Wild Chase (8 page)

“Hmm?” I asked, turning my attention back to him as he stepped in front of me.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he spoke softly again, his gray eyes looking down at me. I shook my head.

“Nope, I know what I want. Hey Bud? Can you do a few butterflies along my hipbone? But can you make the bodies of them music notes?”

I heard a gruff sounding,”Yerp,” as he set about getting out all the supplies he needed.

Avery looked slightly baffled, but then a huge smile spread across his face. He leaned in, slid a hand against my cheek, tipping my face back. When he was close enough to kiss me, he murmured, “That is going to look so smokin’ hot,” against my mouth, enunciating each word so slowly that I whimpered. Dear god. That man was getting me all hot and bothered, and with just the gentle grazing of his lips, and the raspy sound of his voice. I shivered slightly, hoping he would kiss me, but Bud was finally ready to start.

Before I knew it, we were finished and Avery was right, it was an extremely hot tattoo. Once he had held my hand and I had those stormy eyes to stare into, I didn’t feel a thing. Five little, quarter-size treble clef butterflies now fluttered their way up my lower stomach, along the side of my hip bone. It could easily be hidden by jeans, but I would know it was there—and that’s what mattered most. I couldn’t help but blush furiously while smiling from ear to ear. I loved it and everything it stood for.

Avery snuck up behind me in the mirror, and slid his arms around me, as I quickly pulled up my leggings and pulled my dress down.

“So what does it mean?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

Game face. Do not let the boy know it’s about him or he will probably make for the hills
, my inner voice shouted, shaking a finger at me.

“I just thought it would be pretty, plus you know I had to incorporate music in there somehow.”

He just nodded and took my hand as we made our way out the door.

We ended up just having ice cream for dinner, and by the time we were done, it was already dark outside. We laughed as we got into the car and realized that we both had whipped cream and sprinkles still stuck in our hair from our momentary food fight. We took a moment to help clean each other up, pausing to kiss one another, the sweetness of the dessert lacing each one of them. I sat back in my seat as he pulled out onto the road, and suddenly, I wanted to cry. One minute it felt like I was on cloud nine, then the next it felt hard to breathe. I brushed it off and squeezed his hand.

I decided to have him take us somewhere special to me, hoping to make the night last just a bit longer. After our drive back to town, I directed him to the street where the restaurant I worked at was located. We got out of the car and I grabbed his hand as we darted behind the building. There was a ladder attached to the back of the Pizza Shack, one that I used quite frequently. I quickly scanned the area making sure no one saw us and started to climb. Avery quickly followed my lead. A moment later, we were standing on the rooftop overlooking the rest of the buildings on the street. I took his hand again and pulled him over to a small storage shed that was up there for miscellaneous stuff. I put in the combination to the lock and within seconds, I was grabbing out my guitar and some blankets I’d bought from the thrift store. For the most part, I figured the instrument was safer here.

“You are just full of surprises, you know that?” Avery said with a grin on his face, taking the blankets from me and laying them out on the roof for us to sit on.

We settled down on the blankets and I handed him the guitar.

“Can you please play for me? I’ve been dying to see you in action,” I asked coyly.

He gave me a smirk and took it, “Only if you sing for me afterward.”

I let my mouth hang open in the pretense of shock, “Oh come on! You’re the one in a band! Don’t you perform for people all the time?”

I watched as his eyes fell down to the blanket and he sucked on his bottom lip, “Yeah, but they don’t make me nervous.”

It was hard not to notice the way my heart started to beat just a little harder after he spoke.

“I m—make
you
nervous?” I said barely above a whisper. He lifted his gaze to mine and nodded.

There went my heart again, rapidly starting to pound away against my chest.

I swallowed and chewed on my lip, “Well, you know what they say. You’ll just have to picture your audience naked.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I couldn’t believe I’d said it. From the look on Avery’s face, he couldn’t either. His eyes widened and I watched as his Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed. Oh my. He let out a strained laugh and took the guitar into his arms to get ready to play.

“Well, as long as I have your permission.”

He started strumming the guitar almost instantly, not giving me a chance to say anything else. I was starting to tremble. I was way too nervous for this. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I wasn’t ready! Or maybe it was just him. I looked up from my hands as his voice rang out over the soft guitar melody. My breath hitched. He was singing a familiar song about craving someone, wanting and needing them in every way. It made my mouth go dry and my palms start to sweat. Avery was remarkable, and there was no doubt about that. I know people say that all the time, but this boy with a guitar was something magnificent. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. When he finished, he did a little bow as I clapped.

“You are amazing! Those rock star dreams of yours don’t seem so far-fetched if you ask me,” I said with a huge smile, brushing some hair behind my ear. He smiled back.

“Thanks. A boy can dream. Now it’s your turn. I was serious. I can’t leave without hearing your voice again.”

As soon as the words left his lips it was like someone sucker punched me in the stomach.

This wasn’t supposed to hurt this much. His eyes searched mine as he waited for a response.

“I’d rather hear more about your band,” I mumbled, a pathetic attempt at changing the subject.

He never took his expressive eyes off me as he shook his head, “No, I mean it. I want to hear you sing, Chase. You know, I hear you all the time in my head, but it’s not the same. Please, I really want to be able to remember you like this.”

I almost couldn’t fight back the burning sensation pressing against my eyes.

Tears. They were bearing down so hard that I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold them back much longer.

Trying not to find his eyes, I stared around the rooftop and chewed on my lips, twisting my fingers around in my lap.

“What’s wrong, Chase?” I heard Avery whisper as he moved closer, kneeling in front of me and taking my hand.

Oh, don’t do that,
I thought to myself.

The burning only got worse as I shook my head. He sighed and I knew that he wouldn’t stop until he got an answer out of me. I blinked long and hard. Inevitable that tears were going to fall, but if I sang, maybe I could avoid the conversation all together and I wouldn’t have to try to make sense of what was going on in my head. I took a deep breath, sat up onto my knees in front of him, and closed my eyes.

In a hushed, broken voice, I started singing. The lyrics flowed through me and spilled from my lips as though my mind had no control. The words to “Iris” floated out into the night air, meaning more in that moment than I ever could have known.

Before I could finish the chorus, I felt his hand slide against my tear stained cheek and into my hair as he pulled me into him, his lips hungrily searching for mine. That was the moment I had been waiting for. It didn’t just feel right, it felt like my whole world started and ended in the arms of this boy. Regret would never touch this memory.

My hands traveled around his neck and slipped into his hair, softly tangling themselves in the soft blonde strands as I pulled him against me. His hand trailed down my side until it rested on my hip and suddenly grasped onto it, being careful to avoid the newly tattooed side. The fierceness of his touch matched the urgency within me.

This just wasn’t close enough, though. Something inside of me felt like a starving, caged animal desperate to break free for just one taste. I didn’t understand it, but that didn’t matter. My mind and body craved him more than air—more than life. I broke our kiss long enough to push the sides of his jacket off his shoulders and then frantically grabbed the hem of his t-shirt. He helped me pull it over his head and in the dim light from the nearby street lamps, I looked at the most beautiful male body I had ever seen.

Sparrows and nautical stars were beautifully inked on the skin of each of his tautly sculpted shoulders; the words “Lack of Passion is Fatal” scripted across his collarbone. My eyes never had a chance to finish roaming all the rigid contours of his body before I felt his hands eagerly glide up my thighs and push my dress up as he stroked his thumb lazily along my heated skin. I helped him tug my dress off and threw it to the side. He hauled me into his arms; the sensation of his warm body brushing against mine only made me want him more. Avery started to trail a path of lingering kisses from my mouth, down my jaw, and slowly down my neck that sent a rushing tidal wave of goose bumps across my body. When his teeth grazed my collarbone, I shivered against him. His fingertips meticulously skimmed every area of my exposed skin. Avery gently grabbed the side of my head and looked deep into my eyes as he lightly traced his thumb around my lips. With a smoldering look in his eyes, he leaned into me and caught my lips with his own, unleashing a whirlwind of desperation as we frantically tore off the rest of our clothing. Before I knew it, I was laying beneath this man, arching into him, my bare flesh pressed against the hard lines of his body.

What I felt in that moment went beyond want and need.

I whimpered as he began languidly kissing his way down my chest, stopping to draw his tongue slowly over each of my nipples. I don’t know what I loved more, the way it felt or what it was like to watch him. Unable to control my body, my head fell backwards and my eyes closed; soft moans escaping my throat as he continued to lick, kiss, and occasionally nip at my breasts and stomach. When I felt his lips against my inner thigh, I thought I would come out of my skin from the sheer pleasure of it. I gripped the blanket beneath me, clawing at it as I felt the feather-like touch of his tongue against me. I gasped and lifted my head to watch him, my whole body tensing. The view of his blonde head between my legs had me blushing from head to toe. He glanced up and then slowly crawled his way back up my body, my breathing becoming more like panting until his eyes were right above mine. He leaned down, brushing his lips against my cheek as he whispered,

“Don’t be shy.”

I could feel his devilish grin against my skin and it drove me crazy. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, wanting more of him right then and there.

I kissed him long and hard, pressing my hips against his hips, feeling his length pressing against me. As I arched against him, he let out a deep groan; I loved knowing that I could make him come unraveled. I repeated the move, shifting my hips in desperation as our kissing became even more heated until finally he tore away from me, searching all over until he spotted his jeans. After what felt like an eternity, Avery came back to me, condom in hand. He sat back between my legs, licking his lips and breathing heavily, hesitating slightly as he locked eyes with me. He didn’t want to ruin the moment with words, but he wanted to make sure it was all right.

I nodded softly. The next thing I felt was him pressing against me intimately, his beautiful eyes looking into mine, as he slowly slid inside of me. I cried out, feeling a little twinge of pain when he completely filled me. He stilled for a moment, moaning, the muscles in his neck and jaw flexing slightly. He moved again, easing out slowly and then thrusting into me. I bit my lip and groaned, still hurting a little, but not wanting it to stop. Avery kept easing in and out of me at a steady pace until I started to keep rhythm with him, whimpering every time I felt him leave my body.

Suddenly the thought of him leaving had crept back up exactly when I didn’t want it to. I shook my head furiously, and my hands, with a mind of their own, grasped onto his shoulders. Scratching my nails down his back, I frantically tried to get closer to him in the only way I could.

“Damn,” he moaned, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. That was all I needed to hear as my hips start meeting each of his thrusts.

I wanted more.

“Sit up,” I gasped. He stilled for a moment before hauling me up in his arms and into his lap. I wrapped my legs around him as tight as I could, grasping handfuls of his hair as my lips crashed recklessly into his. One of his hands gripped a handful of my hair, while the other grabbed onto me so hard I’m sure that I’d have a bruise, but it was exactly what I needed to feel. The desperation in his kiss, the roughness of his touch, all if it only matched what I wanted but couldn’t understand.

Our gasps and moans only increased with each grind and thrust of our hips. I could feel something building deep down inside of me as Avery started to kiss and bite at the spot on my neck by my shoulder. I held onto him as tightly as I could, but the feelings surging through me were almost too much for me as I began crying out, my body started to tremble in his arms. A feeling unlike any other rocked through me, leaving me feeling completely weak, and satiated. He held me tightly against him as I continued to gasp his name out against his ear.