Page 112 of Hard Hitter
They both let out noises of shocked pleasure. Watching himself, he slid in and out again slowly. The view was the stuff of porn films. But it wasn’t exactly what he wanted. So he lowered his elbows to the bed, one on either side of her body. Fitting every inch of his chest onto her waiting back, and kissing her neck again, he began to rock.
Ari made an incomprehensible sound that may or may not have been his name. Rolling his hips, he gathered her even closer. It was probably a good idea that she couldn’t see his face right now, because there was no way he could keep the look of devotion off of it. He had everything he wanted in this moment. He’d tell her straight up how he felt—he couldn’t wait to do it. But he’d only had her back for a couple of hours and didn’t want to freak her out. So he laved the sensitive skin under her ear with his tongue, and then sucked until she moaned.
“You... we... so good...” she said into the bedspread.
“I know,” he whispered.
“Love the way you feel.”
Love you. He slipped a hand beneath her arm and reached down until he could touch the place where they were joined. She gasped again, and pushed her hips back to meet him. He took a deep, steadying breath and bore down. This was everything. He moved inside her, listening to the rising sounds of her pleasure, knowing he’d never been so lucky a day in his life.
***
“Balasana is supposed to be a resting, restorative position,” Ari told him afterwards as they lay on the bed, breathing hard.
“Well. I feel completely restored.”
She laughed, and hugged him. They lay there a long time just holding each other. “Good thing I hadn’t put dinner in the oven yet,” she said eventually. “Shall we finish it now?”
They got up slowly, and Ari put the fish in the oven.
They tidied up the kitchen together, and he loved their companionable silence, and the way she touched a hand to his back when she moved around him.
“I still owe you an explanation,” he said when the prep area was clean again.
She put a hand to his bare chest. “What do you wish to explain?”
“I already told you that I only met Vince once before he threw a brick through your window. I didn’t know you two were connected. Didn’t care, either. I saw those texts, and I didn’t know who he was. When I ran over there and he was threatening you, I just wanted to shut him down, no matter who he was.”
“Okay.” She nodded slowly. “I understand.”
“I mean, when he sent that picture to the Bruisers’ office, he was telling me to back the fuck off. That he could damage me. But I wasn’t going to listen. And it didn’t have a thing to do with the...” He cleared his throat. “Junk I bought from him once.”
“Why’d you do it?” she asked.
That was the really hard conversation, wasn’t it? “Another player—a competitor—told me they’d make me feel invincible. And he was right. But buying them made me feel like a lowlife. And I spent my whole adulthood trying not to be that lowlife kid from the group home, right? So after that one time I didn’t buy again.”
“You’re not taking anything now,” she clarified.
“No, baby. I’d tell you if I was. But that’s why I passed my drug test.”
“Those things are easy to pass.”
“If they are, I don’t want to know.”
A soft hand cradled his face. “Thank you for telling me. If we’re going to be together, you can’t take that stuff again.”
“Aw.” He gathered her up. “That’s a hell of an incentive.” He kissed her shoulder.
“Some people can’t stop, though,” she said softly. “Even if they mean to.”
“The team doctors told me I was lucky not to get sucked in right away. They said to stay away from that shit because I might not be lucky again.”
“And you’re going to listen?”
“Yeah. I am. I’m doing good, sweetheart. I promise.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I trust you.”
