Tamed V

by Anna

  Her smile wavers when I make the jab about Columbus. “I’m sorry if I hurt you,” she says.

  “If?” I laugh. “Girl, you were my world. Don’t pretend otherwise.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I wanted you to be something you aren’t. You can’t settle down and turns out I couldn’t either. We should just be happy we had that time together, right?”

  It hurts to say that out loud because I want to make her feel badly, the way I did for months after she left. But she’d never been anything but honest with me and I knew she was wild. All I could offer her was sex and she could get that anywhere. I was a nineteen-year-old kid in a dead-end town with no plans for the future.

  I would run, too.

  I did run.

  “So what have you been doing?” I ask, wanting the focus off myself.

  “Traveling. Visiting friends,” she says. “Most of them are married now. Having babies and stuff or work big time jobs.”

  “Growing up,” I laugh. “It sucks.”

  “I’ve been running for so long, Tucker. Since I was sixteen. I don’t know how much longer I can do it.”

  Her eyes shine emerald green with tears. I don’t like seeing her sad and my hostility slips away. Scooting closer, I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “What’s going on?”

  She looks around the bar. “Can we get out of here?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  We head out into the spring night. It’s warm enough but not too hot yet. We walk down the sidewalk in front of restaurants and shops. “So what’s this about?” I ask. Hollis unnerved is something I’m not accustomed to.

  “I think I made a mistake leaving you last summer.”

  I stop cold on the sidewalk. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No.”

  I close my eyes and steady myself, like I’ve just been hit in the gut. “Bird, Columbus was not what you wanted. It wasn’t what I wanted either.”

  “I know, but you’re what I wanted—want.”

  I give her a hard look and shake my head. “Don’t say things like that.”

  “Like what? The truth?”

  “Things that can’t happen.”

  “Why not?”

  I’m not even sure who this girl is in front of me. She’s beautiful—maybe more so than before. Sexy-always sexy. But something in those eyes seems lost and she’s looking to me to help her. I’m not sure I can.

  “Bird, I’m on the road a hundred days a year. I live in a shitty apartment with three other ball players and sleep in a bus half the time. I’m living my dream and I think there’s a solid chance I’ll get called up in the next year or so. And you,” I pause and cup her face with my hands. “Are not going to be tamed. I know you think you want that but I don’t know, you’ll have to figure that out.”

  “Will you help me?”

  “Figure it out?” I look up at the sky. “How, baby?”

  “You grounded me more than you’ll ever know, Tucker. And I know you’re right, I don’t want to take any of that away from you, but do you think we can figure out a way to stay close?”

  “Close?” I search her eyes for the meaning of that word.

  “Friends?” she suggests. She looks to her feet. “Lovers?”

  “So basically you want me for my body.”

  Her hands find the hem of my shirt. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  “Um…”

  She pulls me down by my shirt and kisses me and it’s like I can breathe for the first time in a year. I wrap my arms around her and pick her up. “My hotel is across the street,” I say.

  “Too far,” she says and I let her drag me down a dark, narrow alley beside between the buildings.

  We step over broken beer bottles and I stop midway down, where it’s almost dark, and kiss her again. This time I run my hands over the soft cotton of her shirt, feeling her nipples harden under my touch.

  Perfect.

  With eager eyes and fingers she tugs at my pants, impatient. I’ve never seen her like this and it’s a turn on. Normally she’s composed and holding all the cards. Not now. I reach under her skit and find her ready and slick.

  “I missed you.”

  I lift her with my arms and press against her with my chest, angling my cock below. We fumble awkwardly in the dark and I slip against her and we both laugh. “See what you’ve been missing?” I tease, lining myself up again and sliding in easily this time.

  Ahhh.

  “You’d think those muscles would give you an advantage.”

  I raise an eyebrow and push her against the wall with my cock. She takes my face in her hands and kisses me, moaning in my mouth with each thrust. God it’s been too long. She feels so good and tastes just right. Our bodies only take a moment to acclimate to one another and then it’s like we’ve never stopped.

  Except for the fact I’m about to come in less than two minutes, like a fucking kid, because she’s so goddam beautiful. Gritting my teeth, I bury my dick into her as far as it will go. I reach my hand between us to help her along, but it’s unnecessary because I hear her breathy pants, and she scrunches her eyes closed tight.

  Her body relaxes and I jerk into her, feeling lighter than I have in months. I lower her to the ground, pushing her skirt smooth. I tuck myself back in my pants, stopping to kiss her because really, who knows when I’ll see her again.

  “You do that the best,” she says, brushing my hair out of my eyes.

  “It’s one of my superpowers,” I declare.

  “Obviously.”

  We’re standing in a dark alley in Durham, North Carolina and I feel like two worlds have just smashed into one another. I have no idea where we go next.

  “How’s this going to work?” I ask, linking my fingers with hers.

  She shakes her head but looks hopeful. “We’ll figure it out.”

  We slip out of the alley, heads close. I’m not ready to give her up yet but I’ve got a bus to be on in the morning. There’s no way this will work, I think, except I’ve got her hand in mine and she’s kissing my neck and I realize there’s really no other option than to make it.

  Chapter 10

  I pull my Jeep into the driveway and hop out. I pass the main house and wave to Mrs. Blackmon on her back deck watering flowers.

  “How was the game?” she asks.

  I smile and pump a fist. “We won.”

  “Congratulations! Your first playoffs then?” Mrs. Blackmon is seventy-five and loves the Braves and Chipper Jones. Good thing he retired. I’m ready to replace him for the team and in Mrs. Blackmon’s heart.

  “Next week.”

  When she found out Hollis was dating a baseball player she dropped the deposit on the carriage house. They watch the games together and I have my first fan club member. Who cares if she’s old enough to be my grandmother.

  I wave and climb the back steps over the garage. The windows are open and I can smell something delicious wafting through the windows.

  “Hey, babe,” I say hanging my bag next to the door. She’s standing in the kitchen in those short cut-offs and a white wife beater. Damn.

  Next week is going to suck.

  “Hey, you guys won! I heard the game online.”

  I give her a kiss and suck the spaghetti sauce off her lips. This domestic thing between us is new. Super new, but so far, so good.

  “I’m going to shower,” I tell her, squeezing her ass. “Then we can eat.”

  “Sounds good.”

  I turn on the water in the small bathroom and strip. Hollis has lived here for about two months. She found a job and an apartment in the city and when I’m in town I stay with her. When I’m on the road, she’s learning to settle into a more conservative life. Job, bills…stability.

  We’re both close enough to see the family when we need to, and Mom brings the kids up to my games every couple of weeks. Joe’s got a new girlfriend—this one goes
to church and has a no sex policy. I can’t help but think this may be a good thing. Learning a little patience is something someone should have taught me a long time ago.

  I lather the shampoo in my hair and rinse it out. When I open my eyes I see Hollis peering around the curtain.

  “What are you doing?” I laugh.

  “Watching you.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  She pushes back the curtain and I yank her inside. The water soaks through the white tank and she may as well be naked.

  “Hot,” I tell her and I reach for her body, dragging her closer.

  “Ack,” she yelps. “It’s freezing.”

  “I’ll warm you up.” She ignores me and twists the levers making the water close to scalding. I don’t care. I’ve got her ass in my hands and her tits pressed into my chest and my dick bangs into her stomach like a drum.

  “This is awesome,” I tell her kissing her while she grabs the soap.

  “Isn’t it?”

  She soaps up my chest, taking her time to work her way down each muscle, until she slides her hand over my cock. She says, “I’m glad we finally figured this out, you know.”

  I smile into her mouth and cup her breasts while the water pours over our heads. “Me, too.” I never thought I’d tame her. I never thought I’d be tamed. Honestly, both of us are still wild at heart but we’ve chosen, for now, to stick together. Even the wildest animals need a partner.

  About the Author

  Roxy Queen lives in the south with her family, two dogs and a semi-feral cat. She spent many of her years working as a babysitter and nanny. Most of her summers have included lounging by the pool, giggling with her girlfriends and making up stories about the lifeguards, even when she was a kid.

  You can follow Roxy on Twitter @roxyqueenbooks and Goodreads

  Also by Roxy Queen

  Taboo

  Available at Amazon