Page 41 of Striking Heat

My name rolls off his tongue as we both fall over the edge.

Sweaty and tired, I lay my head on his shoulder while he strokes my back. I love the feeling of being in his arms like this. He’s still inside me and is holding me so tightly. After a bit, he lifts me up and carries me into the bathroom attached to his bedroom.

After setting me down on the cool tile, he goes to the closet to retrieve a washcloth. The condom is thrown into the trash while he waits for the water to heat up. Once it does, he dunks the towel into it and wipes between my legs to clean me. Then he carries me to bed. It should be weird that neither one of us has said a word since we were by the window, but it’s not. He leans in and kisses me.

“Good night, Mackenzie.” He holds me close as his body relaxes.

“Good night,” I reply to the quiet room and relax into his touch, letting sleep take me.

Chapter Seventeen

~DANNY~

Iwake up and she’s still lying beside me, but I’m no longer holding her. This isn’t how I thought last night was going to end. I didn’t think that simply asking her to come home with me would lead to this.

She stirs and her eyelids flutter. She looks so peaceful. It’s a Thursday, and I’m not sure what she has going on with the team. I don’t know what time her practice is or if she’s missing anything. It’s not even nine yet, and I hate to wake her considering it was so late until we finally climbed into bed for sleep.

I roll onto my back and smile, replaying last night. Being inside her, taking her from behind, and getting the chance to lick her pussy. I hadn’t imagined that she would actually let me. I wonder what allowed her to drop her guard enough for all of that. And if I’ll be able to do it again. I smile thinking about all the naughty ways I could wake her up. When I feel someone staring at me, I look over and her beautiful blue eyes are looking back at me.

“Good morning, beautiful girl,” I tell her.

She flushes. “What were you just thinking about that made you smile so big?”

“Would you believe me if I said you?” I ask her.

“I’d say that’s a good line.” She chuckles and scoots a little closer to me.

I help her out and roll onto my side so that we’re closer.

“It can’t be a line if it’s the truth,” I tell her. “What time do you need to be somewhere this morning? It’s almost nine. I didn’t want you to miss training or something.”

“Thanks.” She stretches for a second and looks up at the ceiling, her forehead wrinkling while I think she’s trying to figure out what her morning looks like. “I know I have training, but that’s not until eleven.”

“You’re on a bye this week, right?”

“Yep, then it’s off to Utah.”

“That’s kind of near where you’re from. Do you think any of your family will make the trek out to see you?” I ask her, trying to glean some information about her family. She hasn’t said much in the press, and I’ve never seen anyone at the game who she gets particularly excited to have there. She waves at the fans all the same.

“My hometown is still six hours away from where the game will be held. Or at least, that’s what I was told when I called home the other day.”

I nod. I feel bad that I even brought it up, because there’s a sadness in her eyes now. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it would be a sore subject.”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine. You didn’t know.”

“I get it, though,” I say, propping up on my elbow. “My dad’s not the best at being supportive of my career either.”

She nods, watching me. “Oh, I don’t know. I think it might be a bit worse than your dad not enjoying the fact that you didn’t play football.”

I smirk at her. “It’s cute that you think that could be all there is between my dad and I.”

“Tougher than that?” she asks.

“A bit. Now tell me what’s going on with you and your parents. Why aren’t they happy to come see your game?”

“Are you going to print this?” she asks, eyeing me cautiously.

“Yeah, I’m going to print this, and I’m also going to print how your eyes look when you’re coming. What do you think?” I tease her, reaching over and tapping her nose.