Chapter 22
NOAH
I collapse on the ground, heart pounding and air sawing in and out of my lungs.
The five-set final match against Aksel Christensen was the most grueling I’ve had since the tour started.
And I won.
I fucking won. Hands covering my face, I let the tears escape. I can’t help it. For weeks now, winning a final has felt like an impossibility. But I did it. We did it. Any win is a big deal for me as I claw my way back up, but a grand slam win? I’m going to be riding this high for a while.
The clay sticks to my skin as I pick myself up and meet Aksel at the net to shake hands. He’s young, only nineteen, but he’s one of the most promising newcomers the game has seen in a while.
After shaking hands with the umpire, I throw my hands into the air, and in response, the crowd cheers. I kiss my fingers and throw them to the sky. I don’t even care that every camera is catching the tears that continue to leak from my eyes.
This means everything to me.
Security guides me into the stands where Sabrina and Maddie are waiting with my coaching team. Fans and other people from the industry tug on me as I go, yelling their congratulations and asking for pictures.
I just want to get to my people.
When I finally reach them, security holds the crowd at bay.
Fisher greets me first, pulling me into a rib-cracking hug. “I knew you could do it.”
His words are accompanied by tears that threaten to fall down his own face.
His belief in me means more to me than I’ll ever let him know.
If I did, he’d never let me live it down.
I move down the line, accepting handshakes and back slaps from my other coaches, until I finally stop in front of Sabrina and Maddie.
The woman I can’t stop thinking about is wearing a blue and white dress, with her signature black boots. I have to hold myself back from looping my arms around her waist and kissing her.
Her smile is soft, her words too, as she says, “I’m so happy for you.” Clearly, she’s oblivious to the monster raging inside me. The one who wants to shove her against a wall and kiss her. Ease that skirt up her thighs.
Distraction comes in the form of my daughter.
“Here you go, Daddy. I knew you could do it!”
That sweet voice is simultaneously a bucket of ice-cold water poured over my head and a balm to my soul.
I take the sticker from her.
“Thanks, Maddie.” I pick her up, missing the days when she was tiny. Soon, I won’t be able to do this anymore.
After I plaster a loud, sloppy kiss on her cheek, pulling a giggle from her, she squirms out of my arms, and I’m escorted back down to the court for the trophy ceremony.
The ceremony and the interviews pass in a blur. It’s like it’s my first big win all over again. All I can do is ride the high and hope my answers don’t get me in trouble with my PR team because my brain isn’t with me.
It’s late by the time I finally make it back to the hotel.
I had events to attend afterward, and I can’t deny the constant praise and congratulations weren’t a massive boost to my ego.
I only hope I can keep the wins coming. For so much more than just a ranking or the high of a win.
I want to keep winning because I love this sport and I want to be successful at it.
When I step off the elevator, I’m more than a little surprised to find Sabrina in the hall.
She clutches an ice bucket to her chest, dark eyes wide in surprise. “Hi.”
At the sight of her, it’s as if my mind and body have been taken over by an unseen being. All my worries and reservations fly out the window, and I grab her face between my hands. A small squeak leaves her mouth as I press mine to hers. It’s just as good, if not better, than our first kiss.
She melts beneath my touch, the ice bucket slipping from her hands and clattering to the floor between us, sending ice skittering in every direction. I pick her up easily, and she immediately winds her legs around my waist.
She’s so small and warm and perfect.
Without breaking the kiss, I carry her to the stairwell a few paces to my right and into the relative privacy.
“Noah,” she gasps between kisses. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking what I want.” With a hand around her throat, I press her head against the wall. “And I want you.”
Eyes hazy, she gasps for breath, but I don’t give her a chance to respond before I’m kissing her again.
Kissing her feels good.
Holding her feels right.
And I’m going to choose not to overthink it.
She rolls her hips, and my already achingly hard-on jolts, reminding me just how long it’s been.
Our connection has been shifting for a while. Though I don’t know what I want from her or from this—a relationship or something casual—for once in my life, I don’t want to overthink it. I just want to do what feels good, take it day by day.
“This is crazy.” Her declaration is a breathless exhale as I pepper kisses down her neck.
“I don’t care.”
Fuck.
Not caring feels so good.
With my hands on the bare skin beneath her shirt, I relish her warmth and the smoothness of her stomach and sides. She shivers in response, and my grin is almost immediate.
As much as I don’t want to stop, I don’t want the first time I’m inside her to be a quick fuck in a stairwell. She deserves a bed, where I can take my time.
With one arm under her ass to support her weight, I push through the door.
“You can put me down.” She lays her head on my shoulder, her lips tickling my neck.
“No,” I grouch.
Her laugh sends warm air ghosting over my skin. “So bossy, even when you’ve got me where you want me.”
I let out a gruff chuckle. “I don’t have you where I want you. Not yet at least.”
As I sidestep the mess of melting ice on the floor, I yank the keycard from my pocket, then hold it to the sensor of our door. I carry Sabrina into her room, only setting her down when I reach the bed. Then I stride back to the door, turn the lock, and spin to take her in.
She rests on her elbows, her shirt bunched up under her breasts, her long legs stretched out endlessly.
Fuck, she’s beautiful. I palm my aching cock over my pants, seeking a little relief from the way it hardens painfully at the sight.
“You look like you need some help with that,” she taunts, her dark eyes dancing.
I zero in on her, scowling. Fuck, I love this—the banter we have. It’s fun.
“Why don’t you get on your knees and do something about it, then?” I grit out, embracing the way her eyes flare at the bossiness in my tone and the stern look on my face.
She lets out a shuddering breath, then gets right back into character, giving me a saucy smile. “Ask nicer.”
Head shaking, I stalk to the bed and plant my hands on either side of her hips. “You can sass me all you want anywhere else, but in here, I’m in control.”
Her eyes flash with heat. “Is that so?” She leans up, our foreheads practically brushing.
“Yes.”
I almost expect her to sass me some more, but I should know by now that Sabrina never does what I expect.
Grabbing my tie, she yanks me even closer and presses her mouth to mine. I get lost in the taste of her, forgetting what my original objective was until she slides a hand down to my belt, snapping me back to the moment.
With her other hand, she gives me a nudge. I straighten quickly, lightheaded from how fucking out of control this girl makes me, and before my vision can clear, she’s on her knees in front of me with my belt undone. Eyes locked with mine, she undoes the button and zipper on my pants.
With each move she makes, my breathing picks up until it’s embarrassingly fast. If she notices, she doesn’t call me out on it.
With a steadying gulp of air, I cup her jaw and run my thumb along her bottom lip. “You’re so fucking pretty.”
She grins, eyes shining in the darkened room. “I’ll be even prettier with your dick in my mouth.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
My knees practically give out on me. This woman is going to be the death of me.
She yanks my pants and underwear down, freeing my cock. As she takes me in, her lips tip up in appreciation. Fingers wrapped around the base, she looks up at me and licks her lips. “I can work with that.”
Goddamn this woman.
“Fuck yeah, you can.”
Her smirk morphs into a grin, and then she’s wrapping her lips around the tip.
“Oh, fuck.” I slam my eyes closed and start counting backward from one hundred. Fuck. I’m going to embarrass myself. When the counting doesn’t help, I rack my brain for other distractions. Tennis stats, maybe—
She laughs, the sound vibrating against my dick, which doesn’t help matters.
And when she pulls back and a string of saliva clings to her bottom lip, I almost lose it. On instinct, I reach down and wipe it away.
“Why do you look like you’re doing long division in your head?”
Long division. Why didn’t I think of that?
She pumps my cock in her fist, and my abdominals flex with the effort to hold back.
“Because I’ve been dreaming about your mouth on my cock, and now that it’s reality, I’m worried it’ll be over before it starts.”
She mock pouts. “Aw, poor baby.”
“Sabrina.”
Ignoring my warning, she takes me in her mouth again, and fuck if it doesn’t feel even better than my win this afternoon.
A part of me wants to take my time. To make this last. Savor her.
But the eager, more demanding side of me wants to fuck her hard and fast and dirty. There’s no competition between the two.
When I step back, she mewls in protest. But the sound is cut off when I haul her up and yank her shirt over her head. I tear her shorts down her legs next, then toss her onto the bed and push her legs apart.
Fingers digging into her soft flesh, I look up at her from my spot between her thighs. “Been wondering what this cunt tastes like for way too long.”
At the first swipe of my tongue, she gasps. She moans at the second. Cries my name at the third.
As I lick and suck at her sensitive and swollen flesh, she arches her back and babbles nonsensically.