by C. A. Harms
I fisted the covers at my side as he gripped my thighs, holding them apart.
His tongue moved over me as if he owned me and in that moment I would have to agree he did. Nothing had ever felt this good.
I was so lost in the bliss of aftermath from his mouth that his movements had gone unnoticed. I expected to open my eyes and see him still positioned between my thighs, but instead found his body hovering over mine as he positioned his hips between my thighs.
With one swift shift of his hips he began entering me as we both moaned in unison.
“Oh,” I whimpered. “Yes.”
He whispered his pleasure in the form of barely audible curses as he began to move his body against mine. With each thrust of his hips he pulled back ever so slowly to once again repeat his movements, over and over.
And if I thought only moments ago when his head was positioned between my thighs as he feasted on me was heaven, I was wrong. Because the way he moved, the way his face mirrored the pleasure he felt, was complete bliss. Chase knew just how to wring pleasure out of me—mind blowing, toe curling pleasure.
He gave his best, and when I thought there was no possible way it could get any better, he swiveled his hips or did some other trick to prove me wrong.
No amount of dreams or fantasies could have ever lived up to the reality of Chase. He was unbelievable and I was so lost in his world.
Being lost had never felt so good.
***
I woke later than I planned.
Looking over toward the window only a few feet away, I panicked. The sun had risen and I could tell by the brightness of the room that it was well above the trees surrounding the property.
I tried to move but Chase’s legs and arms held me hostage to his bed. He was dead weight, obviously still feeling the aftereffects of our night together.
I too could still feel the achiness throughout my body. It was the best kind of ache. An ache I’d welcome anytime.
But no matter how bad I wanted to repeat our events, I had to get out of here. I had planned to be up and gone before the sun rose, avoiding the chances of a run-in with Mrs. Willard.
But by the looks of it, it may have been too late.
“Why you wiggling around, darlin’?” Chase mumbled, still half asleep. “Lie still.”
“No,” I protested as I continued to try to move out from underneath him. “I need to get going.”
“No, you need to stop moving and let me hold you,” he said, this time a little more clear.
“I have to get to the shop.” It wasn’t the only reason I needed to leave but I figured at this point it might be the only one he would listen to. “And I’m already late.”
He groaned as he buried his face against my neck. “What if I don’t want ya to leave?” he asked, his voice muffled against my collarbone. “What if I want to keep you hostage here with me all day?”
I couldn’t control the smile that covered my lips. “Not that that specific thought doesn’t send shivers throughout my body, but I just can’t.”
I heard movement in the hall and I stiffened involuntarily.
Chase chuckled deeply and I swatted at his shoulder. “Damn, woman, she isn’t the devil,” he said as he pulled back, allowing me a little wiggle room.
I slid from the bed before he could stop me and grabbed for my shirt that was wadded up and lying in the corner of the room.
“Help me sneak out the back,” I said as I pulled my shirt over my head and began searching for my panties and shorts.
He laughed again and I shot him an evil glare.
“What are we, teenagers?” he asked. “Sneaking around hoping not to get caught. Hell, why don’t you just climb out the window?”
I turned around and looked behind me toward the window, and Chase laughed harder.
“That was a joke,” he clarified.
Turning back around I looked at him and tried like hell to gain some control of my racing heart.
“I am not meeting your grandmother for the first time wearing my clothes from the night before and showing obvious signs of doing the nasty all night long.” The thought was mortifying.
“The nasty?” he questioned, with his eyebrow arched. I could see the smirk on his face and I wanted to pick up his pillow and beat him with it.
“Stop stalling and get your ass up,” I nagged and he did, but not without continued laughter.
By the time I was dressed and sneaking out of his room, I could hear lots of movement coming from the kitchen. Chase trailed behind me still smiling from ear to ear, like this was all some game.
I was just about to twist the handle on the back door and sneak out when I heard the sound I had been hoping to avoid.
“Child, I already know you’re here, ain’t no use in trying to sneak out the back door.” I froze, ramrod straight, and knew my eyes were the size of saucers.
I was terrified and in that moment I did feel like a teenager who had just been caught and now had to suffer the consequences of her actions.
I looked back over my shoulder and found Chase hunched over, holding his stomach laughing uncontrollably.
“With you two moaning and squealing, sounding like a buncha baby pigs all night, there’s no way I couldn’t know you were here,” his grandmother added.
Mortified.
I was absolutely and completely mortified.
Chase laughed harder, to the point where tears were rolling down his cheeks and never in my life had I ever wanted to gut punch someone more. He loved my embarrassment. He was eating it up.
I would never live this down. I knew it.
This scene would follow me forever. And I knew without a doubt it would be used over and over as a form of torture, not only by Chase but every other person I knew in Livingston.
Things like this spread like wildfire.
Chapter Twelve
Chase
The humor in Nana’s eyes warmed my heart. She was laying it on thick with Trinity and maybe I should have rescued her, but it was kind of fun to watch her squirm.
It was like a little girl being scolded by her grandma for getting her Sunday dress dirty.
And Nan was like white on rice when the opportunity arose to torment someone.
“So you were really just gonna sneak out the back door and around the side of the house, hoping not to get caught?” She arched an eyebrow at Trinity.
Instantly my girl looked over at me for help and all I offered was a matching questionable stare.
Maybe it was wrong of me to allow Nan to torture Trinity. But something about the gleam in Nan’s eyes told me everything would be fine. She just wanted to make Trinity sweat for a bit.
“The last time someone went sneaking around my house I clobbered ’em with my cane and they spent a few miserable days in the hospital.” Nan sipped her coffee as if what she just said was a common act.
Trinity’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, still staring at Nana without speaking a word.
“Child, you really are terrified of me, aren’t ya?” It was comical the way Trinity’s eyes widened just a fraction before she instantly began shaking her head.
“Um, no,” she said in a rush. “I’m just truly embarrassed.”
“Oh stop with the worrying,” Nan told her, finally cracking a smile. “Do you think I never did any of the wild things you kids do today? Hell, I know I’ve done a hell of a lot worse. I’m no saint.”
If she broke out stories of the way her and Gramps used to sneak around doing things I had no business hearing about it would be me sneaking out the back door this time.
“I was young once,” she said as she zoned out for a minute, deep in thought.
My stomach began to twist with what I knew was coming next.
“Back in those days my late husband and I used to end up in the damnedest of places. The storage closet at the high school, the men’s bathroom at that little deli on Main.” She made a sound that made my ears ring as she smiled wider.
�
�Nana,” I began to protest just before she got a little grungier.
“And the hood of that ole Chevy of his, out by the lake.”
I interrupted with a groan of protest. “Enough,” I told her.
She loved to torture me and somehow the entire events of the morning had been shifted to me. Nana found yet another way to get a rise out of me.
Both Trinity and Nan laughed as I faked a shiver and stood from the table, moving toward the coffee pot for a refill.
The laughter from the two of them did make my torment worth it, but I kept my back to the both of them. If they saw the smile on my face, they might consider it an invitation to continue on reminiscing about my grandparents’ glory days.
***
I was sitting at the desk just next to the coffee pot, attempting to fill out the paperwork I still had to complete for the arrest I’d made only a few hours before.
Drunk and disorderly. Booker was starting to make this a reoccurring thing. The guy needed a damn hobby. He was still attempting to find the perfect woman; the problem was he was always going after one who was already taken.
That shit never ended well.
“I know that look.” I looked up just as Noah sat down in the chair opposite mine. I wasn’t sure I liked the look he was giving me.
“What look would that be?” I asked, once again focusing on the papers before me. Sawyers had some type of fifth sense, I could swear it. If you were thinking about it, if it was rolling around in your head, something great, they could almost feel it.
“You better not hurt her,” Noah added, which caused me to look up at him once again.
“I’m not that guy; you know me,” I said, hoping he could see the honesty in my eyes. In a short time, Trinity had become important in my life.
“No,” Noah said, matter of fact. “I’ve worked with you, yes, but I don’t really know you.”
He sat there staring back at me, as if daring me to say something different. But I couldn’t. It was true. Outside of the station he and I didn’t honestly know one another.
“She’s had a rough run,” he said as he looked down toward his lap. “You didn’t see her that day. She was so damn lost and scared. The poor girl actually feared us, like we were going to arrest her, or worse—send her back to him.”
Hearing a recap of the day Ryan and Noah found Trinity sleeping in her car pulled at something deep in my chest.
I’d read the paperwork, actually more than once. But seeing the emotions in Noah’s eyes made it that much more real.
“Noah,” I said, and it caused him to look up at me. “I have no intention of hurting Trinity. I know all three of you, and hell, even Keeton, are all on guard with me, but I mean it when I say she means something to me. I can’t sit here and guarantee you that she and I will never have a hard moment. Hell, I bet you and Alena went through plenty of your own.”
He nodded and I continued.
“But I can guarantee you that I’ll never take her for granted. And never will I intentionally hurt her.”
I was on trial.
And I had been for weeks.
But if this was the shit I’d have to go through day in and day out to prove myself, I would.
Trinity was worth it.
Chapter Thirteen
Trinity
“With so much of my time being focused on the house being built and starting my new job at the junior high, the wedding plans have sorta been put off.” Olivia looked at me from across the table. “I just realized last night how little time I have left, and how I still have so much to do.”
I’d played a part in the marriage proposal between Keeton and Olivia. He used me as a form of distraction so that he could recruit Amber to help him set the entire thing up. Then I was responsible for delivering the girl.
It was all so beautiful and romantic.
I couldn’t wait for the day when it finally became official. I knew that no matter what it would be a gorgeous wedding.
“Liv,” I said, leaning against the table and reaching out to touch her hand. “The wedding is gonna be perfect,” I assured her. “And it’s not gonna be that way because of the decorations or the color of the bridesmaids’ dresses. It’s gonna be because of the two people who have chosen to share their love with the rest of the world.”
She smiled, and took in a deep breath.
“It’s all gonna be perfect. Because even though you’ve been busy and Keeton has been focused on the house, everyone else around you has been moving forward with your plans.” Amber and Tammy had gone a little overboard with the preparations.
There was no way Amber, or Olivia’s grandmother, would allow her wedding to be anything less than perfect.
Ryan was even adding to the mix—because Liv deserved it all, he made sure each person knew that nothing less would be sufficient.
Ever seen Bridezilla in the form of the father?
“So how are things going with Chase?” she asked, pulling me out of my daydream about Ryan with a clipboard and whistle as everyone scrambled around repositioning chairs and flower arrangements. That man was gonna be hell on the wedding day.
Just the mention of Chase’s name brought back the events of yesterday morning, and my embarrassing introduction to the woman I had classified as the wicked witch turned out to be fun and quite humorous.
“You’re blushing,” Olivia pointed out, which only made me feel a strong urge to cover my face. I knew there would be no way around telling her exactly what happened with his grandmother. I was still mortified by the idea she heard Chase and me during our night together. “Spill.” She nudged my shoulder with her hand.
I lowered my hands and looked up to find her leaning over onto the table, her elbows resting against the top. The smile she wore was so wide, it made my cheeks hurt. Apparently Olivia needed some juicy details.
Only mine were followed up by some not so juicy conclusions.
Chase teased me for hours after I left, sending me message after message about sneaking out the window next time. The ass was eating it up.
And after I explained it all to Liv, she couldn’t hold back the laughter either.
I was that dorky girl, the one who acted first and thought about the outcome later. Had I actually taken the time to think that night and morning after through, none of this harassment would be happening now.
Yet another fail on my part.
***
I was so engrossed in the inventory sheet I was looking over that I had not heard anyone sneaking up behind me. But the moment those strong tattooed arms wrapped around my waist and that familiar masculine smell engulfed me, I just knew it was Chase.
He wasted no time as he pressed his lips to the side of my neck and kissed me before breathing me in. “Damn, I’ve missed you,” he whispered, hugging me just a little closer.
I turned in his arms to face him. I was confused to find that he was already showered and changed out of his police uniform. “I thought you were on shift for another hour?” I asked.
In no way was I complaining that he was done; it just surprised me was all.
“There was a little mix-up with the schedule so I took advantage of the over-staffing.” He leaned in and quickly pressed his lips to mine, and I molded against his body.
There was something safe about Chase. When he held me and when he kissed me, I felt like no matter what there was nothing that could touch me. Not if he had a say so.
He gave me a weird sense of security.
His delicate touches, his sweet words, they were things I had dreamed of. Things I had wished for. But they were also things I had convinced myself long ago that I would never have.
I’d believed there were only a few great men out there, and somehow I was the one who always missed out on those men.
Yet now Chase had me thinking maybe, just maybe, I’d been lucky enough to get that chance at happy.
The happy I had seen so many times on the faces of those who surrounded me.
Whe
n he pulled back from the kiss he moaned that deep pleased sound I’d heard from him so many times during our night together. It had become a game in my mind, a test to see just how many times I could get him to make that very sound.
I loved that moan.
“How long are you here tonight?” he asked as he traced my lower lip with his thumb. His eyes focused on my lips.
“Until five,” I said, pushing my tongue past my lips to catch the tip of his finger.
The action caused him to smile knowingly as his eyes drooped and he leaned closer. “I was hoping I could come over, bring dinner,” he said just as he skimmed his lips over mine lightly. He didn’t actually kiss me, only teased me to gain a reaction. And of course I fell for it, as I practically chased after him with my own lips.
His deep chuckle broke me from my trance and I tucked my head to hide my embarrassment. Only he stopped me by catching my chin between his thumb and forefinger.
“Do you think you can handle dessert?” he asked with a smirk.
I knew exactly what he was referring to, but had somehow regained my sense of sassiness without my Chase-filled haze.
“I’m sure I can swing by Amber’s and grab something she has,” I said innocently and he narrowed his eyes. “Any requests?” I asked, hoping like hell that he didn’t see right through me.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Skip the bakery and go straight home. Because you, Trinity, are the only sweet I want.”
I tried to hide the shiver that ran through me but I could instantly tell he noticed.
“Does six sound okay?” I only nodded in response to his question. “Have a good afternoon, sweet girl,” he said as he stepped back, still never giving me that kiss I was aching for.
Chapter Fourteen
Chase
I left the boutique feeling light on my feet. It had been so long since I’d felt like things were next to perfect.
Nan had been feeling good, no recent accidents, and her spirits were up. Work was going smooth and the guys had begun to lay off a bit when it came to hassling me about Trinity.
