Her pulse raced, and in her mind, the war waged on. She was single. He was single. It wasn’t like she was his superior, and he was nowhere close to being hers. She supposed there’d be hell to pay if Mike ever found out about them. No doubt Danny had more at risk than she did, and if he didn’t care…
But there were even more complications. They’d signed a contract with the television studio. Millie wanted friction for the camera. Kate wanted friction of an entirely different kind. But she wasn’t about to let the media dictate her sex life. At least not any more than she had let Jim Davenport and his remarkable lack of libido impact it.
No, the television show wasn’t her problem. Neither was generating publicity for the school. This was her off-season. Shouldn’t she be able to get off?
The sound of a shower running made her skin prickle. She flipped over and stared at the opposite wall, as if her super X-ray vision could map out the plumbing lines inside the wall dividing the men’s facilities from the women’s. Then again, if she had X-ray vision, she wouldn’t be wasting it on a maze of copper pipe.
It had been all she could do to keep from gawking at him in the weight room. She closed her eyes and slid her hand to the valley between her breasts. Her heart beat fast and hard. Groaning, she compressed one aching nipple with the flat of her palm. It didn’t help.
His skin had been so hot. He was leaner than she had expected. She’d thought most former football players ran to fat after their playing days ended, but Danny hadn’t. Every bit of him was firm. So firm.
The loose shorts he wore did little to hide the outline of his cock. Her mouth had run dry when she’d first spotted the telltale bulge in the mirror. Her mouth was still dry, as a matter of fact. She tried to swallow, but her throat was thick and rough, and nothing happened. A moment of panic seized her. She pushed away from the lockers, her gaze set on the water fountain mounted to the wall.
The rub of her thighs against each other made it abundantly clear where all her moisture had pooled. Her cheeks flamed even as she bent for a sip, and a series of tantalizing thoughts danced in her head. They were all alone. The place was a ghost town in the first weeks of summer. She was wet. He was wet. There was no reason in the world they shouldn’t be wet together.
Well, no reason other than common sense, pride, and the threat of public humiliation served up with a side of career suicide.
But at that moment, reason was more slippery than the desire pooling between her legs. She moved on instinct, breaking for the goal as if she had a ball in her hand and a clear path to the game-winning shot.
The hydraulic hinge on the heavy locker room door shushed the nagging voice in her head. She hooked a sharp right and plowed into the men’s facilities. The sound of water beating tile greeted her. A low groan drew her up short, just shy of the shower room door.
Pressing her hand to her throat, she peered cautiously around the corner. The new and improved Warrior facilities boasted the luxury of tiled half walls, providing a modicum of privacy for the athletes as well as some handy-dandy shelves for toiletry items. Danny stood in the nearest stall with a hand planted on the wall. Water beat down on his neck and shoulders. It ran like a river along the deep groove of his spine and spilled over the high, round curve of his tight ass. But neither those firm, pale globes of muscle nor the tantalizing hollows that led to his hips were what pulled her in. It was the sight of his right hand wrapped around his cock.
He stroked himself with a ruthless determination that made her gasp. She wanted to cry out. Tell him to stop. Be gentle. Go faster. Harder. Wait. Let her. But Kate couldn’t seem to extract the actual words.
So she chose action.
Billows of steam enveloped her. The soles of her bright new sneakers squeaked. His shoulders tensed, and the jerky movement of his hand stopped. She placed her hand on his back to keep him from looking at her. “Don’t turn around.” She inhaled shakily. “Don’t stop.”
The spray soaked the front of her tank and spattered her legs. Being a woman with her priorities firmly in line, she spared her last rational thought for her shoes. Danny stood still as a statue as she toed off the sneakers and kicked them toward the door. He didn’t move when she let her fingertips slide over his smooth skin, tracing the contours of his broad back. The rise and fall of his ribs betrayed his outward calm. She wanted to make him pant. The thought galvanized her. If she was going to do something this stupid, the man would have to exert himself.
Reaching around, she ran teasing fingertips over the back of his hand. He was still gripping his cock. “I said, don’t stop.”
His hand began to move, but slower this time.
“That’s right.” She brushed a glancing kiss to his shoulder blade, then ran her tongue over the curve of his neck, lapping precious moisture from his heated skin. She wrapped her hand around his as she plastered herself to his back.
“Slower,” she whispered into his ear.
A gratifying shiver ran through him, and she smiled as she kissed the tender patch of skin beneath it.
“Let it play out.”
To his credit, Danny made no arrogant remark or attempt at sexy banter. He simply did as he was told, slowing his strokes to match the pace she set. Unable to resist, she brushed the swollen tip of his cock with her thumb. Her heart tripped over itself as she pressed her cheek to his shoulder and closed her eyes.
“That’s it,” she murmured as he settled into the slow, steady rhythm.
“Every day.” The words rumbled from his chest, enunciated through clenched teeth. “I’ve thought about this every day.”
She didn’t open her eyes. She couldn’t. The last thing she wanted was to break the spell of sensuality billowing around them like the shower steam.
“Kate.”
His voice broke, the single syllable spilling a torrent of desire and emotion. A flash of panic seized her. She wasn’t ready for that. She wanted to float along on a stream of sensation that had nothing to do with emotion. She pressed against the taut mound of his ass, undulating shamelessly. Danny groaned loud and long, slowing his strokes as he pressed back against her.
She needed to keep control. Grab a branch and pull herself out before the current was too strong to fight. Get them back on the same playing field. Forcing her eyes open, she focused on the tile wall beyond them as she launched her offense. “You’ve thought about jerking off in the shower?”
He chuckled—a soft, sexy roll of unguarded pleasure that left her cursing the layers of sopping wet Lycra between them and the fact that she couldn’t quite get herself off by humping his ass.