The Thrill of the Chase (4 page)

Twenty minutes later, they were pulling into a garage in a newer, upscale neighborhood. Ashley hadn
'
t been to his house before, but he had told her about it, and she knew that
'
s where they were now.

Her brain was scrambled as he led her inside. Her eyes were focused on him, and she didn
'
t register the rooms he led her through until he carefully sat on a large couch and pulled her down beside him.

Ryan had had the shittiest week of his life, and he didn
'
t intend on letting the black feelings continue. He wanted Ashley, and he planned on having her.
Hopefully
tonight.
But she damn sure wasn
'
t going to slip through his fingers again. It wasn
'
t happening.

His body was spread out in the corner of the couch, and he pulled her to him, on her knees between his spread thighs.

Her hands fell against his chest from the force of the movement and lust hit him hard when her crotch landed against his stomach. She quickly pulled her torso away from his.

He held her hips in a firm grip as he tried to slow down the need rampaging through his system. He told her they would talk. It might be a good way to start letting her know she could trust his word.
"
Here we are, babe.
"

"
Y-yes.
"
She was leaning back from him, not letting her torso touch his. It was killing him.

Ryan ran a hand up the curve of her body and slid his hand through her hair and clenched her scalp. He held her tightly so she couldn
'
t get away again.
"
What do I have to do?
"
he whispered.

Ashley felt the whispered words and knew, without a doubt, she would give in to him tonight. It was time. She couldn
'
t fight it anymore. But her fear was still strong.

"
I don
'
t want to be like that girl. The blonde in the restaurant. The one who
--"

"
No, babe. That was a completely different scenario. You
'
re nothing like her.
"
He paused and took a deep breath to begin to try to make her understand.

Ashley interrupted his thought process.
"
I don
'
t want to know about her. You don
'
t have to explain. I just don
'
t want to
be her
.
"

"
You could never be her. I care about you, Ash.
"
His thumb speared across her bottom lip and arrows of delight danced down her spine.

"
I know y-you want to sleep with me.
"
Her eyes searched his and then lowered as heat spread across her face.
"
And I want that, too. But I need something more.
"

"
What? What do you need? Tell me.
"

"
I need a commitment.
"

Ryan didn
'
t know what shocked him more. The fact she said it or the fact that fierce pleasure and intense relief hit him at her words.
"
A commitment? Like I
'
m yours and you
'
re mine kind of commitment?
"

"
Yes.
"

"
You sure, babe? Cause I got to tell you,
I
can do that easy.
There
'
s nobody but you
. I got no problem doing commitment.
"
A jolt hit Ryan in the gut as he realized his motives had turned a one-eighty from five weeks before. He was twenty-six years old, had never wanted a steady girlfriend and certainly not a long-term commitment. But the past weeks had changed him, and the last seven days especially. He had gone through seven days of agony that he never wanted to repeat in his whole life.
Never again
.

So did commitment scare him? Hell, no.
He
wanted to bind
her
to him with a commitment. He didn
'
t want the searing pain and anger of thinking about her with another guy.
That was fucking
unacceptable.
He took a deep breath. He needed to calm down and not scare her off with too much intensity.

Luckily for him, she had brought it up, and he just needed to agree before she slipped away from him again. He didn
'
t want to go through that shit again. Ever. But he liked to think of himself as a decent guy and he needed to be honest with her now.

He held her cheek in the palm of his hand.
"
Can
you
do commitment, babe? I was ready to kill that guy tonight. You think if you start sleeping with me that
'
s gonna calm me down? Cause I promise you, it won
'
t.
"

"
What
--
what do you mean?
"

"
Exactly what I just said. You tell me you
'
re mine, you agree to a commitment, start sleeping with me, and that
'
s it for you. No more running around loose in Houston with your girlfriends. Got that?
"
His hand gripped her jaw.
"
No more clubbing without me. No more contact with other guys,
period
.
"

Ashley listened to his demands, fascinated with the raw emotion she saw in his eyes. A hot feeling of need slid through her. He was jealous. He was possessive. She should hate it.
She didn
'
t
. She secretly liked it. He wasn
'
t overt about it, but she
'
d caught him glaring at other guys if they looked at her.

His demands didn
'
t worry her. She didn
'
t need to go clubbing without him. She wouldn
'
t want him to go without her either and told him so.

"
I won
'
t go clubbing without you, but you won
'
t go without me, right?
"

"
Right, babe.
"
His hand speared through her hair and slid through her scalp.

"
But we can still go dancing sometimes, right? You
'
ll take me?
"

"
Yeah, babe. Whatever you want.
"
His mouth slid to her jaw, then to her ear. He sucked her lobe into his mouth and grazed his teeth over her as she shivered in his arms. He released it and tilted her head to his and waited for her eyes to slowly open.
"
That
'
s it then? Negotiations over? You agree? You
'
re officially mine now, no more dancing around the issue, no more bullshit between us.
"

Pleasure cut through Ashley. She wasn
'
t going to let fear stand in the way of her happiness.
And Ryan made her happy.
"
Yes.
"

He released a pent up breath. Her agreement both calmed and inflamed him.

"
How much have you had to drink tonight?
"

The change of subject threw Ashley for a loop.
"
Um, like half a glass of wine. Why?
"

Ryan stood to his feet, lifted her into his arms and walked into the master bedroom. He paused by the king-sized bed and dropped her to the floor. His hands lifted to the top button of her shirt and slipped it undone.

He finally answered.
"
It needs to be you and me in that bed. No alcohol between us. No false feelings. Just your sweetness. Just your naked body.
"
His fingers slid to the next button and his voice dropped.
"
All I want is you, Ash. You know that, babe?
"

Ashley heard the sincerity in Ryan
'
s voice and was amazed to feel his hands shaking. She was beginning to believe him.
"
Y-yes.
"

"
You ready now, babe? I don
'
t want to rush you.
"

That brought a small smile to her face.
"
Really? You don
'
t want to rush me?
"

"
Ouch. Felt that one, babe.
"

Her fingers ran down his face as her eyes tangled with his and electricity flowed in heavy currents between them.
"
I
'
m ready,
"
she whispered.

"
Thank God.
"

His mouth dropped to her forehead and nuzzled her there while he slipped her shirt open and pushed it off her shoulders. Sitting on the side of the bed, he put his hands on her hips and brought her between his open legs.

She stood between his steely thighs, her hands trembling on his shoulders. He ran his fingers down the valley of her breasts, over the pink lace cups of her bra and back again.
"
Jesus
, you
'
re gorgeous. I knew you would be.
"
His words weren
'
t a curse, they were a whispered, reverent prayer.

He took his time, moving his hands from the indent at her waist, down to her hips and around to clasp her butt in his large palms. He squeezed firmly, his fingers sinking into her soft flesh.

She quivered in his arms as sharp arousal pierced her entire body, top to bottom. Her mouth fell to his and they kissed in a heated rush of lips and tongue. Ashley felt the need in him, flowing from his body into hers, and the intensity was mind-blowing. Her tongue swirled with his. His hands were all over her and he began jerking at the zipper on her skirt, his movements for once slipping from slow seduction to fierce, sexual need.

Their mouths broke apart.
"
Step out of it.
"
As he said it, his hands were pushing her skirt down her legs.

She balanced her hands on his shoulders and lifted her legs one at a time, stepping out of her skirt, until it lay with her shirt, pooled at her feet.

She stood between his legs in her bra and thong, her legs trembling on her high heels. She held onto him for support, her breath coming in heated gasps, burning her lungs. His hands clenched at her hips and her panties flooded with wetness. She was excited and agitated in equal amounts.

"
Holy shit.
"
His eyes ran up and down her body, taking her in for the first time.

Ryan felt sucker-punched. He had known she was going to look good. That was a given. But the beauty of her body hit him in the gut. She was slender, so slender, her navel was a gorgeous swipe across her stomach, her skin pale. Her breasts were small, but plump and perfectly shaped complementing the slightness of her body.

And she was a quivering mass of hot, sexual need in his arms and she was about to combust.

For him
.

He knew a moment of fierce, blinding possession as he wrapped his arms all the way around her and his embrace encompassed her completely. The movement pushed her hands from his shoulders and they slid to wrap around his neck. Her chest pressed tightly against his. His lips went to her ear, his nostrils in her hair and her scent had his already hard cock stiffening to painful attention. He tried to get a grip on his emotions. He didn
'
t want to scare her but his mouth opened anyway.
"
Don
'
t tell me again that you don
'
t belong to me. Not after tonight. This is it. You
'
re mine. Don
'
t deny it again.
"

The fierce, territorial demand should have frightened her.
It didn
'
t
. Blinding joy rushed through her, and she felt safe in his arms. Safe to give her body to him. It was a feeling she needed, and she finally felt it for the first time in the weeks she
'
d known him. In the weeks he
'
d tried to get her in his bed.