Through the Night (28 page)

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, drawing her attention back to his face, which was creased with sudden concern. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”

No, not a ghost, she thought as a hysterical bubble of laughter rose up in her. She was looking at her
soul mate,
the one who made her feel so protected and cherished—in her dreams and now in real life. She waited for the panic to settle in, but surprisingly, it didn’t come. Instead, she felt an overwhelming sense of longing for Chase that felt so perfect, and so right.

“I’ve dreamt about you,” she said, and when he cocked his head in confusion, she swallowed the tight knot in her throat and explained, knowing she was opening a part of her heart for him to slip inside. “For the past few months, I’ve been having these dreams, and while I’ve never seen your face, I always see that tattoo. I’m pretty sure the dreams have been a premonition leading up to meeting you.” She wasn’t quite ready to reveal that those dreams also indicated that he was her heart’s desire, her kindred spirit.

“What kind of dreams?” he asked huskily, and judging by the heat flickering in his gaze, he already knew the answer to his question.

“Erotic dreams,” she whispered. Giving in to the hunger stirring within her, she stepped toward him, closing the distance separating them. Because suddenly, she wanted him with a fierceness she couldn’t deny. “The kind of dreams that make me burn with desire and leave me aching with need.”

His strong hands settled on her waist, then skimmed higher, slipping beneath her sweater so that his fingers seared her bare skin. “I can take care of that ache for you.”

The promise in his voice, in his words, was her undoing. Heedlessly brazen, she slid her fingers into his hair and brought his mouth down to hers. “Yes, please,” she said just before she pressed her lips to his.

And that’s all it took to ignite a wildfire of passion between them. He dived into the kiss, feasting on her mouth, and she moaned when his tongue stroked against hers, slowly, deeply, leisurely, increasing the ache instead of appeasing it. She knew that Chase would get there in his own sweet time, but tonight she was feeling impatient and aggressive, and she wanted to be the one who seduced Chase.

She pulled back, just enough to gently bite on his lower lip. “Take me to a bed,” she murmured.

He grabbed her hand and led the way down a short hallway and turned inside a room with a queen-sized mattress. The bed was covered in a blue plaid comforter that matched the curtains on the windows. “Was this your room when you stayed here?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly, and didn’t waste time with any more small talk.

In between lusty, drawn-out kisses and eager, heated caresses, they removed each other’s clothes until they were both naked together for the first time. She pushed him back until his legs hit the bed and he had no choice but to sit on the edge of the mattress. Then she knelt in front of him, between his spread knees, admiring his hard, muscular body—from his toned arms to his broad chest, down to his six-pack abs to the long, hard, thick erection standing at attention.

Drawn in by his tattoo, she leaned forward and touched her tongue to the inked design, and could have sworn she felt a tingle of electricity zing through her. He groaned and tangled his fingers in her hair, his breathing growing choppy as she kissed her way down to his straining shaft. She nuzzled the silky soft skin of his cock, and used her tongue to lick the small ridge below the base of the head.

He made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. Smiling because she had that much feminine power over him, she licked him from base to tip, stroking that sensitive patch over and over again, feeling his cock twitch with every wet caress. The hand he had positioned at the back of her head tried to guide her to take him deep into her mouth, but she didn’t give in just yet, because teasing him was too much fun.

“Jesus, Valerie,” he growled in a frustrated voice. “Suck me, already.”

Looking up at him, she gave him a sultry smile as she wrapped her fingers tight around his shaft, then parted her lips and slowly let him sink inside the hot, wet recess of her mouth. He was smooth but rock hard, and grew thicker as she took him all the way to the back of her throat and sucked on him. He groaned like a dying man, and the raw sound aroused and excited her beyond belief. She did it again, just because she could, and his body shuddered in restraint.

“Oh, God, that is way too good, and I want you way too much,” he said, drawing her head back so she had no choice but to release his shaft. Then he let out a curse. “The condoms are in my bag in the car.”

She didn’t want to wait that long to feel him inside her, not when she was already so primed and ready for him. “I’m on the pill, and I’m healthy,” she said, knowing he’d know what she meant.

He gave her a smile that melted her even more. “Me, too. I’ve never had sex without a condom,” he said, revealing so much in that confession. “And I’m so glad you’re the first.”

He lifted her up into his arms, and the next thing she knew, she was on her back on the bed, her head resting on a pillow, and Chase was crawling over her.

“Now, about that ache of yours,” he murmured as he settled his hips between her spread thighs and pressed the length of his body to hers. He linked their hands together at either side of her head, palms flattened together, fingers entwined as the tip of his shaft slid through her wet heat, teasing her sex, and she arched restlessly and moaned with the need for him to fill her up.

“I’m getting there, sweetheart,” he said with a sinful grin. “Wrap those gorgeous legs of yours around my waist so I can get as deep as possible.”

She didn’t hesitate to do as he asked, and when he finally flexed his hips and pushed inside her all the way to the hilt, she felt the warm, tingling impression of his tattoo against her skin, branding her as his. For a breathless instant, he stared down at her and held himself absolutely still, as though absorbing the feeling of them being locked so intimately together.

Then he lowered his head and covered her lips with his, and as he began to move, desire and passion coalesced into pure emotion, and oh, God, she felt
everything
with this man. The tenderness in his kiss. The heat and undeniable hunger between them. The heavy beat of his heart as his body pumped oh-so leisurely inside her, filling her up and completing her in ways she hadn’t believed possible.

His tongue and his hips moved in perfect rhythm, and Valerie was certain she was going to burn up in flames as her body clenched around him like a glove. He deliberately kept things slow. Purposely made the ache turn into a liquid kind of heat that flowed through her veins. And just when she didn’t think she could take it any longer, he finally picked up the pace, each thrust a little harder and a whole lot deeper than the last, until she finally splintered apart and he shuddered through his own orgasm right along with her.

In the aftermath of such exquisite pleasure, her body went lax and she lay there, bundled in his strong arms, sheltered from the rest of the world.

And for right now, for the moment, it was the only place she wanted to be.

Chapter Fifteen

Valerie woke with a start and an audible, panicked gasp as the remnants of the awful dream she’d just had shook her to the very core. Her heart raced in her chest, and her entire body trembled, even though she was safe and secure, wrapped in Chase’s embrace.

That was the problem, she knew. Touching Chase in any capacity seemed to connect them physically and mentally, and in slumber she was defenseless and vulnerable, with all her normal protective barriers stripped away. After their earlier emotional conversation, then the heightened intimacy of making love, the bond between them was stronger than ever. And the dream she just had about Chase had been just as intense … and incredibly frightening.

She knew all too well how those terrifying visions ended, and a small moan of distress escaped her. She suddenly felt desperate to put distance between her and Chase. She attempted to scramble away, but his arm tightened around her waist as he came awake.

“Hey, are you okay?” he murmured sleepily.

Feeling smothered and stifled, she forcibly peeled away his arm so she could move away to her side of the bed, breaking the connection between them. Even then, breathing was difficult, and a wave of nausea rolled through her that she was barely able to tamp down.

Chase came up on an elbow, a frown of concern creasing his brows. The slumberous haze from his eyes cleared as he stared at her in the early morning light. “Valerie, what’s wrong?”

“A dream,” she said, her voice escaping on a croak as she sat up in bed and pulled the covers up to her breasts. “I had a dream.” No, not a dream, she corrected herself, but a
nightmare.
The kind that threatened to destroy the bit of happiness and contentment she’d found with Chase. And put his life directly at risk, too.

The horrific thought sent another surge of apprehension twisting through her, sharp as a knife and just as painful.

“Okay,” he said slowly, clearly understanding that this hadn’t been one of those sexy, erotic visions she’d told him about last night. “What did you see?”

He was so calm, while she felt as if her entire world were shattering, and she feared that she’d never be able to pick up the pieces if her chilling premonition came true. “I saw
you,
” she said, and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Someone shot you, and you were lying on the ground in a pool of blood.” Just saying the words out loud made her shudder in dread.

“Sweetheart,” he said in a gentle, placating tone. “It was just a bad dream. Everything’s fine.
I’m
fine.”

She shook her head frantically. “No, it wasn’t just a
bad dream,
Chase. You were touching me, our bodies intimately close, and what I saw was a
premonition.
I’ve had enough experience to know the difference.”

He didn’t argue the point, and instead took a different approach. “Are you sure it was me you saw?”

“Absolutely.” She’d clearly seen his pale face and the agony in his eyes, had witnessed the desperate way he gasped for breath as the blood drained from his body. She shivered, wishing she could erase the disturbing images from her mind, but knew they’d haunt her for a long time to come.

“What else did you see?” he asked patiently. “Do you know
when
this happens?”

She shook her head. “No.” And that’s what made it so much worse. Sometimes her visions gave her plenty of details to pinpoint a time or place, and other times she saw only bits and pieces. She had no clue what would lead to the shooting, which was both frustrating and disconcerting.

But at least he wasn’t outright dismissing her concerns, though she wondered if he would really give her dream a second thought beyond this discussion. Knowing Chase, a man who lived in the moment and had a reckless streak a mile wide, she was fairly certain he wasn’t going to start worrying about risks and danger now. He’d admitted to deliberately cheating death and tempting fate, and she couldn’t live with a man who had no qualms about putting his life in jeopardy on a regular basis.

God, was she always destined to lose the ones she truly loved?

The realization that she
loved
Chase pushed another panic button and constricted her chest with a bone-deep despair because the potential to lose him was so great. There was no denying the truth of her feelings for him, but she still had the ability to protect her heart and emotions from further pain and grief. And that meant severing ties with Chase and walking away before she fell any harder, any deeper, with no way out.

“You’re overthinking things again, Valerie,” Chase said, and patted the mattress beside him, his gaze compassionate. “Come here.”

“No.” She couldn’t touch him again, not when their emotions were so heightened. And she was afraid of flashing on something else about Chase that would completely destroy her. It was bad enough that she already knew he was going to get shot and, if he didn’t take care with his life, possibly die. “I … I can’t do this with you.”

He frowned at her, and she could tell that he wasn’t happy she was pulling back and withdrawing from him again. “Can’t do what, exactly?”

“Be with you,” she forced out, the most difficult words she’d ever spoken. But once they were out, she finished what needed to be said. “We both knew this thing between us was temporary, and after tonight, I’m done. I’m flying back to Vegas tomorrow.”

He looked stunned, and she took that as her cue to get out of bed, get dressed, and put this painful conversation behind her. But as soon as she moved, his hand snaked out and his fingers closed over her wrist, keeping her from going anywhere. His touch was hot, and she instantly felt his desperation—and a bit of anger, too.

“What the hell is going on, Valerie?” he asked, his voice a rough demand. “What the hell just happened here? Talk to me.”

Her throat clogged with misery and tears, and it took her a moment before she could speak around the emotion choking her. “I can’t … I can’t handle watching another person I care about die.”

Shock passed over his features, and he gradually let her hand go. “What do you mean you can’t handle watching
another
person you care about die?”

The sheet that had been covering Chase dipped lower on his hips, exposing his tattoo. The one she’d been dreaming about for months. The one that proclaimed him as her soul mate and the one and only man who’d ever complemented her so completely.

He was waiting for her reply, but sitting next to him in the bed, with both of them still naked, was much too intimate. As was the room where he’d taken her, made love to her, and where she realized she’d fallen in love with him. She needed clothes on, and she needed physical and emotional space between them before she opened up and talked about her past.