18. Hunter

HUNTER

M y new life goal is to get Elodie to smile like she does while in Rome. When we eat carbonara, she moans like it’s the best thing she’s ever tasted. When she makes a wish at the Trevi Fountain, she squeezes her eyes shut as if it’ll make it come true. As if she left part of herself in the fountain for safekeeping. When we pretended to be gladiators at the Colosseum and play fight with the cannoli we bought? It’s in that moment I realized I’ve smiled more today than I have in the last five years combined.

Any by the end of the day? It’s official: I love her.

I’ve been waiting my entire life for someone with her kind of wit and kindness to crash through my chest and right into my heart. For the first time in my life, earning money and having a career aren’t my priorities. I don’t even care about my contract extension anymore, not when she’s by my side. As long as I’m with her, I don’t care where I play.

The second we’re back in the hotel room, I drop our purchases on the ground and push her against the door. Her eyes widen before I kiss her like I’ve been wanting to for hours. The type of kiss that’s indecent and carnal. The kind that’s electric and needy.

I snake one hand into her hair and the other to her back and unzip her dress. She doesn’t break the kiss as her dress pools around her feet, and instead deepens it. I trail my fingers down her back and unclasp her bra, which lands on top of her dress. Running my hands over her body, I pause at her hips and rip her thong off.

She jerks and says, “Hey, I liked that one.”

“I’ll buy you a thousand more,” I say, pocketing the silky material. Picking up the bag with the necklace, I spin her and fasten it around her neck.

“Delivering on your promise?” She glances over her shoulder at me.

“Always.” I turn her fully and take a step back so I can admire her. “You’re magnificent. Breathtaking. Bewitching. The living embodiment of twilight—mysterious and captivating.”

She shivers and swallows hard.

“Repeat what I said,” I demand.

“You’re magnifi?—”

“About yourself, or I’ll spank you.” Her pupils blow out. “You’d like that?” I throw her over my shoulder, and she shrieks .

Striding to the bedroom, still fully dressed, I sit on the edge of the bed and drape her over my lap. I rub her ass cheeks and then slap her right and then left one. She moans, and my dick strains to reach her.

“Start again,” I say.

“I’m magnificent. Breathtaking… And I don’t remember the rest.”

My hand comes down harder on her backside and she jumps. “Bewitching. The living embodiment of twilight.”

She repeats the words and then forgets the rest. I have a feeling she’s purposely forgetting, and I love it. I slap her cheeks again, pink blooming on her skin. She finishes the rest of her compliment, and I make her repeat it again, and again, until she’s squirming on my lap.

Dipping my finger inside her, I notice she’s soaked. I throw her onto the bed and unzip my pants. My dick surges out of them, and she’s already there, wrapping a hand around it. She kneels on the floor and spits onto my cock. She stares at me with her gorgeous green eyes and an innocent expression on her face.

“Tell me what you like,” she says.

“Everything, as long as you touch me.”

“Do you like it soft?” She licks my entire length, swirling her tongue over my head and softly sucking when she finally puts her lips around me. “Or hard?” She sucks harder, her cheeks hollowing out. Her hands working my base and balls .

“Yes,” I moan, lost in pleasure, lost in her.

She laughs and blows on my wet dick. “You didn’t answer my question,” she says and then grins. “But that’s okay. It’s time I get acquainted with my obsession.”

“Fuck,” I breathe out. She’s so fucking sexy on her knees for me, worshiping my dick. She teases me, playing until I’m about to go insane. I grip her hair in one hand, refusing to have it hide a single second of the best blow job of my life. Unable to take the teasing anymore, my hips surge forward, needing to be as deep inside her mouth as possible. She gags, and tears drip down her cheeks. I pull on her hair, and she pops off my dick.

She makes a sound of protest. “Do it again. Use me. Come down my throat.”

I hold her head still, my thumbs wiping her tears away, and fuck her mouth like she asked. Her gagging on my dick is the sexiest sound in the world. She snakes a hand to her clit while I use her, and she moans. The vibrations send me over the edge, and I say, “Swallow every drop.”

She nods and I come so hard, my vision dims for a few beats. Elodie swallows everything I give her, and when I’m done, I immediately lift her into my arms.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Fuck yeah, that was hot.”

“Best blow job of my life.” I grin and toss her onto the bed .

She opens her knees and lifts onto her elbows.

“I want to feel all of you. No condom between us.”

“Are you sure?”

She nods. “I have an IUD, and I’m clean.”

“I’m clean, too, but I’ve never gone without a condom.” It’s not lost on me how big of a deal this is, how much she trusts me to go without.

“Aww, am I popping your cherry?”

“Soon, you will.” I grin. “But first, it’s my turn to feast on you before fucking you so many times, you won’t be able to walk tomorrow.”

“I dare you.”

“Oh, baby, don’t you know? I’m the most competitive person in the world. I’m going to destroy you.”

She shivers as I spread her legs wider and feast on her. With every lick, I feel unhinged. Like I’m being pulled apart at the seams and can only be restitched through devouring her. I add one finger, then another, and another as I suck on her clit. She thrashes from side to side, close. I swirl a finger around her asshole and apply gentle pressure. She moans and falls apart on my tongue and fingers.

While she’s lost in bliss, I slam my dick inside her. She screams and spasms around me, another orgasm overtaking her.

“Fuck,” she whimpers. “You’re so fucking huge. It should be illegal.”

My laugh turns strangled when I finally process how amazing she feels. All warmth, wetness, and heat. I pull out slowly, blissfully lost in the feel of her. With each of my thrusts, her necklace bounces between her breasts. I stare deeply into Elodie’s green eyes and try to convey how I feel about her. To tell her with my body that I’m never letting go of her. It’s an oath I’m making to myself here and now.

As I pinch and play with her nipples, she begins to squirm again. I love how reactive she is to me, how our bodies seem to be perfectly in synch. I rub her clit with my thumb, and she shatters. Pounding into her faster and faster, the headboard cracking against the wall, I chase my own release and fall apart.

Collapsing onto my forearms, I brush her hair off her face and kiss her softly. She wraps her arms around me and holds me on her. Her answering kiss just as sweet.

My dick softens, but I refuse to leave her heat. Not yet, and maybe not ever. I roll us and readjust us so that I’m on the bed and she’s on top of me.

She giggles and touches her chest. “This necklace is magical.”

“No, babe, that was all you.”

“How can it be so amazing with you?”

“Easy, we’re meant to be.”

She snuggles into my chest and yawns. “I’m exhausted, but I don’t want to miss a single moment with you. ”

“Rest now.” I tighten my arms around her. “I’ll wake you in a couple hours for round two.”

Her breaths even out and I hold her to my chest as she sleeps on top of me. I refuse to drift off myself, not when it’ll be a week before I can see her again.

A woman in a magenta T-shirt that has “Fun fact: I’m fresh out of fucks to give” on it stands in the front of the conference room Jake rented out for our next team-building event.

She claps her hands twice, and we all quiet down. “Hey, guys. I’m Mia and here to help you all overcome your fear of public speaking.”

A few of the guys groan, and her grin widens. “That reaction right there is why you need me.” She scans all of us, looking each of us dead in the eye.

“She’s kind of scary,” whispers Quincy.

I nod in agreement.

“All right, everyone,” Mia says. “The best hack in overcoming our fear of public speaking is to reframe the nervousness you feel and trick your brain into thinking it’s excitement.”

“Is that a line from a self-help book?” Trey asks.

“Yeah,” Marcus says, “I didn’t sign up to be burning incense and cleansing our spirit.”

“You two.” Mia points to Trey and Marcus. “Since you have so much to say, why don’t you come up here and be my first victims… Oh, did I say victims? I meant participants .”

“Victims?” Marcus whispers, shooting a worried look at the rest of us as he stands next to Trey.

“I want you to think of a topic you can talk about for two minutes,” Mia says. “The only catch is that it can’t be about football. I’ll time you and raise my hand when the two minutes are over. Now who wants to go first?”

Marcus and Trey look anywhere but at her, and Mia grins. “How about we start with you?” She nods to Marcus, and he sighs.

“Hmm, let’s see. A topic I can speak two minutes about?” He rocks on his heels. “Okay. I’m going to talk about eating well and working out.”

He gives his spiel, really getting into it. Marcus isn’t shy by any means, but I’ve never heard him speak so confidently about something like he is now. I have a feeling if he had a whiteboard marker, he’d write down formulas about how the body burns energy. It’s impressive and I might need to go to him for some pointers. Mia raises her hand when the timer goes off and says, “Thank you for sharing. How did that feel?”

“Good,” he says. “It wasn’t so hard once I got started.”

“Exactly. And you were talking about something you’re clearly passionate about. If you regularly practice a speech, it can help build up confidence since once you start, you’ll be able to speak the rest on autopilot.”

A few of the guys nod and Mia says, “All right, your turn.” She indicates to Trey. “Oh, and just to note. No one else can use either of those topics for the rest of the day.”

I groan. Shit, that was going to be my topic.

“Knitting,” Trey starts, “is the best form of relaxation I’ve found. It quiets my mind and is a fun way to express myself.”

I glance around the room in shock. Trey, over three hundred pounds and six-six, is into knitting? He continues going on about his favorite things to make—stuffed animals for his cousins—and I’m gagged. Mia doesn’t raise her hand when the timer goes off. Instead, we all listen in fascination.

“Thank you for sharing,” Mia says once Trey finishes talking. “You’re clearly passionate about this topic.”

“I’ve got a question.” D-Rock raises his hand. “Trey, are you secretly a grandma?”

“Probably.” Trey shrugs. “But at least I’m not still a child carrying around a worn teddy bear.”

“That was one time,” D-Rock says defensively.

“One time meaning all the time,” Quincy chimes in.

I snort. “We can get you a collection to bring along to our games. Maybe we should buy one from each city we play in? ”

“I like your thinking,” Marcus says.

“Fuck off,” D-Rock grumbles, and Mia says, “Why don’t you come up to the front and speak next?”

“Yeah, why not tell us about your teddy bear?” Jake asks.

D-Rock strides to the front of the room, and we all laugh as he crosses his arms. “It’s the only thing I have from my mom. She died when I was six.”

The laughter and jesting come to a screeching halt with his words.

“I bring it to every game,” he continues, “because it’s like she’s at the game with me, watching from heaven.” He continues to talk about her, about what he remembers about her. My nose stings, and I refuse to fucking cry in front of the team. Shit, D-Rock hasn’t had an easy life, and I didn’t know.

When the timer rings, I ask, “What was her name? Your mom?”

“Yolanda.”

“New tradition,” I say. “We honor Yolanda before every game and any other parent who’s passed.”

Everyone nods solemnly and a course of agreement goes through the room. We’re all silent for a good minute afterwards, processing everything.

“How about you go next?” Mia asks me.

I stand and walk to the front of the room. There isn’t much I can talk about outside of football, working out, and eating well. I have no hobbies, no interests outside of that. Well, unless I count Elodie. Before meeting her, I probably would’ve talked about sex and how to pleasure a woman. But I don’t want the guys to even think about the woman I love with the word sex .

“I don’t have many hobbies. And by many, I mean none. Football has always been everything to me. My dad didn’t let me have friends or do anything besides eat, breathe, and sleep it. Winning and how I played was all that mattered, and my dad made sure I never forgot that. I’m sorry for treating you all unkindly, I just…” I rub the back of my neck, uncomfortable with my unplanned confession. What the hell am I doing? Why did I just tell them about my dad? “The pressure, you know? From my dad? It’s been getting to me for a long time, and I took it out on you.”

I scan the room, relieved no one’s laughing at my honesty. Instead, there’s just understanding on my teammates’ faces. “There’s only one thing besides football going on in my life and it’s Ella. I’m thinking about getting a dog because she’s always wanted one and I want to turn that dream of hers into reality. According to Google, greyhounds are an easy breed to take care of. Apparently, they’re chill and sleep a lot, and that might be a good balance for me and Ella.” I go on and on, about my love for Ella and what dog breeds I’ve researched.

“Get the greyhound,” Trey says when I finish. “If you don’t like being a dog owner, I’ll take them in. I love greyhounds and have the perfect person to watch them while we’re at our away games. ”

“Also,” Marcus says, “if it’ll keep Stella around, then what are you waiting for?”

I look at Jake and Quincy and they’re nodding in agreement. Huh, who knew this public-speaking thing would be so helpful? Thanks to them, it looks like I’m getting a dog.