The Promise (24 page)

“Bab
e, I hate to have to be the one to break it to you, but anything I’ve got, you’ve had for weeks. My germs are all over that gorgeous body of yours,” he says, still looking at me as he runs his tongue across my bottom lip. “So, you may as well let me put them in your mouth, too.” I turn beet red and he laughs harder, earning him a smack on his arm.

“Oh my
God! You’re such a perv!” I say, still laughing as his eyes grow wide and his mouth drops open in shock and amusement.

“Wow, Baby! I think maybe you’re th
e one who’s a little pervy! I’ll admit that may have come out wrong but that’s not even what I meant,” he says chuckling, running his lips up the side of my neck as I let out a soft moan of pleasure. “Although I like the way you think.”

“Whatever, liar
. I still need to go to the store. I can’t use your soap or shampoo either,” I tell him and he shoots me a weird look.

“OCD much?” he ask
s, quirking his brows at me in amusement.

“No, I just don’t want to smell like a boy. You have boy stuff
, and even though you smell good it’s all manly. I don’t think you like me enough to have to deal with my manly smell yet,” I joke and he continues to laugh and smile up at me.

“I like it when you smell like me. It keeps the creepers away from you w
hen I’m not around,” he says while pushing the hair out of my face. “You could root around in a pasture and I’d still think you were the sexiest girl in the world.”

“You
’re so sweet to me, Babe,” I say, planting a quick kiss on his lips. “But we really have to go to the store or I’ll freak out.” I get up and he follows me out of the house.

***

While we’re out, I grabbed everything we needed for supper, deciding that I’ll try cooking something for us in Chase’s kitchen. He’s been sitting in the living room and watching the TV, getting up to grab a second beer, I notice he stops behind me after shutting the refrigerator door.

I’m
washing my hands in the sink and about to start cooking as I feel him move closer before shutting off the water. “I love that you’re here with me in my house, Sophie. Walking in here and seeing you is such a turn on,” he whispers seductively.

He leans down to give
what I think would be a quick kiss on my shoulder, but leaning against his hard chest behind me, I melt into him once his tongue meets with my skin. As one arm tightens around my waist, the other hand sweeps my hair away from my neck as he continues to lick and suck. He presses me against the sink as he leans over me, before moving his hand down to my stomach.

“You taste so good,” he whispers
into my ear, gently nipping at my lobe, causing me to gasp.

His hand move
s under my shirt, and while still holding his body firmly against my back, I can feel how much I’m affecting him.

At the same time
, his hand finds my breast, causing me to slowly rotate my hips and grind into him. The movement forces him to groan deeply and huskily into my hair.

He pinche
s my nipple and moves his hand up to my hair, giving it a gentle tug so I’ll look up at him.

His blue eyes a
re staring down at me as he begins kissing me harder, while still teasing my breasts.

He releases my hair
, but never breaks our kiss or eye contact. I groan as I feel his hand move down to the front of my shorts. Instead of unbuttoning and removing them like I think he’s going to, he slides his hand up from the bottom, moving the lace of my panties to the side before sinking his fingers into me.

“Your pu
ssy is always so wet for me Sophie,” he says with a low, sexy growl as he bites down on my lower lip, making me release another whimper as my head begins to swim.

I love when he talk
s dirty to me and he always seems to know just what to say in order to send me over the edge.

He ke
eps me pressed up hard against the kitchen counter as he continues working his fingers in and out of my slick opening, grinding against me from behind while swallowing my moans into his mouth.

When I’m
sure I can’t take anymore, he hooks his fingers in just the right spot as he rubs his thumb against my clit. Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he whispers, “Go, Baby. Let me feel you come,” making me spiral out of control. 

He continue
s to kiss and suck against my neck, massaging my breasts with his free hand. He stays holding me up and touching me until my breathing is back to normal.

When I feel
stable enough to stand on my own again, he bends down and kisses me gently, “Good girl. That was so fucking sexy,” he whispers, his hand still clamped possessively between my legs. As he pulls his lips away from mine, he slowly pulls his hand from my shorts before placing his fingers in his mouth, licking them clean. He hums appreciatively, causing me to shudder.

“Holy hell,” I say causing him to
laugh before I watch him walk through into the living room. I place my hands on the sink ledge in front of me as I try to gain a little more control over my breathing.

After a couple of moments
, I resume my preparations for supper. When Chase comes back through for a second time, he sweetly walks over and places a kiss on the side of my head.

“Would you like some wine, Baby?” he ask
s me and I nod a yes, thanking him as he places it next to where I’m working before settling himself onto one of the stools on the other side of the bar. “Do you mind if I watch you cook?” he asks.

“No, I don’t mind at all. I’m not sure how excit
ing it will be though,” I laugh.

“I like to w
atch you when you cook,” he admits, grinning as I raise an eyebrow. “You look so content and peaceful. It’s just nice to see. Everything is starting to smell amazing in here, by the way. What are you making?”

“This
,” I say pointing to a pan in front of me, “this is going to be parmesan crusted chicken and soon I’m going to put it over some pasta, Then I’ll making us a salad and bake some garlic bread,” I answer him as I open the oven to check its progress.

“Wow,” he raise
s his brows.

“It sounds way more complicated than it actually is,” I admit.

“Well it smells great. Who taught you to cook?”

“I used to watch my parents in the kitchen a lot. It seemed like the only time they weren’t arguing was when they’d cook together, you know?” I look up to se
e him nod and take another sip from his beer. “When I got a little older, they taught me a few things but when my dad passed, my mom wasn’t really the same so I ended up kind of having to take care of her. Through that, I taught myself a lot.”

I begin
to cut up the vegetables for our salad, trying desperately to hold back the emotion that’s coursing through my body. I try my hardest to avoid these kinds of memories.

“Are you and your mom
close?”

“No,” I answer quietly
. “We don’t speak anymore.”

He seems
a little surprised by my blunt admission. Since he doesn’t know how I ended up in Camden, I completely understand why.

“About six months after my dad died, she decided being a mother to me was too much of a burden and sent me to Camden to live with my Aunt
Debbie. I don’t really hear from her much now,” I explain. “She calls me on my birthday and sends me a card at Christmas but that’s pretty much the extent of our relationship. Everything good with her is all just surface.”

His eyes soften and
I notice the look pity he’s giving me. It’s the same pitying look that I’ve received and become so accustomed to ever since Jack passed away. I hate that look more than just about anything else in the world and Chase’s face is the last place I want to see it. “Please don’t pity me Chase. I’m fine with the way things are between us.”

He’
s already shaking his head at me as though I’ve misunderstood him somehow. “No, Baby, I’m sorry. I don’t pity you. I actually admire your strength.”

“Well, that’s sweet but I don’t know how accurate it is,” I start
as I begin to drain my wine glass. “Listen, do you mind if we talk about something else?”

“N
o not at all. I’m sorry if I said something wrong.” Now it’s my turn to shake my head at him.

“You didn’t
and have no reason to apologize,” I smile. “I just know there are way happier things we could be talking about than my baggage, is all. Do you want another beer?”

“Sure,” he answer
s as I make my way over to the fridge. I hand him another bottle before refilling my wine glass, then place the bottle back and set the now finished salad inside so that it’ll stay cool.

We continue
to talk about our childhoods for a little while as we wait for supper to finish baking.

I learn
that Chase has a younger sister named Emily who lives in Florida with her fiancé. He tells me that they’re getting married a few months from now. He tells me about how his parents came to meet when they were in college and have been together ever since. When they retired, they wanted to travel and so that’s how he ended up with their house.

“They didn’t really want to sell it to a stranger and I was sick of living in
my shitty apartment, so I thought why not buy the house I grew up in, y’know? It’s old and needs work but it’s always been my home,” he says with a shrug, taking a long drink from his beer. “Music?” he asks. When I nod, he turns hit a remote and after a moment, Ed Sheeran’s ‘Kiss Me’ fills my ears.

“
I love this song,” I smile. Chase walks around the bar to join me in the kitchen and takes my wine glass from me while placing my hand in his.

“I know you do
, Baby,” he smiles warmly. “So do I. Dance with me?” I give him another small smile as he gently pulls me to his chest, where I then rest my head.

He’
s so much taller than me, with his chin barely brushing the top of my head that I feel tiny against him, but still so unbelievably safe. He smells so good and his arms feel like heaven around me.

He ho
lds me to his chest as we slowly sway to the beat of the music. He quietly begins to sing to me. I look up at him and smile as he brushes my hair behind my ear, before resting his hand on the side of my face as he gently strokes my chin with his thumb. He holds me there, his eyes never once leaving mine as he continues singing the lyrics softly to me. I automatically wrap my arms tightly around his waist.

I
begin to move my arms up his chest before wrapping them around his neck. Chase leans down and brushes his lips against mine gently. He stares down at me for a moment before he whispers, “Sophie … I want you.”

“I want you too
,” I whisper back, barely able to get the words out before his lips are crashing down on mine with want.

After kissing
in the kitchen for a long time, he pulls away and looks down at me. A tear springs from my eye and I feel as he brushes his thumb underneath to catch it before bringing it to his mouth, sucking it clean.

He
keeps his eyes trained on me for another moment before taking my hand and walking over to the timer that’s begun alerting us of our completed meal, shutting it off. He pulls the chicken from the oven, reaches into an overhead cupboard and quickly finds a few lids to place over the food. Once everything is covered he turns back to me.

“What are you doing?” I
ask laughing.

“My gorgeous girlfriend just spent close to an hour m
aking me a delicious dinner and I don’t it want to get cold,” he starts, “but I just can’t wait to have you. We’ll have to eat afterwards.” And with that, he leads me towards his bedroom.

Once
we’re inside, he pushes me gently against the bed until the back of my knees are touching the mattress. I start to remove my shirt but he catches my hand stopping me.

“Let
me undress you, Baby.” There’s a hunger and need deep within his eyes that dares me to argue, not that I ever would.

I
drop my hands back down to my sides and wait patiently for him to resume. He pulls my shirt over my head and then reaches behind me to unhook my bra before moving his head down to take my nipple into his mouth.

He release
s a small hum of pleasure and I feel my insides are in flames in an instant. He moves his head up to find my mouth again and as his lips find mine, he grips me possessively by the waist of my shorts, yanking me towards him suddenly with the slight roughness I’ve come to crave from him.

My hands move
to his arms immediately and he holds me there as he devours my mouth again before pushing my shorts and panties off of me in one brisk movement.

I st
and completely naked before him as his eyes drink me in. “Get in my bed, Baby,” he orders softly. I immediately oblige. “Lie back.” I do as I’m told and watch him as he stalks towards the edge of the bed, stopping to stare down at me for a moment longer.