Page 16 of Just A Little Chase

He watched her reach for the dessert, oddly charmed by that rare blush on her face, and what she’d been about to divulge. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting something more,” he said, his voice low and husky.

She’d just taken a bite of the sweet ricotta-filled pastry, and her pretty eyes suddenly danced with humor as she chewed, then swallowed. “Why, Mr. Gossard, are you offering something more?” she asked flirtatiously.

He felt the breath leave his lungs, because in that moment he had the urge to press her back onto the small couch and show her the kind of passion he could ignite between the two of them. He wanted to swipe his tongue along her bottom lip and lick off the light coating of powdered sugar lingering there, before plundering deeper. He wanted to strip off her sweater and bra and see if her nipples tasted just as sweet before letting his mouth traverse down between her thighs for yet another sample, until she was delirious with pleasure and learned the true meaning of ecstasy.

Fuck. He shifted in his seat as desire shot straight to his dick. All evening long, he’d tried his best to ignore the heated attraction that had been evident between them since day one, and Jesus, now it was all he could do to keep from answering her question with an unequivocal and enthusiastic yes.

He cleared his throat and somehow managed to be a gentleman, and instead tortured himself as he watched her slowly suck the powdered sugar from her fingers after finishing her cannoli. Slowly, deliberately, thoroughly…

“I just mean, you deserve more,” he said, desperate to distract his brain from envisioning his aching cock replacing her fingers as they slid into her mouth and her lips and tongue wrapped sensually around them. “More passion. More lust-fueled encounters. More wild, uninhibited sex.”

Amusement sparkled in her eyes and an alluring smile curved her lips as she leaned much closer, drawing his gaze to that mouth he wanted to kiss and devour. “I do deserve all those things, don’t I?” she agreed, her voice low and sultry.

What. The. Hell. He was suddenly dealing with a vixen, a woman who was clearly seducing him. If it had been any other random female, he would have dove right in and wouldn’t have thought twice about slaking his needs before sending her on her way, without any intention of ever seeing her again, as was his method of operation.

But the last thing Chase wanted to do was take advantage of this woman, who deserved more romance and finesse than a one-night stand, which was all he was good for. Great sex, for sure, but no promises or commitment to go with it, and he respected Lauren enough not to cross that line with her. He wasn’t emotionally equipped to be anything more than her temporary, stand-in boyfriend for a weekend.

Telling himself he was doing the right thing, he abruptly stood and reached for the dessert plate. “How about I wrap up the extra cannoli for you to take home?” he said, then beelined it back into the kitchen so he could fucking breathe without wanting to pounce on Lauren.

Pulling tin foil from a drawer, he ripped off a sheet much too aggressively, thanks to all the pent-up desire waging war inside of him. Forcing himself to exhale a deep breath and calm the fuck down, he wrapped up the pastries more gently so he didn’t crush them to pieces, just as he caught sight of Lauren heading back inside. Feigning indifference, he leaned his backside against the counter and waited for her to join him.

Her ponytail bounced with every purposeful step, and he recognized that determined expression on her face, the one Chase knew from experience didn’t bode well for him. Not when she walked right up to where he was and literally stood toe to toe with him, leaving him no means of escape. She was so close she had to tip her head back to look up at him, but when she did, there was no mistaking the unwavering tenacity shining in her eyes.

“You wanted to kiss me out on the terrace,” she said, just like a statement of fact, which it was. “Why didn’t you?”

He swallowed back a groan. His hands fisted at his sides to keep from grabbing her, and the truth tumbled out before he could stop it. “Because you, Lauren Connelly, tempt me beyond all reason,” he said, the words coming out on a low, frustrated growl. “And you’re way too sweet and good for someone like me.”

She arched a brow, undeterred. “How about I be the judge of that?” she said, then a sinful smile eased across her lips as she placed both of her hands on his chest. She stepped even closer, brazenly pressing her body right against his. “Besides, what makes you think I’m so sweet and good? Right now, I’m feeling very, very bad.”

As she spoke, she lifted up on tiptoe, so when she said the last word it was against his lips, right before she kissed him. Her mouth brushed across his, her tongue flicking out to tease and taste and challenge his self-control, which didn’t stand a chance against the overwhelming need battling inside him. It didn’t take long for his restraint to crumble, and he reached out and slid his hands along her hips, gripping her soft curves through her jeans with his fingers as pleasure overrode everything else but the desire to take what she was offering.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders and her lips parted in another invitation, and he was the one who took the kiss deeper, exploring the recesses of her mouth with his tongue and earning a series of sexy, approving sounds that purred up from her throat and stroked along his cock like a caress. His brain short-circuited, and a harsh growl of arousal vibrated against their lips as he walked her backward until she bumped into the island. Without breaking the frantic, greedy kiss, he lifted her up and set her down on the granite surface, which was the perfect height for him to fuck her on, if he’d wanted to.

Instinctively, she widened her knees and more than a little out of his mind with wanting her, Chase didn’t hesitate to step in between, right where he belonged. Grabbing her ass, he hauled her closer to the edge, aligning the ridge of his cock right up against the seam of her jeans, his mouth still devouring hers. With a sweet, needy whimper against his lips, she wrapped her legs around him and arched her body, grinding her sex against the length of dick as if there weren’t any clothes separating them at all.

Framing her face in his hands as the kiss turned hotter, wilder, he thrust back, imagining what it would be like to bury every inch of his cock inside her tight, slick pussy and hear her cry out his name. To feel her clench around his shaft and come all over his dick as he pushed her over the edge and straight into a mind-bending orgasm.

The pressure and friction between them was intoxicating, as well as frustrating because it just amplified how much he wanted Lauren. Her fingers were in his hair, tugging on the strands, and even that bit of pain heightened the pleasure coursing through him. Everything about this steamy tryst was raw and unbridled, the complete opposite of bland and boring, and Jesus, he never did this with a woman. Obligatory foreplay was a given, yeah, but he couldn’t remember the last time, if ever, he’d indulged in a lengthy make-out session that had him so close to coming in his pants.

Before he did just that and embarrassed the fuck out of himself, he pulled back, ignoring the soft sounds of disappointment she made as he ended the kiss and untangled her legs from around his waist. Her hands fell away from his hair, and they were both breathing hard as he braced his hands on the edge of the counter on either side of Lauren as he stared into her heavy-lidded eyes.

“We need to stop,” he said, his voice sounding like gravel.

She shook her head, her lips red and swollen from the way he’d just ravaged her mouth. “No, we don’t.”

He groaned at the sultry invitation in her tone, because he was merely a man and she was temptation personified, and he clearly needed to be the voice of reason. He wasn’t going to fuck her, only to end things when they returned from their weekend together, because he was not a forever kind of guy. She deserved so much better than that. Than him.

Settling his hands around her waist, he scooted her off the counter and set her on her feet in front of him. The beguiling way she bit her lip and looked at him said it was just a matter of time before she wore him down.

“This isn’t going to happen,” he said in his best, sternest tone—as much to convince her, as well as himself.

She didn’t look the least bit deterred, the minx. “We’ll see.”

Chapter Seven

Two weeks later, Lauren sat in the passenger seat of Chase’s black Audi Coupe as they drove toward Fairview to attend her sister’s wedding. Between the smooth, luxurious ride, and their casual and easy conversation as they shared superficial getting-to-know-you information about each other during the drive, the time and miles passed quickly.

Even though she and Chase had occasionally corresponded by text and talked a few times on the phone in the evenings to discuss details for the upcoming weekend, this was the first time they’d been in close proximity since the night at his place, when he’d insisted that there wouldn’t be a repeat of what had happened on his kitchen counter.

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