Red Card (10 page)

"
W
e're going out
." Heidi came into the living room, sans pants, as I was trying to ignore the world and binge watch a season of One Tree Hill on my computer.

Except the internet in our apartment was non-existent and my headphones were making this weird, tunnel in a bottle noise.

And my roommate was badgering me, and I couldn't get my mind off of the shitty day I'd had. But besides that, things were great.

"I'll pass." There was no way I was getting off this couch. Especially to go out into the world where the paparazzi were having a field day with my reputation.

"Yes, you are. Look I picked you an outfit and everything." Emma came out next, holding dark jeans and some sort of fabric that was supposed to be a top.

"And I've got the alcohol covered!" Bridget yelled from where she stood at the counter, her brogue already tinged with the cocktail she'd consumed.

All three of them pinned me with their stares, and I directed my eyes at the buffering wheel on the screen in front of me. It still wouldn't load.

I could sit here all night, probably moping around about Killian and Cressida and the new life I'd wished for in London not panning out. Or I could suck it up and go out with the first girlfriends I'd encountered since I'd broken up with Taylor.

With Taylor, I didn't have time for friends. Didn't even think to want them. I spent all of my extra time, and even the time I should have been studying or in class, with him. He took over my life, consumed every part of it. I was one of those girls. The ones who dropped all of their friends the moment they met a guy. Except in my case, I'd done it for five years.

My friendship with Jaycee had suffered immensely. Thank god she was a good enough person to be there to pick the pieces of my heart up when he'd dumped me. I don't think many friends would have waited around that long.

"Fine. But those cocktails better be strong." A good drunken night was exactly what I needed. It only took about one cocktail for me, so it wouldn't be long before I was blissfully unaware of the rain cloud of problems floating over my head.

"
T
o arseholes and wankers
! May your willy's get hit by a double decker!" Bridget screamed over the music, raising the whiskey shot above her head as we mimicked her, our four hands forming a drunken circle.

She downed the arsenic like water. Lucky Irish bitch. Meanwhile, I was having a hard time feeling my throat or internal organs swallowing the third, no fourth, glass of the poisonous liquid.

I never drank like this. I could barely get through a glass of wine without my fingers and toes getting tingly. I was a lightweight, I knew that. But tonight was about fun and no responsibilities. Those would have flown out the window anyway after the first gin & tonic Bridget made us before we left our flat.

She'd taken us to Tiger Tiger in Piccadilly, and with the beat of music in my veins and the alcohol swimming in my head, I felt invincible.

"Come on let's sit, its only 1 a.m. If we are going to make it until 4 we have to rest." Heidi strutted towards the table she'd secured us by flirting with the bouncer.

"4 a.m.?" I questioned, my tongue feeling heavy in my mouth.

The girls just giggled at me.

"Leah, you really are so American." Emma chuckled, throwing her petite form into the purple booth lining the wall.

"I hear it enough from Killian, not you guys too."

One of Bridget's eyebrows rose in a suggestive expression. "Killian, huh? The new athlete you snagged?"

I knew she was joking about the articles. "Shove it, Ireland."

"The media is bloody rubbish anyhow. Don't listen to it." Heidi looked bored, swirling her cocktail with her pinky.

"Says the girl who is a media darling. Except for that one thing..." Emma looked nervous but giggly drunk as she trailed off.

"What thing?" I didn't take the hint that this probably wasn't a topic to pursue.

“Heidi broke up with a very public businessman in a very public way. If you ask me she still wants in his trousers.” Bridget smirked from across the table. She didn’t even seem tipsy.

Heidi scowled and pointed a finger at me. “Rich men, whether they’re athletes, men who rule empires, movie stars, they’re all the same. Wealthy, sadistic arseholes who make it so that you’re eating out of the palm of their hand by the time you realize you’re in love with them. And then they pull the rug out from under you. They’re selfish, worthless twits. Don’t ever fall for one.”

“Here, here!” I shook my fist in the air, the alcohol and her impassioned speech making my chest swell with feminine pride. I was about to shout “GIRL POWER!” and go into a Spice Girls ballad.

“Let’s dance!” Emma pulled my hand out of the air. She was surprisingly strong for such a small woman.

And so we did. The four of us wriggled, body waved, grinned and twisted our bodies until we were sweaty and breathless. And even then we continued.

The music was like an antibiotic. It spread through my veins, my blood, and made me feel better than I had when I arrived.

I’d also forgotten what it was like to hang out with just girls. I’d never had many friends, Jaycee was it really. The companionship, the inside jokes, the hilarious moments and side splitting laughter. I found out Emma had terrible but fantastic moves, that Heidi could get guys to buy us drinks at the crook of her pretty fingernails. And I found out the hard way that Bridget was the enabler…just when I’d sworn off any more drinks she was pushing one into my hand.

The entire night was gloriously carefree. It was exactly what I needed. It was what I’d come on this adventure for…and I was finally getting it.

A
nother day
, another picture of Leah’s face smack dab in the middle of my morning paper.

This was getting old, didn't the press have anything else to do besides talk about women I haven't even touched? Okay, so I did touch her, saw her beautiful pussy, stuck my fingers in her wetness and...

Okay. My cock needed to stop getting a rise every time I even pictured that blonde goddess spread out on my bed.

I turned the page, hoping to get a preview for the coming week's matches. "Wait a bloody second..."

There, in full color, wasn’t the photo I’d expected of her. Instead, it was a picture of Leah in front of the 73Bulbs building, her face shoved into some guy's neck as he held her tight. And that guy was clearly not me.

For Christ's sake, my ex?! The girl had barely been here for a week. We hadn't even dated. The tabloids really were a crock of shit.

But who was that guy? And why the hell was Leah all over him?

I shouldn't care, I hadn't seen the woman in more than a week. Except my hands were balled into fists and I had the sudden urge to drive over to Paddington and give Leah's ass a good spanking.

But I didn't. Instead, I drove myself over to the practice fields for Windingham. I worked myself through a demanding practice and then an even more grueling weight lifting session afterwards. I worked my body to the point of exhaustion so I wouldn't think about her and that fucker on the cover of the newspaper. So I wouldn't think about her skin, the color of warm sand on a Caribbean beach, or her eyes, emerald and flashing with desire as she writhed on my sheets.

But even still, when I finally got home and heaved my fatigued body into the shower, I couldn't help my dick from lengthening at the thought of her spread wide, open for me to do whatever I had wanted to her.

I took hold of myself, tugging gently upward and using my other hand to pull my ball sack down. I repeated the rhythmic motion, making sure to hit the sensitive tip of my swollen head, sending an aching surge up my spine and down into my already weary thigh muscles.

I stroked my hard, scalding dick as I pictured Leah on her knees in front of me, those pretty peach lips open and waiting for me to feed myself to her. A hiss escaped my lips as I imagined what the back of her throat would feel like, the sucking, gagging and slurping noises she would make as I pulled out only to shove back in deeper.

I came with an audible roar, my come shooting out in thick ropes and splashing onto the stone tile of the shower. I had to put a hand against the wall to steady my shaking body as I gasped for air. It was the hardest I'd come in a solo session in a long time, and all because I'd been thinking of her. What the hell would it be like if I actually got inside of her?

Banishing the rest of those elicit thoughts, I hurried through the rest of my shower. Dressing in a dark blue suit with a metallic sheen to it, I was five minutes late getting downstairs when the car arrived to take me to Piccadilly. Damn Leah Watson, always throwing me off.

I had a rare appearance tonight, since I'd told Jimmy years ago that I did not want to do these ridiculous nights out. The free booze, the fake girls, the small talk that had to be made. But the party at Zoo Bar was for one of my sponsors, and so I had to show up.

The car dropped me in front of the nightclub, the exterior all black with thumping music coming from inside. Gathering a deep sigh, I posed for some pictures before being whisked into the bar. I was immediately engulfed in house music, crowds and scantily clad women. Getting through this was going to take alcohol, and a lot of it.

I made my way downstairs, seeking out the least crowded bar in the place. Motioning to the bartender, I ordered Don Julio on the rocks. If I had to be here, might as well take advantage of the open bar and top shelf liquor.

"Can I just get a Coke?” I heard the familiar voice to my left and my pulse instantly sped up. I took a gulp of tequila before I decided to turn my head, my eyes landing on a sight that had my cock, who had already been dealt with earlier, locked and loaded like a bloody shotgun.

Leah stood against the bar, vast expanses of her rose petal skin visible for everyone to see. Her black dress wasn't form fitting, but it was so god damn sexy that I was having trouble seeing straight. It hung from her willowy frame by three thin straps, two over her shoulders and one holding them together across her back.

And Jesus, her back. I almost had to shove my fist in my mouth to stifle the groan itching to burst from my throat.

I could see her entire smooth, arched back. The black material finally appeared just over her ass, but ended again midway down her thighs. The dress was like a beautiful, shiny sack shielding the view of her amazing assets.

Her hair, she'd curled it and piled the whole thing in a sleek style on the crown of her head. I was dying to unravel it, or shove my fingers into it and ruin it. Those lips, the one I'd crashed my mouth roughly onto just a week ago, were painted a deep red. Darker than the most crimson blood. I wondered how it would look rubbing onto my skin as her lips milked my shaft.

I was having trouble controlling my breathing, my dick straining so hard that I thought it might bust the zipper on my trousers.

Not only was her body on full display, but her posture was different. In just a few day’s time, I didn't quite recognize the woman in front of me. When I'd met her, she seemed unsure of herself, timid and second guessing her every move. The creature before me exuded a confidence that could be felt in every corner of the bar.

And I couldn't help but try to jostle that. I took a sip of tequila, gently placing the glass back down on the bar, before speaking without looking at her.

"What, your new boy toy couldn't make it tonight?"

I saw her jump out of her skin, my voice surprising her. But she masked it quickly, reaching for her soda and slyly taking a sip before turning to me. I still wouldn't look at her fully.

"You know as well as I do that the media twists things. What they captured was no more than a moment of weakness that a friend helped me to recover from. Not that I owe you any sort of explanation. I'm just a slut, right?"

Her tone was professional at first, but she just couldn't hold herself back from getting those barbs there in the end.

I finally turned my body, facing her head on. I had to grit my teeth before I spoke she looked so edible. “You said it, doll, not me. Tell me, what does it feel like to make blokes fall at your feet on every continent?”

“Oh, so I made you fall?” Leah rolled her eyes and turned away from me, leaning her elbows back against the bar. She surveyed the party, bobbing her head when the Rihanna song played over the speakers.

“That’s such a chauvinist pig kind of thing to say.” She turned those big eyes on me, their mossy color highlighted by the neon lights flashing around the club. “But then again, you’re the typical asshole athlete, Killian. You might have even written the book.”

W
oah
. I chuckled, completely taken aback. Finishing off the tequila in my glass until I heard the ice clink against my teeth, I motioned to the bartender to fill me up. This was a completely different woman than the one who was begging me to fuck her on my bed a week ago.

“So why are you here, Leah? You clearly haven’t bothered to show up for your job. I thought you’d quit.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I’m here to manage you, Killian. Set up interview opportunities, make sure you don’t get into hot water with the press. I might have let you and the media circus get to me, but I came here for me. To take hold of my future. Not you or anyone else is going to deter me from that.”

My chest swelled a little with all of the ego and pride coming through in her voice.

"Well then, I leave you to do your job. I think I have an interview with that brunette over there."

I downed the rest of my second drink, slamming the glass on the bar as she gave me a look that could slay even Hercules. But I ignored it, instead deciding to play a little game with the woman who was the ultimate game player.

For someone who was supposedly after me and all the things that came with being a WAG (a new term I'd learned from the media buzz around Leah, it meant Wives and Girlfriends of Athletes), she sure wasn't acting like it. She wasn't trying to defend herself or charm her way back into my bed. Leah was being downright professional and cold, causing doubt to creep in on the matter of her being everything the media said she was. Jimmy's earlier remark echoed in my brain, that I barely even knew her. The media wrote things about me all the time that weren’t true. Hell, they'd reported facts about Eve's death that were so far from the truth I'd almost burnt our mews house down.

But I wasn't thinking anywhere near rationally enough tonight with almost half a bottle of Don Julio already in my system. I wanted to rub my cock on someone, and if it couldn't be Leah, then I'd make do with the brunette shimmying her nearly naked form and batting her fake eyelashes at me.

I circled her, coming to rest behind her and wrenching her hips back, her bony ass landing in directly the spot I needed it. Rotating my hips in time with her seductive movements, we began a slow, agonizing roll of our bodies. Anyone watching could see that we were doing way more than dancing, her tailbone grinding down onto the pulsing, dripping head of my staff.

"You're Killian Ramsey, aren't you?" The brunette slurred, and I finally looked up at her face.

Makeup caked her cheeks, one false lash hanging by a thread and drooping over her eyelid. Her lips were an unnatural shade of pink, neon and shiny and disgusting. I realized I could feel her hip bones through her dress, and not in a sexy, curvy way but in a "she hasn't eaten for weeks" way. She smelled like the worst kind of fake body spray, sickly sweet mango invading my nostrils.

I hated it.

My dick began to fall, turned off by this woman who was nothing like Leah. Glancing up, my gaze connected with a slice of skin through the crowd, soft and pale as moonlight. Leah stood immobilized by the bar, hurt stinging her eyes as she watched us. She straightened when she saw me watching her, turning her nose up and quickly averting her gaze. And then she started to move, walking at first, but breaking into a trot when she thought I could no longer see her.

"Shit!" I pushed the brunette aside, my brain, heart and body spurring me forward in search of Leah.

The club was an actual zoo as I waded through the throngs of bodies, people shouting my name from every corner as I tried to keep my head down and ignore them. I tried the loos first, having no luck when I actually opened the women's toilet door and yelled in to see if she was in there. That got me a couple heckles and jaw drops.

She wasn't at any of the side bars, or the main dance room. I'd run out of places and came to rest in a utility hall when I heard a sniffle further down the corridor. There, swamped in darkness, was Leah wiping a lone tear off of her delicate cheekbone.

"Leah..."

She startled, bristling when she saw it was me and attempting to pass me on her way out of the hallway. "What do you want, Killian? Unless you have some real business at this party that you need my help with, leave me alone. Go back to your super classy dance partner."

"Stop...just wait. I...are you okay?"

I'd grabbed her arm, blocking her from retreating.

Rolling her eyes and never meeting my gaze, she backed up further into the darkness again and out of my touch. "Oh, I'm just peachy. What do you care anyway? I'm just a...what was it? Slag, right? Will you be doing any media tonight? Because if not, I'm just going to go."

"And what, hook up with your new friend, love?” I couldn't help myself. The tequila was making my veins heat, and I was getting too agitated being in such a small space alone with her.

"You may be older than I am, but you're a fucking child, Killian. You're only cocky and brash because you're so god damn afraid of the world and what people really think of you. Tell me what you want, or let me go."

She'd hit the nail so bloody correctly on the head that I was stunned into silence for a moment. And all caring fled. Gone. Out the window. Because even if she was only trying to get near me for the status, or if she only wanted to keep this professional, I didn't care anymore. I wanted to fuck her too damn bad.

"Fuck me, Leah, I want this even though I shouldn't. Even though I have no idea who in the hell you are, I want to ram myself inside of that tight, dripping pussy until we both can't remember our names. And I know it's dripping right now, love, because fighting with me gets you wetter than you’ve ever bloody been in your entire life. And you know it does the same for me.”

Then I kissed her. I grabbed onto that shimmering, velvety skin and dragged her lips to mine, bruising and assaulting them with sucks and nibbles that could have given both of us third degree burns.

I palmed her exposed back, sliding my hands below the loose material to grab her ass. My cock jumped, heavier than a cement slab in my pants now, when I felt around, my fingers touching nothing but bare, milky flesh.

"Fuck, you're not wearing knickers?”

I nearly choked on my tongue when Leah flicked her eyes to mine, dirtiness and desire swimming in those green orbs.

"You're a naughty girl. I think I like American girls from Oklahoma.”

A laugh caught in her throat as I stuck my other hand into the cutout in her dress, both of my callused hands kneading and pulling apart her ass cheeks. I ground myself violently into her stomach as we rolled along the wall, each vying for control from each other every other minute.

Leah started tracing a pattern with her tongue on my neck, making my head swim and my hands reach for my belt. I didn't even care that we were in a public hallway, I had to free myself right now or I might lose a ball from the claustrophobic state of my pants.

With my other hand I reached along the sheet rock as Leah shoved her hands up under my untucked shirt. She raked her nails along the grooves of my abs, moaning as she pulled at the hair on my victory trail that led down between my legs.

My fingers hit something metal, and looking sideways I clutched a doorknob.

"In here now. Before I fuck you against this wall where anyone could see."

I pulled her into the room and we were greeted by darkness. Through the sliver of light coming through the door I could see mops, cleaning supplies and rags hanging around us.

Leah stood a foot away from me, visibly nervous and I could almost hear the doubt seeping into her brain. I didn't care.

"We are not going back out there until I've made you come so hard, you can't see. I don't give a shit if you are second guessing this, little lamb. If I don't fuck you right now, I may die. So be a good girl, do your job, and turn around."

Heat and desire flooded her eyes, and I could see her body sag with the weight of her impending climax already. She turned toward an open space on the wall as I finished undoing my belt.

Coming up behind her, I pushed the scrap of black she wore up past her hips. Her ass dangled in front of me, plump like a ripe peach and spread just a little as she separated her legs and pushed her hips back.

Clutching my zipper, I canted my hips forward, dragging it down against the curve of her ass. She hissed as the metal scraped against her, but I could smell her arousal so sharp it had my teeth chattering in anticipation.

"How did those American boys give it to you, Leah? Did they ever make you come?"

I pushed my pants and boxers past my hips as she panted against the wall. When she didn't answer, I spanked her, my palm marking the white skin of her behind. Leah yelped and moaned, pushing her hips back further in hope that I'd alleviate the growing burn in her clit.

"Answer me. Did they make you come?"

She tilted her chin up, her nose in the air and I knew she thought she wasn’t going to answer me. Thought she was going to outplay me. I smacked the other cheek, harder than the first blow I’d landed and her voice was a keening sob.

"No." Her voice was reed thin and needy, so strained that I almost plowed into her right then.

Instead, I slipped two fingers into her mouth, slowly fucking her tongue and throat with my digits. When she'd gotten them wet enough and I could feel her thighs tighten and shake against the front of my own, I removed them, not slowing down until I slipped them inside of her.

Our grunts filled the air as my hand filled her, building speed as I rested my own throbbing cock against the globe of her ass.

"I'm going to make your pussy memorize me. I'm going to brand it. I'm that good. My cock will be ingrained into your tight little slit so that any time you try to fuck someone else, you won't even feel it. You'll be wishing he was me. Every time, Leah."

She cried out as more wetness coated my fingers, her pussy milking my fingers so hard that I was about to burst just from stroking myself against her ass.

"Are you on birth control?"

She nodded, not even able to form words I was working her body over so well. She was shaking so hard that I had to hold her up with my free arm, gripping her around the waist.

"Good. Because I'm about to fuck you harder than you've ever been before. And I want nothing between my cock and those slick walls."

The world stopped as I lined myself up to her entrance, pushing her lips apart just so. We both breathed, ragged and harsh, knowing that in minutes we would be destroyed.

My cock impaled her, driving all the way to the hilt before stopping.

"Fuck. God damnit." I spit out as Leah cried, a helpless, primal sound ripping from her throat.

I grab her hip in one hand and her neck with the other, turning her face so that she would look into my eyes.

"You love stars so much, yeah? I'm going to make you see them."

The gasp caught on her lips as I began to pump frantically into her, holding her slim body in my grip as if she was a doll that I could just thrust about on my dick. She felt so fucking good, it was euphoric, doing this with her.

My muscles sang with pain and tightness, my cock ached to release. My balls slapped against her clit and lips, and the sounds bursting from those scarlet lips were making me dizzy.

"Killian...ah, oh my god. I'm going to..."

She didn't even finish the sentence before her body went rigid and then began to spasm from the center out. Her hands slipped off the wall and I had to smash us both against it to keep her from falling while I bucked my hips in an unskilled rhythm.

I was racing for the finish line, my balls pulling up so close to my body, the head of my cock leaking come inside of her already.

“You want me to fill you now?” I grunted, wanting to hear her answer before I exploded.

“Yes…please…”

Her throaty whisper sent me flying off of the cliff, growling and gripping her throat as I shoved into her over and over again, my dick spurting hot jets of semen inside her.

When the last tremors of my climax left my body and my senses started working, I finally heard the pounding on the door.