“Damn,” he muttered. “Wait just a minute.”
“No, let me,” she said. She jumped up and grabbed the strip of condoms and unwrapped another one.
Then she hurried back onto the bed and knelt on the mattress beside him. He was on his back, one arm behind his head, the other lying across his stomach.
His cock—that glorious, beautiful organ—was jutting upward from a bed of dark hair, and his balls were starting to swell as well.
Annalisa didn’t realize she was speaking aloud until she heard the first words from her mouth. “I would love nothing more than to photograph you just like this,” she said.
His chuckle sounded a little embarrassed but it turned into a seductive moan when her fingers gently encircled him. She traced his length from top to bottom and back again. Over and over she worked him. When his dick was a hot, pulsing rod in her hands, she used her mouth and tongue on him, licking and slurping, all the while telling him how beautiful he was.
By the time she delved her tongue in the wet slit at the very tip, his balls were drawn tight against his body and his hips were thrusting upward.
She raised her head for one final look at his face before she rolled a condom onto him to finish the blowjob. When she started to lower her mouth back onto his dick, his hand slid into her hair and gripped the strands, halting her inches from her prize.
“You did all the work last time. It’s my turn now,” he said. Before she could blink their positions were reversed. She was on her back and he was between her legs. She hated the thought of that moist, ready cock being denied, and she told him so.
“Oh, it isn’t going to be denied,” he promised then robbed her of all her breath when he placed his mouth against the outer lips of her pussy and started using that gifted tongue of his to show her just how he did the work.
Soon she was moaning as he licked and kissed like a professional lover. He found every spot to bring her the most pleasure. As he licked he used his fingers to tease and tantalize, stroking her clit and reaching deep inside, finding the spot that would give her the ultimate release. As she came she cried out in joy and rode the wave of pleasure to shore.
She felt him move and opened her eyes to watch as he slid inside her still quivering pussy. He stroked inside her with steady, even thrusts that quickly spiraled her back over the edge of pleasure. His dick jerked, signaling his simultaneous release, and she felt complete in ways she’d only imagined.
A long time later they were lying side by side and he was stroking her face and hair. She felt a great need to sleep but wanted to talk more. With supreme control, she leaned up and kissed him gently then asked a question. “Can you tell me what it’s like when you row?”
His hand stopped its movement on her face as if he were surprised by her words. Then a smile bloomed across his face.
“It feels almost as good as making you come,” he said. She smiled as she knew he expected her to but she also felt a little disappointed. She’d been hoping for something more truthful from him. She didn’t know why, because it wasn’t as if they were a couple or anything. That thought stopped her. She was thinking this was something more than just a good time. And that was her problem, not his. She started to say something that would lighten the mood, which had turned much too serious on her part, when he spoke again.
“I don’t know if I can explain it.”
She was beginning to be able to read his expressions, and what she saw now was that he was searching for the right words. Annalisa stroked her hand across his damp chest to give him time and unspoken support. She was afraid any interruption on her part might stop what he wanted to say.
After a few more seconds, he tucked her more securely against his body and slowly began to talk about his past.
“When I was injured in Afghanistan, I thought I had lost everything. Being a Ranger…well, I never thought I’d stop,” he said. “Oh sure, I knew at some point I’d be too old and too beat-up to continue, but I figured that was years away. Honestly I thought I’d be dead long before that happened. It’s just the law of averages. You jump into too many fires and you’re going to get burned.”
She made a sound she hoped was noncommittal, one that wouldn’t stop him. She had a feeling she was going to finally get a glimpse into the real man, one she was dying to get to know better.
But he was silent for so long that she was afraid he wasn’t going to say any more.
“I did a feature shoot of some of the training the Rangers do a few years ago,” she finally said.
He snorted. “I bet that went over well with command.”
“They didn’t seem to be too upset. I was only there a few hours,” she admitted.
The way his mouth moved, just at one corner in a sort of wry grimace, told Annalisa that she hadn’t seen anything of importance. Not that she was surprised by that knowledge.
“Yeah, well, training is good and it does prepare the men the best it can for action. But nothing really mimics combat.”
She couldn’t truly begin to imagine what he’d seen and done on battlefields large and small in places she’d never known existed.
“So when you were injured, what did you think you’d do?” she asked.
“Honestly I figured I’d just quit. I mean, nothing was going to get me back with my unit. Hell, my knee was shot. They had to rebuild the whole damn thing.”
“Is that when you first started rowing?” she asked.
“Yeah. At the rehab wing at Walter Reed,” he said, naming the famous military hospital. “I couldn’t run, especially at first. One of the grunts—I mean, one of the privates—was trying to learn to walk after losing both his legs in an IED attack in Fallujah and he challenged me to try it. He was a fucking—I mean, a freaking—workout animal.”
Annalisa bit her lip to keep from asking what had happened to the soldier, especially since Robert had said “was”.
“Everybody called him ‘Stumpy’. I thought it was because of what had happened in Iraq, but later I learned he’d been called that since he was a kid because he was just a little fella. Of course, the guys at Walter Reed ragged the shit out of him. Anyway, this little runt of guy was working out all the time. I would see him use the rowing machine then crawl his way over to the pool and do fifty laps then come back and hit the rower again.”
“So he challenged you?” Annalisa prompted, wanting to hear how he’d gone from rebuilding his knee to getting on the Olympic team.
“Yeah. And soon all the other guys were in my face too,” Robert said. “Before my injury, I just put in the PT time because it was required. Frankly doing all the things Rangers do just came naturally. I played a lot of ball in school but I didn’t have to work at it, you know? After my knee got blown up it was different. I’d never known that kind of pain. I’m sad to say, if they hadn’t been on me, I probably wouldn’t be able to walk today.”
He took a breath and Annalisa kept her face against his chest. She couldn’t imagine the pain he’d been in and her heart was breaking at the thought of what he’d lived through. He picked up his story and though she was about to cry, he seemed calm about the events he related next.
“They were right to ride me. You should have heard what Stumpy said to me. ‘Wimp’ was the nicest name he called me. He said if he could do it with zero legs, I ought to be able to row myself to China and back. One of my flaws is being unable to resist a challenge, and Stumpy was right on. The rowing machine was a great workout. My legs got strong. Then one of the physical therapists, who was really into the local rowing scene, told me about tryouts they were having for an eights team.”
She wasn’t sure how she knew, maybe it was the tone of his voice, or perhaps the easy way he was breathing, but Annalisa felt certain he was smiling now. The thought made her heart feel full that at least part of this memory was a happy one for him.
“Stumpy and the guys said I should go for it. My doc said it was okay. He gave me the all clear for anything I wanted to do except rejoi
n my unit. So I figured it might be fun. No one was more surprised than me when I made the damn team. From there it snowballed. I never dreamed I’d be here at the trials and have a chance at the Olympics. But the guys…well, they were all pulling for me, so I didn’t want to let them down. I figured at best maybe I’d get on as a coach or adviser, something like that.”
“And here you are,” Annalisa finished. “One more win and you’ll be in the Olympics.”
“Yes. I want it. It wasn’t something I’d even thought about two years ago. Now…well, I’m not going to be happy if I don’t get it all,” Robert said. “Finishing second is not an option. But, hell, if you believe in luck or mojo or whatever, I’ve probably just screwed any chance of winning.”
“What do you mean?”
Now Robert laughed without humor and sat up. “Haven’t you heard the one that sex takes the edge off? It’s one of the many taboos of athletics.”
Annalisa frowned. “Really? I would have thought great sex would make you relax and pump positive endorphins into your muscles or something.”
He shook his head. “Jesus, what was I thinking? I shouldn’t be here now, doing this.”
Annalisa began to get worried. She wouldn’t have thought Robert was one to believe something like that, but she didn’t want anything she’d done to keep him from reaching his dream.
“Well, I think what we need is to get you some food and fluids,” she said. She reached for the phone and the folder the hotel provided with the restaurants and amenities nearby. She punched in the number for room service and the wait was short. She pondered the menu and started ordering what she thought should be enough to feed an army but would probably only replenish the calories he’d used in his heat. She added one more luxury at the end with the fresh fruit and whipped cream.
When she replaced the phone, she grinned over at him then maneuvered so she was sitting on his lap. His arms came around her, holding her against him.
“Well, I agree wholeheartedly about finishing second,” she said. “The food should be here in about thirty minutes, which should give me time to massage those muscles so they don’t get stiff.”
There was one spot she was most interested in, and it wasn’t a muscle, but she could wait—for a little while at least. She got off his lap and smiled. “Why don’t you lie on your stomach and let me get to work?”
He did as she asked and she got onto the bed beside him. She started on his arms and worked her way up to his shoulders. She concentrated on the texture of his skin where it stretched over his muscles. She was having trouble reaching the middle of his back, so she moved to sit on his butt. He grunted and she stopped.
“Am I hurting you?” she asked, appalled.
“Not exactly,” he replied.
She smiled when she heard the need in his voice. She leaned forward so her breasts brushed against his back, then kissed her way up his spine. When she got to the deep dip between his shoulder blade and his spine, she let her fingers trail up and down.
“You’re amazing to touch—almost as amazing as you are to photograph,” she said. “But I’ve never seen such an attractive back.”
She heard a sound from him that sounded like a purr. She hoped it was from pleasure.
“I really do think I need to take a picture or two of you,” she said. She wasn’t about to leave him, even to get her camera, but it was on her agenda to convince him to let her photograph him nude—and soon. “I wish I knew what this was called,” she added as she moved her fingers over the bunch of muscles just below his neck.
“Trapezius.” His voice definitely sounded strained. She smiled and moved her fingers to the left and dug in just a bit.
“And this?”
“Rhomboid major.” There was a bit of gasping too. She would have been worried except that her heart was speeding a little and she was enjoying the game too much to let anything interrupt it.
Annalisa continued to work her way down his back. She moved from her perch on his butt to back beside him on the bed. She reached for another condom from the bedside table. As she unwrapped it, he turned onto his back. She put the condom on with minimum fuss then slid her leg over his hips and positioned herself so she was poised above his hard cock. “Let’s see who finishes first this time.”
He began playing with her nipples, pulling her into a deep sexual haze so that on his first push into her she was already flying high. When they were both groaning with ecstasy, the fall across the finish line was a dead heat.
Chapter Five
It was a perfect day—sun shining, the temperature hot but not stifling. The crowd was milling about and discussing boats and teams with an excited buzz that sounded to Robert like a swarm of bees moving in from a distance. He felt great—limber, relaxed and ready. He also felt as nervous as hell. He wasn’t a great believer in superstition. He didn’t believe in luck and he knew his body was in better shape than at other time in his life.
That said, last night he had broken one of the most often quoted and believed rules for athletes in any sport. He’d had mind-blowing, life-altering sex.
No, he didn’t believe in the superstition, but the fact of the matter was that he was at an age when most people wouldn’t be competing at this level. And he’d done things, and in positions, that he honestly hadn’t accomplished since his college days. He was lucky he hadn’t pulled a muscle—or worse, reinjured his shoulder with those mattress gymnastics.
If he failed today, Robert knew he would always wonder why the hell he hadn’t waited to get involved with Annalisa until after the race.
Today was the single sculls Championship. As a last-minute replacement, no one other than him had expected him even to make the second round, much less be prepping for the US title. He felt a smile widen his face.
But there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that today’s finish would be anything other than a win.
“So, you have a huge shit-eating grin on your face, lad,” Scotty said, punching Robert lightly on the arm. “Are you feeling that confident about the race?”
Robert tried to make his expression serious. He hoped this man, who was more friend than coach, wouldn’t see the truth. He had a feeling that although his friend had been telling him he needed to relax and live a little, Scotty hadn’t meant him to do it the night before the finals.
“I feel good about the race. I think I can take him.”
“Excellent. I know you can take him,” Scotty said. “But here’s what I want you to do. Hold back a little. Don’t go a hundred and ten percent at the start.”
Robert straightened. “That isn’t what we’ve been practicing.”
Scotty nodded. “I know. But I’ve got a feeling. I think Calhoun is hiding something. I was watching him warm up and something seems off.”
Robert assessed Scotty’s advice and cast a glance at his main competition, Joe Calhoun. He was a good guy and an excellent rower. He’d been a force in the rowing competition for the last five years, with no one coming close to unseating him as the top singles athlete in the world. Since the US team could take two rowers in each of the singles events to the Olympics, both he and Calhoun were already assured a spot in the games—this was about winning the US title. Robert wanted this for himself and to prove something to all the guys still fighting unnamed battles in forgotten places, all the other wounded warriors fighting their way through hell to recovery in military hospitals all over the country. Though there were three other rowers in the event, Robert felt strongly that it would come down to him and Calhoun for the Championship.
“You think whatever injury he has, it will cause problems at the end.” It wasn’t a question from Robert, just a quiet statement of fact.
“That’s right. I think he pulled his biceps yesterday. He’ll be a hundred percent for the Olympics, but today he’ll be trying to overcompensate at first, but the way he’s favoring that arm there’s no way he can last the distance.” Scotty’s serious look turned to a wicked grin. “Patience, my man. T
hat’s what will win you a US Championship today.”
Robert nodded and started forward to lift his boat into the water. “Besides,” Scotty added just loudly enough for Robert to hear him, “I’m betting that if you win the title today, that little photographer will give you a medal of a different kind tonight. If she didn’t already burn you out last night.”
Robert’s only reaction was a slight hesitation in his steps. If Scotty knew the truth about his hook-up with Annalisa, he would be a lot more vocal than this. Robert wasn’t ashamed about being with Annalisa, just rocked at the lousy timing of it all. He’d never been the kind of man who couldn’t keep it in his pants or one to let sex keep him from completing his mission. It simply wasn’t the Ranger way. He tried to put the whole thing from his mind.
Still, as he put his boat in the water, stepped in, checked his oars and waited for the signal from the starter for the race to begin, he couldn’t help getting a semi-woody just thinking about what inventive ways Annalisa could devise to celebrate tonight.
He was still thinking about it when the horn sounded and that was why he didn’t immediately start his stroke. Calhoun was two and half lengths away from the starting line when he began.
Damn. Scotty didn’t mean I should take the whole damn race off. Perhaps I did blow my competitive edge in bed last night.
Annalisa held her breath when Robert’s competition in the sculls took a two-boat lead, even while she was shooting like mad. But then, as if he had been in a trance, Robert began rowing, his arms, legs and torso moving in a smooth way that was athletic, artistic and sexy as hell. His strength shot the boat forward and ate up the distance between him and his competitor in less than a minute. She kept shooting, automatically switching cameras to use the best lens to capture each movement, each moment, with the best frames.
Midway down the course, the two were neck and neck. Annalisa focused not just on their faces—though they were arresting, full of determination and focus—but also on the water dancing over the bow of each boat as it cut through it.
Stroke of Luck Page 5
