Fastball (Stadium Series Book 3)

by S A Clayton

  Just as the sensation of sweet release overtakes me, I’m spun around and pushed against the chain-link fence. Josh’s mouth attacks mine, his lips molding to mine. My tongue darts out, matching his rhythm as my arms wrap around his neck, bringing him closer.

  “God, you feel so good…” I mutter, grinding into him harder and harder.

  His hands cup my face as he nips at my lips, taking small simple kisses that drive me crazy and leaves me panting, wanting more. They begin to travel down my neck, stopping at my collarbone and when his teeth sink into my delicate skin, I cry out. Josh moans my name and that’s when my head falls back against the fence, giving him better access. Those talented lips suck the flesh just below my ear and my knees give out as he grabs my hands that are entangled in his hair, slamming them into the fence above my head.

  “Hold on to the cage, sweetheart.” His forehead rests against mine and his breathing turns ragged.

  “And if I don’t?” I tease, fighting against his hold, watching as his eyes go molten and he puts more pressure into my wrists.

  “If you don’t hold on to that cage, I won’t do everything I have planned for you.”

  I inhale as his lips whisper against the shell of my ear.

  “And Harper? There’s a long fucking list,” he whispers as I moan, linking my fingers through the fence. I wanted to know that list intimately. “Good girl…” he mutters, and I don’t know why that sends a burst of pleasure through my body, but when his lips begin to travel once more, I lose all conscious thought. His tongue traces a line from my ear down to my chest, his hands leaving mine to rip down my shirt, exposing my black lace bra.

  “Fuck…” he groans as his mouth descends, sucking my nipple through the thin lace.

  I cry out, my chest arching closer to his lips. “Baby…I need you so bad right now,” I whimper as he drops to his knees, stopping only to look up at me, smirking.

  “Trust me, Sunshine, I will take very good care of you.”

  He gently and oh-so-slowly pushes my skirt up over my hips, exposing my now-soaked panties. I take a quick sweep of the room, reassuring myself that everyone is gone when his head dips and all the worries leave my body. He gently licks the lace that covers my clit and my eyes close at the pure bliss that contact brings me.

  “Goddamn…”

  “Jesus, you’re soaked,” he states, stroking my folds with the pads of his fingers.

  Unintelligible words come out of my mouth as he hooks those same fingers into my panties, pulling them down. I know I should be worried about someone coming in and seeing us, especially after the photos but all I can think about is the fact that I want his mouth on me more than I want anything. And plus, the gym is closed. It’s just us here, we’re safe here.

  “God, look at you…” he whispers as heat rises to my cheeks.

  I have no idea what I look like right now, but a few words that come to mind are: desperate, needy, and horny as hell.

  “I’ve wanted to do this to you all fucking day, ever since you left my apartment looking like a sexy lawyer,” he groans as his mouth finally finds me, his tongue flicking from back to front and just as I think I’m about to go insane, his tempo speeds up and then slows, driving me crazy.

  My body starts to shake as the tip of his tongue zeros in on my clit and doesn’t let up. “Josh! Jesus Christ!” I yell, feeling him against me.

  I glance down, wanting to watch him make me fall apart and when our eyes lock, my hands grip the cage just a little bit harder as he takes my clit in his mouth and sucks. Fuck, this man knows how to use his mouth. The pads of his fingers dig into my ass as he pulls me even closer, groaning as my legs give out but he holds me up. My orgasm is on the verge of overflowing, but I need more. My eyes shut, my teeth sinking into my bottom lip, trying to make sense of all the sensations rolling through my body.

  All of a sudden, Josh is on his feet, mouth crashing into mine and when I taste myself on his lips, I groan because this is the fucking sexiest thing ever. He slams two fingers into me, using his thumb on my clit and that’s all I can handle as the climax rushes through me like a freight train.

  I scream Josh’s name as I ride his fingers, his mouth going to my ear, whispering, “Just like that, Sunshine. Come all over my fingers.”

  I bite down on his neck as I moan over and over until the pulses start to subside.

  As my body starts to come back to life, Josh lets his shorts fall to the ground as those crystal blues stare into my soul.

  “My turn,” he grunts with a sly look on his face and when my hands untangle themselves from the fence and wrap around his neck, I don’t hesitate to bring his lips back to mine.

  I can still taste myself and I find myself hungry for more. I drive the kiss into a frenzy, loving the feel of him starting to lose control beneath my lips. His hands grab my ass and before he can tell me, my legs are wrapping around his hips, the tip of his cock at my entrance.

  “God, Josh… please fuck me. Please…” I beg, pushing my pussy into him, trying to get him deeper.

  “You want it hard, Sunshine?”

  I groan as he slams into me. The rattling of the cage echoes through the empty room as he thrusts into me over and over, his face buried in the crook of my neck.

  “Oh fuck… Harper…” he murmurs as my arms wrap around his neck and hold on for dear life.

  “Yes…” I whimper in his ear. “Don’t you dare stop.” My body tightens with every thrust, and I know I’m on the verge of another climax. My breath comes fast and hard as Josh sets a punishing pace that sets me off, sending blinding lights off behind my eyes as I ride out one of the biggest orgasms I have ever had.

  “Goddamn…” He tenses, thrusting into me one, two, three times before he pulses inside me and that itself sends me over the edge into another orgasm I never see coming. My fingers grab the fence above my head one last time as I ride him, my hips circling until both of our bodies are spent. Josh rests his forehead against mine, breathing ragged. “Holy. Shit,” he mutters before he reluctantly removes himself from inside me. I immediately miss the fullness of him as I pull him even closer, spreading my fingers through his hair. His eyes catch mine and I kiss him lightly as he lowers me to the ground.

  “That was amazing,” he whispers as I lower my skirt, looking around the cage for my panties, not knowing where he threw them.

  Finding them across the room, I give Josh a quick kiss before slipping away and picking them up. As I slip them back on his eyes travel up the length of my legs and I know from that look that he’s already thinking about round two. Hell, with that look he’s giving me, I’m ready for another go.

  I walk back to where he’s standing and lift myself up to kiss his lips softly. “Take me home, handsome,” I whisper

  “With pleasure,” he says, licking my bottom lip before kissing me once more.

  8

  Josh

  After another two weeks, we’re finally putting the last touches on Mel’s studio and I have to say, I’m fucking impressed. I stand in the doorway watching Mel and Harper talk in the corner, huddled over one of their phones, probably buying more things to put in this room.

  “Looks good, right?” Will says, coming up beside me and leaning against the other side of the door.

  I nod, not taking my eyes off my girl because the smile on her face is magnetic. I want to spend the rest of my life making sure that smile stays there.

  “What do you think of the mural?” he mutters and I smirk, knowing he’s looking for a compliment, considering he painted it himself.

  “You that desperate for a compliment?” I tease, chuckling as he rolls his eyes.

  “I spent a lot of manpower and long hours painting it. I think I deserve some praise.”

  I shake my head. “Are you sure it’s me you want the praise from? What about Mel?”

  At the mention of her name his face changes. I can see the desire there as his gaze lands on her from across the room and if I didn’t know my frien
d, I would think he hated her, but I know that look and that look means he wants something. Something he can’t get.

  “Don’t go there, man,” he mutters, and I turn, taking in his tense shoulders and narrowed eyes and I sigh. This man has it bad.

  “Why not? I’m pretty sure you have a thing for her and I’m pretty sure the guy I know wouldn’t just stand there and do nothing.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  I cock my head to the side and study my friend. The look in his eyes tells me he wants her, but there’s also this uncertainty that I’ve never seen before.

  “She turned you down,” I mutter to myself and when his head whips in my direction, I know I’m right. “She fucking turned you down?”

  He sighs and I can’t help the cackle that leaves my throat. When Mel and Harper turn our way, I give my girl a small smile and a wink before she goes back to doing whatever they were doing before.

  “Can we just leave it, please?” Will pleads but I can’t.

  In all the years I’ve known him, Will has never had an issue getting a girl, at least not since his last relationship ended.

  “Mel is great. Would I like to see her on a regular basis? Of course I would. She’s sexy, smart and so fucking talented but she made it clear she’s not interested.”

  I take another look across the room and see Mel’s eyes trained on us, or more specifically, Will.

  “I know you think you don’t have a chance, and you might be right. But let me tell you a little secret. From what Harper has told me, Mel can be a hard nut to crack. If you’re that interested, keep going. It might be worth it.”

  He says nothing as I stare at the mural he helped Mel paint. It takes up the entire wall and features the silhouettes of every kind of dancer you can think of from hip-hop to ballet. I always knew Will had a talent for art, but the girls didn’t and seeing their faces when he started to draw his ideas was priceless. In front of us are two very large windows surrounded by exposed brick that give the room a very authentic vibe. There is obviously a wall of mirrors to my left that adorns a row of wooden rails that apparently are there to help the kids with balance. I’ll take Mel’s word for it. There are cubbies in the hallway and couches for the parents.

  It looks amazing.

  Just as I’m about to head back downstairs to the gym, I hear a phone go off and from the ringtone, I know it’s Harper’s. When she takes it out of her back pocket and looks at the screen, I know something is wrong. Her entire body locks and her eyes bug out of her head and when those pleading eyes meet mine, the tears form and threaten to escape.

  “Sunshine? What’s wrong?” I plead, making my way toward her, Will following behind me.

  She doesn’t say anything as I wrap my arms around her, pulling her as close as I can. She instantly relaxes as I kiss the top of her head, hoping to bring some semblance of comfort. I ask again what happened, but instead of answering, she just holds out the phone for me.

  I warned you, the email says and attached are dozens of new pictures. And when she opens them, I instantly feel sick to my stomach. They’re from the night in the batting cage.

  Fucking hell.

  “Jesus…” I mutter, looking through all the pictures and cringing at the ones near the end.

  Harper is on full display for anyone to see, and the angle that rears its head makes me tense. Harper mutters something about needing some air as she pulls away from me and leaves the room. I look to Mel, who motions for me to follow, so I do. She walks right outside, not stopping, no matter how many times I call her name.

  “Harper, come on. Stop for a second and talk to me,” I say once I catch up to her, she still doesn’t stop. It’s almost as if she can’t, she has to keep going or she’ll break down.

  “Josh please, I just need a second,” she mumbles, as the sadness in her voice reaches my ears and my heart breaks.

  I know she doesn’t really want me to leave, she just doesn’t know how to handle this with me here. I need to prove to her that we can do this… together.

  She finally stops and I place my hand on her shoulders as they slump, her head falling forward, looking at the ground.

  “Harper, please just talk to me. I need to know what you’re thinking right now.”

  “What am I thinking?” she snaps. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking…”

  I pull her into the alleyway, allowing her space to yell as loud as possible.

  “I’m thinking that we were so reckless! I knew someone was taking pictures and videos of us and I just…” She pauses, her face angled toward the sky, and I can’t take being away from her, so I close the distance.

  “Just what?” I whisper softly, linking our fingers.

  The moment our hands touch, she melts, and I know I made the right decision. Together we can do this… we just need to remember that this isn’t going to divide us.

  “I just thought the gym was a safe space for me… for us,” she whispers and our eyes lock. Her eyes are searching for something and she must see it in mine because her eyes soften.

  I lean my forehead against her and brush my nose against hers.

  “It still is…”

  She pulls back, anger radiating off every inch of her skin.

  “No, it’s not,” she mutters, pushing past me. “There was no one at that gym when it happened, Josh. Those photos? They’re not from a phone or a camera, they’re from the surveillance system.”

  Fuck, she’s right. I never noticed the angle when I was looking at them but she’s totally right.

  “It’s not just that the pictures exist, it’s that someone I work with is doing this to us… to you.” She’s pacing back and forth now and my fist clenches at the idea of someone we trust breaking into that video room and taking what is not theirs.

  “Harper…”

  “But what I’m really pissed about is the fact that we still have no fucking idea who is taking these damn pictures!” She’s starting to crumble right in front of me so I wrap my arms around her, and the tears start to fall. “I’m sorry…” she whispers as I kiss her temple.

  “You have nothing to be sorry about. I was a willing participant in what happened, remember? If anyone should be sorry, it’s me.”

  She peers up, confused, so I smile and continue.

  “I should have been more careful. I should have protected you from this, I should have thought about the cameras and the fact that anyone can hack into anything these days.” I expect her to make a rebuttal, but to my shock, she just holds me tighter as I stand there, trying to figure out how I can fix this.

  “I love you, and these photos will never change that,” I whisper against her temple and I kiss her softly. She probably thinks I said that for her benefit, but little does she know it was for me.

  A few days later, I step into Henry’s office and knock softly on his door. “Henry?” He’s sitting behind his desk, and I quickly glance back to see Harper busy in her office, no clue of what I’m about to do. “I need a favor.”

  “What do you need?” he asks automatically, and I can’t help but smile. I’m so glad that Harper has him in her life.

  “I need to see your surveillance tapes from a few weeks ago.”

  He eyes me, questioning.

  “I think someone in this building is the one behind the photos, and I wanted to see if my hunch was correct.”

  He quickly nods and motions for me to follow.

  When we enter the room, he asks for the date in question, and I tell him. Once he pulls it up, he shows me how to work the system and how all the cameras are connected.

  “Should I be leaving the room for this?” he questions with a gleam in his eyes, and I smile back at him.

  “Yeah, that might be smart.”

  He just chuckles to himself, patting me on the shoulder as he closes the door behind him. He really doesn’t need to see this.

  I press play and watch as Harper walks through the front doors, locks them behind her, slowly making her
way through the building. She looks around the room and then walks toward the back field area. When I lose sight of her, I switch cameras and see myself in the batting cage, and then seconds later she’s walking through toward me.

  I stare at the screen for a few minutes before I realized I need to look at the cameras outside the field area. When I find what I’m looking for, I watch a figure dressed all in black, hoodie over their face, creep through the front of the gym and toward the door that leads to where Harper and I are standing. They stop… look through the door for longer than necessary and then make their way to this room.

  I slam my fists into the table, hearing the echo surround me. I take a glass from the desk and throw it against the wall, watching as it breaks into a thousand shards on the floor. Henry comes barging in and he looks down at me with concern written all over his face.

  “What the hell, Josh?” he yells, looking at the glass shattered across the floor.

  “Sorry, I’ll clean it up,” I mutter as my fingers tangle in my hair. What the hell am I gonna do? I have proof that someone was here, someone was purposefully stealing images of us to blackmail Harper and me, but I can’t prove who it is.

  “I’m guessing you didn’t find what you were looking for?”

  I shake my head. I went into this room thinking I was about to see Angela creep toward this room, but the longer I look at the person on that screen, the more I realize that it’s a man and not the woman that’s spent the past few months trying to destroy our relationship.

  “Who knows about this room?” I ask, hoping to get something I can bring to my lawyer.

  “Everyone that works here, pretty much. It’s not a secret that we have cameras everywhere and all employees have to know about this room in case of emergencies.”

  Okay, so that doesn’t narrow down my search at all.

  I need a new plan. And fast.