Chameleon Soul (Chequered Flag #1) (10 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Raine

I never for one second thought I’d win. After all, Teo was a friggin’ Formula One racer and he would have been a world champion had everything gone fairly. I had no shame losing to that, yet I did have a feeling he’d gone easy on me.

“You know I let you win, right? I didn’t want you losing all of your sponsors,” I called out as he parked his kart in behind mine and switched off the engine. Typical guy, he’d needed a victory lap, although it may have been habit.

I balanced my helmet and balaclava on top of the fence post and shook out my hair. The long strands fell around my shoulders in waves created by the plait. I ran my fingers through the roots to give it volume again, closing my eyes and angling my face to the sun. The warm beams caressed my skin, drawing a contented sigh from my lips. It felt good to relax. Everything seemed too good to be true, and I was starting to believe I really could have Teo again. After all, we’d been at the track for hours and not seen one person. Dustin had been right—Teo would go to any length to protect me.

I heard Teo place his helmet next to mine. When his arms slid around my waist and his chest pressed into my back, I sank into him. He rested his chin on my shoulder, his mouth right next to my ear. Every breath swept over me, raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

“I know you didn’t let me win, but I’ll agree to it if it helps you sleep at night, baby.”

“I did,” I protested, and he nipped at my ear. His lips trailed down my neck to my collarbone and my breath caught in my throat. Tilting my head back against him, I allowed him better access to explore me with his mouth. The fine stubble coating his jaw scratched against me, contrasting with the smooth heat of his lips. I wanted to feel them against mine. Dustin had been right—slow wasn’t going to work. Everything Teo had to give, everything we were, I wanted it all back.

“Are you sure about that?” His melodic words drifted over me, his breath caressing my neck and sending a jolt of pleasure through my core.

“Sure about what?”

I hadn’t said I didn’t want to go slow out loud, had I? I didn’t think I had, but his intoxicating presence made it hard to form a coherent thought.

“Sure you let me win.” His voice lowered to a deep growl next to my ear, his lips skimming the hypersensitive spot below it.

I swallowed hard, my heart fluttering in my chest.

Teo’s arms slid back over my stomach to land on my hips. Applying a small amount of force, he twisted me around so I was facing him. His eyes were hooded with desire and he took a step towards me. Pressing my back into the smooth wood, it forced me to arch into him. Teo slid his hands around to cup my ass and kept his gaze locked on mine. The comforting scent of his aftershave washed over me as I breathed him in, making it impossible to think of anything but him.

“Are you sure, Raine?” His lips skimmed mine.

“Teo…please,” I whimpered. I didn’t care about the goddamned question. Parting my lips, I attempted to deepen the kiss. When I pressed forward, he withdrew to keep only the slightest contact with my skin.

“Please what?” The vibrations from his murmur tingled my lips and sent sparks flying over my skin.

“I don’t want slow.”

“What do you want, Raindrop?”

“I want you. Right now.”

Teo filled my vision, blocking out the rest of the world. He leaned forward and I held my breath in anticipation of his kiss. My eyes shut on instinct, but it never came.

His mouth returned to my ear, his deep chuckle making my knees want to buckle. “We’re on a public go-kart track, baby.”

“I don’t care.”

I really didn’t. If he didn’t do something soon I was going to combust on the spot out of longing. I knew he wanted me too because I could feel his hardness pressing against me.

“Really? You wouldn’t care if I turned you around, bent you over the fence, pulled these tiny shorts that can barely be classed as clothing down, and fucked you right here?”

I gulped, swallowing hard. His words had my insides tightening with need.

“You hired the whole place out. It’s only us,” I said, my voice hoarse and dripping with lust.

Temptation flashed in his eyes, combined with an intense heat darkening them. “Shit,” he hissed, shaking his head as if trying to clear it.

Suddenly Teo ripped me away from the fence, his grip on my wrist unbearably tight as he led me back to the car park.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere private. I’m not going to fuck you over a fence post, Raindrop.” He threw me a salacious grin over the roof of the car. “Not yet, anyway.”

* * *

I didn’t know where we were heading except that Teo was in a rush to get there. It was also a good thing Teo raced professionally because he didn’t stick to the speed limit once.

Soon we pulled up in front of a quaint, detached house. Made of grey stone, it was surrounded by a small, well-tended garden and centred in the middle of a traditional British country village.

“Where are we?”

“My house,” he said, casting me a sidelong look and parking the car in the driveway.

Glancing around the evenly spaced houses, confusion began to dampen the desire that had been flowing through me. It didn’t look like something one of the richest, most desirable sports personalities would own. I expected penthouses in Monaco, or modern flats. Then again, that had never been Teo either.

“
This
is
yours
?”

“Yeah, why? You don’t like it?”

“It looks great, although it’s not really the player’s bachelor pad I imagined. It’s more like a family home.”

He sighed and switched off the engine, a different emotion entirely gracing his face. Like he’d just climbed out of a cold shower, all lust had vanished. The corners of his mouth tilted down and his eyes were lowered, not totally meeting my gaze.

“That was the intention,” he said.

“Oh…I didn’t, um…I didn’t know you were thinking about that kind of thing. I thought you were just having fun.”

I couldn’t bring myself to voice what I really thought of his flings again. It hadn’t ended well last time. However, the thought of him settling down with any of his groupies stung more than the original thought that he had sex with anything that had boobs.

I gazed out the window, the gravelled path leading to the front door suddenly so interesting. I didn’t see him reach across the centre console. Teo’s warm, surprisingly soft, and large hand covered mine completely on my thigh. Even the slightest touch from him had an electric current humming through my body.

“I bought this place before we split up, Raine. I was going to ask you to move in with me.”

My jaw fell slack and my eyes widened. “You
what?
”

“I bought it for us. I was going to ask you after the first race once all of the paperwork had gone through, but…”

The words didn’t need to be spoken, yet I couldn’t help myself.

“But I left you.” It was only a whisper. My mind raced, thinking of how different things could have been had I let him in. “I had no idea.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Tears pricked at my eyes, regret overwhelming me. Even though I stood by my decision not to put his career in jeopardy, it didn’t soothe the ache that came from knowing he was planning all of this while I had been persuading Dustin to help me get away from him.

“Hey,” he said gently, and his hand moved from my thigh to my cheek. “I didn’t want you to cry, baby. That’s not why I told you.”

“I’m so sorry, Teo.”

He caught the lone tear trickling over my cheekbone with his thumb, wiping it away. “You had your reasons, I know that now. I’d love to hear them one day.” I leaned further into his palm, screwing my eyes shut and hoping it would stop the barrage of tears wanting to break free.

“Come on, let’s go inside.”

His door clicked open, and when the heat from his hand left me I opened my eyes. I reached for the door, but Teo was already around the front of the car and opening it. He offered me his hand, coaxing me from the car, and as soon as I stepped out I was in his arms again. I buried my face in his neck, breathing him in and holding him as tightly as he held me.

“I love you, Teo,” I murmured. I meant it with my whole heart; I wasn’t just saying the words to try and make the situation better.

“I love you too, Raindrop. Never stopped, never will.” He crushed me with the fierceness of his grip, but I felt too good to complain about the lack of air I was drawing in. I never wanted to be separated from him again.

* * *

We were curled up on the sofa and had been there for fifteen minutes in silence. My head rested on Teo’s chest, feeling it rise and fall with his steady breathing while he wound and unwound my hair around his fingers. The subtle tugs and strokes had my eyes shutting sleepily. Neither of us needed to speak to fill the void, yet in truth I think we both needed the time to process everything. We’d gone from taking it slow to heated and intense desire before opening old wounds.

“Why did you keep it?” I enquired quietly.

“Why did I keep the house, you mean?”

I nodded against him. I couldn’t figure out why he’d keep such a painful reminder. It was clear from the brief tour he’d given me that he hadn’t turned it into the home he’d intended. The bare walls, minimal furniture, and cold colours gave the house a clinical feeling rather than the warmth and life it should have been filled with.

“I don’t know. A part of it was I was too busy to do anything about it, and it was easy to ignore. It wasn’t losing me money either so I didn’t bother selling.”

“And the other part?” I probed when he paused.

“I guess the other reason was because it felt like I still had a chance to be with you again as long as I kept it. Selling felt like I was cutting the only tether I had to you, and even if I should have, I couldn’t.”

My heart constricted at his words and the honesty in his eyes. He didn’t bother to hide the raw emotions on his face when he glanced down with a sad smile.

“So you’ve never brought anyone else here?”

“No, Raindrop. This house is for us, and only us, to share. No one but you will ever stay here.” He raised a hand, brushing a tendril of hair back behind my ear. It lingered on my jaw, sliding over my skin with care and drawing me up to him. Angling his head to one side, I fitted in with him until our lips grazed each other.

Unlike back at the track where we’d been consumed with need, this kiss was soft and full of love. Teo transferred every emotion into the way his mouth melded against mine.

Without breaking our connection, I crawled onto his lap and sat astride his thighs. Teo’s hands dropped to cup my ass while mine moved to his face, stroking the rough stubble on his chin. He pulled on my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth and causing me to moan against him. His tongue swirled against mine as he shifted beneath me. Sliding us around, his hands held my back and gently lowered me down to the sofa. Automatically, my legs parted for him, allowing him to settle between them.

He drew back ever so slightly to gaze down at me. His strong arms supported him on either side of my head and a smile curved his lips. The adoration on his face had my heart swelling.

“You’re gorgeous,” he marvelled, almost sounding as if he was talking to himself. His finger traced a path down my cheek and to my neck to stop at the edge of my top above my breasts. He followed the edge of my shirt, his finger dipping and rising with my curves before he began running it down the side. All the while his eyes remained fixed on mine.

When his hand closed around my hip, sliding back up over the patch of skin exposed between my top and shorts, I stiffened. Like someone had thrown a bucket full of iced water over me, his touch sent a jolt down my spine causing me to become rigid beneath him.

Any higher and he’d be right on top of my scar.

I reached down and grabbed his wrist, stilling the movement. He removed his hand, bringing it up between the two of us to trace my bottom lip again. Sadness marred the loving gaze he’d looked at me with only seconds ago.

“I know about the scar, Raine.”

His words knocked all of the air from my lungs so my words came out with a gasp.

“How?”

I was already planning ways to kill Dustin in my head.

“I saw it when Dustin carried you home last night.”

I swallowed hard, closing my eyes tightly shut and nodding. It sounded logical, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with. I retracted every bad thought about Dustin and held my breath. Only when Teo ran the back of his hand over my cheek did the warmth dull the paralysis.

“What happened, baby?”