Page 77 of Alpha Chase

“Losing my dad changed my mom,” I say, the words bitter on my tongue. “She used to be a totally different person, but now she’s like an empty shell. She just drinks to numb the pain, passes out, and when she wakes up and it floods back in, she starts all over. It’s not that she doesn’t care about me, it’s that she can’t.” I tilt my head to look up at him again, meeting his dark eyes. “Honestly, I saw some of that in you, and that’s why I tried to keep my distance.”

He cocks an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth tipping up and a dimple sinking into his cheek. “How’d that work out for you?”

I roll my eyes and push against his chest, squirming away from him playfully, but he holds on tight as my movement sends more water splashing from the tub. His chest rumbles against me with a chuckle and I can’t help but giggle, that heavy, dark feeling subsiding, giving way to something lighter.

I suppose connecting on shared experiences of shitty parenting is still connection.

Is it too much to think that this crazy, chaotic thing between the two of us could turn out to be what we both need? I’ve always been afraid to let anyone get too close for fear that they’ll discover my demons, but Chase has met me in the darkness with his own, baring them so they can dance with mine. As insane and volatile as this thing we share is, I can’t deny how right it feels.

“You doing okay?” Chase asks, tracing his fingertips over a fading scar on my shoulder. His voice is pinched; I can hear the strain in every syllable.

“Yeah,” I whisper, relaxing back into his chest. “The warm water really helped.”

Chase nods, quiet for a few beats as he continues trailing his fingers against the line of raised skin on my shoulder.

“It wasn’t your fault, you know,” I say quietly. “I can tell you’ve been blaming yourself.”

His fingers stop moving. “I didn’t mean those things I said. I was just trying to hurt you, but fuck, I never meant for you to actually gethurt. When Cal told me you wrecked your car, I knew it was on me. I knew that if you weren’t okay, I’d never fucking forgive myself. If you weren’t so upset when you left here…”

“My brakes needed to be replaced,” I rush out, wanting to relieve his burden. We were both at fault for the way we left things, and I refuse to let him bear it on his own. “I said shitty things too, Chase, and I’m sorry for throwing that fucking coffee at you like a maniac. I was just…” I heave a sigh, wincing at the memory. “The wreck wasn’t your fault. I knew I needed brakes and I’ve been putting off the repairs. Too long, apparently, because they just stopped working.” I cringe as I think back to how I tried to hit the brakes, only to realize that a crash was inevitable.

“Fuck, Vienna, you can’t do that shit,” Chase groans. “You can put off an oil change, but not your fucking brakes.” He lifts his hands to scrub them over his face and I seize the opportunity, shifting around on his lap so I’m facing him, sliding my legs over his thighs and looping my arms around his neck. His dark eyes collide with mine as I settle in, all too aware of the growing hardness of his erection pressing between my thighs.

“Well it doesn’t matter now, anyways,” I mutter, gliding my fingertips down the hard lines of his well-defined chest. “My car is toast.”

He shrugs a shoulder nonchalantly as his gaze drops to my boobs. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

“Don’t you dare.” I narrow my eyes to show him I mean business, but it’s useless when his own meet mine again and I see the wildfire in them, raging bright and threatening to consume me. Almost as if on instinct, I rock my hips against him, sliding my core along the hard length of his cock underneath me.

Chase’s hands drop to my hips, fingers curling tightly around them and stilling my movements. “I said we didn’t have to…”

“You need to learn when to shut up,” I groan, grabbing his face with both hands and slamming my lips against his.

Fucking. Fireworks.

Chase grunts as I force my tongue past the seam of his lips, his own thrashing against mine hungrily as we lose ourselves in the messy chaos of our kiss. Going days without this has only made me more starved for it, forhim, and I’m sure if I was thinking clearly right now, I’d hold back and wouldn’t allow myself to give into this- butfuckrational thought. Fuck thinking that good things can’t happen for me. Fuck the past few days, and all of the other bullshit that stood between me and what I really want. I’m done fighting against my own desires.

I slide a hand between our bodies, Chase’s jerking when I wrap my hand around his throbbing hard-on and position it at my entrance. I nip his lips, pulling back to look into his eyes as I sink down onto him, my inner walls stretching to accommodate his size in a delicious collision of pain and pleasure. Chase Walker always has his guard up; a carefully constructed mask that he puts on for everyone else. I’ve discovered something, though- in those first few moments when he slides inside me, it falls away, giving me a glimpse straight into the man’s soul.

“Fuck, Vienna,” he chokes, his body rigid underneath mine as I glide up and down his shaft, water splashing from the tub with every bounce. My name still sounds so foreign on his tongue, but it’s also music to my ears, prompting me to bounce harder, faster, my hands scrabbling for purchase against his slick shoulders.

He’s never given me full control like this- his hands are gripping my hips tightly, but he’s not directing my movements. His jaw is taught, his teeth clenched, his eyebrows pinched together.

“Stop holding back,” I grit out, grinding down onto him and moaning as my clit rubs against his pelvis. I press my forehead into his, panting as I stare into his dark eyes. “You’re not gonna hurt me. I’m fine, I survived, so fuck me like you mean it.”

A growl tears from Chase’s chest as his hands tighten on my hips and he slams me down over his cock, driving up into me so hard that I feel the head of his dick bump against my cervix. I scream out in ecstasy as my head falls back, his fingers immediately winding into my hair at the base of my skull, tugging the strands as he pistons up into me.

“You think I don’t fucking mean it?” Chase snarls, hitting me hard and deep with every savage thrust. “You think I didn’t mean that shit I said when you brought me home from the bonfire the other night?”

My heart stutters in my chest, eyes flying wide as I yank my head up to stare at him. My jaw goes slack, but before I can utter a word, Chase is shooting to his feet, my arms and legs wrapped tightly around him as water rolls from our bodies and splashes the floor. He’s still seated firmly inside of me as he climbs from the bath, leaving a trail of water behind us as he strides from the bathroom, leaning down over the bed to lay my dripping body upon it. He hooks his arms around my thighs, dragging his dick out and thrusting back in hard, his eyes wild and painted gold.

“I fucking mean it, little devil,” he growls, punching his hips forward so hard that my body slides further from the edge of the bed. His eyes gleam with a sinister promise as he hooks my thigh over his hip, crawling up onto the bed with me. “Just remember you asked for this, because you’re about to see how much.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Chase

Thescentofstalebeer and cleaning solution hangs heavy in the air as I stride into the dimly lit bar on the edge of Goldenleaf’s territory. The squad frequents this place due to its proximity to the complex, and as soon as I walk in, I spot several squad fighters loitering around the bar, sipping cocktails and swigging from beer bottles. A few of them glance my way when I enter, but I don’t pay them much mind as I stride toward the table in the back corner. I’ve only been here a handful of times, but I know where Gray and the other alphas typically sit- it’s like their table has an unspoken permanent reservation for only them. A table that usually has five stools around it, but tonight, there’s a sixth.

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