Enjoying the Chase (13 page)

“Told you you could do it.”

She beamed proudly. “I actually really
enjoyed this. Thanks for making me try.”

“Glad you liked it, now you can come with
me another time,” I said, shrugging. I
’
d actually never had this much fun climbing before, which was pretty
weird considering it was one of my favourite things to do.

“Again with the overconfidence in your
skills?” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and I couldn
’
t help but laugh at her as I realised what I
’
d said. Obviously my little innuendos were
rubbing off on her.

I dipped my head, capturing her soft lips
in a kiss. I loved being here with her; it was like hanging out with one of the
guys, but better, because I could lust after her and flirt with her at the same
time.

“And now we go down,” I stated, wondering
if she
’
d pick up on my innuendo
too. She did. She chuckled and rolled her eyes in response. “Right then,
getting down is the easy part. Just lean back on your rope and let it take your
weight. After that, you just walk down the wall.” I leant back on my rope,
sitting in my harness.

Rosie frowned and me and shook her head. “I
’
m not doing that! I
’
ll just climb back down.” She readjusted her footing, frowning
uncertainly.

I raised one eyebrow. Climbing down was a
lot harder than going up.

“Muffin, seriously, it
’
s fine. Just lean back on your rope like this.” I waved my hand at
the rope that was holding me up. “Then just walk down the wall.” I shifted,
going down a few feet in a couple of movements. As I looked back up I could see
her perfect, peachy little ass in the harness and damn did it look hot.

Best. Date. Ever.

She groaned and shook her head. “I can
’
t do that, my rope might break.”

I tried not to laugh, laughter wouldn
’
t help this situation or help put her at ease.
“Your rope won
’
t break, I
promise.”

I walked down a few more steps and tried –
unsuccessfully – to keep my eyes off her butt. I was now about half way down,
but she still hadn
’
t moved. She
was just clinging to the top.

“Rose, seriously, come on just let the rope
take you down,” I called.

She was fidgeting on the wall trying to get
her foot on the next little plastic handle down from her. I smiled wickedly,
watching her for a few minutes. She
’
d barely moved two feet from the top.

“Would you like me to come back up and we
’
ll climb down together?” I called, as she just
stopped and looked like she was hugging the wall for dear life.

“Do you mind?”

I smiled and headed back up to her again.
As I stopped next to her, I set my hand on the small of her back, feeling her
tremble. “Everything
’
s fine. I
swear.”

“
I don’
t like this getting down part. Maybe we should just get right to the
top and sit up there, and then they could get a ladder?”

“They don
’
t have ladders, pumpkin.” I laughed and kissed her cheek lightly.
“Come on, we
’
ll abseil down
together. I
’
ll stay right here.” I
gently took her hand, easing her fingers off the plastic handhold.

She squealed. “Nate, what the hell are you
doing?” she cried with wide eyes, trying to pull her hand back so she could
clutch the wall.

I smiled reassuringly, holding on to her
hand tightly, guiding her arm around my neck so it rested across my shoulders.
“Trust me, please?” I begged, looking into her frightened eyes. Her lip
quivered, I could clearly see the indecision on her face, but she nodded at the
same time and her arm tightened on my neck. I grinned, shifting closer to her,
pressing my side against hers. She whimpered and adjusted her footing, using
her other hand to grip the wall so tightly that her knuckles went white.
“Alright, just sit back. You
’
ll
feel the rope tighten around your hips and pert little ass,” I instructed, as I
secured my arm around her waist tightly, clamping her to me.

“The flirting
’
s not helping right now,” she snapped breathlessly as her fingers
bit into my shoulder. When the rope took her weight, she seemed to relax. “I
think I
’
m okay.”

I smiled, keeping my arm securely around
her waist as we started walking slowly down the wall. The whole time we were
doing it, her eyes were firmly fixed on my face, and her hand was gripping my
shoulder so tightly that I was sure to have a bruise in the morning, but I didn
’t complain.

Because she wasn
’
t watching what was happening, she had no idea that we were
approaching the bottom. When I had one foot on the ground, I decided to play a
little trick on her. I flicked my eyes to her rope and gasped. “Shit, your rope
looks a little frayed!” I hissed.

She squealed and threw herself at me so
quickly that I barely even saw the movement, just felt her body crash into
mine. Her legs wrapped around my waist and her arms flew around my neck. I
burst out laughing, quickly gaining my balance as she buried her face into the
side of my neck and squeezed the life out of me.

“Oh God, Nate, get us down!” she
practically screamed against my neck.

I chuckled, sliding my hands down her back
to her ass.

“We are down,” I choked out around my
laughs. She didn
’
t move. Her hand
gripped the back of my T-shirt tightly. “
Rose, we
’
re down now, you can open your eyes.”

Slowly, she pulled away from my neck and
looked around. A little frown tugged at her forehead before her jaw tightened
and she pulled back. “You freaking asshole! That wasn
’
t funny. Damn it, that was just cruel!” she cried, but she was laughing
with relief at the same time. “Stop laughing, you jerk!”

As her legs unclamped from my waist, she
scowled at me angrily before turning to stomp off. What she hadn
’
t accounted for though was the fact that she
was still attached to the harness. Before she got more than four steps away,
the ropes tugged her to a stop.

I chuckled at her angry face. She looked
adorable when she was mad. Smiling, I walked over to her side, watching as she
tried to detach herself from the ropes so she could make the dramatic exit that
she was obviously going for last time.

“Here, let me help you,” I suggested,
pushing her hands away from the ropes gently and stepping in front of her more.
I gripped her hips and pulled her closer to me, pretending to be working on the
clips but in actual fact, just running my hand over her hips and stomach
lightly. I bent my head down to her level and looked into her eyes. “I
’
m sorry. That was mean and insensitive.
Forgive me?” I asked, giving her my puppy dog face.

She scowled at me and shook her head. “That
scared me.”

“I know, and I
’
m sorry,” I whispered, leaning forward further and kissing her cheek
gently as I traced my hand across her lower back. “
I won
’
t do that again.” I kissed across to her ear,
nipping her earlobe lightly. “Say you
’
ll forgive me, please?”

Her tight muscles seemed to relax
fractionally. She gasped quietly as I sucked on the little sensitive spot just
under her ear. I groaned at the taste of her. I
’
d never wanted any girl as much as I wanted her, she was literally
driving me wild.

“You
’
re not funny, you know,” she whispered, gripping my T-shirt as I
continued to trail little kisses down her neck.

“I know. I
’
m an ass,” I confirmed, smiling against her neck, thinking about her
throwing herself at me and screaming for me to get us down. Her body seemed to
fit mine perfectly, and having her wrapped around me entirely like that was
incredible. I pulled back and put my forehead to hers, looking into her eyes to
see if I was forgiven for my little stunt. A smile pulled at the corners of her
mouth, so I assumed I wasn
’
t in
the doghouse.

 “So, you want to go again?” I joked,
nodding back at the climbing wall.

“Oh yeah, I
so
want to do that
again!” she retorted sarcastically.

I smiled
wickedly
and pushed my hand into my pocket, seeking out my cell phone. If
this was the only time I was ever going to get her to come here, I needed
photographic evidence. As I slid it out of my pocket, I stepped back a couple
of steps, quickly finding the camera attachment and taking a photo of her pert
little behind in that harness.

She giggled and quickly turned away,
blushing. “And what do you think you
’re doing?
”
she questioned
, still
chuckling.

I shrugged unashamedly. “It
’
s for later, when I
’
m in bed thinking about you.”

She immediately tried to snatch the phone
from my hands. “That
’
s gross,
Nate, delete it!” She laughed as I held my phone out of reach, wrapping one arm
around her waist as she jumped trying to grab it from me.

“You
’
d rather me beat off while thinking about someone else?” I teased.

She squealed, and the blush deepened on her
cheeks. “You
’
re such a pervert!”

“Oh don
’
t pretend you aren
’
t
going to be thinking about me next time you get hot and lonely. Want to take a
picture of my ass?” I rebutted confidently. Girls had to take care of
themselves from time to time too, surely.

Rosie put her hands over her ears, shaking
her head. “You
’
re burning my
innocent ears!”

I smiled and slipped off my harness, throwing
it on the table before unbuckling hers and letting it drop to the floor as I
pulled her into my arms. “Aww, poor baby. Is the big bad player offending your
delicate disposition?” I teased, kissing the tip of her nose. Deciding that I
liked it way too much when she was in my arms, I gripped her hips and hoisted
her, throwing her over my shoulder gently.

She squealed, quickly wrapping her arms
around my waist as her face pressed into the small of my back. “Put me down!”

Without answering, I stalked towards the
exit, chuckling as she whined and protested and tried to wriggle free.

“Nate, put me down!” she laughed, pinching
my ass lightly.

“Oh, keep doing that, I like it,” I joked
making her laugh harder. I ignored the looks from the people in the building as
she laughed like a mad girl on crack. When we got out of the door, I pulled her
down into my arms, carrying her bridal style across the parking lot.

Her face was bright red. “That was so
embarrassing!” she hissed as she buried her face against my neck, still
giggling quietly.

“Oh, you loved it really.”

When we reached the car, I set her
carefully down onto her feet. As she stood, I noticed that her jeans had ridden
down slightly where she
’
d been
jostled around. Peeking above the top of her jeans, I could see the top of a
pair of pink and white stripy panties.

My breath caught. I would actually kill
someone with my bare hands to see her in just those stripy panties. I chuckled
wickedly as I thought of the perfect nickname for her.

Setting my hands on her hips, I pulled her
closer to me, fingering the thin waistband of her underwear. “Like the panties.
I think I
’
m going to call you
stripes from now on,” I teased, waggling my eyebrows at her.

Rosie immediately gasped and her hands shot
down to her jeans, yanking them up roughly as she pressed her face into my
chest, trying to hide. “No! Oh my God, that
’
s embarrassing. Nate, don
’
t!” she cried, shaking her head and wrapping her arms around my
waist tightly.

I smiled and kissed the top of her head.
“Okay, Stripes, whatever you want.”

Lunch was in the form of takeout pizza,
which we ate at her place. By the time we got back to her apartment with it, it
was almost two in the afternoon. As we ate, we talked easily, then after, we
made out on the couch for a bit. As I lay in a tangled mess with her on her
uncomfortable couch, I decided that it was probably time for me to leave. I was
getting so worked up by kissing her that I was pretty close to dropping to my
knees and begging her for sex – and I didn’t want to ruin the good thing we had
going on by pushing her too far, too fast.