Eden's Pleasure (Pulse Book 1) (25 page)

“You’ll get used to it, I promise.” He swatted at her hand as she reached over. “You’ll have to get used to it. It’s the way I live, the way I’ve always lived.”

The indicative look on his face was quickly replaced with a grin. He walked over, stirred the contents of the steaming pot, and came back, planting a single, lingering kiss on her lips. She smiled, relishing in the fact that he paid her so much attention, spoiling her beyond words. She felt like a diva.

“So tell me. What kind of music do you like?” he asked, returning to his task.

“All kinds, really. I like pop, R&B, soul, even some classical.” She curled up her nose, making a yucky face, and he laughed at her. “But I have to say, I detest country.”

“Well that’s good because so do I,” he replied as he went to a pin pad on the wall, bringing the room to life with the soft sound of an orchestra playing.

“That’s pretty.”

Chase took two wine glasses from the cupboard and filled them from a bottle sitting in an ice cooler. He handed her one and proceeded to clink his glass to hers. “I want to know more about you. What’s your favorite color, favorite flower, when’s your birthday? I want to know it all.” He leaned on the counter and stared into her face, waiting.

With her elbow on the countertop, she rested her chin in her open hand. “Let me see…green, lily of the valley, and January fifteenth…now it’s my turn. I know your favorite color is red, but do you have a favorite flower? When’s your birthday?”

“Roses.
Red
roses. November seventeenth.”

“Do you have a large family? I met your mom and Rheanna, and I think you have two brothers?” she asked, taking a sip from her glass.

“I have two older brothers, Waverly and Sable. They live in Europe with their wives. Sable runs our offices in London, and Waverly runs our Paris office.”

“Paris! I’m impressed.”

“What about your family?” he asked, taking her hand in his and running his thumb over her knuckles.

Eden looked down at his thumb as it moved back and forth. “I don’t have any family, just Mik. She’s been my
family
since I was little.”

He kissed the back of her hand and held it to his cheek. “I’m sorry. It must be hard not having family,” he said in a doleful tone.

“You don’t miss what you don’t remember, Chase. My mom was killed in a car crash when I was four, and I didn’t know my dad. I was in foster care until I turned eighteen. That’s how I know Mik. We shared a room in a foster home; she took care of me. Took me under her wing and pushed me to work hard in school. I wouldn’t be a success if it wasn’t for her.”

“She’s quite a woman, Mikala,” he said, topping up her glass and stealing back her hand, as if not touching her made him disconnect from her somehow.

“She is that. She always knew what she was going to do. Her plans for the club started when we snuck into an after-hours club when we were fourteen.” Eden was feeling melancholy and needed to break from this depressing spell. “What will we do tonight?” she asked him, straightening in her seat and running her fingers through his beard. How she loved his beard, the rough yet soft texture gave him such an animalistic appeal, and the touch of it against her inner thighs just about knocked her socks off.

“I’m sure we can think of something, baby.” He winked and smiled, taking her hand from his face and turning it over to run his tongue across her open palm, melting her to her seat. “For now, we eat!” He swiftly let her hand drop as he turned to stir the contents of the pot again, leaving her to catch her breath.

Mason strolled into the room and stopped in his tracks when he saw Chase and Eden eating at the island. He turned on his heels and started to make tracks back out the door when Chase caught sight of him.

“Hey, man,” he said, feeling badly about their fight earlier. “Join us for dinner. I made gumbo!”

Mason waved his hand without turning. “Thanks anyway. The guys ordered pizza, I think,” he called over his shoulder.

“Come on, man. I slaved over a hot stove all afternoon. It’s really good!” Chase yelled to him before he reluctantly turned around.

Eden smiled over to him and held up her bowl sniffing it with an oh-so-good look on her face. “Mason, please join us. It really is good.”

Mason couldn’t tell Eden no. She cast a spell over him for some reason he couldn’t explain. He just wanted to protect her, wrap his arms around her tiny body, and shield her from all the bad things. This confused him. He didn’t let women get too close. He used them for sexual release and threw them away. He was too busy for a personal life, and he had this tough image to uphold. But for as hard a time as he gave Chase for getting too close, he felt himself becoming entwined in Eden’s realm.

He didn’t say a word as he came over to sit beside her, and Chase brought him a bowl of steaming hot gumbo, placing it in front of him, then passed him the basket of rolls.

“Look, man, I fucked up. You have your reasons for upping security, and I should have respected that.” Chase offered his apology with a slap on the shoulder, crushing Eden between them, and Mason stirred in his seat.

“Yeah, well, I do,” he said in a gruff, low voice. “And I said some things too.”

He made eye contact with Eden, and she saw something in them, a kind of secret, unspoken closeness between them. She touched his forearm. He knew she saw his inner feelings deep down and half smiled into her eyes before returning to devour his meal.

“Why don’t we all watch a movie after dinner?” Chase asked.

“I’d like that,” Eden said, happy at the idea of being wrapped between these two burly guys in the dark. She wondered what a threesome would be like with these two, fighting over which got heads and which got tails. She could feel a blush burning her cheeks and bit her lip, hoping it went unnoticed.

“What is that all about, Miss Fox? You’re blushing!” Chase said as he gathered the bowls and took them to the sink, narrowing his eyes inquisitively at her.

“I’ll do those. You two think of a movie to watch.” She jumped down from the stool and moved to the sink, happy not to have to explain the thought that had raced through her mind.

“You two enjoy. I don’t want to be a third wheel,” Mason said, ripping a roll apart and rolling it between his fingers before popping it into his mouth.

“Man, don’t be stupid, we’re going to watch a movie, all three of us,” Chase insisted.

Mason grumbled. “Ok, but no chick flicks!”

“I vote for action!” Eden proposed.

Mason and Chase looked at each other and shared a high five in the air. The sound of their palms slapping together exploded through the room, making Eden jump out of her skin. She turned and flicked water from her fingertips at both of them, biting her lip with a snarl.

***

Chase turned the dimmer up on the remote, bringing the room to light, each of them rubbing their eyes to adjust to the brightness and stretching.

“Now that was good. You can’t beat a good old Bruce Willis flick,” Mason said, stretching his arms above his head and yawning.

“Yep, there’s nothing like a shirtless man wiping out an entire force of men with a single revolver.” Eden laughed.

“It was kinda lame, wasn’t it?” Chase added.

The stinging flick of Chase’s ear by Mason’s finger had the pair wrestling about and Eden laughing between them. “Hey fuck you, man,” Mason griped. “I gotta go. Better check on the team. They’re probably wondering where I disappeared to.”

Mason stood and stretched again. “See you in the morning. Goodnight, Eden…Asshole.” He cackled at Chase.

“Goodnight, Mason,” Eden said, standing up and giving him a hug. He gave her an inconsequential little squeeze, quickly removing himself and looking at Chase for a reaction, but Chase just smiled at him with a shrug.

When Mason left, Eden rejoined Chase on the sofa and cuddled into him. She was warm and smelled so good. Chase sniffed her hair, taking in her scent, and tightened his arms around her. He was happy to just sit and enjoy the feel of her tiny body melted into him.

“Mason’s a nice guy. I like him. He comes off all gruff and macho, but I think he’s just a big teddy bear.”

“Oh my god!” He roared with laughter. “Don’t let him hear you say that. You have no idea how hard he works to keep up his tough-ass rep,” Chase warned her.

She poked her elbow into his side and laughed. “Well I guess that’s a male thing.”

“I think he’s got the hots for you, Miss Fox.”

“What? Get outta here!” She shoved his chest.

“I’m serious. He gets all fucked up around you…and he watches you.”

“What do you mean watches me?” she asked, swiveling around to face him with her brow tightly furrowed.

“He just watches you, like a man watches a beautiful woman, a woman that he wants.” Chase tried to put it into plain words but it was something that couldn’t really be explained.

“And this doesn’t bother you at all?” she asked, prodding his dominate side for an answer.

“No, not really. He’s my friend, and I’m certainly not threatened by him. Unless I have something to worry about. Maybe you have the hots for him. I have my suspicions about what you were thinking at dinner.”

She looked at him, embarrassed, wondering if he really knew.

“What you’d like to do with the two of us?” He bit the inside of his lower lip while smiling at her. “Won’t happen, baby, I don’t share.”

“That’s why they call them dreams,” she joked, taking in a sharp breath while mouthing an O. He moved his hands to tickle her sides, looking at her through wicked eyes.

She squirmed with laughter and laid back to get away from his teasing fingers. He came forward and kissed her lips with force. Suddenly serious with desire, he buried his tongue between her lips and devoured her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and shared her tongue with his, her want growing. He broke from her, his eyes sparkling green and half-lidded.

“Go upstairs and get naked,” he ordered. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

He was gone in a dash, and she lit up with excitement at the thought of what was going to happen next. Knowing that he was going to take her to a new experience in pleasure made her warm and oh so wet. She jumped from her seat and ran all the way up to the room, stripping to nothing in no time, throwing her clothes on the floor in a pile. She pulled back the beautiful spread and carefully laid it over the rocking chair, then jumped in, pulling the covers over her nakedness, waiting with anticipation.

Chase came into the room completely naked, carrying a cloth-covered tray and set it on the bedside table. She was affected by the way he looked when he was not fully aroused. He was still large and thick. She felt her temperature rise to her face, biting the inside of her lip.

“Baby, you know how hot it makes me when you blush,” he said as his cock stirred, becoming semi-erect. He moved his eyes to his penis and then to her gaze, raising his eyebrows wickedly and wanting her to see his power as it grew. And she did indeed. She smiled at being caught staring at him as he climbed in under the sheets, embracing her.

“Interested in some pleasure time, baby?” He cupped her breast and rubbed his cock against her leg with a growl.

“Pleasure…mmm.” She was so ready for anything he wanted to do, and goose bumps rose on her skin.

He slid his hand under her pillow and slipped out a black satin scarf, holding it up between his fingers. Eden looked at it and then at Chase with a look of angst. She could only think that he wanted to tie her, and she visibly cringed. “I can’t let you tie me up, Chase, I really can’t!” Her voice level raised, her breathing stopped, and she started to bolt.

Chase threw his arm across her chest, not allowing her to escape. He leaned into her ear and nibbled at the lobe with a heavy exhale. “Baby, relax, I don’t want to tie you up, not right now anyway. I’m going to blindfold you,” he whispered softly into her ear, his heavy breath warm and soft against her neck.

“I won’t hurt you.” He stroked her cheek. “It’s all about pleasure, remember?” His voice hummed against her skin, and he felt her body loosen and her breathing calm.

He ran the soft scarf over her breasts. It was smooth and cool, and her nipples tightened at the feel. He raised it to her face and touched it to her cheek where his hand had just touched, and she caught her breath, still a bit abashed. He stared into her eyes, and she saw the want. He wouldn’t hurt her, she knew this. Knew he’d rather cut off his own arm than do her any harm. She felt it in her gut. Felt it in her heart.

“Trust me, baby,” he told her without question.

“I do.”

She took a deep breath as he sat her up and tied the scarf carefully over her eyes. In complete darkness, all her senses seemed to come to life as he removed the sheet covering her. The cool air in the room swept over her skin. He gently pushed her to lie back again, and he ran his thumb across her cheek.

He whispered softly, “One’s senses increase when another is eliminated. When you can’t see, sounds are louder, smells become bolder, and your taste buds burst to life.”

The sound of background music filled the room, and she turned her head to search out the direction that it was coming from.

The bed shifted under Chase’s weight. The feel of light fabric moved across her belly.
The cloth from the tray,
she thought. Chase’s hands explored her body, and she moved in response to his touch. He played with her breasts, plumping and kneading them while pinching at her nipples. She arched her back and then his mouth took over licking, sucking as his hand moved down over her stomach to rest just above her naked mound. Opening her legs slightly to allow him to touch her, he moved away, frustrating her. She desperately wanted to feel his touch down there.

She gave a little pleading moan and heard Chase mutter his gratification. The bed dipped as Chase spread her legs and settled between them to rest on his knees. Her breathing increased with contemplation of what he would do next. He was slow in his quest, and she bit her lip, trying hard not to rip off the scarf, pin him down, and fuck him senseless.