CHAPTER NINE
SAM
Morgan’s talking with a doctor outside Chance’s room. He sees me coming. “Sam. You want to go in?”
“Could I?”
“He’s got no immediate family, so I can’t see an issue. He should be awake soon right, doctor?”
The doctor nods in confirmation.
I thank Morgan as I enter. We talked earlier and it felt good to finally have everything off my chest, to not be shouldering it alone, but the thing with the private investigator concerns me. What does it mean if the Mob can get to someone like him, a professional?
I try to focus on Chance as I take a seat by his bed.
It’s always heart-breaking to see a man in his prime, a sporting machine, put out of action… though it’s also nice to get another look at his bare chest up close. I can make out the scar hidden by the roulette wheel a little clearer now, the zig-zag cut from the shrapnel.
You should have been there.
I don’t know why I didn’t attend the game. All day I was deliberately avoiding him, but why? What did I achieve by hiding in the player’s lounge downstairs during game time?
I saw him look at the stands to the spot I usually sit, before he was dog-piled. I don’t think I’ve seen anything so cruel. The players kept stacking on, the pyramid of bodies growing until I couldn’t see Chance at all, crushed below them. It went on and on, and when the pile did clear, there he was barely conscious, broken.
I look to his body again, his right side already black and blue, bruises across his collarbone and lower chest.
His eyes start to open and focus on the end of the bed. He breathes out and sees me, licking his lips.
I stand and draw close to his side. “Don’t speak. You’re in the hospital.”
“Water,” he says, voice rough.
I pour a glass on the side table and bring it to his lips, the same lips that were pressed against my own less than a day ago. He sips and tries to sit up, managing to get about halfway before slumping back into the bed. “What the hell happened?” His voice is quiet, strained, far from the confidence-filled banter I’m used to.
“You were dog-piled in the fourth-quarter—bad.”
“How bad?”
I want to take his hand, but I can’t find the courage to do so. “I overhead the doctor outside. There’s a concussion, a bruised rib or two, but the rest of it is mostly superficial soft-tissue damage. I’ll help you get back on your feet, whatever it takes. I’ll work overtime if I have to.”
He tries to smile. “I’m feeling better already.”
“Can I get you anything else?”
“Where were you?” he asks.
I look away. “In the player’s lounge. I didn’t want to be a distraction,” I lie, glancing to his chest, “though it looks like that didn’t work out too well.”
“I thought you were in danger.”
And now I feel even worse. “No. No danger. Morgan and I talked earlier.”
“You did?”
“It’s nice you guys are looking out for me. You don’t know how much I appreciate it. It’s been a really, really horrible couple of weeks.”
“What about last night?”
The kiss. That cheeky bastard. He’s basically been steam-rolled by the entire Bengals squad and he’s still flirting like a pro. “What about it?”
“It wasn’t that horrible, was it?”
I can’t stop the smile, looking down into the sheets. “No, it was quite nice, in fact.”
“Nice,” he laughs, forced into a coughing fit. “Seeing your grandma is nice. That kiss was… something else.”
“So, what now?” I ask, unsure myself.
“We move on—slowly. That is what you want, isn’t it?”
I don’t know what I want, though even that sounds a lot like a lie when I think about it. If I was true to myself, to my heart, I do want this. I’m just too scared about the consequences, the potential for heartbreak it might cause down later on. Could I handle that? “And if it is?”
He reaches out and takes my hand. “No pressure, okay?”
A nurse interrupts our little moment. “I’m sorry,” she says, placing a tray down on the table. “But I need do some bloodwork. Do you mind…?”
I take the hint, squeezing Chance’s hand before letting it drop back to the bed. “I’ll see you later.”
He winks, smile back to its cheery, cheeky self. “You better.”
Morgan pulls me aside as I come out of Chance’s room. “How is he? I heard him wake.”
“He’s good considering.”
Morgan shakes his head. “It was a hell of a thing, that pile. He had me worried there for a minute.”
“He’s strong. He’ll bounce back. I can help.”
“I know. You’re good for him, Sam, professionally and otherwise. I mean, I’m talking like we’re pals, but I’ve got a good nose for these things. He could do with a girl who’s interested in more than bragging rights.”
My cheeks are burning up again. It’s like I’m talking with my dad about menstrual cycles or something. “I don’t have any friends to brag to.”
He places his hand on my shoulder. “You’re wrong. You’ve got a family now, albeit one full of testosterone, thick skin and mugs even a mother couldn’t love, but a family nonetheless.”
“Thanks, Morgan.”
“Any time. Are you going to hang around?”
I look down the hall to the waiting room. “Why not? Who doesn’t love hospitals?”
*
I arrive at Chance’s place three days later. I pay the taxi driver and buzz the gate. It opens and I walk in, the front door swinging open and Chance standing there in dark boxers, a little stooped over but otherwise looking a heck of a lot better than he did in the hospital.
I hold up the bags I’m carrying. “I brought supplies.”
“All I need is your smile.”
I shake my head at that, my go-to response for his come-ons now. “How do you feel about probably terrible Thai from the sketchiest kitchen in LA?”
He tucks his arm up into the corner of the doorframe, his absence over these last few days doing nothing to diminish the tone and definition in his body. “I think anything sounds better than the slop they were serving up in the sick farm.”
I hold up the other bag. “A selection of eighties Blurays from the bargain bin.”
“Anything X-rated?”
“You’ll have to wait and see, won’t you?”
“You’re getting good at this flirting thing.”
“I’m learned from the best. Now, you going to let me stand out here with my arms about to snap off or you going to invite me inside?”
He stands aside. “Come.”
Wouldn’t you love that? I brush past his chest to squeeze inside, noticing the warmth of his skin against my arm.
I dump the bags on the kitchen counter and can’t help but be drawn to those windows and that view again. Unsurprisingly, Los Angeles looks a lot less appealing under the midday sun, a city swimming in a desert, countless souls all vying for their five minutes of fame. It’s never appealed to me. I couldn’t think of anything worse than being hounded all day. Every move and relationship scrutinized.
What do you think’s going to happen if you hook up with Chance?
He joins me by the window.
I look over his body, still bruised and patchy and from the dog-pile. All I want to do is put my hands on him. “Do you want me to work on you a bit?”
I’m making it sound like he’s a car coming in for a tune-up, not a fine, fit athlete. The very apex of masculinity.
He smiles. “I could do with your magic hands, but what about the Thai?”
I glance to the kitchen. “You’re a bachelor. You do have a microwave, don’t you?”
“Three.”
I roll my eyes. “Crap. I didn’t bring my massage oil.”
I watch him walk to the kitchen with a slight limp, his buttocks pressing and shifting beautifully below those boxers. He opens the cupboard and reaches to the top shelf, pulling down a jar. “How about coconut oil.”
“What kind is it?”
“Virgin.”
I swallow hard. “Yep. That will do.”
*
Half an hour of deep tissue work later, Chance’s room smells like toasted coconut and I remove my hands from his body and sit on the bed. This would be the perfect opportunity to make a move, but I can’t will myself to do it. We’re still stuck in that quasi-professional lock.
So, it goes on precisely as predicted. We have dinner, we watch All The Right Moves, but the movie is lost to an ever-growing sexual tension between us. I’ve never felt anything like it. It’s so intense sitting next to him, but if he wants me he’s certainly not pushing for any action. Maybe he’s as nervous as you are?
Unlikely. This is Chance Adams we are talking about, the very definition of ‘playmaker.’
And so nothing happens. There’s a long, drawn-out moment as he sees me out. Please, I beg, but he simply says “thanks” and watches me walk to the waiting taxi. I turn hoping for something, anything, but he’s simply watching me, nothing more.
I’m thankful this taxi driver is a little less animated than the last, but it still doesn’t soften the rejection—if I can even call it that. What am I expecting precisely?
Chuckles is waiting when I get through the door to my apartment. I lean down and scratch the soft spot behind her ears and watch as her tiny face curdles in delight. That’s when I hear a voice behind me. “Sam.”
I turn and there he is, standing in the doorway.
Chance.
I stand and the sexual tension boils over.
This is it.
Do something! my head screams, but I’m frozen.
But it’s Chance who makes the first move.
He mashes his lips against mine. The kiss is urgent and needy. I return it with the same need, relishing in this release.
He lifts me up like I weigh nothing and carries me to a small table, sweeping off the clutter that’s gathered there and sets me down without breaking the kiss. When he does, it’s only to lift my legs over his shoulders and run his hard hands up the back of my thighs. His fingers move over my ass cheeks and I realize with a sudden acute clarity that yes, this is happening.
My god.
I’m panting like a marathon runner, gasping in short stabs at the thought that what’s been building for weeks is set to boil over.
Chance bends down to cup my ass. I lift my hips upwards off the table and he draws my panties and jeans away as one, my bare pussy presented to his eager eyes.
I can see in his eyes that reason has left, replaced only with animal instinct. He breathes in my heat and arousal. I watch him over the swell of my breasts, the way his tongue extends and licks up the entire length of my slit in one stroke. His tongue presses deep into the wet compression of my pussy, pulling back to lap at my wetness, and I’m sold—completely and utterly his.
He licks me relentlessly, pressing his face hard against my crotch until it is covered slick. I grind against him, smearing my desire over his lips and chin, helping him find his way between the pink folds of my sex.
He pulls back to admire me, face glistening and his breath coming in gasps against my wet flesh. There is a look of deep satisfaction on his face I’ve never seen before. I squirm below him, close already.
“You don’t know how long I’ve dreamed of this moment,” he gasps.
I run my hands through his hair and pull him back down to my crotch.
He concentrates his energy on my clit, flicking it over and over until I’m bucking wildly on the table, a steady knot of pleasure growing below my belly ready to be undone.
I’ve made myself come before, but it felt awkward, like something was missing. As I run my hands through Chance’s dark curls I begin to realize what. He is so engrossed in the act. Every fiber of his being is devoted to getting me off. I tug on his hair a little harder and beg him for release, my voice wispy.
I writhe and squeal, pressing my hips forward to meet his willing tongue. The knot tightens, a concentration of bliss and energy waiting to explode inside me. When he inserts a finger, sliding it into my soaking channel, I explode.
The knot snaps free to release a flood of pleasure throughout my body. The sensation is so intense, so mammoth in its scale, all rational thought evaporates from my mind and I am left only with the physical.
As it ebbs away, my only thoughts are of how I can relive this sensation every day, Chance’s tongue and lips glued to my aching slit always.
Chance rises, stubble glistening. He takes my head in his hands, pressing his lips against mine so I can taste my own sweet essence. Caught in the kiss and my arousal, I almost understand why Chance was enjoying himself so much between my legs.
I wrap my legs around him and pull his shirt away. He does likewise, my bra snapping free and following my blouse to the floor. Hands still cupped to my ass, he lifts me off the table and drives me into the wall. The breath leaves from my lungs. I don’t think he realizes just how powerful he is, even in this state of recovery. His bulge presses against the denim of his jeans, the only material to separate him from my eager pussy.
I run my hands down his back, plunging my tongue inside his mouth, breasts swollen against his chest.
The feeling of his hard body crushing me against the wall is exquisite. The grip of his hands on my ass, his fingers clawing at me, desperate… I can’t believe what I’ve missed out on.
He’s groaning, low and deep, as he runs his hand between us to undo the button on his jeans and draw down the zipper. He digs into his pocket and pulls out a condom, tearing the packet with his teeth and sheathing himself.
“Please,” I beg him, a ball of energy.
Finally, the hard heat of his manhood presses against the cleft of my pussy. He lowers himself until the head of his cock nestles into my folds.
I gasp aloud, trying to compute the idea that Chance’s cock is sitting at the entrance to my most private place. I’ve dreamed about this moment for so long and now it’s here I can barely contain myself.
Chance lifts up, adding pressure. I pant again at his size. My hot sex doesn’t seem concerned. It continues to coat his member in my own slick lubricant. The head of his cock slips off and runs over my clit, his glans dragging over the sensitive patch at the top of my pussy, almost bringing me to orgasm again.
Holding me upright with just one hand, Chance reaches down and positions his cock amongst my folds, bending his knees to get the angle just right. His cockhead rises again against the tight ring of muscle that marks the start of my hole and still it seems impossible.
“You’re too big,” I gasp. “It’s never going to fit inside me.”
“No?” An animal growl comes from deep within his throat. He lets my weight fall slightly, my entire body slowly impaled by his rigid cock.
Chance drives up with his hips and, to my utter amazement, I begin to take him. His iron member runs into the wet, dark tunnel beyond.
I cry. Two tears in synchronicity run down my cheeks at the ecstasy of this union, but also from my newfound freedom. There’s a flare of discomfort at first, but as Chance’s cock begins to bottom out inside my narrow constriction, his breath hot on the side of my neck, I know the greatest satisfaction of my life is just around the corner.
He moans again into my ear, pleasure replacing pain, lips catching my earlobe and pulling it taut. He slowly begins to thrust into my pussy. It grips his length firmly. He gains tempo, slamming into me, making my breasts bounce wildly between us. My nipples are hard pebbles against his chest, his heart beating like a closed fist against them, the heart of an alpha male, a born hunter.
I claw my fingers down his back, gripping him tight as his thighs pull. He pounds into me relentlessly, manmade machine, fucking me with abandon.
It’s harder, rougher than I ever thought it would be. I grunt and moan with every upward thrust, every drive of his cock into my open pussy.
I want to tell him to go softer, to be gentler, but it seems like a lost cause. I shake and quiver against his muscular frame, and he fucks me even harder, his cock pistoning in and out of my sex so fast I can only picture it as a blur below.
I’m barely able to breathe let alone pant. He crushes me so hard against the wall, my entire body heaving up and down as I’m pummeled and taken.
He jack-hammers into me with an intensity and fire that’s dangerous. A deep burn begins to spread out over my thighs into my core. It intensifies. I close my eyes but I fear what’s coming, snapping them open as the room bounces before me.
I’m barely holding onto him anymore. The fire spreads further into my extremities, pleasure seeping into every part of my body. Things begin to turn. My grunts become cries of ecstasy.
I’m so close. My eyesight seems to shimmer. The world grows woozy, but the next thing I know we’re off the wall, Chance lifting me from his cock to place me back down on the ground. I look to him with wet, pleading eyes. “What is it?”
He takes my arm and spins me around, forcing me over the back of the couch, my ass up and exposed to the air. He holds my hands together in a tight grip at the dimpled base of my back.
I let out a long exhale of relief when his cock slides back into my depths. Caught in place between Chance and the sofa, the fucking he delivers is brutal. He swings his hips back and heaves into my tiny body with every thrust. My feet practically lift off the floor as our bodies come wetly together.
“Uh, uh, uh.” It’s all I can get out, a steady mantra to maintain my sanity. He dominates me completely. I can’t move my arms or my hands, pinned into position over the back of the sofa and fucked like an animal.
“You’re so wet,” he gasps. “So fucking wet.”
He holds my wrists together with one hand, using the other to take a breast. My nipples are unbelievably sensitive against his rough palm. I can’t believe how much they’re adding to the pleasure of the moment. It seems like a line of fire is drawn from my pussy to my tender breasts and head, a highway of sensation.
I’m yelling, cursing, completely lost. My orgasm arrives with such power I think I’m going to die. I scream aloud, not caring who can hear, my pussy convulsing in cock-filled bliss, muscles clamping and releasing over Chance’s rigid pole. He lets out a loud grunt at my tightness, balls firm against my clit.
My head floats as Chance stiffens inside me, his own release following.
He collapses over my back, crushing my lungs again. He gives a final, heaving thrust, his cock twitching inside me once last time.
I laugh at the sensation, so new. “That tickles.”
He laughs back. “Wait until I really give it to you.”
He lifts himself away. I peel myself from the couch close to passing out. I turn and gasp when I see the size of the cock that was just inside me. It’s still rock hard, streaked and shiny with our mixed desire.
Chance comes against me, pulling me tight to his chest, his cock stabbing into my belly. “That was… amazing.”
I look at him with huge, puppy-dog eyes. “Did you come okay?”
“Is the Pope Catholic?”
He smiles, but it leaves quickly. A sadness comes over his face. “Was I too rough? I don’t know what came over me. I just couldn’t resist, I—”
“No, no,” I soothe. “It was perfect. I’m just not used to such,” I try to think how best to phrase it, “passion.”
I reach down and take his cock, lightly stroking it with my hand, feeling the sticky substance gathered on its surface of the condom and already wanting to take it inside myself again.
“There was nothing I could do,” he continues. “It was insane. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
“Me either. I mean, truth be told, it’s been a while.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
He slides up against me. “Consider that a problem solved.”