AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Life is a mountain,he told me once,and dreams come true for those who climb it; it’s hard, and sometimes you want to turn around because it gets too much, and sometimes you look up at what you have to climb and realiseyou’re not even halfway, but if you keep thinking at how much there is to go instead of looking at your feet, you’ll never reach the summit. You have to want it, and you have to focus on the now, otherwise you’ll live for the future instead of the present, and by then you’re not even living.
And as Chase Maverick looks down at me, as his own breathing turns ragged and heat fills his gaze as it flicks to my mouth, I can tell he wants to kiss me.
I hold still. I can’t move—not out of any fear, but I don’t want to shatter this moment. The same way he went completely rigid in the meadow, when I leaned forward and kissed him, as if he knew it was wrong but he couldn’t bring himself to either pull away or meet me in the middle.
‘Frankie,’ he breathes.
‘Yeah?’ I say breathlessly.
He swallows audibly, and then he pulls away. ‘I didn’t come here only to apologise. I came here to tell you I’m leaving.’
‘Um, yeah, I’m not sure if you know this, but you have to go somewhere to alsoleaveit.’
But he doesn’t smile. Doesn’t laugh. He closes his eyes, lets his head fall back, and I don’t know why I have this sinking feeling in my gut, but— ‘I’m leaving London, Frankie. I’m moving to France.’
The world slips from under my feet, and if I was standing I would’ve collapsed to my knees. Vaguely I recall a conversation I had with Kai—with Chase—weeks ago at work, but I was so hung up on Archer that I skimmed through his messages. The text flashes behind my eyes now with startling clarity as everything slows.
‘The racing,' I say quietly. ‘Your apprenticeship.’
He nods.
‘When?’
‘Tomorrow.’
Tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow—
I lick my lips. ‘Your uncle. He wasn’t in France looking for cars, was he?’
Chase shakes his head. ‘He’s been setting things up over there for me until I’m ready to leave school.’ His voice drops to a whisper. ‘I’m not coming back, Frankie.’
Our gazes meet, and the space between us pulls taut as everything left unsaid lingers. The things I can never say and the question in his eyes, a goodbye without a goodbye. He shifts slightly so he can lower his head, and his eyes are unflinching on mine as he moves towards me, as his lips slant towards mine.
He goes still a hairsbreadth from my mouth.
This is what I’ve always wanted, isn’t it? Not to just kiss Chase, but for him towantto kiss me. So why do I feel like if I do this, it’s one step closer to losing him? Why does it feel like I’m going to taste something I can never truly have? Why—?
God, will my thoughts just shut the fuck up?
I close the distance between us and brush my lips over his. We pull away slightly to look at each other—and then we’re kissing again, and it’s like the world falls into the palm of my hand. It’s tentative, slow, lingering, and… gentle. It’s not rushed and desperate. Chase takes his time, as if he wants to drag out this moment as much as possible.
His arms tighten around me as he deepens the kiss, as it becomes more explorative and hungry. He makes a sound low in his throat, and it snaps something in me.
I shift until I straddle him and he falls back against the pillows. His fingers cup my cheeks, a soft caress. And I wind my own fingers into his hair, fisting the silky strands with enough force to let him know I want him.
And that’s the thing with loving someone, I think. You don’t have to tell them you love them, that you want them; it’s evident in every touch, every gasped breath. Words aren’t needed.
Chase groans into my mouth and bucks his hips, pressing his pulsing erection into me. I grind against it, and a gasp escapes my own lips as pleasure ripples through me. Every touch makes me shudder: the way his hands smooth through my hair, the tips of his fingers teasing down my spine and sending shockwaves through me, the warm, muscled press of his body beneath mine, the scrape of his stubble against my chin, how he sucks my lower lip into his mouth and bites it. Every nerve is on fire.
But not a single part of me shies away from him. I didn’t think it was possible for someone to feel like home.
Until now.
He tastes like every good thing about my life, and I want more, more, more—
He bucks his hips again, and I meet him with a thrust of my own. He’s so hard the tip of him rubs me, and I pull back from him to gasp, but I don’t stop. He keeps bucking and I keep grinding, and his hands delve lower and squeeze my ass, forcing me deeper against him—
‘I’m going to cum in my pants if you keep doing that,’ he whispers.
