Hard and Fast

“Yeah,” he said. His current position put pressure on his arm and he flexed his fingers before he could stop himself. “I know.”

Her gaze went to his arm then lifted to his face, the poor lighting making her expression impossible to read.

“I was a swimmer headed to the Olympics,” she said. “I wanted it more than I wanted my next breath. It…was everything to me.”

“What happened?” he asked, his voice low, his gut clenched with the pain in her voice. That pain hit close to home. It landed on his fear about his arm, about losing his dream. His life. Ball was all he knew.

She stared down at the seat. Her response came slowly. “A knee injury is what happened. I tried to hide it. Actually, I did hide it. Even from my dad.”

“He’s a doctor, you said?”

She nodded. “With the NFL. My knee had been a problem everyone thought I’d beat.”

“But you hadn’t,” he said, knowing exactly what she had gone through.

“No. It flared up right before qualification rounds, which just happened to be smack in the middle of football season.”

“So your father was distracted.”

“Not as much as you would think, but it made avoidance a bit easier.”

He let her remain silent for a while before he prodded, “What happened, Amanda?”

Biting her bottom lip, she cut her hand through the air dismissively. “The details aren’t important.” She fixed her attention on him. “I know what you’re battling and your secret is safe with me. But that’s not why I’m telling you this. I swam injured, Brad. I wasn’t willing to miss my chance to qualify. And that decision cost me my dream. Don’t do the same thing.”

The absolute accuracy of her words took him aback. Nobody knew what he was going through. Nobody had a clue about the dilemma he was in. But Amanda did. He didn’t know what to say.

When he didn’t immediately reply, she made a soft, frustrated sound and reached for the door. “I don’t know why I bothered to tell you all of that. Good night, Brad. Thanks for the ride.”

He realized then she thought his silence meant he didn’t care about the secret she’d shared. But that wasn’t it. Far from it. Her willingness to open up, to caution him, made him want her more.

“Don’t go,” he said, stopping her departure with both words and actions. He reached for her, put his arms around her.

But when he would have pulled her close, her fists balled on his chest, preventing him. Their eyes locked, heat darting between them, a mixture of attraction and her obvious anger. “I need to go.”

“Don’t go,” he whispered.

Several seconds passed, the warmth of her stare spreading over his body. The air crackled with passion, with attraction.

His gaze settled on her full lips, and he burned to taste her. “I really don’t want you to go.” He waited for a sign to take what he wanted.

Slowly, she melted into him. Brad reveled in the feel of her soft curves against his body. Her fists opened, fingers spreading, moving to his shoulders, tugging him closer.

Finally, they were kissing. Wildly, passionately. Her arms twined around his neck. Her scent was intoxicating, addictive. She tasted like cinnamon and sugar, delicious, sweet. The flavor urged him to take more, to deepen the kiss.

He stroked his tongue along hers, exploring, absorbing, teasing. This woman did crazy things to him. Made him wild. Set him on fire. The way she moaned into his mouth, slid her tongue against his, matched him stroke for stroke, told him that she wanted him as much as he did her.

He wanted all this woman was and ever could be.

That want spurred him. A primal yearning to possess her took hold. He let go of where he was, focused only on what he wanted, on what he needed.

With a quick maneuver, he had her reclined on the seat, and positioned himself on top of her. He nudged her knees apart so he could fit his rock-hard erection into the V of her body. Still kissing her, he skimmed his hand down her leg, then around to cup her sweet round ass as he pulled her tight against his hips.

He moaned as she arched into him, her hands in his hair, on his face, on his shoulders. Her leg curled over the top of his calf and she lifted herself to full contact with his erection. The sensation clenched his gut and had him thrusting to meet her. It would be so easy to shove her panties aside and bury himself deep inside her. To claim that wet heat he knew would be oh, so good.

Nearby a door slammed. Voices sounded. Laughter. Amanda froze. It was her stillness that brought Brad back to reality. He’d been too lost in Amanda to do more than remotely register the noise.