20. Ryan
20
RYAN
I looked over to see her wide blue eyes on me. Her flushed cheeks made those eyes sparkle even more. And her lips. My god. Puffed, shiny, and so fucking perfect. I hadn’t meant to fuck that mouth so thoroughly, but she had taken me deep and kept me there for so long. I didn’t know I could come that hard.
But then, I hadn’t anticipated how hot the whole mirror thing would be. It was an impulse move to get her out of her head. Turned into the sexiest thing I’d ever done.
Given the dopey look of satisfaction on Nica’s face, I’d guess it was a winner for her, too. Her hair curled on her forehand from sweat. I could feel my own hair slicked on my neck. I didn’t want to leave this moment, but I had to take care of her.
“Are you cold?”
She shook her head, still gazing at me.
“Are you sweaty?”
Nod.
“What are you thinking?”
Her eyes shone in the low light. Her tongue skimmed her lips before the shiest smile appeared. “This.”
I blew out a long breath and leaned over to kiss her mouth. “This is this.”
She nudged little kisses against my lips and sighed. “This is so this.”
My dick stirred again as our kisses grew deeper. “You better stop kissing me, or we’re never gonna leave this closet.”
“Fine by me. I live here now. Here, I’m the sexy girl in the mirror.” Her tongue traced my lips and then dipped into my mouth as she palmed the back of my head.
At last, I pulled back and got to my feet, bringing her up with me. “Yeah, but I want you to be the sexy girl in my bed. Come on, Trouble. I’m going to dehydrate if we stay in here.”
We stumbled out of the closet and barely made it to the bed. I pushed her onto the mattress before I could give in to the desire to kneel in front of her again. She gazed up at me while I stared down at her, aching to bury myself inside of her and?—
Shit .
“What’s wrong?” she asked at the look on my face.
“I don’t have condoms.”
Nica groaned, voicing the sound in my head. “I’m not on birth control. My tests are clear, but, uh, yeah. Not a good moment in the month to leave to chance.”
While my blissed brain could easily foresee a long-term relationship with this woman, such a risk on our first night together held too many downsides in my estimation. I crawled over her and lowered down for another kiss. “Then I guess we’ll have to wait on that for a night. In the meantime, I’ll just have to lick your pussy until you come again.”
Nica let out another one of those adorable whines. “Ryan, please. I need a break after all that. And it’s—oh, no! It’s already midnight! How did that happen?” She whipped her head from the wall clock back to me.
“I don’t care. I’ll just be tired tomorrow.”
I leaned to kiss her, but Nica pushed my chest. “No way, buster. I will be damned if I’m responsible for our goalie being tired and sluggish against freaking Atlanta . You go to sleep right now.”
She pushed me again, and I crashed onto my back with a dramatic moan. Inwardly, though, I fucking loved that she cared enough about the team that much. That she knew without me saying that we faced our biggest rival tomorrow. That this wild, demanding job made sense to her.
“You’re ice-cold, Trouble. You know that?”
She climbed on top of me and pinned me to the bed. “Sure do. And you knew it before you brought me here, Goalie. So save your pouting for your momma.”
“Yeah, fine. But I’m saving this for you. ” I gripped her hips and shifted her lower until her pussy rubbed over my cock.
Huge error. Massive, throbbing, and now soaked error.
My head hit the mattress. Nica’s whimpered surprise hit my ears. “Fuck,” we whispered together.
I forced my eyes open to stare at her. “I want to take you right now,” I gritted out.
She nodded quickly and then winced. “But we can’t. It’s so late.”
My dramatic groan was genuine this time. Nica sighed and slid off me. “Oh, god. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she whispered.
“Baby, you just said a mouthful.”
Her gaze snapped to me. I grinned, and she giggled. “Oh em gee, I can’t believe you.”
“Felt accurate.”
“Too accurate. Now, help me find my clothes so I can go home.”
My humor died. Nica’s smile disappeared as I stared at her.
“Or,” I said at last.
“Or… you’d rather I stay? What if that’s bad luck?”
I rolled my eyes and got off the bed. “What if it’s the best luck? We can’t know unless we try it, right?”
“Against Atlanta ?”
“Who better than our fiercest rivals to test it?” I rummaged in my dresser and tossed her a t-shirt.
Nica set the shirt in her lap. “You want me to spend the night. Even though we have to sleep.”
No more shoulds. No more holding back. “I want you to spend the night. Then I want you to come to the game tomorrow and come home with me so we can finish what we started. Which,” I added as I knelt in front of her, “is only the beginning of this in my mind.”
The look in her eyes told me I was right to say it. She needed to hear that this wasn’t a one-off for me. I could hardly fathom how a woman this audacious and beautiful could be so insecure and self-conscious. But my girl was an enigma wrapped in a mystery in some ways. And if she needed me to tell her every damn day that I wanted her, then so be it. I’d do it as long as she could stand me.
Now who’s insecure? Just let the thing be what it is. You don’t have to plan your future around her.
Nica wet her lips. It seemed like she wanted to say more, but at last she nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay to… which part? All of it?”
Her smile curved. “Yeah. I… don’t want to say no.”
“Not the same as a yes.”
“No, I mean… I want to say yes. Yes. Now, sleep, silly.”
Good enough for now. I nodded and went to brush my teeth. She followed, so I showed her the stash of disposable toothbrushes in the drawer.
Nica quirked her brow. “Smooth move. Keep your lovers minty fresh.”
I laughed around the toothbrush. “My housekeeper stocked them ages ago in all the bathrooms. For guests, sure. I’ve not had a guest since my mother visited last Christmas, though.”
We looked at each other in the mirror. “Not since your fiancée left, huh?” she asked softly. I shook my head, and she flipped her hand. “Yeah, well. Whenever I’m a guest in a gorgeous house like this, I expect my own toothbrush, organic lavender soap and bubble bath, and a purple silk robe.”
“Standard requirements to keep you as a lover, huh?”
“Bare minimum, really.” She spat into the sink and blew me a kiss, but her sly smile died fast. “Obviously, I’m teasing. I, uh…”
I set my toothbrush down and pulled her close. “Shush. I know that. And I know how weird you’re trying to be about this. You don’t have to say it, Nica. Just let it be this.”
Her arms circled me. I felt her nod against my chest.
We climbed into the bed together. She flipped to her side, facing away from me, so I hooked her waist and pulled her into a spoon. I knew I was supposed to sleep about half an hour ago, but I couldn’t drift off. Not before I heard her breathing go shallow.
Not before I appreciated the hell out of the woman in my arms.