Playing for Kinley (Cruz Brothers Book 1) (25 page)

“Oh my God,” I gasped, not entirely prepared for his talented mouth. “
Parker…
”

He didn’t go slow or take his time. He just went in with a single goal in mind and he wasn’t going to stop until he took it from me. His hands went to my backside, pulling me in closer to his mouth, giving him better access and opening me up wider to his oral assault.

I looked down to see a sight I would never forget. Parker Cruz on his knees before me, his face buried in me, his skillful tongue spearing me, and his head of dark, wavy hair pressing against me. It was like a dream come true. And when he sucked that bundle of nerves into his mouth, I tipped my head back and screamed my pleasure into the room, gripping his hair in my fingers for purchase.

He didn’t wait for me to catch my breath in my disoriented, post-orgasmic state. He once again picked me up and carried me over to the bed, the rough denim of his jeans rubbing against the soft flesh of me that his mouth had just destroyed. He set me on the bed and I helped him get those jeans off, my breath coming quicker as I realized I was finally about to see Parker in all his glory, something I’d thought about for almost half my life.

My fantasies didn’t disappoint either.

His erection jutted out from his body, long and thick and pointed right at me. My insides began to tingle as my body tried to imagine how it would feel inside me, how deep it could reach.

“Put your mouth on me,” he whispered. His voice was rough and hoarse. I would have done it even if he hadn’t told me to, but the desperation in his voice drove me over the edge.

I stuck my tongue out, licking from base to tip and then enveloped the head into my mouth, causing his whole body to tense. “
Fuck
.” His hand gripped my head, his hips starting to thrust against me, pushing him deeper inside but not choking me. “Just like that, baby.
Shit
.”

When I lowered my mouth further, his voice became strangled and he gently pulled me off of him. “We’ll finish that later. I’m not going to come inside your mouth the first time.” He grabbed a condom from his jeans pocket, and then pushing me back onto the bed, he climbed on top and immediately spread my legs with his knees.

He paused above me, propping himself up with his hands, sensing that we both needed to take in this moment. The first time we were both fully exposed to each other, about to join our bodies in a way that would forever connect us to each other. This was far more than the mere physical act of sex for us and we both knew it. We were about to love each other in the most intimate way possible and we knew nothing was ever going to be the same again.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted you like this?” he asked as he sheathed himself with one hand, his other caressing my body in the gentlest of touches. “How much I’ve wanted this?” He bent down and brought our bodies closer, his thick shaft hovering over my entrance. “
Christ
, Kinley. I need to feel you around me so fucking bad.”

I brushed a piece of hair off his face, cupping his cheek, and raised my hips to him, asking but also demanding. “Show me.”

With eyes locked onto each other, he drove into me, thrusting deeply in one deliciously smooth motion, our mutual groans of satisfaction when he was all the way inside filling the silence of the room. It didn’t take long for my body to adjust to him and then he became relentless. He plowed through my tightness, swallowing my moans with his mouth when the friction between our bodies became too intense.

I’d never had someone fit inside me so perfectly, mold to my body the way Parker’s body was. I clutched onto his shoulders, clawing at his back and burying my face in his neck when he started hitting spots inside of me that hadn’t been touched in so long.

I could tell he was getting close, his powerful movements becoming rougher, our rhythm becoming more erratic. Then, he suddenly dropped to the bed, twisted his body around, and lifted me to sit atop him, straddling his hard form. The fact that he could handle my body like that with such ease and grace made my slick channel tighten around him, coating his length with my arousal.

“You look so fucking good on top of me like this,” he said between breaths. “Ride me, baby. Ride me hard and don’t stop.”

I did. And I wasn’t about to stop.

His insistent hands helped guide my movements, gripping my hips tightly as I swayed back and forth, bracing my hands on his chest for leverage. I could take him so much deeper this way and he felt it. His head was thrown back into the pillow, eyes squeezed shut, muttering incoherent words that I wasn’t sure I was supposed to understand.

Relishing the power I currently had over him, I wanted to send his pleasure to the next level. I started to clench my inner muscles around him, my opening pulsing until his eyes flew open and snapped down to where our bodies were joined.

“Holy shit,” he whispered. “
Fuck
, do that again.”

I did as he said, his brow furrowing as if he were in pain and I started to feel him grow even more inside of me. “Oh, God. I’m close.”

Then, I felt his fingers start to rub my clit, hitting right on those nerves, pinching them until I cried out. It only took a few more thrusts and a swivel of his hips—
God
, he was good at that part—until I was releasing around him, my body going still as I allowed the blissful sensations to wash over me. I could have stayed in that exact position for the rest of the night, just marveling in how sated, how pleasured my body was.

Seconds later, Parker was following me into the abyss, yanking my hips down onto him harder before he let out a fierce growl, followed by incoherent babbling of my name, repeating it over and over to himself. I carefully eased myself off and then collapsed next to him on the bed, my legs exhausted and shaky from the experience.

He disposed of the condom before rolling onto his side, facing me with the most satisfied smile on his face. Although my eyes were starting to droop, I didn’t miss how utterly happy he looked as he stared at me. Even after what we had just done, my heart still felt like it had a million butterflies fluttering about inside of it.

Just from how he looked at me, from what I saw in his eyes.

Whether that was love I saw there or not, I couldn’t tell. But it was something deep and meaningful and that was more than enough for me. I wasn’t ready for us to start spilling every emotion to each other yet. I still had to get used to this new development in our relationship, especially since we had just reached a plateau that we’d never made it to in the past.

This changed everything.

Parker’s fingers were playing with the ends of my hair, twisting them around his finger as he gazed into my eyes, communicating so much more than his lips could ever reveal. “I never thought that I’d be here with you, Kin. Not after all the mistakes I’ve made. But I couldn’t be more grateful.” His expression was one of almost bewilderment as he took in my face. “You are so damn beautiful.”

If I hadn’t realized that I was still in love with him before that, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to deny it after hearing those words. Afraid that if I opened my mouth I would say too much, I just smiled at him, hoping he knew what his declaration meant to me.

He smiled back and leaned forward to lay a kiss on my forehead. “Get some sleep, baby. We’ll still be here tomorrow.”

I immediately started to drift into unconsciousness but not before I briefly contemplated what he said. Although I found his word choice interesting, I also delighted in the fact that he was right. I didn’t have to go to sleep worried about what tomorrow would bring, or whether or not either of us would regret what happened. It didn’t have to be scary like the paranoid part of my brain wanted to envision.

We both knew there was no going back.

And I fell asleep smiling, knowing that the first thing I’d see when I woke up was Parker’s face.

Parker

If this was a dream, I never wanted to wake up.

How had I been able to get this gorgeous woman into bed with me? For so long, I’d assumed that I had missed my chance with her, that she would forever be “the one that got away.” Figured I would have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for ruining the best thing that ever happened to me.

Now, she was here with me.

And last night couldn’t have gone better. Or felt better, for that matter.

Kinley had surpassed every single one of my fantasies and some of them about her had gotten pretty creative over the years, I had to admit. Watching her sleep was something I hoped to be able to do for many, many years to come. If she was willing to give us another chance—a real chance this time—there was no way in hell I was going to squander it.

The thin sheet was tucked underneath her arms, covering her still-naked form as she breathed evenly in her sleep. Her lips were barely parted and I couldn’t take my eyes from them. One thing that I’d always loved about Kinley was the fact that she never tried to maximize her beauty like a lot of women do. Her features were just naturally stunning and she didn’t feel it necessary to hide any of that underneath ten layers of makeup or coif her hair into perfection before she went to go get her mail.

She was always herself, no matter who she was around or what she was doing, and it was such a breath of fresh air.

And those lips of hers were every man’s wet dream, whether they were naked or sporting bright red lipstick. More often than not, Kinley left them bare, with minimal balm or gloss on them and I found that was how I preferred them. Because when I tasted her, I wanted to taste Kinley, not some manufactured product.

Besides, if she put anything on them, it would be immediately kissed off anyway.

Which was what I leaned forward to do because I simply couldn’t take not touching her anymore. Her eyes fluttered open and softened when she took in what was happening, grinning for only a second before she was kissing me back.

“Mmm…” she moaned when I reluctantly pulled away. “Give a girl a chance to wake up all the way before you ravage her.”

I grabbed ahold of her hips and pulled her into me, ripping the sheet separating us out of the way. “But I like waking you up like that.”

Her smile was sweet, her green eyes brighter than I’d ever seen them as the morning light caught the subtle flecks of gold in them. “Well, I can’t really complain about that. You’re a pretty good kisser.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Pretty good?”

She squinted up at the ceiling like she was thinking. “Definitely top three, I’d say.”

She squealed and giggled into my chest when I pinched her backside. “You’ll pay for that comment. I’d better be the best you’ve ever had, kissing and all.” I didn’t like thinking about her with anyone else, no matter when it was and regardless of whether or not we were kidding around.

She ran her fingers down my cheek, rubbing against the short hair there. “Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.” Then, it was her turn to raise her eyebrow at me. “Do I?”

I wiped the smile from my face, feigning a serious expression. “Maybe.”

Her eyes widened and I burst into laughter as she smacked my arm and tried to kick me, but I had her legs pinned between my own. “Then, that might be the last time you ever get any of my kisses…or anything else at all,” she threatened.

She was adorable as hell when she was annoyed.

I pulled her back into me, wrapping my arms around her so she couldn’t try to escape. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ve never come so hard in my life.”

She scoffed. “How romantic.” I could tell she was smiling when she said it, though.

This time, my serious tone was genuine. “You know it’s more than that, right?”

I didn’t have to go into detail; she knew what I meant. Her voice was low and soft when she replied. “Yeah, I know. For me, too.”

I kissed the top of her head and started to move my hands lower down her body. “Now, let’s have some breakfast.”

She groaned and hunkered down further into her pillow. “I’m not ready to go anywhere.”

I chuckled, a dark edge to the sound. When I whipped the sheet off the bed, revealing her fully naked body to me, there was nothing else between us. Precisely how I preferred it.

“Oh, honey. We’re having breakfast in bed.”

##

Two hours later, we were sprawled out on two huge beach towels, lazing on the beach and relaxing in the sun. We did end up going to a diner down the street from the hotel for breakfast and then decided we wanted to spend the rest of the day doing nothing at the beach. We didn’t know how often we’d get days like this in the coming months where I didn’t have a game somewhere and she didn’t have a photo shoot, so we wanted to take advantage.

We were taking the opportunity to get to know each other again, learning about one another and discovering what had changed over the years and what had remained the same.

And it had been very educational, at least for me.

I’d learned that Kinley liked her eggs any way but sunny side up, she took her coffee black, and she only ever used tanning oil instead of sunscreen because she never burned. Oh yeah, and she looked fucking mouth-watering in a bikini, but I’d always known that. Especially when her body was all oiled up like it was, spread out on that towel like a giant feast for my eyes.

I’d been diamond-cutter hard ever since she first took off her cover-up and showed me what she was hiding under that thing. Of course, the bikini had to be emerald green to match her eyes. Pretty sure I spurted a little in my pants whenever I got a glimpse of her in the barely-there material.

I hadn’t been too handsy with her as we had been enjoying talking about anything and everything, but that wasn’t to say that it hadn’t been a painful struggle not to pull her onto my lap.

“Please tell me your favorite movie has changed since your
Bring It On
days,” I told her, tilting my head to the side so she could hear me underneath the hat I was using to shield my eyes from the sun.

She giggled and the sound made me just want to eat her up. “That was when I was, like, in fifth grade. Back when I all I wanted to be was a cheerleader.”

“Should I even ask what it is now? If you say something like
Mean Girls
, I might have to leave you here by yourself.”

She outright laughed this time. “No, it’s not. But the fact that you’ve clearly seen that movie doesn’t exactly say much about you. Um, I would have to say…
Pride and Prejudice
. The old or the new version. I just love the book.”

I groaned. “It’s still a romance, though. You’re killing me.”

She swatted my arm. “Hey, it’s a great story. All that seventeenth-century angst? The two of them thinking they hated each other but then realizing it was love all along? What woman doesn’t love that?”

I snorted. “Love-hate relationships? Yeah, stuff of fairytales right there.”

I sobered after I said it, though, as her words sank in with me. I wondered if Kinley thought of our relationship that way. I’d never once in my life thought I hated her, but she hadn’t been my biggest fan for the past several years. I sincerely hoped that it had never gotten to the point of hate for her.

She turned her head toward me. I assumed she was looking at me but I couldn’t tell with her sunglasses on. “Well, what’s yours then? Let me guess,
Die Hard
?”

I considered it. “That is a good one. I don’t know if I could narrow it down to one favorite, though. I like anything with Mark Wahlberg because he’s a badass, but I don’t think I could pinpoint one movie.”

“Okay then…” she said, thinking. “What’s the one thing you would be if you weren’t a baseball player? I mean, what would you have done if baseball hadn’t worked out?”

That took some more thinking. I tried to remember what I’d liked before baseball became my life. It was hard because this was all I’d ever known for so long. I wasn’t sure if it was sad that I actually had to think about what made me happy in life other than baseball…and Kinley, of course. And then it hit me as if it was so obvious.

“Probably doing something with my hands. I’ve always liked to build things, so maybe something in construction or carpentry work. I took a carpentry class in high school and really liked it. Was good at it too, so probably something along those lines.”

I turned to look at her when she didn’t answer and found her staring at me with a curious expression on her face, appearing almost dubious. “That makes sense,” she responded. “You always liked working on stuff around the house with my dad.”

I felt her eyes still studying me when I turned my head back around and decided I needed to take her attention off of me again. “Your turn. What was your favorite photo shoot that you went on? Or favorite location?”

I heard her shuffling around and saw her turn on her side toward me, propping herself up on her elbow, staring at the sand between us as she considered the question. “There’ve been a lot of amazing places. But I guess if I had to pick, the one that really stands out in my head was Santorini, one of the Greek Islands.” Her expression turned dreamy and she got a far-off look in her eyes. “I stayed in a hotel near the top of the mountain, and I can’t even describe the experience of waking up to a view like that every day. I don’t know, I just can’t put into words how being up there and seeing everything below me like that made me feel like I was on top of the world. Like I could do anything.”

I think she could have told me about every place she’d ever been to and I would never have gotten bored. Knowing that she’d gotten to see all of that, had been able to live her life so free and vibrant like that, was a relief and filled me with such pride and joy for her.

I wanted her to see the world. She deserved that and more.

I just wished that I’d been with her to see it all.

“Sounds amazing, Kin.”

She nodded, a wistful smile spread across her face. “It was. I think about that trip all the time. I’d like to go back there someday.”

I reached over and took her hand in mine. “Then you will.”
With me.
I didn’t want to freak her out by saying it but I was completely serious. If I had the opportunity to take Kinley there some day, I was going to do it in a heartbeat.

That was my silent vow to her.

She turned toward me, the wistful smile gone and in its place was a look of sympathy, which made me wary of whatever she was going to say next. “Can I ask you something?” she asked.

“Sure,” I answered, praying it wasn’t something that would tear my heart out.

She hesitated for a second and then asked, “Do you see your parents very often anymore?”

I was waiting for her to ask about them. As far as I knew, all Kinley ever knew about my home situation when I was growing up was that my father was a drunk and my mom didn’t do much about it. I figured she’d suspected there was some level of abuse involved, but I knew she didn’t know to what extent because not even Clay knew that. And every time she’d tried to ask me about it during our one summer together, I’d always deflected the question and distracted her with kisses.

I knew that wasn’t going to work anymore.

If Kinley and I were serious about each other this time around, I had to learn how to open up. I just wasn’t ready to go all the way and reveal everything on this perfect, sunny afternoon at the beach with her. I didn’t want to ruin our mood by laying all of my dysfunctional shit at her feet.

“I haven’t seen my mom since Christmas and I make sure Sal isn’t there any time I come around. I haven’t seen him in…hell, I don’t even know. It’s been at least four years probably.”

“Have they ever been to one of your games?” she asked quietly.

“Once.” My voice was hoarse as I recalled the memory. “One of my Little League games. It was the championship game and I begged them to come. My mom actually looked excited, smiling at me from the stands whenever I looked over at her.”

Then, my voice changed, becoming hard. “Sal showed up drunk. I didn’t have a very good game that day. I think it was just because I was so nervous that my father had finally come to see me play. I remember I struck out, grounded out, and then flied out. I made some pretty good plays defensively, but he criticized me after the game for not getting a hit. He didn’t come to another one, saying it was a waste of his time if I couldn’t even hit the ball. He wouldn’t let Mom come to another one either.”

She was quiet, listening to my story as she rubbed her fingers across my open palm soothingly. I heard her sniff and hoped she wasn’t crying for me. I couldn’t look over at her because I didn’t want to see the pity in her eyes. Truthfully, I think I was afraid that I’d get emotional if I saw the way she cared for me, even when my own parents hadn’t.

“I’m sorry it was like that for you,” she whispered, her voice shaky.

I tried to shrug but I was laying down and it came out awkward. “I survived. Plus, I had Clay and your family. Your parents did more for me than I had any right to expect. I owe them a lot.”