I wanted to reach for her, pull her to me, and without prompting, she slid under my outstretched arm.
She belongs here.
“I know I push people away, Shaw. I know it’s stupid, even dangerous sometimes, but I promise I’m trying... I’m willing to try with you, if you are, too.”
When she blinked up at me, tears rolled down her cheeks. “There’s only you.”
Sliding my hand over hers, I marveled at how tiny it felt. This brave, smart, strong woman.
She had me right then and there. Lily Costello owned my heart.
“I’m scared of all of this, Brody. I’m falling for you, and I’m afraid you’ll let me down, too, and I know I’m going to screw up at some point.” She rolled her lip between her teeth and searched my face as I wiped her tears with my thumb.
“I promise I won’t.”
Her eyes softened, but I could see the hesitance. “There’s your career to think about, too. I don’t want to put your job in jeopardy.”
Leaning in, I cupped her jaw. “Then we’ll do our best to keep it quiet until either the game, or the team, is done with me, whichever comes first.” It might be sooner than I’d like to admit. “I want to retire here.” If they didn’t push me out first. “Now more than anything because I don’t want to move away from you. So, we’ll keep this our secret. And if we’re found out, I’ll deal with it.”
When she nibbled the inside of her cheek, I brushed her forehead with a kiss. “Liliana, I’m so fucking gone for you. I knew it the moment you walked down that hall and got in the elevator. I don’t give my heart away easily—if you want it, though, it’s all yours if you’ll be careful with it.”
She met my gaze and let me see her sincerity. “Always.”
With that, I let my lips slide over hers in the softest, sweetest brush, so wrought with emotion I felt it in my soul. I had niggling questions. But I locked those away for later in favor of the warmth I felt in my chest.
Now wasn’t the time to think about Dick.
Well, actually, it was, but I had an entirely different dick in mind. One I couldn’t wait to sink into my girl.
My. Girl.
Wiggling out from under my arm, Lily’s smile turned naughty. She scooped up my brace and started putting it back on. “Just in case. I wouldn’t want to put you in the hospital or anything.”
A small groan rumbled in my chest. “Confident little thing, aren’t you?”
Pulling me up off the couch by my good arm, she led me down the hall. “No more so than you, Shaw.”
I raised an eyebrow, making her giggle. “True.”
Turning me until my knees hit the bed, she gave my sweats a tug and I kicked them off.
Lily gave me a little shove in the chest that sent my ass to the mattress.
I grinned. “Somebody likes control.”
“Have you met me?” she asked, giving me a flirty wink. Standing just out of my reach, she started working her clothes off. In a painfully slow move, Lily bent at the waist to push her shorts and panties down her legs. It was a perfect fucking view. That ass I’d fantasized about, but hadn’t seen shake as it slapped my thighs. The plump lips that peeked out from between her legs, and the curve of her inner thigh into her cheek.
Goddamn. “That is the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen.” Little vixen.
“You can touch it, you know. I’d rather enjoy it.”
“Just waiting for permission, darlin’.”
“Oh, your mama taught you well.” Normally Lily didn’t have much accent—that was fairly common now—but she slid right into it like a pair of old boots.
“Please don’t bring up mamas.” I gripped her hip before I sank my teeth into the meaty globe. I’d wanted to do that for so long. Her high-pitched squeak was so worth the wait.
Soothing the bite with my tongue, I brought my hand around to her other cheek and swatted it with a thwack. Lily’s moan made me do it again before I dipped a finger into the lips between to circle her clit before I rimmed her entrance.
Goddamn it, I didn’t have enough hands. I wanted to lean her forward and taste her while I stroked my cock and circled her hard bud. But I only had the one hand to work with.
“Dear God, that’s nice.” Standing, she lifted her shirt over her head and popped the hooks on her bra, letting it drop. “Condoms?”
“Nightstand.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “It’s time to have the talk, Shaw. I’ve always been safe, and I have an IUD. Do we need these?” She held up the foil packet.
She was trusting me at my word. Like the fucking Grinch, my heart swelled in my chest. “No, I don’t believe we do. Clean as a whistle here. I can count the number of times I haven’t suited up on one hand, and those were a long time ago. I’ve been tested since.”
Her dimples made an appearance. “Wanna go bare, big guy?”
“Fuck, yes. Come here.”
She stalked around the bed with the kind of confidence that suggested I was only along for the ride.
Palming my shaft, Lily’s hand made a long slow slide up and over the head while she slithered her tongue between my parted lips.
“I want you so bad, Liliana. You can’t...” My breath hitched as she cupped my balls, rolled them in her palm.
“Can’t what?” She chuckled against my mouth.
“...keep doing that.”
She was a goddess. A lovely blush crawled along her neck and cheeks. Her generous hips flared out, begging to be squeezed, her sweet tummy calling to my mouth. Lily was strength and seduction wrapped in an air of the ethereal.
Letting go of my hard-on, she slid over my outstretched legs. Mouthed my neck, my jaw, my collarbone as her soft heat slid against my hard length.
“I love the way you fit here,” she told me. “The way you nestle in against me?”
Jesus. So did I. Mouthing the base of her throat, I felt her pulse surge against my tongue. “Pieces of the same puzzle.”
Rising up, she dragged her nails through the trail of hair under my navel, making my stomach clench.
“Lily, I’m struggling here.” The look I gave her could have melted metal.
The look she returned was pure sin.
She crawled over the bed in front of me, pulling her knees under her torso and twisting her head to the side.
“Oh, damn. look at that.” I tore at the brace’s Velcro, wanting both of my hands. Her pussy was spread, and she was so fucking wet. Breathtakingly beautiful. She was fantasy come to life.