Chapter 16
Ingrid
Late August
Five weeks have passed since Darius moved me into the condo he recently purchased, maybe rented. I’m not sure, nor did I want to ask him point blank. It’s close to campus, making it easy to walk there. The place is way nicer than what I would’ve been able to afford on my own.
It feels weird living here with him. Not necessarily a bad weird.
Not much has happened since the sensual kiss we shared at the club. I was exhausted from the stress of my situation. He hasn’t pushed me. Given me the space I’ve requested while I sort out my life.
I now live in one of the three guest rooms. Haven’t returned to his room since I woke up in it the following morning. I’m still shocked nothing happened that night, thankful he’s more of a gentleman than I’d first predicted.
I mean, sure, his face had been between my thighs while I rode it, but I blame the craziness of the night for that.
He’s dialed it back since. Playful, flirtatious, stealing kisses that left me breathless, on the edge of blacking out for how hard they hit.
But that’s where things ended. He hasn’t pushed for more, not once.
Okay, so maybe it’s less about restraint and more about the fact we’re both swamped.
He’s buried in work; I’m drowning in classes.
When I’m not cramming for exams, I’m at practice—two-a-days, morning runs and mid-afternoons doing drills, with weights in between.
If I’m not studying, I’m on the pitch. Add in weeknight games and weekend tournaments that eat up entire days with travel, and there’s barely room left to breathe.
Soccer—fútbol—eats every spare second I have. There’s no place left for distractions.
Get hurt, the grind doubles. More hours with trainers. More rehab.
Last game, one clean hit dropped me. Now I’m hobbling, nursing a twisted knee and pulled hamstring. When I say pulled, I mean it hurts to walk. And yet, I’m sucking it up, pushing through, doing my best to get back out there with my teammates.
Tonight, the trainer gave me the worst news a college athlete ever wants to hear.
Benched for the season. My knee is the biggest concern, even though it’s not as painful as my hamstring.
From here on out, my practice time shifts to physical therapy.
The goal: rebuild strength, heal right, and be ready to play when spring season starts.
Dragging my tired arse inside, I sling my backpack against the wall. “Fuck!” I scream and let the words echo off the walls. “I hate my life.”
“Want to talk about it?” Darius’s voice cuts through the condo, and I nearly leap out of my skin. He’s usually not home until later.
“Shit.” I flinch and pain shoots up my leg. “Fuck,” I cry out.
Hot tears burn down my cheeks. I’d held it together in the trainer’s office, nodded through the coach’s disappointment, swallowed every emotion. I’d planned to save this breakdown for later when I was alone. In private. Not in front of him.
“Not really.” With no energy left to keep it in, I say exactly what’s on my agenda. “I was planning to have my pity party and get really drunk.”
Sucking in air to endure the pain, I limp toward the bar he keeps stocked. I don’t take two steps before I’m lifted off the ground. “Put me down, please. I can walk.”
“Not a chance. And until this is healed, you’re done walking to and from class. I’ll drive you, or I’ll have one of my guys drive you. It’ll never get better if you don’t stop being so damn stubborn.” Darius’s tone is sharp and unyielding as he carries me to the couch.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.” I moan as the pain spikes when he lowers me to the cushions. “I’m not your responsibility.”
Dropping onto the couch by my feet, he places them in his lap. “Says who?”
“Me.” I try to move, but then he begins to rub my feet, and it feels so damn good. “It’s true.”
“I know you believe that. However, I disagree. I’m your boss, and I need you to be healthy enough to work.
I’m guessing you received bad news today.
” He presses hard into my arch, and I swear to all the gods as I try not to moan in pleasure.
“My weekend is free, and I think it’s time I finally see if I can prove a few things to you. ”
He brings my foot to his lips and kisses it. Heat travels up my leg to my very needy lady bits. “Darius, please don’t toy with me. I can’t deal with games right now.”
“I know.” He shifts onto his knees, towering over me. “No games. Just me enjoying myself while I win you over to my side, all while I ensure you take care of yourself better.”
“How?” My voice drops to a whisper, his face only inches from mine, those eyes burning into me. “You’re going to break me. I can feel it.”
“I will not break you,” he counters, running his knuckles along my cheek. “I’ll show you just how much I want you… how much I care. These last several weeks, coming home to you, they’ve made me a greedy man. I’ve been patient. Too patient. Maybe it’s time I gave you a little nudge.”
I squirm, nerves sparking at the meaning behind his words. “Are you going to kiss me or just tease me?”
The most adorable dimples appear when his lips quirk up. “I’m going to kiss you so good you’ll beg for more. But not yet. I need to feed you first.”
He brushes his lips over mine, feather-light.
The kiss is soft and tender. Until it’s not.
Hunger takes over, twisting from soft into desperate.
My hands trace down his back, slip to the waistband of his jeans, glide forward to the button.
I pop it open and work on the zipper when his hand closes over mine.
“What are you doing?” The gravelly nature of his voice, deep and resonant, is intensely sexy.
Slapping his hand away, I keep going. “I believe I owe you. It seems only fair after you snacked on me. I’ve been thinking about paying you back ever since.”
When my hand slips under his silk boxers, he growls. “Fuck. You don’t have to do that. Your leg. No way am I letting you get on your hands and knees. But if you want to keep doing that… fuck me, that feels amazing.”
He’s thick and heavy in my palm. I knew that when he pinned me against the door, grinding his hard cock into me. I’ve imagined it over and over again. And now that it’s in my hand—no imagining required.
Thinking about what he can teach me sends a shiver through my body. My previous partners were quick about it. Didn’t stick around. Always a disappointment. Boys. They were inexperienced and didn’t care to consider other options or strive for better results.
Darius is far from a boy. His body is a sculpture, hard lines I’ve traced with my eyes more than once.
I may not have liked who he was when I met him on spring break, but that didn’t stop me from noticing.
He’s dangerously handsome. Women clock him the instant he walks into a room.
Charm drips off him like sin. And now, with my hand wrapped around his cock, I don’t just want to touch him. I want everything.
“Take your jeans off. Actually, take your boxers off too and straddle my chest. It’s time I got a look at the weapon you’ve been hiding.” I shift once he lifts off me, so there’s room for him to do just that.
He stands and strips with practiced ease, keeping his back to me. “My weapon?”
“That’s what I said. Turn around so I can…” My breath cuts off, stolen by the sight of his knob—large, thick, protruding high, the head nearly touching his stomach. I swallow hard, voice breaking into a whisper. “Sit.”
Chuckling, he straddles me, weight balanced on one knee while the other foot anchors on the floor. “I’ll crush you if I sit on you.”
“Crushing me should be the least of your concerns,” I fire back. “Once I take you in my mouth, I’ll likely choke. Hell of a way to die if you ask me.” I encourage him closer, wrapping a hand around him and stare.
“Ingrid,” he growls, voice low and rough. “You are a dirty, filthy girl.”
Sounds like a compliment.
I know I’m blushing. I push the shy girl screaming at me to stop aside.
She can shut the fuck right up. This man wants me, and I’m going to savor that.
Tonight, I’ll be brave, let him show me what it’s like to be wanted this way.
Maybe when this affair ends, I’ll walk away with more confidence.
Enough to find a guy who wants the woman I’m growing into.
I lick my lips in anticipation. He’s huge.
It’s that or the other guys were on the small side.
My fingers can’t close around him, not fully.
Girthy bastard. And he’s long; both hands could fist him.
The tip would be peeking out, ready for me to slip into my mouth.
Choking on him is a real possibility, no joke.
But if that’s how I go, at least I’ll know I gave it everything.
“You’re killing me.” He thrusts his hips slowly. “I don’t care what you do… but fuck, please… do something. My brain is about to explode with all the thoughts running through it.”
I squeeze and then pump his cock in my palm.
Slow, deliberate pumps—up and back down.
It’s lined with ridges I bet would feel amazing inside me.
My insides heat just thinking about it. If he touches me now, he’d discover how soaked I am for him.
Tilting just right, I press my lips to the swollen tip, reveling in the way he feels there. Heavy and hot.
I’ve never given a guy head before. Too intimate.
Too personal. But this is Darius. I can’t resist. It feels right.
Natural. Like the next step. We’ve barely scratched the surface of what this arrangement could mean, but I’m not backing down now.
He gave me the best orgasm of my life when he licked my pussy.
Returning the favor is the very least I can manage.
I work him past my lips, confidence growing with each inch I take. The angle’s wrong with him straddling me, and I need help. Pulling back, I glance up, lips still brushing the tip, as I give him a wicked grin.
“It would probably be easier if you just fucked my mouth while I suck you like a lollipop.”
He shakes his head, jaw tight, determination etching across his face.
“That what you want? For me to fuck that filthy mouth of yours like I own it? Drive my cock down your tight throat until you choke on it? My cum on your tongue, filling your mouth, forcing you to either swallow or let it spill out?”
My thighs press together when my clit noticeably throbs. “Yes.”
Before he claims my mouth, he kisses me—hard and deep. It scores my soul and makes me wonder what the hell a kiss like that means. Suddenly, this doesn’t feel casual. It feels dangerous, like something that could stretch into forever.
Still high from his kiss, he slips his cock inside my mouth.
His thumbs stroke my cheeks as he steadies my head, guiding me.
He fucks my mouth slowly at first, letting me learn the rhythm, then drives deeper, harder—until I nearly choke.
I fight through it, relax, swallow him down.
My eyes water. Drool slips down my chin.
But I don’t stop. Not when I see the way he’s looking at me, the admiration in his eyes.
When I think I’ve reached my limit, he pulls back, spilling his hot and salty cum into my mouth.
I swallow quickly, eager not to waste a drop. His taste is addictive.
Jerking free, he shifts back only to crash his mouth to mine. Kissing me deep at first, then softer until he’s sucking on my bottom lip, murmuring against it. “Fuck, Ingrid. That was hot. You are amazing. Best blowjob I’ve ever had—no lie.”
I giggle, breathless. “It was my first.”
He freezes, grabs my face and stares at me like he’s sure he heard me wrong. “You’re serious? Damn. Well, if you think I’m letting you do that to anyone else, think again.”
I push away the dangerous thoughts of what he means. If I let my brain go there, I’ll only end up hurt.
“Once I recover, I’m fixing us one hell of a dinner. Unless you think you want to do that.” He tugs me closer, his softened cock resting against my leg.
“I can’t cook. Never learned how,” I confess with a small laugh. “But I can order takeout like a pro.”
“Give me five and I’ll decide.” He nuzzles my neck with his lips, warm and lingering.
I close my eyes, breathing him in, memorizing the feel of his arms around me. For the first time in a long time, everything feels exactly right—and I don’t want the night to end.