Tackling Her Heart by Alexandra O'Hurley

insistent. The simmering heat she’d held under the surface
boiled over the edges again, her body reacting to his aggressive
nature.
    Marc finally drew away from her when
she was nearly breathless, panting for each bit of air.
    “ I’m glad you felt
comfortable enough with me to share,” he grated out. “I just don’t
want to be played and end up the laughing stock of your
story.”
    “ I know you don’t trust me
after what happened with Maddox, but it was a mistake. A terrible,
awful mistake I wish I could take back. I don’t know how many times
I have to tell you that.”
    “ And your magazine was
willing to fly you to Tahiti, and I’m assuming they’ve set you up
in a room here as well, for what? They want info. You want info. You want
to flay me open and show the world your point of view on who I am
and what makes me tick.”
    No, that was the farthest thing from
her mind. “It’s my job.”
    “ And it’s my life ,” he said, his
voice firm. “You can walk away from the mess you make in someone’s
life and career. I’m stuck here. It’s why I’ve always been a
private person and I rarely do interviews outside of the basics of
the game.”
    “ You taking a teammate
down isn’t a basic of the game? You brought your personal life onto
the turf and now you want to go back, run and hide, and act like
nothing happened.” Sofia knew he was reticent. “You want to go back
earlier than your nine weeks? You get the fans to root for your
story. Make The Iceman human and make them want you back. I write
the right story, and let them see a little of who you are, then the
fans can fight this battle for you and demand you come
back.”
    That one eyebrow of his rose. “And
that’s what you want to do?”
    “ I’ll offer you complete
control over the piece I write.” She knew her editor would be
screaming right now if he heard what she was offering, but Sofia
knew it would be the only way with Marc. “You give me total access
to you during the next week, and I’ll write something up. If you
approve it, we’ll send it to my office and see if they can rush it.
It’s still the pre-season, so maybe we can push them to get you
back on the field sooner rather than later.”
    “ And if I don’t
approve?”
    She’d more than likely lose her job
and be cast out into the sports reporting graveyard if she came
back without a story. Why did that thought sound so tempting? She’d
never failed at anything, but there would be something she’d gain
from it as well. Freedom. “I won’t send it in if you don’t
approve.”
    He stood there staring at her for too
long. His face was emotionless as he watched her.
    “ Total access, huh?” he
asked, a grin coming to his lips.
    Sofia let out the breath she’d been
holding. “Total access.”
    Marc leaned down to kiss her again,
pushing her back into the villa as he wrapped her in his embrace.
He lifted her into his arms, and she tangled her legs about his
waist. Unencumbered, he walked to one of the sofas and sat,
bringing her down into his lap. Sofia straddled him, almost in the
same position she’d been in the night before.
    He leaned back and began to untangle
the knot at her neck. Soon, he unmasked her breasts, the tips
contracting even tighter under his regard. The dark rose areola
pebbled as he observed her, and when he rubbed his thumb over the
buds, she shivered. He tugged at the knot in back before casting
the top away.
    Marc rolled her over onto her back,
covering her body with his much larger one. His fingers worked
quickly, pulling the strings of her bottom away and making her suit
disappear in an instant.
    “ This is total access,” he whispered before lowering his mouth to
one hard nipple.
    Sofia whimpered as he drew it into his
mouth and sucked on her flesh. She knew she should feel bad about
what she was doing, giving him the use of her body for a story, but
it felt too good for her to care. She’d wanted him too long to
worry about what people