In Deep: Chase & Emma (All In Book 1) (14 page)

Coach was one floor
below me. I knew because he texted me his suite number and told me to
come find him pronto. I headed down and fastened my seatbelt for what
I knew would be one hell of a motivational talk.

“Chase, come on in.”
He opened the door and, oh shit, he had the other two main coaches
with him as well. Three on one. They must have something they wanted
to talk with me about.

“Have a seat,” he
gestured to the vacant chair. I felt like I was in an intervention.

They got right to it.
Apparently in San Antonio I’d seemed off. Not myself. Distracted.

“This isn’t the
time to mess around with anything new, Chase.” My head coach warned
me. “Keep it consistent. Don’t rock the boat. Stay focused. We’re
almost there.”

I nodded, hearing his
words but chafing slightly under the constraints. I knew they had my
best interest in mind. I wanted to win gold every bit as much as
them. But I felt like that racehorse again, only this time they were
trying to put the blinders on me. It felt different when I chose the
blinders myself, narrowing my own focus in singular pursuit of
swimming. But when they told me I needed to do it? I felt my middle
finger wanting to crank up at them.

Why did my teammates
get to fuck around with anything that moved? I didn’t even ask the
question before mentally answering myself. Because it didn’t matter
to them. With a lot of the guys I swam with, fucking was like any
other bodily function. The thought of any woman getting under their
skin was laughable.

What was happening
between me and Emma was different.

“Yeah, you got it.”
I gave my coaches the assurances they wanted. Head in the game, eyes
on the prize and all that. They seemed satisfied. It wasn’t as if
I’d been caught out partying with hookers or pulled over with a
DUI. I just clearly had more on my mind than usual. But even they
couldn’t claim that it had negatively affected my swimming. I’d
been like lightning in the pool in San Antonio. They were simply
worried that it might affect my future performance.

And once they brought
it up, I got a little worried, too. What if I was making a huge
mistake by letting myself get distracted this close to the most major
competition of my life? My one shot to prove myself to the world.
Maybe Emma was knocking me off my game?

The second I saw her
standing at the door of my hotel room, I knew that wasn’t true.
Radiant and smiling up at me, her toffee-colored hair tumbled over
her shoulders, golden flecks dancing in her light brown eyes. She
wasn’t taking the wind out of my sails. She was breathing new life
into me, giving me a real reason to do all this besides acting like a
mindless machine. She made me feel alive.

“Hey.” I let her
into my room, Monday afternoon. Should I kiss her hello? I paused for
a second, looking down at her, so fit and gorgeous. Aw, fuck it.
Wrapping my arms around her, I drew her to me and kissed her as
deeply as I’d missed her. A whole hell of a lot. She paused for a
moment, maybe hesitant or maybe just surprised. I’d surprised
myself, to be honest. I wasn’t usually big on displays of emotion.
But Emma was making me break all my rules.

Her lips felt so sweet
and warm and soft. She brought her hands up to my shoulders,
tentative at first, then pulling me closer and wrapping around my
muscles.

“Chase!” she gasped
when I dipped down to her throat, giving her a kiss that became a
lick and a light suck.

“I told you I wanted
to kiss you in person.” I dialed it back slightly, still holding
her, but moving up to give her a more restrained kiss on her head.
“Good to see you again.”

“Good to see you,
too,” she agreed. Reaching up, she ran her fingers through my hair.
I suppressed a groan of pleasure. “You cut it.”

Funny she noticed, I
think the guy had only taken off about a quarter of an inch. I kept
my hair short, as did most swimmers. With the amount of sweat and
chlorine and showering that went on in my life, there was not much
time for styling of locks.

Much as we may have
wanted, we didn’t have time for a long hello. We had a group dinner
with the whole crew, only this time no open bar, no dance floor. Lots
of sitting and listening to motivational speeches as we picked at
plates of dry chicken, veggies and rice. But Emma was sitting next to
me, so that gave me something to think about.

She wore a short,
athletic skirt that skimmed the top of her thighs. It was all I could
do not to drift over my hand under the table and run a finger along
her smooth skin. I wanted to feel her part her legs for me again,
hear the sounds of pleasure I could coax out of her. I still hadn’t
felt her come for me. Not yet. I didn’t want to wait another
minute.

But the dinner went on
and on. And even I knew I couldn’t finger Emma at a table with all
my teammates and the entire Olympic crew in the middle of a hotel
conference room. We’d already picked two bad, public,
easy-to-interrupt locations for getting into it. I wasn’t going to
make the same mistake a third time.

And afterward, when I
finally thought we were free to go, no. Coach called yet another
meeting, this time with the men’s relay swimmers. Really? Was this
his new technique, killing us by talking us to death? But I sat there
and listened to the value of teamwork, the importance of getting
ourselves in sync not just physically but mentally as well. Yup,
sync, got it. Now can I go?

After we hugged it out,
because, yes, coach honestly brought us in for a group hug, I was off
like a kid on the last day of school. Fuck waiting for the elevator,
I took the stairs.

She opened the door at
my first knock, quickly, as if she’d been waiting for me. I’m not
sure if the door closed fully behind me before I had her in my arms,
devouring her.

“Emma,” I murmured,
running my hands down her body, her slender waist, her hips. Cupping
her ass, I brought her against me. I wanted no space between us, no
clothes, no barriers at all.

Sweeping her up into my
arms, I carried her over to the couch, my mouth never leaving her
body, her neck, her cheeks, her strawberry lips. I sucked and nibbled
and kissed her like I’d been wanting to do since the moment I met
her, and she did it right back. But I still felt the need to be a
gentleman. The last time together, she’d been shaking hard in my
arms, confused and scared. I never wanted her to feel frightened
around me. No matter how crazy I felt about her, I could keep things
in check if that’s what she wanted.

I sat down, bringing
her with me onto my lap. She settled right in, fitting as perfectly
as I’d always known she would. Her ass rested right on me and she
wiggled a little, getting comfortable, making me as hard as a rock. I
brought my hands to her waist and forced myself to slow down, just
kissing her. Kissing those lips I’d literally dreamed about, how
juicy they looked parted with her hushed moans escaping. How good
they felt pressed against my skin.

Panting, I rested my
forehead against hers. I caught her hand in mine, entwining our
fingers, rubbing my thumb along her inner wrist. Her pulse was racing
right along with mine.

“How are you feeling
about us?” I knew I was taking a risk in asking. I could feel her
response to me. If I just kept right on going, I bet I could get her
to give me a green light in no time. But I didn’t just want her
body along for the ride. I wanted all of her, no regrets, no
reservations. And I could wait until she was ready to do it.

“Chase.” She
exhaled as she said my name, as if she’d been holding her breath
the entire time. I knew how that felt. She nearly knocked the wind
right out of me, too. “It’s so intense with you.”

I nodded, closing my
eyes, breathing her in. She had such a uniquely delicious scent. I
couldn’t wait to bury myself in her, licking, kissing, tasting her
honeyed sweetness until I felt drunk.

“I’m…” she
continued, searching for words. “I mean, obviously I’m into you.”
We both laughed at the reality of our connection, so strong and
undeniable. “But I’m worried. We just sat through a whole talk
about how this is the time we’re all supposed to focus, double
down, dig deep. I’m not exactly being professional here.” She
gestured to us, sitting together on the couch, her thighs bare as her
legs stretched out to the side. “And you’re not supposed to be
getting all distracted. I swear, I felt like your coach was looking
right at us when he said no one can afford to screw around right
now.”

“He probably was,”
I admitted. I’d noticed it, too.

“Oh God, I’d hoped
I was being paranoid.” She dropped her face to my chest,
embarrassed.

“Shh, Emma, we’re
not doing anything wrong.”

“Yes, we are!” She
burst out laughing, but not in a happy way, more like what I’d said
was absurd. “This is completely wrong! My parents would be
shocked.”

“Yeah, they probably
wouldn’t like to see you humping me.” I had to tease her. She was
being too hard on herself. And from my perspective, our coaches were
being closed-minded. They meant we shouldn’t be out partying and
fucking around. This wasn’t that.

She groaned, again not
in the way I wanted to hear her groaning. And she brought her hands
to her face, away from my shoulders where they’d felt so right.
See, this was what I got for trying to be a good guy.

“All right, how about
this. No sex.” What was I saying? I needed to stop myself from
talking.

“What?” Even she
looked slightly dismayed at my suggestion.

“We’ll go slow,
Emma. We don’t have to rush what’s between us. There’s a lot
going on right now.”

“The Olympics,” she
nodded.

“Yeah, that,” I
agreed. What I’d been training for over the last 12 years of my
life. Just that.

“But I’m not
staying away from you,” I continued. “That’s too much to ask.
Unless it’s what you want.”

“No,” she quickly
disabused me of that notion.

“Good, because I’m
not sure I could even if you wanted me to,” I admitted. Yes, it
sounded nuts, but I guessed this was how people felt when they were
falling. I definitely felt no solid ground beneath my feet. But
instead of thinking anymore, I let myself do what I really wanted and
lowered my mouth again to hers, drinking her in. I lost myself in her
sighs, her body pressed against mine. She grew bolder as we kissed,
tasting me with her tongue, nipping my bottom lip, clutching at my
bicep.

I could feel the doubt
leaving her body as she let herself feel, be in the moment as we
explored each other. Her legs beckoned to me, so shapely and
athletic, draped over mine. I slipped off her flip-flops and caressed
every inch of her, from the toes all the way up to the edge of her
short skirt. My fingers danced there, tracing the line, wanting to
move up, but wanting her to ask for it. I didn’t want to do any
more than she wanted.

And I had to admit, as
much as it drove me crazy in the process, I liked teasing her.
Getting her so worked up, I’d never felt more powerful. Nothing had
ever given me such a rush, not winning an event, not even breaking a
world record. Feeling her come alive in my arms, twisting against me,
the heat building in her core as she started breathing more heavily,
her eyes half-closed as she pulled at my shirt, wanting it off. It
was a like a drug, coaxing out her desire.

I took off my shirt and
she removed her own, then threw her arms around my neck, pressing her
hot little body against mine. Yes, the feel of our skin touching, I
could barely think any more. But I needed space, just a little, so I
could take a good look. I was a visual guy. The image of her breasts
in a simple cream lace bra, a demi cup just grazing the tips of her
nipples, nearly seared my brain. So round and pert and begging for
attention. I cupped my hands under her breasts, palming them, leaning
down to draw my tongue along the exposed upper flesh. She shivered
and pressed her hands to my chest, nearly pawing at me.

“So pretty, Emma. So
gorgeous.” I teased her nipple through the lace, loving how it
hardened with arousal in my mouth. She moaned, digging her fingers
into my shoulders. Good thing she didn’t have long nails or she
would have left claw marks. That might make some interesting headline
news the next day.

“I said no sex
tonight,” I reminded myself as much as I did her. “And I’ll
stick to that. But there is something I didn’t promise. Something
I’m going to have to do.”

“What?” she
managed, breathless, her lips already swollen with my kisses, her
cheeks flushed with arousal.

“I’m going to have
to make you come.”

Emma

“Chase,” I groaned,
already throbbing and squirming with need. The man knew exactly how
to touch me to drive me wild. Not to mention his words. I’d had a
couple of guys try to talk dirty to me in the past and they’d just
sounded stupid. No, I did not want to go for a ride, cowboy.

But Chase wasn’t
trying to play games. He was dead serious. He was world famous for
his intensity, and now he had it all turned on me. My whole body
quivered in needy anticipation.

“Can I touch you,
Emma?” he asked, stroking my thighs gently, so torturously. “I
want to feel you again. You felt so good on my fingers.”

I swallowed and nodded
my agreement. I already didn’t feel that in control of speaking.
I’d never felt so frenzied before, especially after having done so
little. We’d only been making out like teenagers and I already felt
close to an orgasm.

At my assent, he
slipped my skirt right off of me. Bless those stretchy athletic
skirts, they really were easy on, easy off. He didn’t waste any
time with my panties, either. Those he swept to the floor, then
settled me onto his lap again right where he wanted me. I could feel
his hardness pressing through his jeans, that thick, long shaft I’d
seen bulging through his briefs. With a sigh, I pressed against him.