Chapter 3

3

Cort

Good God.

I wonder if she has any idea how fucking gorgeous she looks standing in my backyard wearing nothing but a tight skirt. A skirt that has been twisted up in my hands, leaving it several inches higher on her lithe thighs than before. A man would lay down his life to get his mouth on pert little nipples like Pippa’s. To get his lips on hers. To claim her.

And in a way, laying down my life is exactly what I’m doing.

My life has always been private for a reason.

I don’t like pity. I don’t like strangers knowing my secrets.

But it’s becoming increasingly obvious that I will do whatever is necessary to make this girl happy. If it means prying open my chest and letting her root around, so be it. When she publishes the article, a lot more people than Pippa will know what lies beneath my scars, but if I have her in my life, the discomfort will be well worth the payoff.

I step fully out of my jeans, watching her doe eyes shoot wide at the sight of my swollen cock. Even in the muted light, I can see the bright circles of color on her cheeks. God, the way her lips puff open on a gasp make me hornier than sin. Everything about Pippa makes me that way. Especially her eagerness to rub all over me and accept my tongue. Even though the intimacy scares her a little, the fear didn’t stop her from opening her thighs, because she already knows, deep down, her body belongs to me.

It’s her trust I’m after now.

Once she gives me that, her heart will follow.

Just like in the locker room, she whirls around, sputtering over the sight of nudity. Then she obviously realizes how silly that is, considering she’s half naked and part of our agreement is to get her off. So she turns back around.

“Yes, that’s right. My questions.” She chews on her bottom lip, unable to keep her eyes from straying back to my dick. “L-let me just gather my thoughts.”

“Take your time,” I say, taking the cover off the hot tub to reveal the bubbling water underneath, illuminated by blue lights, curling with steam. “I won’t be able to hear you over the noise, though, so you’ll have to get in with me.”

I climb into the tub and sink into the hot water, groaning as the heat meets my sore muscles. I didn’t pitch today, but I spent a lot of time working out some kinks. Tomorrow I’m on the roster to close the second game of our series against the Wolves. The post-game ritual of soaking in the hot tub doesn’t relax me as it usually does. God no. Not with her standing there, looking so innocent and turned on all at once. All I can do is drape my arms along the rim of the tub and wait, my cock throbbing and heavy beneath the surface.

After a moment of lip chewing, Pippa mutters something to herself and unzips her skirt, hesitating slightly before it falls to the ground, leaving her in nothing but a pair of white cotton panties with a pink rosebud in the center.

Jesus Christ.I almost come at the sight of her. At the damp, see-through material clinging to her virgin slit. At the low waistband hugging her hips. All of her is made of goddamn magic and I want to spend my life worshipping at her altar.

“I’ll j-just get in then,” she murmurs, slinging one long leg over the edge of the hot tub, then sinking into the water, straight up to her neck, the ends of her dark hair fanning out around her. “Oh my God,” she gasps, her eyes turning dreamy. “This feels as good as it looks.”

I bet I can say the same for you.

I’m not going to last very long without touching her, but I don’t want to rush Pippa and lose a chance to gain her trust. Still, my fingers are curled into the edge of the hot tub, shaking with the need to touch. “I’ve got a deal for you, Pippa.”

Her mouth forms an O. “Another one?”

“It’s still part of the first deal.” I shift in the water. “For every three questions I answer, we give you an orgasm.”

The steam curls around her beautiful face. “But I have a lot of questions.”

“Then I guess your thighs are going to be sore from shaking, little girl.”

Just like earlier, she melts when I call her that name, her mouth turning even rosier. “They really shake when…that happens?”

“If you do it right.” I drop my right hand into the water, reaching out to grasp her by the hip and draw her toward me, settling her on my lap in a straddle, her soft sex molding around my cock. “Fuck me. I’m going to do it so right, Pippa.”

Our mouths are inhaling and exhaling right up against one another. “I believe you.”

My hands slide down into her panties, taking firm hold of her hot little backside and Christ, she is so goddamn tight and supple. “Ask your questions.”

Her eyelids flutter, her hands settling hesitantly on my shoulders, the steam wrapping around both of us, cocooning us in our own world. “Okay, so…” She rubs her lips together, an adorable line of concentration appearing between her brows. “Before you were accepted at The University of Texas at Austin…”

“Damn,” I laugh. “You know your stuff.”

“You’re famous, Mister Mulloy,” she counters primly. “Or didn’t you realize?”

“Is that one of your three questions?”

Her lips curve in a smile. “No. But nice try.”

I knead her ass firmly, rocking her up and back on my dick. “Just anxious, baby.”

She hums, her face a beautiful shade of flushed. “B-before you were accepted at the university, where did you play? Most players can trace their careers all the way back through little league and club teams, but you came out of nowhere. Just showed up for an open tryout and boom. All-star pitcher. It happened overnight.”

I swallow with some discomfort, my pulse kicking up a notch. “Yeah, uh…” I clear my throat roughly. “This ranch didn’t always belong to me. It belonged to Hank, my foster father. He’s the one who taught me how to play ball.” The memories rush back and block up my throat. “After my chores were done, we spent hours every day working on my arm. Pitching through tires in the barn. He said my talent was natural, but that’s because he hated taking credit for anything. Me? I hated anything social. He wanted me to try out for a team sooner, but…he had a heart condition. I didn’t like the idea of leaving him alone around the place while I went off and played some sport…”

I realize how long I’ve been talking and press my lips together, noticing for the first time that Pippa is watching me with big, luminous eyes, her chest rising and falling quickly. She doesn’t even seem to realize the water isn’t covering her luscious tits any more—and there’s not a hope in hell I’m going to tell her.

“Oh. Everyone has always speculated that you played in Europe or maybe Puerto Rico. Somewhere that allowed you to remain off the radar in the US. But…you were here in Texas the whole time.” She shakes her head. “A foster father. He must be a very good man…to recognize your talent and encourage it like that.”

“Yes. He was.”

“Oh.” Some of the color leaves her face. “He’s passed?”

The tightness is back in my throat. “Yeah. Beginning of the season.”

“Cort,” she breathes, her expression awash in sympathy. But not pity. Just understanding and the offer of comfort. “I’m so sorry. Is…is Hank’s passing the reason you haven’t been playing like yourself?”

“Why I’ve been in a slump, you mean?” Laughing without humor, I take my hand off her backside long enough to rake it through my hair. “Yeah. Doesn’t really feel the same, knowing he’s not in the stands watching me. He was the only one who ever cared. Really cared. The rest of the eyes on me just belong to strangers.” I grunt, unable to meet her eyes. “That was your third question.”

“I don’t want to ask any more questions,” she murmurs, cupping the side of my face in her hand, tracing my cheekbone with her thumb. “Not right now.”

My heart booms anxiously in my chest. “What do you want, Pippa?”

Her hurried breaths ghost across my mouth. “I’m not sure, but…” She slides her hand down my jaw, hesitating, before moving it lower to my pec. “I like touching you.”

My cock throbs painfully. “I like it, too, baby.” I massage her sweet backside and watch her eyes turn languorous. “Matter of fact, I love it. It’s time to make you love it, too.”

She nods almost bravely, sending the water lapping at her hard nipples.

“I’m going to finger you, baby. You know what that means?”

“I can piece it together.”

A laugh puffs out of me. Goddamn, she’s cute. “Turn around. Get the panties off and settle that ass right in Daddy’s lap.”

Her gasp can probably be heard from the driveway. “What did you call yourself?”

I reach into her hair and take a fistful, tugging her head back and pressing my teeth to her throat. “You heard exactly what I said. You can pretend to be scandalized by it if you want, Pippa, but that one word made your thighs shake around my hips. Kind of like being called my little girl made your pussy wet.”

“Is…it bad to like these things?”

“I don’t know. Never called anyone little girl. Never been called Daddy.” I sip the steam droplets off her neck. “Never met anyone that made me feel like this. Or need like this.”

Her pulse flutters against my lips. “Cort…”

My grip tightens in her hair. “I don’t know a lot about what a relationship like this looks like, but I know good little girls do what they’re told.”

She’s already nodding, her breath coming in excited little pants. With eyes the size of silver dollars, she turns in my lap and together we work the panties down her thighs, knees, until finally they’re off and there’s nothing separating my dick from the supple curves of her ass cheeks. I tuck her butt tightly against me, both of us releasing a shuddering moan, my hands sliding up through the water to mold her peach-sized tits in my palms.

“When something feels good, you moan about it. You let me know.”

“Okay—” My thumbs coast over her nipples and she breaks off on a throaty sound. “Th-that. I love that.”

“So sensitive for me, aren’t you?” Her nod is vigorous, her head falling back to rest on my shoulder. “Bet your clit is just as ripe for touching.”

“I…I don’t know.”

Amusement ticking my lips up, I trail my fingers down the center of her belly. “Spread your legs. Drape them over mine, so nothing can hide.”

“But…”

“I know. You’ve never spread them for a man before.” I take hold of her knee and tug it wide, leaving the limb dangling over my thigh. I do the same with the other side, leaving her thighs open, her ass wedged tightly up against my cock, her head lolling side to side on my shoulder. “I’m going to be the first and last man you open them for. There’s no one to save your pretty cunt for anymore, Pippa. I’m here and I own it now.”

She gasps at my crude language, but I don’t apologize. I double down by gripping her smooth little sex, holding tight until she stops wiggling around. Until she melts back down against me, her tits heaving up and down. “Y-you can’t just own my—”

Slowly, I push my middle finger up inside of her, shhing against her ear while she whimpers. “I can and I do.” The heel of my hand moves in gentle circles against her clit and there is no mistaking the way the bud swells with every stroke. “You love this.”

“I…I…”

“You love it, little girl.”

“Yes.” A shudder wracks her body. “Yes.”

Triumph expands in my chest. The way the sensual tension bubbles up inside of her, so poignant I can feel the ebb and flow taking place…it’s far and away the hottest moment of my life. I was made for this girl. I knew it the second I laid eyes on her. The pleasure I want to give her right now is more important than any game I’ve ever pitched or will pitch in the future. “You’re so sweet for me, Pippa,” I breathe against her ear, adding my ring finger to her tight, clenching channel, drawing it in and out. “You stayed innocent for Daddy, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she whimpers. “I waited.”

“Good girl.” I drag my tongue along the shell of her ear. “Bet you feel nice and full right now between your legs, don’t you?”

She bites her lip and nods.

“This is nothing compared to how it’ll be when I get you on that back and feed you your first cock.” I push my fingers deep, rubbing her G-spot firmly. “You won’t know left from right, baby. You’ll only know you want more of it.”

That bud of flesh is beating with more insistence against the heel of my hand now, her lower body beginning to jerk in my lap. “Cort,” she gasps. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

I slide my fingers out of her quickening pussy and focus my attention on her clit, fondling the hot little nub and groaning over the way she responds, bucking, arching her back, lifting her perky tits out of the water, moisture dripping off her nipples. “I’m giving you an orgasm,” I say raggedly, my cock so stiff I wonder if it’s possible to pop off just like this, no friction, just watching my girl come. “Fuck,” I grit out. “My balls are hard as a rock.”

“Is that b-bad?” she stammers, chest heaving, thighs restless.

“Hell no. It means I’m locking you down. You and this pussy. For keeps.”

“For keeps,” she whispers unevenly, her body straining, mouth falling open. “Cort!”

As Pippa hits her peak and screams, I continue to pet her clit in fast, light circles, but I can’t stop myself from sneaking my pinky into her cunt, growling over the exquisite pulses, imagining she’s fully seated on my cock and milking me dry. It takes all of my willpower not to bust in the bubbling water of the hot tub, but God help me, I’m not wasting a drop. Not unless I’m putting it inside of her. I’m panting by the time she’s finished, her body falling back limply against mine, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Rocked by a surge of affection, I stand up and carry her limp, wet, naked body into the house and prepare for a night ahead of making her mine forever.