Tackling Her Heart (15 page)

Her chest tightened. “What
feelings?”

“
At the time, I didn’t
know. I really still don’t, not completely. But it was more than a
simple sexual relationship. You weren’t
just
my mistress.”

She prodded him, needing more than
that. “That’s not enough. What do you feel for me?”

Marc stared at her, silent several
heartbeats. “I don’t do emotions. I don’t know what you want me to
say.”

“
Is it so hard? If it is,
maybe it’s not right. I won’t force you to feel something you
don’t.”

Sofia turned from him and walked to
the door, opening it for him in a silent plea for him to leave.
Seeing him broke her heart, and she knew he’d come here instead of
New York. But if he wasn’t willing to say what he felt or why he’d
come to her, then it was all for naught.

“
When you were on the
beach, while we were playing, your smiles were so large and the
happiness you felt was infectious. In that moment you were the most
beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on. I want to be the man who
makes you smile like that every single day. And that scares the
shit out of me.”

“
Scares you?”

“
I seduced you and asked
you to be my mistress to stop you from writing that damned
story—and because I wanted you. I wanted sex. But that desire I’ve
felt for you for months now has grown into something bigger. Sex
isn’t enough. I put relationships on hold so I could focus on my
career. Now I’m so out of the habit, so closed off from other
people, I don’t know what to do with these feelings I have. I’m an
asshole and more than likely, I’m going to piss you off again,
which led me to close back down instead of open to you.”

“
Relationships can’t be
one sided. The Iceman can’t stay frozen.”

Marc looked down at the floor then
back up to her. “I want to open up to you. I’ve never done it
before, so I don’t know how well I’ll do it, but I want to
try.”

“
How do I know you won’t
hurt me again?”

Marc looked around the foyer,
seemingly at anything but her. Finally he gazed at her, taking her
hands in his. “I’ve spent the last ten years focused on my career,
using women as I needed. I’ve been alone all that time and enjoyed
it. The minute you left, I felt … lonely. I wanted you back. I
almost ran after you to beg you to stay. I need you back in my
life.”

I need you back in my
life.
Her heart sped up as she considered
everything he’d said.

“
This need you have, to
exert control—it will come up again.”

“
I broke the golden rule.
I made it about me instead of about you. And for that, I can’t even
begin to apologize.”

“
You can live without it?”
Her trust was broken. It would take time for her to ever consider
him trying something like that again.
If
she agreed to give them a second
try.

He seemed to completely understand her
question. “For you? Yes. I would never ask you to do anything you
didn’t want to.”

She watched him. His face was a
contorted mask of sadness and reflected the same pain she’d felt
since she left him. “Where does this leave us?”

“
I don’t know,” he
whispered. “I’m going to catch hell for not going to that meeting,
so I’m fairly sure my exile will continue. Do you have to go back
to the States for work?”

Was he hinting he wanted to know if
she’d written the story or not? “I no longer work there. I refused
to write a story they demanded I write.”

Their eyes met.

“
I can’t believe you came
here instead of New York.”

He grinned. “I realized I could live
without football. But I didn’t want to live without a chance to
know you better.” He stepped closer and slowly lowered his head
until their lips were inches apart. “A world where I can’t kiss you
every single day seems dreary.”

Marc’s lips gently pressed against
hers. The kiss started gently, but soon grew fiery. His hands
gripped her waist and pulled her closer. Her body tensed, the need
firing her blood overwhelming. She wanted him, then and there, but
it was impossible. Sofia pushed him away and looked about to make
sure no one had seen them.

“
You okay out there,
Sofia?” her brother called.

“
Yes, good,” she yelled
out before looking up at Marc. “Where are you going from
here?”

Marc smiled. “Wherever you
are.”

She grinned up at him and slipped into
his embrace. She felt the warmth of his body seeping into hers,
knowing she was exactly where she belonged. Marc still had some
making up to do, but she trusted him enough to give him the chance
to prove himself to her.

Sofia had glimpsed a little of his
thawed heart and wanted to see how The Iceman would look completely
unfrozen.

Chapter Fifteen

“
I’m so glad you didn’t
give up the villa,” Sofia said, the bellhop bringing her bags back
in. It was the same sweet man who’d taken her bags out the night
she’d fled. He grinned at her after depositing her bags back in the
room.

Marc handed the man some cash, and he
left them. “I wasn’t sure where I’d go after I saw you. I had no
way to know which way things would turn out.”

She looked over the space. Somehow, it
seemed different. They’d spent the long plane ride talking. He’d
apologized over and over again, but it was a matter of put up or
shut up. They had a few weeks of his exile to play out, and she
wouldn’t be able to start school until the spring semester anyway,
if that’s the direction she went, so they had a little
time.

Why not throw themselves back in the
fishbowl and see if it could be different this time, with them both
being honest about how they felt.

Marc leaned against the bar island and
watched her, seemingly as unsettled as she was. Her eyes caught
sight of the freshly made bed and saw the cuffs were still in the
middle of the headboard.

An idea sprung into her
mind.

She glanced over his hard body, from
head to toe and back up again. He wore a simple pair of cargo pants
and a t-shirt, with flip-flops on his feet. Marc wasn’t a
flip-flops kind of guy, and it made her chuckle.

“
What’s so
funny?”

“
Those shoes. They aren’t
you. Take them off.”

The barked command almost threw her
for a loop. She’d said it much more firmly than she’d
felt.

He eyed her for a moment, then seemed
to think it over. He kicked off the shoes and turned to her.
“Better?”

“
Take off the
rest.”

His chest rose and fell a little more
rapidly as she watched him. His gaze took in everything. Marc
finally pulled his t-shirt over his head and then tugged his pants
off. He wore no underwear, so he was completely naked.

“
Go get on the bed. Lie
down on your back.”

“
This got us in trouble
last time, Sofia.”

She nodded her head. “Last time, you
took from me without giving. This time, I’m going to take my
pleasures from you. Then we’ll be even.”

“
That’s not how this
works,” he said, his voice low. “But if that’s what you want, and
what you need, then I’ll do it.”

Marc ambled into the bedroom and
pulled the bedding back. He lay down in the middle of the bed and
lifted his wrists closer to the cuffs.

Sofia followed him in and
affixed the cuffs just as he’d done. Now he was under
her
control. She could
take what she needed from him, knowing she had the
power.

She drew the sundress over her head
and tossed it to the floor. Naked, she climbed onto his lap. His
cock was already hard and jutted out before him. She rubbed her
pussy along his cock, spreading her already flowing juices along
his length.

“
Sofia …”

“
Yes?”

“
Take whatever you need.
It’s all yours.”

Their eyes met. The connection she
felt to him was bigger than the sex connection they were about to
have. She saw his realization of that fact the same time it hit
her.

She lowered to kiss him, her heart
tightening even as it raced in her chest. Moments later, she sank
onto his cock, his shaft stretching her wide as she impaled
herself. She could feel the throbbing of his heart inside her, his
pulsing cock connecting her to him.

Sofia moved over him, taking him into
her body and using him for her own pleasure. For so many years,
she’d done everything in her life for everyone else. Here and now,
she took what she needed—and Marc freely gave it to her. Her gaze
drifted to the bonds at his hands and she knew it wasn’t freely.
She pulled off the Velcro closures and pulled hands away, knowing
it had to be openly given.

He lay there, still a moment, as if he
didn’t know what she needed. Slowly, he lowered his hands to her
hips, holding on to her as she continued to move over him, taking
her passions from his flesh.

Never once did he try to take over,
seemingly aware she needed this. She needed to take something for
herself.

She writhed and moved over him,
pleasuring herself. Sofia leaned forward, offering her nipple to
his firm lips as she moved one of his hands to her clit, demanding
what she needed. Marc did everything she urged him to, suckling her
as he rubbed her hardened nub.

Sofia watched him under her. She
sensed his need to take over. Knowing he wanted to roll her over
and take control, she was pleased when he held tight to his reserve
and let her have what she needed from him.

Her orgasm sneaked up on her, blasting
from nowhere. Her body tightened. Marc held her tightly, pumping
his shaft into her as her release stretched on and on.

Marc stiffened under her, hot jets of
cum erupting from him and into her body. He gripped her hips
tightly as he emptied himself into her. When he was done, he pulled
her close, kissing her passionately before rolling them both to the
side.

He stared at her, a soft smile on his
lips as he gently brushed strands of her hair from her face. “Thank
you.”

“
For? I should thank you
for letting me take what I wanted.”

Marc grinned. “Thank you for trusting
me enough. I don’t ever want to hurt you like that.”

The stark honesty was still new to
her, but she loved the sound of it in his voice. They still had far
to go, but she wanted to go in this journey with him.

“
So now that you’re
unemployed, what are you planning?”

She grinned. “That trip to college I
missed out on? I think I might go.”

Marc smiled. “I think that would be
great for you. You know, there are some great colleges in
Maryland.”

Sofia chuckled. “I know. Loyola looks
interesting, actually.”

Marc’s smile faded. “You already
checked into Maryland colleges? Before I came to
apologize?”

“
Don’t you think I feel
whatever this is between us? I missed you, too.”

Marc smiled again, trailing his
forefinger over her bottom lip. “You don’t have to miss me anymore.
Nor I, you.”

“
At least for the next few
weeks.”

“
Maybe longer,” he said.
“Who knows? I could have a sexy co-ed for a girlfriend. I like
it.”

“
A
girlfriend
? Not your
mistress?”

His smile slowly faded. “I want
something a little more permanent. If you’re willing to consider
it.”

Oh boy, was she.

The End

Also by Alexandra O’Hurley
and TEP

Sacking the
Quarterback

Tackling Her
Heart

Coming Soon

Return to Her

Wildfire

Crave

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexandra recently turned the dreaded
forty while her teenager legally became an adult—all in the same
year. Those events have added more gray hairs into her head. She
uses most of her writing income on bad dye jobs and wine. Mostly
wine. (You should see her roots!)

Alex is a multi-published, bestselling
erotic romance author, despite her bad hair. Or maybe because of
it. When one doesn’t want to leave the house or wear a hat, one
stays home and writes.

Published since 2009, Alex writes all
over the genre map, be it Ménage, Paranormal, Historical,
Contemporary, or Sci-Fi Erotic Romances.

You can find more about
Alex at
www.alexandraohurley.com
.