The Keeper (Playing To Win Book 1)

Lindy rests her head on my shoulder and her hand on my heart for the short drive back to the hotel. Neither of us speak as the air around us grows thick with need and want and fucking desperation.

Her fingers resting under my coat and over my shirt somehow still scorch my skin. Meanwhile, I don’t dare move a fucking muscle. I can’t. Not yet. Because when I finally do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop.

Lindy looks up at me once we get back to the hotel, and I run my hand over her hair and hold the back of her head in my hands, framing her face. Those long lashes flutter around her stormy-blue eyes, dragging me under like a riptide.

Slowly, she drags her teeth over her trembling lower lip and leans into my hand, and I finally allow myself to give in to the desperation coursing through my veins. With the smallest fucking move, I lean down and ghost my lips over hers and swallow the sweetest sigh as it falls from her lips.

“Take me upstairs, Easton.” She pulls back and runs her fingers along my lips. “Please . . .”

This woman . . . “As you wish, princess.”

Slowly, we get out of the car and make our way through the lobby to the bank of elevators. She pushes the button for the fortieth floor, and we stand, silently holding hands while we wait. The heat between us threatens to incinerate anyone in its way. A few teammates walk by and say hi, but I just give them a chin lift in return as Lindy’s lips press into a slow, sexy smile.

We step onto the elevator with a handful of other people, and I move us to the back corner and drag her in front of me with her back only centimeters from my chest. Not touching. Not in an elevator full of people. Not with the paparazzi staked out all over the hotel.

We both watch the numbers tick by at a rate a fucking snail could outpace.

She steps back and links a single finger with one of mine, and for such a small movement, it’s one of the hottest experiences of my life.

Because it’s her.

Because I want her more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.

More than my own life.

Just her.

One of my teammates gets on at the thirty-fifth floor and spots me. “Hey, man.”

I lift my chin and nod at Donnelly.

He looks from me to Lindy, then down at our hands, and the doors to the elevator close again. “A few of us are hanging in Malcom’s room. He always brings his gaming setup with him for the long stretches. You want in?”

“Not tonight, man. But thanks,” I tell him, my voice sounding strained to my own ears, like I swallowed broken fucking glass.

His eyes drop down to our linked fingers, and Lindy drops my hand. I’m about to protest when she reaches out for him. “Hi, I’m Lindy, Easton’s wife. It’s nice to meet you.”

He shakes her hand, then looks at me, surprised. “Damn, Hayes.” I get ready for him to give me shit, but the asshole laughs instead. “You out-kicked your coverage, man.”

I grab her hip just before the doors finally fucking open on our floor. “You have no idea. See you tomorrow.”

I guide Lindy out of the elevator and hear Donnelly’s low whistle as the doors close.

Lindy pulls her keycard out of her purse with shaky hands and struggles to unlock the door. So I take the card from her and hold it against the sensor until it blinks green and push us inside.

Once it closes behind us, I spin us around and cage her in, leaning a hand against the door and towering over this beautiful woman.

Her breath shakes as she leans her back against the door and grips the collar of my coat. “Easton . . .”

“Your speed, baby.” I pull the white hat off her head and tug on a lock of her long hair. “You’re in control, Lindy. This is your choice.” I run my hand along her throat and cup her chin. “You decide how tonight goes.”

She shrugs off her own coat and lets it fall to the floor, then pushes my coat off my shoulders and wraps her arms around my neck. “I choose you, Easton.” She licks her lips and smiles. “I choose us.”

And that’s it.

The strings holding me back—the ones that have been slowly fraying—snap.

I lift Lindy from her feet and crash my mouth over hers as she molds her body to mine. Her arms and legs wrap around me, begging to be held. Like I’d ever let her go.

I take two steps toward the king bed in the center of the room and lay her down in front of me. The moonlight filtering in from the hotel window illuminates her creamy skin. “You are so fucking pretty, princess.”

Her fingers move to the buttons on her silky shirt, and she slowly pops each one open until she sits up on her knees and shrugs her shirt off. A lacy white bra cups her perfect fucking tits, and my mouth waters as she reaches for me.

“I trust you, Easton.” Her cold hands reach under my shirt and press flat against my skin. “Like I’ve never trusted anyone else in my life. Make me yours.”

I swallow the emotion clogging my throat and rip my shirt over my head, then shove out of my jeans and yank hers down her legs. I need to see her. To feel her skin against mine. I drop a knee on the bed and wrap a hand around her throat. “You’ve been mine since the day I chose your life over mine, baby. All mine. Always mine. Even if you didn’t know it yet.”

Lindy

His words are like a balm to all the tattered edges of my soul.

He kisses away the tear I hadn’t realized had fallen from my eye. “You are the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, Lindy.” His tongue invades my mouth as his hands skim over my skin. A callused palm cups my breast, and my nipple aches from the feel of his thumb brushing over it.

“Easton . . .” I plead and wrap my legs around his hips, dying to feel him against me. Inside me. Only his boxers and my panties separate us, but it’s too much. My fingers reach for his boxers. “Please . . .”

“I know what you need, baby,” he teases and bites down on my bottom lip, sending a shockwave straight to my core.

I lift my hips and grind against him, desperate for relief, and his hands quickly grip my hips and press them to the bed.

Big fingers skim the waistband of my lace panties as his hazel eyes deepen to a dark green right in front of me. “I’ve fucking dreamed of this moment for years, wife. I’d do anything for you, but even you can’t convince me to rush it.”

His tongue trails along my neck and down to my breast as he sucks my tight nipple into his mouth through the lace, and I cry out.

One hand slides from my hip into my panties, and goosebumps break out over my already-heated skin before his fingers drag through my sex, sending me spiraling through the stratosphere. “Your pussy is soaked, baby.”

Those green eyes look up at me for a moment, and that dimple I love pops deep in his cheek as he slips one blunt finger inside me. Then another. Stretching me. Filling me in a way no man ever has. His rough thumb rubs circles around my clit, and I moan, frantic and needy.

“Is this for me, Lindy?” he groans as he licks into my mouth. “Are you wet for me, baby? Have you been dreaming about me fucking you?”

“Yes,” I cry out as his filthy words make my clit throb with need.

My stomach quivers when nerves mix with excitement. “Give in, Lindy. Give me what I want, and I’ll give you everything you need.”

His rough thumb circles my clit, teasing me. Torturing me. Working me into a frenzy. “Easton,” I beg as his fingers curve to hit a spot deep inside me.

My core tightens as Easton looks down on me with a heavy-lidded heat in his dark eyes.

He pulls his fingers out, and my eyes fly to his, suddenly empty and confused.

Desperate for this not to end.

But he just smiles that lazy smile and traces my lips with his fingers, pushing them onto my tongue. “Suck.”

I tentatively dart my tongue out and trace the pads of his fingers, then do as I’m told and suck his fingers clean. My own tart taste explodes against my tongue, and Easton’s already endlessly dark-green eyes deepen.

He pulls back as I swirl my tongue around his fingers. “Good girl.”

Pleasure blooms deep in my chest, liking the sound of that. I lean up and capture his lips with mine, sharing the taste. Pushing my tongue in his mouth and letting him suck it.

I scrape my nails down his chest and around his waist. Digging into the soft skin above his ass, I moan. “Easton . . .”

“I know what you need, baby.” His hands find the sides of my panties and tear them from my body.

Fuck, that’s hot.

He moves off the bed and drops to his knees before he yanks me to the edge, throws my legs over his shoulders, and settles himself between my thighs. “I’ve been waiting a lifetime to taste this pretty pussy, princess.”

Dark eyes peer up at me with a wicked grin, and I wonder how I ever thought I could live without him.

“That’s my good girl. You doing okay, baby?”

I nod my head, unable to answer him as emotion overwhelms me.

“I need your words, wife. Remember. This is your show. I need to know you’re okay.”

“Don’t stop, husband,” I whisper and lean back on my elbows, unable to look away from the fucking god of a man between my legs.

“Fuck, baby. Never gonna get tired of hearing that word on your lips.”

His words fan the flame of my already-insane desperation.

Easton drags his flattened tongue slowly through my pussy.

His eyes stay locked on mine as he laps at me. Then he growls against my sex.

Vibrations pulse through me, and I pant, unable to catch my breath as I watch the sinful sight in front of me. I dig my fingers into his sandy-brown hair and tug as I press myself against him.

He spears my pussy with his tongue, then slides a finger in so he can go back to tonguing my clit. And, oh God, it feels so good. Too good.

He pushes down on my pelvis with a flat palm and feasts on me until I’m screaming. Sucking my clit. Teasing me. Bringing me to the brink. Until darkness tinges the corner of my sight, threatening to overwhelm me, and my entire body is lighting up. Electricity covers every inch of my skin.

I tug his hair, unable to think or speak or focus on anything except the way his mouth feels against me. And just when I think I can’t take it anymore . . . when my body refuses to believe anything can ever feel better, his teeth finally scrape over my pulsing clit, and my back arches off the bed, while I scream out his name, and explode on his tongue.

Easton drags his tongue through my drenched sex and over my clit one more time, absorbing the aftershocks wrecking my body. Then he grabs his wallet from his jeans and smiles devilishly. “Such a good girl.”

He cradles my face in his hands and drags his mouth over mine.

Kissing me reverently.

“You okay, baby?” he whispers against my lips, and I nod my head and notice the gold condom packet held between his two fingers.

I take it from his fingers and toss it to the floor. “I’m better than good.”

“Princess . . . It’s my job to keep you safe. We can’t just toss away the condom and play pull-out and pray.”

“I’ve been on the shot for years, E. The pill made me gain weight I couldn’t have on if I was going to continue to be thrown through the air. I started getting the shot at seventeen.” I hold his eyes with mine and melt under his touch. “You love telling me you’re my husband. Show me what that feels like. Nothing between us.”

“Don’t you want to talk about STDs or previous partners?” he presses.

I shake my head. “You’re the only man I’ve ever been with, Easton. And I trust you with my life.” I run a thumb over his cheekbone and get lost in his eyes. “That’s enough for me.”

“I’d never do anything to hurt you, Lindy.” He rolls me to my back and hovers over my body.

“I know.”

I reach down and press Easton’s cock against my entrance, then look up at him, not sure he’s going to fit.

“It’ll fit, wife.” A muscle ticks in his jaw, and I brace my hands against his chest.

“Fuck me, husband.”

“As you wish,” he whispers against my lips and pushes himself inside me.

Pleasure spikes, stained with pain as he stretches me so thoroughly, my body vibrates around his, and I tighten my knees against his hips, worried he’s going to split me in two.

“Breathe, baby.” He pulls back out before pushing back in further.

Tiny movements, achingly slow. Working his way in, so he doesn’t hurt me. “You gotta breathe, Lindy.”

My eyes lock on his, and I’m suddenly struck by the weight of the moment.

I never thought I’d be here. With him.

He pulls back again. “Deep breath, princess.”

And when he thrusts in this time, the pain sears and splinters, and I gasp, searching for breath.

Easton presses his lips to mine, firm and soft and so utterly hypnotic. I get lost in the perfection of it all for a moment. He pushes his tongue into my mouth, and his fingers play with my clit.

I cling to my husband, slowly adjusting to his size. And after a few moments, the pain falls to the background, and it’s just us and the slowly building pleasure.

I slide my hips against his, trying it out.

Seeing what I like.

Wanting this to last forever but needing more.

Chasing the high I crave that only Easton can give me.

“You’re a fucking vision, wife.” He rolls us over so I’m straddling him and grips my chin. “Ride me, Lindy. Show me what you like.”

Pleasure pounds through me as I press my palms flat against his chest and try to move. My head falls back, my hair brushing against his thighs.

“That’s it, baby. You take my cock like such a good girl.”

One hand slides to the center of my back, and I tremble beneath his touch as we find our rhythm.

“Your fucking cunt was made for me, baby.”

My entire body clenches at his filthy words.

Wanting more.

“You like that?” he asks against my lips as his hips pick up speed, and I feel my arousal soaking our skin with each new thrust.

I practically purr as sensations overload my body, completely unable to speak or think or form words. I just cling to him.

“You like the way my cock fucks you, baby? The way you fit around me? Only ever me, wife.”

“Only ever you,” I echo back and claw at his strong shoulders as he fucks me harder.

Sends me higher.

My orgasm teeters just out of reach until Easton slams into me, and flames lick up my skin in a fiery explosion. Vivid color bursts behind my eyes as my orgasm washes over me, and my husband shouts my name out into the quiet room, then holds my face in his hands and covers my mouth with his.

He holds me draped against his body.

I’m unable to move and unwilling to care.

I tuck my face into his neck and suck his skin. “I think if I died right now, I’d die happy.”

Easton’s entire body goes rigid, and he stills beneath me.

“I love you, Madeline Kingston,” he whispers, a quiet prayer from his lips. “You’re not allowed to die until we’re old and gray and lying in bed together. And then you have to wait until I’ve been dead for at least ten minutes, so I never need to know a world without you in it.”

I lift my head and stare at him in shock. “What?”

He looks at me, confused.

Something tickles the back of my mind, and I stare deep into the depths of his eyes.

I stare at the man I married.

At the man who saved my life.

The lifeline who’s made sure he was only ever a phone call away.

Who’s been here, beside me, for a lifetime.

“I promise to love you until we’re old and gray and surrounded by grandbabies who love to skate,” I whisper back.

And my God, the smile that breaks out on his face is everything.

It’s agony and ecstasy and relief. It’s excitement and love.

So much love.

“Princess . . . You remember?”

I don’t bother trying to hide my tears, as I whisper in awe, “I remember everything.”