by Lora Leigh
“Learn more about that bracelet,” he instructed her, whispering in her ear.
Ashley didn’t nod, or acknowledge what he said. But turning in his arms, she sipped her beer. “We’ll stay for a few,” she announced, stepping away from him. “But you’re a packed house tonight. We can definitely come back and bowl another night.”
Chris and Angie moved in around her, whispering and shooting him curious glances. They wanted all the details on him and he didn’t worry about Ashley coming up with a convenient story to appease them.
“So how did you and Ashley meet?” Davie asked, his body stiff as he stood, chest puffed out, and prepared for a testosterone showdown.
“Grocery store,” he offered easily. “Our carts bumped into each other and it was love at first sight.”
Davie’s narrowing gaze was proof enough he didn’t believe Chase for a minute. Not that Chase cared. “How long have you known Ash?”
“Since high school when she started dating my kid brother.”
“Her ex?” Chase asked, nodding and making it rhetorical. “I hear he didn’t like her being a cop, wanted her at home having babies.”
“Danny adores Ash,” Davie growled, crossing his thick arms over his even thicker chest. “He didn’t want her hurt. It’s one thing being a crossing guard, but completely different racing down dark alleys after men with guns.”
If his rather chauvinistic attitude was a family trait, it wasn’t a wonder Ashley split up with his brother.
“But all he’s ever wanted for Ash is her happiness. I’ve always predicted they would work out their differences and get back together. See them together and you’ll see the chemistry is still there.” Davie rocked up on his heels, but then turned when his name was called out to take his turn bowling.
A lot less than an hour passed before Ashley was hugging the girls and then Davie good-bye. Chase watched her whisper something in his ear and the stocky man glared at Chase. Then she was whisking Chase out of there and into the refreshing night air.
“Why in the hell did you have to get him so worked up?” Ashley demanded, marching toward his car as she threw her hands up in exasperation.
Chase kept in stride, enjoying how her large breasts bounced under the restraints of her tube top. “It sure didn’t take much, did it?”
“You could have been nice,” she hissed, moving to the passenger side and then holding the handle and waiting for him to unlock her door.
Chase pushed the button on his key holder and his lights blinked. Ashley yanked open her car door and slid in, slamming it shut a lot harder than necessary. Seeing she didn’t expect him to be the gentleman and open, or close, her door, he moved around to the driver’s side and slid in next to her. He put the key into the ignition, but then didn’t start it, and instead faced her, taking in her pouting profile.
“Do you want to get back with your ex?”
“No,” she said, not hesitating.
“Why would he say that?”
Ashley looked at him, shoving her hair behind her ear and then exhaling softly. “I didn’t hear him say that. So I don’t know. There hasn’t been anything between my ex and me for years.”
“Could there be on his end?”
“What would it matter?”
“If there is, your ex might have reason to try and grab your attention. Some men will go to an extreme to try and get a woman back, especially if they feel she’s still theirs.”
“That isn’t how it is with me and Danny,” she said, her expression tight as she continued glaring at him. “At least one good thing came out of tonight. I know where those bracelets came from and tomorrow I can pay the Crossing a visit.”
CHAPTER 5
ASHLEY WORRIED her lower lip as she stared out the wind-shield, more upset by Davie implying something still existed between her and Danny than she wanted to let on. It didn’t surprise her Chase picked up on that. And she didn’t flatter herself thinking he did because he was interested in a relationship. There was a strong physical attraction between her and Chase, but he was an investigator, trained to analyze a scene and pull what clues might exist out of it. She’d never felt Danny wanted to rekindle anything between them. That Davie would suggest such a thing meant either he didn’t like seeing her with another man, or Danny had said something to his brother that he hadn’t revealed to her.
She wasn’t convinced any of this had anything to do with the case. But it showed her it wouldn’t hurt for her to date a bit more. Obviously Davie, and probably Danny too, needed to see her with other men once in a while. Maybe they needed closure. God knows, it wouldn’t hurt her to put work aside from time to time and enjoy the company of a man.
She glanced sideways, taking in Chase’s brooding expression as he relaxed his hand on the steering wheel and started across town. “Chris wouldn’t tell me what the knots in her bracelet meant,” she offered, breaking the silence between them.
“We’ll ask tomorrow at the Crossing.”
“We?”
Chase looked at her. God, he was fucking perfect. His hard features, the way his black hair contrasted with his bright blue eyes. Her insides grew uncomfortably warm watching him as he took his time staring at her face. When his gaze dropped lower, she was suddenly acutely aware of how her tank top hugged her breasts, more than likely showing them off. She reached for her sweater, feeling more clothing would be in order before the conversation drifted to dangerous territory.
“There’s no reason we can’t go shopping tomorrow.”
“I thought you were a ghost,” she muttered, struggling with the sweater.
“Are you cold?” he asked, and adjusted the climate control on the dash. “And do I look like a ghost to you?”
“Your words, not mine,” she told him, ignoring his comment about being cold.
Chase reached over and took her sweater, sliding it out from behind her and placing it on her lap. She was ready to snatch the sweater and put it on when he took her hand and brought it to his lips.
“Do I feel like a ghost to you?” he growled.
Shivers rushed over her when he nipped at her knuckles and she was positive her nipples were so hard they probably threatened to poke right through the stretchy tube top she’d been a fool to wear.
“Chase,” she sighed, willing herself to tell him to stop. They turned the corner, entering her neighborhood. All she needed to do was get out of the car and into her house without inviting him in. Shouldn’t be hard. “If you want to meet me at the store tomorrow that’s your deal. It’s a public place.”
He continued driving with one hand and pressed his lips over her fingers, his breath scorching her flesh when he spoke. “Have you been to the Crossing before?” he asked.
“No, I haven’t.” She really should pull her hand away from him.
“So you don’t know what kind of establishment it is?”
His discussing business while rubbing a day’s growth of whiskers over her fingers was making it damn hard to answer his questions. A pressure swelled inside her, distracting her and making her ache to squirm in her seat. Chase would be on to her in a minute if she did. And she didn’t doubt for a moment he intended to get a rise out of her. Ashley prayed he was torturing himself as much as he was her.
“I can guess but I can also Google it and see if they have a Web site.”
“It’s an old hippie store run by a woman who claims to be a witch. Do you know anyone into that sort of thing?”
It irritated her that he already knew about the Crossing but questioned her, forcing her mind to stay focused as he slowly drove her nuts. “People buy things from stores like that all the time and don’t necessarily view themselves as hippies or Wiccans.” She yanked her hand out of his when he pulled up in front of her house.
Chase cut the engine and climbed out on his side as Ashley almost leaped out of his SUV on her side. She gulped in night air, wishing it were just a few degrees cooler. Wadding her sweater into a ball, she hugged it against he
r chest and slung her purse over her shoulder. If she stormed across her yard, running to her house for safety against his incredible male magnetism, Chase would probably tackle her. Somehow that image got her even hotter.
Damn it! Would it be so terrible to just invite him in and fuck him?
Chase came around the front of his car and took her arm when she reached her driveway. “I’m coming in,” he announced, his low growl leaving nothing to the imagination as to his meaning.
Nor did it surprise her that he didn’t ask. What did surprise her was that his demanding nature made her so damn hot for a moment she just stared at him.
“Why?” She wouldn’t let him believe he could just assume he would fuck her and she’d lie down and spread her legs like a good little submissive bimbo.
His hands snaked around her waist and he yanked her against him with enough force it almost knocked the air out of her lungs. She slapped her hands over his shoulders, staring up slightly and into dark sapphire eyes that devoured her right before his mouth did.
When his mouth covered hers, he moved one hand up her back, his callused fingers digging into her hair and then tugging, drawing her head back and deepening the kiss.
Ashley’s world spun out of control. The pressure swelling inside her hit a point of no return and she felt her pussy grow soaked as a throbbing began between her legs that made her weak with need. Chase didn’t ask, he took. But even more so, his demanding nature controlled her, molding her body against his just the way he wanted it. He poured the need he felt for her into her mouth, allowing her to taste, to experience, the intensity his cravings had reached. Ashley couldn’t think, couldn’t react, but through the fog of lust quickly enveloping her brain one thing rang clear. If she took him inside he would fuck her until the pain from her lust, from the knowledge of what could be, was satisfied.
How long had it been since she’d known hard-core carnal, raw sex?
“That’s why I’m coming inside,” he growled, moving his lips over hers.
Ashley blinked, fighting to regain control and not letting him see the lengths to which he’d just taken her. “If it was so you could kiss me, you’ve just gotten that out of the way.” She pushed against his shoulders, creating a bit of space between them.
“No, sweetheart,” he said, his voice gruff. “Because if we stand out here the neighbors might not appreciate me fucking you in your driveway.”
“Do you always just do what you want and believe it’s okay?” Ashley turned from him, walking out of his arms and to her front door. Her jeans rubbed against her pussy, spreading the moisture and torturing her. When she fumbled with her purse to dig out her keys she realized she no longer carried her sweater.
Chase came up behind her, holding it in his hand. Damn him anyway for affecting her like this. She didn’t even notice dropping it.
“When I know it’s the right thing to do, yes.” He didn’t hand her sweater to her, but focused on her purse.
Ashley dug out her keys and unlocked her front door. “It will be the right thing to do when I say it is,” she told him, already arguing with herself to let him stay. There wouldn’t be any getting rid of the need boiling out of control inside her no matter how long she masturbated.
He reached over her, pushing her door open and moving into the house alongside her. Instead of continuing to press his argument, he was suddenly alert as he searched her dark living room. “Did you set your alarm?” he asked, the gruffness in his voice gone.
Ashley tensed, positive she would never leave her home without setting it. In her line of work there was always someone who might hold a grudge, and she lived alone.
“Stay there.” She pointed to the doorway as she flipped on the lamps in her living room controlled by the light switch at her front door. Everything appeared to be in place. Walking over to the end table next to her couch, she opened the top drawer and pulled out the small handgun she kept there. Quickly checking to see if it were loaded, she then pointed it toward the ground and turned, putting her finger over her lips to tell him to be quiet.
Chase had closed her front door without her hearing it, dropped her sweater on the floor inside the door, and barely glanced at her before taking in the surroundings. He also held a gun in his hand. Where the hell had he stashed that thing?
Arguing with him to let her search her own house would be pointless. Not to mention, he was as trained as she was, if not possibly more, to handle situations like this. In spite of her nature telling her she needed to protect him, Chase didn’t appear to need protection. If anything, holding the gun in his hand, aiming it at the floor, he looked even hotter and more dangerous than he had all evening. There was no way she should be so fucking turned on when there might be a burglar in her home.
Chase reached behind him, locking her front door, then nodded at her to move through her home. Her back door opened and closed, sounding as if someone just slammed it behind them. Ashley hurried into the dark part of her house, almost running into her kitchen without saying a word, her gun aimed at the darkness surrounding her. She wasn’t sure if her door was slammed, or if it was just her heart exploding in her chest. Although she didn’t doubt she had serious enemies among those she’d arrested over the years and put in jail, not once had her house been broken into since she’d been living here alone.
Chase was right behind her when she yanked her unlocked back door open— there was no way she had left it that way— and hurried out.
“Over there,” Chase hissed in her ear, his gun aimed at a figure racing away to a running car in the alley behind them.
Ashley grabbed his arm, shoving his gun toward the ground. “Wait,” she ordered, anger replacing all the trepidation that had coursed through her veins a moment ago. “Son of a bitch,” she growled, turning back to her house and stalking through her kitchen.
Chase was by her side, securing the safety on his gun when she pulled her cell phone out of her purse. “I take it you know who that was?” he asked, his expression guarded as he studied her.
“My ex,” she seethed, punching in the numbers to his cell and then putting it to her ear as it started ringing. Danny answered on the second ring. “What the hell were you doing in my house?” she yelled, adrenaline attacking her with a vengeance.
“Who did you bring home with you?” Danny demanded.
“Answer my goddamn question.” She walked away from Chase and put her gun back in the top drawer of her end table. “You damn near got yourself shot.”
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Danny drawled. “I didn’t know you were bringing home company.”
“Why were you in my house?” She stressed each word, blowing out a silent breath so she wouldn’t loose her cool with Chase standing silently behind her, more than likely able to hear Danny through the phone. “And how did you turn off my home security?”
“It was your birthday backward.” Danny laughed as if he were proud of himself for figuring it out. “I guessed it on the second try.”
“Danny, tell me why you were in my house right now before I call the police on your ass, or worse yet, come after you and beat the crap out of you myself.”
Danny laughed. “Sounds kinky.”
Ashley swore she heard Chase growl behind her.
“But I stopped by because I swore my old pool stick was upstairs in the attic. When you weren’t home I tried letting myself in but forgot about your security thing. Damn good thing I was able to turn it off, huh. I got filthy crawling around upstairs looking for that damn pool stick. I swear it’s up there. But I ran out of the house when you came home and I realized you weren’t alone. I didn’t want to ruin your night, darling.”
“Don’t ever enter my home again without my being here.”
“Okay. Okay. I’m sorry. Don’t shoot.” Danny started laughing.
And she hung up on his ass. Then tossing her phone on her couch, she blew out an exasperated breath, running her fingers through her hair.
“Change your code,” Chase
instructed.
Ashley spun around, ready to take all her frustration out on him simply because he stood there. He didn’t approach to console her, which pissed her off. And he appeared completely calm and relaxed, which annoyed her even further.
But he was right, and that irked her even more. She needed to reset her password on her home security immediately. If Danny, who was a numbskull, could figure out how to get into her home when she’d paid damn good money for a home security system, a real thief with a lot more skill and determination could also. Her heart still pounded in her chest when she fisted her hands and marched over to the panel alongside her door.
“Make it 1275.” Chase moved in alongside her and leaned against the wall next to the panel, crossing his muscular arms over his steel chest. “No one will guess that. It’s my birthday. You can change it again later so I don’t know it if you wish.”
“I don’t remember how to change the password,” she grumbled, having stared at the panel for a moment and knowing that if she messed with it and pushed the wrong button, it would contact the ser vice with the security system. She didn’t want the embarrassment of telling them she didn’t need the police called. “The directions are in my filing cabinet.”
She thought about telling Chase to leave, and more than likely, after the incident that just happened, he probably would. In spite of anger still trying to make her grouchy, the swelling between her legs hadn’t subsided. She was acutely aware of him following her silently into her bedroom where her filing cabinet stood next to her computer desk.
“Is this how you get into your attic?” Chase asked.
Ashley pulled open the top drawer to her dresser and reached to the back where the keys to her filing cabinet were. Glancing at him, she saw he stood just outside her bedroom door pointing at her ceiling.
“Yes,” she said, finding the keys and locking her cabinet. She flipped through her files until she found the one labeled “own er’s manuals.” Thank God the instructions to her security system were where they belonged. Chase would take over and secure her house for her if she wasn’t able to do it herself. And she wasn’t some weak female who needed a man making sure the boogeyman couldn’t hurt her.