one hand, I want to show her off to everyone in the stadium that she’s mine, and on the other, I want to march her back into the bedroom and strip her out of her clothes and sink inside her.

  “Ready to go?” she asks, looking at me like I’m crazy.

  “Yeah,” I finally get out. “Number twenty-one looks good on you.”

  “I thought so, too.” She winks at me.

  I slide a hand along the small of her back and bring my lips down to her cheek. “It will look even better on the floor later tonight,” I say, nipping at her ear.

  “Mhmmm,” she moans and pulls out her phone, bringing up the camera.

  I kiss her cheek when she goes to snap the picture of the two of us, and then notice she’s opening her Instagram account.

  “Ready to take this thing public?” I ask, knowing she’s been a little nervous to do so.

  “I think so. About time I make it known that you’re taken,” she says, leaning into me.

  I watch as she makes her post, captioning the picture simply with ‘He’s mine <3. #21 #IndianapolisEagles @MLee21.’

  We head out to my truck and make our way to the arena
.

  We played St. Louis tonight and, unfortunately, lost our first home game of the season. It sucks, but you can’t win them all. The guys played hard, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us tonight.

  After talking with the media, them analyzing every missed pass and questioning what we can do to improve for our next game, I’m finally able to hit the showers, and then make my way out of the locker room. I’ve come to enjoy finding Laura outside waiting on me, so when I don’t find her here, I go in search of her.

  I check in Coach’s office first, but he’s meeting with the assistant coaches, and hasn’t seen her since the game ended.

  Mark: Where are you? I’m done in the locker room.

  I head for the elevators and decide to make my way up to the suite level to see if she is up there with the other WAGs, or maybe the Macentire family. The last time I saw her before the game, she hadn’t heard from them yet.

  I exit the elevator and see her across the hall, talking to Amber and Will. She still looks just as gorgeous in my jersey as she did when she first walked out of her bedroom. Her dark hair cascades down over her shoulders. The hair that I love sinking my fingers in when I kiss her or sink inside her. Just thinking about that is making my dick harden against the zipper of my slacks.

  I stay back and just observe. They look to be in a deep conversation and I don’t want to interrupt. I slip my phone back out of my pocket and pull up the Instagram app. Before I put my phone away prior to the game, I reposted Laura’s picture to my account, changing my caption to say ‘Love this woman who stole my heart. Love seeing #21 on you @LauraErickson #mine #happilytaken’.

  My notifications are crazy and, after checking them, I see the post has a lot of comments. Most comments are people congratulating the two of us, some comments stating how beautiful she is—which I agree with completely—but of course, there are the few people who’ve posted rude ass comments, stating that I could do better, or she doesn’t deserve me. These comments just piss me off. If anything, I’m the lucky one and she’s the one who could do better. But everyone has to have trolls on their social media and I’ve learned to just ignore them, and eventually they go away.