Intercepted by Love: Part One: A Football Romance (Playing the Field Book 1) (4 page)

B
eer
and hot wings in a apartment over a bar. How convenient. Since it was Friday night, noise vibrated through the walls and the floor shook below them. Even though Andie had gotten off work at five, Cade had to walk his dog before they could have dinner. Her Gollie was spending the night at the vet getting her “problem” taken care of, which meant she was free as a bird.

Her stomach fluttered as she settled onto a giant beanbag chair in the tiny apartment. Face it, she knew what it meant to be eating in at a guy’s apartment instead of down in the bar or at a swanky restaurant, although from the furnishings of Cade’s apartment, she doubted he could have afforded more than wings and Budweiser.

“Have a beer,” Cade said, handing her an open bottle, cool and wet. “You are legal, aren’t you?”

Duh, he should have asked before inviting her here. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and smirked. “Depends on what we’re in for.”

“No, seriously, age. I need to know.” He held onto his dog’s collar as the Irish setter strained to sniff her, his tail thumping her leg.

“Twenty-four, do you need to card me?” She took a swig of the beer.

“I’ll take your word. Let me get Red his food and we’ll leave him in the kitchen.”

He unlatched the child safety door that separated the kitchen entrance from the rest of the small apartment. The dog licked his fingers and wagged happily toward his food bowl.

Andie sucked on the rim of the beer bottle as she ogled Cade’s beautifully tight ass and broad back. What would she bet that she could bounce a quarter off how hard he was?

Given the weight bench that took up the rest of the living room and stacks of weights he piled next to it, the guy had to be a workout freak or a bodybuilder.

Interestingly, he didn’t have a TV, but he did have a wireless router and a laptop, a compact stereo, and books sitting on planks of plywood mounted on cinder block bricks. His sofa, if you could call it that, was a simple plush pad on top of another row of cinder blocks with pillows arranged for the back against the wall.

Cade latched the child safety door and placed a tray of vegetables with dip and hot wings onto his simple cable spool table.

“Welcome to my humble abode, Miss Wales.”

“Why so formal, Mr. Preston?” Andie tipped the beer bottle his direction. Was he nervous about the apparent seduction, or maybe he’d only asked her here to be a friend and lend a ear.

“I find you very interesting, that’s all.”

Yeah, more like interested in getting into her already damp panties.

She took a carrot stick and swirled it in the ranch dressing before sliding it into her mouth.

His honey colored eyes darkened, and the muscles around his jaw tightened as he leaned toward her and picked up a hot wing. “I didn’t know what spicy level you liked, so I made it a ten.”

“Way to go, champ.”

“That wouldn’t be me.”

“Why not? Is there something you’re running from?” She crunched on the carrot stick nice and slow, heartened that he licked his lips and swallowed hard.

“What makes you think I’m running?” His voice was not quite smooth.

She shrugged and let her eyes rove his furnishings. “I bet these came with the apartment. Why would a guy who owns a champion stud be masquerading as a poor graduate student?”

“Who says I’m masquerading?” The ease of his grin diminished as he dipped the wing into the dressing.

“I don’t know, you tell me. Are you a wanted man? An outlaw?” Her heartbeat quickened. What if he wasn’t who he said he was? Her internet search had turned up empty, and he was definitely not listed in the student directory.

“An outlaw and wanted. It all depends on the perspective, doesn’t it?” He sucked the meat off the chicken wing with one slurp and grinned.

Zing, that mouth action zapped her right between the legs. She shifted her seating in the beanbag, not quite as comfortable now that her jeans felt tight between her legs.

She’d get to his comment later. First, the wing game. Taking one with the two little bones, she threaded it into the dip and rolled her tongue around it. The nuclear powdered spice contrasted with the cool creamy dressing, hot and cold, sensual and stimulating.

Holding his very lustful gaze, she bit down, exposing her teeth and pulled, gripping the meat off the two bone section.

His face squinched, showing which part of his anatomy was most prominent on his mind.

“Tell me your perspective, Mr. Preston,” she said after slowly devouring the delectable meat.

Swallowing deeply, he cleared his throat and rearranged his pants. “Depending on the chronicler, your King David was either a hero or a rogue, a God ordained king or an usurper. A lover or an intolerant mass murderer.”

“An outlaw, but so admired by many.” Andie lowered her voice. “Is that what you are?”

“I’m no hero.” He leaned over the spool table and pulled her from the beanbag and into his lap.

“Who says I wanted a hero? David’s many contradictions are what makes him a very sexy man.” Andie swiped Cade’s watch cap and tossed it. “You’re definitely hiding something, Mr. Preston, but right now, I don’t care, as long as you promise not to hurt me.”

“I could never hurt you or anyone else.” His gaze intensified, as if she were the only source of light on the planet. “The only thing I want to do right now is pleasure you, even when it hurts.”

“Oh, gosh, you’re creepy and cheesy at the same time.” Andie couldn’t help gushing. How did the universe know that was exactly the kind of guy she creamed over? None of the boring graduate students her father had set her up with had been this interesting. “You’re definitely not normal.”

“No, Miss Wales, neither are you.”

C
ade should stop
the flirting and teasing now. He’d never hurt her. That was a given, but Andie was a small town girl, a woman who still lived with her parents, and a librarian who dreamed about the distant past.

First things first, he’d kiss her, kiss her good and hot, and then ask questions.

Redheads could never hide arousal, and from the flush on her face, she was good and ready. Level ten spicy wings and cold beer always worked. Who needed caviar and champagne?

Except he’d never needed anything when he was a football star. Now, in this dingy apartment over a noisy bar, with the hottest girl in the library on an extra-large beanbag, he’d better up his game and take things slow.

“Aren’t you going to kiss me?” She tilted her face and wiggled her butt over his already full blown erection.

He stroked the soft smooth skin of her cheek and played with her silky hair. Her eyes were darkened in the dim light, and he wanted to savor the moment. She was different from the party women he’d known, the ones with perfectly sculpted faces and glued on eyelashes. The ones he never bothered to kiss, but went straight for the play action down below.

“I’m a little out of practice,” he mumbled, licking his lips.

“Really? You must be an escaped convict. Shaved head, obviously temporary living arrangements, just like David in the wilderness of Judah, living in caves and holes with his band of outlaws.”

“Escaped, but not a convict.” He stroked the pulse point below her jaw. “Which one of David’s wives are you playing right now?”

“Obviously Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, the one who clung to him in the harsh deserts when he left his precious Michal behind.”

It was a good thing he’d gone back to the antiques section while she worked, to review the life of King David, especially the stories of his many wives.

The woman sitting in his lap was certifiable, but cute, and hot too. Her soft, fleshy body was everything he’d imagined, lush breasts, full hips, and that flowing flame of red hair that would cover his face when she climbed on top.

“Okay, Miss Ahinoam, time to get your miles of robes off. I don’t know about you, but my landlord keeps this place boiling. I swear I’m over the kitchen sometimes.”

Her hands immediately slipped under his sweater and ran over the contours of his abdominals, then up his chest, pressing and exploring. Deftly she slipped his sweater off while he unbuttoned her blouse.

The gasp and widened eyes as she took in his chest and abdominals never failed to make him proud. Yes, he worked hard for this body and earned every dollar he made playing football with the long hours he trained.

Meanwhile, the swell of her breast and the deep cleavage between them made him harder than he thought possible. “Andie, you’re a goddess.”

“And you’re no ordinary escape artist.” She trailed her finger over the Flash tattoo branding his chest. “Is this a band name or a gang?”

“Band name.” His voice was rough and scratchy as he held her hand still. “Careful. I haven’t had a woman’s touch for weeks, and I’m liable to explode.”

“Well, in that case, bombs away.” Andie giggled and laid her lips over his bare skin, kissing his neck and running her fingernails lightly over his chest and sides.

A loud whoosh of air exhaled from his lungs, and a spike of ecstasy ripped his restraint to shreds. With a mighty heft, he lifted Andie over his shoulder and stood.

Forget nice and slow. She wanted a renegade king, she got one.

A
ndie was thrown
onto a mattress and covered before she could take another breath. Sparks exploded inside her, and heat bloomed over her shoulders and singed every pore of her skin.

Cade’s lips descended on hers, sealing their mouths together. Wet, demanding, and strong, his tongue probed her as he sucked the breath out of her. She’d never been kissed so hard with such urgency, and even though it was a little frightening, it was exciting and stimulating.

Everything about Cade was hard lines and angles, so much that Andie’s hands couldn’t stop exploring. She’d never been dominated by someone so big and so one hundred percent male.

Opening her legs, she allowed his erection to press against her crotch, sending jolts of pleasure through her spine up to her brain. Her breathing was ragged, and she was actually panting like a bitch in heat.

“Cade, please, Cade,” she mumbled, and he let up from assaulting her lips.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, so hot. Need you to touch me. Everywhere.”

So she was shameless. So what? It wasn’t as if hard body hunks frequented the university town, and she was old enough to understand that sex didn’t necessarily equate with love or lead to marriage.

If he hadn’t had sex for weeks, try over a year for her. Once she’d been in love. Once was enough. Her one and only ex, Declan Reed, had left her for Hollywood and hordes of party girls after she refused to be just a number, even though he had offered her number one. Huh, number one in a long distance relationship while worrying about actresses and party girls? No thank you.

As for this stranger in front of her? She’d take what she could get from him before he moved on, and she’d stay here, safe and secure in her stable job in this quiet college town.

Cade’s mouth moved from hers, trailing down her neck while his large hands massaged her breasts. Her nipples tingled, and when he latched strong, wet lips around one, she almost flipped off the bed.

The tip of his tongue teased her nipple, and she ached to have him use it further down. Wiggling her hips, she unzipped her jeans and squirmed them down her hips.

Cade moved his weight off her, and his breath sizzled between his teeth. “You are so beautiful. Everything I’ve always wanted.”

Really? Did he just say that? A guy like him had to have had way more experience than she.

“Tell me, babe, tell me what you want me to do.”

He was asking consent, every step of the way. Either that, or he got off from her verbalizing her desires.

She moved his hand from her breasts and slid it over her belly down to the junction between her legs. “Anything you want, Cade. Touch me, tease me, tempt me.”

Take me.

C
ade pounced
on Andie and grabbed her panties with his teeth. He shimmied her jeans all the way down and plucked her shoes and socks from her long, elegant feet. He’d tease her all right and tempt her to the limit, but she hadn’t wanted him to take her.

It was too damn soon anyway, and she was different from the other woman who’d known his status and the size of his bank account. Cade had always been a man who took what he wanted, pleasuring women with the aim of his own gratifications. But with this one, he’d earn his spot between her legs and not one moment sooner.

After divesting Andie of her clothes, the blouse and bra having been shed in the living room, Cade bent her at the knees and nibbled on the soft skin of her inner thighs. She moaned and wiggled, trying to push herself onto him, but he withdrew and ran his tongue down one leg and up the other while his fingers skirted around her pubic area, tickling the fine thatch of reddish brown hair and teasing the lips between her legs before launching himself at her breasts.

She squirmed, moaned and arched her back desperately, but he was in full control despite his raging hard on. Cupping her breasts in his hands, he pushed them together and rubbed his beard between them while licking and sucking her pink and tender nipples. He could spend all night listening to her whimper, feeling the moans deep in her throat, and tasting the scent of her arousal.

By the way she bucked underneath him, she had to be soaked and slick by now, her juices overflowing, moaning nonstop with a mixture of pleasure and frustration.

He couldn’t help humping his erection against her thigh or slipping a finger between her legs, yet he didn’t go for her opening, wouldn’t plunge in without permission.

Her clit was soaked and slippery, swollen as he swirled the wetness around it, plumping it to her insistent gasps. Her breath sizzled, and she pressed hard against him, so on the edge.

“Are you ready to come?” He covered her body and whispered in her ear. “Are you about to explode? Shall I?”

“Please, yes, please. It’s so good, burning hot. Never felt this before.”

He dipped his middle finger into her tight heat, and rubbed her clit with the back of his index finger. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Strong pulses clamped around his finger, and she peaked, as a pink blush glowed from her belly to the top of her chest. Beautiful, and only possible with the fairest of all women, true redheads.

T
hat had had
to be the most mind blowing orgasm she’d ever had. At first, Andie was worried the way Cade’s fingers had burned her clit, bringing heat to the surface, raw and spicy. She’d never responded to anyone the way she had with him. Not that she’d had that many men to compare with, since her trusty vibrator beat most of them in bed.

But Cade? Wow. She couldn’t catch her breath before he was leaning over her, a satisfied gleam in his amber colored eyes, looking every bit like a chef who wanted to be complimented.

“That was awesome. Unbelievable. How’d you do that?”

“Taste.” He swiped his middle finger across her lips.

They were covered with her juices, but below her slick, transparent scent was the slight edge of spice. “The hot wings.”

“You got my method down.” He licked his finger and twirled it in his mouth. “A little goes a long way. Didn’t want to burn you too bad, but it does get the blood flowing. I bet you’re real tasty down there.”

“Why don’t you find out?”

Oh, that was lame. Real lame. Usually Andie had a smart comeback handy, but with the IQ reducing orgasm she’d just had, she doubted she had a single alert brain cell left. All she wanted was his lips on her clit, and his tongue between her slick flesh.

And then, when he had her primed and on the edge, he’d take her with his cock, plunge into her sensitive depths and fling her over the edge until she no longer knew her name. And she throb and throb and throb for him, heart, mind, and body.

Except no, it would be too dangerous. Too much, too soon.