Page 63 of Wicked Player

Her hand fell back down. She tangled her fingers together and twisted the fingers on her other hand. It was the first time I’d seen her nervous.

“You know who I am,” she said, instead of answering the question. “You’ve known for longer.”

I detected a whisper of annoyance as she spoke and pushed it out of my mind.

“Yup.” There was no point in denying it.

“Please, Gage—”

“Don’t.” I stepped forward, cutting her off. My jeans were at her knees and then pushing in between them. I bent over, taking her to the mattress and pinned her in with my hands just above her shoulders. “Don’t say my name. I can leave right now, and you can never prove this was me in here with you.”

She licked her lips and that frown line of hers dipped between her eyes, above the black satin. “I don’t understand.”

God she smelled good. Inches from her, it was near impossible not to strip her down, lay her bare, have her straddle me on the lounge chair where I could hit the end of her with my dick.

“You’ve met my mom and dad. You know what they do. This gets out, what I like, what I do…how do you think they would take that? How do you think their congregation would handle it? And the children’s hospital? With me as their poster boy, what would the ramifications be if it came to light I enjoyed beating women?”

She jolted as if I’d slapped her. “Wow.” Her hands went to her cheek and she brushed back her hair into a ponytail, let it fall. She looked away from me, mouth dropped. “Wow. And I thought…” she didn’t finish the thought. Instead, her head whipped back to me, blonde hair trailing in the air behind her. If I removed the blindfold, I imagined arrows darting from her pretty blue eyes. “I would never do that.”

“And before you remove that blindfold, I needed to hear it. I’m not trying to be a dick, Elizabeth.”

“You’re failing.” Her arms crossed over her chest. That sweet little grin of hers formed a perfect scowl.

“And in a second, you’ll have a decision to make. We can forget I’m a dick and get to the good stuff. Maybe.” I stepped closer. My hand went to her waist and slid up her side to below her breasts. “It all depends on the choice you make.”

“Oh? I get to make choices now in how these nights go?”

“Once. And not the whole night. Just whether it really begins or ends.”

“Ends?”

“Your choice. But you have to know the cost.”

“Okay…”

I ran a finger down her arm. Back up. To the fragile little strap. I tugged on it, pulled it over her shoulder and kissed her collarbone. “We can have one more night, Elizabeth. Exactly how the others have gone, maybe even better. And if you choose that option, that’s it.” The scent of her reeled me in. Sweet and flowery. God. She was tempting.

“And my other choice?” Her voice was a mere breath. Melodic even through the roughness. At the base of her throat, her pulse thrummed.

“Option two,” I whispered, my lips at her ear. “If we remove the blindfold, we beus,but before you make that decision you make it knowing it means that when we’re done here, you and I will walk out, hand in hand, and I’ll be taking you back to your place for round two.”

She exhaled harshly, parted lips ripping warm breath against my cheek. My lips were moving at her jaw, teasing, tempting. Her hands gripped my shirt at my hips. “Is that what you want?”

I’d given this a lot of thought. “I always thought I had to put a lot on hold to play football, to live for Harrison, to be the son my parents needed. And sometimes it got to me, trying to be the perfect guy. So I thought I had to keep these relationships private, knowing if a woman and I didn’t work out, I couldn’t risk this part of me getting out. But maybe I wasn’t putting anything off. Maybe I was waiting for the woman I could trust with all of it.”

Soft, warm fingertips trailed up my shirt. Walked up the buttons of my shirt and rested on my chest. “And that’s me?”

“I think that I want to figure that out and it’s the first time I’ve been willing to take that risk which, I’m really not trying to be a dick, but it says a lot about you, and what I’m beginning to feel for you.”

“Gage…”

My name trailed off her lips and her hands went to my neck. She rolled to her toes, reaching up as she pressed her palms to the cut of my jaw. I met her halfway, bending down and sealed my lips to hers.

“Tell me that’s a yes.”

“Of course it’s a yes.” Before she changed her mind, before I could, I lifted the blindfold and flung it off. Her eyes blinked several times, adjusted to the darkness in the room.

And then full, beautiful lips spread into a smile.

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