Chance of a Lifetime (Anderson Brothers) (13 page)

She leaned her hip against the counter as he turned the water back on and then brushed his teeth. It struck her as odd how comfortable she felt with this little domestic tooth-brushing moment—something completely foreign, but so natural with him. “You’re different from your brothers.”

“We’re all different in our own ways. I’m far more private. Probably because of what happened at the harbor. It’s easiest to keep your head down when people are looking for the worst in you. My brothers have always been good with attention—not me.”

“Doesn’t it bother you to always stand in their shadows?” Like she had stood in Walter’s her entire life.

“I don’t feel overshadowed. They’d be the first ones to shine the spotlight on me if I’d let them, but I don’t need all that. I’ve never wanted to be the powerful businessman. I don’t want to be the war hero. I don’t want any of that.”

She felt like they were hovering on the edge. Skirting something big. After a few moments he turned off the water, and she broke the silence. “So, if you don’t want any of that, what do you want?”

There was enough of a pause before he spoke to make her squirm, repositioning against the tile countertop.

“You.”

And with that one word, her heart expanded to the point it felt too big for her chest. She was living a dream she didn’t want to end. Even in her vivid imagination, she hadn’t created a scenario this amazing. This perfection would be marred by their return to real life and Walter. So she vowed to continue to make the most of it now.

Heat radiated from where he stood right in front of her. And her body hummed with need. She wanted him.

Now.

Right at that moment, before the world or Walter had a chance to take him away from her again.

She placed her hands on his ribs, then slid them around to his spine, loving the way his muscles tightened under her fingers.

“Gen, we need to talk,” he said, not doing anything to stop her exploration.

“Then talk.” She ran her hands up his bare torso and fanned them out over his chest. Nothing was going to get in her way of living this moment to the fullest. She loved him. No more holding back.
Number ten, here I come.

“We need to talk about how to handle Walter.”

Her hands stilled on his chest. “Walter needs to fuck off.”

“Agreed, but we—” He cut off as she leaned forward and ran her tongue up his sternum. “Uh, we…” She circled his nipple with her tongue. “Gen. Seriously.”

“I’m listening.” But she wasn’t. She was running her hands all over his body, memorizing him. Loving his scent and freshly showered taste.

“I can’t think while you touch me.”

“Then stop thinking.”

He took her wrists in his hands. “We have to talk.”

“We will. Just not now. We’re alone. Please, let’s enjoy it. Walter’s done enough damage, hasn’t he?”

“We need to talk before we take this any further.”

“What? Why?” It blew her mind he was hesitating. Never had she wanted anything like she wanted Chance Anderson. Her whole life had led to this one amazing moment, and for once, she was determined to take her life into her own hands. “Number ten, Chance. We’ve almost completed the bucket list. We can’t take care of dancing in the rain because there hasn’t been any, but we can take care of number ten right here and now.”

She twisted her wrists with no results.

“This is about so much more than a single-minded pursuit of knocking off bucket list items, Gen.”

She stilled, surprised by the intensity of his voice and his firm hold on her wrists. Of course it was. It was about finally consummating a love they’d both suppressed for way too long. “I know. It’s about us.”

“Yes, it is. And it’s also about Walter.”

She tried to yank her arms away, but his grip was too firm. “Like I said earlier, Walter can fuck off. I’m tired of him being in my business all the time and treating me like I’m helpless.”

“And what are you going to do about that?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll figure something out.”

His grip relaxed. “Your family doesn’t like me. They might never approve of us.”

“I don’t care.” She pulled her hands free with no resistance.

“You say that now, but you’re not thinking clearly. Neither of us is.” He brushed her cheek and she pulled away from his touch. “We should wait until we are.”

She couldn’t believe it. He was going to pull the plug. Hand on bathroom counter for support, she took several steps away. “Are you serious? We’ve had our hands and mouths all over each other’s bodies and you’re saying we should wait? For what? For Walter’s permission?”

“Yes. We should probably—”

Furious, she cut him off. “Fuck Walter! No… No, better than that, let’s go from figurative to literal. Fuck
me
. Yeah. That’s exactly what you should do because you want to and I want you to. Fuck me, Chance.” Useless tears from equally useless eyes traversed her cheeks, and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. “Knock number ten off that list like I’ve dreamed about for a decade now.”

“This is not simply a means to an end—another task to mark off. This is…it’s…” His voice trailed off, and she reached forward, only finding empty space. He must have backed up as well.

She dropped her hand to her side. “When I wrote that list, I had no one else in mind but you. I still don’t. I want you more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my entire life, and I know you feel the same way.”

“The timing’s not right.”

“I know what this is,” she said, taking a step closer. “You’re only freaked out because you’ll be my first. If that weren’t the case, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

His silence confirmed she was right. She grabbed the handles of the bag on the counter, planning to go…she didn’t know where. She had no clue as to the layout of the house. She slammed the bag down, defeated by her own deficiency.

Why?
Why did she have to be like this? Why couldn’t she have been sighted like everyone else? Being blind didn’t make her special like Chance had told her. It made her off-limits. And she hated it. But most of all, she hated Walter, who had not only deprived her of Chance for ten years, he’d deprived her of this moment as well, his invisible presence looming over them like a specter.

She reached in the bag to pull out her cane and was stopped by a gentle hand over hers. She stilled, feeling like the pet rabbit she used to have whose heart beat a million times a minute when she held it.

“Gen.” His voice was calming, and she loosened her grip on the folded cane. “Genny.” He placed his hands on either side of her face. “I’m not holding back because I’d be your first.” His lips brushed hers, and she took a deep, shuddering breath. He smoothed her bangs out of her face. “I’m holding back because I want to be your last.”

Chapter Nineteen

G
en knew Chance was sincere, but he was wrong about waiting, and she intended to prove it. She barely listened as he described the room for her. “It’s a small one-room cottage with a kitchen at three o’clock, living area straight ahead, and bed at nine o’clock.” Well, the word “bed” caught her attention, anyway.

“The room is about twenty by twenty feet,” he continued. “The bathroom is at noon from here, straight at the back. There’s a two-person sofa dead center of the clock.” After some rustling, she heard her cane snap as he assembled it.

“I could have done that.”

“Of course you could have. It was a courtesy, like opening the door for you.”

Like telling my brother before we have sex.
She took the cane from him. “Thanks.”

“Gen, don’t think for one minute I’m not aware of your capabilities. You amaze me. You navigate the city—hell, you navigate the Times Square area, the worst possible part of the city to walk though imaginable, in my opinion—with less trouble than sighted people.”

“I have a ton of help from my phone apps and assistive technology.”

“You could do it without that.”

He was right. She could. If only Walter could see that. Tapping across the tile floor, she found the sofa easily behind a low coffee table she knew was made of a dense wood from the sound of her cane against it.

She sat, aware her robe had fallen open because of the cool air over her skin. A halt in his footsteps toward her indicated Chance was aware her robe had gapped open as well. Maybe his resolve wasn’t as strong as her desire.

Time to test that
.

She slid her hands inside the robe and pulled it open fully, running her hands down her thighs.

“Gen…” His tone was full of warning, but she disregarded it, trailing her fingers back up her body in what she hoped would be a huge resolve-killer, pausing to circle her nipples.

“It’s not going to work,” he said, but the way his voice trailed off indicated otherwise.

“Don’t tell me that. This works for me every time, Anderson.” She continued the slow circles over her breasts, wishing it were his hands and not her own.

There were sounds of his bare feet on the tile and a frustrated huff. Then more footsteps, as he most likely paced the far side of the room. “Gen, I…”

“Shhhhh. Concentrating here.”

“Jesus.”

“You could always help me out, you know.”

The footsteps resumed, and so did her display as she trailed her hands down her body and rested her head against the back of the sofa, eyes closed.

A growl issued from deep in his throat, and the pacing stopped.

“Mmmm,” she said, not really feeling it now that she knew what it was like to have his hands where hers were.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck me,” he muttered.

“Okay.”

“Stop it, Gen.”

“No. You stop. We’re grown-ass people. I shouldn’t have to answer to my brother, and neither should you.”

“Shouldn’t…”

She slipped the robe off her shoulders and grabbed her cane. “Won’t. Not anymore.” She was unfamiliar with the room, but as attuned to him as she was to herself. Easily, she navigated the distance between them, cane lightly brushing his foot long after she had located him based on his scent and sounds alone. She let the handle of her cane go and it tipped to the floor with a sharp metallic
clang
. “Oops. I guess you’ll have to lead me to the bed now.”

He stood very still, but she could hear the tension in his breathing as his mind battled with his heart and body.

She was counting on his body winning the battle. “I know you want me. And I’ve wanted you since I understood what part went where.”

Still he said nothing.

“Would you like me to show you where things go?”

He sucked in a breath through his nose. Close. She knew he was just about to cave.

“This.” She reached out and ran her hand down his body to his impressive erection, running one finger up to the tip. “Goes…” She took the same finger and slipped it into her folds. “Here.”

He made the sound between a moan and a pained whine. Then, he guided her finger into his mouth and it was her turn to moan as he circled her sensitive skin with his tongue. “Too much,” he said. “You’re too, too much.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Bad in the best way possible.” He picked her up, and her heart raced as she realized he was headed straight for nine o’clock—the bed.

C
hance couldn’t hold out any longer. He wanted her, she wanted him. Game over.

When she touched herself, the remaining shred of self-control exited his brain, right along with his reasoning as to why he was holding out in the first place.

He loved this woman. He always had.

After placing her on the bed, he stretched out beside her. In the moonlight, her luscious body appeared lit from within, and he grew even harder. “So, show me where things go again? I forgot.”

She grinned and rolled toward him, reaching for his face, then tracing his dimples. “Well, first things first. Every girl knows to take precautions when engaging in this kind of activity.”

“Sage advice.” He trailed his hand up her side, and she squirmed. “Did you get that from one of the movies your friend narrates?”

“No. High school sex ed class.”

“What kind of grades did you make in that class?” He reached into his bag by the side of the bed and then placed a packet in her palm, grateful his brother had slipped him supplies before they left his house, despite Chance’s protest that he’d never break his promise.

“Straight As, of course.”

“Of course.” He ran his hand up her body, between her breasts, and lazily traced her lips with his fingers.

“What kind of grades did
you
make in that class?” she asked, nipping the end of his finger.

He drew his hand away and grinned at her feistiness. “I do much better in practical labs than the classroom setting.”

“Show me.”

He’d like to show her all right. Press her down into that mattress and let his body go, but this was not the time. She needed to lead and take it at her pace. “No. You said you’d show
me,
remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” Her breath hitched a bit, and he was sure she was experiencing a small case of nerves. “About that…”

“Gen. I dare you to kiss me,” he said, rolling her on top of him, positioning her legs to straddle his hips. “I dare you to kiss me like you’ve kissed me in your dreams. Pretend this is one of your movies and just do whatever feels right, because if it’s good for you, believe me, it’ll be great for me.”

She smiled as her lips met his. The kiss was tentative at first, then more demanding as he ran his hands over her back. Soon, she’d lost herself in the kiss and her body naturally ground down against him, and he moaned. She pulled away and sat up, testing the feel of her body sliding against his, and she let her head drop back. He placed his hands on her hips and helped her set a rhythm.

As she slid back and forth along his cock, he imagined what it would be like to finally be inside her. Slick, hot… Genny.

“I need…”

She continued sliding over him as he cupped her breasts. “What do you need?”

“More.”

He put his thumb between them and massaged her, and she quickened her pace.

Nothing was hotter than watching her grind against him reaching for a climax. “I dare you to come,” he said. “Come hard, Gen, and then we’ll take care of number ten on your list.”

He bit his lip and fought back his own orgasm as she continued to pleasure herself on his body. Concentration lining her face, nipples hard as her breasts bounced with each grind. “Chance, I…”

“I’m here,” he said. “Let go, Gen.”

If she didn’t come soon, number ten would have to wait a while. He’d go off and put them back at square one. She felt so right, though, sliding forward and back on top of him. Open and uninhibited. The perfect lover. His perfect love.

“Yes, Chance, I’m… Yes.”

“I’m right here. Show me.” Still circling her with his thumb, her tempo quickened and she gasped, then her legs tightened and she ground down harder. Finally, she called his name and he barely held on by a thread as her climax rocketed through her, leaving her limp and panting, draped over his body.

O
nce her head cleared, Gen sat up and reached for Chance’s face. “You’re frowning,” she said, tracing the downward-turned lips.

“I’m concentrating.”

“On?”

“Not ejaculating.”

Oh…
He was still impossibly hard beneath her, and a twinge of excitement zapped between her legs as she focused on his heat and shifted her weight.

“Don’t move yet.” He placed his hands on her thighs, and when she flattened her palms on his chest, his heart was beating hard and fast. “Please.”

Weaving his finger through her hair, he pulled her down for a kiss. He tasted of toothpaste. She loved the way he kissed. Deep and focused, like he couldn’t get enough of her. And then he wrapped an arm around her waist and rolled her underneath him. Her legs fell to the sides, and she looped her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his hair.

“Now you’re ready,” he said. “And so am I.”

Finally. Number ten.
She ran her fingers up and down his spine, nails gently scraping, and his body bucked, causing a wet flush between her legs.

He kissed her neck and moved across to her shoulder, then down to her breast, where he swirled his tongue over her nipple, causing her to arch up against him. Then he moved to the other breast.

She moaned as he slid his fingers through her folds, then deep inside her. With an approving sound in the back of his throat, he withdrew his fingers. “So ready,” he said, reaching for the packet still clutched tightly in her fist. He tore it open while she followed his actions with her fingers. Then he sat back on his heels between her thighs, as she traced his movements while he rolled on the condom.

Almost breathless, she waited. For years she’d waited, and now it was happening. And not just happening—it was happening with Chance.

He stretched over her, his warm, hard body covering hers, and she relaxed. He kissed her forehead, then her mouth, then her neck, and chills radiated from his lips down to her toes.

He propped himself up on his elbows, and his erection nudged right at her opening, hot and insistent.

“What do you see?” she asked.

“Only you.” His voice was shaky, like he was overcome with emotion. “
Aren’t you going to ask me if I’ve done this before?”

She smiled, thinking back on how many times she’d asked him that question in their lives. “We both know you have.”

He applied more pressure against her entrance, barely nudging inside, and she squirmed at the stretching sensation. “But I haven’t. Not like this.” And farther still. “I’ve had sex, but I’ve never made love before.” She relaxed the muscles that had tightened instinctively, and he gained another inch or so, pausing while her body adjusted to the intrusion. “You’re my first. My first love. My only love.”

The entire moment seemed surreal. She’d been in love with him her whole life, and now he was hers. It was more than their bodies joining. It was the past and present, and if she was very lucky, it was their future. “Chance…”

And then he thrust inside the rest of the way, leaving her breathless and him trembling. “Holy… Ah, Gen. So good.” He placed his forehead against hers and pulled out almost all the way, leaving her feeling empty. He hovered over her, and she reached up to feel his face. Eyes closed, his mouth was drawn in a tight line as if concentrating. Then he slid back inside, and it was unlike anything she’d ever felt. Hard and hot, he stretched her and filled her until she had to move her hands to his back so she could get more of him. Putting her feet flat on the mattress, she pushed up to meet him, and he groaned, then pulled out again. She knew him well enough to know that’s what was going on in his mind. He was going slow because he didn’t want to hurt her, but it wasn’t what either of them needed.

“More,” she said, voice breathy and deep. “Stop holding back. I need more.”

“God, Gen.” He thrust again, harder this time, staying deep inside until she felt that familiar tightening in her body. “So good. You feel so good.” And then he began thrusting for real, in and out, while she held on to his back. She moved her hands to his powerful backside, loving the feel of his muscles flexing as he worked.

Again and again he plunged, and she arched up to meet him, friction in just the right place with each stroke to bring her closer and closer to the edge again. Her body gripped his deep inside and he groaned, his chest rubbing over hers, sliding over her nipples and driving her wild as she lost track of where she ended and he began.

“Chance, I’m…”

“Gen. Genny.
Genny.”

And with a groan, he thrust hard, body shaking, taking her right along with him, her back arching to get even more of him.

But she’d never get enough of him. As her body spasmed around his, it illustrated what she’d known for the last decade. They belonged together. They were a perfect fit in all ways, and no one, not even Walter, could keep them apart now.