He couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but the sound of her voice soothed him.
“Av?” Olivia paused then asked, “Did anyone call Dad?”
Dylan stiffened at the obvious tension in her voice as she asked that question.
“Yeah. I know he and Savannah are in L.A.” Another wait. “No, don’t call and tell him. It’s fine.”
But it wasn’t, Dylan thought. For her sake, he wanted to believe her father hadn’t yet been told, but he knew from his own parents’ lack of caring, anything was possible. And she’d already admitted to him how much her father’s betrayal had hurt. It was obvious to him that much of Olivia’s insecurity stemmed from her unstable relationship with her father. Dylan understood parent issues all too well considering he didn’t have a relationship with either one of his. But his situation had always been the same. One parent had left early in his life, the other later on. And while his mother had been present, she might as well not have been. So all in all, no rug had been pulled out from under Dylan’s feet the way it had been for Olivia when she’d found out about her father’s other family.
At times like these, he had to wonder if Olivia’s issues could be overcome at all … but he refused to think that way. He was too invested in her to believe she wouldn’t conquer her past.
With a groan, he stretched and closed his eyes. It was late, and it’d been a long day.
Once she hung up with Avery, she moved on to her various other family members, and he enjoyed the different relationship she shared with each. Listening gave him a unique insight into her character, seeing how she spoke to each sibling, full and half, in her life. Did it bother him that he didn’t have the same? No, because he had Callie and her husband and daughter. Not as big and boisterous as Olivia’s family, but just as overprotective.
“Finally!” Olivia proclaimed and tossed the phone on the bed beside her. “Last call and I am so sorry.”
He smiled. “I don’t mind. They obviously love you.”
And so do I
. He met her gaze, wondering if she could read his unspoken thoughts.
“They do,” she whispered, her voice catching. “And if it were any one of them who’d gone through what I did today, I’d want to hear their voices too.”
She laid her head in the crook of his shoulder, and he curled his arm around her tightly. “I could have lost you today.”
He’d never tasted fear before. Never understood what the phrase meant. Not until she’d had a gun in her gut and a crazy man holding her hostage.
“You weren’t exactly safe yourself.” Her fingers tightened, biting into his stomach.
He hadn’t been worried about himself, only about her. He inhaled her fresh-from-the-shower scent, and his cock hardened. He wanted to press his hand against himself to alleviate the ache, but she’d notice. And he didn’t want to pressure her after the day she’d had. But he needed to feel her slick and hot around him and know they were both alive and together.
She ran her fingers back and forth over his abdomen. “I’m not tired,” she said in a husky voice. “In fact, I think my adrenaline is still running high.”
He blew out a relieved breath. “Thank God.”
Without warning, she levered herself up and straddled his waist, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Glad to see we’re on the same page.”
“I like you in my clothes.” He slid his hand beneath the hem of the oversize shirt he’d lent her only to discover she wasn’t wearing panties beneath. He blew out a rough breath. “Jesus, Liv.”
She grinned. “Surprised?”
He laughed, but the sound was as strained as his already aching erection. He pushed himself up against the pillows, giving him more leverage to play.
“You know I’m tempted to start here.” He slid a finger through her damp folds, and she trembled above him. “But I think I’ll tease you instead.”
He inched the shirt up over her stomach, sliding the hem higher until he uncovered her breasts. She yanked the tee over her head and tossed it to the floor, leaving her completely nude and his for the taking.
He loved her body, the slender curve of her waist and the small rose-tipped breasts he could hold in one hand. He leaned forward, capturing one rigid nipple between his teeth, pulling on the bud until she threw her head back and groaned.
“And here I thought I was taking control,” she said.
He chuckled but kept teasing one nipple with his tongue and teeth, using his fingers on the other breast, pulling and plucking at the sensitive tip until her hips were gyrating in circles over his straining erection. The soft cotton of his boxers provided too much of a barrier to her wet heat. He wanted to feel her sex directly over his cock. Needed her to slide down his shaft so her inner walls pulsed around him.
“Get my boxers off,” he said through clenched teeth.
“My pleasure.” She slid them down his legs, and he shook them off.
Then Olivia climbed back on top, her knees on either side of his hips, her sex poised over his cock.
“Wait,” he managed to grit out.
Her beautiful eyes met his, her lids heavy with desire. “Why?”
“I want you to look at me when you slide down over my cock.”
Her lips parted softly. “Oh.”
He didn’t want this over fast. He wanted her to know how he felt, and he didn’t want her to be able to avoid what was between them.
“You wanted to be in charge,” he reminded her. “What are you waiting for?” He raised his hips, nudging the blunt head of his cock against her sex.
She moaned and released her leg muscles, gliding downward and cushioning him in wet heat until she was seated completely.
Fucking heaven.
He drew a deep breath and had to remind himself of his own words. He met her gaze. In her eyes, he saw the same overwhelming emotion slamming him inside and out.
Dylan’s heart beat hard in his chest. “Take my hands,” he said, watching as she clasped her smaller fingers around his, her eyes wide and locked on him.
She raised herself up and down, finding her rhythm and milking him with every move. He lifted his hips, grinding against her and thrusting up every time their bodies met. He might not have wanted fast, but that’s what he was getting, and he didn’t care. Not since she was right there with him. Soon, her pumping motion changed, and she locked her legs around him, grinding her pelvis into his.
“Oh, Dylan. Oh God.” She squeezed his hands so tight he was sure the blood flow stopped completely.
“That’s it, sunshine. I’m with you.”
His world narrowed to where their bodies connected and how she held on to his gaze. A buzz reverberated in his head, and wave after wave of ecstasy threatened to take him over. He was going to come, but damned if she wasn’t going with him. He released his grip on her hand and reached down, pressing against her clit with his finger.
Her silken walls contracted around him even tighter than before.
She moaned loudly. “Dylan, I’m coming!”
Her words along with the look in her eyes did him in, and he began thrusting upward until he exploded inside her, his hot come pumping out of him as he came hard, feeling more connected to Olivia than ever.
* * *
Olivia finally caught her breath after the incredible orgasm that had sent her soaring to heights she’d never felt before. That was Dylan. Each time with him was better than the last. She rolled to her side, and Dylan pulled her back against him, cushioning her in warmth.
“Today scared the shit out of me,” he said, whispering into her hair.
She nodded. “Me too.”
“Wendell had that gun shoved in
your
ribs, not mine.” He squeezed her tighter, as if he was afraid if he let her go, he’d lose her.
She swallowed hard. “But he was going to shoot you first.”
Dylan flipped her over and faced her, one arm propping his head up. She looked into his handsome face, the goatee that was so much a part of him, those dark eyes and tanned skin, and her heart flipped over.
“I nearly lost you today, Liv. And that is
not
okay.”
The intensity in his voice shook her to her very soul. “I know but—”
“No buts.” He tapped her nose. “I nearly lost you today, and that is not okay because
I love you
.”
All the oxygen departed from her brain, leaving her lightheaded and dizzy. It was one thing for her to think it, another thing for him to say it. “Dylan—”
“No running from this,” he said, not once breaking eye contact. “You don’t have to be ready to say it back, but you need to know how I feel. And know that I believe you feel it too.”
She reached out to touch his cheek. “I do.” She swallowed hard. Saying the words was so hard because they left her vulnerable. But she realized she was vulnerable just by virtue of the fact that she felt them at all. She loved him, and that left her open to any number of painful outcomes, as she’d experienced firsthand.
But she gathered her courage … and with her heart pounding in her chest and her head spinning, she told him what was in her heart. “I love you too.”
He grinned, that panty-melting grin that could make her do almost anything. “Yeah, sunshine. I thought so. Now here’s the thing.”
She narrowed her gaze, not liking that serious tone of voice. “What?”
“We didn’t use a condom.”
She reared back, shocked she, of all people, hadn’t realized that herself. “Oh shit.” Her heart began pounding painfully inside her chest. “I’m not on any other kind of protection.”
She’d never needed it. The times she’d had sex, she’d made sure her partners used a condom. She was religious about it and for good reason.
“What is it about you that makes me lose my head?” She inched back to her side of the bed only to find herself jerked forward and pulled close, her face inches from his. “Don’t panic.”
“Didn’t you hear me the other day? I don’t want to go through anything like losing a baby ever again!”
“Sunshine, you’re jumping the gun. I’m sorry neither one of us realized in time, but I promise you that if you’re pregnant, this time, you won’t be alone. You have me.”
Nausea threatened at the word
pregnant
. She didn’t hear anything else, couldn’t see past it. “Dylan, I told you how I felt about kids, and you said—”
“I know what you told me. I even know you believe you don’t want children. But that’s fear talking.” He stared at her pointedly. “That’s your past talking. That’s the little girl whose father was never, ever around, who doesn’t want to be hurt again. Left again. That’s
her
talking.”
She wasn’t just talking, she was screaming, Olivia thought, reminding herself of how badly it hurt when everything fell apart.
“Hey. Stay with me,” Dylan said, pulling her back to the present. To him. “It’s also the young woman who lost both a baby and a man who should have been there for her taking. But it’s not who you are today,” he said, that steady, so sure gaze never leaving hers.
“I thought you understood. You said you did. And you said I was enough for you,” she said, her voice rising.
“I did understand. I still do. And I didn’t lie to you, though I admit I hoped you’d come to see you wanted the same things I did,” he admitted in a gruff voice. “I didn’t do this on purpose, but honestly? Today with Wendell made me realize that life is short. And it merely solidified what I’ve always known. I want it all. A house, white picket fence, dog, kids, all of it. With you,” he said in a determined voice.
She struggled to sit up, pulling the covers with her and covering her bare breasts, feeling completely exposed and a lot betrayed. “A lie by omission? I hate to break it to you, but it’s still a lie.”
He sat up just as quickly and grabbed her wrists before she could climb out of bed. “A lie based on hope. And faith. And a belief in the woman I’ve come to know. The one who could accept Meg’s offer to be friends. You know that woman? I had faith in her. I still do.”
“What are you saying?” Olivia asked, complete panic swamping her. “If I don’t agree, if I don’t want those things, you’ll leave me?” She hated how her voice cracked, betraying her emotions.
He shook his head, a wry smile tugging at his lips. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? If I walked out on you, you’d be able to tell yourself that, once again, you weren’t enough. And you’ll crawl right back into the shell I found you in and never come out. So, no, Liv. I’m not going anywhere. And newsflash. Neither are you.”
She blinked at his determined tone of voice.
“Pregnant or not, you’re going to work through your issues, and I’m going to be there when you do.” He raised an eyebrow, challenging her to argue.
She couldn’t do anything except collapse on the bed and cry, the stress of the day, the release of adrenaline, and all the pent-up emotion she’d been holding in for days pouring out. True to his word, Dylan was there, holding her until she fell asleep.
* * *
The next day at work, chaos descended, leaving Olivia with no time to think about Dylan, a possible pregnancy, or the future. Apparently, Olivia being held at gunpoint by Marcus Bigsby’s cousin made for sensational news. The PR team needed her to do interviews, which meant fast media training and prep. She was fed a quick diet of talking points and taught how to answer a question by changing the direction to what she wanted to focus on—which was the need for the team to support Marcus, for Marcus to focus on cutting bad influences from his life, and getting ready for the next season.
Since she really didn’t enjoy being in front of the cameras, she appreciated the training. Even better, since she wasn’t the face of the team, Ian instructed PR to choose one interviewer. The other networks could pick up clips afterwards. Having her older brother in charge was a perk Olivia appreciated.
She wasn’t surprised when, later that day, as soon as she was free, Ian called her to his office. She walked down the Hall of Fame, as the hallway, lined with large framed pictures of their most talented players, was known. The photos always made her smile. She liked feeling like she was a part of history, that the men they worked with were making an impact on the sport.
She reached Ian’s office, knocked, and strode inside. Her brother sat behind his big desk, looking every inch the intimidating team owner he was.