Page 63 of Chasing Grace
“Not a chance, woman.”
Persistent fucker.
“Hate to break it to you, soldier boy. But I’m not worried about falling ‘in love’withyou.” Gray made air quotes to make sure he knew she used his words—not hers. And hoping to end the debate, she said, “I’m not interested in being sloppy seconds. You’ll need to find yourself another fuck bunny for rebound sex.”
She could feel him laughing at her choice of words, his chest vibrating against her back, and it pissed her off. She snatched her bag of M&Ms, no longer willing to share, and popped a yellow and a green.
“Is that really what you think this is?”
“Isn’t it? Maybe I’m the idiot who doesn’t understand the definition of rebound. I thought all this cuddling and kissing was your way of trying to get me into your bed in the absence of any other women in your immediate vicinity.”
“It’s not rebound sex, and you know it.” She’d hit a nerve, and he wasn’t laughing now. His tone had reverted to the gruff, no-nonsense one he reserved for making his point.
“Do I?”
“If all I wanted was your body, I would have fucked you in the hotel room in Utah when I had the chance.”
Oh God.Her body responded to the memory, and her core temperature ratcheted. A stirring in her nethers suggested she wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea of him using her hard. Fucking Chase on her terms was something she could do. “So you want to have sex with me, but you’re not in a hurry.”
“I didn’t say I wasn’t in a hurry. And if you ever had a permanent hard-on, you’d understand why. But I am capable of waiting.”
“Waiting for what?”
“For you to give in to me.”
Gray snorted, so much for a one-night stand. “You might be waiting a hell of a long time for that, Sergeant Mackenzie.”
“Oh, I don’t think so, Grace Grayson. You belong to me. You just haven’t accepted it yet.”
“It’s Emerson, dickhead, and I don’t belong to anyone.”
“I disagree.” He took her bag of candy and proceeded to empty the rest of the contents into his piehole before making a production of jamming the empty wrapper into the front pocket of her jeans. She batted his hand away, and he snugged his arm back around her middle, pulling her in tight.
Beginning to feel like she hadn’t had any impact on his single-minded “you belong to me” bullshit, she crossed her arms and growled, “I probably should have mentioned this earlier. But I’m not interested in being anyone’s first choice either.”
“Everyone wants to be someone’s first choice.”
“Not me.”
“Guess it sucks to be you.” He nibbled on her ear.
She squirmed in his grip. She needed to put a stop to this—fast. “What about Holly?”
He moaned in a manner that suggested his ex-fiancée wasn’t at the forefront of his mind before he raked his teeth off her super-sensitive flesh. Her toes curled in pleasure, and her fingers dug in and clutched tight to his pant legs.
“Holly’s been waiting a long time for me to sign some paperwork and settle our affairs. I was an asshole, and I let things go on too long. I’m not in love with her and haven’t been since before the breakup. She knew it, she ended it, and I’m good with it.”
Slowly, deliberately, he stroked his thumb over her palm, back and forth and around in circles. By the time he’d finished turning her hand into his plaything, every nerve ending she possessed had caught fire.
All the while, he’d kept up the kissing and nibbling assault to the side of her neck he had easy access to. Easy because she’d angled her head in a way that suggested she was an idiot, or perhaps a glutton for punishment, or worse, she actually wanted him.
Worried he’d interpret her lack of self-control as a sign she might give in to him, she said, “This is a mistake, Chase.”
“Tell me why, Gray.” His fingers traced along her forearm, up her bicep, and over the groove of her collarbone before pulling her T-shirt aside. “I like you.” He licked and sucked along the exposed strip of flesh while holding her prisoner against him. “You like me.” His tongue, his teeth, his hot breath poured molten lava into her panties and turned her to mush. “We’re good together. So why not see where this goes?”
Gravity about to win this round, Gray stumbled too close to the edge when his hand cupped her breast. No denying, he owned her body. Heart and soul next in line to give in, she made a final attempt at saving herself. “What if I don’t want to be with you after all of this? What if I want to leave?”
“Then, when this is over, you can go. But we both know you’ll come back.”
