That first time had been quick and hot, but in the shower afterward, he’d planned what he wanted next. He’d fantasized about spreading her out on his bed and
exploring
her. Tasting and sucking and biting. But she’d slipped from his grasp that night, and there hadn’t been any time or space in his truck at Ryders. But today. Today he planned to make her as weak and helpless as she’d been making him.
She groaned again, her legs falling open as he stroked her through the thick denim.
“Almost there,” he muttered.
“No, I’m not quite…” Jane’s eyelids rose a millimeter and she smiled. “Oh, I see. My street.”
“Yeah, you’re not that easy.”
“Not quite. But almost.”
Chase grinned, tires squealing as he swung into her driveway and braked hard. She popped open her door before he’d even cut the ignition. By the time he’d raced up her three front steps, Jane had the door unlocked and wide open.
Chase had a vague impression of rich colors and dark wood doors as he glanced around the town house, but he was more focused on looking for the bedroom. “Upstairs?”
Jane didn’t answer. She just started up the stairs, taking the time to drop her sweater as she walked. Her T-shirt came off next, revealing a pale pink bra underneath. Chase got into the spirit and shrugged off his shirt as he followed.
Her bedroom was perfectly neat, not one thing out of place until Jane kicked off her shoes. He hopped on one foot and then the other, unlacing his boots so he could toe them off as Jane reached to unzip her jeans.
He liked this girl. A lot. She wasn’t looking to be seduced or worn down. She wanted this as much as he did and had no stake in pretending otherwise. But when she reached to push her underwear off, Chase held up a hand. “Wait.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re doing this my way today, and I want you to wait.”
Her brow drew tight. He met her gaze and waited. Jane didn’t exactly give in, but she didn’t take off her panties either. Good enough.
Chase shucked off the rest of his clothes, enjoying the way her eyes ate him up as he walked toward her. Aware of how she’d touched him that first night, Chase traced his hand down her elegant neck and over her collarbone, measuring her response by the hitch in her breath. She liked it when he dragged his thumb over the soft flesh above the line of her bra. She jumped a little when he got too close to her arm, so he veered up, away from ticklish spots.
He circled her, the way she’d circled him, and pressed his mouth to intriguing spots like the top of her shoulder and the place where it began to curve up to her neck. He licked her nape, the way she’d licked his, then dragged his fingertips all the way down her spine.
“I’ve never touched anything so soft, Jane. Never.” He spread both hands over her full hips, then her narrow waist and the hard cage of her ribs. “Amazing,” he breathed, pressing his erection to her ass.
Jane inhaled sharply, reaching back to grip his naked hips.
He thought about ripping off her underwear and sliding into her right there, but just a few minutes ago he’d been intent on taking it slowly. Jane was likely to end this affair at any moment, and he’d never even
tasted
her.
So Chase sucked at her neck and memorized her curves with his hands before he nudged her panties gently down. He took off her bra and turned her to face him.
As always, the sight of her breasts stole his breath. Amazing. Just like the rest of her.
The dark triangle of hair that covered her sex was nearly black against her pale skin. It looked…untouched. And here was the friendly mystery he’d pondered for hours.
Chase backed her up to the bed and eased her down. He knelt before her and put his hands over her knees to spread them wide. “Ah,” he breathed at the beautiful glimpse of her. That triangle of hair was perfect…and there was nothing else. The rest of her was waxed bare, leaving vulnerable and naked the plump lips and pink wetness. “Ah, sweet God.”
Hooking his hands beneath her knees, Chase tugged her forward until she was within reach of his mouth. And then he kissed her. Finally. He licked her and sucked her and listened to her cries as if they were music. He traced the soft flesh and flicked his tongue over her until she begged for more, and then he gave her more, plunging two fingers deep.
“Oh, God, Chase,” she groaned. “Oh, God, you’re so good.”
Well, that was nice. It was even nicer when Jane screamed his name, her hips jerking against his hold as she came, the taste of her flooding him.
Too fast. Too fast. He cupped his whole hand over her heat as her shivers subsided.
“Oh, God,” she whispered. “That was…It was good.”
“It was gorgeous,” he agreed, rising to his knees and tugging her farther off the edge of the mattress. Now she was only an inch from his throbbing cock, the wetness of her tempting him to slide into that heat, to feel every bit of her squeezing against him, naked and slick.
“Chase,” she whispered. He looked up to see her eyes burning into him. “Fuck me.”
Yes. His hands shook against her thighs. His jeans were so far away, and he wanted to fuck her just like this, the way it was supposed to be.
But he couldn’t. “Damn it,” he muttered and lunged to the side to snag his jeans. “Damn it.” He tore open the condom and slid it on, then sank himself deep in one brutal thrust.
Jane pressed her feet flat to the floor, arching her back as she cried out. Her sex squeezed him, the muscles tightening at the invasion. If Jane ended this, Chase was going to start hanging around the Pilates classroom at the rec center. But some other Pilates girl likely wouldn’t be the fix he needed. It was Jane who turned him on so much. Jane and her tight body and confusing life and incredible hunger.
He thrust into her slow and hard, watching the way she bit her lip and clenched her hands. Her back arched harder, thrusting her breasts higher. Chase watched, eyes narrowed in focus. He was the one making her muscles clench. It was his cock filling her up and pushing those cries from her throat. Growling with greedy pleasure, he quickened his pace.
“Chase,” she whispered, eyes opening to show just as much fierceness as he felt.
God, she was beautiful. So gorgeous she made his heart clench with pain. And suddenly this wasn’t enough, this brutal coupling. They’d already done this. He wanted more.
Gathering her body into his arms, he shifted her farther onto the bed, so that he could rise over her. Now he could kiss her. Now he could lower himself to her body and feel her skin against his. Her arms clutched him closer, and that tension inside him loosened with relief.
Now he could taste her and breathe her in and feel her and sink deep into her sex all at the same time. He was surrounded by Jane, absorbed by her, and
pleasure
wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the rightness of it.
“Jane,” he whispered, biting a spot just below her ear. “Jane.”
Her nails bit into his back, pulling him tighter. His strokes quickened as her legs wrapped around his hips. She pressed herself into his cock, a quiet moan telling him he was hitting just the right spot. Sweat made their movements fluid and hot. Too hot. Chase felt a bright pressure building, tightening.
He shifted his body a little higher, and her moans turned to keening. “I want to feel you come,” he whispered. “Come again, Jane. For me.”
“Ah, God,” she sobbed, her nails dragging down to his ass.
Chase gritted his teeth and kept his strokes even, despite wanting to thrust frantically into her, to come inside her, fill her up.
“Yes,” he urged as her body strained toward him.
Please
. He wasn’t going to last. He couldn’t hold out. She was too hot, too tight, too soft and trembling. He couldn’t…
“Fuck,” he growled as his orgasm loomed over him. Finally Jane screamed, her body stiffened beneath him, sex pulsing tight, and Chase let go with a roar.
Instead, she cuddled naked into his side, her cheek pressed to his shoulder, breath teasing over his chest.
Two nights ago he’d been angry with her, frustrated that she wouldn’t share anything about her life unless she was forced to. But he’d let that go today when she’d talked about being valued and respected as if it were a priceless, rare thing. He hadn’t known anyone who respected Dynasty MacKenzie, and she clearly hadn’t respected herself.
Chase wanted to tell her that he understood. He’d had his own problems in high school. But considering her reaction to Jessie’s stupidity…probably not a good idea. He’d just be handing her another excuse to blow him off. Better to leave the past in the past.
Certainly Jane seemed to think so. She’d changed her name, for God’s sake, as brutal a severing from her old life as she could make. She didn’t want anyone to know about her past.
He could live with that.
“Tell me about your tattoo,” she murmured.
Chase glanced down to the thick black ink that swirled around his arm. “It’s not a very good story, I’m afraid. I wanted a tattoo, and the day I turned eighteen I went in for this one.”
“It must have taken more than a day.”
“It took a few weeks.”
Her arms stretched across him to trace a dark edge. “It’s nice. I’m glad you didn’t go with a naked dancing girl.”
“I couldn’t decide on blonde or brunette, so I had to go with abstract tribal.”
“Smart man.”
“Maybe you should get a tattoo. You sure seem to like mine a lot.”
“Yeah, right. Can you imagine me with a tattoo?”
Actually, he could. It would match her hidden lush body and sexy underwear and insatiable appetite. And her secret past.
But he wasn’t stupid enough to say that, so he just rested his mouth against her temple and closed his eyes. God, she felt good. “So no tattoos, huh? How’d you get that scar on your knee?”
Her head shifted as she looked down, as if he was talking about someone else’s knee. “Oh, that? A fight on the playground in first grade. The girl pushed me down. I had to get stitches.”
“Aw. Poor Jane.”
He felt her mouth smile against his shoulder as he glanced toward the clock.
“Damn,” he muttered at the unforgiving numbers. “What do you say we grab a quick shower and go to lunch?”
He hadn’t realized just how liquid her body had become until she stiffened against him. He could
feel
her thinking. Considering the pros and cons of going out to lunch with him.
“You’re thinking too hard again, Jane.”
She shook her head, her hand splaying against his stomach.
Why couldn’t she just enjoy this? Just give it a chance? “It’s just lunch.”
“No,” she whispered. “It’s not just lunch.”
“Okay, so it’s more than lunch. What’s wrong with that?”
She pushed up and leaned toward her dresser to snatch open a drawer.
Chase tried to control his anger as he watched her pull a T-shirt over her head. Just seconds ago he’d felt forgiving. Understanding. She’d missed out on a lot in her life. But, Christ, he’d lost his mom. His dad was an alcoholic. Chase had acted out. His childhood had been screwed up, too, and he wasn’t afraid to try.
He growled, “I’m a person, Jane. Do you get that? A real person.”
“Of course. I—”
“I spend time with you and I have sex with you and I like you.”
When she stood, he closed his eyes so he wouldn’t get distracted by the sight of her naked ass.
“I know. I’m sorry. I like you, too. You know I do. But…”
When he dared to open his eyes, she was safely covered by a pair of sweatpants. “But what?”
“Let’s not do this.”
“No, let’s,” he insisted. “I want to take you to lunch. I want to talk to you. I want to pretend for an hour or so that I’m more to you than just an easy lay.”
“Chase—”
“Am I?”
She rounded on him with a glare. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I’m not just an easy lay!”
“I have made clear to you from the very first day that I want—”
“Jesus Christ, Jane, we both know what you want. I’m talking about what
I
want now. Not as much of a concern to you, I understand, but you could at least pretend to listen.”
Her mouth tightened. “You’re asking for exactly what I told you not to ask for.”
“Fine,” he snapped, whipping the sheets back. He brushed past Jane to get to his jeans. “You had a bad childhood. You’re damaged and uptight, and you don’t want to change. A relationship with a guy like me is your worst nightmare. I got it.”
“Why are you so angry?” she shouted. “You volunteered for this.”
Chase paused in the act of tugging on his boots. She was right. Why
was
he so angry? Running a hand over his hair, he bit out a few curses, then shook his head. “I’m sorry.” He yanked his laces tight and took a deep breath. “Sometimes it feels like it means more to you. And to me, obviously. My mistake.”
From the corner of his eye he saw Jane raise a hand toward him, then slowly drop it. “Chase…”
“I’ll see you later, Jane,” he muttered.
She didn’t try to stop him when he walked out of the room. She didn’t walk him down the stairs or watch while he pulled his shirt on. She didn’t open the door and wave goodbye. And he couldn’t even be mad, because she’d
warned
him.
Knowing full well he was making promises he wouldn’t keep, Chase told himself it was over and slammed the door behind him.