Being Chased

by Harper Bentley

  He bunched the silk up to her waist, his mouth leaving impassioned kisses on her inner thighs as she writhed under him, her hands tangling in his hair as she groaned loudly, urging him on.

  His lips moved to her softest parts and he ran his tongue over her making her cry out. He got so caught up in the heat of the moment that he hadn't noticed her pushing on his shoulders. He thought she was in the throes of passion from his mouth being on her, as she thrashed under him, but then he realized she was telling him to stop.

  "Chase, stop, please!" Julia said, sitting up quickly after he removed his mouth and hands from her, and scooted away. She pulled a pillow up to cover herself from his eyes. She was shaking and the color had left her face.

  Okay. He sat on his knees facing her, breathing heavily, looking like a man possessed as he stared at her, confused, his thick cock jutting from his opened jeans.

  Julia realized that what he was doing to her was making her feel things she'd never felt with a man before, which frightened her, but she'd also let Josh's words creep in, and she'd become afraid that it was true that she wouldn't be able to satisfy Chase.

  Closing his eyes, he had to focus on slowing down his breathing. He didn't know what had just happened. What the hell? And now he was pissed but mostly at himself. First of all, he never should've let it get this damned far… again. Secondly, he'd gotten carried away and had probably scared her.

  Glancing back at her, he recognized now that he wasn't strong enough to stay away from her, obviously, and he probably needed to step down from this job, which just aggravated him more. He found himself wanting to take his anger out on her, as he justified in his mind that she'd partly been the cause of it.

  "I'm sorry. I really am," Julia said quietly as she pulled the straps of her nightgown back up, covering herself. She moved to him on her knees and brushed her hand over his arm, but he stood up quickly, moving away from her. "I want to be with you, Chase, I do. It's just that…"

  "What's the matter, you just now realize you don't wanna go slumming anymore? Poor college boy turning you off again?" he spit out as he pushed his length inside, buttoning his jeans back up.

  "What? No! It's just that my ex-boyfriend, Josh, told me…"

  "Don't really want to hear that shit right now. Save it." He left the room with a slam of the door, needing to get the fuck away from her before he said something he'd regret. But, goddamn it, she’d looked so tiny sitting there, so vulnerable, that he’d wanted to hold her, telling her everything was okay. But that'd just put them right back in this mess all over again and he was too angry to deal with any of it right now.

  He sat on the couch, running his hand through his hair feeling like a total bastard. Should've walked away to begin with, damn it. But what had happened was actually a good thing, really. She'd end up hating him and everything would be good. He wouldn't have to worry about being lured to her anymore and he wouldn't lose his job. Two birds one stone kinda thing.

  Julia was crushed. She sat on her bed going over what had just happened. Chase had been taking her to a place she'd never known and it’d scared the hell out of her. So her defense mechanism had taken over causing her to halt what'd been happening.

  What really surprised her was that she did have a fire inside. Josh just hadn't known how to get her to that level. But Chase had. And now weren't things just great. The man she was in love with, the one who'd brought her higher than she'd ever been before, hated her with the fire of a thousand suns. She'd so totally screwed things up.

  Chapter 11

  Saturday morning, Julia lay in bed well after she'd awakened, in no hurry to see Chase. She knew she had to be about the biggest idiot out there. Last night, he was going to give her the orgasm of a lifetime and she'd gotten scared. Not even Johnny could've gotten her where Chase had been taking her. She got out of bed going into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror.

  You are so dumb. He was making you feel better than you ever have and you stopped him? Are you insane? She shook her head at her reflection.

  She showered then changed into some jeans and a tee and finally got up the courage to go to the kitchen to get something to eat. Last night's humiliation still clung to her, but it was what it was, and she couldn't hide out in her room forever. As she entered the living room, she saw Chase sitting at the dining table with his laptop, books and notes all around him. Oh, yeah, he had finals next week. Julia decided that leaving him alone was the polite thing to do. She made herself a sandwich then fled back to her room, knowing that politeness had nothing to do with her getting the hell out of there but everything to do with her saving a little face.

  The day dragged by. She stayed in her room lying on her bed watching TV, trying not to think of The Little (more like Huge, but whatever) Orgasm That Could Have Been. When her mind wandered and she imagined her vagina saying, "I think I can, I think I can," she snorted out a laugh then groaned and hid her head under her pillow in embarrassment.

  Later in the day, her friend Jack called to remind her of the benefit dinner Thursday evening that she'd be attending as his date. Jack was the son of one of Allen's peers, and they’d practically grown up together. They attended the functions together because it "looked good" in the papers, their fathers told them, but they didn’t mind because they enjoyed each other’s company. Jack was damned good looking and was the perfect catch for any woman, but he was somewhat of a player. He'd asked Julia out before, but she knew he wasn’t looking for anything serious, so she’d turned him down, but made sure to maintain their friendship. He'd laughed at her rejection and told her that someday she'd come to her senses and realize she was totally in love with him then want to marry him and have twenty babies. They'd had a good chuckle, but she knew he was only joking. But he was a nice guy and a good friend, so she was never afraid he'd do anything to cross the line. And now she’d need to tell Chase about the benefit so he could take her and watch her on her “date.” Yay.

  In the meantime, Chase was studying his ass off. He had to maintain his high GPA to keep his scholarship, so this was serious business. He thought he was prepared for most of his tests, but he still had to work on Dr. Ford's damned case outlines. He stood and stretched then looked around the apartment. He hadn't heard anything out of Julia, so he wandered down the hallway to check on her. He heard her TV on in her bedroom, so he guessed she was okay.

  He went back to the kitchen and got himself a piece of chocolate cake then turned the TV to ESPN during his break, but the sports couldn't keep him from thinking about the night before. He was still mad at himself. He'd tried figuring out why Julia had told him to stop. She'd mentioned an ex-boyfriend, so maybe she was still in love with him and didn't want to be unfaithful. Maybe dude was packing majorly and she was afraid Chase wouldn't measure up. Ha. Like that was possible. Or better yet, guy had a small dick and Julia had felt Chase's size and had gotten scared. Yeah. That made sense.

  I'm such an egotistical bastard. He couldn't help but snicker at his last conclusion.

  Julia came out of her room around six. Chase could hear her rattling around in the kitchen but decided not to say anything to her. Stick to the plan. She's mad. That's good. Things can now get back to normal with no more of this hanky-panky shit. He went back to typing an outline on his laptop. Jesus, why'd the cases have to be so in-depth? At one point he stopped his typing and looked to his right where there sat a plate of chicken Alfredo with a slice of garlic bread. He hadn't even realized Julia had put it there.

  Now see? That was part of the problem here. She was so sweet he couldn't help but want to talk to her, be with her, love her.

  Hold up. Love?

  Did he love her?

  Was he in love with her? Noooo. No way. Uh uh. Nope. Not happening. Or was it? He rubbed his hands over his face. He didn't want to think about it. He had too much on his mind as it was, so he shoved that little breaking bulletin to the back of his mind to ponder another day… coward that he was.

  He didn'
t see Julia for the rest of the evening, and when he finally made it to bed, he saw that her door was ajar, which just stabbed him in his heart. After everything, after the shitty way he'd treated her, she was still honoring his request of keeping her door open.

  He resolved to talk to her in the morning.

  ****

  Chase awoke to the smell of bacon frying. It'd been years since that had happened. Back when he was living at home and his mom used to make breakfast every morning before school. Or if he’d actually allowed himself to stay the night with a woman, which was rare, and she’d cooked. Wow. It smelled amazing. He dressed and went into the kitchen where Julia was standing at the stove.

  "Would it be too forward of me to tell you I'm totally in love with, head over heels crazy for, bacon?" he asked, chuckling.

  Julia's heart had almost skipped a beat at his drawing out his declaration of love. Then she silently griped herself out for being so stupid and expecting him to profess his undying love for her. She was nervous enough having to face him now, damn it, than to have random thoughts of happily ever after floating around her head.

  She took a deep breath. Okay, she could do this. Act like nothing had happened between them. Yep. Not a problem at all. Ugh. "No. Not too forward. I'm sure the after-sex clean-up's fun, though." She smirked at him.

  "Yeah, gives new meaning to 'beating your meat.'" Chase cracked up at the look of disgust on her face as he got a mug out and poured himself coffee.

  "That's just gross," she said, flipping the pancakes, not looking around at him. "So, did this 'beating' take one slice? Half a slice?" She couldn't help but snicker at what she was implying, knowing it'd offend him.

  "Let's just say the entire package would be used." He gave the back of her head a dirty look.

  "Ah. Gotcha. Going for many beatings."

  He narrowed his eyes at her as he sat at the bar. Did she really think he wasn't well-endowed? She'd felt him the night before last. Surely she knew better. Maybe she'd had bigger and didn't think he was up to par. Wait. From where he sat he could see the sneer on her face and knew he'd fallen into her trap. She was trying to piss him off. Was she so embarrassed about what had happened that she was taking it out on him? Probably.

  "How many pancakes would you like?"

  "How many is considered a decent amount without making me look like a pig?"

  "Probably three."

  "Okay, then give me four." He snorted.

  What was he so happy about? She’d been upset the past day and a half, especially about the way he’d treated her, and now he was Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky? Uh uh. She didn’t think so. "One pig's plate coming up,” she said, glancing over at him with a wry face. “You seem overly happy this morning. What, did you make a small child cry or something?"

  God. She really thought he was that horrible? Jesus. "Uh. I got a lot done yesterday. I've only got one case review to finish," he replied curtly. This shit was gonna stop. Her scathing tone showed she was now leaving Smartass Land and flirting with entering Bitchville. Not a good place to be with him right now.

  Julia loaded pancakes and bacon onto their plates, placing the toast on another then set them on the bar. She and Chase sat eating in silence. The tension in the air was palpable, and this time it wasn't sexual. It was pretty much downright anger. It was quiet for a while before she spoke up.

  "I've got a class this afternoon with Claire and Lily. Think you can take me? Or I'd be happy to take a cab."

  Chase looked at her the same way he always did when she tried going places on her own. "Yeah, I can take you. Not having a repeat of the other night. Need I remind you how stupid that was of you to do?"

  "Whatever. My class is at three, so we need to leave by two-thirty if that works for you."

  "I'll be ready."

  Not another word was spoken. Breakfast was over, so they both loaded their dishes in the dishwasher, cleaned up and went their separate ways. Chase went back to his studying while Julia did a couple loads of laundry.

  At two-thirty they headed to her class. There was no talking on the way there. Neither of them wanted to be the one to give in, to what, they didn't know, but they were both just stubborn enough to hold their tongues.

  They parked and walked to the tiny dance studio where Julia's class would be held. Lily came in next and then Claire.

  "Sorry I'm late! Battery run for my vibrator!" Claire giggled at the horrified look on Chase’s face.

  "Thanks for that. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little," Julia replied.

  Chase sat in a chair against the back wall with his laptop to work on his outlines.

  "C'mon, girls! Let's get dressed!" Lily motioned them toward the dressing rooms.

  Chase glanced around and saw an older woman who looked pretty buff. He supposed she was the instructor for whatever the girls were going to do. And what was with the poles? He went back to work, trying to stay focused.

  "Are we ready to stretch?" the instructor asked the girls as they came out.

  "You betcha!" Lily answered.

  Chase looked up from his computer. Holy shit! What the hell was Julia wearing? Short, short, short shorts and a tight-fitting crop top. He swallowed roughly. What the hell kind of class was this anyway?

  He soon found out.

  "Okay, to your poles, ladies!" the instructor said, turning on some sexy music. "Let's go through our first move."

  Julia was moving her hips back and forth to the beat, her hand high on the pole then she pulled herself up and made a slow spin move on it. Chase stared like the chock-full-of-testosterone dude that he was. His breathing sped up as did his heart rate as he adjusted himself several times in his chair. Jesus. He had no idea her weekends consisted of stuff like this. Sam had all the fun.

  Julia loved pole dancing because it was definitely a workout. And it was fun exercising and feeling sexy at the same time. She really got caught up in it, closing her eyes, shutting everything else out. But when she opened her eyes, she met Chase's and saw his expression, which surprised her. There was a burning intensity in them, so much heat in them as he stared at her. He was looking at her the way he had Friday night before she'd stopped him. Her body instantly reacted to his look. She thought about how his hands had felt on her, how his mouth had felt. How good he'd felt pressed against her. The blush spread over her cheeks down to her chest as his eyes went lower to stare at her lips as if he was thinking the same thing.

  She couldn't take her eyes off him. It was as if his eyes held hers hostage, making it impossible for her to look away. She continued her dancing and felt a rush as she moved sensually, dancing only for him. Now she understood the power that exotic dancers must feel while holding their audience captive.

  Class ended and the girls changed. Lily and Claire left telling Julia they'd call. Julia stayed behind talking to the instructor about a friend who wanted to join the class. When she turned to leave, Chase was standing at the door still looking at her with almost the same intensity.

  "Ready?" she asked as she walked up to him.

  He bent his head down to her ear. "Yeah, I'd say I was." His breath brushed against her neck and she felt chills go through her body along with that jolt of electricity that was always there between them. She shivered as she walked out the door he held open for her.

  They walked to the car in silence but she felt his hand at the small of her back.

  When they got back to the apartment, she headed to her bedroom to shower. Chase grabbed her hand before she got too far.

  "Can we talk when you get finished?" he asked her. He wanted to apologize for being angry the other night. He'd felt like shit since. And fuck this job. He’d had it with everything, so through with staying away from her.

  "Uh, sure." She didn't know what was up. Maybe he was wanting to clear the air between them. Maybe he was going to tell her he was leaving because he was tired of the bullshit. Who knew. She worried about it the entire time she showered.

  She dressed in old jeans a
nd a tank top, pulling her hair up into a messy bun after she'd blown it dry. She walked into the living room to see him sitting again at the dining table studying.

  "Are you hungry? I was going to fix myself a sandwich. Would you like one too?"

  Chase looked up and was just taken in by her. She could look spectacular in anything. And the outfit she now had on didn't disappoint, even as simple as it was.

  "Sure, if it's not any trouble."

  "I wouldn't offer if it was." She smirked at him. God, he loved that smartass side of her.

  He continued studying until she brought a plate to him. They ate in silence for a while then she spoke, her face flushing at the topic she was about to broach.

  "Chase, I'm sorry about Friday night. I, uh, really wanted you, but something in my stupid, pathetic head kept bugging me." She looked at him sheepishly.

  "And what would this something be?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

  "I'm really embarrassed to tell you. It's something from my past." She’d stopped eating, blushing like crazy while her teeth tugged on her bottom lip.

  "What is it?" So fucking cute when she's nervous.

  She took a deep breath. "My last boyfriend, his name was Josh, he, kinda, uh, well, he told me that, that I was, you know, um, he said I was… God! This is so embarrassing!" She hid her face in her hands.

  Chase had felt himself tense up at the mention of a boyfriend but then he chuckled, taking her hands from her face. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

  "No! I feel like I need to explain. Okay, I'm just going to say it fast and get it out there. Ready?" She took a deep breath. "Josh told me I couldn't satisfy a man sexually. He said I wasn't good in bed because I wouldn't try certain things with him. And what he said has stuck with me. So, Friday night, I froze up because that thought came barging into my head, and I was afraid that it was true and you were going to think the same thing.” She looked at him nervously. “Also, I'd never felt with a man the way you were making me feel, and I got scared because it felt so damned good and Josh never made me feel like that. So, with those thoughts going through my head and my body reacting the way it did to you, it was all just too much."