Chasing Bliss

by Sabrina A. Eubanks

  “I never thought I’d meet you, Bliss. I would have done everything different if I had known you were waitin’ for me. I swear to God I would have.”

  Bliss nodded. “I know, baby. I believe you.” She put her hand on his face. “Chase, look at me.”

  He closed his eyes and turned his face away. “I can’t. Don’t ask me to.”

  She put her arms around him, and he put his around her and held her tight. “Chase…Cyrus makes you kill people for him, doesn’t he?”

  “Yes.”

  She wasn’t shocked because she already knew it was true. “That’s why you’re always fighting with him, isn’t it?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “You hurt a few people that night at Cyrus’s opening, didn’t you, baby?”

  He took a deep breath. “Yes.”

  “What about Wolf? Did you do that?”

  He didn’t answer that right away. The story had been in the paper for two days, and it was a gruesome tale. “Yes. Yes, Bliss. Please don’t ask me any more questions. Please.”

  She put a hand on either side of his face and made him look at her. “We can’t take back what’s already happened, but we can always try to do better. No more, Chase. No more.”

  He nodded, and that was good enough for her—at least for the moment.

  “Good,” Bliss said. She undid the belt to her robe and let it fall to the floor, smiling at him. “Now show me how much you love me.”

  They were an hour late to their own brunch.

  Chapter 20

  Chase couldn’t believe it was all for real. It was the best thing that had ever happened to him, but he kept waiting for the rug to be snatched from under him. He convinced himself that things couldn’t possibly be that perfect, even if it was only for this one moment in time. Chase had wanted something small and intimate—and technically, it still was, he supposed—but thanks to the former Bliss Riley, fifty people had shown up to watch him marry his bride in the sand.

  Bliss had been his wife for four hours. Night had fallen, and Chase thought their little party would have thinned out by now, but every single guest was still there, dancing, eating, and drinking under their big tent on the beach. Finally, though, he found a moment to himself and retreated from the epicenter of the party.

  He took off his tie and his jacket to his white linen Armani suit and draped them over the back of a chair. He took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, sat down by himself, and watched Bliss dance with Corey. Chase sat back in his chair and undid the first two buttons of his shirt. He smiled and sipped his champagne. Bliss looked beautiful. Corey was swirling her around in her simple Vera Wang gown. She had flowers in her hair, and she was smiling at Corey like he was her new best friend. Chase couldn’t wait to be alone with her. A hand fell on his shoulder, and he looked up. Bliss’s father was standing over him, smiling.

  “Can I sit with you, son, or do you want to be alone?”

  Chase laughed and sat up in his seat. “I definitely don’t. Come on and have a seat.”

  Lewis Riley sat down next to his brand new son-in-law and gave him a look. “You know, when Bliss called us last week, the very last thing I expected to hear was that she was getting married today. I was very surprised.”

  Chase smiled. “Why’s that?”

  “‘Cause from what I understand, you two haven’t been dating that long.”

  Chase frowned thoughtfully. “To tell you the truth, Mr. Riley, I, uh…I don’t think me and Bliss really dated. I mean, we went out and stuff, but dated? Nah, not us.”

  Lewis frowned. “What does that mean?”

  Chase smiled and leaned toward him. He looked him in the eye. “It means we didn’t have time for all that dating stuff. We were too busy falling in love and tryin’ to get here, where we are right now.” Chase looked at him seriously. “Mr. Riley, I loved Bliss the minute I saw her. I put the idea of us gettin’ married out there to her a week after I met her. The only thing that would have stopped me from marryin’ Bliss was a flat-out refusal from her. I’m a lucky man, though, because she loves me as much as I love her.” Chase couldn’t seem to stop smiling, but for once, it wasn’t for a bad reason.

  Lewis tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Nobody wants to tell me, but I picked it out of the air that Bliss is pregnant. Is that true?”

  Chase nodded, still smiling. “Yeah, it’s true. I did it, and it wasn’t a mistake. We love each other, Mr. Riley. You can relax.”

  Lewis Riley stared at the handsome, brash young man and made his own evaluation. Finally, he smiled at Chase and extended his hand. “Well, all right then. I guess you’ve told me everything I wanted to hear. I like you, son…and please, call me Lewis.”

  Chase shook his hand just as Corey brought Bliss back and plopped her in his lap. “Your wife is wearin’ me out, bro. Your turn.”

  Lewis stood up and pulled Bliss off Chase’s lap, smiling. “I’ll take this one with your permission.”

  Chase nodded. “You got it.”

  Bliss planted a kiss on him first. “Gotta dance with my daddy! Be right back.”

  Corey sat down next to Chase and sighed. “I’m happy for you and Bliss, Chase.”

  Chase looked over at his brother and smiled. He thought he’d never speak on it. Some things you didn’t have to say out loud, but there it was. “Thanks, Corey.”

  “You’re welcome, ‘cause I almost stepped to her when she showed up late to that interview.”

  Chase sipped his champagne. “I know.”

  Corey looked at him carefully. “Then I guess I don’t have to say anything else.”

  “Not a word. I’ve always known you had a crush on Bliss.”

  Corey smiled, and it was a little woeful. “Maybe, but I’m glad you got some happiness, Chase. I know how dark it’s been for you. I love you, man.”

  Chase smiled and grabbed the back of his neck affectionately. “I love you, too, Corey. Don’t come sniffin’ ‘round my wife, though, or I’ll have to beat your ass.”

  Corey laughed. “Don’t worry, Chase. I’d never even think about doin’ you greasy like that. Cyrus, maybe, but not me. Speaking of Cyrus—”

  Chase sat back in his chair and rolled his eyes in exasperation. “I wasn’t, Corey, and don’t be bringin’ him up. If you notice, he wasn’t invited. I don’t want to think about his ass, especially not today.”

  Corey leaned forward. “Yeah, but Chase, Cyrus has been blowin’ my phone up since we left town. He been callin’ you too?”

  Chase felt himself getting angry, and he leaned forward too. “I really wouldn’t know. I got married today, Corey. I wasn’t tryin’ to take a call from Cyrus in the middle of the ceremony.”

  “He’s gonna be real pissed that he ain’t here, Chase.”

  Chase laughed. “That nigga shot me in the chest, Corey. He didn’t want to come.”

  Corey shrugged with one shoulder, looking at Chase like he was scared to voice his opinion, but he did it anyway. “He didn’t really shoot you, Chase. He was drunk, and you had a vest on, so—”

  Chase laughed again. “He did shoot me, Corey. He did! How can you sit there and say he didn’t? You were there! Matter of fact, he would have shot you if I hadn’t stepped in front of you, and like you said, you wasn’t wearin’ no vest.”

  “Yeah, but Chase, Cyrus was—”

  Chase banged his fist on the table. “No, Corey!” He yelled at him and instantly regretted it—not just because of the look on Corey’s face, but also because everything in his immediate vicinity came to a screeching halt. Bliss stopped dancing with her father, people turned to look, and even J.T., Tasha, and Dee gawked at him from halfway across the room. He brought his shit down 1,000 at once. Chase put his hand on Corey’s shoulder and spoke into his ear. “I don’t want to hear Cyrus’s name again until we get back to New York. Do you understand me, Corey? I mean it.”

  Corey looked at the floor. “But—”

  “I mean it, Corey.”r />
  Corey nodded reluctantly. “Okay, Chase. I’m sorry. It’s just—”

  “I know, Corey, I know. It’s gonna be okay. Just stop it now. For me, all right?”

  “You got it.”

  Chase rubbed his shoulder. “Good. All right, then.” He gave Corey’s shoulder a squeeze and walked out of the tent to smooth himself out. He knew Corey’s only intention had been to keep them together or at least talking, but Cyrus was the last person he wanted to think about on his wedding day.

  Cyrus. That nigga had shot him like he was a dog on the street. If he hadn’t been wearing that Kevlar, he would have been dead. Cyrus had meant to kill him. After everything they’d gone through together—good and bad, right or wrong—he couldn’t believe Cyrus wanted to kill his own brother. Cyrus clearly would have no problem killing Corey either. His brothers, yet he didn’t give a fuck about them. Chase had always suspected it, and now he knew for sure. Nothing says, “Fuck you” like a bullet in the chest. Chase smiled cynically, put his hands in his pockets, and started walking in the sand.

  He hadn’t wanted to think about Cyrus. He’d pushed him out of his mind every time he’d popped up since the day he’d shot him. With everything else going on, he’d managed to do that pretty well—until Corey unexpectedly brought that nigga up right in the middle of his wedding reception. Chase was pretty sure Cyrus had blown his phone up too. He’d called him every day—sometimes two or three times a day—and Chase always let that shit go straight to voicemail. He had absolutely no desire to talk to Cyrus. He was still trying to decide on the way he’d hold him in his heart. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why he still loved Cyrus at all or even cared about what he thought, especially since Cyrus had done so many things to make him justifiably hate his ass—things that made him want to smoke his ass.

  Chase heard something behind him and turned around sharply. Bliss was running across the sand, holding up the front of her wedding dress so she wouldn’t trip over it. He frowned and closed the distance between them. “Hey, Bliss! What are you doing out here running in the sand? You can’t be doin’ that.”

  She was a little winded, but it didn’t stop her from talking. “I was worried about you! Why did you just run out of there like that? Are you okay?”

  “I didn’t run out of there. I just came out here to get some air.”

  “What happened between you and Corey?”

  Chase shrugged indifferently. “Nothin’. He started talkin’ about Cyrus, and he wouldn’t shut up. Not today, Bliss. Cyrus has no place here, even in conversation.”

  Bliss touched his face. “I’m sorry, baby. I really am.”

  He smiled at her. “It’s okay. It really doesn’t matter. Nothing really matters except what goes on in this little circle we made—you, me, and whoever is in here,” he said, touching her flat stomach.

  She smiled at him. “Don’t forget about Uncle Corey.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, Uncle Corey too.”

  “You say the sweetest things, Chase.”

  He looked down at her standing there, still a bit breathless with flowers in her hair, looking beautiful in her wedding dress. She was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen, and she was his. God had let him have this one, but he wondered what he’d have to pay for it. Whatever it was, the price tag would come later, if it came at all. There was always the hope that He would just let Chase have that one blessing on the house. Maybe Bliss would be his first freebie. But regardless, at that moment, he was just grateful.

  Chase pulled Bliss into his arms and kissed his bride with a sweet, smoldering kiss that quickly turned into a raging inferno. There was so much passion between them. Chase wanted to slip into her right there on that beach. He ran his hands over the soft fabric of her gown, wanting to tear it away and get at her even softer skin. His fingers found her breasts as Bliss’s hand slipped into his pants.

  He took his lips away from hers, but not too far. “I think we should stop. We got a tent full of people not so far away.”

  “I don’t care, Chase.”

  He knew the look in her eye, and he wanted to please her. He smiled at her and took her hand. “Time to ditch the party.”

  Bliss grinned at him like he was a bad boy. “We can’t do that.”

  “Yes we can.”

  They walked back to the tent, and Chase picked up his half-empty glass and grabbed a fork off the nearest table, clinking against the glass to get everyone’s attention. He stepped on the platform where the deejay was and made his request and then he spoke into the mike. “Me and Bliss would like to thank y’all for comin’ so far to help us celebrate our marriage. It’s getting late, and I’m dyin’ to be alone with my wife.” The crowd snickered and cheered, and Chase smiled. “That’s right. That’s why we’re leaving. We got music, we got food, and we got plenty of liquor, so y’all keep partying and sendin’ us your blessings until it all runs out. We’re gonna dance with y’all one more time!”

  He stepped down from the platform and took Bliss into his arms as Mint Condition started singing “Pretty Brown Eyes.” Chase was a good dancer, and so was Bliss. He twirled her around the room much better than Corey had. Their guests clapped and shouted their approval. Chase dipped her near the end of the song and came back up kissing her. They stopped dancing and stood right in the middle of the floor, kissing like no one else was there. Everyone started clapping again.

  Chase stepped away from her but kept holding her hand. “Okay. That’s all you get to see. We’ll see you in the morning.”

  They left quickly, and Chase picked her up when they got out of the elevator.

  “Chase, you don’t have to do that.” Bliss giggled.

  “Sure I do. The key card’s in my pocket.”

  Bliss opened the door, and Chase carried her into the bedroom. He put Bliss on the bed, unbuttoned his shirt, and took off his pants. Bliss made a move to take her dress off, but Chase stopped her. He pushed her dress up and slid her panties off. Bliss looked at him strangely when he put them in his shirt pocket. Chase put his hands on her knees and parted her thighs. “It’s a memento. You save your dress, and I’ll save your panties.”

  Bliss laughed. “You are so bad, Chase. I love it!”

  He kissed the inside of her thigh, and she trembled. Chase raised an eyebrow. “You like that?”

  “Oh yes,” she answered with a shudder.

  “Then you’ll really like this,” he whispered and put his mouth on the most tender part of her body. Bliss cried out, and when she arched her back, Chase put his hands underneath her and had a vivid flashback of licking the top off her ice cream. He worked on her just like that—like she was the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted.

  Bliss put her hands in his hair as her hips moved in rhythm with his tongue. Her texture changed as she did that little screamy thing she always did when she came. He felt the softest part of her throbbing against his mouth, and the feel of it was so erotic he got chills and shuddered himself. He had to have her; he simply couldn’t wait any longer.

  Chase moaned when he slid into her. She was so soft, hot, and slippery it took his breath away. He had one knee on either side of her, and he gasped when she brought her legs together. It was a smooth and exquisite pleasure. He wasn’t stroking her like he usually did; instead, it was a sweetly spicy, slow grind. He didn’t want to stop. He could have made love to her for hours.

  Bliss shifted and parted her thighs, allowing Chase to slip in even further. She gripped his biceps and brought her hips up, grinding as hard as she could. They stared into each other’s eyes. Small, passionate sounds that weren’t quite words rushed breathlessly through their lips. Bliss’s hands dropped to his ass and pulled him in, making him drop the grind and start pumping. Bliss bore down on him and sucked him in like a vacuum.

  She screamed his name, and all Chase’s muscles weakened at once, as all the blood in his body seemed to drop to one place. He pounded into her helplessly as his arms trembled and Bliss rained down on hi
m, squeezing her body around him, warm and slick.

  He dropped his head and came hard, taking great pleasure in every thrust, relishing the fact that Bliss was his wife and he was filling her up with himself and loving her like he’d never loved another person. Chase kissed her long and deep, and just when he thought he was spent, they started all over again.

  Chapter 21

  If he could have turned back the hands of time, Cyrus might have thought about doing a lot of things differently. He never would have opened that godforsaken club, and he never would have asked—let alone damned near begged—Chase to kill Wolf. If time were retractable, he wouldn’t have to worry about Chase greasing Wolf because he never would have fucked with him in the first place. The sad fact is that you couldn’t go back. It’s very rare that anybody gets a do-over, and Cyrus thought that was too damn bad.

  At the moment, he had a lot to think about. For one thing, it was looking very seriously like Khalid might die. That fuck J.T. had been right, as much as Cyrus hated to admit it. Cyrus knew he should have at least dropped Khalid at a hospital, even if he couldn’t stay with him. Unfortunately, that was not what happened. Khadijah told Cyrus she would call the police on him if he didn’t get the fuck out her apartment after he shot Chase. Cyrus had called her bluff, and she’d called 911. Cyrus got the fuck out of there quick, thanks to that crazy bitch.

  From what he could gather, Khadijah had let Monty take a look at Khalid at his own insistence. Khadijah didn’t want to get the cops involved, so she’d relented, against her better judgment. Monty got the bullet out, but two days later, Khalid’s shoulder was running pus, and he had a fever of 104.