Red Card (19 page)

W
hen I said
I’d do anything for her, I’d meant it.

But I hadn’t thought that would be sleeping on her parent’s couch for two weeks and eating meals that leaked grease every time you poked them with a fork.

I’d told Leah I wasn’t an alien, but in Oklahoma, I kind of was. The epitome of fashion here was leather flip flops and frayed jean shorts. On men. Men wore jean shorts.

And the gym here. Not that I didn’t love being with Leah, and surprisingly her hilarious family members, but my god. The bloody wankers at the fitness center here were like steroid popping, muscled robots. Their training regimens and gym etiquette was like nothing I’d even seen before, and I smirked when they stood around drinking smoothies and talking about reps.

Because those were really the only two things I did here. I worked out at the local gym, and spent time with Leah. I’d been in America for two weeks, and while it was bloody amazing to be back with her, we hadn’t reached any kind of decision. Our relationship was getting stronger by the day, our connection becoming solid and loving once more. I sensed I had gained her trust back, but we still hadn’t talked about what was going to happen.

Leah went to work each day at the small firm that had hired her after graduation. She didn’t complain, but I also knew she didn’t love it. And August was creeping closer and closer with each passing minute. I had to report for pre-season practice soon. Or I had to sign with another team, or ask for a loan. We had to figure something out, but I was too scared to ask her for fear of ruining the routine we had slipped into.

I was in Walmart, a completely foreign yet amazing store to me, looking for shampoo that was over five dollars when I saw him. You couldn’t miss him, the beefy body and brown buzz cut. I had looked at so many pictures of him and Leah in the paper and online that I would have known him anywhere.

And it turned out, he definitely knew what I looked like too. We stood in the aisle, the overpriced crap grooming products sitting on the shelves between us.

“I never thought I’d actually see you in person.” He chuckled, running his meaty hands across his jaw.

I debated popping him right there, but decided against it. There actually hadn’t been any press snooping around since I’d been staying in Oklahoma, and I liked it that way. Physically assaulting another world class athlete, although his kind of football was bollocks, would definitely have them flocking to her small town.

“Yeah, I thought Leah was going to stay in London as well, but looks like we had to make a stop back here for a while. Don’t worry, she’ll be coming back home with me where she belongs soon.”

I knew if Leah was there she would have punched me in the shoulder and rolled her eyes at my macho speech, but I wasn’t above staking my claim where this asshole was concerned.

“Yeah? Is that right? I don’t think Leah’s that forgiving, bro. You might have your work cut out for you.” He smiled again, but it wasn’t malicious. “Listen, whatever she decides, just know that Leah Watson is the most amazing girl on the planet. And letting her go will be the worst mistake you ever make in your life.”

I stared at him, shocked but totally in agreement with his statement. “I don’t plan on ever giving her up.”

He came closer and laid a hand on my shoulder before walking away. “Good. Don’t hurt her. Or I will have to kill you.”

I didn’t plan on it.

W
hen I got back
to Leah's, the house was eerily quiet.

The Watson's house reminded of those quaint, homey abodes you always saw on TV shows or sitcoms. Her father had his favorite recliner in the living room, pictures of the kids hung all over the walls, artwork and grades framed the fridge and shoes cluttered by the front door. It was done in neutral shades, I could tell her mum had taken the time to design it specifically to their tastes. It wasn't flashy or modern like my place in London, but it almost felt better like this.

I could see myself making a place like this with Leah someday.

I was scrounging around in the fridge for some much needed food when footsteps had me peeking around the door.

"Find anything good in there?" Leah smiled, her white teeth standing out against her bronzed skin. If you could call that bronzed. Leah's tan was what I looked like at my very palest, but I found her freckles adorable and sexy.

"Americans eat like calories and trans fat don't mean a thing." I grumbled, shutting the door.

"No, most people just don't eat like their bodies are well oiled machines that only take in the finest of nutrients. Not that I'm complaining." She ran a finger up the middle of my chest over my shirt and my balls instantly tightened, heat scorching up my shaft.

I palmed her waist and pulled her toward me, basking in the feel of her warm flesh. She wore a tank top and soft shorts, leaving almost nothing to my imagination. Not that I didn't fantasize about that beautiful naked body under me almost 24 hours a day. We hadn't been physical since I'd been here, what with her parents being around and me trying to suck up for two weeks.

But I knew Leah was warming to me, almost at the point of forgiving me, and I could no longer ignore my dick's urgent pleas.

"Where are your parents?" I all but growled as I lowered my lips to her temple.

"State Fair, they'll be gone for a few days. They took my sisters too." She gave a breathy sigh as I fluttered my hand up her rib cage.

"So we're alone?" I pulled the strap of her top slowly over her shoulder, kissing each freckle beneath it.

"Has anyone told you you're kind of thick?" Leah put on her best British accent as she mocked me.

I raised my head, lifting one eyebrow in her direction to let her know I did not take kindly to her teasing. And then I smacked her right arse cheek, hard. The way it bounced back against my hand, the moaning shout that burst from her lips, it all had me harder than a steel pole in under a second.

"Should I fuck you on this floor for being a naughty tease, or make love to you in your bed?"

Her eyes went watery when I mentioned making love, so I decided for her. Scooping her up and holding her close to my chest, I kissed her sweetly as I walked us up the stairs to her room.

Leah's room was a soft white with shades of blue everywhere. She still had some of Taylor's high school memorabilia lying around, but most of it I'd made her chuck in the bin when I'd arrived. I didn't want to see that rubbish. Getting rid of it had left the room slightly empty, and I realized just how much the twit had stolen her identity right out from under her. It made my blood boil.

I laid her down on the small full bed, my hands lingering on the soft skin under her kneecaps and her freckled shoulders. She looked so innocent here, so young. I almost forgot sometimes about our age gap, but being here in her childhood bed made me feel old. But it was also a hell of a turn on.

"What?" Leah shifted uncomfortably, and I realized I'd been just staring at her longer than I should have.

"I was just thinking about how bloody hot it is that I'm going to be inside of you on your childhood bed. That makes me a pervert, doesn't it?"

Her cheeks went pink. "No...I was thinking about what a turn on it was to have my older British boyfriend make love to me in my childhood bed."

We smirked at each other and then I lowered myself slowly on top of her, my limbs making contact with hers at the same moment our lips brushed together.

Our kisses were unhurried and languid, lazy in our assault of each other. Each stroke of a tongue was extended by minutes, each caress lasted hours. We were getting to know each other again in the most intimate way.

When I couldn't take it any longer I pulled my shirt off, craving to be skin to skin with Leah. I moved the fabric of her top sluggishly, the time consuming way I was going about it making her pant and the flesh all over her body pebble. By the time she was bare from the waist up, her nipples were crimson and so taut that it looked painful.

"I need you inside of me." She pleaded, her voice no more than a whisper.

I knew she didn't need any warm up, and there was time for that later. Right now, we needed to be connected.

I removed her shorts and then my pants, fisting myself as I moved back toward the bed where the most beautiful angel was spread open just for me.

Her flaxen hair laid in silky sheets across the pillows and her long toned limbs made my shiver in anticipation. But it was that perfect, pink, wet pussy that had me almost swallowing my tongue. Jesus, she was so bloody beautiful.

Moving over her, I lined up in a way that felt so familiar to our bodies, yet so new. It had been over a month since I'd been inside of her, and my cock was jumping at the chance like a dog with a bloody bone. But I had to take this slow.

I fixed my eyes on the glassy green ones staring up at me and palmed Leah's face as I slid into her inch by inch. Only when I was pushed in to the hilt, both of us nearly sobbing at the tightness and fullness did I speak.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Killian."

I kissed her then. Kissed her like my life depended on it, like the world was coming to an end and the last thing I was going to do was kiss the bloody hell out of the woman I loved.

"I love you." I whispered, training my eyes on hers again.

Her lip tipped up but I caught her off guard, sliding out and all the way back in slowly. She moaned, not a loud sound but almost like it was a regular breath.

I moved at a snail's pace, pulling all the way out and pushing back in until we were shaking on the edge of our climaxes.

"Please..." The word was strangled as Leah thrashed, her hands tangled in my hair, holding my head inches above hers.

I would never deny her anything she wanted again. "I'll give you everything I have. All of me. I’m yours."

I started to thrust, long hard strokes into her as her walls gripped me so fiercely I swore I would go blind. Leah was crying out and scratching at my back, and I knew the moment her orgasm took her because I could feel each vein, wall and muscle contract inside of her, rolling outwards and onto my cock so hard that I knew I would come harder than I ever would in my life.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you..."

It was the chant that I didn't silence even after I collapsed on top of Leah, the word "complete" the only one in my head.

I
didn’t fit here anymore
, that much was clear.

I’d go to work, sit in front of the computer all day sending monotonous emails and tick down the seconds until I got to go home to Killian again. Not that I wasn’t grateful for my position at the small firm in town, I knew how hard it was to get a job right out of school. But compared to 73Bulbs, where it was literally like jumping out of a plane and hoping the parachute deployed, this felt like the tamest thing in the world. I found that I craved the danger.

My parents had gotten home from the fair a few days ago, and what a great few days they’d been. Killian and I had been naked for most of them, making up on lost time, exploring and rediscovering each other’s bodies.

But we hadn’t spoken about what came next. In that little bubble, nothing between us but skin and sheets, I hadn’t wanted to disrupt anything. But I knew Killian had to make a decision, get back or do something else. After all, I’d run his schedule, it was ingrained into my brain.

I missed London. I missed the foggy, old city with its historic buildings and sophisticated people, its old world charm and rules. Oklahoma just felt small, stifling. Especially with Killian here. It was so obvious he didn’t fit, yet he was still here. For me.

We were laying on the grass in the backyard, Killian reading some trade rumors on his phone and me just staring through my sunglasses up into the sun.

“So…I think you should go back to London.”

I watched him go still out of the corner of my eye, his hand tightened around mine on the dry, brown grass beneath our fingers.

“I told you I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.” There was an edge to his voice, an anger. I tried not to smile.

“Well that’s good. Because I’m coming with you.”

He rolled over faster than a dog looking for a belly rub. “What?!”

I slowly turned my head his way, the crinkly grass cracking under my neck. “I’m coming back to London with you. To be honest, I’ve missed it, I miss my job. I want back into the fast paced lifestyle, the constant schedule. This just isn’t home anymore.”

Killian didn’t say anything, just leaned over and captured my lips, pouring all of the love he had in him into me. When he pulled away I could barely breathe.

“Move in with me.”

It wasn’t a question, but I had known he was going to ask that. And I was not insane, there was no way I was saying no.

“Yes. But you should know, I leave wet towels on the floor. And sometimes I get really upset if I can’t find the right outfit. And I don’t eat the same dinner two nights in a row.”

Killian’s eyebrow went up in that sexy way that made me want to take off all my clothes and launch myself at him. “I think I can handle you, young American. Because I love you. And everything after that just doesn’t matter.”

M
y parents had seen
it coming. I think they’d known for weeks that I wouldn’t stay here, even before I admitted it to myself. They were sad, but Killian promised to fly them over whenever they wanted to visit. Rich bastard.

I left my job at the small PR firm in Oklahoma and contacted Cressida’s assistant at 73Bulbs. Even though we were due to fly out today, I hadn’t heard back. It was okay though, I knew someone who was in the market for a PR guru on his staff.

In the past week I’d applied for a new Visa, gotten my affairs in order, forwarded my mail, and made Killian take me to every single spot around town that I would miss. I even bought him cowboy boots, which I thought he looked sexy as hell in. He looked like someone had crapped in his cereal when I made him put them on.

We had most of my stuff shipped overseas already and Killian had sent Jimmy out for everything else so that I’d be greeted by my usual products at the flat when we got there.

It was all still so surreal. If you had told me a year ago, hell six months ago, that I was going to meet a much older pain-in-the-ass man, whom I would work for and fall in love with, move in with and travel across the world for, I would have laughed in your face.

When I’d gone to London the first time, I was a broken, lost person. I was hanging on to my life and identity by a thread, hoping and praying for something to guide me the right way or lead me on a new path. And I’d found it. In Killian.

My whole family drove us to the airport, my mom sniffling in the front seat and my dad sending Killian stern stares through the rearview mirror. I knew they were happy for me though. They would have said something if they weren’t.

I gripped Killian’s hand in the back of the van, my heart and stomach fluttering with the biggest butterflies I’d ever had. I wasn’t scared or nervous or anxious. I was excited. So damn excited for our future, for my work, for moving in with Killian, for our life together in London. I couldn’t wait to get started.

The airport was pretty empty as we headed to our gate, boarded our redeye. The press had been off of our scent for months now, and it was nice to lean into Killian’s embrace, rest my head on his shoulder in the first class seats as we took off, Oklahoma disappearing behind us.

I slept soundly most of the flight on Killian’s shoulder, only waking when we began to descend into Heathrow. My heart thudded in my chest. It even felt better being back and we were only on the concrete outside of the industrial airport complex.

“Ready, little lamb? I have a feeling you’re a lot more prepared this time.”

“Only because I know how to deal with you properly now, you wanker.”

He smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

We collected our bags and walked to the pickup area, where I took off running at the sight of Jimmy. I wrapped my arms around him in a bear hug.

“Jimmy! It’s so good to see you.”

“Glad you got our bloke all sorted out. I told him he was being a git all along.” He winked at me, his big bushy eyebrows smiling with his expression. He took our bags and walked out in front of us through the doors.

Killian threaded his fingers through mine as he held the door. And then there was nothing but flashbulbs.

Paparazzi were everywhere. Screaming bloody murder at us.

My senses were off, and the only thing I could focus on was Killian’s illuminated face as he turned toward me.

He didn’t hesitate for a second. One hand came up to cup my cheek, the other wrapped around my waist. He leaned his head down and I caught the smirk in those perfect ice blue eyes before he kissed me, that way like the world was ending.

Killian was going public. With me. Both of us together, no interviews or shows. A real live public display of affection. Everyone would know about us for sure now.

And as the man I loved kissed me in the middle of a media superstorm, I couldn’t care less.