Through the Night (21 page)

Valerie’s stomach roiled, and her heart pounded like a jackhammer in her chest. As much as she wanted to execute one of the basic defense moves that Caleb had insisted all the women in the Reliance Group learn—like knee this asshole in the balls, or use the heel of her hand to break his nose—he had her pinned so tightly against the building with his muscular body that it was impossible for her to do either.

He leaned in close. “Angie wants Chase, and you’re in the way and fucking things up for her. Consider this a friendly warning before you
really
get hurt.” He gave her a not-so-friendly smile that sent chills down her spine.

“Hey, you okay?” a deep male voice called out from the parking lot area, accompanied by footsteps that increased in a stride.

Having delivered his message, the guy in front of her panicked, released her, and ran off in the opposite direction. He disappeared around the corner, and Valerie sagged against the wall in relief, her entire body trembling in the aftermath of the attack.

“Miss?” the older gentleman said as he came up to her, his gaze filled with worry. “Are you okay?” he asked again.

She looked up into his face, beyond grateful for his presence. “I’m … I’m fine,” she managed around the rasp in her throat. Well, she wasn’t really fine, but there was no telling how much worse things could have gotten if this kind man hadn’t come along and been a Good Samaritan. “Thank you for chasing the guy off.”

The man’s mouth pursed in outrage. “I knew something didn’t look right and I wasn’t going to walk away. Do you want me to call the police?” he asked, his cell phone already in his hand.

She shook her head and straightened, her legs still like rubber. “No. By the time they get here, he’ll be long gone.” Valerie had no doubt about that. “But I’d really appreciate it if you’d call me a cab and wait until it arrives.” It would be pure stupidity for her to walk back to the hotel alone after the attack, and the warning. Who knew if the guy was still waiting for her.

“Absolutely.”

Less than ten minutes later, she was sitting in the back of the cab, debating whether or not to call Chase to tell him what happened. She decided against it. The hotel was a quick five-minute cab ride, and there was nothing that Chase could do now anyway. She’d tell him everything once she was back safely in the room.

When she arrived at the hotel, she asked a bellman to escort her up to her room so she wouldn’t be alone at any point. Once she had the door open so she could slip inside, she handed the bellman a generous tip.

“Thank you,” she said, giving him a smile along with the gratuity. “I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” he said, and headed back down the hallway toward the elevators.

She walked into the room and closed and bolted the door lock after her, and used the safety latch, too.

Chase glanced up from where he was sitting in a chair with his computer on his lap. “Why was the bellman with you?” he asked curiously.

She set her purse down on a table and rubbed her bare arms for warmth. “Because I was attacked on my way back to the hotel from Starbucks.” Just saying the words out loud made her shudder all over again.

“What?”
In a heartbeat, he had set aside his laptop and was standing in front of her, his hands on her shoulders and his gaze checking her out from head to toe. “Jesus, Valerie. Were you mugged? Are you okay?”

His fingers had slid down to her arms, and she could feel the vibration of anger in him, and the concern, too. “Other than being badly shaken up, I’m okay. The guy pinned me against the side of a building, but he didn’t hurt me. He just wanted to deliver a message.”

Chase frowned, his brow furrowed in confusion. “He just wanted to deliver a message?” he repeated, and she realized how odd that must have sounded when she’d said it to him. “What did he say?”

She’d been so gripped with fear at the time that she couldn’t remember word for word, but she recalled enough to give Chase the gist of what the attacker had said to her. “It was something along the lines of Angie wanting you for herself, and me being in the way.” Chase’s thumbs rubbed circles on her skin, his light caresses soothing and calming her. “When the guy touched me, I saw Angie paying him to attack me. I don’t know what their relationship is, but she’s definitely responsible for what happened.”

“Jesus Christ, she’s bat-shit crazy!” His hands dropped away, and he jammed his fingers through his hair in a furious swipe. “Did you see Angie? Or Russ?”

“No.” Obviously, those two were trying to keep their own hands clean. “But if you truly believe that someone got into our room in San Francisco and read our itinerary and your notes, then Angie and Russ know where we are.”

He swore again and started a restless, agitated pacing. “I
never
thought Angie would do anything to you. When she issued her paltry threats at the nightclub, they were directed at
me.
”

“Well, according to her message, I’m the one standing in the way of her having you, so she obviously thought threatening me would get her better results.”

“Except,
news flash,
” he said in a sarcastic tone that Valerie knew wasn’t directed at her, but at the situation. “I don’t fucking want her!” He stalked over to the table and grabbed his phone, his fingers punching furiously on the display screen.

“What are you doing?” she asked, feeling more worn out and exhausted by the second.

“Delivering a message of my own to Angie.” He tucked the phone to his ear, his expression thunderous, as was his tone when he spoke a few seconds later. “I don’t know where the fuck you are right now, or what you think you’re doing,” he bit out furiously, “but if you so much as breathe in Valerie’s direction again, you will be sorry.”

He disconnected the line. Valerie appreciated Chase’s handling Angie, but whether or not she’d heed his warning remained to be seen.

“I’m going to go and take a shower,” she said. She desperately needed to wash away the residual filth of the guy’s touch, which was still lingering on her from the assault.
If
that was even possible.

*   *   *

Despite Valerie’s assurances that she was okay, Chase knew better. She was anything but fine. The guy who’d attacked her might not have harmed her physically, but mentally and emotionally, the entire incident had terrified Valerie and she was still dealing with the fallout and distress of being assaulted and threatened. And Chase felt wholly responsible for not being there to protect her.

For the next few hours, Chase kept a close eye on Valerie. Since her shower, she’d been quiet and withdrawn, and not in the mood for any kind of conversation, and he didn’t push.

She’d picked at the meal he ordered up for them from room service, and currently she was in her bed beside his, the covers wrapped tight around her as she attempted to read a book she obviously couldn’t concentrate on. He hadn’t seen her turn a page in the last five minutes.

After a while, she let out a weary sigh, closed the paperback, and set it on the nightstand. “Since we need to get up early in the morning, I’m going to sleep.”

“Okay,” he said, and figured he ought to do the same. He turned off the TV and reached for the lamp switch just as she curled into a tight ball on her side facing away from him, the blankets pulled all the way up to her chin.

His heart gave an odd little twist in his chest at just how vulnerable she looked. And so alone. It wasn’t that cold in the room, yet she was insulating herself the only way she could—with the covers—as if they could provide shelter and protection and make her feel safe and secure.

She was so used to dealing with everything on her own and not allowing herself to rely on anyone for anything, and he wanted to be that one person who showed her that she didn’t have to be so strong all the time. That it was okay to lean on someone every once in a while.

Chase might not have been able to prevent today’s attack, and he sincerely regretted that he hadn’t been there to defend her, but there was something he could give her now. The security and comfort of knowing he was there for her if she needed anything at all. That for tonight, she could sleep well, knowing he wasn’t going to let anything else happen to her, because she was safe, wrapped up in his arms.

He turned off the light in the bedroom, but instead of settling under his own covers, he stood up and went to Valerie’s bed. Still wearing a pair of cotton drawstring shorts, he lifted the blankets and placed a knee on the mattress, realizing he needed more room than the two feet of space that was currently available.

She twisted around, and though the room was dark, he could see the surprised expression on her face. “What are you doing?” she asked warily.

“Scoot over,” he said, and when she didn’t move he effortlessly picked her up and shifted her over another foot on the bed so he wouldn’t teeter on the edge of the mattress when he lay down.

She made an indignant sound. “Chase, I don’t think—”

“You’ve had a rough afternoon and I’m getting into your bed so you’re not alone tonight,” he said, cutting her off as he settled in beside her.

He didn’t want to make an overly big deal about what he was doing and why, knowing his actions would speak much louder than any drawn-out explanation. This wasn’t about sex, but about making her feel cared for, without any expectations attached.

He adjusted the pillows so her head would be comfortable before spooning his body behind hers and sliding his arms around her so he was holding her intimately close and sharing his body heat with her.

“I don’t need to be coddled,” she grumbled, but didn’t struggle in his embrace.

He smiled to himself. “And I’m not going anywhere, so be quiet and go to sleep, Valerie.”

She didn’t argue, and he wondered when was the last time a man just held her for no other reason than to make her feel special and cherished. Hell, he’d never held a woman like this before, in such an intimate way, but with Valerie it just felt
right,
and he didn’t fight the feelings she evoked in him.

That wasn’t to say that having her lush, curvy bottom tucked against his groin wasn’t as arousing as hell, and it took supreme effort to keep his unruly dick from getting hard and rudely prodding her backside.

As he felt Valerie’s tension gradually ease, he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her freshly shampooed hair and savored the warmth and softness of her body as she relaxed completely against him.

In time, her breathing grew deep and even as she finally fell asleep

Him, not so quickly or easily.

*   *   *

Damn, she was having that dream again.

Chase woke up in the early hours of morning to the sounds of soft, sensual moans and Valerie’s hand slowly skimming across his bare stomach. Instantly, fiercely aroused, he opened his eyes and realized that at some point during the night they’d changed positions.

He was now lying on his back with Valerie snuggled up to his side, her body turned toward his. Her head was resting on his chest, a thigh was draped between his legs, and those slender, seeking fingers of hers were heading south toward the bulge tenting the front of his sweatshorts.

She murmured in her sleep, an erotic, husky plea to make her come, and then she was moving languidly over him, her silky hair trailing across his chest as she attempted to straddle him.

Whoa.
There was nothing he’d like more than to strip off their clothes and let her ride him until they were both delirious with pleasure, but she was still in the throes of her dream and obviously didn’t know what she was doing, or with whom. If an orgasm was what she was after, he’d be more than happy to accommodate her … once she knew exactly
who
was giving it to her. Not some fantasy lover, but a
real
man who could use his hands and mouth to take her to the edge of ecstasy and back again. As many times as she’d like.

He gently rolled her to her back, and she fell against her pillow with a soft, breathy sigh, a languid smile on her lips. Her lashes fluttered open and she stared at him with slumberous brown eyes. He waited for her to realize she was no longer dreaming, to stop where this encounter was undoubtedly heading, but she did nothing to resist him.

She reached her hand up and slid her fingers along the coarse morning stubble on his jaw, her unfocused gaze dark with desire and need. “Chase…”

Hearing his name on her lips, and secure in the knowledge that she knew exactly who was in bed with her, was all the invitation he needed to proceed. While the first time they’d been together was hot, frantic, and frenzied, this time he wanted to go slow and make her pleasure last. He wanted to worship her body, wanted to be the one to make her writhe and beg.

He drew her tank top up and over her head and tossed it aside, baring her gorgeous, plump breasts. Then he removed her pajama shorts and panties and settled between her open thighs so that his mouth was level with her breasts and his belly pressed against the smooth, bare lips of her sex. Spread wide beneath his stomach, her hot, wet flesh seared him. She was already so needy and primed from her provocative dream, and she lifted her hips against his abdomen, angling for a harder pressure, a deeper friction.

Soon. He’d get there real soon.

Cupping a soft, supple breast in a hand, he used his thumb to finesse the puckered crest while his mouth went to work on the other taut nipple. He licked and sucked, lingered and played, and she gripped the sheets in her fists and moaned, her gorgeous, slender legs wrapping tight around his upper torso as she rubbed her slick, needy flesh against him.

But she wasn’t begging. Not yet. And that’s what he was ultimately after. Her complete and total surrender.

Gradually, he moved down her body, trailing hot, wet kisses along her ribs and across her belly, letting the sensual torment build. Lower and lower he went, until he was settled between thighs that were already quivering in anticipation, and Jesus, she was so fucking gorgeous down here, all pink and plump and slick with desire.