"Yes, this will make my last two days here easier to accept."
Accept. He had to accept it, because she seemed to. Tomorrow night they were going their separate ways. Maybe they'd see each other once in a while, but their schedules were damn near opposite.
But he hated to let her leave, didn't want to let this go. He shook his head and tugged her against him. He had so much to say.
A doctor walked by, stopped and looked in the window then shuffled away.
She stepped back. “We should go."
"All right."
They left the hospital, making small talk as he drove to their hotel. They were both quiet through the lobby and up the elevator. At her door, he asked, “You wanna talk now?"
She nodded, and heaved a sigh. “Yes."
Reno handed Chase her key card, and he opened the door, pushing it wide for her to go in ahead of him.
She stepped inside, flipped on a light, and heard the door close behind them. Shrugging out of her coat, she set it and her purse on the table and turned to face him. She should be the one to start this conversation, to apologize and assure him she wasn't really the insane woman she'd appeared to be in his trailer yesterday. But no opening line popped into her head.
He stayed back in the shadows, staring at her. “You look great tonight."
"Thanks.” Reno licked her lips and tasted the red, smudge-proof lipstick. She smoothed her hands over her hips, the red satin dress was a little wrinkled, but she felt sexy in it, perched on three-inch black pumps.
He didn't move.
She gestured toward the living room. “Beer?"
He shook his head. “I'm not comin’ any closer until I know where I stand."
After all their long talks, she knew she was dealing with a man who viewed life as black and white. And this was definitely gray. “It's not that simple, Chase. I—"
"Just yes or no, Reno. Will you give me another chance?” His voice softened, and his lips pressed tightly together.
She appreciated that he didn't just seduce his way into her bedroom. He'd taken the time to bring her to the hospital with him, and he let her steer this conversation. “On one condition."
"What's that?"
"That we sit and talk about what happened."
Using an index finger, he pushed his hat back on his head. The light hit his face, and illuminated his grin. “Whatever you want, Reno."
God, she loved it when he said her name, deep and slow. She held out her hand. “C'mon in and set a spell.” She mimicked his accent.
He took her hand and she led him to the living room.
"I could use that beer now, if you're still offering."
She opened the mini-fridge. “Any of these look good?"
He reached in for a long-neck bottle. “Thanks. You want one?"
She shook her head then walked across the room to the couch. “I had wine at the cocktail party this afternoon, and it just about put me out cold.” She sat and crossed her legs.
He was frozen, the beer cap in his hand, his eyes intense.
She bit her cheek to keep from smiling. Evidently, he liked what he saw: the high heels, short skirt, and what Tracy called her “really fine, ass-hugging dress."
He blinked a couple times, took a long pull on his beer, then strode over to sit beside her.
She rounded up her courage and prattled out the apology she'd rehearsed all afternoon. “Chase, I'm sorry I freaked out last night. I drank a little too much beer, and then the tequila, then seeing that drawer full of condoms—"
"Let me explain—"
"Now, wait. I'm not asking for explanations. Just hear me out, okay?"
He nodded, but looked like it took a lot of self-control for him to keep his mouth closed.
"I'm sure you...” she shrugged her eyebrows, “...see a lot of action, with all the buckle bunnies."
He furrowed his brows. “Buckle bunnies? Those are women who chase after rodeo cowboys.” He grabbed his belt, showing her an average-size brass buckle. “I don't wear a big buckle."
He sounded so sincere she had to smile. “Okay, groupies, then. But let me finish."
Exhaling loudly, he leaned back and put an arm across the top of the couch, but didn't say anything. Was he complying with her request, or was there no way for him to deny he entertained groupies?
"Anyway, I'm not asking you for any sort of commitment. But I'd like to ask for a few concessions."
"Okay."
She fidgeted. He made her nervous, sitting there staring at her, looking like he was ready to explode. “If we...” She took a breath. “If we become lovers, I won't share you. No bunnies or groupies, or old girlfriend booty calls. Just us, until you move on to someone else.” She choked on the last words, but they needed to be said because she knew it would happen. Eventually he'd get bored with her, meet somebody flashier who'd turn his head, and he'd be gone.
All of a sudden, he looked very angry, his jaw clenched, and he loudly set down his beer.
"And privacy. I'd like to keep us out of the tabloids, if possible.” She gestured flightily with her hand, getting it out before she lost her nerve. “I'm not saying we have to be secretive, but I don't want to be plastered on the front of every tabloid the way you...” Oops. That just slipped out.
He groaned quietly, put one booted foot onto the opposite knee. It had to be killing him to keep quiet, and he looked madder than hell.
"And I guess that's all I can think of right now, other than your needing to work on your dirty talk. I was uncomfortable with the swearing and talking down to me.” She shook her head. “I'm not used to that kind of thing.” Not used to men like Chase at all, really. She'd had four serious boyfriends that she'd slept with, and their dirty talk was suitable for a Disney film compared to his smut in the trailer.
Chase stayed silent.
She asked, “Is that all okay?"
His eyes flashed danger. “Well, you said your piece, now I'm gonna say mine."
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Four
Chase stood and walked across the room leaving Reno sitting on the couch staring at his back. All of a sudden, she could use a drink.
When he turned to face her, he spread his feet apart, his hands fisted at his sides. “Last night, you wouldn't let me explain, and I'm damn sure going to set you straight now.” His low voice rumbled.
Reno swallowed, shaking a little inside. Not from fear, but desire. Something about the way he took control made her feel secure and...mushy inside. She didn't expect him to grovel, but he came on surprisingly forceful. She hadn't known that quality in a man before.
"The condoms were a gag. My drummer stuffed them in that drawer a couple months ago, and told me to use them all before filming ended. Did you see how many were in there?"
Reno nodded and opened her mouth to answer.
"All of them. I didn't use any.” He walked toward her. “You wanna know why?"
She just blinked and drank in his intensity.
He paused a second, then said, “When I met you, I knew I'd found someone special. But I didn't want to believe it at first. I had to test it, and poke at it, and stir it up some, but you're real.” His brow furrowed, and his gaze bore into hers. “You're as nice as you seem, and as smart as they come, and way too good for a hick like me."
"Too good? No, Chase—” She stood and reached her hand out toward him, but he backed away.
"Let me get this said. I lose my concentration when you're close."
Reno clasped her hands in front of her. She wanted so badly to be in his arms, she pressed her knees together to keep from running to him.
"I've been lonely my whole life, Reno. I thought it would never end, but then I met you.” He sucked in a breath and heaved it out. “Remember that first day we were introduced? We talked for an hour, and I couldn't believe my luck. You're beautiful and your body is fantastic, but you're a good person. And that's what makes me crazy for you.” He walked back to the bar, rese
ttling his hat on his head.
Her knees turned to pudding and she sank to the couch, her head spinning from his surprising admission. What was he saying? It sounded like...he loved her?
He leaned back against the bar, hands on the countertop, elbows bent. “There hasn't been anyone else since that day, Reno.” His eyes darkened, and his lips thinned. “You've got to believe me when I tell you how important you are to me."
A cry escaped her lips. How could this be happening? All those months, she worked at being his friend, sensing he was as alone and lost in L.A. as she was. But recognizing that his fame put him out of her reach, she was okay with that. And now he wanted more. But was there any way to make it last? Their lives were so different. So many obstacles stood between them.
He crossed his arms. “I'm not saying I expect you to feel the same, not right away, anyhow.” His voice had changed, became unsure, and his words touched her soul.
"Chase.” She did feel the same, but the admission stuck in her chest. She wished she were impulsive enough to scream, “I love you, Chase Tanner!” but this was too quick. Things like this didn't happen to her. Fairy tales were for dreamers, not realists, and she was the most cautious, pragmatic, sensible person she knew.
His arms dropped to his sides, and he squared his shoulders. “But you don't ever have to worry about my cheating on you, or talking crazy in the bedroom like I did last night. That was stupid of me, and I apologize."
She loved this man. She'd been ready to walk away from it, but now she didn't have to.
He walked toward her and sat on the coffee table in front of her. Taking her hands, he said, “I want to try and make this work.” His eyes darted then stared into hers. “Do you?"
"Chase, yes.” She smiled, and squeezed his hands. Maybe this could work. Maybe it would if she took a chance, became a dreamer. She whispered, “I feel the same about you."
He closed his eyes for a second, then tipping his head back, he shouted, “Yee-haw!” He stood, pulling her up with him. “You've been so closed off lately, I couldn't tell how you felt."
She pressed her hand to his chest over his heart. “I was protecting myself. You're a big country star, and I'm just a farm girl. You're way out of my league."
He shook his head and laughed. “Baby, that's how I feel about you. You're smart, and literate, and you wrote a whole book."
Giggling, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You're right. We're a matched pair, aren't we? Two talented, insecure artists who just happened to bump into each other at the right time."
Tugging her against him, he growled, “Speaking of bumping, we have some unfinished business."
Chase's body heated where Reno pressed against him. He tipped his head and claimed her lips. She was his now, and he meant to stoke her into a blaze that would set the bed on fire. Her kiss was sweet and tender, then he grabbed her ass and squeezed, and suddenly he held a wildcat.
She snagged a fistful of the back of his shirt and tugged up while her other hand slid down his bared back past the waistband of his jeans. Hungrily, her tongue circled his, tickled the roof of his mouth, and retreated.
His tongue followed hers, tasting every inch of her, her teeth, her cheeks, and her pointy little tongue that he wanted down low between his legs, licking his balls. His hips jerked at the thought, and damn it, he'd be coming faster than was respectable, but she had no idea how long it'd been since he'd had a woman. Yeah, since his shitty girlfriend experience with Jorjia two years ago, he'd stuck with groupies and high-class hookers, and women in bars, but they were just distractions. The first time he saw Reno, all that stopped.
She was the woman and his life was changing real damn fast.
Lifting her into his arms, he carried her to the bedroom.
She gazed up at him, her eyes unfocused, her lips parted and swollen from his kisses. “Waited so long for this."
"Too long.” He laid her on the bed and started the striptease he'd perfected over the years. He smoothly pulled off his boots and socks, stuck them in a corner. Then he took off his hat, pulled off his tank top with one hand, and set his hat back on his head.
She turned onto her side, braced her head up on her arm, and smiled. “Do you leave that on?” She pointed to his hat.
He grinned. “For a while yet."
"Mmm.” She practically purred. Like a kitten.
She'd be purring a hell of a lot louder when he got his face in her pussy. A flaming jolt of lust struck his belly, and his breath left him in a huff. Goddamn, he wanted into her curly patch of hair and soft, juicy lips. His erection jerked again, and he smiled and unbuttoned his jeans. Slowly. Watching her greedy eyes follow his moves.
When the last button of his fly popped open, he turned his back to her, flexing his muscles, just in case she wasn't completely turned on yet. Then he slowly tugged his jeans down over his ass, leaving his black low-rise underwear in place.
"Chase, back up here, stud, so I can grab a piece of that."
He looked over his shoulder at her. “You're a naughty girl, aren't you."
Her voice whispered, “I can be a little naughty."
His whole body shook. Shit, she was inexperienced, but she'd totally opened herself to him. How the hell did he get so lucky?
Kicking his jeans off, he turned to face her, his chest bulked up, his arms flexed, and his cock painfully pressing his underwear nearly to the breaking point.
Reno sucked in a breath, and her eyes opened wide. She slithered off the bed, stood stock-still, and unzipped the back of her dress. Then she shimmied to ease it down her body.
A red push-up bra, see-through red underwear, those fuck-me-heels. Damn, he was going to come without even being touched.
She stepped over the red pool of her dress and sashayed toward him, licking her painted lips, the glint in her eyes dangerous.
Chase held his hands out to her, she put her palms against his, then—knelt. His body jerked, nearly poking her in the eye with his shaft. “Reno."
"You're going to like this, Chase, I promise.” She ran her hands up his calves, around his knees to the front of his thighs, then slowly upward until she hit cloth. “I'm going to take these off now...” she slid her fingers under the elastic, “...then I'm going to make you come, cowboy, like you've never come before."
He closed his eyes and tipped his head back, desperately trying to think of something else so he didn't embarrass himself and pop at her first touch. Broken guitar strings. Taxes. His old pickup truck.
She slid his underwear off his hard rod, down his thighs to the floor. “You're beautiful.” Her voice was quiet, almost reverent. Then she took his cock in both her hands.
"Aw, baby.” He looked down at her sexy red lips, so close to his swollen head. His voice was somewhere between begging and ordering. “I can't last much longer."
Licking the tip of his shaft, she purred, “I'll make it fast. This time.” She reached down and grabbed his balls, and at the same time, took half of him into her mouth.
The shock, the pleasure, rocked him, and he touched her hair, fighting the urge to pump in and out of her. Her lips slid up and down, her mouth hot around his shaft, taking him deeper with each stroke. Until his head bumped her throat and he was all the way inside her, and her lips brushed his trimmed pubic hairs.
Then she sucked, and it was a whole new rodeo. Never had a blowjob been this intense. She worked him hard, her tongue pressed along the sensitive vein with each stroke, her cheeks sunken in with the pressure she kept on him.
He held back the orgasm for five long minutes, until the tension at the base of his spine burst through his entire body.
"Ahh, ahh, Reno, I'm going to come.” He warned her so she could back away, but she used two knuckles to rub the sweet spot behind his balls, and she increased the tension of her mouth and hand. He went ape shit. Grabbing her head, he shot his load into her, feeling like it would never stop. His eyes closed and his mind fired rockets that ricocheted through his body.
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It took forever before he'd emptied himself, and could open his eyes again. “Baby."
Backing off slowly, she caressed his rod, squeezed the last drops of cum up his shaft, and carefully licked him clean. Looking up at him, she smiled, her eyes playful. “Okay?"
He collapsed onto his knees and hauled her into his arms, burying his face in her hair, his lungs chugging. “That was incredible.” His body still shook, but something else was going on. A strange feeling crept up on him, slinking out of his heart, and choking him around the throat. What was it? It made him want to...cry?
"Goddamn.” He hadn't meant to say it out loud.
She stiffened and pulled away. “Is something wrong?"
Her eyes were so fearful, it tore at his heart. “Uh uh. Everything's perfect. Sorry I swore.” Using his thumb, he massaged away the worry lines between her brows. “That was good enough to make me smack my granny!"
She shook her head, the worry lines coming back. “Why would you want to smack your grandmother?"
Chase laughed so hard, he fell over onto his side. He was used to dealing with good ol’ boys and Southern belles. His backcountry sayings must sound like a foreign language to a northerner.
She smiled and crawled over next to him then put her hand on his stomach. “I'm missing something here, aren't I?"
He got control for a second, but when he saw her confused, big-eyed grin, he started roaring again. When she threw a leg over him and sat on his belly, he stopped laughing.
"Let me in on the joke."
He lifted himself to sitting, held her hips and slid her down, pressing his now semi-erect cock the length of her pussy, her wet cream dampening his shaft through her thin panties. “It's an old southern saying. Slap your grandma. You say it when something's damn fantastic."
She smiled. “So my little ol’ blow job was that good?” She tried for a Southern accent, but it didn't quite work. Setting her finger on his lips, she said, “Sorry, if you promise not to swear so much, I promise not to butcher the southern patois."
He nodded, but didn't know what the hell a “pat-wah” was. “Deal."
Her hands glided over his shoulders, exploring, then down his arms and up his back.
Chase and Seduction Page 4