A MATTER OF TRUST (7 page)

She desperately wanted to believe him, but how could she be sure it wasn’t just a line he’d given countless other women. “But Angela…”

“Angela and I had a very brief encounter over a year ago but I swear to you there’s been nothing but wishful thinking on her part since. I don’t want you to go, Maddy. I’ll let you set the pace, and we’ll take it as slow or as fast as you want, just say you’ll stay and give us a chance.”

“A chance at what, a brief affair?” She shook her head. “I can’t, Chase.”

“Not an affair. Don’t ask me to explain it, sweetheart, because I wouldn’t even know where to begin. All I know is that I want something more with you, something solid that we can build on. Give us a chance to get to know one another, that’s all I’m asking right now.” Chase could see she was wavering. All Maddy needed was one tiny nudge and she’d give in. He dipped his head, whispered a soft plea, and pressed his lips gently to hers.

It wasn’t a difficult decision to make, not once she admitted she’d felt it too. Maddy wasn’t an impulsive person. Under normal circumstances she would have backed away, given herself time to think it through and tick off the pros and cons before deciding how to proceed. And she always exercised caution; even her plans to go on the road and paint for a year had been carefully thought out before she’d packed up and left. She’d spent the two years prior working for her father, saving every penny she earned to use on this trip so she wouldn’t have to dip into her trust fund or cash out any of her investments. She wanted to prove to herself and her family that she could make it on her own and didn’t have to rely on her inherited wealth to see her through.

And now here she was, contemplating doing something so impulsive and irrational it should have sent her into an anxiety attack instead of making her heart pound with excitement. Give us a chance to know one another. Yes, she wanted that too. She had nothing to lose since she’d already committed herself to remaining here until his cast was removed, so if things didn’t work out and they discovered they were incompatible she would leave just as she planned to. On the other hand…

Maddy drew her head back, losing herself for a moment in those green eyes of his before her sanity slowly returned. What if she fell in love with him? All her plans to travel and paint the people and places she saw would go by the wayside. Even worse, what if she fell in love with Chase but he didn’t fall in love with her? She pictured herself clinging to him as he dragged her towards the door and tossed her out to make way for the next lover. She’d be devastated. Maybe she should leave now before it was too late.

****

“Maddy, stop trying to come up with reasons why you should go,” Chase rebuked lightly. “I can almost see the wheels turning inside that pretty head of yours. You want to stay, but you’re afraid of what will happen if you do so you’re playing out all the things that could go wrong.”

“I’m not,” she started to say, then shook her head. “Okay, so maybe I was thinking about what could go wrong, but it’s not just that. It’s…the way you make me feel, especially when you’re as close to me as you are now.”

“You’re telling me you don’t like it?”

“I do like it. I like it too much, that’s the problem.”

Chase’s eyes danced with amusement. “Let me get this straight. You’re worried because I make you feel too good?”

“Well…yes.” Maddy tried to wriggle away from him when he started laughing. “It’s not funny! It’s like an alien has invaded my body or something.”

He tightened his hold on her, laughing even harder. “I swear I’ve never met anyone like you Madysen Sawyer. Explain why you feel an alien has taken over your body.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t understand,” she huffed.

“I understand more than you think. Is it because your body trembles when I do this?” He nuzzled his nose in her neck and began plying her with soft, butterfly kisses.

“Yes,” she said weakly.

“And your skin starts to tingle when I touch you like so…” he glided his hand up her side and gently cupped her breast. “Your breath slows, and your heart races until you can hear the roar of it in your ears.” Chase raked his thumb across the taut peak of her breast, enthralled at how easily he could arouse her. He lifted his head and trailed more kisses along the delicate line of her jaw. “The heat builds inside you like a fire burning out of control…”

Maddy gasped when he pressed his hips into her. She could feel the rigid length of him pulsing against the softness of her belly and it both shocked and excited her to realize what they were doing to each other. They were practically making love in the middle of a hotel parking lot, in broad daylight no less!

She should be ashamed of herself for allowing him to touch her like this, but she couldn’t force herself to make him stop. It was sinfully delicious, and she’d never felt so free in her life. Maddy cupped his face in her hands and drew his mouth down to hers, quivering as his tongue found hers and imitated the carnal act of mating. But it was not enough, not even close. She wanted more, she wanted…

Maddy jerked her mouth away. “Chase…”

“I know, sweetheart,” he let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let it go this far.” He started to release her but something in her eyes made him stop and draw her close again. “Oh God,” he groaned. “Maddy, honey, you have to stop looking at me like that. I can barely control myself as it is.”

She reached up and touched his check. “Is it wrong to…want you to lose control?”

A low growl rumbled in the back of his throat. She was trying to kill him, that’s all there was too it. How could anyone look so innocent and so incredibly seductive at the same time? Judging by the way she kissed, Maddy was no stranger to the temptations of the flesh and yet he could see the trepidation in her eyes and feel the uncertainty in her touch.

The very idea that another man had held her and kissed her as he had done was enough to twist his insides into knots, but imagining someone else making love to her sent a jealous rage surging through his body. It was insane to apply such a double standard considering how many lovers he’d taken over the years but then again, he’d been more than a little off kilter from the moment he’d laid eyes on her.

Chase pressed his lips into her palm. “Follow me home,” he said huskily, then gave her one last lingering kiss to make sure there was no mistake about what was going to happen once they got there.

****

Maddy’s fingers clenched the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white as she trailed Chase out of town and up the hill to his house. Physically, her body was honed and ready for what was to come, but her mind was still throwing up road blocks and screaming at her to slow down and not rush into anything. It was hard to listen to the voice of reason when the taste of him still lingered on her mouth and her heart was fluttering so wildly in her chest. Her cheeks were flushed, she felt hot and feverish, and the ache that had settled deep in her abdomen bordered on pain. Oh, she’d felt the stirrings of sexual desire before, but it was nothing like this. This was a volcano waiting to erupt.

Maddy barely had time to throw the car into park and kill the engine before Chase had her door open and was pulling her into his arms. For a few breathless moments he simply looked her, his eyes moving over her face as if he was trying to memorize each feature. Finally, he lowered his mouth to hers, his lips soft and gently probing. It was nothing like the frenzied kisses in the parking lot, but it was every bit as devastating in its slow, torturous application. Maddy melted into him, all her previous misgivings evaporating to be replaced with a joyous sense of anticipation and longing.

Chase lifted his head reluctantly. He didn’t want to stop kissing her, but he couldn’t very well make love to her here. “Maddy, before we go inside, I want you to be sure…”

“I’m sure.”

“Thank God,” he breathed out a sigh.

He kept his arm wrapped tightly around her waist as they walked up to the house, letting loose of her only long enough to unlock the door before hitching her close to his side again. Maddy didn’t mind. Her knees were so weak she probably would have dropped to the ground like a lead weight if he let go of her for more than a few minutes. There was a sereneness about the silence they maintained as they climbed the stairs and entered Chase’s bedroom, as if talking would somehow spoil the delicious sense of anticipation. He stopped beside the bed and turned to face her, slowly pushing her sweater off her shoulders before leaning down and kissing her.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. He ran his hand down her arm, his body instantly responding to the tremor that ran through her. “I love how sensitive you are to my touch.”

He slipped his hand beneath her shirt and helped Maddy guide it over her head, inhaling sharply at the full, lush breasts he’d revealed. Then with one practiced flick of his fingers, he unhooked the lacy bra and let it flutter to the floor. His hand was shaking as he cupped first one breast and then the other, their creamy smoothness every bit as sexually stimulating as Maddy’s wild kisses had been.

Chase dipped his head, suckling the sweetness until it beaded in his mouth, then teased her with light nips and the laving of his tongue. Soft mewling sounds hummed in the back of her throat and she arched into him, sending an unexpected and violent shudder coursing through him. He drew away from her, his control slipping another notch when she looked up at with wanton desire.

“Help me,” he urged as he shed himself of the sling.

Hindered by the cast, it seemed to take an eternity to rid Maddy of her jeans and panties and then his own clothes, but even more daunting was the task of retrieving a condom from his nightstand and sheathing himself before he was finally able to ease her back onto the mattress. Chase stretched out beside her and let his hand wander over Maddy’s stomach, down past her flat belly to the silky triangle of hair. He let out a low groan when his fingers delved between her thighs and found her hot and moist, the coiling in his loins tightening painfully when he slipped his finger inside of her and discovered how tight she was.

“Chase…”

The sound of Maddy’s uncertain voice drew his attention back to her face. Her eyes seemed enormously large and her lips were trembling, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she drew in short, ragged gasps of air. It tugged at his heart so see she was genuinely frightened, but it also gave rise to the dark thought that some man from Maddy’s past must have hurt her to make her react this way. Chase drew her closer, capturing her mouth in a slow, languid kiss, determined to erase whatever memories still haunted her.

“You don’t have to be scared,” he whispered against her lips. “I won’t hurt you, sweetheart, I promise.”

“I’m sorry, Chase. It’s just that…you make me feel things I’ve never felt before and…”

She squeezed her eyes shut. How could she explain the overwhelming fear that had risen inside of her when she’d seen how aroused he was? She’d never been with a man before, but instinctively she knew they weren’t all like Chase; sleek and powerful, and wholly male in his nudity. Even now, when she could feel the rigid length of him pressed against her thigh and her insides quivered from wanting him so bad, she couldn’t help being overwhelmed by him.

“Open your eyes and look at me,” he ordered gently, then almost wished she’d kept them closed. How could so many emotions be swirling around behind one troubled pair of eyes?

“It…it’s okay,” she started, then grew silent as a dark scowl marred his handsome features.

“Who was he?” Chase said harshly.

Maddy blinked. Who was he talking about? She shook her head, “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”

“I’m talking about the man who hurt you, the one who made you afraid to make love to me even though I know you want to.” He cupped her chin and ran his thumb lightly over her lips, his anger dissipating as quickly as it had come. “I want you, Maddy. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman in my life, but it won’t be any good for either of us if you can’t let go of the past. Let me help you forget, let me show you how wonderful it can be.”

Chapter 5

Maddy didn’t know what to say. Granted he was off the mark about why she was being so timid, but that fact that he’d even noticed when there was the very major distraction of lying in bed naked with her was nothing short of amazing. She’d been right about there being a heart of gold beneath that rough exterior he liked to portray, and she’d been right to trust her own heart to him. It would be so easy to fall in love with him, so easy.

“There is no past,” she told him. “I’ve had boyfriends, of course, but no one that I ever got close enough to…well, you know.”

Chase groaned inwardly, truly hating himself for having taken it this far without even considering the possibility she might still be a virgin, and hating himself even more for the hesitancy he felt in taking that from her. He hardly considered himself noble, but there was a certain amount of responsibility involved and he didn’t want there to be regrets for either of them. Looking at her now, knowing all he had to do was lean down and kiss her and she’d give herself to him willingly only made what he was about to do seem not just stupid but monumentally so.