Stevie exploded, the waves of pleasure nearly blinding her.
She felt him find his own pleasure, tightening her arms around him as she tried to help him.
Janus started to move away as the pleasure eased, but she tightened her arms around him. “Don’t move!” she whispered urgently, tightening her legs around him. He stilled, kissing her neck, and Stevie appreciated the moment so that she could pull herself back together.
When she sniffled, he pulled away, but kept himself inside of her, connected to her in the most intimate of ways.
“Hey,” he murmured, peering down at her, cupping her face so his thumbs could wipe her tears away. “Did I hurt you?”
Stevie sniffled again, then closed her eyes, trying to stifle the tears. “No.”
There was a long moment of silence. Stevie kept her eyes closed. She felt foolish enough for crying, she didn’t want to add to it by having a complete emotional meltdown.
“Then what’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing,” she finally said. “Nothing is wrong. In fact, it’s just the opposite.” She loosened her grip on his shoulders and wiped at the tears. “I’m just having a bit of an emotional moment, but don’t worry.” She opened her eyes and gave a damp chuckle. “I just need a moment to pull myself together.”
He kissed her tears, and she thought he was the sweetest man she’d ever met. How could such a large, muscular man be so tender and gentle?
“It was…perfect,” she whispered, lifting up to kiss him softly. “Please don’t freak out. That was…it’s never been like that before. It was amazing.”
He was very still for a long moment, and kissed her lingeringly. “I’ll be right back.”
She heard him turn on the water and knew that he was cleaning up. Pushing the pillows behind her, she sat up, wanting to see him when he returned. She’d never really enjoyed observing naked men, thinking they were a bit odd looking. But when Janus walked out of the bathroom, she couldn’t pull her eyes away. He was truly magnificent. His muscles gleamed in the moonlight and his silver eyes glowed with interest as he stared back at her.
“Should I pose for you?” he teased.
Stevie laughed, shaking her head. “No. Sorry. I’m staring.”
“No, you’re not. I think it’s hot that you like looking at me.”
He climbed back into bed, pulling her into his arms. “Ah, Stevie,” he sighed, his fingers combing through her hair. “What am I going to do with you?”
She laughed and snuggled into his arms. She had some pretty good ideas on what she wanted to do with him, but she’d been awake since five o’clock this morning and it was well past midnight now. As much as she wanted to stay awake, her eyes were already closing even as she thought about how warm he was, cuddled up like this.
Chapter 3
Janus woke up feeling better than he had in a long time. Stretching, he realized that Stevie was next to him, curled up against his side and he smiled, memories of last night coming back to him. He liked her. Damn, he liked her a lot! And the sex had been phenomenal!
Rolling over, he checked the time, and cursed under his breath. He was going to be late for practice if he didn’t hurry. Kissing her gently, he slipped out of the bed, careful not to wake her, then grabbed his clothes and dressed as he hurried out of her apartment. At the last minute, he stopped and grabbed a notebook, writing her a note.
“Can I pick you up after your shift tonight?”
Then he grabbed his keys and hurried out the door. He made it to practice with seconds to spare, hustling out onto the field. Everyone else was already there, tossing balls around. But the moment he stepped out, the coach blew the whistle, and everyone came closer for the day’s instructions.
“So, we’re going to go through the plays again today,” Coach Dean announced. He was a former quarterback and had been Janus’ mentor for years. Janus respected him, but even better, he liked him. Dean was a good man, who looked out for his players. There were other coaches who ignored problems as long as their players were winning. Sprains and torn ligaments weren’t their problem. If the player could walk, he could run and he could win.
Dean was different. He took a long term approach to football, telling his players that football was a short term career and they needed to take care of themselves, physically and financially. Coach Dean was the first person to step in when he saw that a player was doing something stupid, be it spending too much, gambling, drinking, or even dating toxic women . Which is why the players worked extra hard for Dean, wanting his respect.
“Hopefully, Meyers can keep his hands in front of his face today,” he called out, pausing as the rest of the teammates roared with laughter.
Janus acknowledged the shot with good grace, laughing along with the others. He’d been thinking about Stevie during the last half hour of yesterday’s practice and hadn’t seen the ball coming.
Still, last night had been…he still could feel the touch of her fingers on his back, on his chest, and…
“Wake up, Meyers!” Dean roared, punching Janus’ arm playfully.
Janus focused, seeing the amusement on his teammate’s faces. “I’m here, Coach,” he sighed. Well, he was now. For the rest of the practice, he focused on the game, on the plays that they’d been practicing over and over for the past week. The rule was to practice the plays until they got them right, then keep practicing until they never got them wrong.
Thankfully, it was a short practice, being the day before a game, so Janus finished up by noon. After showering and changing clothes, he headed for his car. For a long moment, he wondered what Stevie was doing today and if she’d like to have lunch with him. Maybe they could spend the afternoon together. Hell, he had no idea what they might do, but he’d like to spend the afternoon with her.
Then he remembered her saying something about lesson plans and that toothpick tower she’d been working on last night. He shouldn’t bother her if she had to work.
So, instead of calling her up, and probably interrupting her, he looked up at the grey skies and sighed with frustration. Instead, he should check on his businesses. Janus had rented out several floors of a building near the stadium. It was in a central location to the restaurants he’d bought, which made checking in with each place easier. He and his business manager were working on renovating several new ones, but they liked to check in to make sure the others were running smoothly.
Ten minutes later, he parked his car behind the building and walked up the stairs. Sure enough, his business manager, Ross Mendum, was hard at work in his office, doing something on the computer. “How are things going?”
“Good,” Ross replied, grabbing several pages from the printer. “Your ideas for food offerings and specialty cocktails are brilliant. Revenues are up at every site. But I need to know what your plans are for your latest acquisition.” He turned a paper around, spreading several reports out on the conference room table. “This piano bar is outside of our normal theme. What do you plan to do with it?”
Stretching his muscles, Janus considered various scenarios. There were several possibilities he could implement at the bar where Stevie worked that would increase sales. But the thought of changing things, of messing up the rhythm that the elderly regulars obviously enjoyed, made him uncomfortable.