Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

TATE

M y dick is still throbbing and jerking, wanting release, I’m close, but when I finally take her, after all these years, I’m going to do it in a bed and take my damn time.

But the sight of Lily, her head thrown back, her lips swollen and her eyes glazed with passion, is a near spiritual experience and it’s challenging my resolve. I’ve never seen anything so hot in my life. I take my dick in my hand and watch her eyes widen. I feel a sense of relief. I watch her watching me as I pump real slow. She’s fucking beautiful, especially now as she’s coming down. Soft, helpless and mine.

Oh God, yes, she’s mine. I can’t do it anymore. Pretend she doesn’t mean anything to me. I want Lily Heath underneath me, over me, in front of me– every which way I can, and it frightens the fuck out of me. Something squeezes my heart like an iron fist and everything I’ve been trying to fight backs off. I stroke harder, my eyes never leaving her face, her parted lips, the hunger and curiosity in her eyes. She bites her lip and I can see the battle going on in her: she wants to watch but she also wants to help. But it’s a turn on, her watching me.

‘Next time,’ I grunt. I can feel the tingle at the bottom of my spine, my balls heavy. My muscles clench and then… the release, the rush, that whoosh of getting there. I ejaculate with a fierce flood and close my eyes, sweat beading my forehead as my cum drips onto the floor.

Lily touches me, placing a hand on my chest, almost anchoring me as I stand there, legs apart, breathing hard.

‘Fuck.’ I blink at her coming back to reality. Her eyes are still wide and a little startled. There’s still that innocence in there and my heart does a funny little flip. I ease out a breath and feel my heart rate start to settle.

I turn the water back on and squeeze the shampoo dispenser on the wall, pumping a handful into my palm and dumping it on my head. Then I go back for more and lather it into Lily’s hair, even though I want to soap her breasts and start all over. But I don’t want our first time to be a quickie in the shower. I’m going to do this properly because it might be the only chance I ever get. Lily ran once, she’ll likely run again.

Lily lifts her hands to her head and starts to massage the soap in, her tits rising with the movement. She lets out a small ‘Mmm,’ as the hot water runs down her body.

‘That good,’ I ask.

‘So good. I’ve never felt so filthy in my life.’ Our eyes catch and I grin at her unintended double entendre as my eyes drop to her naked breasts.

‘They look fairly clean to me,’ I tease.

She huffs out an exasperated sigh, but she doesn’t mean it. Lily’s nipples are still tight, rosy buds and I know it won’t take much to start her up again, but I’m planning to take it slow from here on in.

That doesn’t mean we can’t have a bit of fun getting there.

‘But it’s good to be thorough,’ I add, soaping her tits, my hands gliding over the pert mounds. ‘Perfect tits,’ I say, and her eyes go wide again. I love teasing her like this, especially when I hear her sharp intake of breath. But I go easy on her and slide my hands down to her waist and around to rest on her butt. My thumbs massaging her skin in small circles.

She leans over and takes a handful of soap herself and presses her hands against my chest, massaging my pecs, and she grins up at me.

‘Nice body. You’ve put some work in.’

I stand still, my feet planted and focus on breathing slow as her small hands explore my body, rubbing and stroking their way along, assessing each and every contour of my shoulders, my neck, my chest. Her skin is pale against mine, her slender fingers searching and seeking, light and firm. Then she checks out each of my abs working her way down with a thoroughness I’m loving, teasing and testing me. She pays particular attention to my hips and the creases below, running her palms down them. I’m captivated by the feel of her touch and the concentration on her face, and that slight smile dancing at the corners of her mouth as if she’s making interesting discoveries.

‘We’re gonna run out of hot water,’ I say, and we agree to finish up.

There’s a pile of white towels and I can’t help myself, I do the gentlemanly thing and snag one to wrap it around her before I take one for myself.

‘Thanks,’ she says, her nose wrinkling at the sight of our discarded clothes on the floor which are giving off a distinct swamp smell.

I don’t want to break the spell, but I think we’re both coming back to reality.

‘Now what?’ I ask.

‘I need coffee,’ she says. ‘And we’re kind of stuck until we have clothes.’

‘Not a problem here.’ I tuck the towel around my waist.

She looks at my chest. ‘Show off,’ she says with a laugh and tucks her own towel around her. It leaves her long legs on display.

‘I’ve got no complaints.’

‘We are going to have to leave here eventually,’ she says and scoops up her wet clothes and heads out of the bathroom. I pick mine up, amused that she’s made it clear she’s not about to do my laundry, and follow her through to the kitchen and to the laundry room out back.

With the quick efficiency I’ve gotten used to, Lily gets the washing machine working and then moves back into the kitchen, going through the cupboards and freezer.

In minutes, she’s got the coffee machine on, too. The hot shower and sexy interlude might have warmed us up, but I’m still feeling cold on the inside. She hands me a mug of black coffee, and by mutual accord we go through to the living room. When she sits in the armchair, I sense she’s distancing herself to regroup, get her head back in the game, because there’s no doubt we’re up the creek without a paddle.

I watch her take a sip of her coffee.

‘Now what?’ I ask.

She gives me a surprisingly radiant smile. ‘We stay put and relax.’

‘I can get with that programme, but what’s happened to my bodyguard.’ I’d have expected her to be plotting and planning how we get back to civilisation as soon as possible.

She lifts her shoulders and gives a negligent shrug. ‘We’re warm, safe and dry. No one knows we’re here. And the bad guy thinks you’re dead. This is the safest you’ve been for a while. And at this moment in time, no one’s going to worry.’ She catches her lip between her teeth. ‘It’s going to take a day or two before anyone figures you’re missing, and when they do Winston will do anything he can to keep that quiet.’

‘The shit will hit the fan then. He’ll go crazy.’

‘I’m not planning for us to be missing that long.’

‘What are you planning?’

‘We stay here. Tomorrow, I’ll leave you here and try and find a way of communicating with Winston to let him know you’re still alive. We can use this to our advantage.’

‘I need to get back and train.’

‘Tate. Someone tried to kill you. You need to lay low for a while. This is the perfect cover, them already thinking you’re dead.’

‘Yeah, but if the team find out, it will kill morale.’

She gives me a long, level look. ‘I’m even more convinced that someone on your team is responsible.’

I didn’t want to hear this when she first said it, and I don’t want to hear it now.

‘No way.’

‘Tate. Someone followed us here from New York. Someone must have followed us to the car rental.’

Okay. I can’t deny her logic, but there’s no way any of my teammates would do something like this. They’re my brothers. I mean, we don’t always get on, there’s plenty of rivalry and trash talk, but we’re a team and on course for the biggest fucking victory of our lives. Not one of them would jeopardise that. We’ve all lived and breathed football since we were kids. This is the ultimate prize.

I shake my head and she gives me a look full of sympathy.

‘I refuse to believe it,’ I say, scowling at her. ‘It’s not true.’

‘Okay,’ she says with calm dispassion, which even though my stomach is churning, I have to admire. ‘Who else might have a grudge against you?’ She frowns. ‘Unless it isn’t you they hold the grudge against…’

‘What do you mean?’

Her frown deepens. ‘Until today.’ She steeples her hands together, pressing her index fingers to her lips. ‘I didn’t think…’ Her pause is lengthy as she studies my face. ‘I didn’t think they were serious.’

‘Now you tell me. So, this whole bodyguard business was a means of getting up close and personal?’ I’m trying to lighten the mood because I’m nauseous. My leg starts to jig and a wash of sweat floods over my body. Sitting here drinking coffee in this pleasant room seems a miracle when I remember the car sinking and having to swim out of the smashed window. Taking that last breath, ducking beneath the water and forcing my way out, leaving Lily and oxygen behind, was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

Lily immediately gets up and comes to sit beside me. She kisses my cheek. ‘If that hadn’t happened, I might not have had the best orgasm of my life.’

I’m tough. Strong. A man. But right at this moment, I feel weak, scared and clueless. All I know is that Lily is my anchor right now. I need her more than I’ve ever needed anything. The touch of her hand on my thigh is all that is stopping me heading for the toilet and throwing up.

‘Second best,’ I tell her, trying to regain control.

‘Second best?’ she raises an eyebrow playing along. I know she can see that I’m out of kilter.

‘Yes. The best is yet to come.’ She bursts out laughing.

It breaks the ice and all the tension.

‘I think we both need some food.’ She pauses a moment before adding, with a quick smirk. ‘There’s plenty of pizza.’