Page 122 of Off the Mark
His palm caressed up the length of my spine to the nape of my neck. He squeezed firmly.
“Yes?” he whispered.
“Give me everything, Rowan.”
I turned to stare at him from over my shoulder and was stunned by his expression—part wild lust, part intense love. My heart galloped in my chest. His fingers twisted in my hair, and then his hips punched forward. The blunt thickness of his cock stretched and filled me, and I was only capable of crying his name.
“You feel soamazing,” he hissed. Pulled all the way out then reentered, deeper this time. Harder this time. He banded an arm around my chest and lifted so that my hands could grab the headboard. I did, the angle letting me work myself against his cock, rolling and grinding.
Rowan tugged gently on my hair so he could kiss my throat, close his teeth around my ear and whisper my name on a jagged breath.
We moved together in a sweet, sweaty rhythm. I was so out of my mind that when his fingers nudged my clit, I came immediately—on and on, intense waves that brought him right along with me.
“I love you,” he grunted, “I love you,I love you, Charlie.”
And I tipped my head back and laughed, going limp against his chest as we floated back down to earth.
I captured his mouth in a lingering kiss. When I opened my eyes, his were hazy with satisfaction.
“I love you so much,” I whispered.
He nuzzled at my temple, wrapping his arms around me. “I’m not sure I can ever get tired of hearing you say those words.”
“Happy…first day of being an executive director day,” I murmured.
He laughed. “Not what I expected when I took the job, but I’d be lucky as hell to start and end every day like this. With you.”
He traced the contours of my body—firmly, deliberately—and his gaze tracked his movements. I arched into his wandering fingers, wanting him again already. But when I tried to pull him in for a kiss he dodged me, cocking his head toward the window where the start of a summer sunset peeked out through the curtains.
“If you kiss me again, we’re gonna have another one of thosestay in bed and fuckmarathons.”
“Great, sign me up. Should I schedule a food delivery just in case?”
He pressed kisses along my jawline. “To be clear, that is my plan the second we get home. But I’m taking you on a date first.”
I hummed happily. “What’d you have in mind, cupcake?”
Rowan cracked a boyish smile, and my heart spun like a Ferris Wheel. “Let's go play baseball.”
31
ROWAN
It was a beautiful night for a ball game.
I stepped one foot, then the other, onto home plate. Ground the bat in a neat circle across the top and squinted out onto the field. Yellow lights lit up the freshly cut grass. The air was heavy with the smell of dirt, sunscreen, and popcorn.
All around me, at adjoining fields, crowds cheered as Little League teams played. The hard metallicsmackof a bat connecting with a ball turned my head on pure instinct.
A girl, no more than ten, had hit a ground ball right through second and third. While the outfield scrambled, she sprinted to first and rounded onto second, her helmet flying off as she slid.
I whistled under my breath and joined the audience in clapping. It was a hell of a hit and by the look on her face, she knew it too. I’d always known, even that young.
Certain things felt natural when your body ran on baseball instead of blood.
“You think I’ll ever be as talented as that, coach?” Charlie said next to me.
I chuckled and dropped the fraying Mets hat I brought for her on top of her head. She winked at me as she pulled the visor down. “I’ll have you swinging like a home-run hitter in no time.”
