“That’s true.” Maybe there was hope after all. “Unless the person is from out of town, Megan should be able to give names.” Even Harper knew the names of the regulars that came in every week, but secretly she hoped she didn’t know the person. Her stomach rolled at the thought that maybe she’d been friendly to a monster.
“Once they get a name,” Chase continued with his steady voice, “all Darryl will have to do is make some house calls and see who’s breeding Labradors.” The headlights from a passing car moved across Chase’s chiseled face, illuminating his pursed lips. “I suspect it might take a little time, but in the end, they’ll catch whoever did this and shut them down for good.”
“I hope so.” Anyone who did this deserved punishment. Harper stroked the puppy’s soft ear between her fingers. “Let’s also hope Leah can find him a good home. I would love to have him, but—”
“You’re moving to Vegas.”
Her heart promptly landed in her stomach. She glanced toward the sexy cowboy next to her, noting Chase’s jaw muscles clenching. Now his sudden determination and the raging lust she’d seen earlier made sense. “Did Brody tell you I was leaving?”
Chase nodded, and his knuckles were white against the steering wheel. “You leave Saturday, right?”
“Bright and early,” she managed to choke out. Suddenly, having Chase know made things unexpectedly real. “It’s exciting and scary all at the same time.”
“It’s a big move.” He glanced at her, eyes firm, then he nodded. “But it’s a good one.” Turning his attention onto the road again, he continued, “You’ve talked about moving to Vegas and opening a restaurant there since you were an ankle biter and annoying the hell out of me and Brody.”
She laughed softly, stroking the puppy’s head. “Well, you’re not wrong. Vegas has always been the dream.” For as long as she could remember. A dream that went away for a little bit after her parents passed away but slowly had come back.
The truck began to slow, and then Chase was pulling into his driveway, heading toward his quaint one-story log house, built by his very hands. Evergreen trees surrounded the front of the house, and the porch light was on, showing off the stonework on either side of the red-painted front door.
He came to a stop and cut the ignition. “Wait there for me.” He was out the door a second later and jogging around the front of the truck. He opened her door, offering his hand. “Careful coming out.”
Harper smiled. “You do realize he’s a tiny puppy, and I’ve got him.”
“Yes, I can see that.” He didn’t release her hand until she was out, then he shut the door behind her.
The Blackshaw men had been raised by strong, kind people who understood the meaning of being a good person. From his friendship with Brody, and all the time he spent at their house or when she followed them to the arcade, Harper had always seen Chase open the door for a woman, offering her his seat, or lend a friend a hand. She liked that about him. A lot.
She followed Chase into the house, which was a modest size considering the wealth of the Blackshaw family. The galley kitchen at the back had a reclaimed barn-wood kitchen table set next to the double sink with black cabinets overtop. The living room took up most of the space, with a corner fireplace and a flat-screen hanging above the mantel, surrounded by dark brown leather couches.
“Let’s get the pup settled in the bedroom.” Chase kicked off his cowboy boots, placing his cowboy hat on the coat hook by the door.
She shivered. His bedroom. Sure, she had been in this house many times over the years when Chase had invited the entire family for a cookout at his house, but she had never been in his room. She awkwardly attempted to remove her cowboy boots.
Chase watched her a moment. Then a seductive grin spread across his gorgeous face as he dropped to one knee. Dear Lord, give me strength not to jump him.
She swallowed deeply while he removed her boots, seemingly far slower than necessary. Her breath quickened, and nerve endings stirred and tingled for him to run those hands up a little higher.
He slowly glanced up and arched an eyebrow. “All good?”
She nodded. “Mm-hmm.”
He chuckled, low and deep, possessing so much damn heat she swallowed the extra moisture in her mouth. Leading the way, he strode forward, and she and her soaking-wet panties followed him down the hallway. They passed one door, and she peeked inside, discovering a decent-sized bathroom. He entered through the next door, flicking the light on, bathing the bedroom in a warm glow. The room suited Chase perfectly. There was nothing on the log walls for decoration, a black duvet covered dark gray sheets on the king-size bed, with two pillows, and there was a double-doored closet on the right.
Simple. Masculine. Totally Chase.
He moved to the closet and opened the doors, revealing rows of drawers and his clothes hanging. She smiled to herself. There was a whole lot of plaid in that closet. He grabbed a basket, dumping the items inside onto the floor, then took out a blanket, placing it inside the basket. “This should work as a bed for now.” He placed the basket in the corner of the room near the reclaimed-wood side table next to the bed.
She slowly lowered to her knees, placing the pup inside the blanket. He opened his eyes a little then shut them instantly. “He’s so sleepy. Do you think that’s normal?”
“He’s had a pretty rough day,” Chase said from somewhere behind her.
“You’re safe now,” she told the puppy. “We won’t let anything happen to you.” She stroked his soft, floppy ear, watching his stomach move with his deep sleepy breaths. Leah said he was around seven weeks old, but he looked closer to four, showing how sick he’d been for so long. “I think his name should be Houdini.”
“Houdini?”
“Yeah, he’s got a little magic in him, I can see it.” She tucked the blanket around the puppy’s belly, keeping him warm.
“Harper.”
The rawness in Chase’s voice had her quickly looking his way. Her breath caught at the emotion in the depths of his eyes. He offered his hand, and she rose, her heart racing, the world slowly spinning around her as if time no longer existed.
He gave her that sweet panty-melting smile of his and tucked the fallen strands of hair behind her ear. There wasn’t a damn thing he needed to say. She read exactly what he wanted to do next in the hunger in his expression. Because she understood that type of hunger. She felt that need every time he came close.
“You’re finally going to let this happen between us?” she rasped, barely able to get the words out, but knowing she needed to.
“Yes, I most certainly am.” He dragged his knuckles across her cheek, and she saw things she’d never seen before. Chase didn’t look guarded anymore; he looked decided. About her. “Eight days,” he told her. “That’s what we’ve got. Then you’re moving to Vegas.”
“Eight days.” She nodded, knowing too that she could not have Chase forever, but she could have him for now. Sometimes a little of something was better than nothing at all. “Then I move to Vegas.”
He slid his hand across the small of her back, raising goose bumps along her arms. A glorious quiver descended throughout her body, tightening her nipples into hard points beneath her bra. Though her thoughts and concerns were still there, and she had to ask to understand. “But what about Brody?”
Chase’s free hand slid sensually across the side of her neck, deepening her shiver. He leaned in close, his lips right there. “If you were to ignore your dreams, then this between us would be complicated. With you moving away and going after what we both know that Brody wants for you, this becomes very uncomplicated. I want you. You want me. We know the rules. You’re leaving. There’s nothing standing between you and that truth anymore. For once, because we deserve it, we are going to enjoy each other in the way we’ve been craving for months.” He brushed his lips against hers, then murmured, “So, then, there’s only one more question to ask you.”
“What’s that?”
His intense
stare looked right through her. “Do you want to play, Harper?”
Six words she’d longed to hear, and her belly quivered in excitement. When she had returned home, Chase was her brother’s best friend. The hot guy who seemed to keep getting hotter as the years went on. But she had never really wanted him, not like she did now. And that came from all the whispers she had heard about Chase while working in the bar. Of course, she knew he was a sweetheart out of the bedroom, but she had no idea how devilish he was in the bedroom.
That’s where her fantasies began, and every day that had passed they only got hotter. Because when she stopped seeing Chase as her brother’s best friend, she only saw the man she wanted desperately.
“You know that I want you,” she told him.
He dragged his finger across her cheek, down her neck, over her pulse point. “We need clear rules here. For eight nights, you’re in my bed, and all mine, for my pleasure, and for yours. Are you okay with those rules?”
She pressed her soft curves against his hard planes. “For eight nights, I am yours, and you are mine, for my pleasure, and for yours.”
* * *
A flash of lightning lit up the dark night outside the bedroom window seconds before the thunder cracked across the sky. Chase dropped his mouth to Harper’s, growling against the power beneath their lips. For three months, he’d waited for this kiss, and she quivered with lust, desire, and something so much richer when he threaded his fingers into her hair, deepening the kiss, feeling her soften beneath his hands.
Needing to be closer, he gathered her in his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist, her arms locking around his neck. She moaned into his mouth when he laid her out on the mattress, slowly building his kiss. He reached for his shirt, quickly removing it over his head and getting his mouth back where he wanted to be for so long. On hers.
Tonight, he would not rush. He planned to savor every spectacular inch of her. He removed her T-shirt, kissing every spot he made bare to him. He watched her teeth nibble at her bottom lip, the dilation of her pupils making her pretty eyes nearly black, and the flare of her nostrils like she could not get enough of his scent, which he had seen for months now every time he got close to her. “Those goddamn eyes of yours, Harper.” He trailed his fingers down her neck to her black-and-red lace bra, where he dragged his touch over the top of her breast. “They make me go crazy with wanting you.”
She threaded her fingers into his hair. “Then have me.”
He groaned, the tease nearly too much to bear. Fuck, he was tempted to rip their clothes off and lose themselves in fast, hard sex that ended with her coming against his raging hard-on. Though for months, he’d fantasized of what would happen if he ever touched her.
He would not be rushed. Not tonight. Not when he finally had her in his bed. “Stay there, beautiful.” He rose and returned to the closet. First, he noted Houdini sleeping soundly, then he took out the leather chest from the floor.
When he opened the chest, he looked at her to gauge her reaction. She leaned up on one arm and gazed over each item carefully. Soft hemp ropes, silk bindings, blindfolds, vibrators still new in their boxes, nipple clamps, candles—he had a plethora of toys ready for whenever the naughty mood hit. “Is any of this a hard no for you?”
She examined the toys, one by one, slowly doing what he knew she would do: taking her time before she committed to anything. “Nothing is a hard no.” Her eyes connected with his, and her voice grew raspy. “In fact, I’d say all of that is a hard yes.”
He reached into the chest, taking out the long, silk ribbon. “Then get on your knees, gorgeous.”
Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink when she knelt on the mattress. He took the silk ribbon into his hands then gently dragged the soft fabric up her arm and tickled it over her shoulder before he reached for her wrist. She smiled, and he groaned against the heat filling his groin. “You know what that sexy little smile does to me, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” she said with no hesitation. “It teases the hell out of you.”
“Is that why you do it?” He wrapped the silk around her wrist.
“Yes.”
He chuckled at her boldness. Damn, this woman was sexy. He tied the binding tight around her wrist. For months, he had wanted her right here, in his bed. Now he would keep her there, all his to enjoy. Taking his time, giving her the moment to further excite her, he wrapped the silk around her other wrist, until both wrists were tied tight together in front of her. Only then did he seal his mouth over hers again, kissing her like she deserved. Giving her all of himself and appreciating all that she offered. She followed his tongue, swirling hers with his. She tasted of mint and something that belonged only to Harper, something that seemed handmade for him. She moaned, and he reached back, unhooking her bra, then pushing the fabric down to her wrists.
He broke the kiss to lay her out on the mattress for him, then he began tying the silk ribbon to the headboard. “For months, I’ve wanted to touch you.” He reached for her waist and tugged a little, yanking her down, making the bindings tight. Consumed by her, he dragged his fingertips over her flesh, ticking up her toned stomach. “I’ve wanted my lips on you, tasting every goddamn inch of you.” He slid his tongue from her shorts all the way to her breasts. A moan slipped from her mouth as he licked her nipple before kissing her neck, running his hand down the length of her body. He squeezed her warm bottom when she arched her back, wiggling against him.
With a groan, he returned his mouth to hers, sliding his tongue eagerly across hers, devouring her moans. Only when she began grinding against him did he move away, nibbling on her nipple, then sucking the taut bud up to the roof of his mouth. This time, her moan urged him on.
His cock throbbed in his jeans to be freed when he reached for her shorts, unbuttoning them. He removed those and her panties all in one quick movement, then he froze.
Christ, she was pretty.
Between her legs, her pubic hair was trimmed and tidy and ready for his mouth. He pushed her thighs open with his legs then he slowly kissed down her belly, teasing her with light flicks of his tongue. When he reached her sex, he inhaled her scent all for himself, memorizing the muskiness belonging to her. She gasped and moaned as he licked one side of her sex, earning a deep shiver, then licked the other side until she was quivering and arching her back. Nothing could distract him now. He wanted his taste, and he wanted her begging for him. Anything less was unacceptable.
He pressed a soft kiss to her inner thigh then slid his tongue along the top of her trimmed pubic hair, hearing her moans grow raspier. Only then did he use the flat of his tongue to stroke against her clit, and her hiss was his sweet reward.
A low growl rumbled up from his chest when he lay out on the bed and gripped her hips, pinning her to him. She tasted like sugar and sin when he tongued her again, and again, until he began sucking on the bundle of nerves. She ground her hips, desperate for the pleasure he teased, and he slipped a finger inside her then another, holding them there, making her crazy like she had made him crazy these past months.
He waited. And waited. Until she gave a hard shudder, quivering against his mouth, then he released her clit, slowly licking over the hard bud, feeling her legs trembling atop his arms. He worked his way up her body until he had her nipple in his mouth. Keeping his fingers still inside her, he nipped at her nipple, and she lifted her hips.
“Don’t stop.” She gasped, right at the edge of where he’d taken her.
He slowly circled her areola then grinned at her. “Ask me nicely, beautiful.”
“Please.” She attempted to grind against his finger. Again, he moved his fingers back, not letting her take what she wanted. “Chase,” she whimpered, “I’m so close. Please.”
He stroked her clit slowly, back and forth, feeling her quivering body responding. “This is what you want, Harper? Me right here?”
She arched her back into the pleasure. “God, yes.” She spread her legs wider, digging her heels into the
mattress, grinding her hips. “Chase . . .”
He wanted her to beg. He needed that. And now he had exactly what he wanted. When he grasped her breast firmly in his hand, his mind shifted to determination to give her what she wanted and needed, and more. Holding onto her tight, he began thrusting his fingers into her, slowly gaining speed and pressure until her hips were off the bed, her breath trapped in her throat.
There she stayed suspended, until a piercing scream filled the air, and she thrashed stunningly around him.
When she eventually went quiet, breathless moaning the after effects of her release, he withdrew his soaked fingers. She opened her eyes, revealing a look far more beautiful than he thought any woman should possess for the power it had over him. With his rock-hard cock throbbing in his jeans to sink inside her, he moved to his bedside table and grabbed a condom from the drawer. He liked the way she watched him when he unbuckled his pants, and how she licked her lips when he dropped his pants and his cock sprang free. Soon, he’d claim that pouty mouth of hers, but he could not wait any longer. His balls were tight, every muscle quivering with intensity, as he sheathed himself in the condom.
Back between her thighs, he yanked the knot on the headboard, freeing the ribbon then turning her over before he slid in behind her. She titled her head back, and his mouth found hers while he gathered her perfectly against him, her back to his chest. He lifted her leg and his eyes fluttered shut when he entered her slowly, enjoying every inch being squeezed by her sex. She gasped, and that sweet sound was enough for him to slide all the way to the hilt. Her head fell against his stretched-out arm as his thrusts increased, and he held her thigh, holding her nice and open for him while he nipped at her shoulder. The next moan she gave him had him dropping her thigh to rub her clit, feeling her pussy tighten perfectly around his shaft.
Pleasure began to blind him, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tighter to him, and thrust his hips harder, liking how she got louder with each thrust. He kissed her shoulder, her neck, but suddenly he seemed too far away. He needed to stare into those unforgettable eyes. Sliding over her, he mounted her. Keeping his chest close to hers, and most of his weight on his arms, he sealed his mouth across hers. She cried out, not kissing him back, so lost was she in her pleasure.
Sweet-Loving Cowboy--A Kinky Spurs Novel Page 4