AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Something changed in him, then. Like a switch being turned on. Her playtime was over, and his began. “No, Harper. That is not what I thought about.” He flipped her onto her back, and she gasped in surprise as he tucked her one leg under his arm and drove into her. Her eyes went huge, and he felt her arousal dampen his balls and her inner walls contract tighter around him. “This is what I thought about.” He fisted his hand into her hair, grinding his body against hers, ensuring his pelvis connected with her clit every time. Her moans became louder, less controlled. He kept his head buried into her neck, needing the closeness, desperately wanting her to stay there beneath him. He tucked her leg across his ass then slid his hand beneath her bottom, lifting her up to meet him thrust for thrust. With a growl, in search of his pleasure, he rode her hard, until her screams were all he heard, her shuddering orgasm all he felt. Then he crashed over the edge with her, his semen pulsing into the condom until his energy faded.
Sometime later, her laugh drew him back to her. “I hope you weren’t really sold on that most delicious gourmet roast beef sandwich I made you,” she said.
“Why?” he asked against her neck.
“Oh, because of that.”
He followed her gaze, and then glared at Houdini, whose butt was sticking out of the plastic bag. “The lure of food finally woke him from his puppy sleep coma.” The pup suddenly backed away, yanking the sandwich out with him. Chase ignored that and slid off to the side of Harper, keeping her in his arms, feeling the exhaustion of the day combined with the sex catching up to him.
“Should we stop him?” she asked a moment later when more rustling indicated Houdini was going in for seconds.
He shook his head and locked his arms around her. “Stay close. Just for a little while.”
A few minutes later, a sudden beep on her cell broke through Houdini’s chewing, followed by three more beeps. Chase snorted against the top of her head. “That lasted long.”
“I better get those.” Harper leaned away for a moment, reached for her shorts, and grabbed her cell. After examining her phone, she said, “It’s a text from Megan, Emma, Brody, and Faith.” She laughed then dropped her phone onto the blanket. “I guess Megan heard about the engagement. She’s throwing Brody and Faith a party tonight, as well as a going-away party for me.”
“Well, I’m sure my team will understand if I sneak out for a couple hours,” Chase said, eyes shut.
Harper paused. Then, “We should probably get going. We need to get you something else to eat. I need to get ready.”
“Not yet.” He snatched her up, bringing her close against him, locking his arms around her again. “Just a little bit longer.” She felt good in his arms. Soon, he would have to let go.
Right now, he didn’t.
Chapter 8
That night, Harper arrived at Kinky Spurs ten minutes late for work. Maybe before she would have cared, but now everything had changed. There was something desperate in the way Chase had held her in the tree house, telling her that he needed that extra half an hour to get his head straight. Sometimes it was worth being late, and deep down, she hoped he saw that sometimes it was worth not doing the right thing all the time because someone you cared about in your life needed you.
She supposed that was where they were opposites. She lived in the moment. He thought things through. Sometimes too much. She guessed everyone had a flaw, and the thing that made Chase who he was also stood as the biggest obstacle in their way.
Trying to get her mind off all the emotional things her heart wanted to feel and yet could not, she tended bar for the last couple of hours, keeping an eye on all the customers, ensuring they got served as fast as possible. Harper’s replacement, Bethany, a pretty brunette with short hair and violet streaks at the front, ended up not needing much training at all. She was at the other end of the bar, handling the customers like a pro.
Most of the people there tonight were old friends of Brody’s from high school and his coworkers from the auto shop and their partners. Harper didn’t have close high school friends who lived in River Rock anymore, since her three best friends from high school had all moved away to bigger cities and had young families now. But Emma was there working the bar to help out with the party, with Megan on the other side of her. Across the bar, near the mechanical bull by the dart board, Chase sat at a round table next to Brody.
With the live band playing on stage blasting country music through the bar, she smiled, not needing dozens of people there anyway. Everyone she cared about was within these walls.
Chase must have sensed her staring at him. His gaze flicked to hers, and he gave her a tight smile, tripping her heart. Ever since they left the tree house, he had exuded heady tension. From his clenched jaw to his haunted eyes, she ached to go and kiss him like crazy until his worries over the inspection melted away, though one look at Brody next to him reminded her of all the reasons that was a terrible idea. She would be gone soon. The last thing she wanted was to hurt their friendship before she left. Because Las Vegas was her dream. She knew Brody had seen the way that dream had faded away for a while after her parents died. And she also knew he had become so protective about keeping that dream alive when it came back that he would never forgive Chase if she stayed for him.
Guilt upon guilt upon guilt. The thick emotion seemed to run their lives lately.
“I see you finally got what you deserved,” Megan said, drawing Harper’s gaze away from Chase to Nash approaching with a slight limp. Beneath his worn brown cowboy hat, his cheek was bruised, and his lip had a thin split on the corner. When he slid onto the stool in front of Megan, she wiped up the spill in front of him and said, “You know, sleeping with another guy’s girlfriend is a really bad idea.”
Though it had to hurt with that cut on his lip, Nash grinned. “Freckles”—the nickname he always called Megan—“you know the only woman I want to fuck is you.”
Megan’s responding grin showed teeth. “I like my body without STIs, thank you very much.”
“Always so vicious.” He chuckled.
“Only to you, Blackshaw.” Megan headed toward the guy on Brody’s old high school football team waiting for service at the end of the bar.
Nash’s gaze followed her, focusing directly on Megan’s ass.
Harper restrained her laugh. She had never met two people who had as much sexual chemistry as Nash and Megan and did not act on it. Sure, Harper kind of understood. The Blackshaw family had big issues with Megan’s father, Clint Harrison. Being the two biggest cattle farmers in River Rock, the two men had fought over customers years back, long before any of the kids were born. When Rick Blackshaw came out on top, Clint apparently harbored a grudge. Harper was sure Megan’s mind had been poisoned for years about the Blackshaw men.
Curious now, Harper asked Nash, “Really, though, what happened to your face? Are you okay?”
“My horse did that,” Emma said, sidling up next to Harper.
