Forever At Last: (An Ireland Forever Short Story) Read online

  His chin jerked back. “My what?”

  “Your plaything,” I repeated.

  “That’s what you think this is?”

  Uh oh. Had Blake fucked me up so badly that even when someone was being genuine, I couldn’t see it?

  “I assumed that when you said you were looking for a distraction, that’s what you meant,” I clarified.

  “Shit, no.”

  “No?” I asked, my voice rising a fraction.

  Ross reached across the table and took hold of my hand.

  Instantly, my body came alive, my nerve endings firing in rapid succession. From the top of my head to the tips of my toes, I broke out in goosebumps as my heart beat heavily in my chest.

  Chapter Three

  Ross

  I rubbed my thumb back and forth over the raised bumps on her skin, my lips lifting slightly as the caress brought forth another wave. After a couple of seconds of watching her body betray her desire, I raised my eyes to hers. “Can I be honest?”

  Gemma licked her lips and nodded slowly, the erratic pulse beating in her neck further giving away her thoughts.

  “Just so we’re clear—I do want to sleep with you, but I also want to spend time with you. Outside of the bedroom.”

  “You do?”

  The look on her face had my blood pumping hot and heavy through my veins. This bond between us was frightening, but I think I liked it. This mixture of nerves, anticipation, and confidence was something I hadn’t experienced in years—not even the last time I’d taken the field against the All Blacks. Incidentally, that was also the last time I’d played rugby, having limped off the pitch in the forty-ninth minute with a hamstring injury that would end my career.

  The fact that I felt more excited by the prospect of a couple of weeks with Gemma than I had about beating the number one team in the world said a lot. Either the thrill of victory had gotten old over the years, or she was more special than I’d initially thought. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was about her that had me falling so quickly under her spell, but she was unlike any other woman I’d ever met. I found myself opening up to her in a way I’d never done with anyone before—including my brother and my best friends. I couldn’t imagine a world in which she didn’t come back to my house and stay there for as long as I could persuade her to.

  And you could bet I was going to use every tool at my disposal … which yes, included stripping her naked and making sure she forgot all about the asshole she’d almost married. What kind of fuck cheated on a woman like Gemma?

  From her long blonde hair, to her generous rack and her luscious ass, she was all of my deepest fantasies wrapped up in one beautiful package. When you paired all that with the fact that she was sweet and had a great sense of humor, I wanted more. And like I’d said, that meant outside of the bedroom too. I was looking forward to exploring the emotional connection between us.

  Once upon a time, rugby had been my whole world, but it was time for something different.

  Someone different.

  Someone like Gemma—a woman who understood what it was like to have the rug pulled out from underneath you, to lose everything you’d planned for yourself, to have to face an uncertain future with no idea how you were going to manage it.

  I linked our fingers together. “I wasn’t lying when I said that this is new for me. I’ve always been too distracted by rugby or getting my Master’s to get to know someone, but I want to get to know you, Gemma.”

  She swallowed deeply, the line of her throat bobbing. Reflexively, my dick grew hard and my jeans tightened as I imagined it was my cum sliding down her throat.

  Soon, I told my dick as I shifted in my seat to get more comfortable.

  Gemma squeezed my fingers and laughed, a light tinkling sound that shot straight to my balls. God, I couldn’t wait to get her naked.

  “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but yes. I’ll change my flight. I’ll stay in Dublin with you for the next couple of weeks.”

  If the lads had seen the relieved breath that gusted from my lungs, they’d never let me live it down. Well, most of them at least. Irish captain Declan O’Shaughnessy would understand; he was disgustingly in love with his American wife.

  “Starting tonight?” I asked hopefully.

  Her cheeks flushed a dewy pink, and her teeth sank into her bottom lip. Did the woman even understand how sexy that was? It was like she was daring me to reach across the table and kiss her.

  Thankfully, I knew we were on the same page when she pulled her hands from mine and draped her purse over her shoulder. Sliding out of the booth, she said, “I was thinking more like starting now.”

  ***

  In the taxi, Gemma and I couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Currently, she was in my lap, her sweet, round ass tucked firmly against my cock while our tongues tangled together. I thrust my hips forward so she could feel how hard I was for her.

  Somehow, my hand found its way to her pussy. “Will you let me kiss you here later? I’ve been dying to know what you taste like.”

  Her eyes found mine in the dark. “No one’s ever talked that way to me before.”

  “Do you like it?” I asked, my fingers sliding in and out of her as her hips bucked in time with my caresses.

  “Oh god, yes. Blake never did that.”

  “Fuck Blake,” I said, adding a second finger to my explorations.

  “If you keep this up,” she panted, “I’m going to come before we even get to your house.”

  I was a competitor at heart. The thrill of the chase and the exhilaration of victory was as strong a driving force as the lust slaking its way through my veins. This was a challenge I couldn’t back down from.

  “What’s your biggest fantasy?” I whispered into her ear as the taxi turned onto my street.

  “This.” Gemma’s eyes closed as a moan escaped from between her lips.

  “Letting a stranger fuck you in the back of a taxi?”

  She shook her head, and her teeth dug into her bottom lip as she chased her orgasm. “No, not that. Although I’ll be adding it to my list.”

  “Then what?” I asked, my other hand sliding up under her shirt.

  “I wanted to meet a sexy stranger who could make me feel alive again,” she said as she rode my hand with abandon.

  “That’s it, Gemma,” I encouraged as she drew close. “You’re so fucking beautiful right now. Use me for your pleasure.”

  Her mouth dropped open in a silent “O” as her body shuddered with the power of her release. She dug her nails into my arm, leaving little half-moons tattooed on my skin.

  “Wow, that was intense,” she whispered once she’d regained her voice. Her gaze jumped to our driver. “Do you think he knows what just happened?”

  He most certainly had, but Mick was good people—a driver I used regularly—and I knew he’d never spill our secret. Still, I didn’t want her feeling self-conscious about what had just happened. “Nah,” I said, catching his eyes in the mirror over her head. He winked, and then he looked back to the road. “He’s too busy listening to his program.”

  Mick shook his head but didn’t correct me. I’d have to add a big tip to the fare.

  “Just so you know,” Gemma continued, snuggling in close to me, “I’ve never done anything like that before.”

  “Oh yeah?” I pushed a wayward lock of hair behind her ears and studied her face. Her lips were swollen from my kisses, and a red mark was forming on her neck, just below her ear.

  I didn’t remember doing that, but when she was in my arms, it was like my brain shut down and my body took over. I probably should have felt guilty for marking her, but I didn’t. I’d never been the guy who got off on stuff like that, but I was discovering all sorts of new things about myself today. Things like the fact that I couldn’t wait to get down on my knees so that I could lick her pussy until she came all over my face.

  Thinking about all the things I wanted to do to her, my cock strained against my zipper. I had a
feeling that if I asked Gemma to suck me off, she’d do it, but I could wait until we were at my house to get her mouth on me.

  Gemma, however, could not.

  She reached for the button of my jeans and tried to work it free.

  I clasped her hand in mine and brought it to my lips. “We have plenty of time for that.”

  “But I want to make you feel good, too,” she said, a look of uncertainty dancing across her beautiful face.

  “You will,” I promised, “but we’re almost to my house, and when I come, I want it to be all over your skin, not all over my clothes.”

  She looked up at me through her lashes, a sly smile tipping her lips up. “I don’t want you to come on my skin. I want you to come in my mouth.”

  I pictured her down on her knees taking my cock to the back of her throat, and it was almost more than I could handle. I groaned, my dick throbbing with the need for release. I was about to say “screw it” when Mick pulled the car up to the curb and the meter chimed.

  Saved by the bell.

  I blew out a steadying breath. “We’re here.” I opened the door and slid out, pulling Gemma along with me. With my hand on her lower back, I looked both ways and then guided her across the street to a red brick Victorian with a black, wrought iron gate. “This is me,” I said, uncertainty creeping into my voice.

  I loved my place, but I was nervous about how Gemma would see it. Until a few days ago, she’d lived in a multi-million dollar penthouse kitted out with all the bells and whistles. Would my house’s drafty old windows, original fireplaces, and wainscoting seem outdated and stodgy, or would she be able to look beyond its age to the charm that lay within its creaky old bones?

  She turned to me, and the grin on her face was everything I needed in that moment. “It’s beautiful.” Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, she wrapped her arms around my middle and nuzzled into my side with a hum of satisfaction. It was the first time I could recall a woman I wasn’t related to hugging me with general warmth and affection.

  “I’m glad you like it,” I said, unhooking the latch and pushing open the gate.

  “I love it. It’s perfect.”

  We came to a stop on my front stoop, and instead of opening the door, Gemma and I stood there staring at one another, matching looks of wonder on our faces.

  “This feels big,” she said, her voice coming out just above a whisper. “Does this feel big to you?”

  I nodded and stepped closer, closer, closer until our bodies were touching. No doubt she could feel something else that was big, too. But my cock would get its time to shine; right now I just wanted to revel in the way she was looking at me. I was used to adoring fans, but I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had cared about me, Ross O’Connor, without thinking about rugby too.

  But Gemma was different. With her, I didn’t need to be the guy who’d been nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year. The question was, who was I without that? I honestly didn’t know, but it was exciting to find out. Especially with this woman by my side.

  “I know exactly what you mean,” I told her. The moment felt big because it was big. I didn’t know how or why it had happened, but I’d fallen hard for Gemma Addison and suddenly I knew I didn’t want just the next two weeks together.

  I wanted forever.

  Chapter Four

  Ross

  The realization rocked me to my core. The world as I knew it had been shattered as if struck by lightning, everything I’d ever thought about myself and my place on this rock incinerated in its wake. I’d always thought love at first sight was a myth, but as I silently led Gemma into my house, I couldn’t deny that’s what had happened here.

  In my bedroom, she stood in front of the window, the moon outside bathing her silhouette in pale, golden light. She looked was an angel.

  My angel.

  “You’re staring.” She fidgeted with the hem of her sweater.

  I nodded and stepped closer. “I am staring. I’m trying to figure out how I got so lucky.”

  She smiled up at me, her eyes twinkling. “Well, it is St. Patrick’s Day, and you are Irish. I’d say you were bound to get lucky one way or another today.”

  I smiled back, my insides feeling like they’d been rearranged. Was I was dreaming? Or high? It was possible someone had slipped something in my drink back at the restaurant.

  “Is this real?” I hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but I had to know.

  “As real as anything I’ve ever known,” she answered.

  “This is mad.” I shoved my hands through my hair, letting out a sound that was half laugh, half disbelieving huff.

  “Completely,” she agreed. “You see it in the movies, and you read about it in books, but falling in l—” She halted, and then started again. “It’s real, even though it shouldn’t be.”

  I sat down on the edge of my bed and gestured for her to come close. When she stepped between my legs, I took her hands in mine and stared down at our linked fingers. When was the last time I’d held a woman’s hand? When was the last time that I’d wanted to? I wasn’t the type of guy who knew a lot about romance, but I knew Gemma was it for me.

  All this time, I’d just assumed that the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach had been related to my retirement, but sitting here now, I could acknowledge the fact that there’d been something else simmering just below the surface. While I loved my house, I hated coming home to a cold, empty space at the end of the day.

  The truth was, I wanted someone to share my life with.

  I looked up and found Gemma’s eyes on me. “I’m falling for you,” I admitted. “I know it doesn’t make sense, and I know people are going to say we’ve lost our fucking minds, but I’ve never felt like this before. Tell me you feel it, too.”

  She nodded and nudged me backward. When I hit the mattress, she climbed onto the bed and straddled me. Leaning forward, she rested her weight on her elbows so that our mouths hovered just a breath apart. “I’m falling for you too, Ross. And you’re right, it doesn’t make sense. But I know what I feel, and I know it’s the real thing.”

  When our lips met, something cracked open in my chest, and a new sense of purpose sprang forth. All my life, my sole reason for living had been to play rugby. To win championship trophies. To be the best because that’s what was expected. But I had a new purpose now; one I would pursue with the same single-minded passion I’d always had for the game.

  Great big silver trophies had always been the goal, but now I was thinking about gold. Specifically, of the diamond ring variety.

  Because I was definitely going to marry this girl.

  First, though, I needed to be inside her.

  Setting my palms to Gemma’s cheeks, I angled her face to take the kiss deeper. My tongue slid along hers, and she moaned low in the back of her throat. I hooked my leg around her calf and rolled us over. There was still so much to be said, so many details to be worked out, but right now, I wanted to let my body do the talking. To tell her with my lips, tongue, fingers, and cock how much I adored her. How I couldn’t imagine my future without her.

  “Let me make love to you.” My mouth coasted from her lips to her jaw and then down her neck.

  She arched her back, her tits rising in silently plea for me to continue my descent. “Yes,” she moaned. “I want you.”

  I pulled her to her knees and yanked her long sweater off over her head while she plucked the buttons of my dress shirt free and pushed the fabric down my shoulders.

  “Your body …” Her eyes flicked over my chest as she traced a path over my exposed collarbone.

  I wasn’t vain, but I’d spent years honing my body to perfection. I knew what Gemma saw when she looked at me. My chest was solidly built, and my sculpted abs led into a deep vee that disappeared into my waistband. I hadn’t been the strongest or the most cut player on the team, but I held my own.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “So are you.”

  Her
cheeks turned pink. “You haven’t even seen me yet.”

  She was right, I hadn’t. And I couldn’t wait any longer.

  I reached around and unhooked her bra. It fell forward, exposing her lush, full breasts. “You’re absolutely perfect,” I said, cupping them in my palms and running the pads of my thumbs over her dusky nipples.

  Gemma shivered, and I made another pass over those sweet peaks before leaning forward and circling the right one with my lips. My eyes flicked upward, and I watched her watch me.

  Her hands came around my head, and she pressed me into her chest. “That feels so good.”

  My teeth scraped over the sensitive flesh as Gemma shook against me. With one last suck, I pulled my mouth away with a pop and laid her back against my pillows. When I reached for the waistband of her leggings, she lifted her hips and I pulled them all the way down, exposing a tiny thatch of black lace that I quickly discarded. I groaned at the sight of her naked skin and set about caressing those plump, glistening lips. “I want to taste you.”

  She nodded and spread her thighs wider in invitation. “Yes.”

  I dropped down and licked a path from back to front, her honey coating my tastebuds. I moaned and flexed my hips into the mattress. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to come from eating her pussy. That wasn’t something that had ever happened to me before either, but no one had ever tasted as good as Gemma Addison.

  “I’m going to come.” She tangled her fingers in my hair and yanked on it.

  I slipped one finger inside her tight channel, and then another. Pumping them in time with the rock and roll of her hips against my face, I felt her walls contract, and then her pussy gripped me tight as she came, her sweet cream flooding my mouth. I lapped, and I sucked, and I drank her in her orgasm until it passed.

  Eventually, she loosened her hold and massaged my scalp where she’d been tugging on my hair. “I hope I didn’t hurt you,” she said, her hand coasting down to cup my cheek.