Taken By The Baller: A Bad Boy Romance Read online

  I need a release, but I don’t want her. I want Reese… and her damn freshly shaven, eager pussy.

  “Sorry Princess, I have other plans tonight, but if you’re around another time…”

  She flushes, and steps away, muttering something. I’ve offended her, but I’m just not into her. My head and my dick are somewhere else. I turn back to my beer, angry with myself. What the fuck is wrong with me? A hot woman offers herself straight up to me, and I don’t take advantage of it because of… wait for it… I’m hung up on a scam artist that I haven’t even so much as slid my thick cock into her sweet hole.

  Maybe that’s the problem.

  Maybe that’s how I get her out of my system. What if the tease is actually a crumb and I’m supposed to follow the trail? She’s certainly pointed me in the right direction with the torn off hotel notepad and all.

  I know where the hotel is. I could go there. Yeah, it’ll be a bit intense, a lot desperate, but what the fuck. If she’s feeling even half of what I am, she must want to finish what we started. What’s the worst she can do? Tell me to fuck off? I can take being brutally shot down. I need to find her and know either way.

  I down my beer, pay my tab along with a generous tip and get to my feet. Making my way back onto the street, I flag down a cab and slip into the back seat.

  “The Regatta, please.”

  “It’s an hour’s ride,” he says, turning back to look me in the eye.

  “I know.”

  “Okay,” he says, turning on the meter.

  I sit in the darkness and marvel at what the fuck I’m doing. I have no idea what I find so tantalizing about this girl. I know nothing about her beyond her name, and how good she looks naked. But something about her eyes, the way they burned into mine, or the way her mouth made me dream of sliding my dick into it. Or even the sound of her voice, a little whispery, as if everything she says is a big secret.

  It is still bouncing around inside my head and it isn’t going to stop until I figure out what her deal is. Or at least, until I get rid of this damn hard-on.

  “Could you wait for me?” I ask the driver when we arrive at the hotel. “I’ll pay extra.”

  “How long do you think you’ll be?” he asks suspiciously, and I shrug, fighting to keep a cocky grin off my face.

  “Not long,” I promise, even though I hope she’ll be sucking me off for a long, long time. He nods curtly, and I head into the lobby of the hotel.

  “Pay me what you owe me first,” he says.

  I pay him and approach reception. I lean up against the polished wood and look around. They’ve prettied the place up some since the last time I was here. Even the switchboard is fancier. A pretty receptionist comes out of a door and comes up to me. She gives me a dazzling smile.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Uh, yeah, I’m looking for Reese? She left her bag at my place, I wanted to drop it off.”

  She cocks an eyebrow at me. “Where’s the bag?”

  “In my pants.”

  She rolls her eyes, goes to the computer, and taps at a few keys. Then she turns back to me and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, looks like she checked out about an hour ago, but if you like, you can leave your name, in case she calls looking for her… handbag?”

  “No, it’s fine,” I say and I can’t even pretend that I don’t give a shit. I feel like I’ve been shot in the heart. “Thanks anyway.”

  I make my way back outside and get into the cab.

  “She wouldn’t put out, huh?” the driver comments heartlessly.

  Chapter 4

  Reese

  I return to the hotel in a daze and start packing up my stuff. I’m supposed to stay another couple of days and take in some sights, but all I want to do is run back home. Like a zombie, I check out of the hotel, and take a taxi to the airport. In the plane, I attempt to sleep, but it feels as though something has shifted deep inside of me.

  Even when I get back to my hometown and start the long, familiar drive back to my parents’ house, I can’t stop thinking about my shameless behavior while I was out of town. I squirm against the leather seat of the car as I remember my behavior in the locker room. I still can’t believe I did that. Who’d have thought I could be such a brazen hussy?

  No one held a gun to my head. I could have just walked away. Instead, I did every dirty thing he told me to.

  After all these years of waiting for that special guy to punch my V-card, I feel more than a little stupid to realize just how much I enjoyed mindless lust with a guy who is indisputably an asshole, and how badly I still want to go all the way with him.

  To think I rubbed myself on his hard-on!

  That’s basically half a step away from truly hooking up. Heck, if I’d stayed there for one second longer, I wouldn’t have been able to restrain myself. I would have let him take my virginity right there and then in a men’s locker room! Thank God, some sense of self-preservation kicked in and I fled before I could completely humiliate myself.

  I’m completely clueless, I mean, I’ve made out with boys before, and I’ve listened to my girlfriends going on about the stuff they’ve done with their boyfriends, but I’ve never felt this kind of desire for anyone before.

  His cock felt good against my pussy and made me wonder how it would feel buried deep inside of me. I wanted to be on my knees with his cock in my mouth. I wanted to see his face when he came. I wanted to do everything with him. Even thinking about it now is turning me on.

  Maybe I’ve been overthinking it this whole time. Instead of waiting for that one special guy I should settle for someone who turns me on beyond all belief? Maybe, I should have just let Drake push me down on his cock. Just get it over with.

  I force myself to stop obsessing about sex, and Drake, and sex with Drake, and turn my thoughts instead to whether Drake will come to see my stepmom. I really hope he fulfills his end of the bargain and calls her. After he speaks to her and hears just how weak and frail she is I pray that either his kindness, or his curiosity gets the better of him, and he comes out to see her.

  My heart starts to ache when I think about my stepmom.

  When I was three years old my biological mother ran away with another man. A year later Dad met Morgan and married her, but that same year Dad had to have an operation which also meant he couldn’t have any more kids. So, Morgan poured all her love into me. I can, hand on heart, say, no biological mother could have cared for their child with more dedication and love than Morgan did.

  I adore her with every fiber of my being, fiercely and endlessly. I will do anything I can to make any wish she has come true before she leaves this earth, but she has never asked me for anything. She smiles bravely and never complains.

  The only time I have ever seen her cry is when she was telling me how much she would love to see her son again. She wanted to explain everything so he would not think that she just gave him away. She wanted him to know that she never forgot him or stopped crying for him. Even though it is not her fault, deep down inside, she has carried the guilty feeling that she failed him as a mother.

  The real problem is Drake didn’t even seem to know he was adopted. He was shocked when I told him, then very skeptical about the whole thing. As if I’d made it all up. Obviously, his parents never told him he was adopted.

  I pull up to the house and take a deep breath. Okay, Reese, put everything that’s happened while you were away out of your head. That was just a temporary madness. This is real life.

  Morgan can usually see through me no matter how clever I think I’m being, and if she even got a tiny hint of what I’ve done to get Drake to take our address, she’ll never forgive herself for putting me in such a position. So, I carefully arrange my face into a neutral expression before I get out of the car and head to the front door. To my surprise, my Dad pulls the door open before I can even get my key into it.

  “Reese!” he exclaims, stepping aside so I can enter the house. “I thought you were going to be another two days?” />
  “I missed you too much, Dad.” I spread my hands in a dramatic gesture, and he rolls his eyes at me playfully. Then, he nods towards the living room, “Morgan’s in there,” He grins, excitement flashing in his eyes. “And she’s got some amazing news.”

  “Oh yeah?” I ask, opening the door to the room. My stepmom is sitting on the couch, a book in her hand, and a blanket thrown over her knees. If one didn’t know better, one would never guess how very ill she is.

  “Hello, my pumpkin!” she cries happily and holds her hands out to me.

  I go over to give her a hug. As her arms close around me, I inhale her familiar scent with a bittersweet joy. I can’t even begin to imagine life without her.

  I sit down on the couch next to her. “So, what’s this big news?”

  She meets my gaze with a smile on her face, and I know without having to ask what she is going to tell me. He must have called almost as soon as I’d left. I assumed he was going to take at least a few days to consider the proposition before he decided either way. Turns out he’s a lot more enthusiastic than I thought. Is that about me? Or about his mom? Even before she can get the words out I can already feel my scalp prickling with tension. I brace myself to react to her news in the way that would be considered normal.

  “You did it, Reese.” She clasps her hands together. “Drake called me, and he said yes, he wants to meet, Reese! He wants to meet his mom. I’m so happy my hands are shaking.”

  “That wonderful, Morgan.” I lean forward excitedly. “When?”

  “Tomorrow!” She spreads her palms and I can see that they are shaking. “I can’t believe I’ll be meeting him after all these years.” She gives a high laugh of excitement. This has been a decades-long dream. Two big teardrops roll down her face and she swipes them away roughly. She never did like to be caught crying. “And I can’t believe that my two kids have been in the same room together already. It’s just mad. Completely mad.”

  She has no idea what her two “kids” have been up to. “I’m so happy for you, Morgan.”

  She beams happily. “You must have made quite the impression on him.”

  “I guess so,” I say, averting my eyes for a moment. She pauses and examines me carefully. Shit, she can always tell when I’m hiding something.

  “Is everything okay, Reese?” she asks gently.

  I nod at once. I don’t want the pure joy and happiness of her finding the son she’s been longing for all these years, to be sullied by the truth of what really happened between him and me. What matters is that he’s coming to visit her, and he’s gone above and beyond his end of the bargain. A part of me wonders if he’s expecting to finish what we started. I push the thought from my head at once and take her hand.

  “Everything is just fine,” I assure her. “I’m just glad that it worked out for you and him.”

  “You did get along with him, didn’t you?” she asks anxiously.

  I flush. “Of course, I did. He’s a nice guy.”

  Her eyes widen like a child’s. “Tell me more,” she demands eagerly. “What should I expect?”

  I can’t exactly mention that he’s going to be the star of all my wet dreams from now on, or how close I came to losing my virginity to him. I take a deep breath and try to think of the most diplomatic way to phrase it.

  “I’d say he’s a very confident guy,” I nod. “I think you’ll really like him.”

  Her eyes shine brightly. “Yeah? You think so?”

  “Absolutely.” And that wasn’t a lie either. Not many people would fail to be impressed by Drake’s stunning good looks or his magnetic charm and personality.

  “And he didn’t seem bitter about me?”

  I frown. “Actually, I got the feeling he didn’t know about you at all.”

  Her eyes widen with shock. “His father didn’t tell him?”

  I shake my head. “I thought he was going to fall over backward when I told him.”

  “Oh.” She gnaws at her lower lip worriedly.

  “Why did you never contact him before?” I ask. I’ve been so determined to fulfill her fantasy for her I’ve never taken the time to ask any questions before I left.

  “I didn’t think he would want to see me. He was part of a fine, wealthy family. I thought he might be ashamed of me. I was just a maid, Reese. I didn’t want to embarrass him. Even now, I won’t make this information public. I just want to see him before I… go.”

  I feel so sorry for her I could sob, but I put on a brave face and say brightly, “Well, it’s worked out for the best. You can tell him everything when he comes to see you.”

  All the excitement of the day is beginning to wear her out and her lower lip trembles slightly.

  “Don’t tire yourself out now. Go on, lie back and rest a little.”

  Like a little child, she obeys me. She rests her head back on the couch and looks up at me with shining eyes. God, how I love this woman. I squeeze her hand and get to my feet before I start bawling uncontrollably.

  “I need to go unpack the car and bring everything in. I want to give Dad a hand with making dinner,” I say. My voice is hoarse with emotion. I try to slip my hand out of hers, but she tightens her hold.

  “Thank you, Reese. Thank you for what you did. I don’t know what I have done to deserve you and your father, but I give thanks to the good Lord every day for the two of you.”

  Even though I didn’t want to cry, my eyes fill with tears. I swallow hard. This is what I mean about Morgan. After all the countless, selfless acts she has done for me throughout my life, she behaves as if this one thing I did for her is more important than everything she has ever done for me.

  “It is I who should be thanking God, for putting you in my life,” I say sadly.

  “We are both lucky, then,” she whispers.

  I kiss her and leave the room. As I carry my luggage up the stairs, I wonder what Drake’s visit will bring. I have no idea what to expect next.

  My intentions were honest when I first walked into that locker room, but now, as I dump my bags on my bedroom floor, they are all muddled with lust, passion, and the desire to see him again. I have a feeling that he isn’t done with me yet. I know I’m not done with him. I want him.

  I fall back onto my bed with a sigh. Sure, I know that he was using me to get what he wanted, but I’m hooked on him and craving for more. The only thing I want to do now is lock my bedroom door, slip my fingers into my panties, and spend a good hour alone with my memories of Drake Kelly and his massive cock.

  Chapter 5

  Drake

  I called the number that Reese left, hoping that I’d find some way to get hold of her again, but instead, I found myself talking to the lady claiming to be my real birth mother. My hackles were still up, but she was so incredibly happy to hear from me that I ended up listening to her with a kind of detached amazement.

  Was it truly possible for someone to pretend that level of sweet innocence and pure joy?

  I guess, if you’re pulling this kind of scheme, you should go all in and pick the sweetest, kindest, most adorable little lady you can find.

  Obviously, I agreed to meet her. The way I figured it, I’ll walk through her door, get to the bottom of the scam, then go find Reese and finish what we started. Any screwing that happens along the way, of course, will be purely incidental.

  The closest airport to my hometown is a small city about an hour north of it. It is a wet, thickly fogged day, and it sets the tone for the way I feel.

  It’s been forever since I was back here. Usually, my parents insist on coming up to me for the holidays. It works well because it gives them a nice break in the city, saves me the journey down, and means I don’t miss any of my training.

  I stride through the almost empty airport quickly, cherishing my anonymity. It’s rare to get a moment alone in the big city. No matter where I go, I always find myself cornered by fans, rival fans, or people who half-recognize me as that guy off the TV. Now, what is it you do again?


  I spot a baggage handler giving me a second glance, but it’s probably because I went to high school with his cousin or something. This town is so tiny it’s claustrophobic. Everyone knows everyone. No more than two degrees of separation between anyone or anything. And no fucking secrets. You can’t fart without everyone talking about it over coffee.

  “Drake?”

  I look up at him, and he grins widely. “It’s Simon. Simon Bateman. Elaine’s brother?”

  Nothing clicks and I stare at him blankly. “Sorry, man.”

  He doesn’t look embarrassed. “You used to date Suzie, Elaine’s best friend.”

  I frown. Fuck there have been so many Suzies and Elaines. They all blur into each other. I shrug apologetically.

  “Don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago,” he dismisses.

  “Yeah, it was,” I nod. “A very long time.”

  “It was a good game. We should go get a beer sometime,” he says.

  I grab my bag and heft it over my shoulder. “Thanks. I’m not around for long, but yeah, we should.”

  “Well, enjoy your stay, anyway,” he says, and I can’t figure out whether he’s being sarcastic or not.

  As I start walking towards the doors I pull out my phone and tap in the address of Reese’s stepmother. It’s all the way on the other side of town, on the practically-a-trailer-park side, as my mom once sniffed. I wonder if Reese lives with her parents. I step out of the airport and a taxi is waiting for me.

  I get in and give him the address.

  A powerful wave of nostalgia hits me as we cruise down the main street. So many years have passed since I last came back down this way, but it feels like yesterday that I sneaked out to go to clubs with my fake ID, and got into fights more times than I cared to count.

  It’s strange, seeing how things have changed and how things have stayed the same, the dive bar I went to after high school is now boarded up, but the little shop I got “sorry-I-cheated” gifts for my high school girlfriends is still open. I was such a dick then. I’m sure I got my first blowjob in one of the bathrooms of a bar on this street too.