When they broke apart, she gasped for air. He shifted his weight and kissed a trail down her neck and shoulder. He reached the buttons of her shirt and tugged at them with his teeth. Chloe licked her lips in anticipation as one by one they opened, revealing her to him.
Once he finished with the buttons, he undid the front clasp to her bra. He growled when it gave way, taking her breast into his mouth. Chloe cried out as desire soared through her body. She slipped her hand to the back of his head and held him close, letting her emotions carry her. He nipped her tip, and she gasped as need and pleasure slammed through her. He slipped his hands behind the small of her back, undoing the fastenings holding her skirt in place. He sat back and, with a quick, fluid motion, removed both skirt and thong.
Then nothing.
Chloe tried not to count the seconds as the cool air whispered over her skin. “Is there…?” Her breath hitched, and she silently cursed herself for feeling so vulnerable. “Is there something wrong?” God, she hoped not.
“So beautiful…” His hoarse whisper sent shivers down her spine.
She felt the bed dip as his hands rested beside her. He pulled the sheets taut beneath her body, yet he didn't touch her. There was something wrong. Chloe could feel the tension in the air. She brushed her fingers over the backs of his hands. He was shaking. “What is it?”
He pulled away. “I can't control it.”
“Control what?” She dug her elbows into the bed, lifting her head off the pillow. “What's going on?”
“Chloe…”
She reached for the blindfold but stopped as he gripped her wrist. “Don't.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Don't want to…to hurt you.”
“Then let go of my hand.”
He did. The bed shifted as she felt him move away. Again Chloe reached for her blindfold, but her hand stopped in midair when he kissed her lower abdomen.
“You smell so sweet.”
Her desire quickly returned. Chloe let her arms drop and her head fall back onto the pillow. Heat ran through her, turning her body to water. He kissed a line down her belly, cupping his hands behind her ass. She gasped as he lifted her off the bed. She raised her arms above her head and curled her fingers around the headboard. Oh God, that tongue! Each lick tightened her muscles in anticipation. She was close.
With Karl, she had never felt anything this intense or pleasurable. It was almost as if this man knew what she craved and was eager to give it to her. Higher and higher she climbed, her body humming with anticipation. He rested her hips back on the bed and used both his tongue and his fingers to explore and tease. She planted her feet on the bed and arched her hips into his hand. He chuckled, the vibrations of his mouth causing her to moan. Chloe's grip tightened on the headboard as he entered her, first with one finger, then with two. The intrusion, the wonderful stretching, sent beautiful heat twisting through her body.
She could feel his eyes on her as he moved his fingers, but she was beyond feeling embarrassed or shy. Pleasure lanced her abdomen, and she clenched her muscles in reply. He moaned, his strokes becoming swifter, more forceful. He found her clit and took it between his teeth, the gentle nipping dragging her toward the edge. She came in a burst of energy so bright, so forceful, that her whole body shook from its force. Still he stroked her, tended to her, wringing every last ounce of life from her body.
When it was over, Chloe collapsed, fully sated. He shifted, resting his full weight on her. He felt good on top of her, the pressure on her body making her muscles weak with pleasure. Bringing her legs up, she wrapped them around him as he positioned his cock between her thighs.
“Can't hold back…”
She arched her back as he entered her, gasping as his entire length speared her core. He pushed his body up and leveraged it over her using his hands. Before she had a chance to think, to adjust, he was sliding inside her. The quick, savage movements left her breathless. She curled her fingers into his biceps, amazed at the ripple of muscle and strength she found there. Emotion rocked her, and she longed to taste him as he did her. She wanted to touch his body, touch the deep crevices of his muscles, and run her fingers through his hair. She wanted to know if the rest of him was as smooth and toned as his biceps. She suspected it was.
Another wave of desire crashed through her, and for the moment all she could do was feel. Chloe hung on as he moved inside her, each thrust pushing her closer to the edge. His rough, wild movements made her feel alive. The sweet friction of his cock moving inside of her…
It was too much. Chloe cried out as her orgasm roared through her. Pleasure cocooned her body, wrapping around her like a warm blanket. She felt him stiffen and then thrust harder. A low, sexy growl vibrated around her as he too went over the edge.
Before Chloe could recover, he slid his arm around her and twisted, rolling them both to the other side of the bed until she was on top of him. Chloe rested her head on his chest. For a long moment they were silent, their ragged breathing the only sounds in the room.
“That was amazing.” Chloe put her fingers over her lips, embarrassed that her thoughts slipped out her mouth.
He didn't seem to notice. “Yeah.” He rubbed his hand up and down her back in a gentle yet possessive manner. It made Chloe feel safe and loved.
“It's been a long time.” Chloe frowned into his chest. Really, she should stop being so open around him. He probably thought she was a freak or something. She had never been so open around Karl, but then again, Karl never made her feel like this. She ran her fingers over his chest.
“I'm sorry about Marcus.” His voice hitched with emotion, and for a moment it sounded strangely familiar. It was almost as if…
Chloe's hand froze. It couldn't possibly be…
“Zach?”
His fingers stilled on the small of her back.
Oh no. No…
Chloe dragged her tired body up into a sitting position and yanked off her blindfold. The stranger, her mystery man, looked up at her with concern etched in his deep green eyes. His dark black hair had gotten longer, his features more rugged, mature man than boy, but there was no denying it. “Zach.”
“Chloe.”
“Oh my God.”
“I know this seems strange.”
She scrambled off the bed. “Strange? Strange?”
He held out his arms to her, but she retreated to the foot of the bed. “For years I—” Her throat constricted on the words. “Why didn't you call?”
He sat up and turned away. “I couldn't.”
“Like hell you couldn't.” She snapped her bra together and covered her breasts. “To think that I…Of all the…You could have called.”
He turned back to her. “I know. I'm sorry.”
“Where's Marcus?”
“He's dead, Chloe. You saw the body yourself.”
The mangled, mutilated body of her brother flashed through her mind. Poor Marcus. Tears stung her eyes, and she swatted them away. “Yet you survived.”
“Barely.”
She frowned at him, her eyes going to the scar at his throat. “What happened to you? Why does your voice sound like that?”
His jaw hardened as he sat up and shifted to the end of the bed. “It's better if you don't know.”
“We were so worried. I was so worried.”
“I'm sorry.”
She shook her head. “Where were you?”
“With friends.”
She stared at him. “Friends? What friends? We hung out with the same crowd of people.”
He rubbed his hands over his face. “I can't tell you, darlin'. You have to trust me on this.”
She wasn't going to let his sweet talk get him out of this one. “Were these female friends?”
“Some are female, yes.”
Chloe saw red. “Some.” She began to pace. “Some. To think that…” She stopped dressing and turned to him. “I was your fiancée, Zach.” She pointed to her chest. “Your fiancée. I think I deserved at lea
st a phone call.”
“What was I going to say?”
“How about the truth?”
He pressed his lips together.
“No matter.” She waved her hand in the air. “Tell me the truth now. What happened to you and Marcus in the forest? Who are you staying with?”
“I can't say.”
“Can't? Or won't?”
He stood. “Can't.”
Tears threatened to spill, but she fought them back. “Why did you do this to me? I wish you had never come back.”
“Come now, darlin'. I know you don't mean that.” He reached out his hand and stepped toward her.
Chloe stumbled back and put her hand on the doorknob. “Don't you darlin' me. Why come here after all these years, huh? One last roll in the hay for old time's sake?”
“I…” He seemed to struggle for words. “Chloe, listen to me.” He stepped forward.
Chloe opened the door behind her, keeping her gaze fixed on Zach. “I have a job, a life.” She thought of all those years she sat alone in her room, thinking about Zach, wishing he'd come back to her. All the while he had been hanging out at some friend's house. Some female friend's house.
“I have a lover,” she blurted out. “He proposed to me tonight.”
Zach stopped his advance and dropped his arm. “A what?”
She raised her chin. “You heard me.”
“Chloe, don't do this. You don't love him.”
“What did you think, that I wasted away in my room, pining after you year after year while you ran around town with your friends?” Damn him. Never again. She would never cry over him again.
“When I saw you on the roof, you seemed upset.”
She gasped. “You've been following me?”
“No, not really.”
Liar. “Have you been in Houston all this time?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Where were you?”
“Las Vegas.”
Sin City. Perfect. He was whoring it up while her life went straight into the toilet. Chloe suddenly realized that the perfect Zach of her dreams no longer existed. Her chest ached, and she swatted a tear from her cheek. She had to get out of here.
“Good-bye, Zach.”
“No, Chloe.” She felt his hand on her arm. “Let me explain.”
God, let him say the right thing. She lifted her gaze to meet his.
He looked at her for a moment, as if he was weighing his words. “I'm not the same person you once knew.”
She frowned. “Well, news flash, I'm not either.”
“No, I…I mean, I can't be the person you want me to be.”
“So that's why you never called me? Never said 'Hey, Chloe—just wanted to let you know I survived being attacked by a rabid animal.' Because you didn't think you'd live up to my expectations?”
“It's not like that. I was afraid I was going to hurt you.” He let his hand slip down her arm and laced his fingers with hers. “I still might.”
She jerked her hand away. “Is that all?”
He looked up at her, his eyes wide.
“Well, I've got another news flash for you, buddy.” She jerked her hand away. “You already hurt me. But you won't anymore; I can promise you that.” She stormed out of the room and slammed the door before he could reply.
Out. She needed to get out of here. Get some air and think things through.
At some point tonight she had broken her heel, damn it all. Her pride took a serious shot as she hobbled toward the elevator. Once she was inside, the door to his hotel room opened, and she saw him rush down the hall after her. “Chloe, wait.”
She pushed the button for the ground floor. Repeatedly. The doors closed just before he reached them.
Thank God. Chloe slid down the wall of the elevator and put her head in her hands. He was alive. Zach was alive.
And he never contacted her. Not once in five years.
The elevator dinged, and she straightened, wiping the tears from her cheeks. Well, she didn't need him. Not now.
Not ever.
The doors opened, and she saw Zach standing there, hand outstretched. His dress shirt and slacks looked expensive and fit perfectly over his sculpted body, almost as if they were tailor-made. “Chloe, listen to me.”
She blinked. “How did you get down the stairs so fast?”
The color rose to his cheeks. “I…” He pressed his lips together. “Trust me, Chloe. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“But you did.” She brushed past him.
“Chloe…” He followed her through the big revolving door, out of the hotel.
It was a beautiful night, the full moon hung low in the horizon and reminded her of when she and Zach used to sit on her roof and watch the sky. She was such a fool to think he had ever loved her. Chloe tripped on the sidewalk and cursed her stupid shoes.
Zach reached out to steady her and then let out a hiss. He pulled back into the shadows of the building. “Chloe, wait.”
Chloe flipped off her shoes and ran.
“Chloe!”
She ran harder, tears streaming down her face. Such an idiot. All those years, wasted.
“Chlo-e!”
The roar was deafening, but she didn't dare look back. Zach was a part of her past—just like her parents. Just like Karl. Chloe was tired of living in her past.
It was time she left the past behind for good.
Chapter 5
Chloe slid her fingers over the rim of the Steinway grand piano and wondered why she was destined to be such a fool.
Five years.
Her thoughts drifted back to that day when the police arrived on their doorstep to tell them the news. Marcus was dead. Zach was missing. For weeks Chloe held out hope that Zach was somehow spared her brother's fate, that he would come back to her. That he would save her from her suffocating life.
But he never came, and she was forced to turn away from her old life. In the beginning, playing the piano gave her comfort. After her dreams of Julliard were crushed, her father had kept her too busy to practice much. As she was forced to give up her dreams one by one, she became depressed. Over time, she found she couldn't even touch the keys anymore. The music she had once loved so much had become a painful reminder of everything she had given up, everything she had lost.
She sat on the piano stool and opened the fall to expose the keys. Sighing, she positioned her fingers, enjoying the feel of the smooth surface.
Arpeggio. A minor. She worked from memory, her fingers flying over the keys. Her training slowly came back to her as she made her way up the octaves and back down again. B minor. She practiced her scales until a song drifted into her thoughts. Shifting her fingers, she allowed the haunting tune to surround her body and penetrate her mind. Chloe wrapped herself up in the music, eager to forget.
Yet she couldn't forget. Somehow her thoughts kept drifting back to last night…
All this time, while she was pining away for a life lost, Zach had shacked up with some friends and lived the good life. How many women had he fucked? Did he have a girlfriend, or worse, a wife? Damn it, why was he here? It was obvious he wasn't looking for money. His clothes looked expensive and tailor-made to suit his taut body. Her eyes closed as she remembered the feel of his skin against hers. She could almost smell it, the sandalwood and spice penetrating her senses and sending desire through her body.
She frowned and opened her eyes. He looked fresh and alive, almost feral. He reminded her of a college student out on a late-night prowl from pub to pub. No, Zach wasn't suffering. Chloe wondered if he ever had.
What could he possibly want from her now? Did he think to claim her after all this time?
She sighed, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. Whatever his reasons, Chloe knew she couldn't see him again. Nothing good could come of it. She had responsibilities and obligations, promises and duties. To walk away would be unthinkable.
“You're playing.”
Chloe jumped and jerke
d away from the piano keys. “Dad, you scared me.”
Her father stepped from the doorway and made his way over to her. “I haven't heard you play in years.”
Chloe looked at her hands in her lap. “I know.”
Her father hooked his finger under her chin and raised her head to meet his gaze. “I miss it.”
Tears welled up behind her eyes. How she wished she could tell her father about the rooftop and Zach, about how betrayed she felt. She pulled her head away and looked at the piano.
Her father sighed and raised a mug to his lips. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled her nose, causing tears to sting her eyes. Zach had loved coffee in the morning too. The stronger the better.
She had always marveled at how poorly Zach and her father got along. They were so much alike—right down to how they were both trying to manipulate her life.
“It was wrong of me to put so much pressure on you.”
Her blood ran cold as she looked up at him. “Dad?”
Emotion etched his features. “When your brother died, we were at such a loss.” He reached out and ran his thumb down the side of her cheek. “We were afraid for you, Chloe. I wanted to do everything I could to make you safe and to secure your future.” He dropped his hand and straightened. “I'm afraid I may have pushed you too hard.”
“No, Dad.” She stood and took his hand.
He stopped and squeezed her fingers. “Chloe, you are such a treasure, you know that? When we couldn’t find you last night…” He shook his head. “I really don't know how we would have survived without you.”
“Oh, Dad.” She wrapped her arms around him.
He squeezed her tight. “Just let me provide for your future, pumpkin. I need to know that you will be taken care of. Karl—”
She stepped out of his arms. “I can't marry Karl.”
Her father's expression turned sad. “Karl is a good man. He comes from a well-established family. Between his inheritance and yours, you’ll never want for anything. Please reconsider your answer to his proposal.”
Alphas for the Holidays Page 181