12. Harper
CHAPTER TWELVE
HARPER
My eyes pop open, and the first thing I do is panic and try to sit up.
I instantly regret it. Everything hurts in the best way possible.
I drop back next to him while my stupid heart pounds and my body feels like I’ve been run over by a truck.
I glance around. Floor-to-ceiling glass, skyline lit up, and the scent of expensive everything. Jaxson’s penthouse.
And Jaxson. I force myself to look to my right.
Holy hell. The man is next to me, passed out cold.
He looks nothing like the stoic goalie every sports reporter drools over.
His dark hair’s a mess on the pillow, a stubbly shadow on his jaw.
Sheets barely covering his assets. God. I can’t help but stare at his gorgeous body. I’m only human.
It hits me then. I broke every rule. I slept with the guy I swore I’d never touch.
Holy heck. I fell hard and fast for my brother’s worst enemy.
Do I regret it? Not even a little. Well, maybe the part where Ryan is going to lose his shit if he ever finds out, but lying here with Jaxson, the only thing I feel is…
satisfied. And alive. For the first time in as long as I can remember.
I study his face for a second. Even in sleep, he looks tense. Like he’s waiting for the next shot to come. I want to touch him, brush the hair off his forehead, but I stop myself.
I just lie there staring at him. Memorizing everything. Because I know, the second he wakes up, everything gets a million times more complicated.
The air between us is thick, charged with the kind of electricity that precedes a massive storm.
Jaxson shifts in the bed next to me, all that muscle and six-feet-whatever of raw male power wrapped in tangled, Egyptian sheets.
He blinks awake, blue eyes catching on mine.
For a split second, he looks stunned. Then he grins, slow and wicked, like he’s just scored the game-winner and I’m the prize.
Holy hell. That smile could melt the polar ice caps.
“Morning, firecracker.” His sleepy rumble vibrates straight through my body, waking up my hussy lady parts.
I try not to ogle him, but let’s be real.
It isn’t possible. Why even try? The man is something out of a fever dream.
Dark, messy hair, a scrape of stubble along his jaw, eyes locked on me like he’s never seen anything better in his life.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s a little shy.
But that’s the thing about Jaxson Thorne.
There’s always more happening under the surface.
He reaches over, palm big enough to cover most of my bare waist, and drags me closer until I’m tucked under his chin. I can feel every inch of him, warm and heavy and very, very real.
“Didn’t think last night could get better,” he murmurs against my temple, lips brushing my skin. “But waking up with you… fuck, Harper.” Another soft laugh rumbling in his chest. “That’s something I could get used to.”
I bury my face in his neck, grinning like an idiot. I want to pretend I’m unaffected, but screw it. The second he kisses the side of my neck, I’m gone, melting like butter on a stack of pancakes.
I don’t know how long we lie there, but he doesn’t let go, just runs that big, rough palm up and down my back.
The man is a freaking space heater with a smoking hot body.
I can’t breathe without soaking in the scent of him.
Spice, sandalwood, and something that makes my toes curl.
Forget my rules. This is my new reality.
Jaxson finally tilts my face up with one finger under my chin, eyes dark and impossibly intense. “What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asks, voice gravel and honey.
Every cell in my body wants to crawl inside his skin and stay. “Just saying goodbye to my ‘no dating athletes rule’,” I mumble, trying to play tough.
His hand flexes on my ass, half possessive, half comforting.
“Good,” he growls, rolling me on top of him so I’m sprawled across his chest. “Never liked rules anyway. All they do is keep people from what they want.” He pauses, and I feel it, the honesty burning right through my ribcage.
“Last night wasn’t a one-off, Harper. Not for me. ”
Mother of all holy hells. Let’s just jump into the heavy stuff.
Before I can stop myself, I lean up and cover his lips with mine. The kiss isn't a gentle exploration; it’s a collision. His hands find my waist, bracing me on top of him, and for the first time in my life, the world doesn't feel like a series of problems to be solved. It feels right.
He groans up into my mouth, a low, guttural sound that vibrates through my chest. His hands slide down to my hips, lifting me until I’m forced to straddle his waist.
"Harper," he rasps, pulling back just enough to look at me. His eyes are dark, stripped of the calculated frost of the arena. "Ride me."
Mother of all holy hells. He doesn’t have to ask me twice.
In two seconds, flat, I’m straddling that monster of a man, thighs split wide on either side of his hips, my palms braced on his chest. His skin’s hot as a freaking furnace, and his massive muscles jump under my touch.
I’m pretty sure if the world ended right now, I wouldn’t care.
His hands grip my ass, fingers digging in, guiding me right where he wants me. I rock against him, rolling my hips, slow and filthy, making sure he feels every bit of me. He hisses, baring his teeth. “Just like that, firecracker. Fuck, you’re perfect.”
I lean in, scraping my nails over his chest, and he bucks beneath me. God. I love making this gorgeous man lose his mind. I stroke his cock with my pussy, teasing the tip against my soaking wet folds. I’m more than ready, but I take my time just to torture him.
Jaxson groans, pure pain. “Keep teasing, and I'll spank that gorgeous ass of yours.”
“Is that a threat or a promise?” I grin down at him, my hair falling wild around my face. I pretend I’m in control here, but the truth is, I’m seconds away from losing every shred of control I’ve got left.
“Both,” he growls, then drags my hips forward so the head of his cock pushes right at my entrance.
I sink down, and holy cow, I can barely see straight.
The stretch is almost too much. Jaxson’s cock is so thick, so damn perfect, it feels like he was made just for me.
I bottom out with a little gasp, palms braced on his muscular chest, and for a second, I just sit there shaking.
Full, stretched, and so close to losing my mind it isn’t even funny.
Jaxson groans as his hands tighten on my hips. “Fuck, Harper, you’re so hot and tight. You’re fucking killing me.”
The way he says my name causes electricity to flow down my spine.
I let out a shaky breath and start to move, little motions at first, while my body adjusts to the stretch.
This is insane. The friction lights me up from the inside out.
All I can do is hold on and grind down, slow and dirty, chasing every inch of him.
He’s transfixed. His eyes are locked on my tits while his mouth hangs open just a little.
He watches every move, tracking me like I’m the most important thing in the world.
I pace myself, rolling my hips, loving the way his cock drags against every sensitive nerve ending.
I brace my hands on his pecs, fingers digging in when the pleasure spikes hard.
He starts thrusting up into me, shallow at first, then brutal, greedy, demanding more. “Take it, baby. Fuck, you look so good riding me.”
His filthy words go straight to my head, and my mind turns to goo.
I throw my head back, moaning like a porn star because holy hell, I don’t have a single ounce of shame left.
Jaxson’s got me by the hips, locked in tight, holding me over him while I grind down, slow and deep, giving him the ride of his life.
My thighs are on fire. Every inch of me is dripping, desperate, totally addicted to the way he fills me up.
I flex, squeezing his cock until he hisses and digs his fingers into my ass.
Yeah, that’s right. I’m running this show. At least for a few seconds.
Then Jaxson completely loses his mind.
He claps a giant palm on my ass and smacks me, the sound echoing off the glass like a gunshot.
I yelp and laugh, dizzy with power and lust. “Told you, baby. Couldn’t let you get away with teasing me like that.
” He’s grinning, wild and wicked, like a wolf that just locked onto his prey.
The look in his eyes is pure freaking hunger.
Possessive. Obsessive. Like he wants to memorize and put his mark on every inch of me.
His hands reach up, and his thumbs circle my nipples until they are tight, aching peaks.
My pussy clamps down on his cock, the first waves of an orgasm beginning to ripple through me.
He feels it, his thrusts becoming faster, more desperate.
He’s pounding up into me now, his muscular body wound tight beneath me as the sound of our bodies meeting echoes around the room.
"I’m coming," I gasp. "Jaxson, I’m?—"
The orgasm hits like a physical blow, a white-hot explosion that starts at the point where we are joined and radiates outward until I’m shaking, my vision swimming with stars.
He thrusts one last time, deep and hard, and then he’s erupting, filling me with hot spurts of his cum as a low, guttural roar breaks from his throat.
I drop down onto his chest and lay my head right against his heart. We stay like that for a long time, locked together as our breathing slows and the world outside the windows begins to realign. The silence of the penthouse returns, but it’s different now. It’s no longer empty.