Chapter Ten
Hartford’s fingers slid along the sinewy muscular leg. She bit her lip, lost in concentration, and when she looked up, Gerard looked like he was in pain. Her fingers stilled. “What?”
He shook his head, his face pinched and tight.
“I thought you said it didn’t hurt anymore.” Her heart thudded to the ground in fear for his injury.
“It doesn’t hurt in my knee anymore.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she caught the gleam of lust raging in his eyes. “Oh, right.” She shook her head and was horrified when she felt herself blushing. “You’re incurable.”
“I’m extremely horny.”
Hartford flushed and glanced quickly toward Trent. She didn’t want her son overhearing. But he was in the newly set-up playroom on the ground floor. She could see him through the open door playing with his nanny, Elma, squealing with laughter. “How are you possibly still horny? Don’t you ever tire?”
“Not when I have your body at arm’s length.”
Hartford bit her lip. “Well, good for me.”
He chuckled and grabbed the tops of her arms, pulling her up. She settled sideways into his lap. He inhaled deeply, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You smell sensational,” he whispered, and Hartford pressed her lips teasingly to his.
He slid his hands around her waist and clutched it securely, while he slanted his mouth, his lips gentle but every fiber of his body tense and taut with the aggression and desperation of having her body naked and writhing beneath his again.
“Are you happy?” he said an inch away from her mouth. Hartford pecked his cheek, then his eyelid, languishing in delight at the warm sensation, his heated skin alive beneath her mouth.
“I’m ecstatic.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she slid a hand protectively, territorially, over the side of his face. “So will I.”
He grinned. “Let’s go on holiday. Anywhere you want. Our first trip as a family.”
Hartford shook her head. “You have the season coming up, and I’ll be back in Maryland.”
His face fell. “After the season, do you think you’ll be able to get some time off? I’ll meet you in Maryland, or you both can fly here.”
Hartford didn’t reply, and her hand stilled on his face
“What?”
“It’s just that—nothing. Forget it.”
“Come on, Hart. You can’t do this anymore. No more secrets. You know I’d kill for you.”
She chuckled. “Which I sure hope you wouldn’t. Trent wouldn’t appreciate his father being behind bars.”
“Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“It’s just that… how do you suppose we’ll fare with the long-distance thing between us? We’ve only just gotten back together, and we still have so much to work on.”
“I’ll be with you. As often as I can. This isn’t like the time four years ago, Hart. I can afford to fly as frequently as I want. Both of us are financially stable, and we’re older. Wiser too. And we know how valuable this is.”
Her eyes dropped. “But I’d rather you were with us.”
He searched her face and tilted her face up. “I can move in with you.”
Her eyes widened. “In… in Maryland?”
“Why not? I can fly back here when I need to.”
“That’s not going to work and you know it.”
“I’ll give it my best—anything for you two.”
Hartford thought for a while and then nodded. Her mind spun in circles, as she planned, tweaked the plan, and planned again. She had it. She knew exactly what she had to do to keep her newfound family together. For Trent, and mostly for herself.
“We’ll fix this. I know we will.”
“Absolutely.” He exhaled sharply in relief.
***
Hartford looked around the spacious, expansive bedroom that encompassed enough floor space to fit half of her house in it. Trent was asleep in the adjoining bedroom, and she was surprised because he never really slept so late. She peeked to check on him and then closed the door.
She turned to the bigger version of Trent sprawled in his bed in the exact same way. She giggled secretly and leaned over to kiss Gerard’s forehead, before walking into the bathroom to take a shower. They’d moved to the first floor, back into Gerard’s bedroom, because Gerard didn’t have to avoid stairs like the plague anymore. She’d been surprised by the size of his bedroom and glad for the adjoining bedroom where Trent could sleep.
Brushing her teeth, she walked through the forty-foot bathroom and turned at the end where massive showerheads splashed jets of water on her body from three different angles. She held her body, letting the water splay over her and the shampoo slide down her back. Rinsing lazily, she knew she should get out of there. She despised wasting water or resources of any kind, but it just felt so good. She knew her sense of peace was more due to the fact that she, now, for the first time in her life, had her own perfect family. The calm seeping through her bones had little to do with the wonderfully installed showers.
She jumped when she heard a sound behind her and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand in a futile effort to see through the water. “You’re up?”
Gerard didn’t answer. Instead, he pushed his shorts off his body, and she dropped her gaze to the already hardened, stiff shaft that was pointing toward her in greedy want.
She stilled. “What are you doing?”
“I’m watching you.”
Hartford’s body warmed as his eyes roamed over her full breasts, her waist, down to the triangle of flesh at the apex of her thighs, and down the length of her legs. “Turn around.”
Hartford, feeling wicked and extremely happy, turned to flash him the sight of her ass. “Here you go. All yours.”
“You bet.” He stepped forward and clutched her waist, hauling her against his erection. Hartford drew in a long shattered breath as he reached around her to turn off the overhead shower. Two jets of water still hit her from both sides. She turned in his arms and splayed her hands over his chest, ogling the long-lost sight of her dark skin gleaming against his. Thoughts raced in her mind, and she didn’t allow any one of them to deter her. They could talk later. She had so much to say to him, and she wanted to know so much about him. And she knew he would be ecstatic with the news she was still hiding until she got confirmation. It threatened to burst out of her, but she simply lifted her mouth to his.
He buried his lips in her neck instead, and she let out a long groan, her fingertips digging into his shoulders as he bit the curve of her neck. Her head fell back to give him more room, and his hands held her back to support her weight. He leaned backward, and pitiful sounds of agonized delight escaped her mouth when his lips slid downward toward her breast, where he caught her nipple between his lips.
She whimpered and pushed her fingers through his hair, gasping, lodging her thigh between his legs until she felt his ballsac rubbing against it.
“Jeez…” He shoved her back against the wall of the shower, away from the water, and clutched her hands. Their fingers twining, he held them against the wall.
Hartford’s eyes rolled back into her head as Gerard’s mouth made a swift, greedy descent, biting the side of her breasts, his warm tongue torturing her nipple but drawing tantalizing circles around it before he sucked it fiercely. His eyes lifted to hers while he did, and the sight of his mouth closed over her breast in such hungry, ravenous passion was emblazoned on her mind. His hand pushed between her legs and she shook, her legs almost giving way, but he didn’t stop. He caressed her slit, dragging the juices of her sex along it to moisten her clit, before he rubbed it in harsh circles.
“God!” She clutched his shoulders for balance, and he continued to suck her nipple ferociously, pleasuring her body until her thighs began to shake and she knew she would cum any second. But he pulled his hand away too abruptly, and then his mouth was between her legs.
She cried out and clamped a hand over her mouth to silence it. Her insides stung, swollen and throbbing with pleasure from the long night of his shaft pulverizing her very depths. His shaft had left her aching for days, and it hurt now. While he sucked her clit, the pain turned into something delightful that ebbed her forward. She lifted her leg and rested the back of her knee on his shoulders for balance. He groaned as he got more room to lick and taste her, and he buried his lips deeper, yanking her thigh further apart before his tongue circled her clit.
“I’m going to cum,” she exclaimed, shaking, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. “Gerard, please. Oh God!” The back of her head slammed gently on the wall behind her. She shook like a leaf, the orgasm long as it seized her.
He abandoned her slit and bit her navel, before gathering her body in his arms and pressing his lips onto hers.
His mouth tasted of her quim, and she offered him her tongue lazily, before he spun her around and pulled her lower body back. She pulled free and held his gaze as she fell to her knees on the granite floor.
“Hart…”
“My turn…” But her lips were already parting to take his shaft inside her mouth. Her fingers gripped the girth of his shaft, and she inhaled the heady scent of his manhood. He grunted and his erection jerked when she caught the head between her lips. Her eyes held his, tormenting, stunning, and raging with want, and she lifted her free hand to his balls to stroke them lovingly.
“Hart… keep looking at me.”
And she did. Because there was nowhere else she would rather look. His hands reached out to his sides to clutch the walls of the shower stall. His breath uneven, his shoulders rising and falling, every thick, engorged muscle on his body was large and intimidating and sexy and gleaming with water. His navel tautened visibly, and a thrill ran through her.
He’s mine. Hartford blinked repeatedly and felt a rush of warm tangy precum sliding onto her tongue freely. She swallowed it swiftly and fisted his shaft and toyed with his balls, while he stood there and watched her with an expression akin to putrid anger, but she knew exactly what it was. The possessiveness she felt over him was mirrored in his eyes. Her lips gained force, her head moving back and forth, her hand fisting the generous length that her mouth struggled to accommodate. She used the lube from her mouth to tantalize him and felt him slyly thrusting into her mouth.
“Hart…” he mouthed, again and again, until his voice lifted soft and feverish. “Hart…”
“Hmm.” She moaned onto his shaft, and he groaned as the vibrations from her response reverberated through it.
He thrust his hips forward, and Hartford moaned again as a gag ripped through her. Pulling back, she released his shaft as it thrust too deep. And then he was hauling her up. She let him guide her as he always did. He turned her body to face away from him, and his arms wrapped around her, one hand clutching her breast tightly, the other gripping the side of her waist. Hartford lifted onto her toes and pushed her hips out for him, sensing what he wanted. Abruptly, the head of his manhood was sliding in, up inside her. Slowly her head fell against his shoulder, and he thrust upward, savagely hard.
Hartford cried out his name, or a sound that she didn’t recognize. She slid her feet apart to accommodate him as he pushed upward, not really thrusting but squeezing himself inside her, deep, barely pulling out before squeezing in again.
Hartford’s toes taut, her calves aching, she gripped the wall in front of her to keep balance. His arms tightened around her like steel bands, crushing her breasts, his arms too strong, just like she remembered. Her ribs ached, her breasts throbbed, her calves pulsated, and her swollen sex stretched taut over his shaft stung.
“I love you, Hart…”
The words resonated in her head, and she moaned, squeezing his shaft inside her in answer.
He stroked his hand down her body and between her legs, and she whined, her hips tautening as he found her clit. She wobbled on her toes, and he held her up with one arm until she wasn’t even carrying her own weight anymore, and his fingers flicked over her clit in time with the deepening thrusts of his manhood.
She shook. “Gerard… oh my God… baby…”
“I love you,” he growled in her ear. “I love you, Hart.” And then he was cumming, jerking inside her, and she came with him. Swaying, her hands gripped his arm as her body contracted spasmodically around his manhood. And as her body sucked at his, he spurted his cum deep, deep inside her body.
They stayed standing, the sound of the water splashing around them, calming. Hartford licked her parched lips and slowly opened her eyes. “I have something to tell you.”
The way he tensed made her wince. He whirled her around, and his beautiful, handsome face was marred with worry. “What?”
She grinned. “It’s nothing to be worried about.” She lowered her eyes to his chest. “I… wasn’t going to say anything until I got written confirmation, but I guess I’ll just tell you anyway.”
“What? You’re scaring me.” He cupped the sides of her face. “I can’t bear to be away from you anymore. And I’m petrified right now.”
Hartford smiled, biting her lip. “I met with Seahawks management and I… applied to be on the team of physiotherapists working with all the players. They are very keen on it.”
He froze, and she could see his mind whirring as the meaning registered. “Does that mean you can stay with me?”
“Yes?” she said tentatively.
“Jesus!” He hauled her into his chest. “Thank you. God, you both will be living with me!” He roared happily and she laughed into his chest as they swayed naked, in the shower stall, ecstatic and giddy, a part of him sliding down the inside of her leg. They’d never been closer.
***
Hartford knew it was time to go home soon. Three more weeks until her contract expired, and she was expected back at the hospital. The Seattle Seahawks had offered her the position, and she had requested six months to get her responsibilities on track back at the hospital. Gerard was in perfect form, playing frequently. Sometimes, she and Trent joined him and watched him play, while he blew them kisses from the field.
Hartford leaned back and savored every second. She hadn’t imagined in a million years that she would be there, feeling like only one half of Trent’s family and not whole. Because the other most important half of her family was there on the field, and she was giddily delighted with Gerard’s obvious eagerness to be with his family.
In fairness to Gerard, he’d never hurt her during the four years they were together. He was always kind and sweet and compassionate, and he listened to her and prioritized her over everyone. She had been happy—up until the time he freaked out over her pregnancy.
But she understood it all now. They were young and stupid, and both of them had reacted inappropriately.
She beamed as Trent waved his little hand toward the field to catch Gerard’s attention.
“Dad! Dad!” he yelled.
Hartford’s heart swelled with emotion. Her son was going to have a family—a real family with two parents who loved and cherished and protected him. Maybe even a sibling to keep him company. She laughed as Gerard ran toward them, wrenching off his helmet and climbing up the side of the stand to offer Trent his cheek.
Trent pressed his lips to his cheek and squealed, wiping his mouth and grimacing. “You’re all sweaty,” he complained with a giggle, and Gerard laughed, lifting his face toward Hartford.
“Really?” But she couldn’t resist. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his, not caring about the sweat running down his face. Then he ran off to the field again.
On their way back, they stopped to have what Gerard called “the best pasta in Seattle.” The restaurant seemed to be used to hosting Gerard, and while children and adults all stopped by to say hello to the Seahawks star, get his autograph, and at times request selfies, Gerard obliged with a smile.
Every single second she spent with him, she remembered the Gerard she had loved once upon a time, and she fell harder for him than she could handle.
***
Two days later Hartford kissed Trent good night and walked through the adjoining bedroom to where Gerard was lying on the bed on his back.
“I hope Trent sleeps well. It’s way past his bedtime.”
Gerard pushed the covers off the side of the bed and tapped the empty spot with the TV remote. Hartford unzipped her dress and watched his eyes flicker toward her, away from the TV screen. Glad that he was watching, she walked to the bed in her red panties and bra and slid next to him, her head resting on his shoulder.
He brushed his lips over her temple, and her heart fluttered as his strong arm tightened around her to pull her closer. Hartford grimaced and looked up at him. “What’s that buzzing sound? It’s been on for hours.”
Gerard rolled his eyes. “My agent. He won’t stop calling and I simply do not want to discuss work right now. He calls me too often, like an overattached girlfriend. It’s getting on my nerves.”
Hartford chuckled and silently watched the TV screen. Gerard settled on a news channel and put the remote away, before sliding over her body.
“Aah, that feels good.” She stroked the sides of his face, and he turned his head sideways, kissing her palm.
“Tell me about it.” He pressed his lips to hers and slid lower, pulling her legs apart as she giggled and tried to fight him off.
“Stop, you’re insatiable. I’m so sore I can barely sit.”
“That only makes me more horny, you know?” he said with a grin and bit her belly button.
“Gerard!” She laughed, chuckling as she fought him. He gripped her wrists and held them tightly, while his mouth slid over the lacy fabric of her panties.
Hartford gasped, her eyes darting toward the TV screen. “Stop, stop. What’s…”
Gerard ignored her, laughing, his hand splaying protectively over her navel before he pushed two fingers through the waistband.
“Gerard!” She shoved at his shoulders forcefully and grabbed the TV remote, slamming her thumb onto the volume button.
“What happened?” He finally registered the shock on her face.
“It’s…” She paused as the sound of the newscaster filled the room.
“…It seems as if Gerard Blackstone has a secret—a four-year-old child with a past flame before he rose to the spotlight. Details haven’t come to the surface yet, but sources say that Mr. Blackstone has knowledge about the child. Whether or not he has a relationship with the child is still a blaring question…”
“Oh my God.”
Gerard turned off the TV and peeked sideways at Hartford. “Is it that bad?”
Hartford swallowed. “Ummm… how do they know?”
“Look at me. Look at me!” When she turned, he knew she was stricken. “It’s no big deal. They had to know ultimately.”
“You shouldn’t have taken him to all your games, and then we were out today for lunch. I bet people saw and guessed because God decided to take a break from his abundant creativity skills when he was making Trent and just decided to replicate this masterpiece.” She motioned toward his face almost angrily.
He chuckled. “It’s okay. What’s the issue here? He is my son. I’m proud he’s my son, and I don’t care if people find out.”
“Well, neither do I, but not like this…”
“It’s okay.” He stroked the sides of her face. “So that’s why my agent kept calling me.” And then Gerard trapped Hartford beneath him and effortlessly pulled off her bra, before spending the next half hour kissing every inch of her dark, gleaming body.
***
They slept in. It was twelve p.m. before Hartford finally woke up, and that was because she heard the soft knocks on the bedroom door that were getting louder by the second. She glanced at the clock and then quickly checked Trent’s bedroom and saw that he wasn’t there. His nanny would’ve come and taken him out.
Hartford opened her bedroom door, and Mrs. Berry stood there, looking harassed and agitated.
“I’m so sorry, Ms. Roberts. There’s a man outside who insists on seeing Mr. Blackstone right now.”
Hartford cleared her throat. “Who is it?”
“Mr. Lawler. He’s Mr. Blackstone’s agent. I tried to make him understand that I couldn’t wake him up, but the man lost his temper and is now raging outside the front door urging us to let him in. Security is holding him back.”
“Oh.” Hartford glanced back at the peacefully sleeping Gerard and nodded. “Please make him wait downstairs, and I’ll wake Gerard.”
Hartford tiptoed back to Gerard and kissed him on the cheek, inhaling the scent of him. In answer, his heavy, too-strong arm came to rest around her shoulder and pulled her down on top of him.
“I like waking up like this,” he groaned when Hartford laughed into his bare chest, trying to sit upright.
“Cool. Now get up—your agent’s downstairs trying to break down the door.”
“He overreacts.” Gerard lifted higher on the pillow and switched on the TV, the same news channel that had broken the news of Gerard being a father. And he froze.
Hartford stopped as the image of Gerard in his Seahawks uniform flashed across the screen, with the newscasters needlessly narrating his epic sports achievements. The space on the screen was shared with a picture of a young woman with long red hair and abundant freckles on her nose and on the tops of her cheeks, as she carried a child. In her panicking state, Hartford decided that the child was too old to be carried by such a tiny woman. The redhead had also placed a jacket over the boy’s head as reporters screamed questions at her, but it was clear the boy had the same hair as his mother.
Hartford could feel the tension in the air crackling as the newscaster’s voice echoed in the room, loud and clear, a bomb that had already exploded and fucked everything.
“…Marianna Caster also repeatedly stated that this is not about money, and all she wants is for her four-year-old son to have a chance to know his father. The famed Seahawks player Gerard Blackstone did not respond to requests for comment. More on this story as it progresses…”
The news anchors went on to discuss facts about the evolving story, and Hartford’s ears buzzed. She heard every word and saw the red-haired woman, the pale skin, the skinny body, the exotically gorgeous freckles on her face. Hartford swallowed and jumped when Gerard’s hand pressed to her shoulder. She looked at him as if she didn’t even recognize him anymore.
“Who’s that?” she said in a voice that came up breathlessly weak and meek and pathetic.
Gerard glanced at the screen and then back at her. “I have no fucking idea. I think it’s some woman trying to cash in on the big reveal about me having a child by thrusting her own child in for some cheap publicity.”
Hartford scanned his features while he stood there, confident yet slightly worried. She opened her mouth to speak, shut it, then opened it again. “Do you know her?”
Gerard shook his head. “I’m not sure.”
“Gerard…” Her voice gained strength, and she could see it, the panic on his face. “That woman is one of the most unique-looking women I’ve ever laid eyes on. She has red hair down her back to her hips. You cannot forget a woman like that.”
Gerard held her gaze and parted his lips. “Maybe. I did… sleep with her…” His eyes narrowed at the TV.
“Oh my God.” Hartford stepped back.
“Hey!” He clutched her arms. “Hart, you can’t blame me for this. You and I weren’t even together.”
“Are you daft?” she cried, tears springing to her eyes. But she refused to shed them. But the traitorous liquid spilled anyway, flowing down freely. Her heart shattered into a million pieces, her body giving up against the fight. “That child is four years old!”
Gerard froze, his eyes wide. “No…”
Hartford shook her head. “The child is older than Trent.”
“No way.” Gerard was laughing now—a cold, empty, mirthless laugh. “No way in fucking hell.” Hartford stepped backward, while Gerard shook his head. “You can’t… you can’t believe that I cheated on you back in college?”
Hartford turned away and ran through the door that led to Trent’s bedroom, locking it behind her.
***
Gerard had been knocking on the door for the last hour, pleading with her to open it. She had heard him leave, and then she’d opened the door to let Trent inside the room. She’d overheard Gerard arguing with his agent downstairs; their voices really carried when both men were fuming.
Hartford dressed Trent in a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved checkered shirt and opened the door.
She froze as she spotted Gerard walking up the stairs. His eyes fell toward Trent, then to what she held in her hand, dragging behind her.
“No. Hart, no!”
His words seemed to burst out in a painful cry. The pleading disbelief in his voice broke her heart, but she looked away, clenching her teeth. This was it. This was the end to her fairy tale. She couldn’t have a family with Gerard, because he’d always let her down. She’d have been glad if he’d actually kicked her and Trent out of the house.
Her memories from all those years ago had been pristine, flawless. Gerard had loved her to the moon and back. But now she’d learned that everything back then had been false. Everything this relationship was based on was a lie, because even when they were supposedly in love, he’d been cheating on her.
He grabbed her arms. “I won’t let you go!” he hissed in her face.
“Leave me.”
“No.” His voice fell to a pleading tone. “I didn’t cheat on you, Hart, I promise. Maybe they made a mistake in reporting it.”
“You said you remembered being with her.”
“Not while you and I were together!” he yelled, and Trent visibly jumped at the sudden loud yell.
Hartford gasped and belatedly, realization struck Gerard. He rubbed his forehead in helplessness. Thankfully the nanny appeared at the top of the stairs, watching Hartford with a shuttered, sympathetic gaze as she took Trent’s hand and led him downstairs.
Hartford fought the disgust, the misery. “You’ve humiliated me,” she bit out through clenched teeth. “The entire country knows about your shenanigans. My family, our friends, all those back home.” She glared at him wordlessly, expressionlessly. “I told my parents you and I were back together,” she said slowly, then smiled sarcastically. “What a monumental fool I made of myself! No, I’m going back with my son. And you won’t be anywhere near us. I forbid you”—her temper mounting, the tears flowed again—“to see Trent. If you try to see him through the court, go ahead. But I’ll do everything in my power to keep him away from you.”
“Hart…” He wrapped his arms around her. “Trust me. Trust me, please…” he hissed in her ear. “I never touched another woman while we were together.”
She didn’t reply and stood woodenly, still in his crushing embrace. He reared back and she stared up at him, deadly. “I don’t believe a word you say.”