So, maybe she was worried about the job, and from the looks of it quite worried. Taylor knew that getting that job meant everything to her and it was understandable for her to be…faraway in her mind.
She instinctively reached across to Chloe and tapped her hand, but she didn't move.
"Chloe." It was only when Taylor shook her hand that she moved.
"Yes, huh?" Chloe asked, disorientated.
"You okay, Chloe?" Kelly asked with a playful, curious smile.
"Fine, me, oh yes. I'm fine."
Taylor observed her. "Hey, you know it will work out with the job, right?" Taylor offered, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
"Job? What job?" Chloe narrowed her eyes and looked at Taylor as if she seriously didn't know what she was talking about.
Taylor straightened up immediately, as this couldn't have been stranger. "The creative director job. The job you've been pining over for weeks."
"Ohhh." Chloe threw up her hands and giggled. "Yes, that job, sure. Oh, thanks. I'll try not to worry."
Something else was clearly going on here with Chloe.
Kelly started to laugh. "Something on your mind, Chloe?" Kelly eyed her with suspicion.
"No, I'm just tired," Chloe stuttered.
Taylor tilted her head to the side and looked at her friend more carefully. They'd been friends all their lives and that lame excuse of being tired wasn't going to fly with her.
Something else was on Chloe's mind, and Taylor just hoped it wasn't any uncertainty over Richard.
"Look Chloe, I know you get super protective of me," Taylor began. She wanted to be sure Chloe knew she appreciated her. They were more like sisters than best friends, and it wasn't a bad thing to have someone to care for her like that. As annoying as it was that Chloe couldn't see just how wonderful Richard was, Taylor knew she would always have her back. "Richard is a good man, and he'll take care of me."
Chloe nodded. "Yes, I see that. I'm sure he…" Her voice trailed off and she stared ahead again. Taylor watched Chloe's face brighten, and a little smile lifted her glossy pink lips.
Taylor followed her gaze but couldn't see what she was looking at. Kelly did, too, but looked just as confused as Taylor felt.
"Chloe, are you okay?" Taylor asked.
Chloe looked back to her and smiled. "I have to go."
"Go? Go where?"
"I'll be back." She wasn't making any sense.
Before Taylor could say anything else, Chloe jumped up from her chair and rushed inside the house with an excited smile on her face.
"What's with her?" Taylor asked Kelly.
When Kelly offered a guilty look, Taylor definitely knew something was amiss, and she supposed Kelly knew what was going on.
"I'm not sure."
"You little minx, tell me." Taylor picked up a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the deck table and tossed it at her.
Kelly started to laugh. "Hey, I swear I can't confirm anything."
"But you know something," Taylor chided. At that moment the roar of an engine rippled through the air. "Was that a motorcycle?" She narrowed her eyes.
"It could be, or maybe it's an ice cream truck," Kelly cooed feigning innocence.
Now, who did they know with a motorcycle?
As the answer came to her, Taylor got up so fast she nearly knocked the table over. She ran into the house and over to the living room window just in time to see Chloe hopping on the back of Wade's bike.
She placed her helmet on and secured her arms around his waist.
Taylor's mouth dropped as Wade powered the engine again and the motorcycle fired across the road, disappearing into the night.
Kelly came up to her and brought her hands together. A tentative expression filled her face. "So, I guess you must know."
Taylor looked at her and smiled. "I most certainly do."
Chloe, that little devil. Imagine, she was seeing Wade and never said anything.
Taylor should have known this would happen one day. Everything in their behavior pointed to this, and Taylor couldn't have been happier.
Chloe
Chloe hadn't been able to stop herself from thinking about Wade and what would happen the next time she saw him.
Her heart yearned for him, and her body craved him. Pure and simple, she wanted him. So tonight, when he appeared at the entrance of the terrace door, looking like he'd just materialized from one of her dreams, Chloe didn't think twice.
With his stark blonde hair, five o'clock shadow, dreamy eyes, and biker jacket blowing out against the wind, all he needed to do was crook his finger at her and she was all his.
She left Taylor and Kelly, left the world behind, and just managed to freshen her hair, slip into the pink thong he bought her, then skip into his awaiting arms.
Chloe was all his now as he took her inside his house. With her legs wrapped around his waist and his arms around her, they kissed ravenously and devoured each other with hot, hungry kisses as he carried her upstairs to his room.
There he continued to feast on her. Chloe felt his touch everywhere, the need in his touch all over her, and inside her. No words needed to be spoken; they both knew what they wanted.
She managed to back off his jacket and work his T-shirt over his head, revealing his glorious muscles and the perfection of his godlike body. Her breath caught as she looked at him, and her chest tightened when he set her down before him.
"Show me," he smiled. Chloe didn't need to ask what he meant. She knew he wanted to see her in the thong. She just didn't know if she could do it. At eighteen she'd been braver and maybe more daring. Life had happened since, with all its ups and downs, and it took away from the person she was back then.
Nerves filled her and apprehension, which worsened when Wade reached out and cupped her face, running his fingers along the edge of her jaw and the base of her hairline. "You're beautiful, and I want you, Chloe." He smiled again, giving her a soft sweet kiss.
His words encouraged her, and the look he gave her told her how much he wanted her. She pulled in a breath as he sat on the edge of his bed and watched her.
"Show me, baby." His smile turned saucier, and his eyes ate her up.
She reached for the edge of her top and pulled it over her head. The impact loosened the grip holding together her ponytail, and her hair tumbled down her shoulders.
She stood before him in her sheer bra, and he ran his fingers across the flat of her stomach and over to the edge of her skirt. She followed his fingers and undid the clasp holding the skirt together. They both watched it float to the floor, and she smiled as she observed the look of approval on his face as he secured his gaze to her thong.
"This is the stuff dreams are made of." He smiled up at her, taking hold of her waist and pulling her a little closer.
She rested her hands on his solid shoulders and smirked. "I bet you say that to all the girls." She bet he did. This man was no saint, and she'd played right into his game of charm. Chloe knew at some point her brain would return and knock sense into her. Until it did she'd do what she wanted, do what she desired most without restriction.
He bent his head to her stomach and kissed her there. "No baby, just you, and I was right. You look better than the fantasy."
She couldn't help the smile that filled her face at his comment. This felt like a fantasy because it could only be in a fantasy that she would be with Wade like this, with him saying such things to her.
Heat blazed across the surface of her skin as he kissed across her stomach and up to her breasts, stopping just in between her cleavage. He turned her around and ran his hand across her behind, then positioned her to face him again.
"Show me." He looked at her breasts and leaned forward to kiss between her cleavage. "Show me, like you did before."
She tucked her hair behind her ear and gazed down at his hungry eyes. No one had ever looked at her like that before. She took a moment to appreciate the look, then released the clasp that held her bra together, watching h
er breasts spill out.
"God," he breathed, looking at her with open admiration. He then moved closer and placed his lips over her left nipple to suck her. A soft moan escaped her lips, and she felt like she'd go insane from the pleasure she felt swirl within her. She moaned again, this time a little louder as he sucked her harder. By the time he moved to the next one, her body blazed with heat.
When he pulled her onto him, his lips crashed into hers, harder and hungrier than ever before, and the kiss became an avaricious feeding frenzy. She drank him in as he groaned his pleasure from deep within the solid walls of his chest and twisted her around so that she lay on the smooth satin surface of the sheets. She felt his touch everywhere again. It drove her beyond the point of caring about anything that wasn't him. Wade made her ache with desire and a need that made her want to be with him like this forever.
Chloe ran her hands over the thick muscles on his neck and over the ridges of his firm biceps, enjoying him too. Just like she did in her wild dreams of him. She'd enjoy him now in this night of passion. It was her chance to, and she deserved it. She deserved the chance to live on the edge and taste what he offered her. Freedom. Freedom from reality and her thoughts. Freedom from whatever told her he was bad for her.
There were no worries here, no shadows of concern across her mind. Chloe gave into the carnal appetite that drove her excitement and crave for him.
"Do you want me, baby?" He moved back, away from the kisses she placed across his chest to look at her through heavy, lustful eyes.
"I want you, Wade," she whispered.
He smiled at her and lowered to kiss the soft insides of her thighs, but she stopped him as he took hold of her hips. Chloe wanted to hear him say it too. She wanted to hear him say that he wanted her. It was important to her.
"Wade…" Her gaze tangled with his. "Do you want me too?"
"I've always wanted you, beautiful Chloe. Always, baby," he breathed.
His words sealed to her mind. She knew she would never forget them, or the way he looked as he spoke them.
"I have to have you now, Chloe."
"Then take me," she breathed.
His gaze locked on hers as he moved back and stepped out of his trousers and boxers. Her eyes were instantly drawn to his impressive hot erection, and she watched him towering over her with his glorious strength. He reminded her of one of those Greek sculptures of mythical warriors, like Achilles or Hercules.
She appreciated the view, taking in his perfect muscular body and that he was all hers. He looked down at her, eyes heated with wanton eagerness.
Chloe pulled in a breath as he came closer and parted her legs, getting ready to journey to where she craved him. The voluptuous heated head of his flesh nudged against the crevice of her slick opening, sending sparks of energy throughout her.
He reached between them and wrapped his hands around his shaft to guide himself to her. As he slid into her, a stitch of pain disrupted the haze of her pleasure. But as he withdrew and then buried deep with a penetration so powerful and intense it ripped the world away from her, there was unimaginable endless pleasure.
"God," he gasped. His powerful chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. She cried out, too, moaning against the intensity and arching her back, allowing her soul to receive him. Her eyes closed, and a kaleidoscope of color danced behind her lids as the passion rushed over her in a wave of electricity that wracked her from within. It stole her strength and made her go limp against the pillow. His hands settled around her hips, holding her tight as he drove into her harder and faster, thrusting into her with that same vigor and reckless abandon he has with everything else.
The hungry, wild look on his face made her hotter, and she lost herself in the feeling as the climax peaked. Without warning, he drove in deeper, and she cried out from the intense pleasure that engulfed her. Spasms rushed over her in rippling droves, and her skin felt hot like she was standing far too close to the fire.
It's too much, like always he's too much.
And yet there was more. Her heart thundered in her ears as he hammered into her, over and over again. Her fell to the side as a deep moan built from the base of her stomach, and as she released it, she felt like she was flying amongst the stars, weightless and free.
Before she could recover, the next orgasmic wave hit her tenfold. He cried out again, but he wasn't finished yet. He arched his hips and angled himself so he could thrust even deeper.
Chloe wanted to scream, but the sound drowned in her throat. Desperation rolled through her as she peaked again and came with all that she had left of her. His grip tightened as he reached the climax of his pursuit and then his mighty shoulders slumped.
Patches of light flickered before her as she looked at him and tried to catch her breath.
"Chloe." He carefully eased himself out of her and lowered next to her, pulling her into his arms. "Baby, that was amazing." He smiled against her lips and ran his hands over her skin, tracing the curve of her waist.
"Let's do that again," Chloe breathed, pressing her hands to his chest and enjoying the playful look he gave her.
"Yes ma'am." His lips collided with hers, pulling her into a deep kiss that stirred her appetite for him all over again.
As he pulled her on top of him, she knew she was in for one wild night.
Chapter 8
Chloe
Chloe rolled over and forced her eyes open one at a time. She was greeted by the subtle beauty of twilight and the tranquility that filled the space in between night and day. She took a moment to watch the scenery through the sliding glass doors in Wade's bedroom. The silent stillness, the inky sky, the slight movement of the trees as the wind washed over them.
Wade shuffled next to her, and she turned back to him. He was still asleep and looked like he would be for a while. They made love all night, how many times she couldn't say. It was an endless round of primal passion. He'd made her body come alive in ways she'd never known possible, and did things with him she'd never done with anybody else.
Now she had to face reality. She had to step away from the fantasy of Wade Vanderville and become Chloe again, which meant that the first thing she had to do was leave.
And the next was to forget last night.
She had to separate her mind from any attachment she'd made to him.
To her, they'd made love, but she knew that to him it was just sex. That was how she had to think too. She didn't want to, but that was the truth of it.
Before she got up, she looked at him and admired him. He was just as handsome to look at asleep as he was when awake. Sleep, however, robbed him of his commanding, confident personality, and softened his features, making him seem angelic.
She shouldn't look too much because that would make her feel.
Having feelings for him would be the worst mistake she could ever make.
On that thought, she got up, got dressed as quickly and quietly as she could, and made her way downstairs. She then got a taxi that took her home.
She was counting on slipping into her room unnoticed because Kelly and Taylor wouldn't dare wake up at this hour for fear of not getting enough beauty sleep. However, the minute she stepped into the house the lights flicked on in the living room revealing a very amused-looking Taylor sitting in the arm chair with Pisces curled up in her lap.
Chloe stiffened in her tracks and widened her eyes at her friend.
"Busted." Taylor pointed at her, trying not to laugh.
"I…" Chloe didn't know what to say, and the more she remembered her actions, the more she blushed.
"I just have to say this." Taylor straightened up. "Miss Chloe where have you been all night?"
How the hell was she supposed to answer that? And say what?
She didn't think she could exactly say I was having wild sex with your brother.
"I was away," Chloe attempted. "Out, out there…um doing stuff."
Taylor laughed. "With Wade?"
Oh God, she knew. "I saw him
…out there, away outside."
"Chloe." She couldn't stop laughing. "You are so silly, although I have to say that I didn't figure you to be the type to go jumping on the back of a motorcycle and riding off into the night like some kind of Hells Angel."
Chloe brought her hands together. It was clear Taylor saw everything.
"I'm so sorry. I know I crossed the line." She had. She crossed way over the line.
Taylor placed Pisces down on the sofa and came over to Chloe. "What line is this?"
"The one where you're my best friend and I've been seeing your brother behind your back. The thing was, I didn't know that I was seeing him, and I'm not now. So…" Her voice trailed off as she thought about it. She thought about it all, everything. Not just from tonight, but from always. From as far back as she could remember she'd always had feelings for Wade.
"What do you mean you're not now?" Taylor looked concerned.
"Well, um. You know what Wade is like." Chloe knew Taylor knew so she didn't feel bad making any insinuations. "He won't take me seriously."
"Chloe, did he make you feel like that?"
"Oh, no." She shook her head and forced a nervous off-key laugh. "I just know, and it's fine. It is. I thought I'd leave before he had the awkward task of throwing me out." Her mind conjured up an image of Dean throwing her out of his room way back when. Last night with Wade wasn't the same thing, not even close, but she wanted to protect her heart.
"It's fine," she repeated. Chloe might have sounded more believable if that stupid tear hadn't run down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, but it was followed by another one. "Must be my allergies, hay fever." Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Taylor put her arms around her and pulled her in for a comforting hug. "Don't cry, Chloe."
"I'm sorry, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
Taylor pulled away so she could look at her. "Don't apologize. I was just messing around. Chloe, Wade would be the luckiest man alive if he had you, and I would be the happiest sister."
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