The Jock (9 page)

"Yes
sir, it is." Willy nodded regally... or as regally as a man could nod
while sporting a hot pink tee shirt. "I believe Jackie Stallone will be on
tonight." He leaned in closer to Sam and whispered in a conspiratorial
manner. "Apparently ole Sylvester is the love child of a little gray guy
on Planet Drago."

"That
certainly explains a lot."

Harry
rolled his eyes to the ceiling and groaned. "Please never let on to any
reporters that you actually watch such ridiculous programs, let alone believe
what you see on them." He visibly shuttered. "I can see my gained
percentage points flushing down the toilet if that ever got out."

Verlene
laughed gracefully. "Sugar, don't be silly. You know Granddad and I would
never do anything to embarrass you publicly."

Willy
harrumphed. "That's right. I'm even wearin' a genuine tux for your little
dinner at the University of Tampa tomorrow night."

Harry
crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at his grandfather. "If it
looks anything like that fashion monstrosity you wore to my college graduation,
I'll save my thanks until later."

"Now
see here Mr. High and Mighty, there wasn't a blessed thing wrong with that
tux!"

"
It.
Was. Polyester!"
Harry bit each word out through clenched teeth.

"And
damned fine polyester it was too, son."

Chuckling,
Sam clapped Harry on the back. "Not to worry, buddy. Willy and I went
shoppin' together two days ago. He'll look like Dapper Don at your
dinner."

Harry
released a worried breath. "Thank god for that," he muttered.

Sam
hoisted up Gwenyth's suitcases into either hand, then waited for her to make
eye contact. When she did, his possessive gaze inspected her thoroughly.
"Your room here is the one next to mine, right

Gwen?"

Gwenyth
swallowed somewhat roughly, but managed to keep a serene look about her. His
question couldn't have been more loaded. "Yes, I believe it is."

Sam
smiled. It was a smile Gwenyth found very unnerving and far too calculating.
"Then I'll just take your bags up there now, Cupcake. See you
upstairs." He nodded to the elder Jones's before taking his leave.
"Willy. Verlene." He turned to Harry and grinned. "See you
tomorrow, Bro."

Harry
returned his smile. "Goodnight, Sam."

After
Sam disappeared up the winding front staircase, Harry turned to Gwenyth and
affectionately ruffled her hair. "I'll see you at UT tomorrow evening. Try
to stay out of trouble until then, hm?"

Gwenyth
stood up on tiptoe and kissed Harry's jaw. "I'll try."

Willy
sensed that all was once again as it should be in his lair, so he turned his
attention to more pressing matters. He cocked a silvery brow and regarded his
wife. "You ready for
Alien Playboys
, puddin?"

Verlene
chuckled. She reached up and twined her arms around the neck of the man she'd
been in love with for over fifty years. "If it means spending time with my
favorite hunk, then lead on."

Willy
leaned down and kissed the tip of his wife's elegant nose. He then crooked his
neck toward his grandchildren and gave them a look that meant business.
"If y'all hear screams coming out of our bedroom"—he waggled his
eyebrows belligerently—"don't call the police."

"I
think I'm going to be sick," Harry muttered.

Gwenyth
laughed. She shook her head at her grandfather's audacity, but couldn't stop
the grin from forming on her lips anymore than her prudish brother could.
"Goodnight everyone."

* * * * *

Gregory's
smoldering gaze burned hotly as he peered down at his quarry. He would have
her. He would bide his time no more.

Lucy
gulped. She could see Gregory's erection clearly outlined through his
fashionably tailored jeans. She realized with all certainty that her time was
running out. Gregory would listen to no more of her arguments. He would accept
nothing less than her total surrender.

Gwenyth
bit on her lower lip as she read from Candy's latest published novel,
The
English Duke and the American Convenience Store Clerk
. Finally, after
two hundred and some odd pages, the hero and the heroine were preparing to get
down and do the dirty deed. Gwenyth's belly clenched in anticipation.

"What
do you want from me, Gregory?" Lucy closed her eyes against the pain of
her confused emotions, clenching the pricing gun in her hand as if it were her
only lifeline to sanity. She turned her back on him and continued working.
There was a big sale at the
Pit-n-Git
convenience store tomorrow
and Lucy needed to concentrate all her energies on preparing for it. Otherwise,
she would be overlooked for the big promotion yet again and Billy John Davis
would become the next Assistant Night Manager instead of her.

Gregory
removed the pricing gun from Lucy's grasp and spun her around to face him. His
nostrils flared at the very scent of her. She smelled of beer and gasoline, of
two-for-one cigarette packs and day old bread. Gregory had never wanted a woman
more. "I want everything, Lucy.
Everything."
He gazed into her
eyes and pleaded for their future together. "I want to make love to you
every night for the rest of my life. I want to put my babies inside of your
belly and watch them grow. I want to make you my Duchess."

Lucy
gasped at the hunger his words caused. She clutched her throat and whimpered.
She loved him, but how could she turn her back on
Pit-n-Git?
How
could she let Billy John Davis win?

"Gregory,
you know how important my career is to me. I've worked so long and hard to get
where I am now. If I run off to England with you, what will become of me? What
would I do
there?" she pleaded.

Gregory
gripped her shoulders and pulled her body against his. "I burn for you,
Lucy, don't you see that? Do you not realize that I would build a thousand
Pit-n-Git
s in
Dorchester if only you will marry me?" He ground his erection against
Lucy's belly until she whimpered with need. "Marry me, Lucy. Say you
will!"

Lucy
closed her eyes and moaned. She knew her will was dissolving. Still, she tried
one last time to stop the inevitable. can't, Gregory."

Gregory
raised a lordly brow. His smile was that of a hunter closing in on its prey. He
realized Lucy was caving. It was time to stop playing the gentleman and seduce
her like the notorious rake that he was. "I see you are in need of a
little persuasion, my dear..."

A
knock at the door snapped Gwenyth's head up to attention. "Damn," she
muttered, "I was just getting to the good part.
Yes
?" she
called out absently,
"come in."

The
door opened a moment later and Sam's imposing figure stalked inside of the
room. He closed the door quietly behind him and twisted the lock ominously.
Gwenyth braved a glance in his direction when she heard the click of the
lock—then gulped in dismay.

Good
grief.

As
if she hadn't been primed enough for lovemaking by Candy's book, now here Sam
was, looming over her bed wearing nothing but a towel and a hell of a sexy
scowl. The man could give Lord Gregory a run for his money any day.
"H-hi." She closed Candy's book and clutched it to her breast. When
it dawned on her that Lucy had done the same thing with her pricing gun while
in Gregory's unnerving presence, she knew she was a goner. "What are you
doing in here?" she asked more breathlessly than she'd meant to.

Sam
said nothing, making Gwenyth's tension that much worse. He gently removed the
book from her grasp, eyed the title for an exaggerated second, then set it
aside. Turning back to face Gwenyth, he cocked an arrogant brow at her.
"Every damn day since I've been here, I've found myself in need of a
shower after leavin' your presence, Cupcake. Well not tonight, damn it. You're
here, I'm here, and I'm takin' what's mine." He crossed his arms over his
chest and glowered down at her. "You got something to say about that,
baby?"

Gwenyth's
throat felt unbearable tight. Her eyes raked over Sam's impressively muscled
form—over his hard torso, his washboard belly, and the black line of hair that
trailed from his navel and disappeared into the towel. Between the book and
reality, she was as primed as primed could get. "I, uh... that is to say, uh."

"Spit
it out, Cupcake."

Gwenyth's
head shot up. She realized that Sam was giving her an out. She could take it.
She could tell him to get out of her bedroom and he would. But she also
realized that he'd laid his ego on the line tonight. Sam knew from the very way
she'd been avoiding him for the past three days that she wanted him as
passionately as he wanted her. But how many refusals for attention could a man
take? Perhaps he'd walk away and never look back. That thought was depressing
in the extreme.

On
the other hand, Sam was a gentleman. If Gwenyth asked for time to sort out her
feelings, he'd give it to her. She didn't want him to think she flat out had no
interest in pursuing whatever it was that was burgeoning between them, but
neither did she think she was anywhere near ready to be intimate with him. She
decided to be honest. "I've wanted this since I was old enough to
fantasize, Sam..."

He
sighed. "But?"

Gwenyth
blew out a breath. "But I..." She shrugged her shoulders as she sat
up on her knees. "I just need some time to figure out my feelings. Can you
give me that, Sam?"

"Sure,
Cupcake." He smiled disarmingly and a little too sweetly. Gwenyth sensed
that he hadn't given up. "You can think about anything you want for as
long as you want"—his smile turned feral—"so long as I'm buried ten
inches deep inside of you while you're doin' it." A muscle in his jaw
ticked as the towel around his hips was thrown to the floor.

Gwenyth
licked her suddenly dry lips. Apparently baseball players weren't taught the
meaning of the words
fair
play
at camp. She tried to maintain eye
contact, but her gaze, as if summoned by a force of its own, soon meandered
downward, to the magnificent erection jutting out from the nest of dark curls
on Sam's lower body.
Good grief.
He hadn't exaggerated about the ten
inches.

Gwenyth
took a deep, steadying breath. She knew, just knew, that Sam was waiting for
her to make the first move. She could make love with him here and now or she
could send him on his way so she could be alone with her thoughts, so she could
decide her feelings. Mysteriously, option number two no longer held the same
appeal as it had before he'd removed the now infamous towel.

"What's
it gonna be, Cupcake?" Sam's voice was thick with desire. "Are you
gonna keep playin' at the scared little girl or are you gonna quit runnin' and
face up to what's happenin' between us?" Hovering over the bed, he reached
down and traced the outline of her lower lip with his thumb. "I've been wantin'
you for half of forever, Gwenyth Marie."

Gwenyth's
head shot up. She searched his eyes for any signs of a lie, but found nothing
there. Was it possible? Had Sam really thought of her as more than a little
sister, but refused to give into it because of her young age all those years
ago? The sheer prospect of that image being feasible warmed her heart and
softened her resolve to steer clear of him like nothing else could have.

Gwenyth
gave herself over to what she'd wanted, to what she'd needed for as long as she
could remember. Already on her knees, she locked eyes with Sam as she
tentatively reached out for his hips and drew his body closer to her own.
Wordlessly, Gwenyth placed a sweet kiss in the middle of his neck, causing Sam
to drag in a ragged breath.

Sam
twined his large hand around Gwenyth's topknot and used it to press her face
closer into his chest. He kissed the top of her head and groaned. Sam's
breathing grew more and more choppy as Gwenyth's kisses made a searing path
around first one flat nipple, and then the other. She worked her way down his
body with an agonizing slowness, one hand splayed against his chest, the other
now cupping his erection. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.
"You're killin' me Gwen."

Gwenyth
smiled against Sam's chest as she continued along the path she'd wanted to
tread down for years. She licked an imaginary circle around the center of his
hard, flat abdomen, stopping when she reached the tip of his erection. Sam
shuddered and groaned when Gwenyth licked the very top of his arousal. His
muscles bunched and tensed in anticipation of what he knew was coming.
"Come on, baby," he whispered hoarsely, "kiss all of him."

Sam's
groan was fierce when she did just that. He didn't know how much he'd be able
to take, how long he could last when faced with this burning ecstasy. She took
him all the way in, his cock moving in and out of the back of her throat. He
allowed her mouth a few more strokes down the length of him, then he pulled her
face away from his erection.

Pushing
Gwenyth onto her back, he tore her nightgown from her body and threw it to the
floor, leaving her clad in nothing but silk panties. Sam then climbed between
her legs and secured himself amidst her splayed thighs. "The first time I
come inside of you, baby, it will damn well be in here." He rotated his
hips against the place inside Gwenyth that was burning in need, leaving no
question as to where
here
was.