by Ciara Cole
It was happening already. Emily already knew of an invitation or two not being offered to some event Chace would normally be a guest at. Chace never seemed bothered in the least by the supposed slight. Much as he needed to network due to his business, he wasn’t about to think the world would end because he wasn’t invited to a function or two. He told Emily as much, but deep down, it didn’t do a lot to allay her worries.
I just have to get better at concealing them, Emily thought with a sigh. She’d taken the bold step to get back with Chace – the last thing she should be doing was to second guess anything. She’d be blind and stupid not to realize that Chace loved her as much as she did him.
Maybe this time, that would be enough.
If only there wasn’t that lingering voice in the shadows telling her she was wrong – dead wrong.
Chapter Three
Emily ducked her nose into her glass of the most exquisite Muscadet, momentarily avoiding that piercing gray gaze. Chace chuckled and reached out a hand to rest over hers on the table. They were at their favorite restaurant, known for its modern, casual dining and hour-long queues due to the fact they didn’t take reservations. It was all worth it, though, thanks to the beautifully conceived food, patient waiters, and luxuriously comfortable interior.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, one dark brow arched as he compelled her to meet his eyes.
Emily sighed, setting down her glass. “It’s nothing.”
“Uh oh, telltale lip biting,” Chace noted, teasing smile evident as Emily unthinkingly sunk her teeth into her bottom lip.
Her hand slid from underneath his, her neck feeling warm from that hot, sexy stare of his. “I’m still so embarrassed by my behavior last night. I honestly don’t know what came over me.”
“Emily, relax.” Chace sat back in his chair. “There’s bound to be ups and downs. Every relationship has them. I never imagined any of this would be easy or uncomplicated. I’m not mad at you, Emily, I never was. I only want you to have a little more faith in me. That I know what I’m doing.”
“I can see that. I know this is no big deal for you,” Emily said, taking a breath to strengthen her voice. “You’re gorgeous and successful. You know exactly who you are. And you have the whole world at your feet.”
“Emily…”
Emily’s hand indicated the environment of the restaurant and the classy clientele. “This…is your world. I don’t know if I can ever really fit in. But I realize none of that matters.”
A soft, warm smile curved her lips. “I love every moment we’re together. You challenge me to keep standing up for myself. You tease me, make me laugh…you fill up my whole world till all I can see or feel is you. I guess I’m just so afraid to ever lose that.”
Her voice had grown smoky, barely above a whisper. Emily didn’t look away from Chace, seeing the heated gleam in his eyes as he drank in her words. She’d never even planned to say all that, but it had just come out. She felt like a weight had been moved off her chest.
“If we weren’t in public, you know what I’d want to do to you?” growled Chace.
Emily could see the waiter arriving with their food and could barely sit still, squirming in her seat and coughing slightly behind her hand. “Mmm, I can take a guess,” she said, feeling a certain part of her anatomy twitch, its folds dripping within the lacy confines.
“Can you?” teased Chace, with that look edged with spiked lust – one he barely curbed as their meal was set before them. With the waiter gone, Chace added, “Even I don’t know sometimes just what I’ll think up.”
That had Emily wriggling even more in her seat. Oh, she knew quite well how inventive Chace would be. He was definitely Mr. Unpredictable…always discovering new ways to blow the lid right off her brain. Last night had been the perfect example. She wasn’t sure what could ever top that, but something told her Chace had no problem surpassing expectations each time.
Even just sitting there, he made her so moist for him.
No other male in the room could compare, ensuring that Emily only had eyes for him. Eyes she now roved down his impeccably styled frame, looking like he’d just stepped out from last night’s episode of Mad Men, to where his hands rested on the table. She wanted those sexy hands on her as soon as possible – just picturing it left her slightly breathless. Those fine and strong fingers…lighter skinned against the deep brown tones of her flesh, kneading and stroking, teasing her infinitely.
It really was too bad we’re in public, Emily decided. But soon…
Emily smiled to herself, definitely knowing that the wait would make it even more explosive as an inner shiver of anticipation sliced through her.
“You’re hot,” Emily finally said, holding Chace’s gaze and letting him see her molten desire before she suddenly grinned. “But I’m hungry.”
Chace chuckled deeply. “Well, I can’t argue with that. You’ll definitely need sustenance, considering what I have in mind for later.”
Ooh, now he really has me in heat, thought Emily, in between grabbing her glass for another needed sip. That was when her cell rang, and she instinctively answered it. “Hello?” she said, but all she got was silence. She said “hello” again, but got no answer. With a shrug, she ended the call.
“This is the last time I answer a call with the number hidden,” she said crossly.
“Does that happen often?” Chace asked with a quizzical frown.
Emily nodded. “It’s happened twice this week already. I didn’t think much of it before, but now it’s getting plain annoying. I know there’s someone else on the line, but they just don’t say anything. I thought it might be a wrong connection. But it could be someone playing a prank…”
“Or it could just be nothing,” Chace said, in that reassuring way of his that set her so much at ease.
Emily sighed. “You’re right. After that episode with Amanda, I think I got a little paranoid.” Her smile was dazzling as she leaned forward, balancing her chin on her clasped hands. “Why don’t we go see your parents this weekend?”
Chace looked surprised and pleased. Emily felt slightly guilty, thinking how she’d been avoiding another visit to the Hammonds’. But with the wedding getting closer, Emily was going to start making more of an effort. What did she have to be afraid of? Her man had eyes for no one but her and had even insisted they move in together. What more encouragement did she need that this was perfectly meant to be?
And yet…
Chace always seemed so sure about their future, but would he always be that way? When people around him kept trying to convince him that Emily was all about the money and the social climb…would they somehow finally get to sidetrack him enough to doubt her, even once?
Emily never wanted to find out – so later that night, if she clung to him too tightly or felt his touch more frenziedly, she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t help that everything felt all the more intense knowing none of it was truly guaranteed. Yes, she had the big fat rock on her finger, the devotion of her man, and the hottest nights of her life in the past two months, but the more she felt she had it all, the deeper the thorn of fear dug.
What would it take? What lengths would she have to cross before Emily could truly believe this was forever?
She couldn’t take another heartbreak, not again. After her last failed relationship, she’d given up on love. But Chace had opened her up like a flower, slowly helping her let go of her suppressed emotions and desires.
She was never ever going to let anyone – or anything, come between them.
Chapter Four
There was simply no getting used to this, decided Emily in awe as she took in her fiancé’s unclad, masculine beauty. Chace had undressed and was headed straight for the bed – to her.
She lay there mesmerized in just her underwear as she drank in the vision before her. Chace’s startling gray eyes held hers fiercely and she roved her gaze over his sexy lips, chiseled jawline and muscular shoulders. He had the pecs and arms that reminded
her he took his boxing workouts pretty damn seriously, not to forget those eight-pack abs so delicious they’d make a nun weep in appreciation. All Emily had to do was look irresistibly further down beyond the perfect tapered waist to his lower half and her inner tigress purred. Magnificent.
“See anything you like?” Chace teased, cocky grin flashing.
“Mmm, you know I do, bad boy. It’s like looking at a masterpiece,” sighed Emily, arms outstretched.
Her fiancé slid easily on top of her welcoming frame, his hand trailing over her face, neck and breasts. “You’re a masterpiece.”
Emily’s heart leapt with pleasure at those words. Chace was half-pinning her with his weight, just enough to make her feel light-headed and helpless. He was so big, strong, and freaking sexy. Three months and she was still into him like love crack.
Chace had a wicked smile, his silver eyes glinting even more. “You want to try something different?”
With him settled between her legs and that rock-hard part of him so big and turgid like it would drill a hole through her, Emily couldn’t help but shiver. She brought her hands to the sides of his face, her brown eyes dancing as they met his. Damn, he was so fine. His body was such perfection. She was practically like melted chocolate underneath him, her submission plain to see.
Taking that as his cue, Chace straightened up till he had his legs folded beneath him. Just anticipating what he might have in store had Emily getting wetter, her stiffened clit probing against her panties. Chace soon rid her of them, slowly and torturously rolling them off her lifted hips and down her shapely legs. He didn’t take off her bra and instead scooped out her breasts, exposing her pointy, engorged nipples. He pinched them, pulling and twisting till Emily was one fine-tuned bowstring of arousal, panting for him as he fondled her unhurriedly.
Then he let go of her nipples and took hold of her calves to guide her legs up, stretching them wide apart. Emily could swear Chace went even slower, all the more to excite her. Well, it was damned working. She was panting so hard she was getting dizzy. She felt his hands hitch the back of her knees before he raised her legs over his shoulders. This elevated her ass high off the mattress, giving Chace a perfect view of her trimmed mound with its different tones of pink and honey. It also afforded him ultimate access within her sizzling center.
With that same painstaking patience that drove Emily wild, Chace began to slide his thick, hard member into her. Emily gasped, the all-new angle bringing a different edginess. His first thrust didn’t go all the way, yet it was enough to jar her slippery walls right to the very neck of her core. Letting out a throbbing, animal groan, Emily clutched hard into the sheets.
“Ahh.” Chace drew out a harsh breath, pulling his length out of her tight, hot folds. Teasing her with just enough, barely enough. Then he jammed back inside of her again, while still holding back. In this position, Emily didn’t even want to imagine what a full-on penetration would do, especially with his impressive size. Yet why did that prospect make her heart race and her pulpy sex drip excessively?
On and on Chace rocked in and out of her, moving in a dance Emily matched with fluid little rotations of her full hips. Chace groaned his pleasure, eyes blazing hard into hers. Secret corners of her inner walls were ignited by his masterful thrusts. The rapture became unbearable and bordered on agony.
Oh shit. This was so good, thought Emily. Bubblegum colors danced around in her mind’s eye. Here was bliss on another level of experience…making her say his name like a mantra. “Chace. Oh, Chace.” She was totally at his mercy.
“Think you’re ready for more?” Chace asked. “You want it, baby?”
“I want it all,” breathed Emily. God, he was driving her insane. She wouldn’t think of even asking him to be careful. He knew her threshold, and yet also knew how to push her limits. Knowing that Emily trusted him and gave him full control, seemed to turn Chace on to the max and she loved the notion of her submitting and yet being on equal footing with him from their give and take.
Ohh, and she finally had no problem taking his everything, feeling him forcefully plunge to the hilt inside her till her swollen nether lips suctioned round his thickened base. They both swore, at the same time, and it would have made Emily laugh if she wasn’t too busy being stretched open. It was like being run right through, sending a shockwave of ecstasy through her body. Whatever discomfort was there, or even pain, gave way to something else, something so incredibly fantastic. It had tears pricking the corner of her eyes as Emily’s hands clutched desperately to reach for the headboard, the sheets, anything at all.
“Sure you can handle this? Want me to stop?” demanded Chace, watching the play of shocked emotions running over her face. Even as he spoke, he rammed himself deeper, harder. No one had ever taken her like Chace was taking her now and damned if Emily would dream of asking him to stop. Like hell.
“Don’t stop,” Emily managed, fingers raking at the pillow above her head. She loved this, Chace claiming her the way he wanted, every muscle in his body flexing with the force of his movements. Her body was gradually adjusting to the punishing invasion, though it was clear she couldn’t hold out for long. She wished she could stay on this jagged precipice, continuously scaling the heights to that endless peak. But Emily knew it was impossible. The perceptual input to her mind, body, and even her skin was too intense to endure for much longer.
Chace took in the sight of her ecstasy-filled expression and the way her breath caught with each deep thrust. “Are you going to come for me, beautiful?”
Emily’s head was tossing side to side, body arching steeply off the bed till just her shoulders rested on the mattress. Seeming none too pleased with her lack of reply, Chace halted his stroke, right when he could feel her begin to pulse into her peak. He watched Emily strain for release, hips gliding invitingly – beseeching him.
Chace leaned in just that bit closer, fingers tightening on her ankles. “I expect an answer whenever I ask a question,” he growled, gently nipping at her mouth. “Understand?”
Emily’s half-smile turned into a soft moan as he slid in just the tip. “Oohhh. I mean, yes.” She barely got the word out through her pleading whimpers.
“Tell me what you want, Emily.” Releasing his hold on her hips, he fisted the base of his stem, teasing her slit with only the friction of slick, heated flesh on flesh. It was clear he wasn’t giving her what she needed unless she told him what he wanted to hear.
“I want to come!” Emily cried out, fisting the sheets tightly. “Please make me come, Chace.” Please please please, she’d have added if his lips hadn’t crushed to hers, in the same moment that he slammed into her core. She was folded almost in half now, with Chace leaning in so close, her knees reached her chest, ankles draped over his shoulders. It was carnal, untamed, and lush. Wet smacking noises of passion filled the room, intermingling with their mutual groans.
Chace soon had his hands around Emily’s wrists, pinning them down on either side of her head as he bent towards her breasts to trap a thick brown nipple in his mouth.
“Chace. Oh God. I’m going to come!”
Popping her nipple from his mouth, Chace lifted up to look into Emily’s face with gleaming eyes and he murmured a single word. “Come.”
Emily did just that, crying out his name loudly as her whole body did a full recoil. Still Chace rammed into her, feeling her walls grip him strongly until the ripple effect had him roaring as he drilled his release deep into her channel.
Chapter Five
Emily checked the time and thankfully, she wasn’t late. She was having lunch with Chace today, the plan being to meet up with him at work.
Emily always felt awed walking into Chace’s ultra-modern offices, its set-up very hip yet no-nonsense. She had an idea of what Chace did, after all she’d read all about him and he always took time to explain what it entailed being founder of a business that was internationally known, handling investments worth more zeros than Emily cared to count.
Emily did know that Chace had ditched the chance of taking the helm at his family-owned conglomerate and instead pursued his entrepreneurship dream. Now he was on the Forbe’s self-made billionaire list – one of the very few under 40 and all from his achievements as a startup CEO.
Emily’s head had spun when she’d found out the story how Chace’s first startup had sold for hundreds of millions of dollars – and turned up to one half of his employees into millionaires. Emily thought it was impressive that he would be the kind of CEO who didn’t think just of himself, but also created amazing financial outcomes for the people he worked with.
There was still a lot about it all she didn’t understand, but then Chace had explained to her that in the long-term, having a generous mentality paid off. “The secret behind staying in an industry for the long run is realizing that the most important factor is the loyalty and success of those on your team. Acting greedy is being too near-sighted and I’d rather not be guilty of that.”
Anyone would think he could afford to be so liberal since his family was practically swimming in dough, but Emily knew in her heart that wasn’t it. Chace was genuinely the kind of person who liked to impact people’s lives. He really did care about the fate of his employees, especially whenever a big investor was involved in a startup’s acquisition.
It wasn’t hard to see why I’m so in love with this man, thought Emily with an inner smile, walking into his office and closing the door with her back resting against it.
Chace was standing behind his desk, talking on the phone. She heard the name “Jan” and figured it was Chace’s business partner he always kept in touch with who handled the New York section. His eyes trained on Emily and she saw him quickly note her attire. She was a jeans and sneakers kind of girl, but she always liked making an effort for her man at times like this.