Chapter 10
Claire gathered all of her courage the next day and walked into the kitchen. She’d spent most of the night trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Logan with her roommate. She still hadn’t come up with a good way, so she’d decided just to be blunt.
“Ellie?”
Ellie turned, looking at her warily. “What?”
“I just..I want to talk to you about Logan.”
Her roommate laughed. “What could you possibly have to say to me about him?”
Claire took a breath and clasped her hands in front of her to keep them from trembling. “I know how this is going to sound,” she said. “But I feel like you need to know. Logan...he’s...he’s an intense guy.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you might need to be careful.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No!” Claire rubbed her temples. “Ellie, I’m just saying that, if you ever feel less than safe with him...”
Ellie sneered. “What? I should come to you?”
“You should know that you can.”
“Okay, I’ll remember that,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes. “It’s like you think Logan didn’t tell me what you really think of me.”
Claire blinked. “What?”
“That you called me Eager Ellie. That you used to make fun of me in front of all the other guys every time I left the room--”
“Ellie, I never did anything like that!”
“Right,” the other girl said sarcastically. “And I should believe you over him?”
“Yes! I was your friend!” Claire said. “We knew each other before I even started dating him!”
Something flickered in Ellie’s blue eyes, but she didn’t reply. She simply walked away from Claire, grabbing her phone off of the counter and heading for her room.
Claire was barely surprised when her phone began to buzz about an hour later. She picked it up and looked at it.
“Are you really going to try to fuck things up with me and Ellie?”
“Are you that jealous, Claire?”
“It’s so pathetic that you think Chase even wants you.”
“He’s telling everyone in the locker room how easy it is to get what he wants from you.”
“Even more people are going to know what a whore you are now. How does that feel?”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks and straightened her back. Enough was enough. She knew Chase and she knew Logan and she knew who was lying. Her fingers were only a little shaky as she made a phone call. Chase’s familiar rough voice answered on the second ring.
“Is everything okay?” he asked without even saying hello first.
Claire took a deep breath but her voice trembled anyway. “Not really. I was thinking and...I think it might be good if you knew exactly what happened between me and Logan after all.”
He didn’t waste time asking what had changed her mind. “How about I pick you up in 10? We can go for a drive.”
“I’ll meet you outside.”
****
Chase parked the truck near the bayou and looked over at Claire. She had been quiet since she got in, but at least she’d stopped shaking about halfway through the drive. “Ready to talk?”
She nodded and took a breath. “Okay. I’ll start at the beginning, if you don’t mind.”
“Go for it.”
“I started dating Logan at the very beginning of freshman year,” she said. “And for the first few weeks, everything was great. I loved that he paid so much attention to me. We talked on the phone for hours every night. Then he started getting annoyed if I didn’t answer my phone or his texts right away. I had to keep my phone on me all the time, even if I was studying for something or trying to write a paper. Then...just sort of gradually...he got more and more controlling. I had to go to all the parties, even if I didn’t really want to. He said he wanted to show me off, but I don’t think that was it. I think he just wanted me to see how important he was. That all the other girl’s wanted him too.”
She looked out the window. “It only got worse the longer we were together. He told me what I could wear and what to eat. He made me work out with him when he thought I was gaining too much weight. And when summer break came around and I thought that I could take some time apart to get my head clear, he made me stay here.”
“What made you decide to leave him?”
“He started...well, he got mad at me a lot more toward the end and he...”
“Did he hit you?” Chase asked tightly.
“No. He only shoved me a few times. But I knew that I had to end it. I used to volunteer at a women’s shelter in high school and I knew all the signs. It was only going to get worse. So I broke up with him at the beginning of the semester.”
Chase reached out and pulled her against him. She pressed her face against his chest.
“But he won’t let it go,” she said tiredly. “And he said all these horrible things about me afterward...and I don’t think anyone would even believe me if I told them.”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have,” Chase said. “I mean...I believed the things he said about you.” He tilted her chin. “I am so sorry, Claire.”
“It’s okay. Everyone believes him.” She wiped her eyes and jumped as her phone buzzed.
“Can I?” Chase asked.
She handed him the phone and he opened the message. She saw his jaw clench as he scrolled through. “He’s been texting you shit like this since you dumped him?”
Claire nodded, tears finally spilling over. “Almost every day. If he’s not texting, he’s calling. He tells me I’m a whore, that I’m a bitch, a slut...” Her voice broke. “He’s only the second guy I’ve ever been with.”
“You could fuck everybody on campus and it wouldn’t give him the right to say that,” Chase said furiously.
Claire gave a laugh through her tears. “You really are a feminist.”
“Damn straight.” He wrapped his arm around her again and held her until she’d stopped crying. “What do you want to do, Claire?”
“I just want to move on,” she said, looking up at him. “I’m so tired of all of this, Chase.”
“I’m gonna do everything I can help with that,” he said. “Starting by having a talk with Logan.”
“Actually, would you start by kissing me again?” she asked, her voice almost shy.
Chase lowered his head, taking her mouth with his. For this kiss, he took his time, teasing her tongue with his, making her catch her breath against his lips. He felt her fingers clench on his shirt when he moved to pull back. He didn’t want to get too carried away.
She tugged him back down to her. “No, don’t stop, Chase.”
“Are you sure?” he asked between kisses that felt better than he’d even known a kiss could feel. “I don’t want you to regret anything later.”
Claire kissed her way down his neck, making him groan. “I’m sure, Chase.”
He drew back to study her face. There was no hesitation there, just open and honest desire. His heart skipped a beat or two and he slid across the bench seat, pulling her into his lap. Then Chase finally got to do what he’d been imagining since their first tutoring session. He buried his hands in her dark hair, tugged her head back and kissed her breathless. She gripped his shoulders, meeting him kiss for kiss and with equal desperation.
He only stopped kissing her long enough to shrug out of his shirt when she tugged on it impatiently. The feeling of her soft hands on his skin made him catch his breath as he grew hard in one swift surge. When Claire yanked her own shirt off and he caught his first glimpse of her lean body, he barely held back a groan.
He cupped her breasts as he kissed her neck. He needed a breather before he got too carried away. He needed this to last more than five seconds and he was already so hard he could feel his shaft pulsing in his jeans.
“I know they’re...small,” she said self-consciously.
“They’re beautiful,” he corrected. “All of you is beautiful.”
Chase ducked his head, pushing her bra down and kissing first one breast and then the other, sucking her nipples into hard points, making her arch to his mouth in surprised pleasure.
“I love the way you taste,” he said, that rough voice seeming to vibrate through her and center in a throbbing ache between her legs. Her head fell back as he kept it up, teasing her with little flicks of his tongue. “And the way you look,” he went on, his hand dipping down under the waistband of her jeans to cup her with one big hand.
She moaned at the contact, working her hips forward eagerly.
“And the way you sound,” he went on, sliding her underwear to the side to find her slick and hot. “And the way you feel...” The last word was a groan as he slipped two fingers inside her. “Claire, I’ve been thinking about this for so long.”
She gripped the back of the seat with one hand and flexed her body, taking his fingers deeper as she flicked open the button of his jeans and eased his zipper down. When she wrapped her hand around him, he pressed his face against the side of her neck to muffle what was nearly a shout of pleasure. She tightened her grip and pumped her fist up to the head of his cock and he bit down on his lower lip, his hips thrusting up, shoving his shaft against her soft palm. Shivers of sensation flooded his whole nervous system.
“Claire, I don’t wanna rush you,” he managed to grate out.
“You’re not,” she said quickly. “I want you so much, Chase.”
They managed to fumble their way through undressing one another in the confines of the truck cab and then she settled herself over him again, this time on her knees. He couldn’t quite get his breath as he said, “Hang on, baby. I’ve gotta...”
He reached around her and dug through the glove box quickly. Every second that he wasn’t inside her felt more like torture than denial. She took the condom from him and rolled it on. Then she sank down onto him slowly. He couldn’t help but watch as she slid down, taking him to the hilt. Claire’s eyes met his once he was as deep inside her as he could get. She looked nervous and he cupped her face in his hands.
“You feel so damn good, Claire.”
The look of pure amazed desire in his eyes gave her confidence and she began to work her hips, taking him deep and then lifting up. She rode him with ever more confidence as his head fell back and his hands went tight on her hips.
“Just like that,” he groaned, his voice rougher than she’d ever heard it. “God, baby, don’t stop, don’t stop...”
He dipped his hand between her legs once more, his thumb beginning to circle her clit. Her hips jerked forward.
“Yes!”
His other arm was firm around her waist now, keeping her down on him so that she took him to the hilt with each movement. There was a lot of him to take and she was moaning in pure pleasure before he began teasing her breasts with his tongue once more.
She rode him harder, enjoying the sensory overload of his thick cock, his talented tongue, and his strong hands.
“Harder, baby.” He spoke against her breast, sending shivers down her spine. “Go faster. I wanna feel you come all around me.”
She gripped his shoulders and did as he asked, riding him so fast that the truck began to sway with their movement. His grip tightened even more as he pressed his face against her neck.
“Come for me, baby.”
She threw her head back and screamed, helpless to do anything else. She felt the exact moment that Chase followed her, his body growing briefly still from the force of the pleasure. Then, with a ragged groan, he let his head fall back once more as she rode him languidly now, drawing out every bit of pleasure she could.
Once it was over, Chase wrapped her in his arms and laid back. They halfheartedly got back into their clothes before she cuddled up, her head resting on his chest, the rest of her between his legs. He hadn’t put his shirt back on yet, and Claire trailed her fingers down from the center of his chest to his belly button. When his stomach jerked, she laughed and pressed a kiss where her fingers had teased.
“Ticklish?”
“Where’d you get a crazy idea like that?”
His voice was nearly a purr of pure masculine satisfaction and she smiled against him. His fingers were twining through her hair again, more gently this time, combing out the tangles he’d put there. It was so lulling that she felt her eyes starting to close.
“Don’t go to sleep,” he said, but he couldn’t find any actual conviction in his words. “We can’t stay out here all night.”
She went back to tracing lazy circles on his skin, her fingers dipping under his waistband just enough to tease. Chase closed his eyes. Only the early morning sun of the next day woke him.
Claire was still curled against him and he eased up carefully. She woke slowly, blinking up at him.
“Is it morning?” she asked after a moment.
He gave her a grin as he pulled his shirt on. “Yeah, it is.”
“Mmm,” she said curling back into a ball and resting her head on his leg. “I knew you’d sound sexy as hell in the morning.”
“What?” he asked, looking down at her.
Her big brown eyes opened slowly once more. “What? You don’t hear yourself?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, but I just sound like...me.”
“And it’s amazing,” she said, her tone brooking no argument. “All rough and husky.”
“So, if you imagined how I’d sound in the morning,” Chase said. “Does that mean that you were planning on sleeping with me?”
“I wasn’t exactly planning it,” Claire said, sitting up. “But I was obviously very open to the idea.”
He tugged her against him and kissed the top of her head. “And I’m glad you were,” he admitted. “Because you’ve been killing me for weeks now.”
“Oh really?”
“I may have been on the verge of begging,” he said as he cranked the truck.
“Damn,” Claire said. “I should have waited. That would have been so hot.”
He laughed as he pulled onto the road. “I’ll remember that.”