Page 66

He never hesitated, but it was obvious how it affected him. At least to me. I’d caught how he rubbed the back of his neck while we waited to board our flight, saw how his brows creased as he stared at tomorrow’s itinerary, and watched him count every person multiple times—pretty much any time we moved around.

I’d never once thought about how much of being a head coach had nothing to do with football. The logistics and responsibility of it all were becoming painfully clear to me as I kept a quiet eye on him. It bothered me how much he was trying to carry alone, but it bothered me more that he’d never admit just how heavy that burden was.

That singular thought had me slipping out of the room almost an hour later when everyone had finally fallen asleep. Rhodes’ room was down the hallway, which was empty, thankfully. I didn’t have a good excuse if another player or staff member caught me. I knew the risk of going to him, especially in a hotel surrounded by all our teammates and team staff. But all of that paled in comparison to my need to make him feel better. To help him de-stress, even if only for half an hour.

I knocked, and the door swung open a moment later. Every coherent thought I’d managed to string together vanished at the sight of him. Rhodes had clearly just stepped out of the shower. His long hair hung damp around his shoulders, dark strands clinging to his sun-kissed skin as droplets of water trailed over the hard lines of his chest and stomach. A white towel was wrapped carelessly around his hips as one hand gripped the edge to keep it from slipping. Oh, how I wanted it to slip.

Those faded blue eyes met mine, and his confusion was instant as his brows furrowed together.

“Theo, what are you doing here?” Rhodes demanded. I took his surprise as a chance to slip past him, letting myself into the heart of his dark room. Only light from the hall and the bathroom created streaks across the carpet. “Theo—”

“You looked stressed today,” I said as I pulled my shirt over my head. I caught how his gaze strayed, trailing down the length of my chest and stomach. “Let me help you feel better.”

“Theo,” he began quietly. “What if—”

“No one saw me, my roommates are asleep, and the hallway was empty when I knocked,” I reassured him. I slid off my shoes and pushed my shorts down, kicking them aside so I was standing completely naked in front of him. “But you might want to close the door. It’ll be hard to explain why your running back is naked in your room.”

The door shut before I could finish my sentence. The conflict was written all over his face. I knew that look. I’d seen it a few too many times at this point. His brow pinched together, and his lips pressed together in a tight line as guilt flickered across his face. It disappeared quickly, replaced by the same want I knew intimately.

“Not a sound, little wolf,” Rhodes whispered, and I grinned.

“Or you won’t let me come,” I finished for him.

“Good boy,” he said, and my cheeks flushed pink at the praise. His towel hit the floor, and my gaze dropped with it. I drank in every inch of him, including the way his cock was half-hard between his thighs already. “On the bed, on your stomach.”

I moved without hesitation. The mattress dipped under my knees as I crawled into position, sprawling out on my stomach. Turning my head to the side, I watched him over my shoulder as he went into the closet. My body vibrated with anticipation, knowing full well he was figuring out some way to be creative—one of my favorite things about hooking up with him.

When he came back out, he held a dark navy tie, and my excitement spiked.

“Hands?” I asked.

“I thought I told you to be quiet,” he replied, and I instantly shut up. The bed shifted as he knelt behind me. His fingers threaded through my hair, and he tipped my head back. “Close your eyes, little wolf.”

I did as the silk fabric slid over my face and settled across the bridge of my nose. He pulled the tie snug until it pressed against my lashes and knotted it.

“Can you see?” Rhodes asked as he gave it a light tug, and I shook my head. “Good. Don’t move.”

The familiar weight of his body covered mine, and his mouth brushed against the nape of my neck. I drew in a sharp breath as his lips dragged down my spine. He pressed open-mouth kisses to each vertebra, taking his time. Every faint touch from him danced along my nerves. My dick twitched from where it was trapped between my stomach and the sheets.

His teeth sank into my tense muscles, and a groan escaped me. The noise only made him bite harder—a sharp sting that quickly ended as he released me.

“Not a sound,” he reminded me. I bit my lower lip to help stifle the sounds guaranteed to come out of my mouth. He worked his way down my back with tantalizing kisses and bites that threatened to bruise until my nerves were practically vibrating. His tongue dragged over the small of my back, and his teeth sank hard into my ass. I gasped softly as my fingers curled against the sheets. When his tongue swept over the mark, the sting melted into a pleasure that made my hips push back against him instinctively. His palm cracked across my ass, and I swallowed a yelp. “I said, don’t move, little wolf. You’re testing my patience tonight.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice thick with the sincerity I hoped he believed. I needed him to, or else he’d deny me the building orgasm that had my dick leaking against my stomach.

“I know you are,” Rhodes said. “Be a brat one more time tonight, and I won’t let you come. I’ll send you right back to your room, needy and desperate, once I’ve used you.”

“I don’t want that.”

“Then listen. Don’t move. Don’t make a sound. Do you understand?” he asked. I only nodded as I stilled underneath him, my breath coming hard and fast against the mattress. “Words, little wolf.”

“I understand,” I whispered.

“Good.” His palms slid over the curve of my ass, and he squeezed once before spreading me open. The first touch of his tongue made my muscles tense. Anticipation had my heart hammering against my rib cage.

The flat of his tongue dragged hot and wet from the base of my balls all the way up and over my clenched hole. I bit down into the sheets to keep from crying out. The fabric barely muffled the noise. He did it again, and his tongue circled my rim slowly. He teased that tight ring of muscles at an agonizing pace that bordered on cruel. I clung to the sheets for dear life as his tongue pushed inside me. He licked, tasted, and explored me like he had all the time in the world. Like I wasn’t dying to move under him.

Heat coiled low in my core, and I tried to breathe through—tried to hold back the building need for release inside me. The urge to rock back against him drove me crazy. His tongue worked me in a combination of lazy circles around my rim and broad strokes that covered every inch of me.