Page 11 of Flag On The Play (Gridiron Warriors #5)

NOVA

W hat the hell am I doing?

This is Finlay fucking Reed, and I hate that he’s right.

I do like him more than I want to admit, and it knocks the breath right out of me.

I press my palms to his chest and search his darkening eyes. I feel the steady pound of his heart under my fingers, and I know mine’s beating just as fast.

“I hate that I want you,” I whisper.

“Good,” he says, gripping my waist. “Then we’re even.”

He crashes his lips to mine, and it’s rough, desperate. Like we’re giving in to years of tension.

My hands slide down his sides and grab the bottom of his shirt, lifting it. He breaks the kiss long enough to help me get his shirt off before his lips find mine again.

My fingers trail over the solid wall of his chest, and I swear I feel every sculpted ridge like it’s carved from stone.

He’s all hard lines and tensed muscles. His broad shoulders flex under my palms. His chest is firm, and the feel of his abs makes me moan in his mouth as I trace them down to that dip of the delicious V that disappears beneath his jeans.

His fingertips graze my shoulders, and it’s such a soft touch that it sends a full-body shiver straight through me.

He pushes the thin straps down my arms, and I swear his eyes follow the path they take like he’s memorizing the moment.

The fabric slips down, catching at my hips for just a second before falling to the floor in a soft whoosh, pooling at my feet.

He steps back, just a step. Just enough for me to admire his bare chest.

It’s been a while since I’ve had sex, and I’m feeling off my usual game of pure confidence. I’m standing here in nothing but black lace panties, my heart racing like I just sprinted across a football field.

“Fuck, Nova,” he murmurs, the words barely more than air.

I smirk, needing to ease the tension humming between us. “You gonna stand there staring all night, QB? Or are you gonna do something?”

He lifts a brow, that cocky grin playing on his lips. “I was giving you a moment. You know, to admire how lucky you are.”

I roll my eyes and laugh, even as my skin burns under his stare. “Oh, trust me, I’ll keep the memory for when you inevitably piss me off again.”

He closes the space between us in a heartbeat, his hands warm and firm as they settle on my waist. “Then let’s make it a memory worth keeping.”

He kisses me again, lifting me and pressing my back against the wall. I wrap my legs around him as my fingers sink into his hair.

His mouth trails down my body, and I moan. I feel his grin before he breaks the kiss.

I search his heated eyes as he carries me to the bed, and we both fall onto it. His big, rough hands are moving over my body as mine get busy getting his pants off. He kicks them off, along with his boxers, and I quickly push off my panties.

Every inch of him is built like a goddamn fantasy.

Thick biceps that twitch when I graze them, veined forearms that make me wonder how many times he’s caught a pass with one arm and broken hearts with the other.

His thighs? Jesus. They’re massive. Solid.

Built from years of pounding the field, and I feel them tense as my hand slides down.

He’s warm and taut and completely in control, and the worst part is, he knows it.

“Enjoying yourself?” he murmurs, voice like gravel and sin as my nails skim down the ridges of his abs.

“I’ve touched smoother concrete,” I tease, even though I’m practically drooling.

He grins. “Careful, Nova. Keep touching me like that, and you’re not leaving this bed anytime soon.”

God help me because I don’t want to.

He pins me under him and searches my eyes without a single word. It has the fire burning beneath my skin, bursting into an inferno.

He grabs my wrists in one hand and pins my arms above my head as he kisses a trail from my neck down to my breasts. He traces my hard nipple with his tongue, and I arch off the bed.

“Fuck, I’ve barely touched you and you’re panting already.”

“Still cocky, huh?” I breathe out.

“Always,” he mumbles against my skin.

He sucks, kisses, and bites at my tits like no one ever has. I try to move my hands, but he tightens his hold as he sucks my nipple into his mouth.

“Oh my God,” I moan out as he bites down.

I’ve never had someone worship my breasts this way before. It’s intoxicating and has me wanting, no, needing more. I lift my hips, grinding against him, and this time he moans against me.

He lets go of my wrists, and I grab onto his hair as he lifts his head to look at me. I pull, and he follows until his face is right above mine.

I grin as I push him onto the bed and climb on top of him, straddling his lap like I have a point to prove.

“I’m still in control,” I say.

He grins, running his hands up my thighs. “Then take what you want, Nova.”

I grind against him and feel the sharp inhale he tries to hide. It gives me a rush of power. He may be the king of the field, but right now, he’s mine.

“You talk a big game,” I murmur, brushing my lips along his jaw. “But can you deliver?”

“I don’t throw interceptions, sweetheart,” he whispers, flipping me onto my back in one smooth move. “I always score.”

And fuck, when his mouth trails down my body, he proves it.

Every kiss. Every touch. Every flick of his tongue has me arching, panting, gasping.

We’re all desperate hands and heavy breathing as our hands roam each other.

His eyes lock onto mine, and I’ve never seen him look more serious. I can feel his hard cock pressing against me, and it’s taking all my control not to push just that little bit more.

“You sure about this?”

“No, but I need it,” I confess.

He reaches down and grabs a condom out of his pants and sits up, staring at me as he rips it open.

He grabs his coc,k and I take the opportunity to admire the man he is.

Muscular, solid, damn perfection. As if his body isn’t the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, I watch him roll the condom on his huge cock.

I don’t realize my eyes are wide until he says, “See something you like?”

My eyes snap to his, and I narrow them. “Shut the hell up.” I giggle and grab him, crashing my lips to his.

He slams into me and we both let out a loud moan. He doesn’t give me time to adjust or stretch me out. He drives into me like a man desperate for release.

And I move right with him.

This isn’t gentle.

This isn’t sweet.

It’s fire and frustration. Lust and years of built-up resentment channeled into something that feels a lot like obsession.

I claw at his back as he slams into me hard and fast. Both of us moaning like we didn’t know it would feel this damn good.

“Nova,” he groans into my neck, and something about the way he says my real name makes my stomach flip.

It’s messy. It's needy. It’s too much.

And I can’t stop.

We move together like we’ve done this before in some past life, like our bodies already know the rhythm before our minds catch up.

I’ve never experienced anything close to how he’s making me feel. The way his touch on my body is light, yet he’s fucking me like a punishment.

He rolls his hips, and I cry out, digging my nails into his back.

“Fuck, Nova. I never dreamed it would be this good.”

Me either, but I can’t get the words out. I can’t think straight.

He continues to drive into me, and I feel myself moving closer to the edge. I can’t fight it. It’s as if he has a playbook for my body and has memorized it.

“Finlay, oh God, I’m so close,” I cry out.

He reaches between us and rubs my clit, making me see stars.

“Fuck, don’t fight this, Nova,” he groans.

His hard cock slams into me as he rubs my clit faster, and I can’t take it. I can’t stop myself from falling off the edge.

“Finlay!”

I come undone faster than I want, and before I even stop shaking, he follows. He lets out a low, guttural sound that makes my toes curl.

After, we lay tangled in silence. My head on his chest. His fingers brushing my hip like he doesn’t want to let go just yet.

And for one terrifying moment, I don’t want to let go either.

But I know I should.

Still, when he speaks, it’s not what I expect.

“That wasn’t just sex.”

I laugh, soft and bitter. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Make it sound like it was something it wasn’t. We’re oil and water, Finlay.”

He sighs. “Then why does it feel like gasoline and a match every time I touch you?”

I don’t have an answer.

So, I kiss his chest and smile up at him. “Let’s just enjoy the moment, okay?”

He doesn’t answer.

I don’t say anything else.

He’s as confused as I am, and the only thing there is to do is enjoy how fucking epic it was, finally giving in to all the sexual tension.