"I'm staying here." He paused, listened, frowned. "It's my life, Grandma, not yours."
Anna lifted her hand to hide her smile. It really was something to watch such a big, strong, tough man be such a softie. All for a woman he loved dearly.
"Fine, I'll play the damn game Sunday. But I'm flying right back."
Another pause, one where he looked like one of her first graders who knew he'd spoken out of turn.
"Sorry, ma'am," he said, and then, "Well, if you want me to stay in San Francisco with the team for practices, then I want you transferred to a nearby hospital." His face was like thunder. "We'll talk about this again soon."
He all but threw the phone down on the couch.
"Grandma is sending me back to California."
Anna knew she shouldn't be happy to hear it.
But she was.
* * *
It was all too much for her. The flight home in first class. The knowledge that she'd soon have to explain her rash marriage to not only her family, but also her friends and colleagues. All the while knowing that it would be coming to an end in the near future--and then she'd have to figure out how to explain her divorce. But mostly, Anna was overwhelmed by being so close to Cole for so many hours. He was always touching her, a thousand little caresses that slowly but surely drove her out of her mind.
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Placing his hand at the small of her back to guide her through throngs of photographers outside both airports.
Brushing her shoulder and arm with his during the flight, despite the fact that her first-class seat was the size of a small ocean liner.
Thankful that James was already waiting for them just outside Arrivals, Anna was glad for Cole's large frame protecting her from the bulk of the flashbulbs.
"I didn't realize football players were so well known."
"Most women would be thrilled by my fame. And fortune."
She scooted as far away from him as she could in the backseat. "I'm a good girl, remember? We don't care about that stuff."
She didn't bother to hold in her bitterness. Why should she? It wasn't like she had anything left to lose.
Except for her heart.
Anna shoved the mute button down on the stupid little voice in her head. She could feel Cole's eyes on her, just by the way her skin was heating up.
"I know it's strange, but you get used to the fame after a while."
But Anna wasn't sure she would. Hopefully the pictures and the short statement Cole had given the paparazzi about Anna making him "the happiest man on earth" would be enough.
"Damn it. I expected them to figure out where you lived, but not this fast."
Anna realized a crowd of journalists were on the sidewalk in front of her apartment.
"Why would they care about me? I'm a nobody. I'm not important."
He was in her face in an instant, gripping her shoulders in his strong hands. "You're beautiful. And sweet. And intelligent. You're very special, Anna."
Looking into his eyes as the rough tone of his words pummeled her, she realized he was angry. Because of what she'd said...about herself.
He rapped on the shaded window that separated them from James. "Keep going. We'll head straight to my house."
"But I need to go home." She poked a finger into Cole's chest. "And don't you dare say you'll send someone for my things again." His eyebrows rose at her no-nonsense tone of voice.
"Please park outside my apartment, James."
James made a U-turn. "We'll be there in just a moment, Anna."
She straightened her shoulders, ran a hand over her hair, then opened the door and stepped onto the sidewalk. "Hello. Good afternoon. Excuse me."
She carefully walked past the camera-laden strangers, keeping her smile firmly on her face. She could feel Cole a step behind her, knew without looking that he was barely keeping a lid on it. She refused to let her hand shake as she put her key in the door.
She had barely closed--and bolted--her front door when Cole spun her around and pressed her against it. He hunkered over her, his eyes flaming.
"Damn it, you'll listen to me next time."
She could feel his thick erection pressing into her body and even though he had no right to treat her with such disrespect, her body instantly responded with a flood of arousal, her br**sts peaking beneath her bra and shirt.
"No, next time you'll ask me what I want to do before making a unilateral decision. And you'll heed my answer."
His dark, sinful eyes moved from her eyes to her mouth, then back up again. "Are you talking back to me, sweet Anna?"
She couldn't stop staring at his mouth. "Get used to it." The throbbing between her thighs had turned into a deep ache.
"What happened to my good girl?" His mouth was now so close to hers that she could smell the mint from his toothpaste.
"Don't you remember?" she asked in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. "You tied her up and played with her."
Cole's mouth found hers on a desperate groan, his tongue pushing past her lips as he took her kiss. "I need you. Now." His hands were already on the button of her pants, his hands pushing down past her panties to the wet warmth that waited for his touch. Always. But he wasn't the only one ripping at clothes, because her hands were on his jeans, shoving down the zipper and then the waistband of his boxers.
She gripped his penis, thick and hard, thrilled at the feel of him in her hands, more aroused than she could believe simply at the knowledge that someone wanted her this much.
No, not just someone.
Cole.
Cole could have anyone, the most beautiful women in the world. But he wanted her.
She didn't know what possessed her to do it, but suddenly it was the most natural thing in the world to drop to her knees and put her mouth over him.
"What the hell are you doing now, Anna?"
His words were hard, but his fingers had already threaded through her hair. Who would have thought that she had it in her to turn a man like Cole inside out? Certainly not her. And, judging by his response to the slow swirl of her tongue under the rim of his head, the way he groaned like a man who couldn't believe he was giving in rather than leading their dance, definitely not him.
She would have smiled around his shaft if she'd been able to, but he was more than a mouthful and her jaw was opened as wide as it could go, her lips completely stretched around his beautiful penis.
She suctioned him deeply before letting him go with a loud pop. Licking her lips, she looked up at him mischievously.
"Just what it looks like. I'm sucking my husband's cock. And enjoying myself immensely."
His large hands came under her so fast she didn't have time to react. "Bedroom."
"Through the kitchen."
Her drapes were closed, but they were fairly sheer and she knew someone might see Cole carrying her through the house, their pants partially undone.
But as he held her against his chest, and she pressed her palm to the strong, steady beat of his heart, she simply didn't care. The only thing she cared about was making love to her husband. The fact that it was only a temporary marriage made her even hungrier for him, made her want to squeeze every second of pleasure out of being with him."Don't forget our deal."
"Which one?"
She pressed a kiss to his Adam's apple. "The one where you make me come so hard I black out."
He dropped her onto her bed. "Get those clothes off before I rip them off."
She tried her best, but it wasn't easy to focus on herself when he was revealing his perfect, muscular body as one piece of clothing after another fell to the floor. She was still trying to get her jeans off when he came at her and yanked them off. Her shirt was next, the rending of the thin silk the only sound in the room apart from their heavy panting.
"So damn gorgeous." His mouth came down over her belly, his tongue dipping against the small indentation. "So damn soft." One quick yank and her panties were gone. "So damn sweet."
And then his tongue was there, licking, tasting, teasing, swirling, and she was arching into his mouth, already so aroused that it took nothing more than the pressure of his lips around her cl*t and the smallest suction to send her flying over the edge.
She was still flying when he came over her and pressed her thighs further apart with his knees.
But her orgasm hadn't taken the edge off her need. It had only made her hungrier, more desperate for Cole.
Not to mention slightly disappointed that he hadn't let her finish what she'd started, on her knees, with her mouth and hands on him.
"I wanted you to come in my mouth, Cole."
Using his surprise to her advantage, she used every ounce of strength she had to twist and roll them over so that he was the one on his back looking up at her. He gripped her h*ps and tried to lift her over his shaft. The head of his penis slipped just inside her slick opening and it felt good, so incredibly good that she almost gave in to his lead.
But something had snapped inside Anna in the car on the way to the hospital, when she'd realized that Cole had lied to her. Or maybe it was before that, when he'd tapped into her secret desires in his bedroom.
She was sick and tired of letting everyone else take the lead in her life.
From here on out, she was taking charge.
"Here's how it's going to be," she said in a deadly serious voice. "You are going to let go of me and I am going to finish what I started in my foyer."
His fingers tightened on her hips.
"Later, Anna. I need to be inside you. Now."
His demanding words caused a new flood of arousal to pool between her legs.
No, damn it. She was going to hold firm, for once!
"Move your hands, Cole."
His c**k twitched against her and she almost sank down onto him out of pure feminine instinct, but then he said, "Yes, ma'am."
She could still feel the imprint of his hands on her skin even after he'd removed them.
"Put them above your head and keep them there until I tell you otherwise."
He didn't move for a long moment and she felt a smile move on her lips. She'd never played with anyone like this in bed, had never fought for dominance with a man, had never even known the need to be on top.
And in charge.
"This won't happen again, Anna. So you'd better enjoy the hell out of it."
"Oh, yes, it will," she replied, and then, "And I'm sure planning on it."
Very reluctantly shifting herself from his groin, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his shoulder, moving slowly down his chest to the faint dusting of hair over his nipple. She'd never paid much attention to men's ni**les before, but the dark circles on Cole's chest demanded her attention, her appreciation.
She licked across the already taut tip and it came alive beneath her tongue. He gripped her back, his thumbs working to find her nipples.
She lifted her head from his chest. "I'm going to get something to tie you up pretty soon if you're not careful."
His reaction was instantaneous. And fierce. "Like hell. You're not tying me up."
She raised an eyebrow. "Wanna bet?"
He groaned and pinched his eyes shut, his h*ps seeming to move off the bed on their own.
"You're killing me."
"Too bad." She moved up the bed and picked up one of his hands. She wrapped his fingers around a section of her pewter bed frame. "If you need to hold onto something, hold onto this."
"You're pushing it, sweetheart."
She shifted back over him, letting her hair brush over his neck and shoulders and chest, loving the way his muscles rippled in response.
"Ooooh, I'm scared."
And the fact was, there was a little fear there. Just enough to keep her on the edge of her seat. She had no idea how far he'd let her push him. Just as she had no idea how far she could push.
But boy, was it fun figuring all of that out. Shockingly so.
She swirled her tongue around the nipple she'd thus far neglected and the entire bed moved and groaned as he gripped at the bed frame with both hands. Using her tongue to guide her explorations, she roamed down his body, tasting the indentations between his incredible abdominal muscles.
Every muscle, every sinew, every tendon was tensed.
"Seems like you're having a hard time relaxing," she murmured against the dark line of hair that trailed from his belly button down towards his cock. "I'm thinking maybe I should blindfold you."
When his growl came, she didn't bother hiding her smile of pure feminine pleasure. How had she gone this long without knowing the thrill of holding a man sexually captive?
It was beyond incredible.
"You don't like that idea very much, do you, Cole?"
"You have no idea how close you are to the edge, sweet Anna."
The unveiled threat in his voice sent a wave of intense desire through her. "Close enough to make you black out, I hope."
She knew he would try to grab her. But before he could, she opened her mouth wide and sucked his c**k inside. Using what she'd learned the previous night about bypassing her gag reflex, she tilted her neck slightly and relaxed the tight muscles until her nose was pressed into his pelvic bone.
She was mesmerized by his taste--his pre-come was salty and sweet all at the same--and his scent. So clean, so distinctive. Again and again, she took the long, thick length of his shaft into her mouth and throat, working the base with her hand on every outward thrust.
She'd loved sucking him last night. She loved it even more now, hearing his wild groans of pleasure, his heated praise at how wet and soft and tight her mouth was around his dick.
A hot splash of fluid erupted from his thick head and she greedily licked it up.
"It's too damn good," came a split-second before he pulled her mouth off his c**k and lifted her pu**y onto it.
She'd known all along that he wouldn't let her take him all the way over the edge in her mouth--not yet, anyway--so instead of fighting him, she gladly sank down onto his thick, throbbing shaft with a deep sigh of pleasure.
"So perfect," he said as his hands moved from her h*ps to cup her breasts. "So damn pretty."
Using her thigh muscles to propel her up and down over his cock, she rode Cole like a star jockey. Sweat dripped between her br**sts and he lifted his head to lick at a rivulet in the center of her chest, along her breastbone.
The rough stroke of his tongue in such an unexpectedly sensual spot sent her into a cl**ax she hadn't even realized was coming. Her inner muscles pulled and clenched at his thick shaft and she ground her cl*t into his pelvic bone to prolong the incredible waves of pleasure.