The Thrill of the Chase (12 page)

"
N-no.
"

"
Get ready.
"

"
Do you have
--
do you have a condom?
"

His eyes narrowed in a menacing scowl, fire smoldering in his gut.
"
You gonna make me use a condom?
"
he growled.

She looked up at him, startled by his question.
"
How often do you
not
use a condom?
"

"
Never,
"
his answer was sure and rang true.
"
I
'
m asking you again, you gonna make me use a condom?
"

She bit her lip as he stared down into her eyes, his arms caging her in, his knees pressing her legs apart. He hung at her entrance.
"
Only if
--
only if you don
'
t want a baby,
"
she whispered.

His nostrils flared as he stared at her for one second, two seconds,
three seconds
--

And then he growled low in his throat and slammed into her.

Her body reverberated from the impact, and she let out a tiny ragged sound of pain mingled with passion. In shock, she opened her eyes fully and stared at him while she tried to adjust to his intrusion. His intrusion
without protection
.
"
I can
'
t
--
I can
'
t believe you just did that.
"

Another startled cry came from her when he took the first stroke.

He gave her a few seconds to adjust and then he put his hands under her butt and lifted her into him.

He took another stroke and panted heavily.
"
You said I could.
"

"
No, I didn
'
t.
"
Pleasure so intense she almost couldn
'
t think inundated her and she lifted her hips while her brain screamed at her to make him stop.
Could she let him take a few more strokes first?
She could feel it building; she was close to orgasm.
"
You have to stop.
"

Gibson steeled the need for release screaming through his veins and concentrated on her.
"
You close?
"

She moaned in his arms and lifted into his thrust.
"
Y-yes.
"

He slid his hand between them and his fingers landed on her clit. He stroked her in a way she shouldn
'
t be able to resist. He hoped she wouldn
'
t be able to resist.

He was right.

She began moaning and he could feel her muscles clenching around him, tightening on his shaft, milking him until she exploded in his arms.

Her beauty in orgasm was electrifying. She was hot and wet and silky and tight. His mind exploded in sensation and his body began going over the precipice. He pushed into her hard one last time and jerked out, spilling himself onto her satiny stomach.

He collapsed against her, dropping his head onto the pillow beside her. Oxygen burned his lungs and he dragged in air. His heartbeat slowly came down. He wrapped his arms around her and fell into a contented sleep.

****

Julie
'
s cell phone woke him up. He rolled over, put his arm behind his head and watched as she tried to answer the phone without letting the sheet fall down her torso. She looked over at him and he raised one eyebrow.

She blushed a fiery red.

He grinned and listened.

She talked for a couple of minutes, and he could tell she was talking to one of her roommates. His guess was Monica. Julie said
Gibson
'
s house
at one point and the world didn
'
t come to an end, so he presumed his guess was accurate.

She ended the call.

"
It wasn
'
t a robbery. The sweet old lady below us had a heart attack and managed to dial for help before she lost consciousness. She
'
s in the hospital.
"

"
That
'
s too bad. But it
'
s a good thing it wasn
'
t a robbery or you wouldn
'
t be going back there.
"

"
Oh, yeah?
"

"
Yeah.
"

"
How do you figure?
"

"
Just sayin
'
, babe. You don
'
t need to get your panties in a twist or anything,
'
cause it wasn
'
t a robbery.
"

"
Nobody died and made you boss.
"

"
Let
'
s don
'
t put it to the test.
"

"
Whatever.
"

He grinned and let it go.

He was starving and asked her if she wanted to order pizza or go out.

She chose to go out.

They agreed on Mexican, and before long they were seated in a back booth with a couple of margaritas between them. He was unusually quiet, and Julie quickly made note of the date. It was, for all intents and purposes, their first date.

Even though they
'
d already had sex.

He played with her hand across the table while his margarita melted. She watched his face and decided to be bold and get it over with.
"
That can
'
t happen again.
"

He knew exactly what she was referring to.
"
No?
"

"
No.
"

"
I don
'
t care to use a condom, babe.
"

"
But you said you always did
--
before.
"

"
Yeah, but now it
'
s you. Just you and me and I want to be able to feel your soft skin, babe.
"

"
I
'
m guessing you don
'
t want a baby though.
"

"
Not yet.
"

Their eyes caught and held.
Instantaneous lust sizzled around them.
"
So how do you propose we keep that from happening?
"

"
You ever been on the pill?
"
he asked. He was more than curious. He wanted to know about her past. Possessiveness ran through his bloodstream.

"
No,
"
she answered softly.

"
No?
"
He was pleased and couldn
'
t keep that feeling out of his voice.

"
That
'
s what I just said,
"
she reiterated.

"
So, you haven
'
t had any long term sexual partners?
"

"
Wow, that
'
s a personal question.
"

"
What
'
s the answer?
"
he asked with impatience in his voice. He wanted to know.
She would tell him
.

"
I
'
ve had a couple of boyfriends, but they always used condoms.
"
She glared at him when she said that.
"
And then we broke up before we decided on anything else.
"

"
Well, that
'
s not going to happen.
"

"
Yes. You
'
ve already stated you don
'
t care for condoms,
"
she said in a short voice.

"
I mean the breaking up part.
"
He watched her intently.

Julie
'
s jaw dropped as she stared at him.

"
What?
"
he asked.

"
You don
'
t think we
'
re going to break up?
"
Julie
'
s heart began beating out of time. It was loud in her ears.

He shook his head.
"
No. Not really.
"

"
Why?
"

"
I don
'
t know. Just a feeling, I guess. I want you pretty bad, babe. You know I
'
m probably going to lose my best friend over this.
"

"
Ryan?
"
she asked softly.

"
Yeah.
"

"
You were serious? That n-night in the club?
"
her voice shook.

"
Yeah.
"

"
You think Ashley hates you or something?
"
Julie needed to get to the bottom of this.

"
Ryan thinks it,
"
Gibson answered.

"
Ashley doesn
'
t hate anyone, Gibson. They don
'
t come sweeter than Ashley.
"

"
Sure they do.
"
His eyes were intense as they held hers.

Warmth heated her veins as his hands tightened around her fingers and his gaze continued to hold hers. She sucked in a breath. This sounded serious. He sounded serious. Happiness clamored through her veins.
"
Do you want me to try the pill?
"

"
Would you mind?
"
he asked with hot, liquid heat shooting from his eyes.

"
No. Do you think it
'
ll be worth it?
"
she asked. She still couldn
'
t quite believe what he was saying.

"
What do you mean?
"

"
Um, I mean
--
I just wonder if we
'
re going to be together long enough for
--"

"
Seriously? You think I
'
m letting you go now?
"
his voice was harsh.

"
Gibson, you can
'
t know
--"

"
Julie, babe, we
'
re not talking marriage here, but I honestly can
'
t imagine getting enough of you any time soon.
"
His expression grew fierce.
"
Unless you
'
re thinking about blowing me off already?
"

"
No!
"

"
Good. Okay, then. Get on the pill. We
'
ll see how it goes.
"

****

She got on the pill and it went well.

Days turned into weeks. Weeks became months. They showed no sign of slowing down or letting up.

He told Ryan right away. He didn
'
t put it off. The conversation went better than he thought it would. He didn
'
t have a problem like he expected to with Ryan. Ryan was secure in his relationship with Ashley.

The four of them began spending time together.

Julie worried about Monica. The guys offered to fix her up with one of their buddies, but Monica declined.