He brushed a crumb off her breast, and then licked at the glob of cream cheese that had landed near it. She tasted deliciously salty, sweat from the amazing sex they’d had as soon as they got home evaporating into the air. Only afterward did both of them realize they were ravenous, and they quickly toasted some bagels and brought them back to bed.
She let out a giggle, his heart jumping at the sound. She was the exact thing he needed. There was no other choice.
When Gretchen had appeared in front of him at the bagel shop, Josh thought he was going to drop the damned bag. The look on her face had been priceless, the surprise much better than the one he had planned, which was to bribe the concierge of her building and make his way up to her door, bagels in hand.
He had caught a last-minute flight from Dallas to Toronto and was already taxiing down the runway when he remembered he hadn’t called her. As he’d sat on the flight, he’d figured it might be fun to completely surprise her.
Her voice mail that morning had been all he’d needed to book the flight. It had been a tense couple of hours after that. Lots of calls and emails and a courier delivering the legal documents, back-and-forth calls with the club figuring it all out.
“So, you’re really going to do it?” she asked, nibbling on the end of her bagel.
“Yeah.”
She ran a hand up his arm, onto his shoulder, and held it there.
“I can’t imagine how tense today was, I mean, this is—”
“Baseball. My life. I know. Moving from city to city, never getting too settled anywhere. Analyzing everything I do, careful about the goal. I love being a baseball player, but I want to go out when I’m still, you know—” he finished as she stuffed the last bit of bagel into her mouth, her eyebrow quirking.
“Good,” she mumbled as she finished chewing and leaned in, kissing his cheek. “I get it.”
“So, the Longhorns are going to pay out your contract, and then you retire with a pension at the end of the season?” Gretchen asked, scooting out of bed, brushing sesame seeds off her body.
He wanted her back in bed with him, the sight of her naked riling him up in an instant. She had a birthmark just beside her bellybutton that was always begging to be kissed. She turned and walked toward the bathroom, and her butt cheeks jiggled.
Goddammit, she was perfect. Josh cleared his throat. She’d asked him a question, what was it? Oh right. Pension.
“Yep. I have a monthly pension that builds, and because I was in the club for ten years, it’s significant. I don’t need it, but if I 2access it later, it’s a bigger payout. There are health care benefits, that kind of thing too.”
She was in the washroom now, door open, the square of light punching through the darkness of her bedroom. He shifted onto his back, hands under his head, and stared at the ceiling, trying not to think of her naked, and leaned over. He heard her rummaging, muttering to herself.
“So, really, a cushy retirement package all around. You poor baby,” she joked.
He turned his head as she came back through the door, a pot of something in her hands. She gestured for him to sit up, and then wiggled her way in behind him on the bed.
“What are you up to?” he asked, trying to look behind him.
“Sit still. Are you allergic to anything?”
He shook his head, her thighs on either side of his hips making his hands itch to hold her, and he twitched as she leaned into him.
“I used this stuff when I pulled my calf muscle—it’s really nice.
It’s all natural, with arnica and calendula in it. It might help with the stiffness. Can’t hurt, anyway,” she added, the top of the jar popping as she opened it.
Gretchen smoothed something cold across his shoulders and down his back, and he winced, then relaxed as her warm hands immediately melted it. The citrus smell and her touch sent shots of pleasure across his skin, and he was hard in an instant, her breasts pressing into him as she worked over his traps, which honestly, were still tense, even now. She massaged his lat muscles with smooth, sensual strokes, and Josh groaned.
He wanted her. Again, which was ridiculous, given how tired he was. As she finished spreading the cream, he grabbed her 2and dragged her around into his lap where he could see her. Her hands, warm and slick, ran up his chest and over his neck.
“Thank you,” he murmured as he leaned in and kissed her.
She glanced down between them. “Oh my.”
He raised one eyebrow at her, daring her to make fun of him.
“You have your hands all over me, for all I know that stuff is an aphrodisiac, and you just want to have your way with me again.
You’re insatiable, woman.”
“Maybe,” she replied suggestively, and reached down under the sheet, running her slicked hands up and down his now fully hard length. “But I doubt I needed a cream to do that.”
Her hand moved faster, sliding up and over, her thumb rubbing the tip the way she knew he liked it. He groaned and leaned back as she yanked the sheets down, scattering sesame seeds everywhere.
“Mmm. I need to snack in bed with you more often,” she said and leaned over to brush more crumbs off his stomach.
“I need to surprise you more often, maybe?” he countered, and she stopped, sitting back over his legs. Dammit. Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to say that.
“Well, maybe not so often,” she replied. “But I’m glad you’re here, though.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you,” he offered, reaching out to pull her chin up, looking into her eyes. “I should have.”
Gretchen waved her hands. “I understand, Josh. It sucked, I was worried, but I had to trust you were doing what you needed to do. It isn’t like we’re married.”
“No,” he said, and pulled her closer, sex forgotten in the need to reassure her of how he felt for her. “But we’re together. You deserve to be part of my decisions. If I’m not playing ball—”
“Josh,” she intoned.
“What?”
“I’m not going anywhere. You’re a good baseball player, but that isn’t all you are, and you know it.”
“What I do now will be a huge decision, it impacts on what happens here,” he added, gesturing between them. “I don’t want to be away from you anymore, but I need to figure out where I’ll land. What I’m going to do with my life.”
“Well, if you decide to become a beekeeper in Nebraska, I’d be down for that. I like bees. Think grapes grow there?”
He absorbed the ridiculousness of that statement for a moment, and then let out a huge laugh, falling back to the bed.
She laughed right along with him.
“Beekeeping, huh?”
“The point is, it doesn’t matter,” Gretchen replied. “Remember when you told me you’d go anywhere with me?”
He studied her face, which had gone serious. He did. He’d meant it then, too, even though he’d been an idiot and forgotten not even a day later. He’d always regret that. He tucked her hair behind an ear, smoothing it.
“I do,” he replied. “I still will.”
“Then same goes, Mr. Sunshine,” she drawled and slid up the length of him, her hand sliding down at the same time, sheathing him in her palm once again.
“Nebraska it is,” Josh said as he instantly hardened. The emotional ups and downs with this woman were wild, but with her statement, need slammed back through his body, drowning out the worry.
Their lips met as he rolled her on the bed until she was half underneath him. She was his, no matter what happened. They 2would work it out. But right now? The scent of the citrus cream and her was enough to put his mind back to where it was when she had her hand wrapped around his cock the first time.
“Where were we?” he murmured.
“You were about to make love to me again, I think,” Gretchen replied and wiggled suggestively under him. “We need to practice. I hear winters in Nebraska get cold. We’ll have to be good at staying warm.”
He laughed with her as she kissed him and caressed down her leg, pushing them apart as he slowly stroked his fingers into her wet, hot center.
She stopped laughing, her breath catching. “Oh Josh.”
“You are so wet and so ready. So perfect,” he said, his thumb on her clit, two fingers sliding in and out of her. He wanted to make her feel incredible. He’d said what he’d needed to, and now he wanted to show her.
She pressed into him, her arms around him, her free leg hooked over his hip. They were skin to skin, his hand between them. He moved his fingers down, spreading them between her center and her butt, and she whimpered.
“Yes?” he questioned, and she nodded and moaned again as he penetrated everywhere at once.
“Fuck yes, Josh . . . I love that. Fill me—all of me,” she stuttered out between breaths.
It was intense, as if he was already inside her with his cock, joined and complete as she pushed into his touch, giving him permission. He plunged in deeper, the pink of her cheeks darkening, her breath coming in gasps. He loved watching her orgasm, the way she would tremble and completely let go of any tension in her body as it took hold. He would never get enough of the 2way he could make her feel. He hoped it would always be like this between them. Easy, honest, and open.
“I want to watch you come again,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss her shoulder, her resulting hiss of pleasure making his cock jump. It was hard to hold back when she was like this, but he was determined to give this to her first.
“I’m going to come, don’t stop,” she gasped, her eyes opening wide to his. “I’m—”
She let go with an intensity that floored him, her lips crashing to his, her nails digging into his back. He held her tightly, fingers pumping in and out of her as wetness covered his hand, their bodies fused.
“Oh my God, Josh, oh my God—” she chanted as her entire body went slack. He grinned against her lips.
“Good?” he asked, pulling his hand carefully away, her scent everywhere around them. She nodded and stroked her hand down his body until she found his length again.
“Now,” she demanded, breathless. “Your turn.”
“Yes, please,” he said. She guided him into her, slowly sinking back, his eyes glued to hers as their bodies merged again.
“Every damned time. So perfect,” he growled as she opened to him, stretching as he filled her.
He slid in and out of her gently, and she wrapped her arms around him, encouraging him, letting out gasps every time he did. He wasn’t going to last long, the way she was moving with him, pressed to him.
“I love you,” she breathed into his ear. “No matter what.”
She trailed kisses along his shoulder, teeth grazing, and she let out a cry as he shifted and angled upward with his stroke, her words filling him with an indescribable strength.
“Yes, like that!” she cried as she began to shake again. With one last thrust, he groaned loudly and emptied himself into her.
No matter what. Her words echoed in his head as he slumped to the bed and pulled her into him. He believed her. No going back, no more doubt.
“I love you, too, Gretchen. No matter what,” Josh said, and his world was complete.