He studied the paper. “You do realize your measurements are suggesting I’m one centimeter off from code, sometimes half a centimeter?”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Todd with a firm, steady voice. “That one centimeter, even half a centimeter, is not to code. You’ll need to fix all this before I can pass you.”
“Excuse me?”
A cold sweat washed over Chase at the curious, feminine voice behind him. He slowly glanced over his shoulder. “Yes?”
Katie’s pen was pressed against her paper, and her eyebrows were raised. “Did I just hear that the project won’t be completed on time because of code issues?”
Chase sighed. This cannot be happening.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Harper exited the clothing donation center after dropping off the old clothes that would not come to Vegas with her. The sun was bright and warmed her face as she headed down the industrial street in the north end of town. She tilted her head back, absorbing as much as she could before glancing down the sidewalk again. She had been too busy to sit outside like she usually did, reading on the deck or having Emma and Megan over for wine and girl talk while they suntanned.
When she reached her car waiting at the curb, she clicked the key fob opening the doors and hurried inside, getting on the road in a jiffy. There was still so much to do before she left.
Besides, she couldn’t dillydally. With Brody and Faith getting married on Friday, she needed to clear out her room completely. At some point they would have a family and would need to use her bedroom for a nursery. She figured it was better to clear it out now than make them do it later.
With the sunlight glistening off the car ahead of her, she passed by the flower shop she’d worked at one summer, her favorite slow song playing through the car’s speakers. A swell of emotions began to tighten her chest again at the emotion in the singer’s voice. That emptiness she sensed last night was still there deep in her chest and still very much confusing. Her entire life was either being packed up in a box to be stored in the basement or had been left back at the donation center. And yet, every step forward felt unsteady, as if she was walking down a hazardous trail.
Why? repeated in her mind.
As she drove by the library, which had been her second home growing up, her cell phone rang. She hit the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Emma.”
“Hi, you. What’s up?”
Emma’s voice was tight, edged with concern. “Okay, you know that I wouldn’t normally stick my nose into anything, but I think you should go see Chase.”
Harper stopped the car as an elderly man crossed the street with his Yorkshire Terrier. “Why?”
“The inspector came again today.” Emma paused. “Things didn’t go well.”
“Seriously?” Harper’s hand tightened against the steering wheel. “What in the hell is with this guy?”
“I don’t know. It’s weird. Last time, it was the fire alarms. This time, it’s the stairs and toilets.”
Harper’s heart squeezed. “Poor Chase.”
“Yeah, I know,” Emma said softly. “He seems . . . tense, and understandably so.”
She reached Main Street then took a right at the green light. “Where is he now?”
“At home.”
“Okay, I’ll go there now. Thanks for letting me know.”
“Give him a big hug for me.”
“I will. Bye.”
“Bye.”
The line went dead, and Harper stayed focused on the road. She blessedly did not hit another red light through Main Street. Soon the pretty downtown faded away to the vast beauty of the Colorado landscape. Once she made it out of the city limits, Harper punched it forward.
Ten minutes later, she drove up Chase’s driveway and found his truck in front of his house. She parked behind him and was out of the car a second later, hurrying up the porch steps. She entered his house without knocking.
Three steps in, she found him.
Chase sat on his living room couch, his arms on his bent legs, his head bowed.
“Chase,” she said.
He didn’t even flinch.
“Chase,” she repeated softly, moving around in front of him. “Are you okay?”
“No.”
Desperate to see his eyes, she knelt in front of him, resting her hands on his legs. She had never realized until now how much his eyes grounded her. “What happened?” she asked.
“The inspector found more issues. Today was shit.”
She ran her hands up and down his legs, needing him to look up. “What can I do to help?”
His head lifted then, and the warmth of his eyes was gone, replaced by hardness. “Take off your clothes.”
She blinked, parting her lips to say, “What?” but the word never came. Heat rolled over her, pooling low in her body. Not because of his coldness, but because of the statement he made with that look. In his lowest of lows, he only wanted one thing.
Her.
Wanting to be there for him in the way he needed her, she rose and reached for her T-shirt, removing it quickly. She didn’t tease him now. No, she stripped as fast as she could, feeling the draw of his desperation. By the time she was naked, she quivered in need.
With his potent gaze on her, he rose and captured her chin, then sealed his mouth across hers. This time when he kissed her, things between them felt . . . different. His touch was more intimate, more eager, and she was pulled under his spell, until she was left panting and moaning against his sculpted lips. He grabbed her bottom with both hands, squeezed tight before he broke the kiss. Taking her by the hand, he led her to the bedroom. Him, fully clothed. Her, naked and oh, so ready.
She entered the bedroom behind him and noticed Houdini sleeping in his crate. The silence around them was all-consuming, and her heartbeat raced in her ears. Chase released her hand and turned toward his closet. When he returned to her, he held black rope in his hand. “Objections?”
She swallowed deeply and shook her head, a bit lost for words at his intensity.
He said nothing further, and she’d never seen him so serious before. Part of her was concerned for him. Chase always had a smile on his face. The happy-go-lucky kind of guy. The other part of her sensed the growing dampness between her thighs and the heat flooding her lower body. He gazed at her with lust, desire, and something almost feral.
She liked this side of him.
Hell, she wanted more.
He reached for one of her wrists and began wrapping the rope around it, forming a cuff. “Did you know that every time I watched you play the Rope ’Em Up game at the Spurs, I burned with jealously?”
“Yes.” Of course, she had known.
She couldn’t look away from how he expertly fitted her one wrist with a cuff then moved on to the other wrist. “Did you think I was jealous because another man was touching you?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He stopped midway through finishing the second cuff and looked at her. She stared at a new Chase, one even more confident than she’d ever seen before. Sensuality edged his voice. “I was jealous because if there was rope touching your body, I wanted to be the man who put it there.”
She shivered at the coiled power in his eyes. “Is that why you always left?”
“Part of the reason.” He focused back on her wrist and finished up with the cuff. “Though the other reason was purely selfish.” His heated gaze rose to hers. “Do you want to know what it was?”
She nodded, the words burning up in her throat.
He held her chin, bringing her gaze to his eye level. “Because I didn’t trust myself that I wouldn’t knock their teeth out.”
Heat rolled off him in waves, brushing across her and making the air near impossible to inhale when he took hold of the rope and led her over to the other side of bed. His head tilted back, and she had a second to ponder what he was doing before he tossed the rope up and over the thick wooden beam that ran
the length of the ceiling. He stayed silent, pulled on the rope until her arms were stretched above her, and knotted the rope.
Only then did he break the silence. “I wanted to be the man who roped you.” He stepped in next to her, then wrapped the rope around her thigh and pulled until her leg was raised. He tossed the rope over the beam again and made another couple knots, leaving her completely bound. After which he strode in behind her and used his cheek to nudge her head forward. She realized then that he’d placed her directly in front of a long mirror resting against the wall.
With his eyes on hers in the mirror, he ran a hand over her stomach then cupped between her thighs. “What are you thinking about when you look at yourself like this?”
Her breath hitched at the way the rope bound her arms above her, and how it squeezed at the flesh on her bent thigh. Even how it lifted her breasts. “I think we’re beautiful.”
“You most definitely are.” He squeezed her sex, and she leaned against the bindings, letting them support her weight. Her eyes fluttered at his fingers stroking over her most sensitive flesh. Behind her, she felt his erection against her bottom as he slid his hand back up her belly.
She reopened her eyes, her breath catching at the strength exuding from him, sending a hard shiver down her spine. “Take what you need, Chase,” she told him.
He strode in front of her. His voice thick, layered with promise. “Tell me if I’m too rough.”
She nodded.
He took her chin in his grip, leaned forward, then slowly licked her bottom lip until he slid a passionate kiss across her mouth, leaving her breathless. The strength then returned to her back, and he swatted her bottom. She gasped, surprised by the force of the hit and the sensual burn across her flesh that followed. When his fingers met the next cheek, she melted into his warm touch.
His heated gaze met hers through the mirror when he reached for her hip, his fingers holding none too gently. “This is how I’ve always wanted you.” One swat sizzled across her butt cheek, then another, and then one more. Each one seemed to only draw more heat between her thighs.
She leaned her head against her bound arms and moaned when he slid his hand between her thighs again. His telling smile told her he felt how drenched she was before stroking her clit. “Yeah, beautiful. I wanted you just like this.” Through the mirror, she watched him remove his shirt, pulling it off over his head with one hand. His jeans and boxers hit the floor, revealing his erection and the veins protruding along the sides. He opened the condom wrapper with his teeth, sheathing his cock, then arched an eyebrow at her. “Nowhere to go but stay right here with me.”
His hand switched between cheeks on each smack until her bottom was scorching hot and she was soaring in pleasure. Her sex clenched, her inner muscles squeezing in anticipation of him being deep inside her. Her eyes closed against the raging lust burning through her that she could no long contain, her arms shaking in the bindings.
Only then did he step in behind her, taking her breasts in his hands, squeezing them tight. His rough voice brushed against her ear. “And you know you belong here too, don’t you?” Before she could even form a coherent thought in her mind, he sank himself inside her, right to the hilt.
Her sensual moans followed his masculine grunts as his pelvis slammed against her warm bottom, bringing a foreign pleasure that had no beginning and no end. His fingers tangled into her hair, angling her head back, and he planted his mouth right by her ear, letting her experience every single one of his primal grunts. The rope tightened on her wrists, and on her leg. She moaned, and then couldn’t stop moaning as Chase drained all of his tension and took back his control.
Tears of pleasure leaked from her eyes from the hardness he drove inside her. Against the knowledge that this position gave him full access to take her any way he wanted. That she was bound for his pleasure, and for hers.
“Look at me,” he growled.
She forced her eyes open. The moment her vision cleared enough to look at the mirror, she gasped. Not at herself. At him. The strength of Chase behind her. He gripped her hips, thrusting frantically now, his brows drawn over his intense eyes. Through the mirror, he looked from her face to her bouncing breasts, even between her thighs, before gazing deeply into her eyes again. She had never felt so wanted, so needed, and her inner muscles began quivering.
Then he roared, bucking and jerking behind her.
She stared into his face contorting with his pleasure, and only then, knowing that they’d crossed an invisible line where they were no longer hiding behind excuses and there was no going back anymore, she followed him into the pleasure.
* * *
A dream where he was falling off a high cliff jolted Chase awake to an empty bed. The clock on the nightstand glowed 1:12. Breathless, he slid out from beneath the sheets and got into workout shorts, then set to finding Harper. Out in the living room, he noticed the porch light was on, spilling into the night. When he reached the door, he found Harper lying in the hammock between the two large shade trees on the front lawn with Houdini curled up on her chest.
Something about her stillness hinted at trouble on her mind.
He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and journeyed outside. The night was warm and quiet, and smelled of damp grass. Harper didn’t even notice him, obviously lost in her thoughts, staring up at the dark starry sky.
“Everything all right?” he asked when he reached her.
She glanced sideways, the hammock slightly swinging from side to side. “Just getting the stars in while I have them.” She smiled.
“Vegas has its own bright lights.” He grabbed the side of the double hammock then slid in next to her, placing his arm behind her head. He settled the blanket over them, just beneath Houdini who slept soundly on her chest. He liked her against him like this. Close. Safe.
“This is different.” She glanced up at the sky again. “No matter how exciting Vegas is. It doesn’t have this.”
He followed her gaze, not going to argue that point with her. Nothing beat the Colorado sky at night. His eyelids felt heavy, his body exhausted from the day, and he relaxed into the warmth of her body. Though the comfortable silence was suddenly broken when he felt something squirming against his side. Houdini worked his way up until he lay directly in the middle of them, his nose by Chase’s chin.
Chase slid the blanket up enough to cover them entirely, then Harper asked, “Are you okay? From earlier, I mean?”
He sighed. “This inspector is frustrating, and with the reporter hearing that my work is not up to code, it’s a bump in the road that I was not expecting.”
“Do you think she’ll print that in her story?”
He pondered. “I don’t think so. From the way things were left, I think she got what she needed to talk about the grand opening. Nash flashed his winning smile at her, and hopefully that worked some magic.”
“That smile has dropped many panties.” She laughed.
He agreed. “It has.”
Harper paused. Then, “Hell, all of you Blackshaw men seem to be born with the gift of charm that wows the ladies.”
Not wanting to go near that statement, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She was the only woman he was thinking about. To get the subject back onto her, he said, “I know you’re going to miss River Rock, but Vegas suits you.”
She leaned her head back a bit to look at him, the porch light gleaming across her inquisitive eyes. “How so?”
“You always seemed bigger than River Rock.”
Her mouth twitched. “I hope in a good way?”
“Of course, in a good way.” Houdini began snoring. He chuckled, as did she, then he continued. “Your talents are wasted in such a small town. That’s why Brody has been trying to get you to leave for years. I’m sure he sees what I’ve seen too. You’re meant for something bigger, brighter, something that puts your name up front and center.”
She gave him a soft smile then glanced back up at the stars. “Workin
g in Vegas was something me and my mom used to talk about all the time when we cooked together.”
Now, things began to make sense. He had always wondered where the Vegas dream had come from. Apparently, it had come from happy memories of her mother. A woman that Chase had always called his second mom while growing up. “Your mom would be happy for you. She always loved Vegas.” Chase remembered her parents well. They were good people, and it had been a terrible shame when they passed away. “You’re following your heart. I imagine nothing would make your parents prouder.”
She stroked her fingers over Houdini’s head, only making the puppy snore louder. “My moving will make Brody happy too.”
At that, Chase froze. He did not like the despondent tone of her voice. Though he understood her hesitation, change was hard sometimes, even if that change was the right thing to do. “I wouldn’t say that your moving away is going to make Brody happy. Yes, he’ll be insanely proud of you, but he’s going to miss you.”
“He also has Faith now. You know, with the marriage and all.”
Chase hesitated at the now cracking of her voice. “Are you not happy they’re getting married?”
“Oh, I am.” She stroked her finger down Houdini’s nose. “It’s just . . .” She inhaled deeply. “I kinda got the feeling that maybe my moving away is what brought on the engagement.”
Chase agreed with a nod. “I’m sure your leaving has something to do with Brody’s decision. Your brother isn’t used to being alone. You’ve always been there in the house with him. But Faith is good for him.”
“I’m not arguing that she’s not his perfect match,” said Harper, snuggling her head against Chase’s shoulder.
“Then what’s wrong?”
She glanced at him, the porch light revealing her eyes tight with worry. “I feel bad for him, you know. Brody’s always had his life delivered to him. He was only eighteen when all of a sudden he had to stop being a teenager and become an adult to take care of his little sister. It’s like everything he does is for a reason, not really because he wants it.”
Sweet-Loving Cowboy--A Kinky Spurs Novel Page 13