The Thrill of the Chase (6 page)

He took a stroke and stopped again. His eyes reached down into her soul.
"
I hope you enjoyed it
'
cause it
'
s the last fucking time you dance with anyone but me. I get it all. I won
'
t share. No more dances, no more kisses, no more anything for you.
"
He took another stroke and slammed back in.
"
You feel me inside you, Ash? You feel it?
"
He pushed against her, his torso hanging over hers. He moved his hands from her face and captured her wrists and lifted them over her head and held them down.
"
Feel it, baby. Memorize it. Learn to love it,
'
cause it
'
s all you
'
ll ever know. Just me. Nobody else.
"

A hot, sharp thrill went through her at his words and brought a rush of new moisture to the point where their bodies were connected.

He took another stroke as he held her down and demanded an answer.
"
You understand me?
"

"
Yes.
"
It was all she could manage. Her hips tilted, begging for more.

At her acknowledgement, he released her hands and moved them under her, holding the silky cheeks of her butt in his hands, and lifted her into him. He began moving in steady strokes, inflaming them both.

It was good.
God, it was so good
. Ashley couldn
'
t focus on any one thing. Her thoughts kept flying everywhere in her brain.
She was making love with Ryan. He was jealous and possessive and she loved it. He was thick inside of her and stroking her toward orgasm
. Back and forth, her body was inundated with pleasure, pure pleasure.

He leaned in for her mouth just as she lifted her chin for his. Her lips opened and his tongue slammed in. The kiss was hot, wet, their lungs gasping for oxygen but not letting go of each other.

Her body tightened, and she knew she was about to come. A soft vibration came from her throat, a noise of need and excitement, and her internal muscles began clenching on his shaft. She pushed up into him as ecstasy unfolded around her. The orgasm was deep, internal and her mind closed down to anything but the mind-blowing pleasure that took over her body.

She was still riding the waves when he began groaning and slamming into her with more force. Three hard strokes and he was coming, following her over into the world of intense, profound pleasure. He hung over her, spilling his hot, wet, delicious seed inside her.

She felt it all the way to her soul as she clung to his shoulders.

His mouth left hers and he dropped his head beside her. His open lips landed on her shoulder, and he stayed like that, his mouth wet on her skin as they both began to slowly come down.

His lips moved to her ear.
"
I
'
m sorry, baby,
"
his whispered.

He held himself over her, still connected to her body.

Ashley was only just beginning to think again. And it was all good. No regrets at all, just good feelings and a sure knowledge that he cared for her.
What was he apologizing for?
"
What are you sorry for?
"

He lifted himself off her, carefully disengaging and moving to her side. He slid his arms around her.
"
I was too rough on you.
"

"
No, you weren
'
t.
"

His hand slid to her breast where her soft, white skin was already showing the effects of his touch.
"
Jesus, babe, I bruised you.
"

"
It
'
s just a hickey. It doesn
'
t hurt.
"
Her words were soft, trying to assure him.

"
I wasn
'
t trying for a hickey. I didn
'
t even realize what I was doing.
"

Pleasure spiked through her.
"
It
'
s okay,
"
she whispered.

"
And I shouldn
'
t have threatened you. I didn
'
t mean to scare you, Ash. About that guy you danced with.
"

She turned her head to see his eyes.
"
You didn
'
t mean it?
"

"
Hell, yes, I meant it. But I didn
'
t mean to scare you.
"

"
Do I look scared?
"

He smiled.
"
Not really.
"

"
I
'
m not.
"
Her answer was definitive.

"
Good.
"
He slid his hand down and captured her mound in his grasp.
"
Okay. That was practice. Now for the real thing.
"

He leaned down and put his mouth on hers.

****

The days that followed sailed past. They spent all their free time together and slowly, Ashley
'
s belongings began migrating from her apartment to Ryan
'
s house.

He didn
'
t seem to mind. In fact, he openly encouraged it by demanding she sleep at his house more and more. He wanted her to be comfortable, so he wanted her things at his place.

She began taking the pill, and everything was good between them.

Until the night Julie called and told her not to come back to the apartment because the police were everywhere. She didn
'
t know if there had been a robbery or exactly what had happened. That was all the information she had. Ashley offered to come get her and bring her to Ryan
'
s. Julie told her she
'
d let her know later and that Monica was at her parent
'
s. Ashley implored her to be safe before she hung up the phone.

Ryan immediately went ballistic.

He came to his feet in front of her and began pacing back and forth, running his hand repeatedly through his hair in agitation. He turned to her and glared.

"
We wouldn
'
t be having this problem if you just moved in with me completely. I don
'
t like you living at that apartment. It
'
s not safe.
"

Ashley bristled. That almost sounded like an ultimatum.
"
It
'
s completely safe.
"

"
It
'
s not safe,
"
he growled, vibrations coming deep from his chest. His anger was apparent.

"
Monica and Julie have to live there
--"
She stopped talking when he cut her off.

"
I can
'
t help where Monica and Julie have to live. That
'
s for them to worry about or for some other guy to deal with. Not me. Not you,
"
his voice continued to hammer at her, his impatience on the surface.

She took a deep breath to begin her rebuttal.
"
We split the rent three ways. And the utilities. We just signed a new lease.
"

His hand slashed through the air.
"
I don
'
t care. I
'
ll pay your share until the lease expires. It doesn
'
t have to stop you from moving in here. As long as your roommates get the money, they
'
ll be fine.
"

"
You can
'
t do that, Ryan,
"
she said, her voice soft.

His mouth flattened into a grim line as his expression darkened. His hands clenched in fists as he leaned forward and invaded her personal space.
"
Yeah, I can. Did you sign for six months or a year?
"

"
A y-year,
"
she answered in a shaky voice.

"
I
'
ll pay it up front. You won
'
t be breaking your word or the lease. We can move your stuff tomorrow.
"
His words were absolute, stating how it would be.

"
Ryan, I don
'
t know if that
'
s fair to them, they weren
'
t just expecting money. They were expecting me to be there. A roommate.
A friend
.
"

"
I understand that, but it can
'
t be helped. No way can the three of
y'all
think that set-up will last forever.
Shit happens
. People move on. I
'
m not saying you have to give up your friends, I
'
m saying you can
'
t live in that rat-infested excuse
--"

"
Rat infested! It
'
s a gated community! It
'
s gorgeous, it
'
s expensive
--"

"
Whatever. Okay
, I exaggerated
. But the point is, I want you here, Ash. I
'
ve wanted you here
every second of every day
since we got back together. No way in hell are you going back there after an incident like this. It just
ain
'
t
happening, babe.
"

Ashley stood staring at him, indecision confusing her mind. She wanted to be with him. She wanted it deep down in her soul. She loved her friends, but she loved him m
--
She cut that train of thought off quickly. She
wanted
to be with her friends, but she
wanted to be with him more
.

The real worry was that she was abandoning Monica and Julie.
But they would understand
. Monica especially had gotten over not trusting Ryan. The more time they spent together, and the more Monica came to know him, the more she realized what they had together. Both girls loved her and wanted her to be happy.

And it wasn
'
t like she would be breaking the lease. He
'
d offered to pay her share, but she wouldn
'
t let him do that. If she lived here with him, she could easily continue to pay her share of the rent and utilities.

And he was right. Things changed. People changed. Relationships happened and life moved on. Maybe it was time. An insidious feeling of contentment crawled up her spine and filled her with pleasure. She would
love
living here with him. She couldn
'
t think of anything she
'
d like more.

And one thing was for sure. If she turned him down now, he would be a complete and total bear in the future. She wouldn
'
t get one moment of peace until she agreed to his demands.

She took her time about answering him. She could feel his appraisal, steadily on her. He stood tensely, a tic in his cheek, pulling oxygen into his lungs so deeply she could see his chest rise and fall.
"
If I do this, Ryan, it doesn
'
t mean you
'
re always going to get your way. If I move in with you, it
'
s going to be because
I want
to move in with you. Don
'
t think you can bully me into doing what you want.
"
She threw his earlier words back at him.
"
It just ain
'
t happening, babe.
"

Ryan rocked back on his heels and relaxed slightly at her words.
"
I
'
m not trying to bully you, babe. That
'
s the last thing I want to do. If you agree to this, do this one tiny thing for me, I
'
ll give you whatever you want. Come on, Ashley. Just put me out of my damn misery and tell me you
'
ll live with me.
"