“Somehow I don’t think she wanted you touching her.”
“Fuck you, man. She’s a whore. One more man isn’t going to make a difference to her.” Vince spoke the insult while lying on the pavement next to the truck.
“Wrong answer, man.” Caleb was on him then, hitting him again and again.
“Caleb, stop! You’re going to kill him!” Jazmin was almost afraid to touch him. He seemed to be in a rage that left him completely oblivious to the world around him. She pushed the hesitation down and grabbed an arm. He looked at her, and the anger bled out of his eyes.
“Are you okay…I guess I didn’t even get your name.”
“Jazmin.”
“Are you okay, Jazmin?”
“Considering that all he did was touch my side? I’d say I’m doing better than he is, for sure.”
She couldn’t stop an almost hysterical giggle from escaping her. The laugh died as quickly as it had come, though. Caleb had gotten to his feet, and so she knelt next to him.
“Come home with me, Jazmin.”
Jazmin didn’t bother to answer him. She was more than a little alarmed to realize that she really, really wanted to take him up on the offer.
“Vince, are you going to be okay?” She tentatively reached out to touch his shoulder.
Vince rose to his feet shakily. “Stay the hell away from me, Jazmin. You’re on your own with the station, by the way. No way I’ll help you out of this now. I’m out of here.”
Jazmin watched as he climbed into the van and pulled away. Damn. He’d been her ride.
“We don’t have to go back to my place, Jazmin. At least let me give you a ride home. I’m the reason he left without you, after all.”
Chapter Three
“So, I could take you home, be a perfect gentleman…but we both know I’m not a gentleman. I think I’ll just take you to my place and have my way with you instead.”
Jazmin couldn’t stop the lust from surging up inside her. It was like the tides, unstoppable and coming in ever larger waves.
“Oh really now…Well, that’s true, at least. We both know you are no gentleman.” Good lord…was that her talking in that breathy voice? It must have been…
His high rise apartment wasn’t far. That was a blessing for sure, because the feel of his fingers on her leg was just about enough to make Jazmin come unglued. As soon as they were through his door they crashed together. He was ungentlemanly, and rough…everything Jazmin had dreamed he would be.
His kisses were brutal, a hard meeting of lips that had nothing to do with love and everything to do with claiming whatever he wanted as his own. He nipped her lip before placing small bites along Jazmin’s neck and collarbone that had her breasts feeling heavy with lust and her center feeling achingly empty.
At some point between kisses he must have shed his shirt, though she didn’t remember it. His pants followed, and then he was stroking the hardened length of his cock as he looked her in the eye.
“Strip, Jazmin. Let me see you take off your clothes just for me.”
With another man she might have bristled at the words, but Jazmin found herself shedding her clothes. She took off her shirt and ran her hands up and down her sides while staring into Caleb’s eyes. The bra followed and she paused to cup her breasts, then to roll her nipples between her thumb and index finger. She lingered there as pleasure swamped her. She could feel her pussy getting wet, and he hadn’t even really touched her yet. She started to kick off her shoes.
“Leave the heels, baby. You leave those right where they are.”
She smiled and slowly worked her way out of her skirt and her thong. She ran her hands up and down her body, turned to let him admire her firm curves. Then she turned back to him and looked him in the eye as she fondled her breasts with one hand and reached between her legs with the other to stroke her clit for him.
“Enough,” he growled in a passion roughened rumble.
He closed the distance between them and lifted Jazmin with ease. He pinned her against the wall, but he didn’t slip inside her. He used his mouth to make love to her tits, licking and teasing them.
When Jazmin thought she would die from wanting he bit down on one nipple as he entered her in one smooth stroke. She came on his cock hard and fast. Her passion clenched around his cock like a glove as he shoved into her again and again.
It was hard and fast and rough. It even hurt at times—he was so big—but damned if that hurting didn’t just make her want him more. She came for him again and again as he brought out a side of her that no man had ever even come close to touching.
When he finally came he bit down on her shoulder and pumped inside her fast until the orgasm’s force left them both happy and sated.
“Holy shit, woman.” Caleb’s legs shook as he carried her to his bed.
“Holy shit yourself.” His ego didn’t need the boost, but she would be lying if she said that wasn’t the most intense sex she’d ever had in her entire life. There were no boundaries in sex with Caleb. He took what would make him happy without remorse or thought for gentleness or tomorrow…damn, but that was hot.
He laid her down on the bed and immediately he was on her again, kissing her as his already hardened length slid up and down against her clit, making her shiver in response. She couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised that he was ready to go again so soon.
“Already, Caleb?”
“Oh, Jazmin. You haven’t seen anything yet. I’m going to make you cum again and again, all night long. I’m going to fuck you so hard that you’ll never be able to look at another man besides me.”
He flipped her over as he spoke and drove into her from behind. She hadn’t favored the position before, but with Caleb’s girth driving into her and his talented fingers against her clit she found a new appreciation for the position. This coupling was all about fast, hard drive toward completion. They both came quickly and collapsed together on the bed, but Caleb was far from done with her. The entire night was spent in each other’s arms, exploring and finding out each other’s wants.
Jazmin was afraid that he might be right: He might have ruined her completely for sex with other men. Surely nothing would ever compare to this.
Chapter Four
The rays of sunlight pulled Jazmin from sleep as they crept through the window. The first thought Jazmin had was that this was the most luxurious bed she had ever felt. Then she cracked an eye open and realized that she wasn’t in her own bed at all. She let out a groan as the previous night’s events came rushing back to her.
She almost couldn’t believe that she’d had another one night stand. Sooner or later she was going to have to learn to keep herself from getting into these kinds of situations. Her last one night stand had landed her in her current predicament. She was pregnant, and she was going to have to raise the child herself because the father didn’t want to have any part in the life he’d helped to create. He hadn’t even believed that he was the father, but Jazmin knew he was. There hadn’t been any other possibilities. She didn’t do this kind of thing all the time…once had been enough to land her with an unwanted—but already loved—pregnancy.
This time…well, she couldn’t be pregnant more than once, but she couldn’t see how anything good could possibly come of it. Still, she thought, looking over at the well-muscled body of the man lying next to her, she would have to be dead not to be tempted by the man lying next to her. Even knowing it was a mistake, she couldn’t stop herself from reaching over to caress Caleb’s arm, just to study the contrast between their skin tones and think of how beautiful the tones looked beside each other. It was a shame that this could only last one night, but that was life. She could never pick the kind of men who might actually be looking for a woman who would hang around.
With a heavy sigh she left the warmth of the bed to gather her clothes and whatever shreds of her dignity she might be able to find lying around on Caleb’s ridiculously expensive rug. Once she was decently clothed she went into t
he kitchen and brewed herself a cup of coffee while she waited for Caleb to wake up so that she could ask for a ride home.
“I hope you’ll understand if I don’t ask you to stay for breakfast, sweetheart.”
She rolled her eyes. Yeah, he was pretty alright…until he opened his mouth. “I hope you’ll understand if I say I was hoping you wouldn’t.”
The made their way to the car in silence that was broken only by Caleb asking for her address. After a few miles of awkward silence he finally spoke again.
“So what made you decide to become a sports reporter, anyway?”
“Basketball. I love the game. It’s my passion, and this was a way that I could make it my life’s work. We don’t all have pro level talent, you know…”
He rolled his eyes. “And the fact that you have a face and body that look great on camera had nothing to do with your being hired, I’m sure.”
Jazmin responded by rattling off all of Caleb’s career and season stats. “You have an amazing true shooting percentage, and your offensive rebound rate is amazing too. You’re kind of lacking in assists and your turnover ratio is just a smidge to high…that’s all that stands between you and greatness. It almost might make people think you’re all talent and no teamwork.”
Caleb just stared at her.
“I could do the same for any member of your team. I might have a pretty face, and I sure as hell didn’t mind using it to my advantage any more than you mind using your talent on the court to your advantage. I use the gifts I have and play the hand I’ve been dealt. That doesn’t change the fact that I live and breathe the sport.”
She was on a roll now, though. “It could be worse. I could have all of the talent in the world and not enough discipline and drive to make myself the best…Your violence could spell the end of your career, Caleb.”
His only response was a leer and a cocky, “You sure didn’t mind when I was rough with you last night, sweetheart.”
No, she definitely hadn’t. It had been damn good, to tell the truth. In fact, just thinking back to his hands, hard and rough and sure against her skin, had lust rising up in her. That was hardly a defense for his actions, though.
“Keon Clark, Lewis Lloyd, William Bedford, Michael Ray Richardson…Are these names sounding familiar?”
“Yeah, I know them.” His response was mumbled and angry. Jazmin knew that she’d touched a nerve, but she pressed on. Someone needed to make Caleb O’Connell see where he was headed before he landed himself in rehab or prison and ended his career. She was afraid she was the only one willing to face him with the cold hard truth.
“Then you know that every one of them could have had something great if they could have stayed sober and not acted like fools. They threw their talent, their gift, away, Caleb. I know you don’t want to add yourself to that list. They all thought they were too good to have their careers end, but no one’s untouchable.”
“I may not be untouchable, but I’m damn good. And people love me. You don’t know what you’re talking about, woman.”
“I think we both know that isn’t true, Caleb.”
She fell silent then, and so did Caleb. The sullen, heavy silence held until he dropped her off in front of her apartment complex and peeled out, speeding away as though trying to outrun the demons on his tail. And maybe, if he had listened to what she had to say…maybe he was. Jazmin could only hope that eventually he might stop running and face them. And that he didn’t do it after it was already too late. With a heavy sigh she turned after he’d disappeared from view and headed up to her apartment to get dressed and to in to work to try to salvage her fledgling career.
Chapter Five
Jazmin watched the team’s representatives as they stood bathed in lights that flickered as cameras took nonstop photos of the members of the Spurs that had been chosen to attend the press conference. Caleb was, of course, front and center.
It wasn’t because he was the biggest talent on the team. He could be if he would get his act together, but he wasn’t. No, he was there simply because everyone loved watching him, waiting to see what spectacle he would provide for the public next. There was nothing that could command the attention of the American public quite like a gorgeous, rich man with next to no self-control.
Vince glared daggers at Caleb, and Jazmin could hardly blame him seeing how he was supporting two black eyes and a swollen nose. The bruises had started to lighten around the edges, giving them a sickly hue, but they were still dark enough to be extremely noticeable. His nose had to have been broken at least once.
Caleb kept trying to catch Jazmin’s eye. She could see him doing it—she was aware of his every move, and scenes from their night together kept replaying in her mind—but she was determined not to acknowledge him. She’d managed not to get demoted, thank goodness, but she needed to mind her p’s and q’s right now. Jazmin had to be nothing but a professional, or things might not go so well for her. She had to suppress a smile as she noticed his rising ire at her inattention.
She had genuine trouble not staring when she noticed him getting a flask out and drinking heavily from it. When he leapt up on the press conference table she gave up the fight and looked at him. He held up the flask until the room silenced in anticipation of whatever he might do next.
“I’d like to propose a toast to the gorgeous reporter who rocked my world on Thursday night.”
He held the flask out in her direction and looked directly at her before drinking deeply.
“Oh, God.” She quickly started looking around just like everyone around her, pretending to try to figure out who the hell Caleb was talking about. Vince started laughing loudly until she stomped on his foot with her spiked heel. She couldn’t help smiling when he yelped in response.
Caleb grinned at the memory of the dark skinned beauty waiting only long enough for her departure not to be noticed before taking off like a cat with her tail on fire from the press conference. He might have actually called Jazmin by name if he hadn’t thought it would ruin his chances of being with her again.
He’d been pissed as hell when she’d ragged on him the other day, but if he was honest with himself, he knew that she was right. Hell, he’d actually almost enjoyed having someone tell him what they thought for a change. It got old really fast, never having anyone be open and honest with you. He couldn’t help thinking that he might be able to use a woman like her in his life.
He jogged over with the rest of the team to listen to coach’s wrap-up speech. He’d been off at practice today…not surprising considering that he’d sipped whiskey all through the press conference. He couldn’t help himself sometimes. It was just too damned tempting to give the public the screw-up behavior that they’d come to expect from him. He only half-listened to the coach’s words. He was much more concerned with the flask that was waiting in his locker.
“Hey, man. Did you hear me?”
He turned to his teammate. “What is it, Stephens?”
“I said, what were you thinking, hijacking the show at the press conference?”
“What is it to you?”
“Oh, I don’t know…maybe the fact that our team has become your own personal freak-show instead of a team that can be taken seriously?”
Caleb saw red, and the next thing he knew he’d punched Stephens right in the jaw. It wasn’t until afterwards that he realized the words had only pissed him off because they’d hit too close to home.
“O’Connell! Get your ass over here!” He jogged over to talk to the coach.
“You’ve crossed the line now. You can’t punch your damn teammates during practice. Your career’s been circling the drain for months now, and I’m about to let it wash right on down the pipes. One more stunt like that and you’re benched at the very best. Am I clear?”
“Crystal.” God, he needed a drink. He headed toward the locker room to get just that.
Chapter Six
Jazmin frowned in confusion when the doorbell rang. She certainly wasn’t expecting
anyone. When she looked through the peephole to find Caleb standing on the other side of the door it was an honest effort to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. She quickly unlocked the door and opened it. He didn’t even greet her.
“I punched Stephens at practice today.”
“Okay…if you’re looking for approval you won’t find it here Caleb. What do you want?”
“I need you to help me. Please.”
“Help you with what, exactly?” This had to be in her top ten list of things she’d never thought would never happen.
“I need you to help me to get clean, to start watching my behavior. Coach just threatened to bench me, maybe even to fire me. I need help. I’m not sure I can do this by myself, Jazmin.”
“Okay, fair enough. Why me, Caleb? We’ve only met each other once.”
He smiled a sexy little smile. “We did a little more than meet each other, Jazmin.” Then he quickly sobered. “You’re the only one in…well, in forever, who has bothered to call me on my behavior and told me exactly what they thought. I need someone like that, someone to ground me, you know?”
“I’m not sure I’m the right person for that, Caleb.” She couldn’t even help herself.
“Just…can you give it a chance? I’m not a stalker or anything. If at any point you decide it’s too much I’ll walk away. No questions asked…well, maybe with questions, but I won’t bother you if you decide you don’t want me around.”
She sighed heavily. “Okay, Caleb.” Somehow she felt like any potential gains Caleb might make from their friendship would be a poor consolation for the heartache it was almost sure to cause her. Still, she had been the one to lecture him about getting straight, so she could hardly deny him support now.
Something shifted between them with that conversation. Gone was the cocky, selfish man she’d seen. He’d been replaced by…well, by a gentleman. Jazmin was amazed to find that when he dropped the act she could really relate to him. That was damned dangerous…enjoyable, but dangerous.
Double Obsessions Page 11
