by Anthology
Le sigh. Leigh’s heart did a funny little staccato beat in her chest, and she realized that while it was beyond freaking crazy - not to mention totally out of character for her - she knew in her gut that she could trust Chase. “Okay.”
“Okay? So backing out okay?” he asked, a bit disappointed.
“Oh, no. Not backing out. I mean you’re okay, so I’m okay,” she half mumbled, clearly flustered.
“Um, ooookay,” Chase cocked eyebrow at her.
“Sorry, I’m not good at this,” she said, gesturing between them.
“This what?” he asked, not understanding the enigmatic woman standing before him. He took a few steps to close the distance between them, but only after Leigh dropped her purse. “Listen, Leigh. I like you…a lot. I’m very attracted to you, and by attracted I mean I’ve had the worst case of blue balls since the moment I first heard your voice.” He gently stroked her cheek, and then let his hand slowly slide down to her neck. He could feel her pulse flutter faster under his touch, even as she swallowed hard. “Even when they had almost been forced back into my body by that damn banner bag, I couldn’t help but want you.”
“But I’m not want-able,” she announced softly. “My parents didn’t want me. Ryan sure as hell didn’t want me.” Leigh could feel that she was few seconds away from a breakdown. However, Chase had a strange affect on her. He made it easy for her to step out of the persona of ‘Leigh’ that the world saw, and allowed her to be who she really was.
“Well now. It sounds as if we have a lot more in common than you think,” he said before his mouth ascended upon hers. Chase reluctantly broke the kiss before he took it too far.
“What, a guy named Ryan didn’t want you either?” she asked as she cracked a smile.
“Ha. Very funny. I meant the parent thing, sort of,” Chase sighed. “But hey, we have over three hours to air out our dirty laundry, and chit-chat about our sordid affairs. So let’s blow this Popsicle stand, and get the show on the road.”
“Wow, got any more lame clichés?” she asked.
“Plenty. Get moving or I’ll light a fire under your ass.”
“Jeez, now you’re the bossy one. I’m beginning to think that my new-found spontaneity is about to come back and bite me in the ass,” Leigh replied as she turned away from Chase, zipped up her suitcase, and headed towards the door.
“Well, if it doesn’t, I surely will,” Chase added as he appreciated said ass.
Leigh’s footsteps never faltered as she tossed over her shoulder, “I prefer spanking, but hey, if biting gets you off, then I’m game.”
It was Chase’s turn to swallow hard. “Leigh?” he waited for her to turn around. “You’re wrong about one thing.”
“What’s that?” she asked anxiously.
“You’re very want-able,” he remarked.
“Good to know,” she said with a smile as she couldn’t help but notice the large bulge in Chase’s jeans as she walked out. Chasing Leigh would be damn near impossible with the raging hard on she just gave him, but Chase was certainly up for the challenge.
Chapter 8
“Again, you really didn’t have to pay for my room, Chase,” Leigh repeated as they walked through the parking lot to her vehicle.
“Again, yes, I did,” Chase argued. “I don’t want to hear anymore about it, Leigh. It’s the least I could do.”
“Well, I guess I’ll try to let it go. I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve been on my own for over five years now, and it’s hard to take a handout,” she explained.
“It’s not a handout. I’d be paying more than enough to rent something to drive myself, so you probably saved me money.”
“What, so no tiny tin can kind of rental car for you, I take it?” Leigh chuckled as she looked Chase up and down.
“Yeah…no. In fact that F250 crew cab is way more my style,” he admitted with a huge grin as he pointed to a truck not far from them.
“Yeah?” she laughed.
“Yup. In fact, I have the same make and model diesel truck back home in California. I think the same year, too. Looks like it’s a…”
“2010,” she said before he did.
“How did you…” he started to ask, but Leigh hit the remote and the lights on the truck flashed. “No. Freaking. Way.”
“I get that a lot,” she admitted with a shrug. “But hey, at least I know that you can handle this bad boy if I get too tired to drive. God knows Ryan never could.” Leigh opened the back door of the crew cab and hoisted her suitcase up onto the seat. She turned and noticed Chase standing there, slack-jawed. “What?” she cried slightly annoyed.
“I just…It’s that…You’re a girl!” he practically shouted.
“So nice of you to notice. What gave it away, these?” she sassed, as she cupped her breast and lifted them slightly. Big mistake. Chase was now staring at her breasts and smiling.
“I just mean that this isn’t something I would have picked as your ride,” Chase explained, still staring at her cupped breasts. “A fast little sports car, maybe, but not a truck.” He blinked then met her gaze. “Not for zipping around Portland, anyway.”
Dropping her hands as the sassiness disappeared, Leigh replied, “Yeah, well when my parents decided to up and go travel the world, this is the only thing they left me as a memento of our time together as a family. It was my dad’s actually. He did custom carpentry work, so the truck came in handy. Plus it was already paid for, woohoo,” she said in a slightly sarcastic tone. “I guess they felt bad for selling our home out from under me.”
“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned them in a less than perfect light. I take it they burned a bridge or two with you?”
“How much time do you have?” she asked.
“According to you, a little over three hours,” he reminded her.
“Just get in the truck, Chase,” she huffed as she climbed in and slammed the door.
Leigh was thrilled that the drive to Pendleton on Interstate 84 was uneventful. On the drive, they talked candidly about their families, and their childhoods. Chase even told Leigh about the one who got away, and in that moment, Leigh was happy for that, but she didn’t dare tell Chase. She quickly realized that she genuinely liked the man, and was excited to find out how long she would have with him. However long, she’d take it…and maybe explore what it would take to extend it.
Along the way, Chase realized that he was really enjoying Leigh’s company. She was sweet and funny, and fast with witty comebacks. When he saw the small jar of Cassie MacLane’s body butter in her center console, he knew he had another way to make her want him even more. Her response to him telling her he knew Cassie personally, was a resounding, “Shut. Up!” She squealed when he told her he would hook her up with Cassie’s full line of body products, and promised he would indeed ‘beg her,’ on Leigh’s behalf, to make Leigh some all natural massage oils and lotions.
Chase was even happier when he managed to do the impossible and find them a room at a quaint bed and breakfast. Actually, it was Chase’s sister who did the impossible, but Chase didn’t care. That only meant he’d soon have Leigh in a bed, in the shower, or against a wall – or all three – very soon. When Meg heard that Chase was driving to the Round-Up with an available woman, she did everything in her power to find them a room in the already booked city. Chase knew he was going to owe his sister big time.
They made great time, and pulled into the town a little before ten. Leigh was instantly smitten with the B&B. Score one for Meg! The owners had been kind enough to greet them and even brought out a few light snacks and some coffee before the wife showed them to their room. Leigh took Chase’s hand and led the way, which seemed to be her M.O. He didn’t mind in the least, because that way he got to stare at her ass again.
“I still can’t get over your sister’s timing, Mr. Baker,” the owner said as she walked up the stairs ahead of the pair. “I was sad that our other couple didn’t actually make it to their I Dos, on account of a cheat
ing groom, but it must have been kismet that you and Mrs. Baker decided to honeymoon here for the Round-Up.”
Leigh had been enjoying a delicious cup of coffee as she dragged Chase behind her, but she almost spit it out all over the poor woman’s back. “Hon-honeymoon?” she practically screeched after almost choking to death.
Chase had been just as surprised as Leigh to find out that his sister had obviously lied her ass off, but he was thrilled with the possibilities that it meant for him. “Yeah, the misses and I still can’t quite believe we pulled off that elopement, and now we’re on our honeymoon. We didn’t even have time to buy wedding rings.”
“Rings? Hell, you haven’t even proposed yet!” Leigh hissed as she tugged harder on his hand. She couldn’t believe that Chase was going along with his sister’s ruse.
“Aw, sweetie, you know we always talked about how we’d just up and get married one day. And that’s what we did. Come on now, sugar pie, don’t be angry,” Chase laid it on thick as they reached the top of the stairs. “Especially on our wedding night.”
“Well, I hope the two of you will find this room to your liking. It’s away from all of the other rooms, so you’ll have all the privacy, you young honeymooners might need,” the owner added, while she tried not to blush.
Leigh poured it on one better, as she walked over to the bed, tugged on one of the corner posts, and then pushed down on the mattress a bit. “Oh it’s just lovely, thank you! And yes, the privacy will indeed be welcomed. My husband can be a bit of a screamer when he’s tied up and whipped, if you know what I mean,” she said with a wink. The woman turned a deep shade of crimson, mumbled something indecipherable and fled as if the hounds of hell were on her heels.
Chapter 9
“That was…awkward,” Chase chuckled. “She’s a nice lady. You may have scared her for life, you know.”
“Doubtful. I think she knew exactly what I was talking about,” Leigh giggled as she fell onto the bed and kicked her feet haphazardly against the frame. “Anyway, you started it when you went along with the lie about us being on our honeymoon,” she complained. Chase suddenly had a few very naughty thoughts run through his mind, and apparently they were visible on his face. “What’s going through that head of yours?” she asked cautiously.
“The truth?” he asked with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“With you? Always,” she replied. “What now?” she added when his brow furrowed a little.
“I’m trying to figure out how to say this right. I don’t want to go scaring you off.”
“Jeez, Chase, I’m not some quaking virgin. I know what nipple clamps and floggers are – I may not use them but I know about them. Hell, the entire female population knows what they are thanks to the likes of Christian and Anastasia,” Leigh sighed. “Just spit it out.”
“Fine. You jumped me at Kells and I was ready to fuck you right then and there on the bar top,” Chase all but growled as he began to walk towards the bed.
“But you didn’t,” Leigh all but whispered as she slowly propped herself up on her elbows.
“No, I didn’t. But that’s because I don’t share what’s mine with anyone – and certainly not with a bar full a people.”
“Well,” Leigh smiled, “We’re all alone now.”
“That we are,” he agreed.
“And?” she asked as he stopped directly in front of her.
“That, my beautiful lady, is entirely up to you.”
“Me?”
“Mmmhmm. We can simply just go to sleep – I’ll even take the couch,” he said as he stroked the top of her left thigh. “We can discuss whether movies ever do their books justice,” he smiled as his fingers brushed higher. “Or…” he stilled his hand and looked at her as she bit down on her bottom lip.
“Or?” she asked, after she let her lip slide free.
“Or I can fuck you now, like I’ve wanted to since yesterday,” he growled loudly.
“I pick option three,” she said as her thighs slowly went lax.
Chase wasted no time in pushing her legs farther apart with his legs as he grabbed her by her waist and slid her to the edge of the bed.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and locked her ankles. Pulling Chase firmly into her core, she suppressed a groan as he lined up perfectly to her. It had been too long since she’d been with a man. “Would you think less of me if I told you to hurry the hell up?”
“No, but what if I don’t want to?” he sassed back.
“Then I’ll make you,” she smiled as she forced him harder into her.
“You know, you are one pushy broad,” he chuckled. Sliding his hands from her waist around to her ass, he lifted her up a little higher. “You’re always making me chase after you,” he said as he pushed even harder into her. “Or you’re dragging me around behind you. Well, sweetheart, now it’s my turn to lead,” he growled as he slid her up, and then down his denim covered erection.
The flimsy material of her lace bikinis was no match for the rough denim, and Leigh was both embarrassed and excited to see the wet mark she left his jeans. “F-f-fine, but just hurry…please,” she pleaded.
“How about a little something to take the edge off then?” he asked but then didn’t wait for an answer. The next thing Leigh knew, two fingers traced ever so slowly down the edge of the lace, teasing her opening. Her muscles clenched in response, and Chase chuckled, “You like that.”
Fuck yeah! she screamed in her head, but in reality, she could only moan for an answer.
Chase ran his fingers up and down the edge a few more times before finally whispering, “Then you should love this,” as he slid both fingers fully inside of her. It only took him withdrawing and pushing them back in a few times before Leigh’s core clenched down around him. She screamed out as the pleasure exploded within her. She’d never felt anything exactly like that, and she quickly realized that sex with Ryan, and all the others, had totally sucked.
Chase didn’t let up on her, however. He moved his other arm out from under her, and planted it next to her head. Before she could catch her breath, his mouth came down over hers and his fingers began to move in a rhythm that matched that of his tongue – slow and achingly sensual. His mouth moved off of hers and found that sweet spot on her neck, and before he kissed his way down to her breasts – all while his fingers continued to stroke her with the same cadence as his tongue.
Leigh couldn’t take another maddening second, so she reached down and lifted her lower back up off of the bed so she could remove her dress. Chase lifted his head up enough for her to do so, then only mumbled, “So fucking beautiful,” before his mouth descended upon her breasts again.
“Much too one sided,” she growled as she reached for the button and zipper on Chase’s jeans. She had expected him to fight her, but instead he held still until she freed him from his Wranglers. The nip to her one nipple, followed by a hiss, was quite the turn on and Leigh felt herself get even wetter as she stoked her hands up and down his length. Oh good Lord, but Ryan’s Lady Dagger was the size of a paring knife, compared to this!
“Lady Dagger? That’s a new one for me,” Chase chuckled into Leigh neck. “Glad to hear I’m not the tiny one.”
Mortified wasn’t quite what Leigh was feeling at the moment. “I can believe I said that out loud,” she groaned.
“Don’t be. It’s a turn on, sweetheart. Every guy wants to hear that his schlong is bigger than the previous guy’s,” Chase explained.
“Well then, you got a cover for Excalibur here, so we can see what it’s capable of?”
“In my right back pocket. And Excalibur, huh?”
Leigh murmured, “Mmmhmm,” as she found the condom where he said it was.
“Well I hope you don’t mind me not pulling it out completely. Because I won’t, at least not until I hear you scream again.”
Leigh wasn’t sure how she’d gotten the condom wrapper opened, and Chase properly sheathed at the same time he removed her bikini bottoms. He sto
od only long enough to pull his shirt off, and rip off his jeans.
Leigh laid before him in nothing but her red high heels and Chase couldn’t wait one second longer. “Scoot up to the head of the bed, and grab onto the headboard, Leigh.” That was the only warning he gave before he moved between her legs and filled her completely.
Once again, she wrapped her legs around his waist, but this time she was rewarded with so much more than denim material – she had him. As his thrusts became faster and harder, his kisses did too. All too soon, and at the same time not soon enough, they both exploded in the most intense orgasm they’d each experienced.
“That was…” Leigh panted.