Authors: Donna Gallagher
Decision made, Rook began to nibble on the sexy earlobe that had been resting so temptingly against his lips. He had just experienced the most satisfying, erotic moment of his life. Just remembering the image of her draped over the edge of his spa, her delicate back arched as he took her from behind, had his dick growing hard again. The fact that she hadn’t hesitated to comply with his demands of her had added more to the fulfilment. She was a dream come true—the way she had submitted to his needs so easily, the sight of her body stretched over his spa bath, spread for him, those round globes of her arse beckoning invitingly… Rook had not been able to resist thrusting his throbbing shaft into her pussy forcefully, filling her. She’d been so responsive to him, slamming herself back onto him. He’d thrust up, and their mating had been almost animalistic in its intensity.
The temptation to roar like a wild beast, mark her as his, had been hard for Rook to deny. He had almost shouted, “Mine!”
When she’d screamed his name, Rook had exploded into her body, shooting his wad high and hard, filling her with his warm seed. He’d felt the orgasm start from the tip of his toes and race up his body as his balls had grown tight and the blood had rushed from all other parts to centre on his dick. Rook had thought he would pass out, but had had just enough energy left to pull them back into the water, to drag her against his chest.
As they lay panting, trying to recover to catch their breath, Rook finally realised his mistake—his lack of protection. What had he been thinking? Well, that was easy to answer—his brain had not been thinking, but, by God, his cock had.
“Cassandra, that was fucking amazing. You are amazing,
this
is amazing… Lying here with you in my arms. We have to see each other again. I also owe you a huge apology. I forgot to use a condom. Shit, babe, I’m so sorry. I never forget. But I can assure you I’m clean. Don’t suppose you are on the pill?”
Rook waited for Cassandra to answer his question or make some comment about the fact they had just shared unprotected sex. He was starting to think she hadn’t heard him, maybe had drifted off to sleep as they lay in the warm, soothing waters of the spa. That was, until he heard her quick gasp of breath and felt her whole body go tense. He relaxed his grip around her waist as she struggled free of his embrace and scrambled away from him, moving as far from him as she could in the small confines of the tub. The spa water, which had seemed so relaxing, was now churning and splashing up between them.
“Oh, shit. Umm, yes, I am on the pill… I didn’t realise…”
“I’m so sorry, princess. I really have never forgotten a condom before. It was very careless, but you’re so goddamn hot I wasn’t thinking straight. I know that’s no excuse, and I want you to know that if anything might happen…”
Rook was desperately trying to put into words that he felt a connection to Cassandra and wanted to see her again, but before he could make his thoughts clear, she interrupted.
“Look, we made a mistake—both of us—but I’m sure it will be fine.” Cassie had her hands over her breasts, obscuring them from his view, and Rook thought that his princess’ voice sounded a bit shaky.
It didn’t surprise him that she would be worried—truth was, he was worried as well. But not as worried over the lack of protection as he was about her attempts to hide her body from him, or the way she was clearly distancing herself. Rook wanted Cassandra back in his arms so he could reassure her that it would all be okay.
“I’m sure everything will be fine, princess. I really mean it when I say I want to see you again. I don’t know anything about you, not even your last name—which is totally wrong, and I’m sorry about that too. Move back over here with me and let me put my arms around you while we talk for a while. Get to know each other, maybe sort out where and when I can take you out for dinner.”
God, he sounded like he was begging, but for a reason he couldn’t explain there was something about this woman—apart from the mind-blowing sex they had just shared—that intrigued him. Made him want to see her again, which was totally out of character for him. Usually, he just wanted to get away from the willing groupie or one-night stand as soon as he could.
“Look, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I’m sorry, Rook, but I really need to get out of here, go home. Do you have a towel I can use to get dried off?”
Chapter Five
Pippa had been revelling in the knowledge of how mind-blowing the sex with her fantasy man had been, so it had taken her a few moments for the realisation to sink in that Rook had been speaking to her. The fact that he’d called her Cassandra had brought her crashing back to reality quickly. It had reminded her of her deception. She had put both of their careers in jeopardy—well, only his, really. Hers had hardly begun. And he was being so sweet. So caring, not the way she had expected him to be, given that she had so eagerly spread her legs for him, like some kind of slut. Her fantasy was starting to feel a little tarnished.
She had to go now. She was just about to fall apart and tell him the truth. And that couldn’t happen. Pippa had tricked Rook into breaking one of the Jets’ golden rules—
no fraternisation between staff
. She had lied to him about who she really was and their past. She had to get away now, as much as that broke her heart. At least she had some breathtaking memories, ones that would keep her warm at night. No one could take those away from her.
Trying to act cool and collected, Pippa rose from the spa and grabbed the towel off the rack Rook had pointed to. She wrapped it around her naked body. “Hey, Rook? Thanks. I’m sure there is nothing to worry about, it’s been great.
You’ve
been great, but I do need to get home. While I get dressed, can you call me a cab?”
“Bloody hell, what’s going on?” When Rook stood up, Pippa had to tamp down her desire to take one last look at his amazingly sexy form. He was raking his fingers through his hair and he sounded agitated. “I don’t want to put you in a cab. I want to drive you home. I promised your friend I would look after you.”
“Look, it’s all good. I’m a big girl and can get home all by myself. I’d rather take a cab,” she said as she finally worked up the courage to look at Rook’s face. “Let’s not make this more than it is. It’s been wonderful, you’re a fantastic lover, but the night is over.”
She was just holding it together. The confused, hurt look Rook was giving her almost had her throwing her arms around him and begging him for forgiveness. But she knew there would be no hope once the truth was out there. They both had careers to think about. Being together at the Jets was not an option, given the club’s views on this sort of thing.
* * * *
It was a relief to Pippa to not have to exit back out through the club. That walk of shame she could do without. Rook reluctantly led her through another entrance, this door leading to a different street frontage altogether. All the while, he tried to convince her to let him drive her home.
“At least give me your number. Maybe we can hook up again sometime.”
As the taxicab pulled in, Rook leaned towards her to catch her mouth, obviously intending a farewell kiss. At the last second, Pippa turned her face so that his lips only landed on her cheek. She threw herself into the cab without a backwards glance, not answering his plea for her phone number.
He’ll know how to contact me soon enough, unfortunately for him
, she thought sadly as the tears began to flow, now unstoppable, down her cheeks. She mumbled her home address tearfully, so that only the cabbie would hear, and slammed the door closed quickly behind her. The loud noise of the door closing, ending her fantasy night, sounded as loud to Pippa’s ears as the crack of her heart splitting in two.
The moving car now took Pippa away from the night she had so longed for and the man she had always wanted. Even the frequent, worried glances from the driver were not enough to stem the overflow of her emotions.
The whole night had been a huge, wonderful mistake, Pippa was now realising. A fantasy no longer, the reality was set in stone.
No other man could ever take the place of Rook in her heart.
After assuring the taxi driver that she would be fine, that she was just emotional, Pippa stumbled up the path and into the house she shared with Cassie. Not bothering to turn on any lights, Pippa just rushed straight to her room, threw herself across her bed and cried. Cried until she was worn out, cried until there were no tears left in her. She was unable even to voice any words to let a worried Cassie know what was wrong. Those words eluded her as Pippa’s heart broke into a million sharp splinters.
* * * *
Rook was still shaking his head over the demise of such an amazing night. One minute, he had been planning on taking this complete stranger out on a date, and the next she was running away without so much as a backward glance.
Sometimes his life felt so out of control. He knew he should be happy—he was playing the game he loved and he owned his own nightclub—but something was still missing in his life. He had this reputation for being some kind of womaniser, had helped build it by being less than selective when it came to bedding a woman, but the truth was he was tired of it.
That younger Rookie, so excited to be signed by a professional team, had just wanted to play rugby league. The fact that he made a good living from it was a bonus. He had been able to help his hard-working mother start up a business that put her more behind a desk and less behind a mop and bucket. He was forever grateful for that. But the public scrutiny? Well, he hadn’t signed on for that. Hadn’t even thought about it. No, notoriety had come without him choosing it, and with it had come the fans. He had been swept along, believing in his own hype. Taking advantage of it. But it had all started to wear thin quickly.
Rook really appreciated the traditional footy fans and their love and loyalty for the team he played for. They cheered at the games, paid their hard-earned cash to see the Jets team week after week. He could even understand their disappointment when the Jets lost. He loved the Jets and winning as well, but the women who just wanted to be able to say they had slept with him and made themselves available to him for a quick fuck had lost any sort of appeal lately. His fame and his high-profile life was not his reality. In his world it was all about hard work. Training all the time and travelling from game to game.
Did he not deserve to find someone special to share his life with? His gut was telling him that this woman, this Cassandra, was somehow different, someone worth getting to know. But apparently the feeling wasn’t mutual. Perhaps this was some sort of karmic payback for his less than stellar lifestyle in the past.
“Fuck me,” he said for the umpteenth time, no closer to understanding what had gone wrong. He had gone over every aspect of the night, remembering every inch of her body, every touch of her skin. There was something that made him uneasy, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Sitting in one of his black leather recliners, Rook finished the remains of the now sickly sweet-tasting, bubbly liquid and stared off into the pre-dawn sky.
“I’ve got to find her again.”
Chapter Six
Pain was the first thing Pippa felt as she opened her eyes.
They were swollen and, she had no doubt, red from the amount of tears she had shed. There was so much pain in her heart as she relived the memory of fleeing Rook’s apartment, not once looking back. The pain was made sharper by the knowledge that Rook had not recognised her. She had meant so little to him, been so inconsequential in his life that he’d had no memory of her at all. And after all the hours she had spent trying to survive her humiliation at his rejection of her, the infatuated teen willing to offer herself up completely to him. That night, so many years ago, still haunted Pippa. What on earth had she been thinking, throwing herself at him like that?
She had been an innocent young girl heading away from home for the very first time, to begin a university degree at an institution many miles away. She had been infatuated with the young star of her father’s rugby league team for the past few years, and Pippa had decided that it was time to let Rookie know her true feelings towards him—to seduce him before she left town. If she gave him her virginity, he would obviously give her his undying love and promise to wait for her to return to the big city so they could marry, buy a white picket-fenced house and live happily ever after.
Unfortunately, Pippa had not envisioned Rookie’s reaction to her little fantasy, had not let him read the script she had so often dreamed of. The poor guy had looked nothing but embarrassed for her as he’d pushed her bare-breasted body away from him, and fled.
Looking back at her younger self, Pippa was horrified at her own naïvety. She couldn’t even fathom how she had worked up the courage to seduce Rookie, let alone to strip off her shirt and thrust her breasts at the poor boy—and in her own family’s backyard, at an event the whole Jets team had been attending. But still the humiliation of his rejection tore deep. Especially now, with the knowledge that he had slept with her tonight, albeit as a relative stranger, confirming beyond doubt that he just hadn’t been into her back then. Yes, she had made a complete fool of herself thinking that Rookie would have been even slightly interested in her—a young innocent—that way, when he had women throwing themselves at him.
But now she’d lived her fantasy and the night had been magical. She needed to focus on that.
You got exactly what you wanted, Pippa,
she told herself angrily.
Now you just have to learn to live with it
.
Pippa dragged herself up from the bed, hoping that a shower and fresh clothing would make her feel better.
Yeah, right, like that’s going to mend my shattered heart.
Clean, but still emotionally empty, Pippa headed towards the smell of coffee drifting from the kitchen, knowing her friend deserved an explanation for the hysterical behaviour of the previous night.