Chapter Fifteen
“Are you sure about this?” Chase asked. “After what Harry did, I don’t want to rush you or hurt you.”
“Shh, don’t talk about him and I’ve never been surer of anything. We were made for each other, Chase. I want this, want you.”
He felt the same way so he couldn’t argue with her.
Chase’s hands kept shaking, and he could scarcely believe this was really happening. He’d wanted Mary for so long and he worried this might be some fever dream.
Chase took his time with Mary.
Slowly, he undressed her, stopping to kiss every single inch of flesh he revealed. Mary was so beautiful she made his breath catch. He wanted to cherish her, make her feel loved, wanted.
He sampled the long line of her slim throat, nipped her collar bones, and licked the hollow of her throat before he moved on. Her breasts were barely a palmful, not tiny by any means, but on the smaller side, the way he liked it. They were capped with pink rosebud nipples, and they puckered when he tweaked them.
When Chase kissed his way down her abdomen, the muscles bunched and he stopped to lap her navel, before sliding down to her hipbones. Between her quivering thighs was a thatch of curly brown hair. Chase eased her legs apart and then played with the curls, plying her thighs open further.
As he teased her, Mary blushed, her skin warming for him, becoming flushed. Sweet Jesus was she a sight! Her gasping, parted mouth, her rigid nipples, and the sweet wetness in his hand.
Chase took a mental picture, savoring the sight of her.
And then he hooked her knees over his shoulders and settled in to taste the heart of her. Her warm, willing pussy tasted like honeyed heaven, and he’d happily spend all day licking her.
Mary moaned as he plunged his tongue in again and again. He rubbed her clit with the pad of his thumb, working the little nub until Mary screamed for him.
She was on edge, but holding back.
“Oh, Chase…” Her back arched, her thighs spread wider, inviting him in.
He knew exactly how she felt, as though she might die if their two bodies weren’t made whole. Chase had been waiting for this, for her, his entire life, and he couldn’t stand the separation any longer.
“What about protection?” he asked.
She shook her head as though to clear it. “I’m on the pill for irregular periods and I’m clean. What about you?”
“Yeah, me, too and it’s been a while.” Mary was well worth the wait. “Princess, I can’t take any more? Are you ready for me?”
She eased up on her elbows. “Yes, Chase, please, I need you.”
It was all the encouragement he needed.
Chase lifted her legs from his shoulders and instead, wrapped them around his waist. Chase undid his jeans and pushed them down around his hips. His cock sprang free and pre-come leaked from the head. Chase stroked himself a couple times before he entered her lush softness in one smooth motion.
Mary groaned, and he gasped in pained pleasure. She was so tight, her pussy held him like a vice. And then he began to thrust, slow and sure at first, and then he picked up speed.
Chase wanted to make it last, but he was having difficulty holding back. Every instinct in him urged him to claim her. And then he pounded her sweet pussy, pushing into her, feeling the walls squeeze around his slick cock.
With a shuddering moan, she came for him, panting and crying out. Chase took her hard one last time, slamming into her, and then exploded. Chase collapsed on top of Mary and then reversed their positions, so she lay on top of him.
He clutched her to him, unwilling to let go, even for a second.
***
An hour passed in a dreamy sort of haze.
Mary lay next to Chase in a stupor.
The candles he’d lit flickered, casting shadows on the walls. The sun was starting to set and overhead, a light rain pattered against the roof. She felt enclosed, encapsulated in this moment. Mary wanted to make it last a lifetime, wanted to savor every single second of the experience and wring as much joy as she could out of it.
She was reeling from the day’s revelations, but it no longer seemed as overwhelming. It was so strange, but somehow this was one of the best and yet worst days she’d ever had. She’d wanted this for so long, and now she finally had Chase.
And then she came to Earth once more.
This couldn’t last and soon they’d part, forever, most likely. Tonight was their first time and their last, all wrapped into one bittersweet moment.
“What are you thinking, princess?”
“That we should’ve done this weeks ago.”
“Amen.”
They both chuckled, and she slapped his chest playfully.
“Come on, I’m serious.” Mary turned on her side, leaning into him. “Chase, we—”
“No, don’t go there.” He seemed to sense her thoughts. “Let’s enjoy what time we have left. Speaking of, I have an idea.” His mouth descended on hers once more, fierce and hungry.
Mary gave herself over to him again.
And then, somehow, they were kneeling on the bed together.
Both of them were naked, and he was behind her, lightly grazing his fingertips over her stomach, and the underside of her breasts. They took it very slow and steady, it was a tease, a build-up.
He nibbled one ear, whispering naughty things to her.
Mary listened intently, committing every word to memory.
His touch grew more insistent, sliding up and down the sides of her body. Mary braced her hands on his thighs. Hers were situated in between his, and she could feel the length of his dick seated right between her ass cheeks. Mary rocked against him, hips pushing back against his rigid, heavy cock.
Chase groaned. “Stop, you’ll make me come.”
“That’s the idea.”
“Wait, no, I want to see you, Mary, watch you come for me again.”
And then they were facing each other.
Chase fitted his palms against hers, although his hands were larger. His eyes were bright, the pupils blown wide, and his hair was tousled from her fingers. He was so handsome, and she drank in the sight of him. Chase was lithe and lean with muscular arms and his chest was well-defined. In other words, blindingly handsome and she couldn’t look away.
Mary thought she'd never been so connected to another human being, as though they’d been fused somehow.
“What are you doing?” Chase asked.
“Takin’ a mental picture.” Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them away.
“No, we can’t have that. Touch me.” It was somewhere between a plea and a demand.
Mary ran a hand up and down his abdomen, watching the muscles reacting in response to her touch, bunching and then releasing. And then she grasped his cock.
Chase growled low in his throat.
Using both hands, Mary stroked him, got Chase ready for her, one on the lower edge of the shaft and the other around the tip. His cock was long, the balls shaved. It stood proudly, arching toward her as though it had a will of its own.
As she worked him, he inserted a hand between her thighs, just slightly playing with her clit. It was more of a torment than a caress.
Every once in a while, she leaned in for a kiss, or he would.
And then Chase played with her pussy, dipping a fingertip inside, now and then, but not giving her what she needed. She moaned as he flattened his palm against her sex and rotated.
Mary rocked against his hand, and he thrust in time with her movements. As she pumped his dick, Chase rubbed her more insistently, pushed his fingers deep into her pussy.
“Damn, you’re so wet for me. You want me as much as I need you.” His eyes fell shut.
Then Mary leaned over and eased his dick into her mouth, swallowing Chase whole. With a wounded moan, Chase thrust deeper into her mouth, and she took all of him until Chase finally withdrew.
“No, I can’t take any more or I’ll explode.”
After she released him, he spread her open on the bedspread once more, tasting her, licking her sex, mouthing her pussy. Chase wrapped his arms around her hips, and she held on to his elbows, sinking her fingers into his skin.
Her head fell back, and a gasp escaped her, a cry for more, and a need for him that might never be slaked.
“Chase!” Mary cried out for him as her body shuddered, again and again.
“Come on, I know you aren’t done yet.” As her orgasm subsided, Chase kissed her gently, and she shattered in his embrace again. “Oh, yes, that’s it.” When the last satisfying, toe-curling shock spread through her body, she sank her fingers into his hair, holding him close.
And after she subsided, Chase entered her.
He spread her legs open and crouched between her thighs, pushing his cock into her. He set a deliberate pace, taking his time, evidently enjoying the steady plunge of his cock deep inside of her.
Then Chase pulled her onto his lap, so her legs were wrapped around his hips, and his were spread out in front of him.
Mary rode him hard, sinking down on him again and again. Now and then, he leaned her back, so he could taste her nipples, kiss her mouth. And then he pressed his forehead to hers, locked eyes with her until all she could see was him, and Chase became her entire world. It was just the two of them, moving as one, relishing each other, and they shattered together.
Afterward, he wrapped them in a blanket, and they lay together on the bed, exhausted and sated.
And maybe, just for a moment, happy.
***
Mary woke up hours later to find Chase packing.
Evidently, the afterglow was long gone. He had three open suitcases on the floor, and two of them were already half-full.
“You’re awake.” Chase kissed her, but it was brief, perfunctory. Clearly, he was distracted.
“You’re leaving?” She blinked, trying to wake up.
“Eventually, but there’s somethin’ I gotta take care of first.” Chase gestured to his surroundings. “All of this might be a moot point.”
Mary didn’t have to ask. She knew he was going to confront his father and packing might’ve been a waste of time. Dead men didn’t need a change of clothes.
Don’t think about it.
Mary knew she couldn’t talk him out of this, so she wasn’t going to try. Besides, she had a reckoning of her own to worry about. Mary wasn’t looking forward to a showdown with her grandfather, but she didn’t see another acceptable alternative.
“Listen to me, I want you to get out of here before this goes down.” Chase rummaged around his sock drawer until he found something and then handed her an envelope. “There’s ten thousand dollars in there. Take it.”
“I can’t take your money.”
“Believe me, I doubt I’ll need it anymore.”
She winced. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you come with me?”
“I can’t.” Chase shook his head. “They’ll never stop lookin’ for me.”
“And you think Tucker Cobb’s gonna give up on me? I might be runnin’ forever.”
“Why don’t you call Thorne?” He placed his hands on his hips.
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I need answers, and I won’t get them if I run away. Besides, I don’t know the man.”
“He could keep you out of harm’s way.”
“And how do I know if I can trust Thorne? He’s clearly got a vendetta against the Lone Star Mafia. What if he intends to use me as a pawn? Or a weapon?”
After a moment, he nodded. “You have a point.”
“Thank you.”
“And you sure Tucker won’t hurt you?”
Mary had been thinking about that a lot, actually. Loyalty mattered to her grandfather and breaking his confidence had ultimately gotten her parents killed. At least that’s what she’d gathered from the situation, anyway.
“I’ll face granddad head-on, confront him, and then get some answers.”
She had no choice but to play this out. Mary couldn’t go back home and act like a dutiful granddaughter anymore because her conscience wouldn’t allow it. She’d give Tucker a chance to admit what he’d done and turn himself in.
Who knows? Maybe her grandfather regretted his actions? After all, he’d gone out of his way to be a kind, supportive father figure, and guilt might’ve played a role in it.
“Okay, this is my last ditch effort, please don’t—”
“Nope.” Mary held up a hand. “My mind is made up.”
Chase frowned, opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it. She knew, without being told, he thought her plan was hopelessly naïve, and maybe it was, but it’s the only one she had.
“I understand.” Chase sat beside her. “Don’t get me wrong, I hate this idea, and I wish you’d do anythin’ else, but I’d be a hypocrite if I stopped you.”
“I’m glad we get each other.”
He nudged her shoulder with his own. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re stubborn?”
“You’re not the first. Although, our California idea sounds pretty damn good right now.”
He smiled. “Yeah, it does. “I wouldn’t mind livin’ in the Golden State. There’s a Marine base in Barstow, which isn’t far away from Stanford.”
It was so easy to picture.
They’d rent a tiny apartment together, and on the weekends, they could explore the state. Maybe they’d visit Hollywood? They could drive up to San Francisco and get some crusty sourdough bread.
“And what about when I graduated and did my residency? I could be placed anywhere in the United States.”
“We’d be covered because Uncle Sam’s got bases all over the place.”
“We’d need documents though. I mean, excellent fakes and cash. We’d have to leave these identities far behind.”
Mary would much rather plan their fictional life together than deal with the reality of her own.
He nodded solemnly. “Yes, Mary and Chase would have to die, for all intents and purposes.”
Mary shrugged. “No complaints on my end. I hate the name Cobb.”
“I don’t like mine much either.”
“Maybe we could come up with new last names?”
“Like what?”
“Somethin’ cool. Everybody I went to school with had these really sophisticated old world last names, and I felt like a bumpkin in comparison.”
“Give me an example.”
“Like the Wentworths of the Connecticut Wentworths.”
He chuckled. “Then we’d need a snooty one, just to be safe.”
Her breath caught. Chase had mentioned one last name, not two. Had it been an oversight? Or a Freudian slip?
“So we’d have the same last name.”
Chase brushed a kiss on her lips. “Why not? This is a fantasy, remember?”
“Yeah, a fantasy.” Mary was drowning in his eyes. She wanted to grab her meager belongings, shove them into one of his suitcases and then take off with him. It didn’t matter where they went, as long as they were together.
She cleared her throat. “What about the Archers?”
“I like it. And our first names?”
“What about Abigail?”
Chase made a face. “You don’t look like an Abigail.”
“Fine, you pick one for me.”
He studied her face. “How about Catherine?”
Hmm. “Why’d you pick it?”
“After Catherine the Great. She’s royalty, like you, princess, and became a great queen. I see you comin’ into your own in the future.”
Mary swallowed a lump in her throat. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“But wasn’t she scandalous, too?”
“And so are we.” He raised a brow. “What about my name? Choose one for me.”
“How about Peter?”
His eyes lit up. “Catherine’s husband was named Peter.”
“I know.”
Mary kissed him, and she couldn’t stop the tears leaking from her eyes.
“We should both head out.”
“Not yet.” Mary kissed him once more. “I’ll leave in the morning. Right now, I want you, and don’t you dare try to tell me no. You just released me, so I’m not your prisoner.”
She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. The sheet fell away from her body, and he tasted her breasts, taking his time, savoring each of them.
“Whatever you say, my princess.” Chase tangled a hand in her hair, holding her still for a deep, dark kiss.
The universe owed her one perfect night, after all she’d suffered. This was about living in the moment, being with Chase.
She tried not to worry about tomorrow or never seeing him again. For now, she wanted him inside her, needed to join with him again, share the same space, if only for a few more minutes.
Mary would make it last forever. Tomorrow morning, she’d walk out the door and away from Chase.
And nothing would ever be the same again.