Filthy Player (A Rough Riders Novel Book 2) Read online

  I didn’t have a single excuse and for the first time since I could remember, I didn’t want to spend the time thinking of one.

  Now it was Tuesday, and I was walking up the three small steps to his brownstone.

  In my purse was a clean pair of underwear and a toothbrush, because if he expected me to pay up for his help with my body, I was primed and ready to go.

  He’d already proven to me he wanted more than a quick one night fling.

  I scraped a hand through my hair while my heart palpitated at an alarming rate.

  “Dinner,” I told myself. “He’d only said dinner.”

  I rang the bell and almost immediately heard footsteps echoing on the other side of the door. Quick and firm, they sounded hurried, and then the lock was undone, the door opened.

  In Beaux’s typical, casual fashion, he was wearing a pair of faded, ripped jeans and a teal Rough Riders T-shirt. His hair was swept to the side and styled in that sexy and popular way of his. His jaw was clean of scruff giving me a perfect view of his sharp, defined jaw and beautiful full lips. I couldn’t do anything except stand there, on his stoop, mesmerized by the magnificent sight of him.

  At six foot five, almost a full foot taller than me, he was a mountain of a man.

  I loved his size.

  “You coming in?” Beaux said, one hand on the door the other on the frame. “Or do you want to keep staring at me.”

  “Yes.”

  He laughed and reached out. His hand slid to my back, hot against the cool silky cream top I was wearing, and he yanked me inside.

  I fell to his chest and then his other hand was at my jaw, thumb sweeping, driving me breathless.

  “Have a good day?” he asked, murmuring and moving down toward me. His eyes dropped to my mouth.

  I wet them on instinct and tilted my head up, seeking his mouth. “Yes.”

  I didn’t have to ask and I didn’t have to wait long. His nose glided against mine and then his lips brushed over mine. He tasted sweet, with a hint of garlic telling me he’d been cooking dinner, which surprised and pleased me.

  I’d assumed we’d order in. But his house smelled divine and I took it all in as my hands pushed into his hair, I arched into his body, and then my back was against a wall. He’d pinned me and yet I never felt freer.

  “God you smell good,” he said, shoving his face into my neck. “And you taste even better. I just want to stand here and ravish you.”

  It sounded like the perfect way to spend the night. “Yes.”

  His breath warmed my throat as he laughed and he pulled back, kissing my nose. “After we eat. Need you to have some energy for later.”

  He winked and stepped back, gripping my hand and leading me into the kitchen.

  ***

  His home was an immaculate, narrow brownstone. The front room led into a dining room and then a kitchen. Beaux’s had an addition on the back with an extra large living space and I knew upstairs there’d most likely be three bedrooms and two bathrooms. They were typical of the Raleigh downtown area, some well over a hundred years old and decrepit, but Beaux’s had been modernized and updated over the years.

  White quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances filled his kitchen and when we reached it, he pulled out a barstool. He demanded I sit while he finished grilling chicken and what smelled like lamb burgers on his gas stove top, added a side of asparagus, and then fixed up a salad filled with a variety of different lettuce. While he worked, he filled a glass of wine and slid it toward me and grabbed himself a bottled water.

  Had to hand it to the guy, he had serious skills in the kitchen.

  I moaned for what had to be the fifth time since I’d started eating. “How did you become such a good cook?”

  “Have to eat twice as much as the average person and I need it to fuel me, not just fill me. In college, we had a nutritionist. I learned what I needed to eat, learned I liked doing it, and then I kept trying new crap.”

  He always made everything he was talented at sound so simple. Perhaps he was that gifted at everything he tried.

  I’d be jealous if it hadn’t so far turned out in my favor.

  “How was your practice today?” I asked. The team hadn’t played great on Sunday and last night he’d said practice had been rough.

  “Good. We’ve got some new guys on the defensive line and some timing kinks to work out, but we’ll get there.”

  “Of course you will.”

  “Yeah? You have that much faith in me?”

  Yeah. I was beginning to think I did. “No,” I teased, laughing at the face he made. “I have faith in your tight end.”

  “Powell? He’s your thing?” He held up a hand, covering his eyes. I laughed so hard tears were forming in my eyes. “Gah! Never mind. Don’t tell me. That dude’s marrying my sister and I don’t even want to think of you wanting him, too.”

  “I don’t want him, you ninny.” I tossed a tomato from my salad at him. “But he’s more serious. More determined. From everything I’ve heard he’ll probably retire soon and I’m sure he wants one more ring.”

  “Eh.” Beaux shrugged. “Once you have one it’s not important.”

  Liar, liar pants on fire. “Really?”

  He skewered me with a look and shoved a fork full of chicken into his mouth. After he swallowed, he winked. “Fuck no.”

  We finished our dinner, talking about family, he told me about Shannon and the jewelry store she opened in the warehouse district. It was more successful than any of her wildest dreams, even though she was still certain part of her success had to do with being engaged to Oliver.

  After dinner was done, I tried insisting he let me clean up but he filled my glass of wine back up and pointed toward the living room. “Go turn on the television. It’s your night off so relax.”

  I hesitated. I always helped. Then I remembered just weeks ago I was thinking of how nice it would be to have a partner, someone to lessen my load, and notice when I needed a break.

  He kept pointing. “Go.”

  Fine. He wanted to wash dishes. I’d let him wash dishes. I hated doing them.

  My next surprise came when I saw the two, at least seven-foot tall built-ins flanking his extra large television.

  Filled with books.

  I scanned the shelves. He had everything from courtroom dramas, murder mysteries, and thrillers to non-fiction autobiographies and self-improvement books. I was just finishing a sip of wine when Beaux entered the room.

  “You read all these?”

  “Plane rides get boring after awhile and you can only play so many games of Candy Crush or Casino Royale. Have to do something to not be bored out of my skull.”

  “They have these devices these days, you know.” I made a sweeping gesture with my hand toward the shelves. “All these books fit on one small little tablet and you can read them there.”

  He had at some point opened a beer and he brought it to his lips. “I like the feel of paper. Hate reading on my phone. Shannon bought me a Kindle a couple years ago and I never got used to it.”

  “You are full of surprises.”

  “Yeah.” He set down his beer and walked toward me. No, not walked. He prowled, slow and steady. I’d become his target and I didn’t for a second doubt his aim. “Want to see what other surprises I have for you?”

  I did. I really, really did. I’d been a brat to him several times. He’d been nothing but kind to me.

  He was the first attractive guy I’d been with in a long time and it wasn’t just physical, we connected on a level I didn’t understand. Perhaps it was our common, simpler backgrounds.

  Perhaps it was the crazy thing called chemistry I never really fully believed in.

  Whatever it was, I set my glass down on the coffee table and rested my hands on Beaux’s shoulders. “Yes. Show me more surprises.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  BEAUX

  This was our second date. Felt more like our fifth if you included all the times I’d
seen her.

  We were well past the point of me hiding exactly what I wanted from her, what I wanted to give her, what I wanted to do to her. Not that I’d done such a bang up job of keeping it a secret from her since the moment we met at the restaurant, but slow was no longer in my vocabulary or on my agenda.

  I had her for the night, and I had an early team meeting. I planned to use every single second I had available to my complete advantage, so when Paige said yes, I took her hand in my mine, guided her toward the stairs, and led her straight to my room, only taking a quick detour to show her the bathroom in case she needed it.

  I went to the other bathroom, rinsed the taste of chicken and garlic off my breath and was entering my bedroom when Paige was coming out of the master bath.

  She paused, gaze taking in the room, which wasn’t really much. I loved my house, loved how Shannon had helped me decorate it. A lot of white and gray, a lot of straight lines, and a lot more macho artwork and worthless knickknacks than I cared about on the shelves downstairs, but it all looked good and that was all I cared about.

  My bedroom, though, was my domain. All over one of my bedroom walls were photographs and framed newspaper articles of my teams and my accomplishments over the years. I didn’t keep them to give myself a big head.

  I kept them to remind me of where I came from. How I could lose it all if I wasn’t the guy I was trying to be.

  I kept them framed and displayed so every morning I woke up, even if I didn’t feel like hauling my ass to the gym or wanted to do nothing but drink a case of beer and lay around, I had motivation to go out and continue striving to be better.

  Still, I hadn’t brought a woman to my home since I moved to Raleigh, and the fact that Paige was staring at that wall looking awed, made me self-conscious.

  I wasn’t used to people questioning me unless I already knew the answer I planned to give them. With Paige, I was learning that not everything could be scripted.

  Women didn’t come with a playbook you could memorize with enough study sessions.

  She turned to me as I stepped into the room. “You’re impressive.”

  I gripped my T-shirt at the back of my neck and ripped it off my head, moving toward her and flinging the shirt to the floor. “Am I?”

  Her eyes dropped, trailed my body and her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth. “Um.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I reached for her and my hands went to her hips. She was wearing short, navy blue shorts and an off-white top but all I could think about was everything beneath it.

  I’d had my hands on her before. Felt like it’d been forever, but that night at the park was a bit wild, way too rushed, and I needed her stripped and exposed to me. All of her — her heart and her body.

  “Look at me.” Her gaze came straight to mine. “I’m going to undress you and you’re going to get on the bed. And then you’re not going to come until I say you can.”

  I shot her a warning look, one daring her to argue with me but instead, she reached up to her hair and removed the clip that was there holding back her bangs. Chunks of her chocolate colored hair fell forward and she brushed it back, tossing her clip onto my nightstand.

  “Then you should probably get started.”

  Her body was trembling beneath my hands as I slid them up the sides of her body. My thumbs brushed over her breasts, teasing her. But I didn’t remove my gaze from hers. I wanted to see every reaction she gave me, every little panted breath and I wanted to see her eyes go hazy as I turned her on.

  “Ready?”

  She nodded. Barely. “Only as long as I can undress you, too.”

  “We’ll see,” I whispered, moving in so our bodies were pushed together. She smelled like springtime and flowers. A light perfume scent that drove me crazy as soon as I pressed my lips to hers. I parted her lips with my tongue and slid inside, tasting the cavern of her mouth while she clung to me, hands at my sides, chilled fingers pressing against my ribs.

  My skin burned with need to have her, my dick hard as a rock. She pressed into me, and I was done.

  The mewled sounds she made, the neediness in her breath spurned me on. I slid my hands to the hem of her shirt, pushed it up and only pulled away to remove it from her and then my hands were at her back, unfastening her bra. I didn’t pay attention to color. Satin, lace, cotton…made no damn difference to me. I wanted us flesh to flesh, heat to heat.

  My hands went to the button of her shorts and she reached for my jeans.

  Mine were unzipped.

  I pushed down her shorts, along with her underwear.

  Then I was kicking off my jeans and she was stepping out of her shorts. Clothes were a puddle on the floor and my hands were at her waist, lifting her and guiding her to my bed. I shoved back the sheets, pushed aside the pillows and settled her right where I wanted her.

  On my bed. Naked. Splayed out and completely bare. It was all my fantasies over the last month come to real life.

  “Damn,” I said, running my hand down the center of her chest. I kneeled back on my knees, draped her legs over mine.

  She was tan. Lean. Beautiful small breasts because I didn’t care about size. Just that I wanted her and I wanted to know every inch of her skin.

  “You’re beautiful,” I said, watching her reaction. My hand spanned her stomach, moved to her hips.

  Goose bumps flared on her sensitive skin but it was her face that turned me on more. Flushed cheeks. Parted lips. Half-lidded eyes. She licked her lips, arched into me.

  I pushed her hips into the mattress and leaned over her. “Stay still.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You’ll try if you want to come soon.”

  I sealed my command with a kiss, ravishing her mouth before I pulled her hands down to her sides and held them in mine.

  Beneath me, she spasmed and trembled, muscles tightening while I explored her throat, her chest. I flicked her nipples with my tongue, sucked them into my mouth, and her body went taut from the strain of trying to listen.

  “Beaux,” she whimpered. “Please. Please.”

  “God, you’re beautiful. So creamy and sweet everywhere.” I was at her stomach, doing exactly what I wanted, tasting every inch of her while I had her confined and restrained. She was splayed open, draped over my thighs and with my hands on her wrists holding her still, she looked so damn fucking vulnerable, my dick was rock hard with the need to slide inside of her.

  I forced myself to wait and trailed my tongue down the center of her stomach, moving to her hips, tasting her soft, so fucking soft, and sensitive skin.

  She bucked against me wildly, the scent of her almost overwhelming my need to take this slow.

  “God damn. So fucking perfect.” I moved further down, draped her legs over my shoulders and pushed her wide open and for a moment, I did nothing but stare at her. I looked up at her face to see she was watching me, cheeks flushed, eyes half-closed, lips parted.

  Spectacular.

  “You going to watch while I eat you?” I asked.

  “Give me my hands, I want to touch you.”

  “I like you restrained. Makes everything more powerful.”

  “If it’s any more powerful, I’m going to have a heart attack.”

  Challenge accepted. I grinned. “Let’s see if I can do that.”

  “Beaux—”

  But the rest of her words were lost because I slid my tongue through her center, humming against her pussy and flicking her folds, finding her clit. Swollen and hot, it throbbed against my tongue, showing me how close she already was.

  Fucking delicious. She tasted like her perfume, sweet and so damn delicious I’d just found my new daily dessert.

  Her hips thrust up, meeting me while I devoured her. I teased her clit, pushed my tongue inside her, and none of it was enough. I needed more. All of her. Her walls pulsed and trembled, her thighs were quivering, but fuck I wanted to draw this out, make it the best she ever had.

  Her pleasured sounds echo
ed in my ears. Yes. Yes. So close. Damn. Please. More. Beaux. Please.

  All that begging, so damn beautiful coming from her, I stopped wasting time.

  I let go of one of her hands and pushed two fingers into her. Fuck, she was tight. Hot. So damn wet, my fingers glistened as I eased them in and out of her.

  I focused my mouth on her clit, swirling and flicking, finding the rhythm that made her claw at the sheets and I pulled back, just enough to watch her.

  “Come, Paige. Give it to me.”

  “Yes!” she shouted. I dipped back down to her clit, fucking her relentlessly with my fingers and as soon as I sucked her clit into my mouth, biting gently, she came apart, shattered into what sounded like a thousand pieces, her pussy clamping around my fingers.

  Fuck, I couldn’t wait for that to be my dick.

  She was still quaking from aftershocks when I moved to the bedside. I shoved off my underwear, grabbed a condom from the side table and was tearing it open with my teeth when I climbed back on to her.

  “Holy shit,” she whispered, brushing her hair off her face and smiling lazily at me. “That was insane.”

  I rolled the condom on, squeezing the tip of my cock. I was so damn close to coming I needed some pain to take the edge off.

  “We’re not done yet, either.”

  I winked and then my hands went to her hips, flipping her over and pulling her up. “Grab the headboard,” I said. “I need to explore the rest of you.”

  Her head fell, and she looked at me over her shoulder. “I don’t know if I can take much more.”

  “You can. I have faith.” To prove it, I leaned down and ran my tongue up her spine. I brushed her hair over her shoulder to give me an unhindered view of her and it was there I saw a small little birthmark at the edge of her right shoulder.

  I kissed her there, eyes on her as she shivered and arched back against me.

  “Ready?” I asked, bending over her and running my dick through her still drenched folds.

  Fuck. This was going to be hard and fast. No way was I going slowly once I was in her. I wanted my hands on her ass, on her hips.