30. Avery

Nathan Pierce drove me wild. In good, bad, and ugly ways. The good: kissing him. Oh, that was so, so good. The bad: my mind wanted to do a lot more than kiss that man. The ugly: my heart wanted to let him in more than I already had.

As we moved closer to our final series, the series that would make us head to the playoffs, I was a ball of nerves. Yet the team was at their best, and Nathan was a soldier at keeping my panics at ease. I felt as if I had a lot to prove, not only for my team but also for myself. There had been more and more whispering around about how I should’ve allowed Nathan to step up as head coach. That his experience would’ve been a better fit for the guys.

A few coaches even went as far as to call me a stuck-up woman with a resting bitch face. The low blows at times were enough to make me want to rage, but whenever the word “butterflies” left Nathan’s mouth, I’d take a few deep breaths and remove myself from any situation that raised my blood pressure.

Plus, getting covered in his kisses when we got home each night didn’t hurt too much. Waking up to his good morning kisses wasn’t a bad touch, either.

My mind tried to keep me steady with my interactions with Nathan, but I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t seem to be leading the plays more and more each day.

When we got to our final game in our last series before the playoffs and won, I knew my heart would fully take over for the remainder of the season. Nathan Pierce helped get us to the playoffs. He’d helped scouts see more and more of our players. He made a difference to Honey Creek Hornets, and he’d made a difference to me.

My hardened heart somewhat began to soften around him.

That both thrilled me and terrified me all at once.

Yet there was still a sliver of doubt within my system as I thought about what others were saying. Maybe our winning season had nothing to do with me at all. Maybe it was Nathan who improved the game, not me. That did a number on my ego, but my heart?

My heart just wanted to keep beating for him and his kisses.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I can’t believe we made the playoffs!” I shouted, my heart pounding as Nathan headed to his kitchen to grab a bottle of champagne. My body still buzzed with excitement as I paced his living room, clapping my hands together. I’d never felt prouder than I did that evening, seeing my boys celebrate the victory.

“It was the most intense game I’ve ever been a part of,” Nathan said as he walked into the living room with two glasses of champagne.

He held one out toward me. I downed it instantly. He laughed and handed me another glass. I downed that, too.

“I should’ve just opened two bottles, and we should’ve drunk straight from those,” he jested.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Well…”

Within minutes, we sat on his living room floor, each of us chugging champagne straight from the bottles, laughing about how wild it was that the game went in our favor.

“I’ve never seen those boys put their all into something the way they did that. I almost threw up watching it happen. And for Cam to get the winning hit! A grand freaking slam at that! Gosh! That kid deserved it. He’s one of the best players out there,” I expressed. “I know you helped get him to that spot, too. I can’t thank you enough for building his confidence, Nathan.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Was that a compliment?”

“Don’t get used to them,” I said, playfully shoving his shoulder. “I still hate you.”

He shoved me back. “With hate like this, who needs love?”

I shoved him back. “Hate is better than love anyway. But still, maybe Ray was right. Maybe you should’ve been head coach.”

He shoved me back. “Bullshit. That team listens to you. Your tough love drives them. You were made for that position. I’m just happy to help.”

I shoved him again. “Yeah, I appreciate the assistance even though I hate you.”

As I began to pull my arm back, he gently wrapped his arm around my wrist. His eyes were gentle and packed with care as he looked at me. His stare fell to my lips before he rose back to my eyes. “How much do you hate me, Coach?”

My heart began beating faster as I placed the champagne bottle in my other hand down on the floor. Every butterfly that fluttered within my stomach from his touch began to intensify as he held his intense stare with mine.

Butterflies, butterflies, butterflies…

“A lot,” I lied.

He pulled me closer to him. “A lot, a lot or a little, a lot?”

I bit my bottom lip. “Sometimes a lot a lot, sometimes a little a lot.”

He pulled me closer.

So close that I was nearly sitting on his lap. So close that if I inched forward just a little, I’d be close enough to rest my hands against his chest. To feel his heartbeat against my fingertips.

“Nathan…”

“I read an article about how bonding exercises were important for coaches heading into playoff games.”

A nervous laugh escaped my lips. “Is that so?”

He lifted me onto his lap and combed a piece of my hair behind my ear. I closed my eyes as heat raced through my whole system. He rested his forehead against mine, and I could feel his hot breaths against my lips as he whispered, “Yes. That’s so.”

“What kind of bonding exercises did they mention?”

“They didn’t really give details,” he explained, brushing his lips against mine ever-so-slightly. “So I figured we could make them up as we go.”

My hands pressed against his chest as my heartbeat intensified. “That sounds dangerous.”

“I like danger.”

“That’s funny. I tend to run from it.”

“Don’t run from this, Coach.”

Gosh, I hated how he called me Coach. It sent a wave of electricity throughout my whole system. He made me weak in the knees every time and didn’t even know it.

“We shouldn’t be this close,” I breathlessly scolded.

“Maybe we aren’t. Maybe this is all make-believe.”

“A dream?”

“A fucking great dream. A make-believe realm.”

I tangled my fingers against the fabric of his shirt. “What kinds of things can happen in a make-believe world?”

“Well…this,” he said, slightly brushing his mouth against mine. “And this…” He parted my lips with his tongue before gently biting my bottom lip.

My knees spread to the outside of his legs, which allowed my core to brush against the hardness resting in his sweatpants. My breaths were erratic and uneven as I allowed myself to fall into the fictional world where heartbreak didn’t exist and passion was abundant.

“What else?” I whispered, moving my mouth to the edge of his ear and sucking it gently. “What else happens in the land of make-believe?”

“I taste you,” he said, allowing his mouth to move to the nape of my neck. His tongue slowly swept across it, making my toes curl and my inner thighs pulse as if they had their own heartbeat. His hand wrapped around my neck, making me tilt my head up to meet his stare. His lips pressed to mine as he said, “I taste all of you.”

I got lost in the depths of his gaze. His eyes were so dark, so dilated, so packed with want and need. When he kissed me, my eyes fluttered shut as my hands landed against his chest. The moment our lips met, a surge of electricity rippled through my whole system, igniting every nerve within me. He kissed me deeper, and I felt it—every second of every minute that led us to this moment. The kiss was the culmination of every glance, every whispered word, every moment of the push and pull we’d experienced over the past few weeks. The kiss began as a question, and as it deepened, it gave me the answer to the inquiry my heart had been quietly asking over the past few days: does he feel it, too? Does he feel our connection? His first kiss said yes; his second one was a hell yes. As the kisses grew, they evolved from something soft and tender to wilder and more untamed.

Nathan’s hands fell to my lower back, which arched against his touch the second his tongue slid into my mouth. A pool of heat fell to my stomach as our kisses deepened with a growing passion, as if we were discovering a hidden world between our lips, and the only way to unlock our universe of make-believe was to become fully addicted to the taste of each other’s mouths. I felt myself melting into him as his hands began to massage my lower back, a ravish want dripping down every inch of me.

I wrapped my hands around the bottom of his T-shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it to the side of the room. My hands fell to his hardened chest, my fingers rolling over his abs, taking in every piece of his beautiful, tight skin, knowing that there was no going back from here. I wanted all of him. I wanted every piece of Nathan Pierce and our make-believe realm.

He pulled back slightly and locked his eyes with mine. There was a moment of uncertainty in his stare as he looked my way. I wasn’t certain why until I realized he was waiting for me to give him permission to…me, to us.

I bit my bottom lip and nodded. “Please,” I whispered, a sound coated with so much want that it felt intoxicating escaping my lips.

It was all he needed.

He placed his large hand on the nape of my neck and pulled me back to him, kissing me harder than before, fucking my mouth with all he had as he somehow figured out a way to stand us up from the floor with a one-arm lift, with me still wrapped around his body. He carried me down the hall, tossing my shirt off along the way. When we reached his bedroom, he dropped me onto his bed.

I scrambled to undo my pants as he unbuckled his belt and jeans. He slid out of them, revealing his black briefs that were holding the beast that rested within them.

Nathan. F**king. Pierce.

XX. F**king. L.

I tossed my pants to the side of the room and lay there in my yellow silk panties and yellow bra. He stood over me for a moment and shook his head as he bit his bottom lip.

“Fuck,” he murmured, walking over to me. “You’re so damn beautiful, Avery Kingsley.”

My heartbeat intensified as I sat up slightly on my elbows and combed my wild hair to one side. My cleavage was bursting from my bra as his eyes danced all over my figure. I’d never felt so safe with a man in my life. I’d never felt so wanted, either. Nathan stared at me as if I were the only thing that ever existed, and I stared at him the same way.

He grew closer and wrapped his hands around my waist. With one tug, he pulled me to the edge of the bed, making my legs hang over the edge. He raked his hand through my hair and then kissed me once. Slow this time, controlled, and sweetly. “Fucking beautiful,” he mumbled once more before his mouth moved down my body, inch by inch. His left hand moved to my bra, and he unhooked it with one flick. As the straps fell down my arms, Nathan removed the fabric from my skin, catching my breasts in his hands. His mouth began to worship them both as if they were his goddesses, and his only job in life was to make love to each one.

He sucked on my nipples, making me moan as my want for him built more and more with every passing second. His hand pushed me back, so I was lying down on his bed as he continued to suck and nibble on my breasts as he growled against my skin. His kisses then continued to trail down as his hands remained on my breasts, massaging them.

As his mouth made it to the top edge of my panties, his hands moved down to my waist. His fingers wrapped around the fabric, and as he pulled it down, his mouth kissed every inch revealed to him. As the panties dropped to the floor, Nathan spread my legs, placing his hands against my inner thighs. The tingling sensation intensified as I felt his hot breaths sweeping against my core. His tongue swept against my clit, and he sucked it gently before he slid a finger inside me, feeling how wet he made me from his kisses alone. He slid another finger inside and began to pump them in and out at a speed that made my body arch in his direction. His mouth kept licking up every drip from me as his fingers worked in sync with his tongue.

More, more, more…

I cried out in bliss as his mouth devoured my core, making me feel things I didn’t know I could feel from oral sex. The more I moaned and whimpered, the more he worked me, eating me out as if he were on a mission to swallow each drop.

The intensity of the orgasm kept building more and more with each fleeting moment, my body growing to the point of no return as I wrapped my legs around his shoulders, placed my hands against his head, and glided his mouth against my core.

“There, there, ohmygoshthere!” I screamed as I reached the peak of my orgasm as he kept working his mouth against me.

I lay breathless on his bed, every inch of me dripping in sweat as Nathan’s hands stayed pressed against my thighs as I wiggled to get loose to recover from the best round of oral I’d ever experienced in my life.

My whole body trembled against him as he gently licked up any remaining evidence of what he did to me between my legs. I felt like nothing and everything all at once. A galaxy of stars floating in a black hole. I didn’t know mouths could do what he’d done to me. I didn’t know I could scream out in need, in want, or in pleasure the way I moaned his name out into the air. I didn’t know tongues could fuck the way his fucked me.

“Okay, okay, okay.” I gently giggled, pulling his head from between my legs. If he could, he’d probably keep eating me until the sun came up in the morning.

He smirked as he climbed over me. He pushed his hands to my sides, flexing every single muscle on his arms as he brushed his mouth against mine, allowing me to taste myself against his tongue. “Sorry. I have a big appetite, and I love the way you feed me,” he said. “I love the way you drip for me.”

“I want to feel you,” I begged within a whisper. “Please.”

“That all depends.”

“On what?”

A wicked smile found both his eyes and his lips as his shaft brushed against my clit. My whole body trembled from the shot of desire racing through my system. He moved in closer, a hand sitting at the nape of my neck. A deep growl escaped him as he said, “You still hate me, Coach?”

“No,” I cried out.

Not even a little.

Not even a bit.

I couldn’t form any more words as my hips arched up, wanting nothing less than his all.

“I want you to take all of me in, do you understand, Avery?” he asked as he removed his boxers and slid a condom over his hardness. His words felt like an order, and it was at that very moment I realized I was fine with being bossed around by Nathan Pierce.

“Yesss…” My voice fluttered, unstable and raw.

“Good girl,” he purred over my lips as he began to inch into me. A gasp fell from my mouth as he kept feeding his inches deeper inside me. His mouth stayed pressed against mine as I tried to contain myself from his thickness. He growled as his whispers fell onto my tongue. “You’re taking it so well. Keep your eyes on me,” he ordered, placing a hand beneath my chin. He tilted my head up to make sure our eyes stayed locked. “Yeah, that’s right…just like that…”

I whimpered as he thrust into me, filling me completely. My hips rocked as his hardness slid in and out. My breaths were uneven as they tried to keep up with our make-believe. For something not real, it sure felt that way. It felt so, so very real.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, begging for him to keep going, to keep fucking me as if his life depended on it. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve assumed his life did depend on how he fucked me because he didn’t leave any space for error.

Without hesitation, he placed one of my legs over his shoulder, one hand against the headboard, and held his eye contact. The way he looked my way both excited and terrified me. He looked at me as if he planned to spend the rest of forever making sure I got off from his touches.

Each thrust felt personal like he were trying to break into my soul and leave his imprint. Our bodies moved as one. As my lungs gasped for air, his exhalations filled me back up. My hips rocked against him as he pumped himself deeper inside me, the sound of his pounding thrusts making me wetter and wetter. I was dripping for him, wanting nothing more than to release the orgasm building up inside me with every passing millisecond. I didn’t even know I could come as many times as I could until that very night.

Nathan must’ve known I was close because the wicked smirk that fell against his lips was enough to show he was proud of his work. If I were in my sober, non-sexed-up mind, I would’ve called him a dick for having full control of me. But as I parted my mouth to speak, only mumbles came out. Jumbled-up, wannabe words that had no meaning as my eyes rolled to the back of my head due to the intensity of the pleasure taking place.

I dropped my hands from around his neck and dug my fingernails into his back, gliding him in more and more, faster and faster, deeper and deeper as the explosion of pleasure built with every passing second.

“I…we…it…” I stuttered, still unable to form any words.

“Avery,” he breathed out as his mouth rediscovered mine. “Use your words to coach me through this, or better yet…” He bit my bottom lip and whispered, “Go ahead and fall apart against my cock.”

That was enough to take me over the edge. I wrapped my legs around his body as I fell into the hardest, most intense orgasm of my life. I could’ve sworn my soul left my body for a moment’s time and went on a smoke break to recover from the overwhelming sensation of pleasure I’d found myself taking part in.

“That’s it, Ave, that’s it. Give me all of it, give me all of you. I love feeling you come for me. That’s my sweet girl.”

Oh my goodness.

That man could talk dirty to me for the rest of my life, and it still wouldn’t be enough.

After I fell apart, I made it my mission to get him to do the same. I flipped him over to his back and placed myself on top of him. It was now my turn to be the head coach.

I began riding him as my breasts bounced in his face. I gripped the headboard and held eye contact with Nathan the whole time. “Now it’s time for you to be my good boy and let go for me,” I cooed, rolling my hips slowly against his hardness. His eyes fluttered shut for a moment, and he muttered under his breath.

“Shit, Ave…wait, when you…fuck, I…” he stuttered.

There it was.

My control over him.

It felt good to know it went both ways.

I smirked when I felt him throbbing inside me. I leaned down toward him and brushed my lips against his as a whisper escaped me. “Hey, Coach…” I bit his bottom lip. “Give me all of you.”

Within seconds, his eyes shot open, and he thrust into me, his body shaking as he reached his climax. Something was so good about watching what I’d done to him—something so rewarding about seeing how he completely surrendered himself to me. He lost himself for a moment as he found me.

I rolled my hips against him a few more times, loving how he shivered beneath me, before climbing off and falling beside him.

Our breaths were uneven as we lay there, dripping in sweat from head to toe.

Something changed between us, yet I wasn’t ready to unpack exactly what it meant.

At that moment, I simply wanted to be there fully, unafraid of what the future could bring.

Nathan sighed as he pulled me into the curvature of his body. “After that, I feel like I should smoke a cigarette and head to the kitchen to make you a sandwich,” he joked.

I snickered and rested my head against his chest. Against his heartbeat. “Extra mayo, please.”

He pulled back slightly and looked at me with wonderment in his eyes.

I raised my eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” he said, falling back to his pillow. “I’m just trying to figure it out.”

“Figure what out?”

“How I lived all these years without you.”