Playing with Forever (Sydney Smoke Rugby)

by Andrews, Amy

  “I can’t,” she choked out, her Italian forgotten as her whole body shook and dissolved around him, her orgasm rocking her to the core. “I’m coming.”

  “Fuuuck,” he whispered, his thighs shaking behind hers, his biceps trembling. “Me too.”

  He adjusted the tilt of his hips, levering in and out of her with shallow thrusts, sliding insanely good back and forth across her G spot as he emptied inside her. It wasn’t until his hand clamped over her mouth that she realised she was getting louder.

  Then all she could do was breathe—inhale and exhale—through her nostrils as she rode out the storm with him.

  Twenty minutes later, Juliet had showered and was in the bedroom, hunting through her handbag for her travel toothbrush. She’d tossed it in there a few days ago when it had become clear she’d be spending a lot of time in Ryder’s gorgeous apartment. The fact that it popped inside itself, forming a compact unit, made it very convenient and portable.

  She glanced up to find Ryder lounging in the doorway looking at her. He’d just come in from taking Tiny out for his last toilet stop. The dog was sitting obediently at Ryder’s side, but his ass was hovering, waiting for the command to be allowed into the bedroom.

  Ryder’s gaze travelled up her body, in no hurry to get to any destination. Her skin prickled in its wake, her nipples beading beneath the towel she had wrapped around her body.

  “You speaking Italian is sexy as fuck.”

  Juliet’s abdominal muscles quivered at his statement, his words smooth as melted chocolate. How could she want him again so soon? Sure, the man looked good enough to eat in his cargoes and T-shirt, but it had been less than half an hour since the last time. She could still feel him inside her.

  His hot gaze was like a brand on her skin.

  “Trying to Jedi mind trick the towel into falling off me won’t work. You’re a rugby player, not Luke Skywalker.”

  He grinned. “I have a lightsaber in my pants that says different.”

  Oh he did. And he wielded that weapon of mass distraction well.

  He let go of Tiny’s lead and made a kind of permissive noise. The dog shimmied into the bedroom, greeting her excitedly.

  She laughed as Tiny nosed at the towel affectionately, loosening the tie between her breasts a little. She grabbed it before the whole thing unravelled. “Trying to get the dog to do it won’t work, either.”

  Juliet rolled her eyes as Ryder faked surprise. She turned her attention to Tiny, smooshing his jowls together. “Don’t let the bad man corrupt you.” The she grabbed her toothbrush and said, “On your bed.”

  Tiny obeyed immediately, lumbering over to his bed, which had been placed at the end of Ryder’s mattress.

  “Shame on you,” she tisked as she sashayed past Ryder. He made a grab for her, but she laughed and scooted out of reach.

  He followed her into the bathroom, lounging in the doorway again, watching her brush her teeth. His gaze lingered on her neck, where strands of hair had escaped the loose up-do, before moving south, roving all over her body.

  By the time she’d finished her teeth and retracted her toothbrush, her legs were like jelly. Who needed a Jedi when the man eye-fucked like Han Solo?

  “You should bring some of your stuff over here. I can make some room in my cupboard.”

  She turned to face him, her pulse fluttering, the toothbrush clasped in her hand, strangely hesitant at his suggestion. “Why?”

  He pushed off the doorframe and prowled toward her, whipping his shirt off and tossing it on the ground. “Because you spend half of your time here. It’ll save you going home for a change of clothes before work in the morning.”

  She almost sighed out loud at the beauty of his chest but forcibly concentrated her brain on what he was saying, not what he wasn’t wearing. “I don’t have a problem with that.” She was awake early enough with his training schedule anyway.

  “At least leave some toiletries here.” He nodded at the slim case of the travel toothbrush. “Save you having to carry a bloody toothbrush around with you. I’ve got plenty of my stuff at yours.”

  That was true. Even after a week, it seemed like half of his clothes and a bunch of other crap, from dog toys to sports mags to tubes of deep heat to beach towels, now resided at her place. Worse than that, it seemed to increase exponentially with each day. Like all his boy shit was breeding.

  Clothes appeared and never left. She was starting to wonder if he was leaving her place naked in the morning.

  “Yes, but…”

  How could she explain it? Her toothbrush was her line in the sand. Otherwise it was a slippery slope, wasn’t it? It starts with a toothbrush, then a drawer is cleared, then hanging space is made. Next all her crap would be here and plans for Italy put on the back burner.

  Again.

  She didn’t have an issue with his stuff at hers. That was just Ryder’s personality and men were, in her experience, generally sloppy creatures. But her stuff at his—that was a much bigger, symbolic gesture.

  One she wasn’t prepared to make.

  “This is supposed to be just sex. No getting attached. No commitments.”

  He reached out and relieved her of the slimline case she was holding in front of her like a shield. “A toothbrush is a commitment?”

  Their gazes locked. His was amused, but she was deadly serious. She felt unaccountably tense all of a sudden. This was a deal breaker for her. “Yes.”

  For a moment, she thought he was going to press her on it, but then he held up his hands in surrender and said, “Okay,” placing the toothbrush on the vanity next to her hip and stepping back.

  His hands slipped to his waistband where he undid his fly and stripped out of his cargoes and Calvin’s in one easy movement, kicking them to the side. His erection jutted out stiff and proud.

  Bloody hell. Toothbrush? What toothbrush?

  It was hard not to stare and Juliet’s breath hitched as her gaze snagged on the magnificence of it. Thick and long and veined to perfection. She wondered if there would come a time when her mouth wouldn’t go dry at the sight of it. Not in the time they had, surely?

  Probably not even in a lifetime.

  She dragged her eyes up and quirked an eyebrow. “That thing is always on, isn’t it?”

  He just smiled and shrugged nonchalantly. Then, before she could blink, he reached out and tugged on her towel and it was lying in a puddle at her feet.

  She gaped at him. “How’d you do that?”

  “What can I say?” His gaze roved over her, eye-fucking her some more. “The Force is strong with this one.” He grinned, taking her hand and tugging her closer, placing it on his shaft. “Have a shower with me. I’ll let you wash my lightsaber.”

  Juliet’s pulse skipped a beat as she glanced between their bodies to see her hand wrapped around his girth. “It is very, very filthy.”

  Her hands slid to his balls and he sucked in a breath. They felt heavy as she rolled them between her fingers. Considering how many times they’d been emptied in the last week, she’d have thought they’d be light as air.

  She let him lead her into the shower, the tension from the toothbrush conversation rapidly dissipating as warm water enveloped them. Her hair was getting wet and the tiles at her back were cold, but they barely registered as his wet lips descended on hers, his hot tongue sweeping inside her mouth.

  When he pulled away long, drugging moments later, she was breathless, her eyelids heavy, her legs weak enough to be grateful for the wall at her back. She loved his mouth and the masterful way he used it to create a hundred different kinds of havoc in her body.

  She wanted him again. Needed him.

  “We’re playing in Brisbane on Friday. Come with me.”

  His hands stroked over her beasts and down her belly, the muscles beneath contracting at his touch. Juliet prised her eyelids open with difficulty. His gaze, dark and intense, held hers.

  It was tempting, but it was just the toothbrush in another guise. This wa
s a sex thing, not a go-away-for-the-weekend thing. She rolled her head back and forth against the tiles, her body too heavy with lust to move any more than necessary.

  “No.”

  “It’s two days in a fancy hotel, and I’ll pay for your flight.” His lips slid to her neck as his fingers traced wet circles around her belly button. “You don’t even have to come to the game. I won’t be around much, and you can just stay in and be a lady of leisure.”

  “Oh yeah?” Her ass cheeks tensed as his fingers brushed a little lower. “And what will I do all by myself in a hotel for two days?”

  His lips grazed the angle of her jaw. “Go shopping, go to the spa, order room service.” His tongue traced a line from her ear to the hollow at the base of her throat. “You could catch up with some of the WAGs.” Juliet angled her neck as his warm breath whispered over her skin. “Or you could lie in bed thinking of me and masturbating the whole time.”

  Juliet laughed, but she was determined to keep their relationship contained. “I can do that here. In your very fancy apartment. Besides, someone needs to look after poor Tiny.”

  He groaned. “Bloody dog.” But he didn’t seem that cross as his tongue lapped along a collarbone before he pulled away, his eyes almost as heavy as hers, his erection nudging her in the stomach just above where his hand was slowly making its way to its target.

  “There’s a women in rugby function next week. A black tie event. Come with me?”

  His finger circled through the hair at the apex of her thighs and her legs started to tremble. “Ryder.” It was meant to sound like a warning, but his finger whispered closer to her clit and it came out as more of a pant. “You know you don’t need to take me on dates, right?” Her eyes fluttered open to find him watching her again, his gaze glued to her mouth. “I’m a sure thing.”

  He grinned appreciatively. “I want to. And I can’t turn up without a date. I have a reputation to uphold.”

  She smiled. “Take Val.” He’d told her the coach’s daughter often accompanied him to official functions on a purely platonic basis, so she resolutely ignored the sudden hot punch to her chest at the thought of the sexy redhead with Ryder.

  “I want to take you.”

  A fierce light glowed in his eyes as he swooped down, his mouth claiming hers, her head rocking back as he kissed her hot and hard, his finger sliding over her clit, ploughing through the swollen lips of her sex before sinking deep inside her, his mouth smothering her gasp.

  “Say yes, Juliet.” He was breathing hard, his lips brushing hers as he spoke.

  “Ryder—”

  A second finger joined the torture and she moaned. He broke off the kiss and sunk to his knees. Her own knees almost gave away at the sight of him, his hair wet, water raining over his shoulders and chest as he sat back on his haunches, his stiff cock jutting up his belly.

  “Say yes.”

  He looked up at her through dark spiky lashes, his mouth, splashed with water, so damn close to the apex of her thighs. She wanted that mouth on her so bad she could barely stay upright for wanting it.

  She gasped as he slid his fingers from her body, but barely had time to collect herself as he used both hands to ease her apart, exposing her clit.

  “Say yes.”

  He leaned forward then, his tongue sliding out, the hard tip touching the screamingly sensitive bundle of nerves. It hit like an electric shock, her hips jerking as if she’d been tasered, her hand ploughing into his wet hair for purchase.

  He glanced at her, his lips so very close to her own which were plump and heavy with arousal. “Say it, Juliet.”

  He was naked at her feet, his face turned up like some kind of freaking supplicant, all but begging her, yet still he dominated. “Yes.” She glared at him, twisting her fingers in his hair, hoping like hell it hurt. “Yes, damn it.” She’d give him anything right now. “But don’t you dare stop until I’m done.”

  He wasn’t the only one who could give orders.

  Chapter Ten

  Ryder was having a hard time keeping his hands off Juliet. Tonight was a big deal. A night to acknowledge the success of the Australian women’s rugby team, who were kicking ass all over the world. And Ryder was as proud of what the women’s teams had achieved as he was any of the Smoke achievements because they’d had to fight harder for recognition.

  But…Juliet’s dress was making it hard for Ryder to feel anything other than impatience. To concentrate on anything other than her. He hadn’t seen her in a dress before, and all he could think about was getting her out of it.

  It was black and satiny to the touch and strapless, clinging to her figure all the way to her knees before it fishtailed out around her calves. Her beach-blond hair was loose around her shoulders with a curl or two to give it some bounce. But it was the long, long zip that went from the top all the way down past her ass that was seriously melting his brain.

  His fingers had itched to pull on that sucker since he’d realised it was there, which had been the moment they’d sat down in front of all this company. If he’d realised it in the car—they would have been very late indeed.

  He pressed his mouth to her ear as one of the head rugby honchos gave a speech. The room lights were down, but the elegant candelabra on the tables cast a vibrant glow over the proceedings. “Let’s go home.”

  Home to Ryder had always been a rugby pitch or a locker room or a vast outback cattle station. His apartment had just been another place to lay his head—albeit a nice one. But suddenly it felt like their own private cocoon.

  She didn’t shift her attention from the speaker, but he could see the slight upward curve of her mouth. “We’ve been here for an hour,” she said, her voice low and throaty.

  Yes. He’d felt every bloody second. “And I’ve been hard for an hour.” He kept his voice low too. “I think it’s about to fall off.”

  “Poor baby.” She kept her eyes trained firmly forward. “You’re the one who insisted I come here tonight. Practically bribed me with—” She turned her head to nuzzle his temple. “Oral. I would have been perfectly happy at home making sure your poor cock never got into this situation.”

  Home. He liked hearing that word on her mouth.

  She turned her attention back to the stage, but under the table her hand landed on his upper thigh and slid to his crotch. The muscles in his ass and thighs snapped to attention. Her fingers wrapped around him and gave him a squeeze. Ryder half growled, half groaned into her ear as his dick moved perilously closer to strangulation.

  “That was before I knew how good you look in a dress, and how much I was going to want to tear you out of it with my teeth.”

  “You’ve seen me in a bikini.” The words were said in a very prim little whisper. Like her hand wasn’t stroking his cock beneath the tablecloth. “You’ve seen me naked. It’s just a dress.”

  Oh no. There was nothing just about it. Juliet was wearing a walking hard-on. “With a zip.” He fought the desire to close his eyes and rut into her hand. “That goes on forever. I can peel you like banana.”

  “Oh?” She glanced at him, her deep red lipstick all glossy in the candlelight, her mouth forming an innocent little moue as one delicate eyebrow lifted. “You like bananas?”

  “I fucking love bananas.”

  Her other eyebrow joined in the game. “That much, huh?”

  “I like to eat them. I could eat them all night.”

  Her laugh and the low growly noise from the back of his throat got swallowed up by the round of applause as the speaker finished his speech. Juliet released his cock to clap and Ryder almost collapsed forward from the sudden release of tension in his ass and thighs.

  The emcee came on and announced the main meal was about to be served and Ryder took advantage of the sudden chatter all around them. “Scoff that down, quick. We’re leaving after main.”

  “No dessert?” she asked with a smile, continuing with her faux-innocent routine.

  “You’re my dessert.”

&n
bsp; “Okay, Jesus,” Spidey grumbled. “You two really need to get a room.”

  If there’d been a room within bloody cooee, Ryder would already have dragged Juliet into it. Not that she would have cooperated. She seemed hell-bent on making him pay for the way he’d used his tongue on her to convince her to accompany him.

  He wasn’t sorry though. Or he hadn’t been, anyway. Until the dress.

  “Aww, leave them,” Matilda said. “They’re so cute together.”

  There were eight others at the table. Matilda and Tanner. Dex and Harper. Linc and Em. Spidey and Donovan were the two single and dateless guys rounding out the numbers.

  Bodie rolled his eyes. “Seriously, it’s like you’ve all got some disease.” It had been a couple of years since Bodie’s long term girlfriend had walked and he was, to put it mildly, still down on love. “Back me up here, Dono.”

  Dono, who, courtesy of his Maori heritage, looked like he’d been squeezed into his suit, and had never been known for his chit-chat, just shrugged. “Lovers gotta love, man.”

  “Dude.” Bodie appealed to his teammate with outstretched hands. “Us single guys gotta stick together. Where’s my love, huh?”

  Dono gave him a sardonic smile. “You’re not my type.”

  “Maybe if you baa’d some more, Spidey?” Linc suggested.

  The guys cracked up. The obligatory New Zealand sheep jokes never got old. As always, it slid off Dono’s massive shoulders. “Not even if he baa’d fucking rainbows.”

  Ryder laughed some more, trading smack talk with the guys as they ate their dinner. The fact it was lamb set off another round of sheep jokes involving Dono. Everyone was having a good time. Everyone except Juliet.

  She’d gone quiet and tension radiated from her frame in waves. The sexual heat seething between them before dinner had evaporated into thin air. He suspected Matilda calling them cute and Dono’s lovers gotta love was the reason.

  Ever since the great toothbrush incident, Juliet had been hypersensitive to any suggestion that they might be anything other than what they were. Which was, as she was at pains to point out, a mutually beneficial sex thing.