by Shana Gray
“What an accomplishment. You should be proud of yourself.”
As they reached the top of the stairs Ava glanced up at him and was concerned to see sadness now in his eyes. He had been bursting with pride a minute ago—what had changed? Was he thinking about his grandfather or maybe something from his past? This house had been made for a family. Even though he said he’d been designing it since he was a kid, maybe he had planned to share it with another woman? That thought gave her a little spark of jealousy, which she firmly tamped down. She wasn’t one of those people who judged others on their pasts. It didn’t matter if he used to date a supermodel, he was here with her now, and she only planned to keep him for a little while.
After this weekend he could go back to dating drop-dead-beautiful celebrities, but, at the moment, he was all hers.
Chase’s presence was reassuring as he led her along the balcony that overlooked the great room below to a hallway that ran off into another wing. It was a wide hall and also very striking. Beautiful paintings hung on the walls, and she paused.
“These are old.” Ava said. The first one was of a military man wearing a pith helmet on a stunning white horse. The background looked like desert, complete with Bedouin-style tents. The horse was magnificent and had a beautiful face with tassels hanging from the bridle and a tail held high. She bet it was an Arabian and the tack looked luxurious. Clearly, he had been a wealthy man.
“That there is a very distant relation of my mother’s. It’s a mystery who he is. We just call him old Uncle Jed.”
Ava giggled. “That’s funny. I’m fascinated by stories like that. And he doesn’t really look like a Jed, he looks more like a Nigel. The horse is beautiful.”
Chase laughed. “Nigel—I think you’re right. Rumor has it is the stallion was one of the original sires of today’s thoroughbreds.” Chase looked up at the artwork and nodded. “Yup, there’s definitely a story in that painting. I just wish we knew it.”
“You mean you don’t know anything? There’s not one clue about the horse and Nigel? That’s just tragic.” Ava felt suddenly sad that the subject of this painting was a mystery. To think, someone who looked as proud as Old Jed seemed to be, who had a horse as magnificent as that stallion, had lost their place in the family history book.
“Back then, I don’t think people had the same desire to know their roots. So many records were lost in wars, emigration, and in a lot of cases it was just plain denial. People wanting a fresh start. And lots of skeletons in closets.” Chase led her along the hall, and she was interested in all the other paintings, too.
“I’d really like to open some of those closet doors and rattle the skeletons,” she mused, pausing in front of another one, of a woman on a chair under a rose arbor, a dog on her lap and others lying at her feet. “Who’s this?”
“My great, great, great, great, and a few more greats, I think, grandmother Thirza. She came over on the Mayflower.”
“Oh my God! You are kidding me, right?” Ava blurted, and looked at him wide-eyed. The Mayflower had existed only in the history books for her until this moment.
Chase chuckled. “Nope, she did.”
“Wow, I’m so impressed. My history doesn’t go back as spectacularly. My grandparents immigrated in the 1950s and, like you said, due to the war, many records have been lost. I really don’t know anything about any family I have left in Europe.”
“Really? I’d like to know more about where you came from,” Chase told her, interest in his voice.
“It’s long and complex story in the Second World War, but my grandfather was Polish, forced to fight for the Germans until he escaped, and my grandmother was English. She was evacuated from the south of England to north of London.”
“Now that is a story I would like to hear.” They continued on down the hall and she looked at the other paintings with interest. “How did they meet?” Chase asked her.
“My grandparents? After the war, he went to England and was decommissioned there. They met at a dance.” Ava looked up at him and smiled.
“Now is that a fact. I wonder if he knocked her over?” Chase smiled and Ava giggled, liking the humor in his voice.
“I wonder. He obviously swept her off her feet. They were married sixty years.”
“I like the sound of that.” The look on his face was unreadable. She bet Bonni’s fiancé Quinn would love to play poker with him. But it was super-easy for Ava to speculate about what was going on behind the expression and to conjure up all sorts of things he might be thinking. Like, did he want a love like that? Was he thinking the same thing she was? About how the way her grandparents met and the way they met earlier tonight were eerily similar?
He carried on down the hall, not letting her go, his arm around her waist. Knowing what was coming next, the anticipation built in her until she thought she might burst from it. He stopped in front of one door and opened it.
“You’re welcome to stay in this room. There’s a shower that I think you would enjoy. And a lock on the other side of the door.”
She peered into his eyes and saw honesty shining there. She appreciated his offer and it further cemented her idea about the kind of man he was. She knew it was up to her which way the night ended. And she knew darn well which way she wanted it to go.
“Or?” She said the word so softly that Chase leaned in slightly to hear.
“Or?” Ava could see behind his beard and mustache a slow and very sexy smile that reached his eyes. She couldn’t deny it. It was so sweetly evident to her now. In this short period of time, she was falling for this man.
She nodded and repeated the word. “Or?”
Chase let her hand go and gathered her in his arms. His cradling touch was exciting and powerful and made her want to know what his or would be. She waited.
“I’d love for you to come down the hall. And shower in my room.”
She looped her arms around his neck and it was as if their surroundings faded. She no longer had a sense of place or time. She was floating, floating along on a magical current that he created. In a wonderful world that belonged just to them. And she loved it.
Ava let out a sigh she’d been holding in, her words tumbling out along the way. “Does that shower have room for two?”
The look in his eyes told her what she needed to know and he tightened his arms around her.
This whole evening had been the most romantic, albeit somewhat quirky, evening she’d ever experienced. He was romantic. His house was romantic. The food was romantic—well, for being fish on an open fire. The fireflies. The creek. It was as if the concept of romance had been conjured up especially for them. Ava was beguiled and in such sensory overload she could barely stand it.
“I would love to use your shower.” She stared up at him and pulled her lower lip between her teeth.
Chase seemed to grow in size after she whispered the words, almost like her answer made him swell with happiness, and the smile on his face conveyed so many things. She was unable to resist him and felt her own lips curving happily. The biggest surprise, though, was when he swept her up into his arms.
“Oh! No one’s ever carried me before.” She linked an arm around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, gazing up at him.
“Then I’m glad I can be the first.” He strode down the hall with sure steps and she felt very much like Scarlett O’Hara being carried up the grand staircase by Rhett Butler. Chase was romancing the heck out of her and she loved every minute of it.
“I’m not too heavy?” Ava asked hesitantly.
He chuckled. “Far from it. Here we are.”
He stopped before the double set of doors and used his foot to nudge the door open, then kicked it shut behind them. He held her for a moment longer before letting her legs drop so she could stand. Part of her wished he just carried her right over to the bed and tossed her on it.
But no matter.
They’d be there together soon enough.
Chapter Fifteen
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nbsp; Ava rested a hand on his shoulder while she got her balance then moved away a little as she examined his bedroom, leaving her purse on the window seat. Chase couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. Her dress looked the worse for wear, as it was rumpled with a few random streaks of dirt. Her red boots were still sparkly, though, as she walked over to the fireplace to run her fingers along the oak slab mantle. “Look at the fireplace. Is that the same one from downstairs? Is that even possible?”
He had never brought a woman into his home before. This had always been his sanctuary, a private place for just him and his family. Watching her, here, now, it felt right. Like this was always where she was meant to end up.
“Yes, the chimney was incorporated as a support structure. It runs up through the two floors of the house and connects both hearths,” he replied as she continued to investigate. She peered out the windows that now only showed a sheet of black but would reveal a glorious sunrise in the morning. She trailed her fingertips along his thick feather duvet and the heels of her boots sunk into the deep carpet.
“It’s magnificent. Too bad it isn’t chilly enough to light it.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “Where’s this shower, then?”
Her words spurred him to move, to pull his feet from the floor and walk toward her. Chase placed his hands on her hips and she softened into his touch, leaning back against him. He closed his eyes and held her, felt her, inhaled her. She filled him so completely.
It was as if she was a long-lost part of him. A piece he’d been missing all his life. It was baffling and intriguing and he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. There would be time enough in the morning to think about it but, for now, he had more immediate concerns.
“Boots,” he whispered in her ear, “I’m glad you’re here.”
She turned in his embrace, his hands sliding perfectly over her as she faced him. She opened her mouth to say something but, before she could speak, he gathered her in for a deep kiss. He wanted to clutch her fiercely, to claim her as his, and a deep raw side to him wanted to make her his, but the overpowering urge to romance and woo her made him check himself.
“Oh, Chase,” she murmured against his lips and he watched her eyelids flutter shut before closing his eyes, too.
Kissing her now, here, was just as extraordinary as the first time under the trees. Their previous kisses were merely a tease, a prelude to how she could make him feel. Her intensity and passion drove him to a near-mindless state. She pressed her fingers into his neck and up to the base of his skull, holding him as if she never wanted to let him go. She held every inch of herself against him; he felt all her feminine curves that his body was desperate to map.
The material of her dress was thin and light, no match for him if he chose to rip it off her. But he wouldn’t. At least not yet. As Chase shifted a bit, the movements of her breasts against his chest made her moan and she stepped tighter into him. He wrapped her in his arms while he deepened their kiss, feeling the intoxication of her body against him, her thighs, and goddamn…the way she hooked her ankle around his leg.
Chase didn’t hold back his groan. Even if he tried to, it wouldn’t have been possible.
“Oh, woman, that you’re here with me.” He uttered the words next to her lips when he briefly lifted his mouth from hers then let himself fall back into her.
He slid one hand up to the base of her neck and the other over her ass. He couldn’t get enough of the feel of her. She was perfection, ripe, curved, soft and firm…and hot. The urge to see her naked seared through him.
“S–shower.” Ava said the words against his lips.
With their mouths sealed, Chase lifted her and strode across the floor into the bathroom. In front of the shower, he let her down, holding her until the last possible second. Ava took a cursory glance around at the large shower with multiple shower heads, gleaming mirrors and hand-painted tile walls before returning her attention to him.
Her fingers played with the hem of her dress and he knew that, in a matter of minutes, he’d be seeing those hot-pink underpants again. Chase’s gaze traveled down her body. He licked his lips at the way the edge of her dress rode up on her thighs as she scrunched it between her fingers. He’d never seen a more stunning sight. Not even the joy he got while performing and seeing his sea of fans fanning out from the stage could be better.
Nope, that didn’t even hold a candle to this.
But it was the look on her face, more than anything else, that drilled down deep into the heart of him. A soft smile curved her lips, her face relaxed into a mixture of joy and desire.
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” Chase couldn’t believe all the words that threatened to spill out of him. It was like a song that wanted to be written. There was no effort, just a story he needed to tell. Words filled his brain and the tune was not far behind. And he knew, right then and there, she was the inspiration for his next song.
“You say the most wonderful things.” Ava’s voice was low, husky, and she lifted her arms, holding her hands out to him. “Chase, come to me.”
The sensation that exploded inside him at her simple words astounded him. He took her hands, vaguely knowing that he had his song title.
“I can’t get enough of looking at you.” He stepped toward her.
“Me either. But I do think it’s time for that shower.” She turned around and gestured to her back. Slowly, carefully, he unzipped her dress. “I had no idea that a casual bump on the dance floor would lead to this.”
Her flesh was soft and warm when he trailed his fingers down her back and she shivered delicately. “I’m not sure I would call that a casual bump. We were always fated to meet, remember?” Chase slid his hands up her sides to unclip her bra.
“It’s at the front.” Ava leaned back on him and let go of her dress. It dropped to the floor and she stood only in her hot-pink panties and matching lacy bra. She reached behind her to take hold of his hands and steer them where they needed to go. In a flash, he had the clasp undone, her bra off and his hands holding her breasts. His cock nearly exploded and his jeans became way too tight.
Desire ripped through him when he rubbed his thumbs over her nipples. He looked over her shoulder to see her breasts, beautiful and full, as if carved from ivory, and the nipples stiffened as he cradled them in his large, tanned hands. She drew in an excited breath. He turned her around.
“You are a vision.” Ava met Chase’s gaze. Desire cleaved down his spine and settled in his hips.
“You and your words.” Her breath hitched.
Chase reached down and hooked his thumbs into the sides of her panties, leisurely peeling them off, pressing gentle kisses on her legs as he went. She arched her back and sucked in a surprised breath before pinning him with a seductively tantalizing look.
“Off with your clothes, superstar.”
She helped him shed his shirt while he kicked off his boots, shoved his boxers down and then they were naked.
Except for her boots.
“Oh.” Ava whispered as she reached out and touched the tattoo that fanned out from his left pec. “I saw the one on your wrist and wondered if you had more.”
His nipple rose up and he groaned when her fingertip ran across it, along the arc up to his shoulder and then down his arm.
“Ava—”
She toed off her boots and stepped into the stone-walled shower. Her hair tumbled down her lean, curved back. For a willowy-looking woman, she had a strength and muscle that was surprising.
“Coming?” Ava turned on the water and gave him a come-hither smile over her shoulder. He was mesmerized, watching the water stream down her body. Her soaked hair, hanging over her shoulders, draping her breasts, gave him only a shadowed peek of her nipples. Water slipped over her hips, glistened off her taut belly and ran in rivulets down to the juncture of her legs, where her neatly trimmed hair drew his attention before he followed the water’s path down her thighs and calves, then back up to her face.
; Chase pulled out a drawer on the vanity, never taking his gaze off her. He came in to the shower and placed the package from the drawer on a shelf, then pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to her temple.
“Can anyone see in?” Her words came out on a breathy sigh.
She placed the palm of her hand against the floor-to-ceiling window that spanned a wall in the shower. All dark right now, except for the flittering of fireflies. During the day, it was one of his favorite views, of the meadows below with his horses grazing on the green grass.
“Nope, one-way glass, Boots.” He tapped his forehead. “I thought of everything.”
He shook his head and his long hair sent droplets of water flying from his lion’s mane.
“Oh my God, you could not be any more delicious-looking,” Ava said, and wound her arms around his neck, their bodies slipping against each other in the steaming water.
The water from the rain shower streamed over him. Ava could’ve sworn she was with Aquaman. She’d seen the trailers for the new movie but only now realized just how much Chase resembled Jason Momoa. If Celia wasn’t so happy with Landon, she would probably be pushing Ava in front of a bus to get a shot at Chase. But he was all hers, hers, hers. At least for now. And after letting her hungry gaze roam over Chase, she was very okay with that.
She’d known he was muscled and ripped but, until he stood naked, water flowing over him and highlighting all his rock-hard muscles, she hadn’t realized just how much. She dipped her gaze and fought the blush that threatened to rush up her checks when she saw how hard and ready he was for her.
He gazed at her and a look softened in his eyes. His lips turned into a smile and she could’ve sworn she read something in his gaze. But then that was her, right? She was a romantic. She saw the love and passion and happily ever afters all the time.
As he swooped in for a kiss, she reached between them and held his cock, stroking and moaning as he hardened in her hand.