ROMANCE: SPORTS ROMANCE: The Playmaker (Bad Boy College Football Romance) (New Adult College Alpha Male Sports Romance) (7 page)

Chapter 6

After visiting with her Gran to bounce ideas off of her, Mara decided that she wanted to go traveling like she had suggested. When she had been with Grant, even for that short time, her horizon was opened and she didn’t want it to shrink back to Hartford size again. She knew that she had to go out and find her way. Her optimism was infectious and soon she had talked her friend into going with her as well. Kaila had a job at the diner and neither one of them really had much to leave behind.

The trip was what she needed. They went south for a time until they hit the Gulf of Mexico and the two girls stayed on the beach for almost a month. Mara’s dad kept asking her to come home, sure she was having some kind of crisis from trauma, but Grant had not traumatized her. It was the way she was living and Mara wasn’t ready to go back.

Mara had no intention of going home for a while. She knew that Kaila was getting homesick, but it was only when she herself started to feel rotten that Mara even considered going back home. They had rented a vacation home in Myrtle Beach as the weather had warmed up down south, but now Mara was ready to go home. She didn’t know if it was all the travel or the convenience food on the way, but her stomach was always having issues and she was always tired.

Kaila agreed, ready to go home herself, not quite aware of how much she missed the familiar routine. Kaila offered to drive most of the way home when they finally decided that it was time to go back. Mara was home a couple of days before her dad urged her to go to the doctor, so much that it became impossible to deny his reasoning.

She went and then heard the two words that she wasn’t expecting to hear for a long time. It wasn’t a bug or a flu, but that she was pregnant. Her mind instantly went to the father that she hadn’t heard from in several months. It made sense though. She always seemed hungry, yet spent half the day wanting to be sick. There was a tenderness in her breasts and when she looked again, they were getting bigger. Mara was referred to an Obstetrician and waited for the date with her nerves rankled.

She made it, waiting for the doctor and her first appointment concluded that the test at the emergency room were right, she was pregnant. At almost four month along, her morning sickness was gone, but she still hadn’t added much to her middle. A small bump was easy to hide with clothing and Mara still hadn’t told her dad about it. It wouldn’t take his mind long to deduce where she was when she conceived and then he would know her secret. Not that she had been taking advantage of, but gave herself willingly to a biker like Grant.

When she was on her way out, Mara stopped in the parking garage suddenly. She was having a moment of deja vu, feeling like she had right before she was taken outside of Gran’s nursing home. Mara turned around suddenly and saw Lance coming towards her. “No, I am not doing this again.”

Lance grinned. “Nothing like that Mara. The boss just wants to talk to you and he can’t really go to you.”

She was back living with her father for the time being and there was no way he could go there. Mara had changed phones on her trip, but Grant had never called that she knew of. Why was he so interested all of a sudden?”

“Tell him I will see him this evening.”

“You’re done here, how about now?”

She was not given the idea that she really had a choice. There was no choice but to do what he told her to do. Looking over at her car, she asked if she could take her own vehicle and he just shook his head. “I will bring you back if that is what you want.”

Mara didn’t have much choice but to hear Grant out. She wasn’t even sure why after all that time he even wanted to talk to her. What could he possibly want? Mara was sure that he had moved on. Grant didn’t seem like the type of man to bother more than once with a woman.

“Fine Lance, but I really am not going to want to stay so if you can keep the car running that will be great.”

Lance just kind of chuckled to himself. Whether she knew it or not, Grant had been going crazy without her. It was the only time that he had seen his friend forgo pleasure with another woman. He had been waiting for Mara and when she disappeared, he had a hard time of it. Now that she was back, Lance knew that his boss wasn’t going to let her go again. Grant always got what he wanted and it seemed clear to everyone but her, that it was her that Grant wanted. He was not interested in other girls anymore, Lance knew that Grant loved the woman.

“We will see, but I will bring you back like I promised whenever you are ready.”

She would have gone either way. Him requesting her was not something she would have seen him doing and it made her wonder what it was that he wanted. Did he miss her as much as she missed him? She shook her head of those thoughts, knowing that it couldn’t be that. Sitting in the back seat, she watched the country and small towns turn into the city. Lance was taking her right back to where it had all happened, where she had stayed for so long with Grant. It was in those days that everything had changed for Mara and as she looked up at the house, she was filled with mix feelings.

Lance got out first and opened the door for her to get out. “Thanks Lance. How is Carla?”

“She’s good. Get to see her now more that she is about to give birth.”

He looked down at her significantly, his eyes falling to her mini bump. But where he had found her, it was clear that she had something underneath her shirt. “Congratulations. I am sure you will be great at it.”

“I hope so.” Lance expected her to say something more. They had become close with their time together. Mara had helped his marriage, talking him through some issues that him and Sandra had. Lance in a way wanted to help her, as well as his boss. The two should be together and after looking for her for months, Lance was glad to be able to bring her back. “It’s been quiet without you here.”

She smiled. “I bet.” Mara’s face turned a little pink and she wondered if the loud screams in the night were what he was referring to. There were several times that all she could do was bury her face in a pillow and still she knew that she could be heard. Grant had always loved to hear his name moaned as she came, making sure to illicit that reaction many times. She shivered and looked down, needing to pull herself together before she went and saw Grant.

“You okay?” Lance looked at her with a little worry.

“Yeah I am fine. I just, this place brings back a lot of memories.”

“Good or bad?”

“A little of both, but isn’t that the way?”

He nodded and she started to follow him up the large concrete staircase to the house. She was nervous and when all she could think about was his hands on her, Mara worried that she would jump on him when she saw him finally. Her hormones were already all over the place and Grant was the type of man that she couldn’t forget.

“Are you sure you are okay?”

“Yeah Lance. Where is he?”

“Grant is in the den. I will leave you two to it.”

She thanked him and started to tremble inside. Her hormones really were on overdrive and all she could think about was what was going to happen. Would he be as happy to see her as she was to see him all of a sudden? Moreover, what was going to happen when he found out that she was pregnant?

The questions swirled in her mind as she made her way to the back den that went outside. She remembered every inch of the house, spending so much time there while the trial was going on. Mara missed the place. It was somehow like going home.

When she walked into the den, the room was pretty dark and she didn’t see him in the corner right away. “Mara, you are looking good as always.”

She turned towards his voice her eyes trying to adjust to the lack of light. “Thanks. Why is it so dark in here?” Mara went to turn the light on, the desk lamp right next to him. His hand shot out and stopped her.

“Don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want the blaring light in my eyes.”

His voice sounded strained and Mara could tell something is wrong. “So is my dad prosecuting someone else that you know? Is that why I am here?”

Grant’s face showed that he didn’t find her comment very funny, but the silence between them as she stood over his seated form made her anxious. Even in the darkness, she could feel his eyes on her. Mara opened her mouth to say something else but he said something instead, breaking the silence between them.

“When were you going to tell me you are pregnant?”

Chapter 7

Mara’s face showed the shock of the suddenness of the conversation. It was not going how it had played out in her head. She had not had time to coax him into a better mood. Grant was frightful when he was angry and she had planned for them to talk a while, but she should have known better. Lance had picked her up at her OB appointment after all. The comment he had made earlier, made more sense to her then.

“You, speechless? I never thought I would see the day Mara.”

“Well what do you want me to say? I just found out a couple of weeks ago. I came back into town and went to the doctors, thinking I was sick and I wasn’t. I am pregnant.”

His dark eyes bore into her and she wished that she could melt into the floor. It was hard to hold his gaze when he was looking at her in that way. “How far along are you?”

“Why don’t you ask the question you really want to know Grant? I mean, I am here. You went and got Lance to drag me all the way down here, so what is it you really want to know?”

Mara was getting angry with him again. He was treating her as if she was the bad guy and she’d had enough. “I want to know if it’s mine.”

Her head nodded before she got the words out and she made sure she was looking in his eyes then. She waited for a reaction, but all she saw was something akin to relief. “I would have accepted if it was someone else’s, but I really hoped it would be mine.”

Mara didn’t really think she had heard him right. It was too perfect. Too much what she desperately wanted him to say. “What do you mean you would have accepted it?”

“If you were pregnant by someone else. I would have hated it, but still would have had to have you.”

“Have me? What am I, a prize all of a sudden?”

Lance moved quickly, pulling her down to his lap. His breath was in her ear and she shivered against him. She didn’t realize how much she had missed his arms, until that very moment. “Yes, you and the baby. You are mine now.”

She squirmed in his lap and turned her head to look at him. “You can’t just have me. I get a say in this you know.”

Grant shook his head. “You will give it or I will take it.”

His mouth moved to hers and she kissed him for a moment, melting against him before she pulled away. He was playing with her and her hormones already had her on edge.

“Are you always so used to taking what you want?”

Grant grinned and kissed her again. “I have been known to use force if necessary.”

Mara shivered on his lap. It was how it had all started and seemed right that it was where she was at the moment. She looked back at him. Mara did not need to be forced, her body aching for him since she had left. “What if I don’t want to be yours?”

He stopped and pulled her head back to see her face, his hands gripping her hair. That was not what he wanted to hear. “You don’t want to be mine?”

Hands slid between her legs, pressing against her core as her head fell back on his shoulder. Biting her lip, Mara closed her eyes. How could she deny him anything? Grant pushed against her harder, his need pressing against her backside. Mara tried to close her legs, but he had pushed his own through hers, making it impossible. She was open to his touch and had no way to stop the bombardment of caresses. His tongue and teeth on her neck, while his fingers pushed in underneath her panties.

When his digits met her wetness, they sank deep, taking her breath away. “Yes.”

“Is that an answer?”

Mara couldn’t think straight, her hips sliding back and forth against his hand and hardness. She could barely hear the whisper in her ears over the roaring from her blood pounding through her veins. “Why are we talking?”

His hands moved out from her waistband, cupping her breasts from behind with his large hands. “These are different.”

Mara’s eyes closed with the touch. They were so much more sensitive than before and even the slightest touch sent more readiness to her core. He used his thumb and finger to pull on the tips gently through her shirt. “I remember you liked this.”

Her head nodded, as her eyes closed once more. Her body opened up to him, her hips rubbing herself against his hardness. It wasn’t fair that she was the only one being tortured. “And I remembered you liked this.”

Her hand moved between her legs to rub him gently before her ass moved back down to stroke him through his jeans. Grant moved his hands back down to her core, moving her own away to end his torture. Mara whimpered with the first touch on her center. Through her jeans, the pressure was everywhere, smashing her tiny hidden nub of pleasure. Again she tried to shut her legs to the pleasure, but it was impossible. Grant had taken over and was playing her body like an instrument.

“Do you want me to stop?”

Grant’s fingers tapped on her softly, then rubbed for a moment before smacking her lightly again. It was not enough, but he would give her more, keeping her just on the edge of reason. Whimpering his name, he asked her again. “No, I want to come. It’s been a long time. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Mara’s words made the man see red. It was all he needed to know. That she was untouched and still only his. It didn’t matter before he met her, but once he touched her, Grant wanted to forever be the only one that touched her again. He knew that if she said she had waited, she had. Now his member jerked underneath her with the idea of how tight Mara was going to be.

Grant pushed her forward, after his fingers unbuttoned her jeans, pulling down the zipper and then the pants themselves. Grabbing her thighs and closing her legs, yanking her up, her ass was bare underneath. His touches were harder now squeezing her flesh in his large hands. The jeans stopped at her upper thighs and as he held her up with one strong arm, his other was doing more delicate work, rubbing her center once again. She was already dripping through her panties, but he wanted to push her closer still.

Mara jerked in his arms and begged him to just take her. She was so close, but he still wasn’t ready to give it all to her. Grant wanted to be buried deep when she finally came for the first time. He wanted to feel every spasm from the inside and it was going to happen soon if he didn’t hurry up with his own clothes.

Grant yanked on her jeans, telling her to finish taking them off. Mara slid off of his lap with weak knees, bending down only a few feet from his face as she pulled her jeans the rest of the way down. She stepped the rest of the way out of them and was pulled back down before she could even attempt it herself.

Gasping, Mara felt him freed underneath her, hot flesh on her own wetness. Her legs moved to straddle his, opening her wide as his thighs opened up her up further. Fingers delved in, finding her soaked as the wet fabric ripped from his treatment of it. She moaned as he found her in such need. Mara was sure she was going to explode. It wasn’t just his fingers constant rubbing that drove her mad, but the hot length sliding up and against her slickness from below. He was not giving her senses a moment to calm down, driving her crazy with his touch. The house was once more filled with the sounds of her losing herself in his arms.

“Please Grant.”