Chapter 24
CLAY
“All clear?” Nova whispers.
I look both ways. “For now.”
We sneak down the hall to my hotel room. I fumble with my card before the light blinks, and we trip inside.
“Wow. This is what it’s like to live the high life.”
I can’t help grinning. Some girls would care about amenities, want to hook up with me on the road in a five-star hotel.
She’s not here for that.
Nova takes a tour, observing every inch of my one-night home while I observe her.
She’s so beautiful. It’s not only her pink hair and bright eyes and full lips. Not even her breasts that feel small and perfect in my hands or the addictive scent of her skin.
It’s her openness and acceptance. How she’s game for anything and finds the sunshine on the darkest day.
Nova opens my fridge, eyes widening. “Holy. You could open a bar.”
She takes one bottle after another and sets them out.
“I’ve never even heard of this,” she says, inspecting a label.
“You want it?” I ask.
She turns it in her hands. “I had enough wine with dinner. But the bottle is pretty.”
“Take it then. If you think it’s pretty.”
Nova smiles and sets it down. Then she lifts the lid of the silver pail nearby. “Huh. There’s even ice in the bucket.”
I shrug. “Turndown service.”
She shakes her head as if it’s the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard of. “So, you can’t make your bed or unmake it without help? You’re clearly overpaid.”
Fuck, this girl is wild. I’m hanging on her every word.
The way she came apart under my hands in the limo was one thing. I was tempted to keep the car circling all night so I could pin her down on the seat and make her lose her mind until the only word she knew was my name.
But the fact that she promised to keep my secret means more.
People smile in my face all day long, but those who genuinely have my back are few and far between.
“Is your balcony connected to the others?” Nova opens the drapes and peers outside, oblivious to what’s going on in my head.
“Yeah.”
I come up behind her, and her body warms me.
“But here…” I place my hands on either side of her, my groin pressing against her back. “Glass feels thick enough to muffle the sounds.”
Her head turns, her profile sheer temptation. “What sounds are those? You laughing at my jokes?”
“More like you moaning my name while I fuck you. Fast the first time, slow the second. The third, I’ll let you choose,” I murmur, claiming her lips from behind.
She tastes like wine. She’s pliable, too, a little extra relaxed. I adjust her to face me, banging my leg into the window in the process.
“Your knee,” she says when I wince, dropping the curtains back into place and pulling away.
“It’s fine.”
“Don’t you usually take an ice bath?” Nova tries to slip out from under me.
Her happy buzz has vanished. I want it back.
I grab her wrist. “After.”
“Clay—“
“Nova. I. Need. You,” I say softly between kisses. I press her back against the window until she melts again.
Tonight was good. I can’t remember time spent with someone being so fulfilling. I liked being able to get her everything she wanted, but I also knew that she didn’t care about any of it.
Nova fits in here. She’d fit in anywhere.
The rogue thought has my heart kicking. I always figured I had to go through this life alone, but who says I have to? She could stay as long as she wants. There’d be no karma to bite her. We’d have our thing until it ran its course…
Because she’d enjoy it.
Not because I’m not ready to let her go.
I spin and lift her, her dress riding up as her legs hook around my hips. I’m used to lifting hundreds of pounds, and she’s nothing by comparison.
Nova grips my shoulders. Her body is sweet and soft, and I’m hard and hungry.
Back in the limo barely got me started. I want her all the ways there are. I want to turn her to liquid. To feel her melt around me, to absorb some of her fucking brightness.
I set her down long enough to yank down the zipper that holds up her dress and peel it off her. Beneath, she’s naked.
“Christ.” I take a moment to admire her.
She laughs, pressing a hand to her neck.
Her pale skin shines in the moonlight, the curve of her breasts and swell of her hips making my throat dry with longing. I can’t see the freckles that dust her shoulder, but I trace them from memory.
Her breasts are round and soft, and her pussy is fucking perfect.
“Too fucking pretty,” I say as I sink to my knees.
Nova’s thighs tremble as I kiss her soft skin. She leans into me.
“Are you ready again?” I ask.
“Are you kidding? It’s like you have a magic touch.”
She bends to reach for the buttons of my shirt, releasing them one by one until I can shrug out of it.
“I do. Especially when I’m with you.”
I look up at her as I stroke her damp center with my fingers. Her lips part as I circle her clit with my thumb.
“Oh, God.” She sways toward me, eyes drifting closed.
“I told you, sweetheart. My name is Clay.”
I put my mouth to her and suck.
She moans.
Loud.
She’s so damn sweet. Wet and wanting, arching against my face even as she bites her lip.
I’d give up oxygen if it meant staying right here forever.
“Yes, right there,” she whispers. “You might have a backup career. You know, if this basketball thing falls through.”
I spread her wider, scraping my teeth lightly across her in retaliation.
Instead of squeaking, all she does is moan louder.
Well, fuck me. My sweet girl likes a little edge.
Her hands move to my head, her fingers tightening into my hair. I love it. It’s her way of telling me what she needs.
Tonight, I’m going to take my time.
There’s a knock on the other side of the windows. We can’t see through the curtains, but Nova’s eyes fly to mine.
“Ignore it,” I rasp against her skin.
But she’s torn between the interruption and me.
Fuck, that won’t work.
I shove to standing.
It makes no sense for anyone to be on the balcony. Who’d be crazy enough to…
I tug back the edge of the curtains and look through the glass.
Rookie.
Ignoring him isn’t an option thanks to Nova.
Murder isn’t much better, though tossing him off the balcony right now holds some appeal.
I slide open the door enough to talk.
“What’s up?” I ask in the most casual voice I can muster, the taste of Nova still on my tongue.
“I’m sorry about the game. I fucked up,” he says.
My foot brushes something—her leather jacket. I bend to grab it and toss it out of sight.
“And you couldn’t tell me another way?”
“I didn’t want anyone to see.” He hangs his head in shame. “Can I come in?”
I rub a hand over my face. “Hold on.”
I go back to Nova. I lean over and murmur in her ear, “It’s Rookie. I’ll tell him we’ll talk tomorrow.”
She grabs the waist of my pants. “Clay, this is important. Talk to him now. Otherwise, he’s going to lie awake all night feeling terrible.”
“Maybe he should. And I can keep you awake all night feeling better than you’ve ever felt.”
Nova reaches up to caress my neck. “As tempting as that sounds, I don’t want to come between you and your team.”
I want to tell her to forget him. Except…
She's so understanding.
It’s part of why I like her so damn much.
I take her face in my hands and brush my lips over hers. “You’re a good person.”
She smiles. “I know. Now you go be one, too.”