Jocked Up: Sports Romance (A Secret Baby Second Chance Romance) Read online

  I moaned into his mouth at the intimate touch and slid a thigh between his, rubbing the hard ridge pressing into my soft flesh. Already hard Drake was too busy sucking my tongue to notice the doors had opened and the elevator had stopped. His hands were sliding up under my blouse, heading to my breasts when I pulled away, taking his hand to lead him to our room.

  We soon found the room and I headed straight into the bathroom. Not spotting a tub I started the shower instead. Made of glass and black tiles the shower stall had water jets in the walls as well as an overhead stream. I set the flows to steam and went back to Drake. I pulled his shirt over his head and ran my hands over his muscular chest. He spent a good bit of time in the home gym he’d set up and I’d joined him this last month, determined to get rid of my baby weight.

  We hadn’t had sex since Petra was born and I’d started to feel like a frump. I knew it was because of the doctor’s orders, then life getting in the way but I’m glad we were here now. I bent down, flicking a tongue over his left nipple and he growled, he actually growled! Oh boy!

  Moving my hand down I undid his trousers and smiled happily when I heard them fall to the floor. Our shoes had disappeared when we walked into the room but now I could feel him toeing off his socks. Once that was done and my hand had wrapped around his cock I felt him pulling my clothes off, letting my shorts slide down as the divided top I had on disappeared. It was in two sections so that I could pull one side down but for now, it was a hindrance I didn’t need.

  Drake was enjoying my teasing strokes on his hot length but he wanted more. He pulled us into the shower and soon we were both steamy and wet as Drake dispensed some shampoo from the dispenser on the wall and smoothed it into my long hair. He massaged my scalp as I stood in front of him before cleaning the long lengths. It took some doing to get it rinsed out in the steam but Drake took that opportunity to soap my nipples, teasing the overly sensitive buds at the same time.

  When he pinched the dark nubs I gasped and wanted him to take me then. He turned me back to the wall now that my hair was rinsed and I thought that was the moment, he was going to be inside of me soon.

  Instead, he soaped my back with a washcloth covered in liquid soap, running the cloth along my neck, down my smooth back, further down to the divide in my bottom, his finger massaging at the tender hole he found there. I squirmed, gasping once more.

  “Oh don’t tease me, Drake. Baby, it’s been too long, please fuck me now, oh please fuck me!” I begged him, I’m not ashamed of it.

  “In due time, my sweet.” He whispered into my ear or maybe it was only the sound of the steam jetting out of the heads. My knees went weak either way, and Drake caught me, bracing me against his hips. He thrust into me; his erection between us as my hips reacted, arching back to meet him.

  “Oh Bethany, you are beautiful baby.” He said as we moved together. I heard his words and felt as beautiful as he said I was.

  The heat was building up inside of me, the steam almost stealing my breath away, as his fingers dipped down, over my hip, sliding between my lower lips to find my throbbing clitoris. I moaned out loud, deep and guttural as his fingers pressed into the organ, my pink flesh all but red now with arousal.

  “Drake, oh baby don’t stop.” I urged as his fingers swirled around the tiny button, gently pinching it before moving into delightfully tight circles. “Oh that’s it, that’s it.”

  I cried out as I braced my hand on the other side of the shower, Drake holding me to him as he braced his back against the wall. My legs quivered as the pleasure built, my ass grinding back into him as we moved in the rhythm of passion that only lovers know. I pressed back, he pressed forward, and as his cock, sliding against my ass, stimulated me, his fingers sent me into an orgasm that tore a harsh sound from my lips.

  I shook in his arms, my body quaking as the pleasure tore through me. I hadn’t come since the last time we’d had sex, I needed this and gave myself up to the moment of color-filled blackness, the most peaceful moment the human brain can know as it stops thinking for a split second to simply enjoy pleasure.

  Drake refused to move away when I pushed at his hand and I started to protest but his lips clamped down on the back of my neck and I experienced one of the most erotic sensations of my life as he sucked at my flesh. Instead of being too much sensation Drake’s fingers sent me over the edge again as he sucked at the back of my neck. He growled fiercely as my body once more shook in his arms, his cock sliding into my grasping tight body as he bent me forward slightly.

  “Mine.” He growled as he slid into me, breaking away from my neck for a moment. I could only shake my head in agreement, my body too tired to form a response.

  I clung onto a handle as he thrust into me, his pounding rhythm making my body respond once more. I thought I was done but the sensation of Drake sliding into me and pulling out was a massage of already overstimulated nerves. My body did what it wanted to and it screamed in delight as he continued to slide into me, over and over again.

  Drake moaned, he gasped, erotic sounds that he made as he drove us on together this time. I was just starting to make a keening sound of ultimate pleasure when he let out a primal sound, a sound of deep satisfaction and I felt him pulsing within me. My silken walls pulsed in return, grasping at him as he emptied into me. I didn’t care, I didn’t worry about getting pregnant again, I just gave my own growl of satisfaction as I felt him shudder behind me.

  We stood beneath the steam, our bodies being rinsed as we clung together, and I thought I felt Drake shiver. I didn’t say anything, though, I just held him, turned to face him now, as we let the hot water run over us in the cold room. This was heaven, being held in his arms.

  So many months ago I’d been afraid; terrified to let him back into my life but now, now we were joined together in a way I hadn’t understood then. Now we were partners and I needed him as much as he needed me.

  Finally, we left the shower, wrapping up in the thick white towels provided by the hotel and went into our room. Drake called room service to order wine and beignets, as I put on a pot of coffee. I was sure we were going to be up for a while. With my hair wrapped in a towel, I lounged out on the red divan against one wall. I read the leaflet the hotel had left in the room as Drake called to check on the kids.

  “Drake?” I called out to him as he put his phone down. “The kids alright.”

  “Fine babe. What ya reading?” He was happy, he’d gone all country boy on me.

  “Oh, apparently the hotel was some kind of brothel in the past. I remember reading about bed and breakfasts in New Orleans a while back. Almost all of them claimed to be a former brothel. Do you think men were just constantly walking from one house to the next? There were so many!”

  “Well, if any of them provided the kind of services you do Miss Bethany, I’d have been walking around all day, though it might have been a funny walk after a while.” He was grinning at me from the end of the divan, his hand traveling up my leg.

  “Stop that!” I glared playfully. “I’m getting doughnuts first!”

  “Mm, yes you are, I suppose. I’ll go sort the bathroom then.”

  Damn it all, I thought to myself, I should have checked his pockets! But he’d get his nerve up soon enough. He wasn’t a coward; it just seemed that Drake needed some encouragement. I thought he was just having a moment of doubt about himself earlier. He’d get his courage up soon enough.

  He didn’t get his courage up that night but we did end up getting the powdered sugar from our beignets all over the bed as Drake found creative ways to eat the hot treats from my body. I giggled at first, but then I moaned as his tongue had to dig into my skin to get every last bit of the sugar off of me. By the time we’d finished the bottle of wine we were lost in each other, lost in sensation, and lost to the world, there was only us.

  The next morning, we were having breakfast on our balcony, our bodies still demanding more sleep, when Drake drug me back to the bed. I laughed, pressing my palms into his chest
.

  “Down boy, I need some recovery time!” I joked but meant it, I wasn’t used to all of this attention.

  “No, I just wanted to look at you in the bed again. Your hair is all sexy and messy, your face is scrubbed clean of makeup, and now you’re naked again.” He conveniently opened my bathrobe and pushed it from my shoulders. “I love you like this. I love you.”

  “Oh.” I blinked up at him. He’d said it finally, the words we’d still yet to say. I felt my heart swelling as tears filled my eyes. “I love you too, Drake. I always have but now, I love you in a grown up way, not the love of a teenage girl with a crush or an infatuation but a deep abiding love.”

  “Good.” He reached down into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a small black box. He didn’t open it yet because he shifted, getting to his knees as he looked down at me. “Bethany, I’ve retired from football, I’ve settled everything with my contract. I don’t need to be running around a field anymore. I’ve sold the house in Los Angeles, I’ve got millions in the bank, and I love you. I’ve done a lot of growing up this year and well, I want to spend my life with you and I want to do it right. Will you be my wife? Will you marry me?”

  I rested against the pillows staring up at him. He’d done it, he’d really asked me to marry him! But he’d quit football!

  “But Drake, you love that game! You can’t quit!”

  “I’ve seen too many injuries, too many concussions, and too many men squandering their youth. It’s alright for some I guess but I got the ring I wanted, now I want to give you one. Well, two actually.” He grinned at me, his gaze turning into a plea. “Please, Bethany?”

  At that point, he opened the box but instead of a ring I saw a piece of paper folded up. I looked up at him confused but took the paper out.

  “It’s the form to change Peter’s birth certificate. I know I’m the world’s biggest idiot but I finally figured it out. He’s mine and I want the world to know he’s mine. Can I have my son as my son and you as my wife, Bethany?” He was full of questions today.

  I looked deep into his eyes but I saw no anger, no malice, and no resentment. He understood then. He realized why I’d hidden the truth. I felt a great burden lifting from my shoulders.

  “I didn’t want to ruin your life. So often young girls are told how a baby ruins their lives, and that the men will always leave. Well, you left me before I even knew so I kept it to myself. But you’ve changed, Drake. I know that. Yes, I’ll sign the form, and yes, I’ll marry you.” He swooped down on me then, his fingers sliding a most astonishing ring on my finger as he whooped to the heavens. We were going to be married!

  Chapter Sixteen

  The day before Christmas Eve dawned chilly but sunny as I sat in Amelia’s house with my hair in curlers with a woman studiously crouched over my nails, trying to turn my short stubs into a French Manicure. Amelia’s mother was busy steaming out my wedding dress and Peter and Petra were being entertained by my father. Drake was at our house, going over his own preparations. We were due at the church in an hour and a half.

  Amelia’s mother had already insisted I start calling her Mom and Peter called her mama, a word that sounded almost like the French “maman”. My son now had a father, with a new birth certificate to prove it. He was over the moon that Drake was his daddy and told everybody he met that his daddy won the Super Bowl. I smothered a laugh as I thought about it, Peter couldn’t have been more proud of who his dad was. And Drake couldn’t have been more proud of his son.

  Peter’s arm had slowly healed and now he didn’t even need a brace. To watch him you’d never know there were steel plates and pins holding his arm together. He carried on with his life as though nothing had happened, though both of our lives had changed so much from a year ago. We had a family now, a new little girl to love, and a man that we both adored.

  I picked up Petra and snuggled her for a moment but she wanted back down with my dad so I gave her back.

  “Time for the dreaded moment, Amelia.” I called back now that my fingernails were now dry. “Let’s get this contraption on me.”

  A silk faille, trumpet dress in off-white hung on the back of the door. The dress was hand embroidered by Drake’s mother, and the lace along the neckline and forming the sleeves had come from Amelia’s wedding veil. My own mother’s veil, a delicate creation of lace that my mother had made herself, was dyed to match my dress and was ready to go as well.

  The dress was a sheath of fine silk, and though it was simple, it was heavy. Amelia helped me into my corset then stood on the bed to hold the dress over my head. I held my arms up as she let it slide down. All those months of exercise had trimmed and toned my body, though it had done little to minimize my breasts. The dress slipped over my curves and Amelia zipped me in.

  Looking in the mirror I saw a subtly sexy dress but one suitable for a church wedding. It was the shape of the dress, the way it hugged my body as it flared out at my feet that made it beautiful, that made me beautiful. I brushed a tear away as I looked in the long mirror in Amelia’s bedroom. She wrapped her arms around my shoulder and kissed the side of my head.

  “Your mom would be so proud of you, darlin’. So very proud.” Only Amelia would have known what I was thinking in that moment. Well, Drake might have too but Amelia understood. I patted her hand and sniffed.

  “Let’s do this, final touches to my hair, some makeup, and we’re off.” I breathed deep, not nervous about getting married but worried about the car breaking down or being in an accident. Or maybe the church would catch fire! I told myself to stop being silly and sat down to let the makeup artist and hairdresser argue over who was going first.

  They made a decision and soon my face was made up, my hair lacquered around my head in a French twist that was simple but elegant, and my veil was attached. Time to go.

  We were crammed into a limousine, my dad and I on the backseat as the women serving in my wedding giggled over my children. Dad cleared his throat quietly and I looked over at him.

  “What’s up, Dad?” I asked, taking his hand.

  “I was just feeling a bit tearful. We’ve waited so long for this day, Drake’s mother and I. We split up, you know, so you two could have a chance.” He looked away then.

  “So that’s why. But how did you know?” I looked at him with confusion. “I never said anything.”

  “Oh, parents notice things, glances, the way you’d talk about him, the way he’d look at you. We knew. We wanted you to have that first love like we’d had with our spouses, that consuming love that never stops, even after death. We were a comfort to each other but we could see even then that you two had far more to offer each other than we did to each other. So we let it go, for your sakes.”

  “Thank you. Is that appropriate to say to something like that?” I didn’t know but it was a bit of a bombshell.

  “Today is all the thank you we need, cher, all that we need. Now you just have to live happy and free together.” Dad patted my hand and smiled a happy but sad smile. I knew he was thinking of Mom too, in that moment I felt she was there with us, sharing in the moment.

  Soon enough he was leading me into the church and Drake was there, in a black tuxedo, waiting for me. I had some winter flowers in my hands but my fingers were numb. When I went to hand them to Amelia I could barely let them go. We shared a quiet giggle and then I turned to Drake. That’s when the rest of the church, each pew filled, disappeared.

  He lifted my veil and our eyes locked. There were no doubts between us now, no recriminations, and certainly no secrets. We were starting our marriage as new people, as trusting, loving, accepting people. Mainly, we were starting this marriage as two people that loved each other very deeply. I still felt a sense of wonder every time Drake said he loved me, the words had not grown old or tiresome.

  I repeated the words as the priest instructed but really I had no clue what any of us said, all I could see was the happiness in Drake’s eyes. At last, the shadows that even he didn’t see any more we
re gone and there was only light in its place. Finally, Drake was sliding a platinum wedding band onto my finger and I was given one to give to him. I stumbled through the words, my tongue numb as my brain realized this was for real. I wasn’t imagining it all.

  My eyes widened as Drake took me into his arms and our lips met. My arms went around his waist, accepting him even in my stunned state, loving him. Drake kissed me deeply, we were truly a married couple now and the church cheered. I even heard Petra’s tiny voice giving a shout as she watched her mommy and daddy from her grandmother’s arms. I broke away from Drake and laughed, brushing away the tears I hadn’t realized I’d shed as Drake brushed a tear of his own away.

  We turned as the priest announced our new state and walked down the aisle together. The people in the church followed behind calling out well-wishes as we went out to the waiting car. The group would be meeting us at our house for our reception.

  Drake took me into his arms as soon as we got into the car with the dark tinted windows. His lips melded to mine once more and I heard something that sounded like a desperate sob escape him. I held him as his emotions got the better of him for a moment. My giant of a man was overcome with emotion and I was going to support him through it. He held his forehead to mine as he breathed in deeply, holding me tight.

  “I love you, dearest wife.”

  “I love you, dearest husband.” I said in return, meaning it.

  “Okay, let’s not ever say those words again now.” He laughed and I knew he’d be using those same words for the rest of our lives.

  We huddled together in the back seat as the driver took us back to the house. Upstairs in our bedroom later Drake helped me to get out of the dress.

  “It’s a shame you won’t ever wear that again; you’re stunning in it.” He said as he undid the zip and let the dress puddle at my feet. “But this corset, now I think we can get some use out of that.”