Royal Bastard (37 page)

D
espite the lull
of sleep from the pain meds I had scarfed down, I could barely sleep. April’s hand was warm on my midsection, her soft snores making me break out into a grin. A nurse, she was my fucking nurse. I was going to owe Jay something massive for this. He couldn’t have gotten me anything better to get me on the road to recovery and back to the game than having April by my side while I did it. I was so fucking happy that she was here, in my bed at the moment, though I did wish it was under different circumstances.

What I wouldn’t give to roll over and just slide into her, wake her up from her sleep with an orgasm to shake the house off its foundation. But I couldn’t support myself with one arm, and despite the heavy need to take her, I was going to have to wait.

With a frustrated sigh, I looked up at the ceiling, the first rays of the sunrise starting to peek in through the windows, signaling another day. God, I needed her so much right now, to have her warmth surrounding my cock as I drove into her. It was like pure fucking hell that I had to lie here and think, not act. She was finally at my side and I couldn’t do a thing about it. So what could I do? What was going to be my course of action? I couldn’t sway her with my suave bedroom skills, not that she hadn’t already seen them, nor could I whisk her off to another exotic location so that we could be alone again, away from the hoopla that was surrounding around our lives. I had to show her how I wanted her completely, to show her that I needed her to stay with me a helluva lot longer than just my rehab stint.

I had to show her what she meant to me.

“Aw hell,” I whispered, a realization coming over me.

I loved her.

It was the purest thought I’d ever had, and I knew without question it was true. I wouldn’t be able to survive without her. It boggled my mind that I actually loved someone for the first time in my entire adult life.

I waited for the happiness to turn sour, the suffocating feeling in my chest that would have me charging out of the bed and running away. But it never came. Instead I had this warmth infusing through me, a feeling that made me wish I could wake her up right now and tell her that I loved her, that she had my entire heart for what it was worth.

Was this how love really was? I wanted to protect her, shelter her, love her. It was actually a really good feeling, one I’d probably been denying for a long while, come to think of it.

Her fingers shifted on my mid-section and I stilled them, running my hand over hers softly. I loved her. I still couldn’t believe it. For years I had ran away from true commitment, not wanting to end up like my parents. I’d thought that it was ridiculous that people could actually commit to just one person and stay with them for the rest of their lives. Reality, in my experience, hadn’t allowed for that.

But what I was feeling right now sure felt real. I could see myself next to April while we popped out a few kids to spoil rotten, her at my side at night curled up in my arms in this bed. Her and the kids coming to visit me at the stadium before a game like the majority of the team’s wives and kids did now. I could feel it, see it, taste it. And I fucking wanted it.

Looking over, I watched her as she slept, my mind churning at the possibility that I could do this. I could keep her happy and satisfied for the rest of her life. Now, I just had to get her to believe me when I told her. My track record was going to be a limitation and I was going to have to come up with something pretty spectacular for her to believe that I really meant what I was going to say to her.

Feeble words, or another half-assed proposal certainly wasn’t going to cut it. I needed something really fucking good.

A
barrage
of sound assaulted my ears as I awoke to the banging of pots and pans. Disoriented, it took me a moment to figure out where I was.
Connor’s home
. And I was supposedly his nurse while he recuperated from his shoulder surgery. Turning over, I squinted at the clock before jumping out of the bed, realizing I had slept past ten. Some nurse I was!

I hurried toward the noise as I attempted to pat down my wild bed hair. I found Connor in the kitchen, a few pans on the stove as he swore at them, frustration on his handsome face. “Connor, what the hell do you think you are doing?”

He turned around, a grin spreading over his face as he looked at me. “Good morning, sunshine. I wanted to fix breakfast. The chef left me granola and yogurt this morning, but since I’m not following his damn starvation diet, I wanted to eat eggs and bacon.”

I walked over to the stove and took the bowl of whisked eggs out of his hand, shaking my finger at him. “You are supposed to be resting, Mister. I need for you to go back to bed.” He gave me a rueful grin, leaning down to brush his lips over mine.

“Not a chance. I can’t lie around waiting for my shoulder to catch up with me, babe. I got things to do.”

“You do?” I asked, my head slowly spinning over his closeness. I loved the fact that I was here, having a conversation with him in his kitchen like we were a couple just waking up on a Saturday morning. It was beyond nice. He nodded and kissed me again, stepping back so that I could look at him. He was gorgeous, still dressed in the clothing from yesterday, his hair tousled from sleep. Even with the circles under his eyes his face was still handsome, devilish even, and I felt that warmth starting to spread throughout my body. “Well, if you have things to do,” I started, placing the eggs on the counter. “Then we need to get you into a fresh change of clothes.”

He grinned and ran a hand over his hair. “Yeah, well, besides breakfast, I’ll need your help with that. I can’t get this damn shirt off.”

I smiled and grabbed his good hand, dragging him toward the bedroom. “Come on, let’s get you dressed. Then we can eat.” My mouth went dry at the thought, remembering a few times where I had undressed him in paradise but for very different reasons. Those times had ended up with us in the bed, rolling around in the sheets.

“I think I want to shower,” he said as we entered the bedroom. “Will you help me with that as well?”

I nodded, not able to trust my own voice as we walked into that beautiful bathroom. Connor went over and turned the shower on, the steam starting to fog up the glass walls of the bathroom. Outside it was a beautiful day at the beach, people already starting to enjoy the sun and the ocean.

“I bet you’re wondering if I put on a regular show for them out there.”

I turned around and found him watching me with a lopsided smirk on his face, my heart aching at the sight. He could be all mine, if only I let it happen. “I hope you charge admission.”

He chuckled and walked over to the windows, pressing a button near the shower. Instantly the view started to distort, the glass going from crystal clear to frosted in a matter of seconds. “Oh, that’s cool,” I said, impressed. If I was going to block a view, a curtain or blinds were about the only things I would have thought of.

“It pays to be loaded sometimes,” he said, releasing the sling that held his shoulder in place. “Oh god, that doesn’t feel real good.”

“You’re supposed to let it dangle, remember?” I reminded him, my searches on the internet on how to take care of his injury really coming into play. He dropped his arm, a pained look coming across his face. “Easy now.”

He sucked in a breath, and I walked over, grabbing the edge of his t-shirt and helping him slide it over his head and his injured shoulder, revealing the slim bandages taped to his skin. Gingerly, I helped him remove them, surprised to see only three small incisions on his otherwise perfect skin.

“All that pain for those?” he scoffed, looking in the mirror. “I was expecting something gruesome.” I came up behind him and slid my arm around his waist, pressing my lips gently to one of the marks. He gave me a look in the mirror as I caressed his abdomen with my fingers, reveling in his body against mine, my breasts pillowed up against his strong back.

“Why am I here, Connor?” I asked softly. His expression grew tender as he looked at me in the mirror.

“I think you know the answer to that.’

“Why don’t you tell me?” I asked, my heart pounding in my ears. This was it, the words from him that I had been waiting on.

“To wash my back, of course.”

He was still a bastard… though a funny one. A bit disappointed, I put on a bright smile and playfully slapped his stomach, unwrapping myself from around him and turning to the shower so he couldn’t see the hurt look in my eyes. I could have sworn he was going to say something else. “Come on, then. Let’s get you clean.”

I heard his pajama bottoms hit the floor and I swallowed hard, pushing aside my own torment for something that lingered much deeper. He was getting naked behind me. I didn’t know how to feel about that. Actually I did know how to feel about that but I didn’t think Connor would be too happy with me if I pushed him down on the floor and had my way with him. After all, his shoulder was healing.

“Take one with me, April,” his voice soft to my ears. “Join me. You’re going to get wet anyway.”

“Connor, I don’t know,” I started, my mouth dry. There were things we couldn’t do right now.

“Please,” he begged, stepping in front of me. Oh god, he was beautiful, his chest at my eye level. I wanted to reach out and touch his skin, feel his steely strength. His good hand cupped my cheek and he forced my gaze up, his eyes blazing with the heat I felt. “I promise I won’t touch… I just want to watch you.”

“O-okay,” I responded, my knees weak. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already seen everything before anyway. With my gaze on him, I reached down and pulled my shirt over my head, unclasping my bra and letting it hit the floor. His eyes dilated as his hand roamed down to them, his fingers brushing my already erect nipple. “Damn, I’ve missed you,” he said as I arched against his touch.

“You said you were just going to watch.”

“I lied.”

With trembling fingers, I pushed my shorts down and stepped out of them, hearing his swift intake as he realized I wasn’t wearing any underwear. “You’re killing me April.”

I gave him a wink and walked to the shower, stepping inside and allowing the warm spray to hit my bare skin. Connor followed close behind, carefully closing the door and encasing us in the glass shower which was already steamed up from the hot water. When his hand touched my stomach I turned in his arm slowly until we were pressed skin to skin, feeling his heavy need against my stomach. “I want you so fucking bad,” he said, leaning down to kiss my lips, his hand caressing the top of my rear end.

“I want you too,” I admitted, feeling the rush between my legs, my need as heavy as his was. “But we have to be extremely careful.”

He sighed and I roamed my hands down his chest, reaching down to touch his cock.

“And there is no doubt that I am going to be very careful with you.” I wasn’t just saying this in the heat of the moment, I knew he needed reassurance if this—whatever we were—was going to have any sort of future. I didn’t want to hurt him. I wasn’t Crystal or any other girl that he had been with before. His heart was going to be safe with me if he allowed me to have it.

He groaned and I slid to my knees, the warm spray hitting my back as I took him into my mouth. He was hard and pulsating in my mouth as I swirled my tongue around his swollen head. “April,” he choked out. I hummed back and moved my hand up the length of him, gripping him softly. I could tell it wasn’t going to be long for him. When he grabbed my shoulder and pushed me away from him, I was confused, looking up at him as I stood.

“We do this together,” he said through clenched teeth, his hand stroking his cock where my mouth had been. “Touch yourself for me.” I bit my lip, thinking I hadn’t ever done that for anyone in my life. It was a private thing, something that I did in the comfort of my own bedroom… but then I remembered, he had seen me do this before, all those weeks ago, I just never knew about it at the time. He sensed my hesitation and stilled his own hand, his fingers wrapped around his cock. “It’s just me. I want to see you come undone again. Can’t you see how much I want you?”

“I just, I’ve never,” I stammered, my face turning red. Not that anyone had ever asked me to either. His expression softened then and he dropped his hand, running it over my arm. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t want you to do anything you weren’t comfortable with. Forgive me.” He looked so miserable that he had even suggested it that my heart warmed. Had I really changed the playboy? I had expected him to get mad, to storm out of the shower or something. I hadn’t expected an apology. It spoke volumes.

With a trembling hand, I reached down and touched myself, my eyes following his as he watched me. It was a powerful moment, knowing that I was holding his attention, that I had some kind of control over him. I slipped one finger into myself and was surprised at the wetness I found there, observing when Connor’s own hand strayed down to his cock again, his hand moving up and down its length.

I allowed my fingers to trail up to my hard swollen nub, the electricity of my own touch and his constant gaze causing me to shiver. My eyes strayed to Connor again and I saw that he had picked up the pace, the strain on his face evident as he watched my hands. I did the same and was surprised when the orgasm overtook me, my knees buckling and forcing me to rest against the wall for support. Connor let out a groan and came as well, milking it until there was nothing left. Instead of embarrassment, I felt emboldened in what I’d done with him, the intimacy we had just shared without actually touching one another.

“I have a feeling we will be doing that a lot over the next few weeks,” he joked as I peeled myself off of the wall. “Unless we can get creative.”

“Creative is good,” I replied, giving him a smile. He returned it and then reached for the soap that was sitting on the shelf, holding it up. “Ready for your sponge bath?”

* * *

I nervously grabbed my sunglasses and the keys to the car, feeling like I was either about to make the biggest fucking mistake of my life or the best damn thing I could do. After our shower, April had shyly dressed me, a grin on her lovely face as she buttoned up my shirt and helped me into the sling to protect my shoulder.

What we had done in the shower still was running around in my mind and I wanted desperately to throw her on the bed and fuck the hell out of her. But not yet. There would be time for that later; first, I had some business to deal with.

“You ready?” I asked as she walked into the living room, dressed in a pair of jeans and one of those blousy tops I loved, her tan still visible on her sumptuous body. I vowed to take her back to somewhere tropical once I was able to get rid of this uncomfortable sling, so I could see her naked in the surf again, her golden tan glowing.

“I am,” she answered, tucking her hands in her back pockets. “Though you still haven’t told me where we are going.”

My grand plan about to start. “Well, I thought since I didn’t get to give you a tour of the stadium the other night that I would do so today. I have to go by there anyway so it will be a perfect time.” Actually I didn’t, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Are you sure you feel up to it?” she asked, some concern in her expression. “You really should be resting up.”

“Babe, if I stay in this house much longer, I’m going to go stir crazy,” I replied, holding out my good hand that held the keys. “Can you drive?”

“What about the driver Jay hired?” she asked, looking at the keys. I shook my head, mentally crossing my fingers at the white lie I was going to tell. God knows I’d lied to her before and it had blown up in my face, but this was different. “It’ll take too long. I need to go now.”

She looked at me and I gave her my best smile, hoping she wouldn’t realize the truth. There was a reason I needed it to be just the two of us and she was about to find out why.

“Okay,” she finally said, reaching out to get the keys. “But I can’t be held responsible for anything that happens to your car.”

I chuckled and winked at her, walking to the door and throwing it open. A smile crossed my face as I slid my sunglasses on and stepped out, walking down the stairs and waiting for her to catch up. When she reached the bottom stair, I took her hand and guided her toward the gate, where there were just a few reporters still milling around. As soon as they saw me, it was a mad dash to push the microphones through the iron slats of the gate, clamoring for a good spot.

“Connor! Connor can you tell us about your injury?”

“Is it career-ending?”

“How long will you be out?”

I felt April’s hand tighten around mine, but I brought her to my side anyway, sliding an arm around her waist. “Hey, guys. My shoulder is good, healing well and you should all receive an update next week from my agent. I just wanted to publicly thank my girlfriend here for taking such good care of me in the meantime.”