by D. L. Raver
“Because that’s not her natural hair or eye color.” T scrolled through his phone for a second and then held it up for both of us to see. “There was a picture of her in her file. She had blonde hair and brown eyes. Irelyn, she looked like you.”
I laid in bed mulling over what T-bone had told us. The picture of a young Delaney kept circling in my mind, creeping me out—we could have been twins. The more I tried to understand the connection, the more it confused me. Was Marcus in love with her? Is that why he became fixated on me?
“That’s not a happy face,” Zolt said, climbing into bed.
“I’m kind of freaking at how much Delaney and I resemble each other. What the hell does that mean, and what’s with the hair-color change?” I toyed with the crosses I now wore around my neck, moving my brother’s and my own around the chain.
“I don’t know. I’ll admit I’m as shocked as you are; it is creepy.” Zolt settled in next to me, and I snuggled close to him.
“I wonder if he’s in love with her. Obviously, he thought about her while he had sex with me. The whole thing is just too sick.” I shuddered as I thought about it. The ick factor made me want to regurgitate my dinner. “To think, she was only thirteen when she got pregnant?”
“Try to push it out of your mind.”
“I’m trying but I can’t. Help me? Take my mind off it?”
“Okay. I can do that.” Zolt threw the sheet back and climbed out of bed. He put out his hand for me to take.
“Where are we going?” I asked, taking his hand, padding after him.
“Midnight swim. May be the last time we have this house to ourselves before Brody comes home; we should take advantage of it. And I have a surprise to show you. Two, actually.”
“Two?”
“Yep.”
I followed Zolt into the backyard, down the steps and into the pool area. Since I’d been living here, I hadn’t gotten to use the pool because of my back healing and everything else that had happened subsequent to that.
“Wow!” I said as I walked to the edge of the pool. “I love the inset lights at the bottom of the pool. It’s like the stars fell in there.”
“That’s the exact effect I wanted.” He went into the cabana and brought out two towels, dropping them on the chaise lounge.
“Is this one of the surprises?” I asked, watching his tight ass flex and release as he walked to the edge of the pool. Even with his limp and scars, I had a hot husband.
Zolt dove into the pool and I followed after. The temperature was just right—cool and refreshing. The scorching external temperature could make swimming in Arizona like swimming in a warm bath.
I dipped my head under, wetting my hair. Then, I resurfaced and tossed my head back, getting my wet waves out of my face.
Glancing around the pool, I didn’t see Zolt anywhere, but a second later, the bastard grabbed me by the legs and pulled me under.
I came up sputtering and coughing with Zolt laughing at me.
“Bastard,” I said through coughs and laughter. This was the most physically playful I’d seen him. We couldn’t really roughhouse because of his leg, but the pool took the weight off it and hopefully eased his pain. In the water, he didn’t seem to have a bad leg.
He picked me up and tossed me into the water, laughing as I went flying through the air.
Seeing him this way, frolicsome and happy, made me happy in turn.
“Thanks,” I said breathlessly, swimming back to him and wrapping my arms around his neck.
“You’re welcome, but I’m not done yet. I told you, I have another surprise for you. It’s just under there.” He pointed to the waterfall that fell steadily into the pool. Colored lights made it resemble a rainbow falling into the water below.
“This pool is amazing, Zolt. I love it.”
Zolt dove under the waterfall and emerged on the other side.
I followed after him, diving under and surfacing on the other side, as well. Once again, arranging my hair from my face and out of my eyes.
“Holy hell! You have a hidden grotto, just like the Playboy Mansion. Should I call you Hef Jr.?” I giggled as I imagined an image of Zolt in a smoking jacket with a pipe in his mouth. Too funny!
“What’s so funny?” he asked, walking out of the pool—the grotto’s edge had been constructed in such a way that allowed you to walk out instead of climb.
“Nothing.” I still giggled at the image, unable to shake it from my mind. I walked out after him and flopped next to him on the beanbag type chair that was positioned in the corner of the grotto.
“What? You’re making me feel self-conscious.” He turned on his side and narrowed his eyes.
“I can see you dressed like Hef, is all, in a smoking jacket with a pipe. It’s kind of funny.”
“You should see it in person. It’s more than kind of funny since the dude is a million years old and surrounded by Bunnies more than half his age.”
“So, you’ve been there? To the mansion?” Now it was time for my eyes to narrow. Of course, he’d been there; you don’t get named the hottest man in football and not go to the Playboy Mansion.
“I have. Been in the grotto, too,” he said proudly.
I rolled my eyes. “I suppose you got at least a blowjob in there.”
“I did.”
The corner of my mouth curled into a snarl. “A big-boobed bimbo, no doubt.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely!”
“Wait. Is that what inspired your grotto?”
“Maybe. But…” he rolled over on his back and pulled me on top of him. “You’re the only woman to see this. But, you know that, Irelyn.”
“I do. But I hate the idea of some other woman sucking that beautiful cock of yours. Grr!”
“If it makes you feel better, she wasn’t anywhere as good as you. No one has ever been as good as you.”
Zolt kissed me, his tongue brushing against mine, begging me to suck it. So I did.
He thrust his hips upward, pressing his erection between my legs but not entering me.
I gasped and ground my hips against him, making him gasp, as well. Leaning up, I positioned my right breast over his mouth, inviting him to take in my peaked nipple. When he did, I cried out as he nibbled, then sucked, and then nibbled again.
“Oh,” I moaned. Zolt knew how to manage that exciting line between pleasure and pain.
He stopped his sweet torture of my breast and rolled us over, positioning his cock at my entrance.
“Do you trust me, Irelyn?” he asked in a gruff voice.
“Yes,” I panted out.
“I have something for us, something I think we’ll both like.”
I nodded my voice suddenly absent.
He reached behind the beanbag chair and grabbed something. As he stretched over me, his body pressed into mine and I squirmed.
Zolt chuckled wickedly. “Save that squirm, baby. What’s coming will make you squirm plenty. Close your eyes and spread your legs wide for me.”
I did as he asked immediately, too excited to even consider hesitating.
He ran his finger up the middle of me. “God, you’re wet. I love how you’re always ready for me. Stay relaxed, yeah?”
“Yes,” I murmured, resisting the urge to writhe. I could feel his body move as he sat between my legs, getting ready to do whatever it was he was going to do. The uncertainty drove me crazy. I drew in a long breath and concentrated on the sound of the waterfall hitting the pool below.
Zolt rustled with what I thought might be a box then his hand settled between my legs.
“I’m going to insert something inside you. Are you ready?”
“What? Yes.” Fuck! Was I ready?
I squeezed my eyes tighter as I waited for Zolt. First, I felt his finger, followed by something sliding into me, then followed by something settling over the top of my clit. I gasped at that slight contact, wanting so much more.
“Good. You can open your eyes.”
When I opened them, Zolt�
�s body was over mine, his mouth mere inches from my own.
“I’m going to turn it on now and you’ll want to come, but don’t. Wait for me, Irelyn,” he commanded.
“Okay,” I said, my voice shaking with excitement.
With a touch of a remote, Zolt turned the toy on.
“Fuck,” I moaned. The toy vibrated both my clit and my G-spot at the same time.
“Don’t you come, Irelyn,” he repeated more harshly. “Wait for me.”
“What?” Before I could contemplate what he just said to me, he was inside me, creating more pressure on both spots.
I came instantly, my head tossing back and forth.
He placed my leg over his shoulder, plunging himself incredibly deep inside me, and I gulped in a lung-full of air as I forced myself to relax to better accommodate him.
“I love these long legs of yours. I especially love them draped over my shoulders as I fuck you.” Zolt kissed my thigh as he moved inside me. With each thrust, the vibrator pressed against my clit and G-spot simultaneously, building me closer to an even bigger orgasm.
Zolt groaned and moved faster. My body arched into him, lost in the sensation of all my nerves being stimulated at once.
“Fuck,” I screamed as I came, my world spinning in a cyclone of pleasure. Before I could catch my breath, Zolt put my legs down, spread my legs wide, and pushed my knees toward my chest. On his knees, he slammed into me while holding me open. He pressed another button on the remote and the vibration kicked up a notch.
For a minute, I thought it was too much, that I couldn’t handle the exquisite pleasure/pain sensations that rippled through me. I could hear myself panting, unable to get control of my breathing.
“Relax, Irelyn. Go with it. Let me fuck you into an orgasm that will blow your mind.”
I did as he said, bidding myself to get my breath under control. Once I did, the pleasure center of my brain took over, sending me flying into the mind-blowing release Zolt had just promised. My entire body tingled from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I heard myself screaming, but I have no fucking idea what I said.
Zolt followed right after me, screaming my name as he came, deep and hot inside me.
“Fuck me,” I mumbled as he rolled off me onto his back.
“I think I just did.” He used the remote and turned off the toy, then removed it from me. Lying on his side, he asked, “Did you like that?”
I rolled on my side, as well. “What? Yeah. Sorry, I’m pretty sure you fucked me stupid this time.”
“Hmm. Just pretty sure?” A sparkle of mischief lit his eyes. “I guess we need to do it again until you’re sure; I don’t like to leave a job undone.”
Later that night, Zolt succeeded in his mission to fuck me stupid.
Irelyn and I ate breakfast on the patio and stared at the photo of T-bone and his new baby boy, Rick Stanley, Jr.
“Oh, my God, Zolt, he’s beautiful. Look at those fat cheeks and plump baby lips. I can’t wait to hold him,” Irelyn cooed. “Poor Tamara. I can’t imagine giving birth to a thirteen-pound baby.”
“No shit,” I said, putting the phone down. “But it’s not surprising Junior is a huge baby. Look at his parents. Tamara alone is Amazon-tall.”
“Offensive lineman,” we both said and smiled. I ran my finger over my phone, afraid to ask what we hadn’t talked about.
“Do you want kids, Irelyn? We haven’t talked about it.” I glanced up at her and hoped the expression in my eyes didn’t give me away. I really could see us with children that were a mix of both of us.
“I do,” she said, her sable-browns glittering. “I love babies. But I don’t want them right away. Maybe in five years? I need time to figure out what I want to do.”
She climbed onto my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. “And I want us to have time together. Hopefully, all this crap is going to end soon, and we’ll find ourselves on the other side, alive and well.”
“We will,” I said, slipping my arms around her waist. “I owe you a proper honeymoon.”
“You do, Hamil; but not only that, we deserve one.”
“Agreed.” I kissed her ruby lips then pulled away. “We need to get going if we’re going to stop and visit Brody before we go to the Campbell’s.”
Irelyn frowned. “I sure hope we come up with some answers. I’m sick of our lives being on hold.”
“I know, baby. I have a good feeling about this. The info about Delaney is the key; I feel it in my gut. This is the one thing we’ve needed to force his hand.”
“That assumes we can get our hands on her.” Irelyn shrugged. “I’d imagine Marcus has her under lock and key much the same way he has Kenna. Though, he seems to trust Delaney, but I’m not sure the same can be said in the reverse.”
“This is all coming to a head. I suspect in the next several days it will all be over.” I kissed her again and gently pushed her off my lap. “Now let’s get going, wife; we don’t want to be late. T said he has only thirty minutes to video conference with us before Tamara puts him on daddy-duty.”
Irelyn grinned at me.
“What?” I asked.
“I can’t wait to see you holding our baby. I hope he has your eyes. I love your eyes.”
“He?”
“Yeah. T-bone’s son needs a quarterback to defend.” She leaned over me and ran her long fingers over my groin, making me groan. “I just know there’s another Hamil QB waiting to make his appearance in the world.”
I warmed at her words, liking the image they weaved. Loving Irelyn had opened me up to so many possibilities, and letting football back into my life was one of them.
Later that day, we left Brody in a foul mood; it really was true that doctors made the worst patients. He wanted to come home, but Dr. Fredricks wanted him to stay another day to make sure the brain-swelling and neurology tests came back positive.
I felt for my brother. I knew how awful being in the hospital could be, but I also knew I wouldn’t let him come home before it’s time.
The mood at the Campbell’s, however, was surprisingly upbeat and Irelyn and I shook off Brody’s bad mood.
Rachel rushed us at the door and thrust out her left hand, revealing a large diamond on her ring finger.
Irelyn and Rachel started squealing and jumping up and down like teenage girls. It hit me at that moment what getting married on the qt had taken from the two best friends.
“OMG, Rach, it’s beautiful. I’m so happy for you!” She made a show of examining her best friend’s hand and the ring on it.
Rachel punched Irelyn on the arm. “Don’t act like you haven’t seen it. I know you went with Cory to pick it out.”
“Yeah, I did,” Irelyn confessed. “I didn’t want you to be stuck with an ugly ring just like you didn’t want me stuck with one, either.”
Cory joined the girls and I shook his hand. “Congrats, Cory.”
“Thanks. I got tired of waiting. We needed something positive, and life is too fucking short to wait for the perfect time.” Cory smiled, but I could see the sadness underneath his happiness. I hated that we couldn’t just be happy and enjoy life’s important events.
Celia joined the women and they all hugged. It was the first time since Emmeline Wilkes’s death that they all had been together. I watched as the moment of joy turned into a protracted moment of grief.
My heart clenched as I watched the three women dry their eyes with tissues from a box being passed around.
“This is not how this should be,” Peter Campbell said as he ran his hand through his greying blond hair. “Jacob, Tom, and I had plans for our families, our lives. Somehow, Jacob lost his way. It kills me that neither Tom nor I saw what was happening with him. But it kills me more that our children are now paying the price for his decisions.”
I looked at the older man who clearly struggled to keep it together. His haunted green eyes and slumped shoulders spoke of his inner turmoil.
“We’re going to get Kenna back.” I squ
eezed his arm. “We’ll take Marcus down, and we’ll all get our lives back.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I should have kept them to myself because clearly, some of us wouldn’t get our lives back.
“Not all of us will,” Peter said, echoing my own thoughts. “And yes, Kenna will come home, but at what cost? Will I ever have my sweet, innocent girl back?”
Probably not, I thought grimly.
“I’m glad Irelyn has you,” Peter said, changing the subject. “She’s been through more than any one person deserves. When this is all over, when it’s time to return to a more normal life, she’ll need you. Need you to help her figure out just what her life should be and how not to feel guilty that she survived.”
“I love her, Peter. I’d do anything for her.”
“Dad, they’re crying again,” Cory said, joining us. “Now there are three of them.”
I laughed at the horror in Cory’s voice.
“That’s what women do, Son,” Peter said and clapped his son on the back. “Let’s get this meeting started, shall we?”
I watched Peter walk to Celia and draw her into his side; she laid her head on his shoulder. I thought about the last time I’d seen Kenna. As I watched the couple together, it struck me how much Kenna resembled her mother. They had the same strawberry-blonde hair and scattering of freckles on their creamy skin. It made me think about how much Irelyn had looked like Emme, and it pissed me off that Marcus could ruin so many people is such a short period.
Looking at my watch, I cleared my voice and Irelyn came to my side. “We need to get started; T-bone is expecting our call.”
We took our seats on the large, sectional couches of the Campbell’s’ family room. T-bone’s associate, Glenn Patterson, set up a video conference by hooking up a computer to the large, flat-screen TV.
T’s smiling face popped on the screen; in his arms was his new son. The proud daddy beamed as he showed off his baby. Of course, the women cooed and simpered about how beautiful he was. And they were right; Junior was a very cute boy.
