Indulgent Pleasures

by Karen Erickson

  His hard-on grew, straining against the fly of his trousers and he knew what he had to do.

  “I want you.” The words were a harsh whisper carried on the breeze and she blinked once, twice, those pretty red lips parting as if she were about to say something.

  And she did say something. “I—I have to go back to my table. They’re waiting for me.”

  Frustration came back, raging full blown within him. The emotion made his head spin and his vision blur. He didn’t want her to leave. He wanted her to be with him. He wanted to be inside her.

  He didn’t want to let her go. Ever.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Justin reminded her of a fierce, brooding warrior, all dark expression, heated eyes and wide stance. He cornered her, blocking everything from view until all she could see was him. His hungry gaze roamed over her, lingering on her breasts, her bare shoulders and she shivered, not from the breeze but from the passionate stare of her lover.

  Her lover. It was still difficult for her to grasp that she’d been intimate with this beautiful man on numerous occasions. That she knew what he liked, knew his body so well. His cock had been in her mouth, his mouth and hands all over her body. When she looked at him, she wanted him so much it almost hurt. It was as if she couldn’t get enough.

  Those three simple words he’d spoken with such heat made her panties flood with cream, her nipples beading beneath the thin fabric of her dress. She wore no bra, she couldn’t because of the way the dress was designed and she was afraid he would reach for her and rip the top away so that she’d be exposed. Vulnerable.

  Vulnerable to his touch, his sure hands and that magic mouth.

  Her entire body trembled and she secretly wanted him to do exactly that. Rip her clothes off and take her right there on the balcony, where any of the party goers who happened to walk by and see them.

  God, she was so crazy. He was making her lose her mind.

  “They can wait for you a little longer. I can’t.” Voice rough, he sounded downright desperate and he reached for her, his hands grasping her upper arms. His touch was electric, sending currents of heat shivering throughout her body. He hauled her against him and she gasped, her arms automatically going around him.

  Her impending words were silenced by his mouth crashing down upon hers. He kissed her with such force it stole her breath. His tongue was downright menacing, thrusting in and out of her mouth much like his cock would thrust in and out of her body and she clung to him, a whimper escaping when he broke the kiss.

  “If you can walk away from me after that then you’re a much stronger person than I am.” He gazed down at her, dipping low so his forehead pressed against hers. She stared up into his eyes and saw the passion blazing in their golden depths.

  “Where—where will we go?” Her voice sounded small, shaky and she swallowed, wishing for some sort of control. Unable to find any when he was near.

  “I don’t know.” He cleared his throat, his gaze beseeching. “Anywhere, as long as I’m with you.”

  His words tore at her heart, making her weak, making her wish for something he wouldn’t give.

  It was hard to remember that they were merely caught up in a passionate affair when he said things like that. When he looked at her as if she might mean something to him.

  “Justin.” She disentangled herself from his embrace and stood taller, caught the flash of disappointment in his eyes when she pulled away. They needed to get a grip, she needed some distance if she was going to speak to him like a civilized, rational person. “We can’t do this here. Not now.”

  “Why not?” He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it and the urge to smooth her fingers through it was almost overpowering.

  “You said so yourself you’re one of their biggest donors. Aren’t they doing a presentation soon?” How she missed his name on the gala announcement, she had no clue. Of course, she never really saw one since she’d only heard about the benefit from Zoe.

  If she’d known Justin would be here she probably wouldn’t have come. It was too hard, too painful to be so close to him and not be able to touch him, indulge in him. They had an appearance to keep up and behaving like two slobbering teenagers was not the image they wanted to portray.

  Plus, she couldn’t let Zoe know anything. It was too risky, having her so close.

  He shrugged and shoved his hands in his pants’ pockets. His stance reminded her of a petulant little boy who didn’t get his way. “Yeah I guess so.”

  “Well, we can’t sneak off before then, right? You should go back inside.” She lifted her chin, hoping like hell she looked strong, determined. She felt anything but. “Maybe we could meet...later.”

  “We’re definitely going to meet later.” He grabbed her again, planting a drugging kiss to her lips before he pushed her away. His entire body was tense, his jaw tight and she wanted to go to him and offer him comfort.

  Offer him her body.

  But not yet. Soon.

  “Yes.” She nodded, wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the sudden chill. It wasn’t good enough, not when she had his hot, hard body so close. “Okay.”

  Justin glanced at his watch then looked at her. “It’s almost nine now. I want you to meet me in the hotel lobby at eleven.”

  “The hotel lobby?” Where everyone could see them? She shook her head. “That’s too public, don’t you think?”

  “What, are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” His brows furrowed and he stared at her in disbelief.

  Oh, dear. This was a tough situation. One she wasn’t sure how to handle. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she squared her shoulders. “Of course not. I just figured you’d want to be more discreet, am I right?”

  He still watched her but he didn’t say a word. His eyes grew colder with every passing second that she didn’t explain herself.

  “You want the local media to get wind of this? Of us? And have them start asking you questions like who I am and what I mean to you? I know you’re a private person, Justin, and I know you don’t like to deal with any media intrusion. Well, I’m a private person too and I don’t want to deal with it either.”

  His expression slowly cleared and he shook his head though he still didn’t look pleased. “I guess you’re right. Fine, you want discreet, go to the concierge desk in the lobby at eleven and give them your name. They’ll tell you what to do from there.”

  Justin stalked away without waiting for her reply. He didn’t even bother looking back and she watched him go. Had she hurt his feelings? Made him feel bad when she said she didn’t want to be seen with him?

  If she’d been doing something else, anything else but writing those articles, she’d be begging him to escort her everywhere. She’d be proud to be on the arm of one of the most spectacular baseball players of his time. A man still revered in this city, in his profession.

  Not that his celebrity status was the reason she was with him. Justin was an amazing man. Amazing in bed and so sweet to her, passionate, talented and from what she’d just learned about the charity event, generous.

  But she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t risk getting caught. Not yet, at least. It was too dangerous and if Zoe found out, their relationship would be dead in the water. He’d hate her for what she did, writing those articles about their most personal moments. For how she lied to him.

  And the very last thing she wanted was for him to hate her.

  Stephanie slowly walked back into the ballroom, glancing about the room for Justin. She spotted him near the stage, standing with a group of people getting his photo taken. He was smiling, seemingly jovial but she could see even from halfway across the room his jaw was still tight and his eyes were dim.

  He was angry, distracted. Probably a little sexually frustrated. She was feeling pretty much the same way.

  “Where have you been?”

  She turned to find Caleb standing before her, drink in hand and a sloppy smile on his face. Surprisingly, he was all by himself.

&n
bsp; “I’m sorry, I spotted someone I knew and we talked for a while.” Trying to smile at him, she started walking, heading toward the table where she saw Zoe still sitting.

  Caleb kept up with her. “Did I just see you out on the balcony with that baseball player Justin Hawkins?”

  Her heart leapt to her throat and she stopped, her gaze meeting his. “Nooo.” She drew out the word and shook her head, her body literally shaking with nerves.

  “Huh. I could’ve sworn it was you. Maybe it was someone else.” He shrugged, casting her a doubtful look. “I thought I recognized your dress.”

  “Maybe someone else is wearing it? And I thought I was the only one.” She laughed, trying to mask her fear and hoping it didn’t sound fake.

  Caleb was too damn perceptive for his own good. She hoped he didn’t start digging deeper and start piling on the questions.

  “Well, you’ve been missing out. I’ve been talking to ladies left and right though I haven’t scored yet. I’m close though.”

  “God, do you treat this like some sort of sport?” Stephanie wrinkled her nose and couldn’t help but think of Justin. How polite and sweet he’d been to her that first night they’d met.

  But had that been the exception? She’d done a little research. He was a known player both on and off the field and had an endless string of women attached to his name. Many of them as famous or even more so than he.

  She found that incredibly intimidating, to say the least. How could she compete compared to all of those other women in his life? Not that he seemed to be thinking of any of them when he was with her.

  No, his intense focus seemed wholly concentrated on her.

  “Of course, I treat it like a sport. It is a game, Stephanie. A game between a man and a woman and ultimately, I always like to be the winner.” Caleb grinned, the expression on his face wicked. “I like to be the one on top.”

  “I’m sure,” she said drolly as they approached Zoe. She was frowning at the both of them, her arms crossed in front of her.

  “Where have you been? I swear I’ve been sitting here watching Caleb in place of you and getting more than a little frustrated. With everything I’ve observed I could write the damn article myself.” Zoe stood, her overly made up face squinty and drawn.

  “Sorry Zoe, I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in a long time when I came out of the restroom and we just started talking.” Stephanie really wanted to tell her boss to take a flying leap but she held herself in check.

  “I thought she ran into Justin Hawkins,” Caleb piped up from behind her.

  Zoe arched a brow. “Justin Hawkins? But he’s up there on stage.”

  They all turned to look at the stage, the discussion forgotten and Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief. Damn Caleb for bringing up Justin again.

  An announcer was talking about the generous donations the homeless charity had received this past year and he was focusing on all the good deeds Justin had done for the charity himself.

  Justin still stood amongst the same group of people though they were all on stage now and Stephanie figured they must be the top donors.

  “He’s one hot piece,” Zoe murmured close to Stephanie and she felt the burn of jealousy low in her stomach at Zoe’s words.

  Then she immediately wanted to shout out in triumph, “Yeah, been there done that, still doing it!”

  Now was definitely not the time.

  “He’s very attractive,” Stephanie answered, still staring at the stage.

  “That’s the understatement of the night. I used to have a raging crush on him.”

  Stephanie’s head nearly swiveled off her neck as she turned to stare at Zoe. “You did?”

  “Oh, yeah. I used to chase him all over the place. Insinuating myself into all of the parties he was at, going to the games, you name it, I tried it. He never did take the bait though we spoke quite a bit.”

  How would she have felt to know Zoe had once landed in the bed of her current lover? That would’ve been way too weird.

  Luckily enough, Justin had discriminate taste.

  She stared at him up on the stage, admiring his tall, broad physique, the way he filled out his tuxedo so perfectly. Her entire body reacted to him even from this far away and she wondered how much longer she would have to endure this party, Caleb and Zoe, until she could get away and meet up with Justin.

  It couldn’t come soon enough.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Justin paced the lavish hotel room he just paid for, undoing his bow tie as he walked. Frustration fueled him, making him tense, agitated. Horny as hell.

  Yet again Stephanie kept him waiting. He’d barely just escaped the charity gala, finding it hard to extract himself from all of the people who wanted to speak with him. Now that he wasn’t always traveling with the team he was available for more public events and they knew it. They also knew where his true heart lied.

  And that was with almost any local charity that helped children. He was a sucker for a poor or sick kid. They reminded him too much of his own disillusioned youth.

  Glancing at his watch, he saw it was nearly eleven-thirty and he tore the watch off, tossing it onto a dresser. Not even caring that it was worth over twenty thousand dollars.

  He glared at the Rolex, disgust filling him. He’d been caught up in the fast lane just like every other player on his team. He’d bought into the flashy cars, the designer labels and expensive accessories as some sort of status symbol.

  The last couple of months before his accident he’d felt disgruntled, frustrated with the path his life had been taking. That’s why he’d bought the house in his grandmother’s hometown and worked on fixing it up. It gave him something to do, something to be proud of, an accomplishment other than baseball.

  When he hit the age of thirty-one last year and his body felt as if it was slowly giving out on him, he knew he needed another focus. His entire life had been baseball since he was a kid. He hadn’t known what else to do.

  It was as if his grandma had led him to his new passion when he’d driven out to Half Moon Bay that one afternoon. He’d stumbled upon his future home by accident, didn’t even know if it was for sale when he saw it but he’d taken one look and knew it had to be his. He’d taken that old, dilapidated house and remodeled it until it shone. It made him feel good, like he’d accomplished something major and quickly it became more than a hobby.

  It had become an obsession.

  He felt almost as obsessive about Stephanie. His cock hardened at the thought of her, of the way she looked earlier in that gorgeous dress out on the balcony. Her tits practically overflowing, just begging for his touch and he’d had to use every ounce of restraint he had to stop from stripping her bare and fucking her against the railing.

  Yeah, that would’ve gone over real good at a charity event for Christ’s sake.

  She’d made him angry when she acted as if she didn’t want to be seen with him. He didn’t get it, didn’t get her behavior at all. Did she think it was embarrassing, what they had? Every single woman he’d ever dated wanted nothing more than to be seen flouncing around town on his arm. It used to not bother him because hey, pussy was pussy. He’d take whatever he could get. And well, he usually got some pretty damn fine pussy.

  Lately though, he’d hated it. How could he find a woman for a potential lifetime relationship when he didn’t trust how they felt about him? Not that he’d been looking for any sort of immediate permanence but the idea had been hanging on the fringes of his brain. He wasn’t getting any younger and he’d always wanted kids.

  Hell, he wanted to make up for the shoddy way his parents had treated him. Wanted to indulge his future children with every single thing they could ever need. Not just the material things but emotionally as well. Lavish them with love, caring and understanding. Be there for them no matter what.

  Justin grimaced and scrubbed a hand over his face. What the fuck was he doing, standing in a hotel room with dreams of his future children in his eyes? He didn’t
do this kind of sentimental shit, at least not very often and he had no clue what had gotten into him.

  Stephanie has gotten into you, that’s who.

  He rubbed his eyes, massaged his temple with the tips of his fingers. He was tired, cranky and horny, never a good combination. Really hoped Stephanie was prepared because he was probably going to be a bear to deal with.

  Maybe being with her would soothe his frayed nerves though she was half the reason they were frayed in the first place.

  Women. Who knew they were so much damn trouble? No wonder he’d avoided them for so long.

  A click sounded at the door and then it swung open with a quiet swoosh. Stephanie entered the room with tentative steps, her shoes dangling in her hand and she seemed awfully short in her bare feet.

  “It took me forever to get out of there. The crush of people trying to leave slowed me down,” she said when she saw him, her voice dripping with apology.

  “It’s all right.” He shook his head. How could he be mad at her when she looked like she did? That dress fit her like a dream, the top molding to her chest, emphasizing the lush curve of her breasts and showcasing her smooth cleavage. The skirt swirled all around her, draping her body mysteriously though he knew every inch of skin beneath it and knew it well.

  And he couldn’t wait to get his hands on it. On her.

  She glanced about the hotel room, her eyes going wide as she drank in the opulent details. “This is gorgeous. And look at that view.”

  Her shoes dropping on the floor, she went to the window and stared out at the night sky, her lips slightly parted.

  Yes, the view was spectacular, looking over all of San Francisco and the Bay. The city lights twinkled and shone in the dark night, the sound of the traffic from below a quiet rush of noise.