Through The Water: Fairest Series Book Two

by Myers, Shannon

  “I love you,” Ari gasped, raining kisses across my face. “And I cannot wait to be your wife. I’m going to make you so happy.”

  “You already do, girl.” I had to adjust my grip on her. My baseball pants, while unrestrictive, weren’t exactly hiding the fact that I was painfully hard. “What do you say we skip the after-party, so I can properly demonstrate just how happy you make me?”

  “Yes, because I have—”

  “Guys! Oh, my God!” Bailey bellowed as he shoved his face between ours, instantly ridding me of my erection. “Now, as your best man, I’ve got some great ideas for the bachelor party.”

  I opened my mouth, prepared to disagree when Georgia chimed in from across the barrier.

  “Oh, I didn’t know we got to pick our role! I’ll obviously be filling in as the flower girl, then.”

  “Georgia, you old so-and-so,” Bailey teased, clapping my shoulder roughly as he stalked over to her. “Finally decided to take me up on that date?”

  After lowering Ari to the field, we walked over to hug my parents and inexplicably watch my teammate woo a woman who was fifty years his senior.

  “You’re going to want to see this,” Ari said, wearing the smile of someone who was up to no good.

  “Mr. Bailey, I do not accept your offer,” Georgia exclaimed in a performance worthy of an Oscar, before nudging Morgan forward. “But perhaps she will.”

  The smirk on his face faded and his body went still. “Morgan?”

  She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, before lifting her eyes to meet his. “Hey, Conor.”

  “Where in the hell have you been, girl?” He said gruffly, before lifting her up and over the barrier.

  I cut my eyes over to Ari with a frown, trying to recall if I’d ever introduced Bailey to Morgan. I was almost positive I hadn’t, which left no reasonable explanation as to how the hell they knew each other. “Did I miss something?”

  “I’ll explain it later.” She chuckled and pressed her lips to the corner of my mouth before lowering her voice. “How fast can you knock the rest of these interviews out?”

  “Why?” I knew but wanted to hear her say it anyway.

  “Because I have a surprise for you too.”

  I lifted a brow. “Oh, yeah?”

  Ari’s gaze heated, and she nodded. “Whatever you want, for as long as you want.”

  33

  Killian

  “I had only one superstition. I made sure to touch all the bases when I hit a home run.”

  -Babe Ruth

  “Remind me again why you’ve never worn a suit for me before,” Ari murmured in between kisses. One of her hands roamed my torso while the other held my tie in a firm grip.

  “I was just wondering why I hadn’t seen you in one of my jerseys. Obviously, this is something you should start wearing every day.”

  Pants optional.

  “Oh, this old thing? I’ve had it for—”

  I kicked the door shut behind me and cut her off with another kiss. My hands moved down to her hips, guiding her backward through the living room with only one destination in mind.

  She grinned against my lips. “As I was saying, I got this when the Hurricanes made the playoffs. I needed something to wear to the games.”

  My steps faltered, and I blinked, completely confused. “Wait—what?”

  She exhaled a breathless laugh. “Well, I couldn’t go in just anything, could I?”

  Most of the blood in my body was currently residing in my dick, so I was having a little trouble following. I’d assumed she’d flown in for tonight, but she’d clearly said games—as in, more than one—which was crazy. She would have had to have flown in days, maybe even weeks ago, to attend those.

  “Hold on,” I said slowly. “When did you get into town?”

  “Um, right after y’all made the playoffs?” Her voice was high-pitched, making her confession sound more like a question.

  I scratched my beard while mentally calculating the dates. “But that was almost a month ago. Why am I just now seeing you?”

  A flush crept up her throat. “You were doing so well, and frankly, I didn’t know how the press was going to react. I didn’t want anything to get into your head.”

  I’d been wrong before.

  Torture wasn’t being unable to hold Ari like I’d wanted or trying to give interviews with her hand squeezing my ass. It was discovering she’d been in the same damn city as me for weeks and knowing the only thing that had kept us apart was her reverence for the game.

  A man could only take so much.

  There was a sudden ferocity in the way I claimed her mouth, the culmination of months of pent-up need. I’d slow down and give her sweet, but right now, I needed to satisfy an itch.

  I needed to be inside her.

  “Wait,” Ari panted against my lips as I slipped my hand under the waistband of her yoga pants. “Just wait—I have a surprise for you.”

  “I’ve got one for you too,” I murmured, rocking my hips. “Can you guess what it is?”

  She freed her mouth from mine, gulping for her next breath. “Just—just sit on the couch. Please.”

  Completely intrigued, I shrugged out of my jacket and sank down onto the leather with a wink. “The floor’s all yours, slugger.”

  Ari toed off her running shoes and socks, before gripping the waistband of her pants, pulling them down several inches while keeping her eyes on mine.

  “Fuck,” I whispered, my voice filled with awe. This was the glimpse I’d seen the first time I visited her room, a woman who didn’t lower her head for any man.

  My brave girl.

  “You showered, right?”

  I frowned. “Yeah. Why?”

  She regarded me silently as she pulled her pants down the rest of the way. The jersey hit her mid-thigh, revealing nothing. It didn’t matter, as my imagination had filled in the missing details quite nicely, bringing me dangerously close to losing control.

  “Put your arms on the back of the couch and relax,” Ari said. She stepped in between the couch and the ottoman in front of me. Using her legs, she parted my thighs and knelt at my feet.

  The temporary haze of lust brought on by her striptease dissipated enough for me to recognize her intentions.

  “Whoa!” I sat up and placed my hands over hers. “We don’t need to do this.”

  Ari shrugged out my hold and traced a fingertip down the ridges of my stomach before reaching for my belt. “Why are you the only one allowed to give pleasure in this relationship? Why won’t you let me do this?”

  “Because,” I responded weakly, lifting my eyes to the ceiling. “I don’t need it.”

  “Yes, you do.” The belt opened with a click, and she moved to my pants. “Everyone needs to be loved, Killian.”

  I tensed and caught her hand in mine again. “No. Not like this—”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m not an asshole!” I snapped, my chest heaving. “And I’m not degrading you for my pleasure. End of story.”

  Ari’s green eyes widened as she peered up at me in silence. I couldn’t tell whether my sudden outburst had left her angry or upset. Her expression was completely unreadable.

  Once again, I’d made a mess of what was supposed to be a night of celebrating. I squeezed my eyes shut and let my head fall back against the couch, jumping when I felt her fingers on the button of my trousers. “Ari—”

  “Hey,” she said quietly. “Look at me.”

  Reluctantly, I lowered my gaze to hers, still wrestling with my guilt. “I don’t want to be the guy I was before.”

  “You’re not.” Ari freed the top button and set to work on the other. “And I want to do this—”

  “Why?” I was genuinely curious.

  “Why?” she repeated, scrunching up her nose as if finding the question silly. “Because I want to.”

  Ari freed the last button and lowered my zipper, her voice soft. “Because there’s nothing degrading about being on your kne
es in worship. Let me love you this way, Killian. Let me show you how proud I am to be yours.”

  I exhaled a ragged breath when her touch moved to the front of my boxer briefs, stroking me through the thin material.

  “Please.”

  “Fuck,” I groaned through gritted teeth, before nodding. “Okay.”

  How in the hell was I supposed to argue with that?

  “Lean back.” She reached into the waistband and freed my cock before continuing her slow and steady strokes. Her eyes glimmered with excitement like I was giving her something, not the other way around.

  I couldn’t look away from her. When she leaned in to press a gentle kiss to the tip, I had to dig my hands into the back of the couch.

  Fuck.

  No one had ever handled me with such care. With such love.

  Ari slicked her tongue over the same area, before rocking back on her knees to pant, “I’m not going to ask if I’m doing it right. I know I am.”

  With that, she fisted the base of my cock, wrapping her lips around the crown with a low moan.

  “Christ,” I ground out, before pulling her off. “What do you mean, ‘you know you are?’ Were you practicing on someone?”

  Her tongue swept over a bead of moisture on the tip. “Not exactly.”

  “Explain.”

  “Well…” She slowly worked her fist up and down my shaft. “Let’s just say my trip was very educational. There were the sex shows in Amsterdam…”

  I opened my mouth, prepared to ask something along the lines of, what the fuck? Only, Ari chose that moment to introduce my cock to the back of her throat, and I ended up spouting off a string of nonsense.

  She leaned back with a smirk. “Oh, and Kanamara Matsuri in Kawasaki. It’s an entire festival centered around a Japanese legend involving a steel phallus.”

  “What—” I shuddered and lost my train of thought when she took me all the way again. Her nose was pressed against the hairs on my lower abdomen. “Jesus Christ.”

  Ari lifted off me and casually ran the back of her hand across her mouth. “But, by far, the most intellectual experience we had was in Finland, during the Kutemajrvi Sex Festival. They even had professional lectures.”

  Struggling with the tattered remains of my impulse control, I held her shoulders back and begged, “Wait—just give me a second to think! Did Georgia know you were sneaking off to do this?”

  “Whose idea do you think it was. She said Morgan and I needed to experience sex without the religious stipulations. Plus, we had the security team with us, so we were all safe. Any more questions, or can I continue?”

  I didn’t remember providing a response, but I must have because she took me in her mouth again, pinning my wrists against the cushion. It was a nonverbal nod as to who was in charge.

  Her.

  Completely. One hundred percent. Her.

  A jolt of desperation shot down my spine when her throat contracted around my cock, pushing me closer to mindlessness.

  Not yet.

  Ari watched me through shimmering eyes, and my fists shook with the need to touch her, to wipe her tears. Instead, I kept my arms at my sides, finding beauty in the vulnerability.

  Mine, not hers.

  She was perfect. So damned perfect.

  Her grip on my right wrist loosened and she slipped her hand under the jersey. I clenched my jaw, trying to prolong the inevitable, but knowing she was touching herself while I was deep in her mouth was too much.

  “Baby,” I groaned, fast approaching the point of no return and not wanting to finish in her mouth. “You gotta stop. I’m gonna come.”

  Instead of pulling back, she took me deeper until it felt as if fireworks might shoot out of my skull. I was convinced I was close to death because no blow job had ever felt like this. When her tongue caressed over the ridge of my cock, I was a goner. I pressed the base of my palms to my eyes and surrendered with a roar.

  Ari swallowed every drop before collapsing against the ottoman with a harsh pant. I stood and she blinked up at me through heavy-lidded eyes, her pink lips still swollen.

  “You are so beautiful.” I lifted her lax body into my arms and carried her into our bedroom. I gently placed her on the bed before grabbing a bottled water from the fridge. When I returned, she was curled into a ball, fast asleep.

  I set the water on the dresser and sank down onto the mattress, taking my time undoing her braided pigtails and running my fingers through to separate the waves.

  This was the woman I was going to marry.

  My throat tightened with emotion, and I shifted my jaw from side to side until the urge to cry passed, before retrieving a small velvet box from the nightstand.

  “What’s that?” she asked, suddenly wide awake.

  “Your surprise,” I admitted gruffly, reaching for her left hand.

  “And here I thought you were my surprise,” Ari responded, holding still while I slipped the ring over her knuckle.

  “Oh, I am, slugger,” I chuckled. “But after that blow job, I figured I better make it official before someone else snatches you up.”

  “Turn on the light. Let me see.” She blinked against the brightness when I switched on the lamp, before lifting it up for inspection.

  My heart was lodged somewhere in my throat as I watched her admire the ring, wondering if perhaps I should have gone with a flashy diamond instead.

  “Killian,” she breathed, letting it catch the light. “It’s gorgeous. What kind of stone is this?”

  “Sea glass. It reminded me of you.”

  Ari held it against my face, her lips curving up. “It matches your eyes. Now, every time I look at it, I’ll be reminded of you.”

  I wanted to tell her that I’d chosen it because of how we’d first met. Water represented life, and she’d not only saved mine but transformed it completely. The glass in her ring had been rolled and tumbled in the ocean for years, chaotically honed into something desirable. Something worthy.

  Just like that boy she’d dragged from the lake.

  My throat bobbed in a swallow. I couldn’t make the words come out.

  But she knew.

  “I’ve been in churches all over the world, but yours—” She placed her left hand over my heart, her chin wobbling. “Yours is my favorite.”

  There was a peace in being seen, not for my talents, but for the man I strove to be. For her.

  “Does this mean you’re home to stay?” I brushed her hair back with my fingers, feeling that familiar tug of hope.

  “I’m with you, wherever that may be,” she whispered, repeating the same words I’d given her the night I let go.

  She kissed me, and I savored every moment, every brush of her lips. This was the beginning of the rest of our lives. When our kisses turned frantic, Ari reached for my tie, loosening it before reaching for the buttons on my shirt.

  I slid my hand up under her jersey, cupping and squeezing her breasts through the thin lace of her bra before casually asking, “Did you come earlier?”

  “It wasn’t enough. I need more.” She curled her hands against my pecs and dropped a kiss to my sternum, slowly working her way up to my neck and jaw. “Please.”

  “What do you need?” My fingers dipped under the lace, drawing her nipples out.

  Her warm breath fell against my throat as she stroked my cock back to life. “I need you to touch me.”

  I pulled Ari’s hand from my shaft, before sliding off the bed. “Relax. It’s my turn.”

  She rested on her elbows, shamelessly watching as I slipped the tie over my head and let my shirt fall to the floor. My need to touch her soon trumped any desire to get undressed. I left the trousers and briefs hanging from my hips.

  My hands moved between her thighs, spreading her like she’d done for me on the couch. I tugged her lace panties to the side and stroked, only to stop at the feel of bare skin.

  “Baby, where’s your hair?”

  Ari smirked. “I think it all went to your face.”
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  “Yeah?” I tugged the panties down and tossed them aside, before playfully nipping the inside of her thigh with my teeth. “Let me see if I can put it back.”

  I curved two fingers inside her body while using the flat of my tongue to lap at her clit. She gasped and arched her back, forcing my fingers deeper. I took my time sucking and stretching her body, getting high off of every whimper, every groan.

  “Killian—wait!” She babbled to the ceiling. “Please.”

  “What is it, slugger?” I asked, using the pad of my thumb while my fingers stroked her inner walls. “Like this?”

  Ari’s hips pushed forward in confirmation, using me to get where she needed. With a shattered cry, her body clenched around my fingers before she went completely limp.

  “Babe,” she panted, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “You can never shave that beard.”

  I grinned and stripped from the waist down, stopping to help Ari remove her jersey when she didn’t move. With a giggle, she raised up just enough to unclasp her bra, exposing nipples that were already hardened into points.

  “Do you want me inside you, baby?” I asked, fisting my cock with fingers drenched in her release.

  “Please,” she begged, looking up at me with drowsy eyes. “Make love to me.”

  “I hope you’re comfortable because I’ve got eight months to make up for.” I felt around in the nightstand and then muttered a curse.

  “What?”

  Frustration crept into my voice. “I don’t have a condom.”

  Ari shrugged, displaying a hint of a grin. “And?”

  “And… I want to make love to you.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, cursing myself for not having a sixth sense about her coming home early.

  Now, no one would be coming at all.

  She sat up and placed a hand on my bicep. “So, make love to me without one.”

  “I’ve, uh—” I swallowed, feeling the undeniable need to put her mind at ease. “I just want you to know I’ve never been with anyone without one.”

  “Can I be your first?” she asked, pulling her lower lip between her teeth.