Line of Scrimmage (17 page)

Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

“Like I said, I can be inventive. Do you believe me?”

Oh, yes, indeedy. She certainly did. That night together unreeled in her brain like the replay of a movie.

“I do.”

“All right then.” He ran his thumb over her lips and along the line of her jaw. “Just lie here and close your eyes.”

In an instant the dream came back to her, the one where she was straddling his chest and his tongue was doing wicked things to her. Every nerve in her body was on fire, and her erogenous zones thumped with need. She had to force herself to relax, to let the sensations roll over her. She trusted him in the dream, so could she not trust him in reality?

“Why?” What did he have in mind?

“Just do it, please? For me?”

She giggled. “I thought I already did something for you.”

“And now it’s my turn. Just lie here and close your eyes. Don’t open them for any reason.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“Yes.” He chuckled “Be very afraid.” He hitched himself just enough that he could turn slightly in her direction. “Close them.”

Obediently she did as he asked, blocking everything from her mind but this moment. She felt his hands at her breasts, cupping one, then the other, cradling them in his palms. His thumb rubbed lightly across each nipple until she felt the flesh harden and peak. He put his mouth close to her ears, licking the edge before gently probing the inner shell. A shiver of delight skimmed over the surface of her skin, and the pulse in her sex beat insistently. Without the sense of sight, every touch, every sensation was magnified a thousand times.

Arousal raced through her, hot and fierce, and a little whimper escaped her lips.

“That’s it.” His mouth was close to her ear, his breath a warm breeze against it. “Just lie there like that with your eyes closed nice and tight.”

His fingers trailed down between her breasts, paused to trace the indentation of her navel, before drifting down to her pussy. She tried to open her legs wider to urge him to touch her
there,
but she didn’t have much room to maneuver. And Jake didn’t seem inclined or able to give her more room, not with that heavy cast to move around.

He caressed the inside of her thighs, smoothing his hands over the skin, gently brushing her pubic curls before dancing his fingers over the line of her hips and back to her thighs. Her breasts felt heavy with need, her nipples aching, and her pussy demanded attention. Her skin actually felt as if it had been sandpapered, all her nerves exposed and raw.

“Please,” she whispered.

“Please what?” His fingers were still brushing her skin everywhere.

“Please touch me.” She let out a long breath.

“I am touching you, sweet thing.” His laugh was low and sensual. “Where would you like me to touch you?”

“You know.”

“No, I don’t think I do.” He licked the shell of her ear. “You’ll have to be specific.”

“Touch—touch my breasts.”

“Like this?” He pinched each nipple gently. “Or this?” She felt his breath on her breasts just before his hot wet mouth closed over one hard peak and sucked.

She felt the pull clear to her womb. “Oh, yes,” she breathed. “Yes.”

He grazed his teeth over them, nipping lightly, then soothing with his mouth. Every nerve in her body snapped and sizzled and she moaned again.

“Feel good?”

“Yesss,” she hissed.

“What else would you like? Tell me.” His palm cupped her mound, squeezing gently before he sifted his fingers through her pubic curls.

“You know.” Why did she have such trouble saying this?

“No, I don’t think I do. And unless you tell me, I don’t think it will happen.” His busy fingers were back at her nipples, tweaking and twisting, ramping up her need.

Oh, God!

“Put your fingers inside me.” She whispered the words.

He licked the side of her neck. “I’ll see if I can make that happen.” His voice was low and rumbled through her.

He was in no hurry, while her body cried out for relief right now. She pushed her legs apart, silently urging him to move his hand where she wanted it. Without her sight, she couldn’t see where to move, and the leg she’d pressed against him now clunked against his cast.

Ouch!

“Shit!” Jake growled the word.

“Oh my God!” She yanked her leg back, pain shooting through her heel. She opened her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I think you got the worst of it.” He stroked his palm over her face. “Close your eyes again. I’ll take care of this.”

“But—”

“Close your eyes.” He nipped the lobe of her ear. “That is a damn mood killer. Let’s see if we can get it back. In a second, you won’t even think of your foot. I promise.”

It didn’t take too much effort on his part, since not even nearly breaking her heel could erase the raging need consuming her. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let herself fall into his touch.

He nudged her legs apart to give him access and cupped her with his palm. She loved the feel of his hand as he brushed the inside of her thighs, the heat of his fingers as finally, finally, they moved to her pussy. He slid one digit through the length of her slit, stroking up and down, circling her clit with each caress. The walls of her sex spasmed and a whimper of need rose up from her throat.

Jake closed his lips over one nipple and bit down gently on it just as he slid two fingers into her wet, waiting channel. He licked her tormented nipple and then slid his tongue over the other one.

“God, I love how wet you are,” he breathed. He worked his fingers in and out of her, setting up a rhythm, pressing her clit with his thumb each time he thrust completely into her. “I love the feel of those slick walls around my fingers. If I wished for anything, it would be that it was my cock inside you instead.”

“Me, too,” she whispered.

She was having a hard time talking now as sensations raced through her body, everything so much more intense with her eyes closed. She trembled as heat consumed her and tried to push down on Jake’s hand.

“Slow, Erin. Real slow.”

But she didn’t want to take it slow. She wanted it fast. She wanted it hard. She wanted it now. Jake, however, seemed to have his own agenda, because he never varied the tempo of his strokes, adding a third finger and dragging the tips over that very sensitive spot inside her channel.

The tremors began and her entire body focused on what was happening. Her pussy clamped down on Jake’s fingers, and she hitched her hips, riding him as her climax roared up from deep inside her. The tremors became spasms and the spasms became intense shudders, her entire body shaking. Jake took her mouth in a deep, hot kiss, his tongue probing and searching while he drove his fingers in and out of her again and again and again, riding her through the sensual storm.

Slowly her body relaxed, her limbs leaden, her pulse returning to a normal rate.

“You can open your eyes now,” Jake murmured.

When she did, his face was right there and his coffee-dark eyes were looking directly into hers.

“I love to feel you come. I just wish I was inside you.”

She gave him a lazy smile. “I’m not complaining.”

He gave a low, rumbling laugh. “Yeah, but I am. This damn cast is a pain in the butt.”

She studied him for a long moment. What on earth had she gotten herself into here? How was this going to work going forward? She might be intensely attracted to this man, cast and all, but she still didn’t trust his ability to sustain a relationship. If she ever got her life back on track, she wanted to find that one right man to build a future with. She was pretty damn sure Jake Russell wouldn’t be that man.

Besides, while he might have been Mr. Hot and Sexy today, focused on her pleasure as well as his, there was no guarantee that tomorrow he wouldn’t revert to the same grouch she’d been tending to every day.

“I can smell your brain burning.” He brushed his lips softly over hers. “Give it a rest, Erin. Let’s just see what happens, okay? Can you do that?”

Could she? She guessed she was about to find out.

Never have sex with a man in a cast.

Erin sighed as she rubbed cream into the abraded areas on her arms. The heel could wait until she got ready for bed. Being acrobatic in any way when one of the participants had a full length cast on his leg presented more problems than she wanted to remember. Even though what she referred to in her mind as “the incident” had happened four days ago, her body still carried reminders of it. At night in bed, it was all she could think of.

And dream about. Oh, yes, the dreams came nightly now.

Well, she’d gone and done it again, only now she had no place to run. She was stuck here with a man she was so strongly attracted to she wanted to jump his bones every minute of every day. The memory surrounded them, the sexual tension crackling and filling the room. It was impossible not to be aware of it and it complicated everything.

Okay, smartass, what if he doesn’t feel the same way? What if he’s just playing with you, waiting for his leg to heal?
Could she take a chance again, knowing disaster might lurk?

He’s different than Trace. You know that. In so many ways. Pay attention to that.

After taking her cell from her pocket, she checked to see if there was a new text from Ivy. There were certainly plenty of old ones, checking on Jake’s condition and dropping little bits of information.

Jake likes this special coffee cake.

Jake likes fresh bagels.

Erin had to stop herself from texting back.

How about stopping to pick some up when you come by to see him.

Jake needs to be reminded to answer his e-mail.

It was a blatant cue to Erin that she had yet to approach this subject with Jake. That ought to be fun.

But the text she sent tonight? Not even a one-word answer. Nada. Zip. Zippo.

No different than when she called the office. There someone answered, but she got such a runaround she felt like she was on a merry go round.

“No, sorry, she’s on an appointment.”

“Oh, I apologize but she’s in an all-day conference off site and can’t be disturbed.”

“No, I’m sorry. I have no idea where she is.”

Okay, so Ivy was avoiding her. Big surprise. Not that she had a lot of time to chat. All her time was spent waiting on Jake, sorting his mail, answering his landline as well as his cell phone, an instrument she was ready to pitch in the trash. This morning she’d started letting all the calls go to voicemail and sorting out the ones she thought might be important. Jake was no help. He still didn’t want to talk to anyone.

She had just started fixing the salad for dinner when the buzzer at the gate sounded. Who on earth would come by at mealtime unannounced? She checked the video in the hall, saw it was Jim DiMarco, and opened the gate for him.

“Good to see you, Erin,” he told her as she let him into the house.

“Ditto,” she said.

“How’s our patient today? Grouchy as ever?”

She gave a slight laugh. “Does night follow day?”

“Well, let’s see what’s going on.” He glanced into the kitchen. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize how close to dinner time it was. I was about five minutes away and thought I’d take the opportunity to stop by.”

“No problem,” she assured him. “It’s nothing that can’t wait. Come on, I’ll take you back to him.”

“Still hiding in the bedroom?” he asked, as they walked down the hall.

“Yes. If you have a solution for that, I’m open to hearing it.”

“We’ll see.”

As usual, Jake was lying on the bed, the flat screen television on but muted.

“Look who’s here.” She tried to put a cheerful note into her voice.

Jake waved at him from his semi-prone position but made no effort to get up.

“I’m just going to turn the oven down,” she said. “You two need a chance to chat.”

“No. Come back,” Jake insisted. And what was that all about? Was he afraid to be with the general manager alone?

“In a second,” she called back at him.

But she intentionally gave them several minutes, hoping DiMarco might have a fix for Jake’s mood. But when she returned, she could tell Jake had been something less than cordial. DiMarco still had a smile on his face, but he was already shaking Jake’s hand in preparation for leaving.

“I know you’re about to eat,” he was saying, “so I’ll let you get to it. But I’ll stop by again.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Jake grunted and turned his gaze back to the television.

“I wish I could find a way to pull him out of this funk,” Erin told the GM as she walked him to the door.

“I can understand it,” DiMarco told her. “His whole life has been turned upside down. His future is uncertain, and he’s having trouble handling it.”

“But other players get injured,” Erin pointed out. “They survive.”

“Jake’s more than just another player,” the man told her. “He’s one of the stars. He’s had a great career, and this was supposed to be his best year yet. Now he sees it moving forward without him.”

“If he doesn’t figure a way to deal with it, he’ll have a real problem.”

DiMarco sighed. “Don’t I know it. I’d like to get him some counseling but—”

Erin waved a hand in the air. “Forget it. Not with the mood he’s in. He’s not ready to hear anything like that right now.”

Saying the words out loud to DiMarco made her realize how right she was. Whatever was driving him, Jake was in no way ready for anyone to even hint that he wouldn’t return to the playing field. Whatever his fixation on football as his defining image, he wasn’t about to let go of it. Again she felt the enormity, and sympathy for whatever drove him engulfed her.

“I’ll just keep trying,” DiMarco told her. “He’s more than just another player to me.”

“I keep thinking I’m missing something.” She shook her head. “I get the feeling it’s more than just being out of action. It’s as if football is the only thing that defines him. Without it, he’s nobody.”

DiMarco frowned. “You know, I get that feeling sometimes, too. Coach just sees it as a tremendous drive to succeed, but I think it goes deeper.” He gave her a half smile. “I was hoping if there was something, he’d open up to you about it.”