A Debt Repaid (1) (13 page)

He leaned forward enough to snatch her hand and yank her toward him. Caught her with one hand wrapped around the back of her head and bared his teeth at her. “Understand me, Aria. You can’t say things like that to me right now. I’m about to lose it.”

He didn’t give her a chance to respond. Instead have gave her his tongue. Chase pulled on her hair, holding her in place as he swirled his tongue around hers, in a way that was almost brutal.

Chase moaned into her mouth, a desperate, breathless sound.

Aria took it. She took everything he had to give her right then, and it still wasn't enough.

He ended their kiss just as abruptly as he'd started it. She blinked, too dazed to even complain.

"Come. Let's get your coat."

Huh?
Confusion expanding, she shook her head. She'd forgotten what he was talking about. Aria didn't have a chance to ask him, either. Chase began to all but fly down the sidewalk, Aria's hand still in his grip.

She didn't try to fight him. Not that time. She was too tired, too confused, and too damned cold to defy him anymore.

There was no ignoring the small voice in her mind that whispered "
excuses
", and she had to wonder: was this a temporary thing? Or a new, permanent trend?

Aria was very afraid she already knew the answer.

It was sleek, dark grey, chrome, and expensive as all hell.

Exactly
the type of car she'd picture a man like him owning.

Aria stood by the passenger door as Chase spoke with the valet, wondering if she was going to get in that car. Her life wasn't going to be the same if she did. She knew it.

Her coat was back in her possession. She had her clutch. Most importantly, her sobriety had returned. All she had to do was turn around, head out of the parking lot, and catch that cab she’d been planning to catch earlier.

Okay, that had failed, but the subway stop was a few blocks away. She could take the train out to the Sox-35th Street stop, and walk home from there. It’d take her a while, but she’d make it.

Aria glanced over at Chase out of the corner of her eye. He was still in conversation with the valet. In the parking lot's lights, she could see that he was tense. His facial expression was all aloofness, yet something about the way he held himself gave it away.

What was the valet telling him?

Chase gave the young valet a nod, and Aria saw money exchanged between them. A tip? Or something more? He made his way back in her direction, and it wasn’t until he was a few feet away that she realized she was still next to his car. Like a good little girl waiting for him to take her home.

Ugh.

Chase stopped and studied her face. "Everything okay?"

She shook her head, deciding to go with complete honesty. Eh, what the hell, right? “I
really should find my own way home.”

He sighed and his lips twitched before stretching out into that
awkward smile.

Aria’s lips parted at the sight of it. Unwilling. Uncontrollable. There was no hiding her reaction, no matter how much she tried.

“Well,” Chase took his car keys out of his pocket, still smiling at her, “are we going to have that argument again?”

“Are we
really going to act like I don’t have a say in the matter?” she snapped back at him, not liking his self-assured attitude one bit. It didn’t matter that the sight of him smiling struck her stupid with want. He had no right to get all cocky on her.

Chase turned to head to the driver side. At her comeback, he paused, keys in hand and eyebrow raised.

Then he laughed, throwing his head back and really getting into it. There was nothing hesitant about it this time around. He gave himself to that laugh, milking every bit of enjoyment out of it.

Awestruck. Amazed. Motherfucking enthralled. Aria couldn’t blink, breathe, or think straight.

No denying it. She was in love with the sight of him happy,
laughing.
It was just...
ugh
, how could one man be so gorgeous? He shouldn’t be allowed to exist, let alone to mess with her mind the way he did.

I’m getting into that car.

Yeah, she was. Fates have mercy on her, but there was no stopping it now.

The click of the doors unlocking sounded out. Chase opened the driver side door, still smirking.

Aria gave him a stare that all but said “Fuck you”, opened the door, and made herself good and comfortable in his passenger seat.

“YOU’RE TOO QUIET.”

Aria swallowed. Of course she was quiet, she didn’t have anything to say. No plans to utter a single word in regards to what was on her mind
, either. None of it was worth saying out loud, least of all to him. So instead she shrugged and continued staring out the window as Chase maneuvered in and out of traffic.

She needed to get home. The damn car was too small. Too confined. Each breath she took equaled another hit of his cologne. That fucking scent was a magnifier to her lust and therefore pure hell. Being stuck between wanting to maul him and hating herself for it was one of the worse rides she’d ever taken.

“Aria.”

She rolled her eyes, not turning to him. Were they almost there yet?

Chase sighed, but said nothing more. He just gave her what she needed, leaving her to her silence.

This
only served to make her feel guilty. She was being childish. She knew it. He was giving her a ride home, and she wasn’t so immature that she couldn’t at least offer up some polite conversation.

“You have a nice car.”
Oh, God. Aria, you’re pathetic.

More silence from his end
. Face burning, she chewed on the inside of her cheek and fought the growing urge to look at him.

“Thank you. That’s why I bought it,” he murmured.

Jerk. She heard the smile in his voice. Her hormones kept screaming at her, a demand for her to turn around. Those little bitches remembered that smile oh too clearly. She bit her cheek harder and tasted blood.

When Chase made the left turn onto her street, Aria
nearly wept with joy. She was an emotional God-damned mess, and didn’t need to be near any one right then. No, what she needed was to be locked away inside her house, breaking things. Lots of things.

Douglas’ things if they’re still there.

Oh, she liked that idea a lot.

Chase pulled into her driveway and shut the engine off.

Aria had just placed her hand on the handle when she heard the locks click. Her artery began to pound painfully and her jaw twitched. With a roll of her eyes, she turned to face Chase and gave him the mother of all death glares. “You do realize, that I can unlock the door if I want to, right?”

Chase turned in her direction, then lounged back against the driver’s side door. And there was no other way to describe it. Bathed in the glow of her driveway lights and the red light coming from the dashboard, he was an
impeccably dressed, half-sprawled study in masculinity.

Mouth-watering
masculinity.

That’s it.
She was switching the automatic sensors on her driveway lights. If they hadn’t turned on, she wouldn’t have been forced to take in the visual he made.

Yeah, because being alone in the dark with
him is so much better.

Oh, God, yes. Yes it was.

He eyed her, fucking every cell in her body with that lazy stare. “I know you can get out whenever you want.”

Aria blinked at the sound of his voice, dazed, and stopped herself from shaking her head.

“I’m hoping you’ll give me a few minutes. I want to talk.”

Talk? Hell no
. The way the low timber of his voice wrapped around the word “talk” had Aria’s hormones flaring. A hot wave that made her abdomen clench tightly. Her mind began conjuring up a million different scenarios, all of them far removed from “talking”.

They were alone in the dark. In a car that screamed sex, the way its owner did… his scent everywhere. It was too fucking much.

“What the hell do you want to talk about?” she asked through gritted teeth, trying to hold her breath as long as possible.

His eyes searched her face, reflecting the lights bathing him. “Tell me: have you directed any of that anger toward your ex?”

No, Aria hadn’t, and she suspected they
both
knew why. The spurts of rage she kept feeling toward Chase were so much more intense then whatever anger she housed within herself toward Douglas. Seeing Chase with Catherine tonight proved that.

She’d felt that type of fury once before. The first time Douglas had cheated on her all those years ago. Back when she’d a
ctually been in love with him.

Okay, she needed to get back on track and out of that damned car.  Back to Plan A. 

Your ex. He said
your ex.

Aria froze, eyes unseeing. The crumbling of her very last defense was catastrophic inside her head, an avalanche of pure chaos that left her ears ringing.

The man in front of her wanted her. On a physical level, it was obvious he wanted her more than Douglas ever did. Than anyone ever had.

Intoxicating. A near-blinding rush. And she wanted him. On levels she was too chicken-shit to explore. Without the illusion of her still being with her husband, Chase would know there was nothing in his way.

She couldn’t resist him. It’d been proven time and again. If he came at her with every bit of lust in his body, she would be helpless. She’d give in. Let him take her.

No, she’d take him. As it was, she was about to lose control and climb on his lap. Just the thought of spreading her thighs on either side of him, grinding her pussy against what she wanted most, had her biting her lip.

Chase knew. He knew it all. Every weakness. Every lack of defense.

But how had he known that she was leaving Douglas? Had he heard it from someone? Or had he looked into that? If he’d looked into that one, there was no doubt in her mind that he had his nose in all of her personal business.

His right hand came toward Aria—his long fingers so attractive to her—and he grabbed her left hand. He pressed his thumb into her palm, rubbing her skin in slow circles that made her eyes flutter. Those fingers than moved to her own, squeezing and pulling on each one, massaging her in a way she’d never been before.

He came to her ring finger, and lingered there. “You aren’t wearing your wedding ring,” he said, answering her unspoken questions.

What an idiot! How could she be so careless as to let him see that? Although, to be fair, since seeing him at the restaurant, there hadn’t been much thought processes left for her to worry about that. Chase was a maverick when it came to hogging her focus.

She went to pull her hand out of his, but he tightened his hold and brought her closer instead. When he leaned toward her, the lights in the car cast shadows over his face. Aria tensed, heart thundering.

If he kissed her, she wouldn’t be able to stop. She was already swollen. Aching to come.

God, it had been so long, and his body promised so much.

“Aria.” Chase held her hand in his own, and ran the fingers of his free hand across her cheek. “When was the last time he touched you?”

She closed her eyes. Embarrassment spiraled into pure shame. Lord, was it that obvious? Did she seem that desperate?

But she
was.
It’d been so long, and she’d never felt anything close to how she felt when Chase touched her. When he kissed her.

When he pressed his hard cock into her and teased her.

She started shaking. Slowly, her lids rose. Her eyes dropped to his crotch.

Chase cupped her cheek, even as she continued to stare, fixated
by the sight of him. Engorged, so hard, and pressing against his slacks as if it was calling to her.

It was.

Chase leaned in and brushed his lips across her cheek, so close to her lips that she had to stifle a whimper.

“I can’t believe,” he panted, “that a man would have you, and that he would not take you. I’d fucking have you every day, all day, Aria. I wouldn’t be able to stop.” Groaning, he pressed his forehead to her temple and stayed like that, breathing
heavily. “I can sense how hungry you are.”

One pass of his hand along her neck had her shuddering and leaning toward him for more.

Aria caught herself, realizing too late that her body’s reactions had just proved his point.

She jerked back away from him, as if he’d hit her. Which in essence, he had. No woman would ever want to discuss how her husband had stopped touching her, or how she’d
allowed it without thinking. How the bastard had been too busy, slaking his needs with other females to think about her own.

Her shaking intensified, fury and denied lust making her clumsy. It took her two tries to get the door open, but once she did, she was out of that car in a flash.

The fact that Chaseopened his door and exited to follow her made her want to snap her teeth at him
.
“Leave me alone, Chase. Just go and leave me the hell alone,” Aria hissed over her shoulder, rushing toward the front steps of her house. Her voice broke on the last word.

The word
pathetic
echoed inside her head, along with the click of her heels as she ran up the front stops.

Aria was ready to rush right through her door, slam it in his face, and hide in her room for the rest of eternity. But at the top of her porch, she just…stopped. She could feel him coming up the steps
behind her.

And she needed something from him. His lips. His body. Everything she shouldn’t want.

She was so tired, and she suspected, broken deep inside. There hadn’t been any real processing of her situation. Aria knew what was happening, but she’d been trapped simply reacting to it all. Until then. Now, it was starting to hit her.

Chase stayed behind her. The feeling of his hand wrapping around her neck had her closing her eyes. He started rubbing his thumb in small circles, and there was no denying it for her.

This was what she needed: his touch. Something about it comforted her. She could feel how much he wanted her with just a simple caress, and it was mindboggling.

She was starved. On so many levels. And, although she didn’t believe Chase could soothe every ache, the way he made her feel more than worked for her body.
It loved it. It wanted the intensity she could sense beneath his touch.

Aria didn’t know which she was more; frightened or confused. Trapped wanting him so b
ad that she was losing it. It wasn’t just about her still being married anymore.

Aria was too involved.
Emotionally speaking, too vulnerable.

If she had wanted him a little less, then maybe she could give in.

“Turn around, Aria. Look at me.”

She groaned
lowly at Chase’s request, knowing what would happen when she did. Worse, there was that tiny voice inside her head that was pleading with him:
just do it. Take the choice away from me.

He did, using the hold on her neck to turn her around.

“I’m sorry.” Chase was two steps below her, looking up. “I didn’t mean to offend you. There’s nothing wrong with you, he’s the problem. A fucking idiot for not realizing what he had.”

Aria shook her head. “He had no problem with other women.” She had no idea why she voiced that small insecurity, but it was the truth. Douglas had been the
only man in her life, and his finding her lacking rattled the little confidence she had.

Chase let go of her neck and slid his hands down her arms, until he had each of her hands in one of his. “More proof that he has the problem. I told you, Aria; if I had the right to have you, I wouldn’t stop.”

Could a woman spontaneously develop asthma? Could she die on the spot if she did? Aria swallowed once. Nothing. No air. She swallowed again, trying to open her God damn airway.

Chase’s eyes had gone heavy-lidded
. He watched her with that intense stare, waiting for her. Aria sensed the restrained impatience in him, coming
off
him. The side of his jaw jumped, catching her attention. Extricating her hands out of his hold, she reached up. A moment’s hesitation had her stopping with her hands right next to his face.

He leaned closer, inviting her.

Aria bit her lip, feeling weak. When her fingers connected with his cheeks, sliding down to trace the hard line of his jaw, his eyes fluttered closed.