Chapter Ten

We were both sober by the time we arrived back at our hotel, although a big part of me still felt off kilter. I was drunk, just not from alcohol any longer. We were both still wearing the cheap metal bands that were keepsakes from our fake wedding, and when we arrived at my hotel door, Chance scooped me up off my feet.

“Gotta carry my bride over the threshold.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and sagged into his chest as he unlocked the door with one hand. “Wonder what the history of this is. So the man can show off how strong he is?”

“I think it started because the wife was nervous about losing her virginity.”

I snorted. “Well at least we don’t have to worry about that one.”

Chance’s eyes bore into me. He didn’t even try to hide the jealousy. It gave me an idea. “Do you want to get married someday?” I asked.

“Someday? I thought I just did.” He set me down just inside of my room.

“I mean for real. I wonder who will be carrying me over the threshold when it’s my real wedding.”

Chance’s eyes were serious. “I don’t want to think about it.”

I kept pushing. “Maybe my new firm will be chock full of eligible bachelors.”

“You mean like Harrison?”

I shrugged and sat down to take off my four-inch heels. “I’ve decided I’m not going to let him keep me down any longer. I’ve been moping around for two months. When I get settled into California, I’m going to get back on the horse.” I looked up and grinned. Chance was still standing near the door. “What, no dirty comment about me getting back on the horse and taking a good ride? You’re slipping, Cocky.”

His jaw flexed. “Maybe you should take up with that magic wand again, rather than rushing into things.”

I stood and walked to him, turning my back and pulling my hair to the side. “Can you unzip me?” The room was silent for a long moment before I felt Chance’s hands touch me. One gripped my hip firmly, almost as if he had to hold on tight to keep it in place. The other reached up to my zipper. The sound it made as he slowly unzipped was positively erotic.

Seriously, what was wrong with me?

Neither of us moved. We stood there with thick tension swirling around us.

“Chance?” I breathed. I didn’t even recognize my own voice; it was so low and husky.

His fingers dug deeper into my hip. It almost hurt, but turned me on at the same time. I waited for him to say something. Anything. I kept waiting. Neither of us moved.

Still nothing.

“Chance?” I tried to turn around and face him, but his hands kept me in place.

“Don’t. I need to go, Aubrey.” He paused and blew out a deep breath. “The guy who gets to carry you over that threshold for real, is going to be one lucky bastard.”

I didn’t turn around until I heard the door to my room click closed behind him. I hadn’t wanted to let him see my tears.

It was a good two hours before I heard him return. The door between our adjoining rooms was cracked open enough so I could hear him moving around. My head was spinning, and the thought of never seeing him again after tomorrow seriously had me sick to my stomach. I’d spent more than a year with Harrison, and the day I moved out didn’t hurt half as much as this did.

Lying in my own bed, knowing Chance was so physically close, yet I couldn’t touch him, made me crazy. I kept on replaying his words over and over in my mind, dissecting each and every conversation I was able to recall. He’d told me I was beautiful. He’d spelled out the things he fantasized about doing to me in vivid detail. He’d said the man who I wound up with was lucky. His words told me he wanted me. His eyes told me he wanted me. His body, his breath, the way he stared at my body like he was clinging to his last thread of control.

I was damn certain he wanted me—that much I’d finally accepted. He just…couldn’t. Couldn’t was the word he’d actually used. Like it was wrong to allow himself. I knew he was trying to protect me from whatever was holding him back. But I didn’t want to be protected anymore. What I wanted, was to be fucked into oblivion. And it was time I took control of the situation. I am woman, damn it. Hear me roar.

With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I slipped into my bathroom, washed my face and let my bedtime ponytail loose. I lifted my nightshirt over my head and stared at myself in the mirror. The underwear I was wearing were cute—a pale pink lace demi cup bra with matching boy shorts. But I was done beating around the bush. I shimmied out of my underwear, unhooked my bra and took in my reflection. Roar.

My cheeks were flushed, my body was toned, and for the first time in a long time, I liked what I saw. There was no time left. I had to do it now before I chickened out. With each rise and fall of my chest, courage was starting to disappear. I looked at myself one last time, took a deep breath and headed for the door that separated us.

Here comes the lioness.

Chance was walking out of the bathroom as I walked in. He had nothing on but a plush white towel wrapped around his narrow waist. It was dark, but the lights coming from the Vegas strip outside of the bedroom windows illuminated the room enough so I could see. Droplets of water glistened from his chest. He was quite literally breathtaking, because my heart was beating wildly in my chest, and it felt like all of the oxygen was sucked out of my lungs when he caught sight of me.

We stared at each other wordlessly for a moment. The flex of his jaw as he tried to hold my eyes was a testament to how hard he attempted to resist. But he lost the internal battle he had waged when his eyes dropped. I watched each and every second as he took me in. First, my breasts—perky nipples taut and waiting—greeted him. His chest heaved up and down. I felt the caress of his touch on my skin as his eyes continued their descent lower. He took his time to appreciate the narrow of my waist, curve of my hip and flatness of my stomach. Both of our breaths were shallow and fast when his eyes reached still lower, falling on my thin landing strip. Between my legs was soaked, and we hadn’t even touched yet. I almost lost it when he licked his lips.

“Aubrey,” he groaned in warning. It sounded like he was in actual physical pain. “I—”

He was about to reject me again, and there was no way I could bare it. I wanted him desperately—even knowing I’d only be getting a piece. I pressed my finger to his lips and silenced him. Shock registered on his face when my other hand yanked the towel from around his waist free. I held it up in front of his face and ceremoniously let it drop to the floor.

Chance was gloriously hard, and I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. “We need to consummate our marriage.”

He closed his eyes, and for a few agonizing seconds, I waited. When they reopened, everything was different. His pupils were dilated, wild and crazy, filled with desire and raw need. It was like looking in a mirror.

“Get up on the desk.” He lifted his chin toward the floor to ceiling windows. A long desk was positioned so you could sit and look out onto the strip while working. There was an edge to his voice, a stern demanding tone that I’d never heard him use before. It made my knees weak as I crossed the room and positioned my ass where he instructed.

“I fantasize about you every night when I go to bed and wake up with a picture of you in my head and a hard-on every morning.”

I knew he was attracted to me. But his admission reflected the level of obsessive thoughts I’d been having about him. It made me brave again. “Show me. Show me how you see us when you fantasize. I want to turn your dreams into reality.”

His eyes gleamed and lips curled up to a wicked grin. “My dreams don’t have rainbows and doves. They have me, pulling your hair as I fuck you up on that desk. You want to be my real live dream, Princess?” He prowled toward me and stood directly in front of where I was perched.

I swallowed hard and nodded.

The dimples appeared. Although the big guns weren’t even necessary, I was already a goner. “Spread your legs.”

The way he was looking at me made it easy to shed my inhibitions. “You have the most perfect tits I’ve ever seen in my life. And that pussy…it’s even better than I imagined.”

I shivered. “You have some dirty mouth on you.”

He lowered his mouth to my breasts and looked up at me. Blue number thirteen blazed. “You’re going to like my dirty mouth even better after tonight.”

I closed my eyes as he drew my right nipple into his mouth. His tongue swirled as he licked and sucked and then caught it between his teeth and tugged hard before moving to the left one.

A soft moan fell from my lips, and I forced my eyes open to watch him. He was devouring me with his sinful mouth. The reality was even better than the fantasy that had played through my head over and over for the last week. After taking time worshiping my breasts, his tongue traced a path from my cleavage down to my belly button. Then he dropped to his knees.

His hands spread my thighs. “Wider.”

God I wanted his mouth on me down there. I gripped the edge of the desk so tight, my knuckles turned white.

He took a good long look. I was sitting before him so bare, so exposed, that I had an overwhelming urge to close my legs and hide myself from him. But then he licked his lips again. He was actually salivating to taste me. It was the single most erotic thing I’d ever seen in my life.

He leaned in close and blew a steady stream of air from the bottom to the top of my sex. The cool air connected with my wetness and every nerve in my body zapped to life. My breathing was completely erratic just from the anticipation. I couldn’t imagine being able to breathe once his mouth was on me.

He looked up, and our gazes met. “Watch me, Aubrey. I want you to watch me as I eat every last drop of this sweet pussy.”

I couldn’t respond; anything that came out of my mouth would have been completely incoherent. He didn’t wait for an answer anyway. He hauled my ass closer to the edge of the desk and buried his face between my legs. Ravaging me, he sucked and licked, coaxing my body to the brink of orgasm and then pulled back, lessening his suction and slowing his pace. He was not allowing me to fall over the edge. Each time my breathing started to level out, he would start all over again. It was merciless and maddening, and I was beginning to grow desperate.

The third time he started to slow down when I was coming close to orgasm, I gripped his hair. My hands fisted in his thick, damp mane, and I tugged, urging him to continue. “Chance, I…need to…”

“Not yet.”

Part of me wanted to kill him, but that part was overruled by the part that needed to desperately find release. “Please. I need to…”

“Not—”

He didn’t get the chance to finish. I yanked hard on his hair and pulled his face to me. I heard him chuckle, but it did the trick. After that, he dove in hard—licking and biting, thrusting his tongue in and out of me until he again brought me to the brink. Once I was dangling on the edge, he sucked hard on my clit and sent me spiraling over. I gasped his name as my orgasm rolled through me. He didn’t stop until my body felt spineless, and it was difficult to stay in the upright position.

Chance lifted me from the desk and carried me to the bed, gently setting me down. Only a minute ago I had been spent, yet seeing him naked as he stood there, suddenly had me recharged. I heard the crinkle of a condom wrapper and then watched him slip it on. His hand glided down his thick shaft, and my body came alive again. He was beautiful from head to toe, and every firm inch in between.

When he was done, I reached out and threaded my fingers with his. He climbed onto the bed and lifted our entwined hands up over my head, easily restraining my arms. Hovering over me, the head of his cock aligned perfectly with my opening. He searched my face, almost studying it, before our gazes locked. Then he kissed me sweetly as he gently pushed inside of me. He eased in and out a few times slowly before sinking deep. Rooted, he groaned and held himself in place briefly—his face telling me that being buried inside of me felt so good; he didn’t want to move a muscle.

I wrapped my legs around his back, the new position allowing him to penetrate even deeper. “Fuck.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. I loved seeing him struggling for restraint.

We easily found our rhythm together and rocked with a fervent pace. Our bodies slick with sweat, we glided up and down, hips swiveling round and round, until we were both shaking. I moaned as I felt him begin to come undone. His pace quickened, and he drove into me deeper and deeper until we came together while staring into each other’s eyes.

It was hours later, drained of many more orgasms, when I finally fell asleep. Filled with new promise and hope, the last thing I remembered thinking as I dozed into dreamland was that I couldn’t wait to wake up tomorrow to be with Chance again.

The sun blazed through the tall windows, warming my naked body. I had no idea what time it was, but I knew it was at least early afternoon. I lifted my arms over my head and stretched. My muscles ached, although it was the kind of pain I relished. I’d had boyfriends, a healthy sex life even. Up until last night, I would have gone as far as to say my previous dalliances were somewhat satisfying. But what happened between Chance and me put anything that ever came before it to shame.

Smiling at the thought, I reached back to the bed behind me, anxious to reconnect physically. Finding Chance’s spot empty, I turned and listened for signs of where he was. It was quiet, but a minute later a knock at the door answered my question. I wrapped the sheet around my body and padded to the door. A woman dressed in a housekeeping uniform was standing with a cart when I opened it, expecting to find Chance.

“Ummm.” I pulled the sheet tighter to my body. “Can you come back in a little while? We have a late checkout today.”

The woman looked at her watch and back to me. “Fifteen minutes?”

I had no desire to rush to get ready but nodded anyway. After I closed the door, I looked around both rooms, even though I knew I was alone. There was a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach—I never wanted this trip to end. Chance had given me no reason to believe things between us would continue once we arrived in California. In fact, he’d been pretty clear that the trip was it for us from the get go. But hadn’t last night changed everything? I wanted to allow myself to think it really could have, yet there was that feeling.

In the shower, I closed my eyes and could see Chance hovering over me in the early hours of the morning. It was our third go around, and very different from the first two times. Our desperate, frantic race to be together was behind us, and we slowly poured emotion into every beautiful movement. I’d had sex before, but until that moment in time, I’d never really made love.

The warm water of the shower washed over my skin, and I replayed those last few moments over and over. “You’re an amazing woman,” Chance said. “Thank you for making my fantasy come alive. I hope all of your dreams come true. You deserve that, Aubrey.” In the moment, I’d thought it was a beautiful sentiment. But suddenly, an intense urge to vomit gurgled up from my stomach, and my eyes flashed open. He was saying goodbye.