Through the Night (22 page)

He blew a warm gust of air on her wet folds, traced the outline of her swollen sex with his tongue, and flicked the pointed tip across the nub of her clitoris at the same time he eased two fingers deep inside her channel.

She gasped at the multitude of sensations he’d just created, and then the pleading and thrashing began in earnest. “Oh, God, Chase,” she rasped. She twisted her fingers in his hair to hold his head in place between her legs as her lower body began to move rhythmically against his ravenous mouth. “Please, oh, please, please, please…”

Shamelessly, she rode each stroke of his tongue, bucked against the thrust of his hand, grinding wildly, inelegantly, so his fingers glided in and out … penetrating harder, deeper, faster.

She tossed her head back on the pillow and panted as her orgasm built to a crescendo, and he groaned, resisting the urge to grind his own massive erection against the mattress and come at the same time she did. His cock was pulsing, throbbing, and he knew it wouldn’t take much to set him off.

But this wasn’t about him and his release. It was about her pleasure, and his being the one to give it to her. He wanted, needed her to know that whatever was starting to develop between them, it wasn’t just about a casual fling any longer or him satiating his lust for her.

He didn’t think he’d ever get enough of Valerie, and he wasn’t just thinking about the phenomenally hot physical connection they shared. Chase wanted more than just a cold, emotionless affair based solely on sex and
his
satisfaction.

Convincing her might prove more difficult, but for right now, this moment, he was hell-bent on making sure he gave her a whole helluva lot to think about on their long flight back to Las Vegas.

Another deep plunge of his fingers in her tight sheath, another suctioning pull on her clit, and she climaxed, her hoarse cry of ecstasy filling his ears. Her orgasm seemed to last forever, and he stayed with her until the very end, when she let out one final whimpering moan. Her body went limp and she finally released the grip she had on his hair, and her hand fell away.

She didn’t move, but judging by the way she kept her legs splayed open, Chase knew she was expecting him to mount her and ease his own raging need. The temptation was strong, but instead he moved to the edge of the bed, sat down on the mattress beside her, and covered her with the blankets.

Startled, she glanced from the unmistakable erection outlining his shorts to his face, her soft brown eyes clouding over with confusion. “What about you? Aren’t you going to—?” Her words trailed off and she waved a hand toward his very obvious arousal.

He grinned and shook his head. “No, I don’t think I am.”

She frowned. “Then why did you do it?”

Her inability to be more frank with her words after what he’d just done to her amused him. And because she was acting like a blushing virgin, he used a more explicit approach, just to tease her even more.

“I did it because I like going down on you. Because being the one to make you come gives me a natural high. And it’s not always about wanting something in return. Do you need any other reasons than that?”

A furious blush colored her cheeks, and she released a puff of breath. “I guess not.”

Chase stood up. “I need to take a shower.” Because, yeah, if he didn’t do something about his excruciating boner, it was going to be difficult to get through the rest of the day being around her.

As he stared down at Valerie, he could already see her mulling over everything that had just happened, and what it all meant—so she could build her defenses and run. Nope. Not this time.

“While I’m gone, don’t overthink things, sweetheart,” he said gently. “It makes things more complicated than they need to be.”

And things between him and Valerie were complicated enough. If he could just get her to feel minus the excruciating thought process she tended to go through, they might stand a chance.

Chapter Twelve

Valerie stared out the window of the town car driving her and Chase to the Onyx after their long flight from Florida. On one hand, it was nice to be back home where everything was stable and familiar, yet on the other, it signaled the end to the case and her time with Chase.

Which was a good thing, she thought. Or so she’d spent the five-hour flight convincing herself—overthinking things and making them more complicated than they needed to be, just as Chase had said.

Even so, this morning’s sexual encounter found a way to play inside her mind all over again. She’d been having the same erotic dream: her faceless lover; that intertwined, jagged-lined tattoo; the heat and passion and electricity that seemed to grow more and more powerful with each encounter. And somewhere along the way, fantasy had blended into reality—which, she had to admit, was so much more satisfying.

And intense. Everything with Chase was more complex, more emotional, more profound. He had a way of touching her and stripping away every resistance she had. He made her feel vulnerable and exposed, and she knew exactly what could happen when she opened herself to someone so completely.

The hurt. The pain. The loss.

And it was even more difficult with Chase. All he had to do was touch her, even in the most platonic ways—like when he’d climbed into her bed last night just to hold her after the attack—and she could feel tenderness. His caring. And the things he wanted from her that would never mesh well with his adventurous, globe-trotting lifestyle on a long-term basis.

Because of the pain her psychic abilities had brought her in the past, she’d made protecting her emotions an art form, while he didn’t guard his well at all. At least not when it came to her and what he wanted. And she knew, in the long run, he’d want even more from her, and the kind of things she was too scared to let herself believe could be possible. Things she knew she’d never be able to give him. Like her heart.

But she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed that their time together was over. A part of her was going to miss the excitement and fun and adventure—and Chase himself. But it had to happen at some point because they’d both gone into this knowing it was all a temporary arrangement. Her job as a casino hostess awaited her, and he had many other fine things to procure that would keep him plenty busy. He’d move on with his life and so would she.

The thought made her chest hurt, and she was so damn grateful when the car finally pulled into the private employee parking garage for the Onyx to drop her off.

“You’re doing that thinking thing again, aren’t you?” Chase said, breaking the silence that had settled between them since they’d gotten into the vehicle at the airport.

She forced a smile. “I’m just
thinking
that it’s been fun, minus the Angie drama, which shouldn’t be an issue now that the job is done and we won’t be together. Well, she might be an issue for you.…”

He scowled, and she knew he wasn’t happy with her comment.

“I can handle Angie,” he said, his tone adamant, obviously choosing to ignore her statement that they were over. “I haven’t heard back from her, not that I was expecting to, but I’m sure the message I left for her went a long way in dissuading her from any future interaction with either one of us.”

“I hope so.” The car stopped at the entrance to the casino, and there was no other reason for them to prolong the inevitable. She inhaled a deep breath and let it back out. “So, I guess this is it. I need to go and check in with Caleb, and I’m sure Steven is anxious to get his cane.”

Chase didn’t move, even though their driver had exited the car and was now removing their luggage from the trunk. “Actually, Steven is out of town on a business trip until tomorrow morning, so I’ll be around for a few more days.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to make of that. “Well, there’s plenty in Vegas that you can do for fun. If you need tickets for anything, or some suggestions on what to do or shows to see—”

“Valerie,” he said, cutting off her hostess spiel, his expression suddenly very serious as he rubbed his palms up and down his jeans-clad thighs in a show of restless uncertainty. “Before you go and check in with Caleb, I’d like for you to come up to my suite. There’s something I’d like to show you.”

She didn’t know what she’d expected. Maybe some small part of her thought he’d try to dissuade her from ending things, but instead he was dead serious and she couldn’t begin to imagine what he wanted to show her. He was clearly nervous about something, and that was not a trait she ever thought she’d associate with someone as confident as Chase.

“Can’t you show me now?” she asked. “Here?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

He didn’t offer an explanation, but his turbulent green eyes asked her to trust him. And good Lord, she did. She swallowed hard, wondering what awaited her upstairs. “Okay.”

Since she’d left her car parked in the employee garage, she had the driver put her luggage in her trunk, and then followed Chase to the registration desk while he picked up his new room key, which Tony had already arranged for him. When they arrived at the same suite he’d occupied when he stayed there the previous weekend, Chase set the two secretary legs that he’d been carrying around in a duffel bag since leaving Florida—and hadn’t let out of his sight—onto the dining table.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and disappeared into the suite’s adjoining master bedroom. He returned moments later with the same polished wooden chest he’d shown her last weekend, the one that contained the carved ivory top piece to the cane.

She blinked in surprise. “How did that get in here?” Last she knew, Chase had delivered the box to Tony for safekeeping before they left on their trip.

“I had Tony put it in the bedroom safe today so it would be here when we returned, because I wanted to be the one to put the cane together,” he explained as he placed the box on the table next to the duffel bag before meeting her gaze.

“And Tony was okay with that?” The man had struck her as a bulldog, to the point of being annoying, when it came to monitoring Chase’s progress in tracking the cane staff. Then again, Tony
was
Steven’s curator and this rare piece was a huge and valuable addition to the man’s collection.

A wry smile curved Chase’s mouth. “Trust me, Tony wasn’t happy about it, but since Steven is out of town until tomorrow, he really couldn’t argue because I insisted on delivering the entire cane to Steven personally. So, for tonight, it’s in my possession, and considering you and I worked so hard to get the bottom portion of the cane, I wanted you to be here, as well, when I connect the pieces.”

She hadn’t expected him to share such a personal moment with her, and a ripple of excitement coursed through her. “Really?”

He grinned at her guileless enthusiasm. “Yeah, really.” Zipping open the duffel, he retrieved the leg that belonged with the cane top and gently unwrapped the treasured item from the soft blanket he’d packed it in. “And when I put this together, I’m pretty sure something else is going to happen, and I wanted to share that with you, too.”

He was back to being nervous again, and she watched as he took a deep, steady breath then twisted the screw component on the top of the staff into the ivory segment, creating a stunningly gorgeous cane unlike anything she’d ever seen before. With the inlaid ivory vines and emeralds, the mahogany walking stick complemented the carved lily of the valley floral top piece beautifully.

She stared in awe as he continued to secure the two pieces together by tightening the gold ring thread that had been attached to the staff. She heard a very tiny, faint
click
as if something had just been unlocked, and the energy surrounding Chase changed, filling the air between them with a magnetic wave of awareness and the barely audible crackle of electricity.

That’s when she noticed that one of the inlaid pieces of ivory toward the top of the staff had popped out about an inch and a half, revealing a tiny secret compartment with another small, flat piece of ivory that looked like a key of some sort hidden inside. She gasped in amazement, and one look at Chase’s face and his awed expression told her this was the
other thing
he’d been referring to.

“What
is
that?” Intrigued, she stepped closer to get a better look.

He removed the flat ivory piece, and once he pushed the false inlay back in place, there was no way to tell that a secret hiding place existed inside the cane. The staff looked as good as new, and uncompromised in any way.

He placed the sculpted ivory in his palm and held it out for her to see, his own excitement nearly tangible. “This is an ivory key that Capone had commissioned, and as you can see, it’s carved into the shape of a Madonna, the Virgin Mary.”

The carving reminded Valerie of the many Virgin Mary statues she’d seen in Catholic churches, and the replica, as small as it was, had been exquisitely carved with minute details and the words
MADONNA MIA
inscribed on the surface. The Madonna’s bowed head was covered in a draped veil, her body clad in a loose robe, and her arms were outstretched in acceptance. The lower portion of the key extended another half inch with cuts and grooves to match some sort of lock.

“Do you know what the key is for?” she asked curiously.

He nodded. “Yes.”

He didn’t say anything else, which made her all the more curious. “Is this key why Steven wanted to find the other piece to the cane?” she asked.

“No,” he said with a slow shake of his head. “It’s why
I
wanted to find the cane.”

Valerie didn’t miss the emphasis he’d put on the word
I.
She frowned in confusion. From the beginning, she’d been under the impression that Chase’s assignment was all about finding and completing the Capone cane for Steven’s collection, yet now Chase was insinuating that he’d had a goal of his own, one that had everything to do with locating the staff because of the key locked inside. And if that was the case, Chase had used
her
and her psychic abilities for his own gain. Just as Glen, her ex-boyfriend, had done.