Christmas Diamonds (10 page)

Looking up at his square jaw, she rested her eyes on the wide contours of Chase’s mouth, imagining it leaving searing kisses all over her body. She followed the lines that blended his facial hair and turned to a broad nose with a small bridge. Her survey of the man ended when Paula looked beneath thick, dark brows into the depths of coal eyes that were engaged upon her voraciously.

“I want you again in the worst way,” she murmured, unabashed.

“I’m lusting for you just as badly,” Chase said.

Paula sank onto the bed and slid atop the covers. She waited anxiously as Chase slipped on another condom. When he joined her, they embraced and resumed the passionate kissing that sent Paula into a tizzy. She ran her hands all over Chase, and he reciprocated, tickling and stimulating her.

Chase’s mouth left Paula’s lips and moved to her neck, where he kissed and licked her with measured precision. She loved how he made her feel. His hot kisses moved down to her breasts, where he ran his tongue repeatedly across one nipple, then the other. Paula gasped from the sheer pleasure radiating from her hardened nipples.

Chase trailed down Paula’s stomach with his tongue, delighting her. She watched with enchantment as he buried his face between her legs. She flinched when he began to kiss her clitoris. He nibbled gently around the outer edges then licked and sucked relentlessly.

“You taste so good,” he told her greedily before spreading Paula’s thighs farther and continuing his onslaught.

Paula squeezed her eyes shut and trembled violently as her body responded to his erotic attention. She felt all control go out the window, as she was about to come at any moment now and couldn’t hold back.

“Oh, Chase,” she murmured. “Mmm…”

She bit her lip, moving her head from side to side as the sensations built. As the waves of ecstasy began to overpower her, Paula brazenly held Chase’s head in place while he orally gratified her. A strangled cry escaped Paula’s lips when she came in blissful surrender. Chase clutched her legs firmly as she threatened to elevate off the bed from the powerful climax. Only after the sensations started to subside did Paula shamelessly release his head from her grasp.

Chase lifted his head up, his yearning for her evident in his intense expression. She wanted him just as much, longing to
feel him inside her. Paula watched as Chase’s erect penis plunged inside her body. She took him in, constricting around his penis and drawing him in deeper.

Chase lay down on Paula, and she wrapped her legs high around his back, absorbing his powerful thrusts while arching her back to increase her pleasure. Their mouths were pressed together tightly, sucking each other’s lips with a sense of urgency as the fire within them built. They made love with passion and purpose, panting and perspiring in their determined effort to gratify one another like nothing else mattered.

Paula found herself growing exhausted as she matched Chase’s intensity step for step, inch for inch, breath for breath. But she wouldn’t have it any other way, as their physical chemistry and sexual urges demanded such mutual gratification. At some point, she ended up on top of him, cradling Chase’s hard body between her thighs. Paula ran her fingers across his nipples as his erection stimulated her. She brought him deep inside her vagina and then lifted to the shaft of his penis torturously, squeezing to enhance his pleasure, before he once again burrowed to the depths within.

Chase grunted loudly, and Paula moaned harmonically as they kept up their frenetic pace. Paula’s body quivered and her breaths quickened as her orgasm reverberated throughout her body. Soon after, Chase shuddered as he reached the apex of his climax. He wrapped Paula tightly in his arms while they rode the wave of sexual delight together.

When Paula awakened, she was still in Chase’s sturdy arms. She felt especially sexy and wanted. Moreover, she was in the company of a man she really liked. She was amazed how compatible they were in bed, almost as though they had been lovers for years. How was that possible?

With her previous lovers, it had taken time to get used to each other’s likes and dislikes, along with style and substance. But everything had flowed so naturally with Chase, like he could read her mind and she, in turn, knew exactly what he
was thinking beforehand. Paula was pleased, but not sure what to make of this.

Paula looked at his face in the fading light. He was asleep and snoring lightly. She moved slowly out of his grasp. Sliding down the bed, Paula grabbed Chase’s flaccid penis. She licked the tip, which caused Chase to stir a little. Paula licked him again and watched with pleasure as he started to become erect. Having a strong desire to be fulfilled by Chase once again, Paula put her mouth over his penis and ran her tongue across the top. She brought him to the base of her throat, ignoring the tickling sensation as her mouth engulfed him.

Chase woke up and began to stroke her hair. Paula slowly moved her mouth up and down his penis, feeling his body tremble with her movement. She held his legs down while she brought Chase to a rousing climax. She wanted to give him this release, to please him as he had pleased her.

Afterward, Paula lifted up, meeting Chase’s sleepy gaze. “I hope you didn’t mind my waking you?”

“Not at all.”

She smiled teasingly. “I didn’t think so.”

“You are remarkable,” Chase told her blithely.

“So are you,” she returned dreamily.

Paula wished they could carry on a bit more and explore some new territory, but she had to restrain herself for now. She extricated herself from under the covers and climbed off the bed.

“Are you coming back?” Chase asked, stretching his long limbs out. “Or shall we go another round?”

“It’s getting late,” Paula said. “I should probably be going.” Though she would love to stay the night, she didn’t want to wear out her welcome. Or get too comfortable till they had spent more time together outside of bed.

“I understand.” A look of disappointment crossed Chase’s face. “So, when can I see you again?”

“How does tomorrow sound?” she asked, batting her lashes.

Chase grinned approvingly. “Sounds perfect.”

Paula was aware that Chase was checking out her nude body. It surprised her that she felt totally at ease with him at this early stage of their relationship. Perhaps it was because they had become so familiar with each other in the space of a few hours that there was hardly anything left to the imagination. Yet Paula’s mind was full of wild fantasies she hoped they would be able to explore together.

Paula couldn’t stop thinking about Chase during the drive home. They had gone from client and decorator to lovers so quickly. She could scarcely believe that he was the same man she had met at the coffee shop. She felt things had certainly changed for the better since that day. Given her track record, she wouldn’t begin to predict how things might end up between them. Better to just take things slowly and hope what happened today was merely a prelude of what tomorrow could bring.

When Paula got home, she found her grandmother lying on the couch in the living room. Isabelle appeared to be asleep, with her reading glasses precariously resting on her nose and an open book on her lap. It wasn’t unusual for her to be asleep on the couch, but as Isa got older, Paula often feared she might be dead.

Her heart lurched. “Isa…”

Isabelle’s eyes fluttered open groggily. “Oh, you’re home.”

“Yes.” Paula sighed. “I was worried about you.”

Isabelle sat up. “You needn’t have been, child. I’m not about to die anytime soon, and certainly not before it’s my time to go. I guess I must have dozed off just when I was getting into the meat of this novel.”

Paula was relieved. She hoped her grandmother would live to be one hundred, maybe even longer. And Paula planned to follow suit, especially if there was someone loving to grow old with.

“You’re home kind of late,” Isabelle noted, pushing her glasses back up.

Paula flinched. “I know, and I’m sorry. I should’ve called.”

Isabelle waved her off. “You’re a grown woman. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

Paula sat down next to her, feeling compelled to say something anyway. “I was with Chase.”

“I gathered as much.” Isabelle looked at her fondly. “I take it he liked the redecorating?”

“Yes, he was quite pleased with the work.”

“But even more pleased with you?” Isabelle suggested.

Paula chuckled, knowing there was little her grandmother couldn’t figure out.

“That, too,” she admitted. “I’d have to say I was just as pleased with him.”

Isabelle’s eyes crinkled. “I’m happy to hear that, though not surprised. The way you’ve spoken of Chase tells me that you’re definitely interested in the young man. It’s good to know that it goes both ways.”

“I think it does,” Paula said confidently.

“Who knows what the future has in store for you two?” Isabelle said hopefully.

“We’re just getting started in our relationship,” Paula reminded her, “so don’t go getting any wild ideas.”

Isabelle laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Besides, I’ll leave that part to you.” She paused. “Are you hungry?”

“Not really.” Paula’s appetite had been squelched by a different kind of nourishment.

“Well, come and have a cup of tea with me anyway. Then we can both head off to bed,” her grandmother said.

“Uh, okay…” Paula sensed there was something else on Isabelle’s mind and expected to hear all about it.

“You had a visitor this evening,” Isabelle said mysteriously as they sat in the breakfast nook.

“Who was it?” Paula couldn’t even begin to hazard a guess.

“Your ex-beau.”

Paula’s eyes widened. “Sheldon?”

“Yes, I believe he was your last boyfriend,” Isabelle said as she stirred honey into her tea.

“Don’t remind me.” Paula stiffened at the thought. “What did he want?”

“To see you,” Isabelle said with a catch to her voice. “Obviously, the man doesn’t know when to leave well enough alone.”

Obviously
. “What did you tell him?”

“That you weren’t home, and he shouldn’t bother coming back.”

Paula smiled at her grandmother’s outspoken nature, which she’d passed down the line. “Think he got the message?”

Isabelle rolled her eyes. “One can only hope. No telling with that one.”

“Maybe I should talk to him,” Paula said tonelessly.

Isabelle frowned. “What on earth for?”

“You know that it ended kind of awkwardly between us, but ended nevertheless,” she made clear.

“Right, and sometimes that happens when one person wants out and the other doesn’t,” her grandmother said bluntly. “He wasn’t right for you, and you did the correct thing by breaking it off. If Sheldon was offended, he’ll just have to deal with it.”

Paula could not have agreed more. But she also knew how some men were, trying to hold on to something no longer there, in spite of themselves.

“And what if he doesn’t go away easily?”

“He doesn’t have any choice,” Isabelle pointed out. “You’ve moved on.”

“You’re right,” Paula said, determined not to allow him to get to her. “What’s done is done.”

“So I say leave it alone and focus on your relationship with Chase. It’s one that clearly has much more promise.”

Paula’s lashes fluttered. “How can you be so sure? Maybe I’m just doomed to end up in one dead-end relationship after another.”

“Nonsense,” Isabelle insisted with a dismissive wave of her hand. “You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

“I just want to be happy with someone,” Paula said.

“You can be. In fact, I’d say that someone just may be in the picture right now.”

Paula sipped her tea contemplatively. “I hope so.”

She regretted her relationship with Sheldon, knowing she had used poor judgment in going out with him. She didn’t want to experience that again. But Chase was a different type of person altogether, and Paula believed that what they had established in a short time seemed more real than any of her other relationships had. She was optimistic that they really were starting something potentially very special.

Chapter 9

C
hase stared out the window of his office at McCord Diamonds, daydreaming about last night. Making love to Paula had proven to be everything he’d expected and so much more. She had done wonders to make him feel like a man again. Somehow Paula had managed to tap into his psyche and make him see things in a new light. Chase believed he had met someone with whom he could really relate. That was certainly true in bed, where they seemed as compatible as he could ever have imagined.

But their connection ran much deeper than that. Paula was her own woman and independently successful like him. She wasn’t after him for money or status. They just seemed to hit it off, and he was very interested in seeing if things would continue to blossom between them.

Chase snapped out of his reverie when he saw Monica standing in the doorway.

“Busy?” she asked, holding a folder in her hand.

“I’m never too busy for my best friend.” He smiled. “What’s up?”

“We need to review the international collections.”

Chase nodded. “Okay. Have a seat.”

Monica sat in a leather chair across from his desk. “We have new gemstone designs from Hong Kong and Thailand.” She handed him information to that effect. “I’m particularly excited about the new diamond necklaces and pendants.”

Chase studied the photographs before him. “I can see why.” He envisioned putting one around Paula’s neck. “What else do we have?”

“Our three-and-a-half carat, four- to six-prong set diamond wedding rings,” Monica said, passing him the data. “A perfect way to say ‘I love you’ to any lady.”

He smiled. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Chase admired the pictures of three-stone rings in twenty-four-carat gold or platinum. He wondered if he would get another chance to put a diamond ring on a woman’s finger. He had previously felt the notion of marriage had died with Rochelle, but now he could envision walking down the aisle again someday.