“I love you, Hayden,” he said, his throat thick with emotion. “I love everything about you.”
She gave a soft sigh of pleasure as he cupped her breasts, tenderly stroking the swell of each perfect mound.
He hastily removed his own clothes, kicked them aside, then dropped to his knees and peppered little kisses on her flat abdomen before moving to nip at her inner thigh. He loved the sweet little moan she responded with, loved the way she tangled her fingers in his hair and guided him to the spot between her legs that he knew ached for his touch.
He kissed her sensitized nub, flicked his tongue over her sweetness. He would never be able to get enough of her, even if he spent the rest of his life trying. With a small groan, he planted one last kiss on her soft folds and then pulled her down to the carpet.
With a look of pure contentment swimming in her forest-green eyes, Hayden lay back, spread her legs and offered him a wicked smile.
“Don’t keep me waiting,” she said with just a hint of challenge in her throaty voice.
“I don’t intend to.”
He covered her body with his, his shaft, hot and hard, pressed up against her belly. He shifted so that his tip brushed her wet sex, but didn’t plunge inside.
First, he kissed her again, a long, lazy kiss, and then he pulled back and said, “No ground rules this time.”
Her eyelids fluttered open. “What?”
“That second night, you said there were ground rules.” He nipped at the hot flesh of her neck. “No rules this time. You’re getting not only my body, but my heart and my soul, every night for the rest of your life. Got it?”
She raised her brows. “Again with the demands, huh?”
“You got a problem with that?”
With a laugh, she gripped his hair with her fingers and pulled his head down. Slipping her tongue into his mouth, she kissed him until he could barely see straight, then reached between them, circled his shaft and guided it to her opening, pushing herself down over his length.
He gasped.
“I don’t have…” she moaned as she took him in deeper “…a single problem with that.” With a breathy sigh, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his collarbone. “I love you, Brody.”
He slowly withdrew, then plunged back in, filling her to the hilt. “It drives me wild when you say that,” he squeezed out.
“What, I love you?”
His cock jerked in response. “Yes, that.”
She lifted her hips off the ground, and hooked her legs around his lower back, holding him prisoner with her wet heat. “Good, because I plan on saying it often. I love you, Brody Croft.”
Staying true to her word, she brushed her lips over his ear and said it again. And again. And again. With a groan, he buried his head in the crook of her neck, inhaled her sweet scent and sent them both to heaven.
And when they were sated and happy and lying there on the carpet, Brody could swear that the earth had moved.
Epilogue
One year later
“SERIOUSLY, BABE, we need to do something about that shower,” Brody grumbled as he stepped out of the bathroom.
Hayden couldn’t help but laugh at the aggravation on his ridiculously handsome face. “The plumber will be here on Monday, babe. Quit getting your panties in a knot.”
He strode into the recently painted master bedroom of their San Diego home, his frown deepening. “It really doesn’t bother you?”
“No, Brody. It doesn’t. It’s just a removable showerhead, for Pete’s sake. We’ll live without it for a couple more days.”
She rolled her eyes and rose from the bed. They’d purchased the house two months ago, at a bargain since the rambling three-story Victorian was in desperate need of renovations. So far, they’d painted every room, gutted the living room, retiled the kitchen—and Brody was worrying about a showerhead. Her husband definitely had a one-track mind. Of course, she’d known that when she’d married him.
“We should head over to the restaurant,” she said, swiftly putting an end to the subject Brody refused to drop. “Darcy will be wondering where we are.”
Brody snorted. “Darcy is probably having sex with one of the waiters as we speak.”
She wagged her finger at him. “Be nice. She’s taken a vow of celibacy, remember?”
Another snort. “Yeah, and I’m sure that’ll last for, oh, ten seconds. No, make that five.”
Hayden laughed, knowing he was probably right. Leopards couldn’t get rid of their spots, lions weren’t about to grow horns and Darcy White certainly couldn’t “quit” men. But Hayden was glad her friend was finally able to take time off and visit them. Darcy was actually considering moving to the West Coast, and Hayden was avidly encouraging her friend to do so. She would love having Darcy around on a more regular basis, especially since she wouldn’t be able to travel with Brody to his away games for much longer.