Seducing Chase (10 page)

Maybe in the cold light of day she’d feel differently and her fears would resurface, but right now all she could think about was wrapping herself around Nate like a cat. He trapped her between him and the wall, his strong arms surrounding her. After giving her a hungry once-over, he pressed his rock-hard body into hers, and even through their clothing she could feel his erection pressing into her belly. He groaned as if he was in pain.

“Nate–”

“Do it or don’t do it,” he growled. “But I have to know one way or the other, because this is killing me. I look at you and I want you so badly my entire body seizes. I can’t take it anymore, Val. Do you want this? Do you want me?”

“Yes.” It was all she got out before he pressed in even more, covering her in his heat. Taking her ear lobe into his mouth, he sucked hard and her back arched in response.

“Let’s get out of here. It’s late enough. Doug will be fine.” Val chewed her lip, considering. “Stop that,” Nate ordered, pointing. “Or I’ll give you something better to do with that luscious mouth.”

Val gasped and Nate’s own mouth twisted into a carnal smile. She heard a noise down the hall and looked around him. “We can’t get carried away again in a public place.”

“Then let’s go.” Shooing her back toward the ballroom, he said, “Get your purse and wrap. I’ll go tell Doug we’re leaving and meet you out front.”

Val rushed back into the room, grateful their table was empty save for one of the older administrators, who sat watching the dancing. She was able to grab her stuff and get out of the ballroom before anyone saw her. This was one of the most irresponsible things she’d ever done in her career, and yet she couldn’t find the will to feel guilty about it.

She swept outside and Nate pushed her into his car. Running around to the driver’s seat, he slid in and punched the accelerator. Reaching for the dashboard in front of her, she cried, “Nate, this is a parking lot. You’re going to kill somebody!”

He slowed down marginally as he pulled onto the road. “My place is closer.” Val didn’t argue and they made it back to his hotel in record time. He valeted the car again and tugged her inside. As soon as the elevator doors closed behind them Nate pushed her against the wall. “No more hiding, Val. I’m going to see all of you tonight, and you’re going to see all of me.”

Val moaned and he covered the sound, sucking her tongue into his mouth. His hands slid along her sides until they cupped her breasts. She pushed the mounds further into his hands and he let out an agonizing groan. “This thing needs to go faster.” She couldn’t help but giggle, but the sound died in her throat after he grabbed her hand and pressed it to his crotch. “Does this feel like I’m kidding?”

Mercifully, the elevator dinged shortly thereafter. Nate fumbled with his key card a few times before wrenching the door open as soon as the light turned green. He reached for her and they stumbled together toward the bed then fell onto it, him on top of her. “You need to get out of this jacket,” she told him as she slipped the fabric down his arms. He took it the rest of the way and threw it in the general direction of the chair next to the bed. “That’s a rented tux, isn’t it? You should be more careful.”

“Screw the tux. I’ll pay them for it. Right now the only thing I care about is touching you.” He stood. “I want you naked.” She rolled over and he slid the zipper at her back down, pressing open-mouthed kisses to her skin as it was revealed. When he was done she sat up and the bodice of the dress fell to her waist. “Perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

Val looked down at herself. “Not hardly.”

“You’re perfect,” he insisted, kneeling in front of her to shimmy the dress the rest of the way off. Standing again, he quickly shucked his shirt and tie and reached for the placket of his tuxedo pants.

“Let me.”

He put his hands at his sides and let her ease the zipper down, though it was apparent what giving up control was costing him, as his breath quickened with each touch of her fingers on him. She helped him step out of his pants, and he sat long enough to remove his socks before crawling back up the bed to lean over her. “You’re still wearing too much clothing.” She was clad only in a skimpy thong, but he made short work of it and then took her breast into his mouth. “You taste so good. Like strawberries.”

Val laughed. “That’s my body wash.”

“Mmmm, edible. Don’t ever change it.” Switching to the other breast, he palmed the one he’d abandoned and rolled the nipple between his fingers. Throwing her head back, she moaned.

Her fingers crept into the coarse hair covering his chest and made their way to the flat disks of his nipples.

Turnabout is fair play.

Raking her fingernails over them, she watched as his arms locked. He sucked on her nipple even harder and she repeated the motion. His hardness swelled against her thigh.

“You’re killing me.” Scooting down, he parted her thighs and touched the tip of his tongue to her. “Mmmm, like candy.”

He took a hold of her thighs and licked her slowly. She shuddered in his grip. “Now, Nate, please.”

“Patience.”

“No. I need you.”

He looked up at her. “And you’ll have me. You’ll have everything; just give me a minute to play.”

Val groaned and dropped her head back on the bed. It wasn’t exactly a hardship to let him keep going, but she feared losing her mind if he didn’t get moving soon. After a few more excruciating minutes, he leaned down and grabbed his wallet out of the tuxedo pants. Extracting a condom, he quickly rolled it on and loomed over her.

“Please, Nate.”

Leaning down, he gave her a long, deep kiss as he slowly slid inside. Her body struggled to accommodate him, but when he tried to withdraw she dug her heels into the small of his back. “I’m hurting you,” he protested.

“Stay with me.”

“I don’t know how slow I can go, not this first time.” His voice was raspy and strained and Val could see how much of a fight keeping a tight lid on his need to move was.

“I’m not a china doll. I won’t break.”

“Oh, babe, don’t tell me that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I want to be gentle with you. I should be gentle with you.”

“Shhhh…” she soothed. “If it hurts or feels off I’ll tell you. All right?” Nate nodded, the lines of his face seemingly etched in stone. “Good, then give me what I want. Give me you.”

Nate hadn’t moved inside her the entire time they’d been talking, but now he withdrew most of the way and pushed back in, closing his eyes as he pulled back again. “Feels so good…” Bracketing her head with his forearms, he buried his face in her neck and thrust again. “I can’t hold on.”

“Then don’t. Let go.”

A feral sound ripped from Nate’s chest as he gave her several more short, hard thrusts. Val’s muscles closed around him. Oh God, she was getting close. Nate reached between them to stroke her clit and her breath hitched as the pleasure ratcheted up. “Now, Val,” he rumbled as he grew larger inside her. Her release hit like an invisible force, pulling her into an abyss of pure sensation. She clung to him as he gave one final push and his own release hit, hitching his breath and forcing a ragged groan from him.

He collapsed on top of her temporarily and then rolled off, taking care of the condom before gathering her into his arms. Kissing Val lightly on the lips, he whispered, “You’re an amazing woman.” She was asleep before it even registered she was still in Nate’s hotel room.

Nate woke on Sunday with a huge grin plastered on his face. Then, rolling over, his smile morphed quickly into a grimace. The bed next to him was cold. Jerking to a sitting position, he looked around the room and then swore viciously. She was gone. Reaching for the cell phone he’d tossed on the nightstand, he quickly checked for messages. Seeing nothing, he rose and headed for the showers. If she thought she could just sleep with him and leave like a thief under the cover of darkness she had another think coming.

Within twenty minutes he was on his way to his car. Driving to her house, Nate tried to decide what he would say when he got there. He wanted to believe there was a good explanation for why she’d left without even waking him. The worst thing was how cheap and yet guilty he felt. Normally when he slept with a woman both of them knew what the score was, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d somehow hurt Val. Shaking his head, he punched the accelerator and the Porsche roared to match his mood.

Upon reaching her house, Nate pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. Taking a quick moment to breathe, he nonetheless didn’t wait too long, giving Val time to either hide or concoct excuses. Stepping out of the car, he slammed the door and stalked up the walk, punching the doorbell before standing back. When she didn’t answer, he pounded on the door. “Val! I know you’re in there! Open up!” When there was no answer he pounded again. “Val! Talk to me!” She still didn’t open up, and he slapped both hands on the door before turning away. “She can’t avoid me forever,” he mumbled, walking back to his car and climbing in.

Nate felt like a stalker as he spent the remainder of the day catching up on his own work and leaving Val messages. The feeling was completely foreign to him. Usually the ladies pursued him, not the other way around. Obviously they’d see each other tomorrow, but it pissed him off how she was totally shutting him out. Nate now knew what those women who had wanted more had felt when he’d moved on. Worse, Nate was second-guessing everything about the evening. What had he and Val done that was so bad she had him on radio silence? He doubted she really wanted to have a conversation about their night at work, but it was obvious she wasn’t thinking clearly.

At nine that night his cell phone rang and he picked it up, glancing at the caller ID. “So you decided to speak to me? Should I feel honored?” He’d built up a head of steam waiting all damn day for her to give him the time of day and he wasn’t about to let her off the hook easily, much as he knew coming on too strong would only drive her away.

“I know I should’ve called earlier. I’m sorry.”

“Why did you walk out on me?” He heard Val’s breath catch a little.

“I just…I needed time.”

Nate grabbed his hair in his free hand. This woman was driving him to distraction. “Time for what?”

“Time to figure out what I want, why I did what I did–”

“Why you slept with me?” Nate was starting to wonder if the top of his head was going to pop off just to release the steam. No woman had ever gotten to him like this.

He could picture her biting her lip as she debated how to respond. “Yes.”

“Are you ashamed of what we did? If you are, I don’t get why. We’re both adults.”

“I realize that, Nate, but I don’t just fall into bed with every man I find attractive.”

Well, at least there’s that.
Not that he’d expected Val to be a virgin, but the thought of her with someone else… He blew out a breath. “I don’t need to know about any other guys.”

“There haven’t been many,” she insisted. “I’m not a one-night-stand kinda girl. You have to understand–”

“Understand what? That you’re freaking out over something that isn’t that big a deal?”

Pot and kettle, dude…

“It
is
a big deal to me, Nate. I don’t have sex lightly. When I sleep with a man, it means something to me.”

“So what did it mean that you slept with me?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure, and that’s why I’m so confused. I think it would be best if we forget this ever happened.”

Nate couldn’t keep the incredulous note out of his voice. “Forget it happened? Are you serious with this?”

“Yes. We’ll just go back to being co-workers.”

“Honey, we haven’t been
just co-workers
since I kissed you after we had dinner that first night, and we’re certainly not ‘just co-workers’ now.”

“Please. This isn’t easy for me.”

“What’s not easy for you? Blowing me off? Doesn’t seem all that difficult to me.”

“Just respect my wishes. Treat me no different than everybody else. It’s better this way.”

“Like hell.”

“See you tomorrow.” Before Nate could get in another word, she’d hung up.

Picking up the television remote, he threw it against the wall, where it splintered and fell into several pieces on the floor. He sighed. Nate had never felt so out of control. His life was orderly and, for the most part, happened as he wished it to. Scrubbing his hands down his face, he dropped onto the bed. Divine intervention might be the only way he could leave Val alone. Now that he’d tasted her, he was like an addict—he wanted more and more.

Nate wasn’t taking any chances. Rising early, he showered and headed into the hospital. Planting himself in front of Val’s office door, he waited for her to come in. When Val opened the door to the department and saw him she did a quick double-take, but then seemed to regain her composure. “What are you doing?” she asked, as she opened her door. He followed her inside, closing the door behind him. She glanced at it for a moment and then turned to face him. “Do we have a meeting this morning that I didn’t know about?” The urge to kiss her was overwhelming as her chin rose in defiance and Nate held on to his control with every ounce of restraint he possessed.

“You know damn well why I’m here.” Val crossed her arms over her breasts and Nate followed the movement, remembering how those breasts had filled his mouth. His groin tightened but he ruthlessly tamped down his desire. He wanted answers. “Why did you leave yesterday morning?”

“I told you–”

Nate slashed his hand through the air. “I know what you told me. Now I want to know the real reason. What are you so scared of?”

“We can’t do this.”

“Why? And don’t try to repeat the excuses you tried to bury me in last night.”

“I have too much going on in my life to worry about a relationship right now, if that’s what you would even call this, considering you’re leaving soon. Look, I really need to go through a mountain of email and do a ton of other stuff. My other projects have suffered because of this crisis and that’s the last thing the hospital needs. It’s imperative to get some of these moving again to re-establish CCC’s good name. So I’m begging you, let me work.”

“Fine,” he got out through clenched teeth. “But before I go, I want you to remember one thing.”

“What?”

“This.” He grabbed her and swept her into his arms, his mouth descending on hers. Moaning into her mouth, he soaked up her taste, a mixture of coffee and a hint of mint. His arms tightened around her of their own accord and she sighed, melting into him. Pushing her backward, he sat her on her desk and moved in between her thighs, pressing his hardness into her belly. He wanted her again, wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

Reaching underneath her skirt, he searched for her wetness. When he made contact she flinched and grabbed his hand. Wrenching her mouth away, she said, “We can’t. Not here.”

“Where? When?” She pushed again and he moved back, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. What was he doing? He’d never forced himself on a woman and, no matter how tempting Val was, he wasn’t about to start.
You need to calm the hell down, pronto, or she’s gone, you idiot.

“I don’t know. Give me some time.”

“We don’t have time. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be around.”
Shit, why did I just go there?

His suspicion that was the wrong tack to take proved correct, because she nodded. “All the more reason to nip this in the bud.”

“Dammit, Val!”

“Don’t yell at me,” she whispered.

He blew out a frustrated breath. “I apologize. I’m just frustrated right now and I don’t know what to do. Let me know when you’re ready to explore what we have together.” Turning, he stalked to the door and flung it open. When he entered his own office, he slammed his door shut behind him. In truth, he wasn’t even sure why he was so angry. Normally if a woman reacted like this he was happy to sever ties, but the very thought of doing that now left a sour taste in his mouth.

Things on the work front worsened later when they got wind some of the doctors were going after Doug personally. Apparently several had called or stopped by Doug’s office, threatening to ask the Board of Directors to intervene because their reputations were taking a hit with the crisis. Nate called Doug to see if he and Val were needed, but his friend wanted them to keep working on finding a solution to the situation, so that’s what Nate did. Without any guidance from Val, and he didn’t think any was coming based on her behavior that morning, it was really all he could do.
You could work on your own stuff.
Nate sighed. “His stuff” seemed so remote right now and he had little interest in it at the moment.

Mid-afternoon Val burst into his office. “Doug said the FBI called. He’s calling them back and wants us up there. They have news.”

Nate sprang out of his chair, surprised at how excited he was about a new development. He’d spent his entire working life in crisis management, but this seemed so much more “real” than trying to stop some celeb’s sex tape from making it onto
Entertainment Tonight
. Val and Nate hurried to Doug’s office, not speaking. He glanced over at her from time to time, but she appeared to be lost in thought.

They arrived and took seats, each pulling out a pad and pen. Doug simply nodded at them and picked up the phone to ask his secretary to get the FBI for him. Nate took a moment to survey his old friend’s appearance. His normally dapper suit and tie combo were there, but the suit jacket was wrinkled and the tie askew. Doug’s face was ashen, and Nate worried briefly about the long-term physical and psychological effects something like this could have on a man. He hoped Doug was up to the task.

Doug put the phone on speaker. “This is Doug Benning from CCC, with Val Chase and Nate O’Halloran. What have you got for us?”

The line was tinny, and Nate and Val both leaned forward as the agent spoke. “Hello, yes, we think we might have a lead.”

The agent told them they’d been tracking Dr. Godlowski via his cell phone records and a few credit card transactions. It sounded like the doctor was getting lazy and sloppy already, which boded well for their case. Nate was shocked to learn the man was still using a traceable cell phone, and he wondered whether he hadn’t considered he could be traced through it or he was just cocky. Most likely it was a combination of both. Throw in a little desperation and Nate knew all too well how reckless people could be.

“We’ve got him making a phone call yesterday from Saint Louis, Missouri, and his credit card was used to pay for groceries and gas in Evansville, Indiana earlier that same day. Based on his trajectory we’re thinking he’s heading to Mexico.”

“Can you intercept him at the border?” Val asked.

“We can try, but there are a lot of different border crossings and a lot of fugitives on the loose.”

“That’s comforting,” Val mumbled, and Nate had to fight a smile.

If only people had half a clue what was going on around them…

Doug ignored Val’s comment and said, “I’m sure you’re doing all you can, and we appreciate it greatly. Please let us know if any other information comes forward.”

“Will do.”

Doug hung up the phone and turned to them. “That’s progress.”

Val nodded. “Dubious progress, but yes, it’s progress. At least we know he’s still in the country.”

Nate cleared his throat. He didn’t want to say this, but it was necessary. “
If
that’s actually him using the cell phone and credit card.”

Both Doug and Val turned to him, their faces falling. “What do you mean?” Val asked.

“Well, if it were me I think I’d give someone my cell phone and credit card in order to throw people off the scent.”

“You mean like bribe somebody?”

“No, it doesn’t even have to be that complicated. Leave them in a public place and someone will pick them up. People are greedy. If they see a credit card lying around it’s going to be tough to just walk away.”

“I never even considered that possibility,” Doug admitted, rubbing his temples. “I was hoping it was a solid lead. We need some good news.”

Val was shooting daggers at Nate, and he sighed. This was why he’d been reluctant to mention the possibility the person wasn’t even Dr. Godlowski, but it had been necessary. Nate didn’t want Val and Doug hanging on to what might very well mean nothing. “It might very well be a good lead, Doug. I just want to manage your expectations.”

“Okay.” Doug motioned to his desk. “I’ve got a ton of work piled up. I’ll call you guys if I hear anything else.”