Hard Ball (Stadium Series Book 1)

by S A Clayton

  “I just hate romantic movies, they’re always so unrealistic,” I whisper in her ear and as much as she tries to hide them, the goose bumps rise all over her shoulders.

  “How very original of you,” she says, her eyes rolling. I love that sarcastic mouth of hers and if she’s not careful, I’ll make her pay for every word she says.

  “You have to admit they’re all the same,” I say, pulling her closer and placing a kiss on her temple. “The guy always falls for the ugly girl after she has a makeover. I mean, it’s all so contrived.”

  She’s silent for a minute and for a split second I think I’ve offended her, then her shoulders start shaking with laughter.

  “Yeah, especially when you’re referencing a movie from the nineties.”

  I look down, confused. What the hell is she talking about?

  “She’s All That? Freddie Prinze Jr.?”

  I say nothing because none of those words mean anything to me.

  “Never mind,” she mutters. “I see your point that most romance movies are similar, but for the record I still love them.”

  I give her an incredulous look as she grins.

  “Okay, so what movie do you really want to see? And I promise I won’t make a face if it’s one I don’t want to see.” I am such a liar, and from the look on her face, she knows it. She takes another look at the board and I see her studying the options again and I wonder if I should make her sit down in case she needs a rest.

  “The Marvel one looks good. How about that one?” I don’t know why that choice shocks me so much, but I find myself turning to her in surprise.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, I’m serious. They’re good movies and honestly, I was going to ask Mel to go see it anyway.”

  I grin, gripping her face with the palms of my hands and place a soft kiss on her lips. It’s not nearly as heated as I want it to be, but it does pack a punch. Her lips remind me of what we did at her apartment, and all I want to do is strip her bare and taste her everywhere.

  I take her hand, leading her through the front door as we line up to buy tickets. All of a sudden Harper tenses beside me and as I look over to see what’s the matter, I catch her eyeline and watch as Cole strides toward us. The rage starts boiling under my skin as Harper squeezes my hand, making my eyes leave Cole and find hers. She gives me an apologetic smile and kisses my cheek.

  “Well, well, well,” Cole sneers as he walks over. “You’re looking hotter than ever tonight, baby.” His eyes travel over her body as if he owns it, and it makes me want to punch the living shit out of him. “Looks like someone found her fairy godmother after all.” He gives Harper a once-over as her fingers tighten in mine. “Either that or someone helped you with that outfit because we both know you don’t have the taste to pull something like this off yourself.”

  Harper tenses beside me once again as I untangle our fingers, grabbing her hip and bringing her as close to me as possible.

  “Let’s go,” I whisper into her ear as she nods slightly. I lead us away from Cole and toward the theater. But of course, the bastard has to follow.

  “Come on, Harper, nothing to say?”

  We keep walking, trying to ignore him as best we can, but Harper is shaking beside me, and I know that if he doesn’t leave soon, I will do everything in my power to remove him. No matter the consequences.

  “How about you, Josh? How does it feel to know you got my sloppy seconds?”

  My girl freezes, clenching her eyes closed, and that’s when all my control breaks.

  “Okay, that’s it.” I spin around, letting go of Harper, and almost run right into Cole as he abruptly steps back.

  There is pure hatred in his gaze, and I know he sees me as a threat, and he should because I’m not going anywhere.

  “For the last time, asshole, I need you to leave her alone. I know you have some deranged notion that she belongs to you, but I’m afraid you’re wrong. At least while I’m around.”

  He doesn’t say a word, his eyes continuing to bore into mine. My pulse is racing, and I know if this goes on much longer, my fists will end up lodged in his damn face. Harper must sense it because she reaches for my arm and the warmth of her skin on mine snaps me out of my rage-induced haze.

  “Can we please go?” she whispers, pulling me away from Cole. “We’re going to be late for the movie.”

  I reluctantly turn around and start to walk away with my hand in hers.

  “You okay?” I ask, trying to figure out if she wants to leave, but instead, she takes my hand and leads me into the dark theater. We sit in silence, and my mind turns as it thinks about Cole and how I’m going to make sure he stays away from her.

  “I need to figure out how to get him to leave me alone. I’ve told him more than once I’m not interested anymore. I even threatened to call the cops,” she admits, and I turn to her confused. She should definitely do that. “Before you say anything, his dad is the chief of police, so it won’t do any good. It’ll only make him worse.”

  I take a deep breath, trying not to let the anger that’s coursing through my body affect her in any way.

  “He obviously wants something. What do you think it is?” Even as I ask the question, I know the answer. Her. He wants her.

  “You know he wants me. Seeing me with you makes him realize his chances are slim to none and I think he believes he’s still in love with me.”

  I don’t miss the fact that she says “he thinks” because I know that he doesn’t actually love her, only the idea of her.

  “You make him crazy,” she whispers against my neck and I can’t help it, my lips find their way across her jaw and down her neck. She sinks into the seat as I erase the memory of Cole with every pass of my lips.

  “Well, he’s going to have a very hard time getting me away from what I want,” I mumble against her. She swallows, trying her best to find her voice.

  “And what do you want?” she asks breathlessly.

  I would give my left leg to be alone with her right now. All I want to do is sink so deep inside her that I can’t figure out where I end and she begins.

  I stop kissing her for a second, our eyes locking as I frame her face with the palms of my hands. “You,” I say matter-of-factly. “All I want is you,” I growl, placing a hungry kiss on her lips. “All of you.”

  She kisses me back with everything she has and the minute my tongue tangles with hers, the kiss ignites, and my cock hardens even more. God, I want to flip her over and have her feel exactly what she’s doing to me right now. I’m just about to haul her over to my lap when the lights dim and the movie starts. I slow the kiss, lightly biting her bottom lip until her eyes fall to mine. I wink as I turn back in my seat and stare forward, watching the opening credits.

  The past two hours have been torture. I’ve tried to pay attention to the movie but all I can seem to do is watch as Harper crosses and then uncrosses her legs, tempting me with what’s hiding beneath the short hem of her skirt.

  “You okay?” she whispers, her voice low as her fingers play with the buttons of my shirt.

  Before I register what’s happening, my hand is on her thigh, squeezing tight.

  “What are you doing?” she asks as I lean over, smiling against her neck as my tongue darts out, licking up toward her ear.

  “What you’ve wanted me to do for the past two hours,” I say right before I take her lips in a kiss that starts off soft but quickly turns into something more.

  Her fingers grip the front of my shirt as I devour her, wishing with everything in me that we weren’t in public right now.

  “Do you want to get out of here?” she says against my lips, pulling me even closer as her lips make it almost impossible for me to respond.

  “Thank fuck,” I whisper as I grab her hand, not caring that we’re missing the last half hour of the film or the fact that it’s very obvious as to why we’re leaving. All I care about is getting her out of this theater and out to my truck.

  The secon
d we reach my truck, I spin her, pinning her to the passenger side door as my lips take her once more. Her lips devour mine as I growl, loving the way she melts against me as my arms circle her waist and keep her exactly where I want her.

  “I need to take you home or I’m going to go insane.”

  She slides her fingers into my hair, pulling me closer as she brings her lips back to mine, and I can’t help but do the same.

  “Seriously, Sunshine, if we don’t leave now, we’ll be arrested for indecent exposure.”

  She grins wickedly, her hands traveling down my stomach until she’s resting against the growing cock in my pants. “Let’s go then,” she whispers against my ear. “Because I am two seconds away from taking you in my mouth.”

  I stiffen as those deft little fingers wrap around my cock, my head lowering to her shoulder as I start to growl against her neck.

  “Jesus, woman,” I groan, taking her hand in mine and pulling her fingers from my hardness. I softly press a kiss to her palm as a shiver visibly goes through her body.

  “Let’s go.” The demand has me turning, opening her door, and helping her into her seat. When she’s set, I lean in, kiss her quickly and hope to God we can make it back to my place before I lose my ever-loving mind.

  18

  Harper

  The tension inside the truck is thick. All I can think about is what his hand felt like against my thigh when we were in that theater and the promises he gave with every pass of his lips across mine.

  “Are we going to your place?” I ask, not recognizing the neighborhood.

  One of his hands leaves the steering wheel and reaches for one of mine. When he brings it to his lips and kisses the inside of my wrist, I whimper.

  “It’s closer. I need to get you inside and alone before I pull this truck over and take you right here.”

  The image paints itself and it’s incredibly sexy.

  “Don’t you dare think about it. Yes, it would be incredibly hot and sexy if you straddled my lap in this truck and rode me until we were both screaming.”

  I take a breath because his words light a fire inside me.

  “But the first time I get to feel your heat will not be inside my truck. You will be spread out on my sheets and at my mercy while I devour every inch of you.”

  “Josh…” I whisper, not knowing how to respond to that but take a breath and hope to God his place is close because I don’t know how much longer I can sit in this seat without mounting him like it’s my damn job.

  “Almost there,” he says, his hand resting on my thigh as my hips lift at the contact. “Harper… behave,” he demands but I can’t, not when his fingers are so close to where I want them, not when I can smell his cologne and it’s doing crazy things to my libido. His fingers grip my thigh hard as he pulls into the parking garage of a very nice, very expensive condo.

  Thank God.

  The second he parks, we’re both out of the truck and making our way to the elevator. It doesn’t take long for the doors to open and when they shut behind us, it’s like everything explodes and I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his lips to mine.

  “Harper, just a few more minutes,” he says, his groan telling me he wants to sink into this feeling right now but knows that we’re still in public.

  I never thought I would be the type to do something like this in public. I never really liked kissing when other people were around but right now I am so on edge that I don’t think I would care if someone came into the elevator with us, I’d still attack him the way I am right now. I want him that badly.

  Just as he’s about to pull me away, the door dings and he leads us down the hall. He stops in front of his door and instead of opening it like I assumed he would, he pushes me against it, taking my lips in a punishing kiss that leaves me breathless and weak in the knees.

  “You have no idea how much I want to sink inside you right now. I don’t even know if I can wait to get inside,” he murmurs against my lips as his fingers slip under my skirt and find my bare, wet pussy. “Shit. If I knew you were this desperate, I would have let you fuck my fingers on the way home.”

  I never expected Josh to be a dirty talker, but it’s a delightful surprise. His words envelop me as I lean my head back against the closed door as his fingers find my clit and circle it lightly.

  I shudder. My hands grip the front of his pants as his lips trail kisses down my neck. “Open the fucking door, Josh,” I demand, loving this feeling but wanting so much more, and that can only happen once we’re inside and alone.

  He does as I ask, quickly closing it before he pushes me against it once more. This time I know we’re alone and that makes all the difference.

  I push him away from me, loving the desperate look in his eyes as he tries to take a step back toward me, but I shake my head. I give him my best, sly smile as my hand goes behind my back and I feel for my zipper. When I find it, I pull, the sound echoing in the silence as Josh’s eyes widen. Once it’s down, the dress falls off my shoulders, and before he can beg me, it falls into a pool at my feet. His eyes bulge as he takes in my naked body, ready and wanting him to do whatever he wants to it.

  “Jesus, Harper…” he whispers to himself, his eyes devouring every inch of my body as he stands stock-still in front of me. “You are… perfection.”

  “Then why are you all the way over there?” I tease as his eyes flare and he wastes no time before he’s in front of me with his hands wrapping around my waist and pulling me flush to his chest. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” I murmur, my teeth biting the shell of his ear as he lifts me off the ground and my legs wrap around his waist.

  “Well let’s fix that, shall we?” He carries me through the apartment, lights still off and before I know it, I’m thrown backward onto his king-size bed, staring up at the man I’ve been dreaming about for over a month. My eyes take in everything about him as I watch his fingers deftly undo every button of his shirt, revealing his spectacular chest and abs as my fingers grip the sheets beneath me.

  “It’s not fair,” I whisper, his head tilting to the side in question. I laugh before I get to my knees and crawl my way over to the edge of the bed. His fingers lace themselves into my hair as he brings my lips to his, kissing me with everything he has. After he’s left me breathless, I lean my forehead against his and mutter, “It’s not fair that you look this good all the time.” And it’s true. The man could be in sweats and a T-shirt and I would still drop to my knees and beg for him to touch me, or to let me touch him.

  As his laugh rumbles through his chest, I take the opportunity to explore him. The tips of my fingers tracing patterns along his skin until they reach their destination, his belt.

  “Harper…” he growls, knowing exactly what I’m after. My eyes lift just as he shrugs his shirt off his shoulders and throws it on the ground behind him. “What are you doing?”

  “What you denied me earlier,” I say right before I undo his belt and quickly drop his pants. My fingers whisper across the waistband of his boxer briefs as our eyes lock, mine filled with the promise of what’s to come. I expect him to say something, but he just takes a shuddering breath as I pull the fabric down and I come face-to-face with his cock.

  Finally.

  I’ve been dreaming about this thing for days and right now all I can think about is getting my lips around it and giving Josh as much pleasure as he’s given me. I don’t waste time before my tongue darts out and licks along his head, causing a guttural moan to leave his chest as my body hums in approval.

  “Fuck, Harper,” he whispers as his fingers find their way into my hair and grip. Hard.

  I moan at the pain as he pulls me closer, my lips circling his cock as I take him as deep as I can go. I planned to go slow, torture him the way he tortures me every time he’s given me pleasure, but being this close to him, feeling the way he reacts to my touch sends me over the edge and I start to ravage him.

  My cheeks hollow out, my tongue plays with the underside of
his cock as I take him deeper and deeper before he pulls away, breathing heavy. When I look up, ready to complain about taking away what I want most, I’m stunned stupid by the fire behind his eyes.

  “Lie back. Now,” he demands before I do exactly what he wants.

  There’s something about that tone of voice that goes straight to my core as he steps out of his underwear and crawls over my body, only stopping when his cock rests against my heat.

  “God, you feel even better than I thought.”

  I don’t think that was meant for my ears as his eyes take in my body, his head dipping and sucking a nipple into his mouth before he says another word. My back arches and my fingers lace themselves into his hair, pulling him closer because I want the feeling of his lips on me to last as long as it can.

  “Josh…” His name a prayer on my lips as I silently beg for him to keep going, my hips lifting to meet his and feeling his rock-hard cock grind against my clit. “Shit,” I whimper as I grind over and over again, chasing the release I can feel on my periphery.

  “Take it,” Josh growls against my ear, his teeth sinking into the sensitive skin behind my ear, causing my entire body to shudder. “I want you to take it from me, sweetheart. Come for me so I can fuck you the way you need to be fucked.”

  And that does it, one more pass of my clit against his cock and I go off like a bomb, the last three hours of pent-up frustration coming out in one spectacular moment that has me seeing stars.

  “Holy. Shit,” I mutter against the crook of my arm that now covers my eyes, my breathing heavy and I wonder how I’m going to survive the rest of the night if it’s anything like that.

  “Now for the fun part,” Josh grinds out as he lines up his cock at my entrance, and right before he slips it in, he stops and curses. “Condom.” He stands to get it when I stop him, my hands pulling him back to me. “Harper?”