by Tricia Lynne
“Yessss, just—”
Brody rolled my clit between his thumb and index finger.
I didn’t tip over the edge. I detonated.
The muscle contractions were so sharp and deep they took my breath away. “Oh, God. Brody.” A low moan broke free as my body rippled around Brody’s thickness, drawing him in. Waves of pleasure, sharp and deep, crashed into me. My body shook. I couldn’t control my own movements. All I could do was let the orgasm take me along for the ride.
Brody mumbled obscenities, his abs clenching in time with each pulse of my orgasm.
God, the man was gorgeous.
Only when I’d started to come down—my body lax and pliable—did he finally push inside me to the root. When his hips met mine, a new rush of arousal coated me. I never came more than once, but this man...
I’d wager we’d have to change the sheets by the time we were done.
Chapter Nineteen
Everything
Brody
“Ah, goddamn. Look at that.” Seeing my cock seated in her was too much. Clenching my teeth, I rolled my face to the ceiling. “You feel so damn good, darlin’.” Lily’s body was warm and so very snug. Never in my life had a woman fit me this well. Perfectly.
It took all my self-control to keep from coming when she did. Drawing me in so completely. The woman had serious strength in her inner muscles. Combined with how responsive she was, it was a miracle I hadn’t blown my load.
I wanted to taste her. To see her eyes up close when she came. Find out what made her gasp and what made her laugh. Did she have that little rough spot inside that could make her see stars? I also wanted to be privy to how her mind worked. There had been more when she told me about her mom and dad, but she held something back. I wanted everything.
What was scarier was I wanted her to know me, too. I wanted to tell her about Andra, but now wasn’t the time. Now, she wanted to be fucked and that’s what I’d do.
No matter how much she squirmed, how much I needed to move, I didn’t. She needed to adjust to my size whether she knew it or not. But she didn’t have to tell me that the softness of her thighs was made to bracket my sinewy hips. The sweet roundness to her belly would cushion my abs and ribcage. Those amazing pink nipples that were made to fit between my lips. “The way we fit...”
“I know.” Her eyes were glazed, her brows drawn together as her cheeks and neck took on a soft blush. She watched me unhindered and with absolute confidence.
Maybe she’d been right when she’d told me this was a bad idea. Because I’d never get enough of this woman. I’d never walk away. Never be satisfied with what she gave me. I needed all of her—body, mind, and most definitely heart.
And I wanted to give her all of me in return.
I was falling for Lily Costello and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it.
I rolled my hips, testing the give of her body. “Jesus, the way you grip me.”
Her lips parted on a low moan. “The way you fill me. Nothing like it, baby. Nothing.”
Leaning on my forearms, I started to curl my hips back and forth in long slow strokes. Her nipples scraped against my chest. Shifting my weight to my good arm, I took one hard bead between my fingers, circled, palmed the flawless mound.
She tightened around me. “Uhn. Jesus, fuck.”
“I love that sound, baby.”
My hips surged forward.
Lily gasped as she arched against me. “Like that, Shaw? When my body tugs on yours?” Christ, she was pure temptress.
I couldn’t hold back anymore.
“So much. Seriously, do you work that thing out or what, because you got some grip there, Costello.”
With a sadistic grin, she flexed her muscles around my cock and pleasure shot down my spine. “Shit, Lily...”
Nails scraping down my back, she dug them into the swell of my ass. “Mmm, football butt. Best get to work, big guy. I need at least one more.”
The brazenness, the way she wasn’t afraid to tell me what she wanted—she was real. Raw. Unencumbered. So fucking hot.
Sliding my hand up, I palmed the side of her neck, my thumb sure but gentle against her throat. “Careful what you wish for.”
I thrusted in, backed out all the way to the tip and shoved forward again into her silky oblivion until I was balls deep.
And I. Did. Not. Stop. I set a quick pace, my sac drawing tight against my body, the throb in the base of my spine damn near uncomfortable while I watched her for signs that she was getting close.
“Ahh, Jesus, Shaw.”
Her pulse under my palm, I leaned into my elbow and tugged her bottom lip between my teeth. Slid my free hand down to pull her thigh further up my hip. And then I went on the hunt for that sweet spot, curling my hips with every stroke.
I knew when I found it.
Lily’s mouth fell open, her torso arched as the muscles of her sheath contracted around me. “Fuck. That’s it.” The words were a whisper. I shifted back on my heels, gripping her hips tight as I held them off the bed and pulled her against me as I pushed in. I hit that little sweet spot with each plunge.
The most satisfying moan broke from her throat.
I wasn’t gonna last. “Lily, touch yourself. Show me how you like it.” Sliding a hand down her belly, she found her hard nub and circled as I watched. “Christ.”
Then, I felt it—that slow tightening around my shaft as her mouth fell open on a wordless cry. She shattered around me. Gripping me, squeezing me as her legs shook and her body fluttered.
Fuck. That feeling, watching her come apart. She was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen.
I buried myself deep and felt every pulse, every tug, and every millimeter I fell further for this woman.
As she came down, I was so ready to come, but with a wicked grin she sat up and pushed me backward to the bed. Her knees tight against my torso, Lily guided me inside her entrance, her skirt pooling over our joined bodies.
When she started to rock, I was lost. Lost to the warmth and sensations. Lost to the depths of her eyes and connection of us. I gripped her strong thighs, her hips as she found a rhythm that sent me right to the edge.
“Together,” I told her, as she pulled my aching dick inside of her then slid back out to the tip.
Leaning forward, her lips hovered just out of reach. “Now.”
I tugged her mouth to mine, lost myself while I arched into her. When her muscles contracted around me, I swallowed her gasp and groaned with every sharp throb of my cock inside of her. “Liliana. Jesus. It’s everything.”
“Everything,” she repeated.
The hardest orgasm of my life.
Lips brushing mine in a final kiss, she rolled to her feet with absolute grace. I pulled off the condom and knotted it while she unzipped her skirt and let it slide down her hips to pool over me.
The sexy, satisfied expression was so damn perfect. Like she’d just climbed Mount Everest or slayed a dragon. With a swift move, I wrapped my arms around her knees, twisting to the side.
She landed on the bed next to me with a giggle and I had one thought.
I might love this woman.
Chapter Twenty
If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...
Lily
I felt like I was sitting around with my thumb up my butt.
Brody and Hayes were leaving for camp this evening, and the fact that I’d promised to basically do nothing was making my skin crawl.
I got it. I really did.
No one else had received a threat. But, it made sense to pull back and let these assholes relax a little. But six weeks...it was another six weeks those dogs spent in hell.
We were so close. But I’d made a promise I intended on keeping. So, I’d teach my classes, and go to trials. Work on my house and try not to diddle my
self raw.
That was the other thing. It had been nearly a week since I’d crawled out of his bed to go home to my dogs, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Brody. He’d asked me twice to meet him this week, but one of the trainers was on vacation. I’d picked up two of her evening classes.
Dear God, having that man between my legs was nothing short of the divine. Yesterday, I’d been humming Doja Cat’s “Candy”—without realizing it—during our playgroup. Melissa and Kate accused me of getting laid. With a tap to the side of his nose, Everett had sent me a playful wink.
That wily old cuss knew exactly who’d put the smile on my face. But I didn’t tell him. Didn’t tell anyone. Not even Olive, who hadn’t been able to give much time to the mill search. Her newest high-profile client was the brat to beat all redheaded stepchildren. She’s slowly been pulling her hair out.
“Uhh, I swear, this girl.” She soft-whistled into the phone. “She’s for damn sure lucky she ain’t my child.”
I chuckled. I could hear the Texan poking at the edges of her cultivated accent-less voice.
“Why don’t you cut her loose? It’s not like you need the business.”
“It’s not her business I want. It’s access to her mother’s charity committees. Are you going to the trial at Will Rogers Memorial Center this weekend?”
“No, I’m keeping CC. I don’t want to leave her alone her first weekend. I’m headed to pick her up now.” I checked my blind spot before moving into the left lane.
“Mmhmm.”
There was way too much side-eye packed into that sound for my taste. Time to cut the call short. “Hey, I’m in the parking garage. Talk later, okay?” After hanging up, I shut the car off, opening the driver’s side door, and July smacked me right in the face. Even in the shade of the open-air garage, it was too much. The kind of heat that sucks the will to live straight out of your pores along with every ounce of sweat you had to your name.
Add that to the generous amount of dog slobber I was sporting today, and the artfully greasy way my hair mashed to my skull because I’d been sweating all day, and I would have loved a shower before I came over. Perspiration was for thin women with flawless makeup, and deodorant commercials. I sweat like a sinner in church.
My life was so glamorous.
Maybe I’d check out Brody’s shower.
I pushed his doorbell and tried smoothing my hair into some semblance of a ponytail, but when his door opened, my stomach turned into milk left on a hot sidewalk.
“Can I help you?” It was her. One of the women from the photo in the Spotted column. Tall, lean and strong—in Lululemon with no bra—her feet were bare, and her blond tresses made her look recently fucked.
“Uh.” It was all I could say.
My heart plummeted into the pit of my stomach. To think Brody had told me the truth? Or that I was the only woman he was screwing? Yeah, right.
I ground my teeth together to keep from snapping.
“Are you here for the laundry? I know he sends his laundry out.” She turned back over her shoulder before saying, “Staci, do you know where Brody left his laundry bag? She’s here for the laundry.”
Seriously? The laundry?
I heard the other female voice. “Umm, yeah. Hang on.” A second later Unidentified Blonde Number Two—aka, Staci—stood next to Number One trying to hand me a bag full of dirty laundry. And she had on less clothing than the one who’d answered the door. Tiny workout shorts that I had no doubt, if she turned around, would reveal perfectly toned ass cheeks, and a crop top that slid off one shoulder to showcase her sculpted stomach.
I forced myself to stop clenching my jaw. “I’m not here for laundry, I’m here to get the dog,” I snapped, trying not to lose my shit. After all, it wasn’t their fault. It was Brody’s.
Trust is a two way street, Lily. Trying my damnedest to throw off my initial reaction, I did something I hadn’t done in a very long time. Prepared to give Brody the benefit of the doubt.
“Oh, CC! Yeah!” Blonde Number One said. “He left her bag and leash over here, hang on.”
Staci grabbed the other woman’s arm but stared at me to the point it was uncomfortable. “Oh my God, Erica, check out her eyes. They’re purple. Like, Elizabeth Taylor purple.”
Erica turned back to me. Leaned in. “Oh wow. They’re gorgeous, darling. Are you wearing contacts?”
I cleared my throat. “Is Brody here? Where’s CC?” I did not want these fucking supermodel lookalikes complimenting me in my current state of bedraggled.
“He’s in the shower, CC is back there with him. Hang on. CeeeCeee?” Erica called.
In the shower? Seriously? You are not making this easy on me, Shaw. I really didn’t want to overreact, to fall back on the assumption, but this whole situation was sketchy as fuck.
“Do you want to come in?” Staci studied me with an expression I couldn’t interpret.
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” I said, trying to rein in my temper. I needed to hear his explanation, and if it started with it’s not what it looks like, so help me God... Only, as I stepped inside the door, CC barreled down the hall going full out. Before I knew it, I was on my butt and covered in dog kisses.
That’s when I heard Brody. “CC!” The dog glanced back as he rounded the corner of the bedroom soaking wet with a towel he held around his waist.
Red fucking handed.
When he saw CC sitting on me, he ran a hand through his soaked hair. “Shit, Lily, are you okay? Let me help you.”
I ignored his extended hand only to stare at his tiny towel. A scowl settled over my face. Deliberately, I swept my gaze up to his face and back to the towel, then over to the half-naked women before I pushed myself up off the marble. “Do you want to even try to explain this away, or should I just sit with the fucking assumption that’s on the tip of my tongue?”
Jaw ticking, Brody’s face hardened. “Lily...” He stood there looking all broody, as if he had a right to be pissed that my brain would jump there. No let me explain, or they’re not who you think they are. No, there I was, giving him the opportunity to tell me his side, but he wasn’t talking. Again.
Maybe he didn’t feel like he owed me an explanation. Which, I guessed, he didn’t. He wasn’t mine; we weren’t a couple and he hadn’t professed his undying love. I didn’t have a ring on my finger. We were just two people who’d screwed and that was it.
I was only one more notch in Brody Shaw’s bedpost.
“Do you have her leash?”
“Got iiiiitttt!” Erica handed it to me, and I clipped it on CC’s collar.
“Lil—” he rasped.
“The bag?” I cut him off, directing the question to Staci.
“Here you go.”
“Lily—”
I took the bag and stared at him, daring him to finish.
Go on and tell me it’s not what I think. I gave him that heartbeat of space, which was more than I thought he deserved. Going once. Going twice... Instead, something like disappointment moved across his face. “Her bowl and toys are in there. Let me get her food.”
You goddamned cliché. “It’s fine. Text me what she eats and how much and I’ll pick it up.”
He nodded, scratched CC’s head. “Be good for Lily. I love you, baby girl.”
I slung the bag on my shoulder. “C’mon, sweet pea. Mack has missed you.”
I didn’t hear the door shut behind me when I turned to leave. But as the elevator door slid open, Brody stood in the middle of the hall with one hand holding his towel and the other sitting on his hip.
This was exactly why I didn’t let myself get attached when I fostered a rescue.
Because you couldn’t keep them. They always moved on.
This was on me. I knew who Brody was from the beginning, and I’d gotten attached anyway. I was the idiot falling for the
starting linebacker for the Dallas Bulldogs while he was out banging the Doublemint twins.
It was a good thing he was going away to camp. Out of sight, out of mind. I needed time to repair the damage, to harden the shell that Brody had taken a sledgehammer to.
When he got back from camp, I would have all the info we needed, my feelings in check, and be ready to move on the mill.
By the time I got CC in my SUV, the tears I’d been holding through sheer will were all dried up.
Back to business as usual.
Chapter Twenty-One
Does anybody answer their fucking phone anymore?
Brody
I barely made the team plane. Once I’d kicked the rookie out of my seat, I put on my headphones and crawled into my head, blocking everything out. The Bulldogs always held camp in a small town outside of Omaha. Peace, Quiet. Focus. Compared to the heat in Dallas it was a nice reprieve.
And after today, I was ready to start hitting some shit.
Anything to distract me from Lily.
I had linebackers’ meetings, defensive meetings, workouts, a playbook to help refine, films to watch, and practices to get my guys and myself ready. Our first scrimmage was a clusterfuck and I pulled a no-no.
I hit the red shirt. Full out.
I don’t even know what I was thinking, which was the problem. I wasn’t using my head, and letting my emotions rule me. Something I preached to my own guys about. It cost me $20K and a self-effacing apology in front of the entire team.
I didn’t get to dress for the first pre-season game last week, either. Coach told me it was because they wanted to take it easy on my shoulder, but my fucking shoulder felt fine. Better than ever. I’d spent the game sidelined, going through scenarios and technique issues with my backups. I was the defensive captain. I knew the job was part teacher, but I felt like I was training my replacement.
Leaning in a hall outside the main auditorium, I thought about her again as another text went unanswered. It had been almost three weeks since she’d picked up CC, and if it wasn’t about my dog, Lily wasn’t responding. I’d decided to try calling her again, then saw a rookie corner back coming down the hall. He didn’t realize my outside linebackers were a few steps behind.
