Chasing Luck (17 page)

“Hello,” a voice answers through a static reception.

“Hey, Teddy. It’s Malerie. I missed your call,” I yell to be heard above the volume of the music. I tilt my head and see the culprit—a speaker hangs from a wire above our table.

Teddy doesn’t respond and it takes several seconds before I realize one of us has dropped the call. I hit the CALL button again and look around for Ace. There’s no way I can hear, so I grab my bag and head for the door.

Holding the phone against my ear, I walk outside to blissful non-country music land. “Teddy?”

“Hi Ma … rie … call you … foun…”

“You’re breaking up. Teddy?” I wait and press the phone against my ear harder. “You still there?”

I jump when a voice too close to my head speaks. “Hi. Want to use my phone?”

Two guys have appeared from nowhere, one on each side of me. One guy holds his phone out to me, even though I’m already shaking my head no. He grins and flips a toothpick in his mouth to the opposite corner.

“No, thanks,” I say with all the calm I can muster. I leave my phone pressed to my ear. I try to ignore them but they’re not leaving.

“Teddy? You still there?” I ask and hope the strangers will move on.

I step forward to walk past Mr. Phone Guy, and he moves with me.

His friend pushes a brown cowboy hat back in a miraculous balancing act on his head. “Can’t get no signal where you’re standing. Here. Come by my truck. I used my phone beside it a minute ago.”

He grabs my upper arm and I freeze. “Let go.” I want my voice to be louder, stronger, meaner. I suck in all the air my lungs can manage. “Get. Your. Hand—”

Ace appears from nowhere in front of me, his eyes slitted and furious. He slams a fist forward.

There’s a loud pop and Phone Guy’s head jerks back once. He backs away and falls onto the concrete behind him. I’m too stunned to do anything more than stand there, my mouth falling open.

The guy wearing the cowboy hat takes one look at Ace and pivots into a run toward his truck.

“What was that?” I gape at Ace who has the look of a madman, a step away from snarling.

The waitress who took our order stands framed in the open door. “I see you found her. I don’t stand for trouble here.” She glances at Phone Guy, who is bent over with blood dripping from his nose. “I’m calling the police,” she states in a gravelly voice. “Go on. Get out of here.”

“Come on,” Ace says through gritted teeth and grabs my hand. “We can eat later.”

He whisks me into the silver Mercedes without a backward glance. “You should’ve been screaming your damn head off for me.”

The tires squeal as we pull out of the parking lot and onto the road.

I latch my seatbelt. “I was fine. I told him to let me go.” I’m shaky but hope Ace can’t tell.

“There were two of them. Did you notice? Two, Mal,” he yells. “Two fucking rednecks.”

“I saw.”

He steers to the shoulder of the road and hits the brakes. “No. You don’t see. This is how girls disappear. One minute I’m taking a piss and the next you’re just gone. Jesus. Do you have any idea how I felt? You don’t just walk off and—”

I reach over the console and put my hands on his shoulders. “Shh … I’m fine.”

And that’s when he kisses me.

“
D
amn
, girl. The game is up. All bets are off. You stole my win. I forfeit my heart.”~ Jelly Bean Queen

M
alerie’s lips
taste of mint, softness, and coming home. I slip my tongue into her mouth and the sound she makes is enough to set my world on fire. Blood and desire rush to places not accommodating while seated behind a steering wheel. My hands move of their own accord to the base of her neck, and I smooth my palms against her silky hair to pull her closer.

The click of a seatbelt registers, a reminder that I’m in a car on the side of the freeway. A chime sounds, loud and annoying and way too persistent.

I reluctantly pull back from her lips a slow centimeter at a time, my breath mingling with hers. “We shouldn’t do this.”

“We should so do this,” she says while perched halfway onto my seat.

She inches to press against me, unfettered by her seatbelt now, and I’m at her mercy. At her mercy because I want to touch every inch of her but my hands only glide down her back to her waist.

“It’s a bad idea.”

“It’s a wonderful idea,” she murmurs close my lips.

“Mal,” I say, my voice thick and frustrated as I sit back in my seat, belt still strapped against my chest. I exhale, thinking I might rid myself of this urge to undress her right here on the side of the road.

A pulse beats rapidly in her throat and I can’t think of anything but running the tip of my tongue along that spot. For this reason, I don’t unbuckle my seatbelt.

I lean my forehead against hers and close my eyes. “Bad idea or not, I can’t help myself. You’re making me crazy. You have no idea what went through my head when I got back to our table and you weren’t there.”

We sit, both of us breathing unsteadily, as we don’t move or think. A semi-truck passes close on the freeway, and the car moves against the wind it creates.

“I’m sorry. I called Teddy and I couldn’t hear him,” she says. “Then I went outside and those guys were there.”

I rub my hand over my forehead. “Okay. And what did Teddy say?”

“The call dropped. I’ll call or text when we’re back on the road.”

“What’s on the agenda once we get to Chicago? Straight to the hotel?” I allow my head to fall back against the seat and raise my eyebrows. It’s a good thing she can’t read my mind.

She frowns, her bottom lip out in an adorable pout, and sits back in her seat. “I texted Collin our arrival time. He wants us to meet him at a dance club.”

“He knows I’ll be there with you?” I can’t help my grin at thinking I’m probably not welcome. Malerie’s fooling herself if she thinks this guy will be overjoyed at my presence.

“For the last time, we’re friends. That’s it. We’ve never met in person and I wanted to meet him. We’ll check in to the hotel, change, and then meet Collin.”

I nod at her. “Seatbelt then. Let’s get on the road.”

She looks out the window and not at me. “You’re not going to push me away again, are you?’

I get back on the freeway before I answer. “No,” I say, not willing to add more.

We drive into Chicago traffic and Malerie gives me directions to the hotel. I argue with her briefly about self-parking in the hotel’s garage versus the expensive valet parking and then I’m carrying her mammoth suitcase and my single duffel into the hotel.

At the registration desk, Malerie gives her name and credit card over to the desk clerk and I wait for her to sign the check-in paperwork. Inside the elevator, I admire her in the mirror in front of us.

She glances up from rummaging in that enormous purse she carries and we make eye contact that is so electrical, I swear the air buzzes with current. Her face and figure are perfect, but it’s more than the fact that she’s hot. It’s the fact that her eyes are like deep pools, mirroring everything she thinks. She bares her soul to me in every glance. A shock of pleasure runs the length of my body as I stare and she blushes.

Her thoughts are running the same course as mine and I know this is why her cheeks are pink. She’s bold and aggressive one moment and so very innocent the next. I turn and step toward her and the elevator door opens.

“Room numbers?” I put my hand out to hold the side of the closing elevator door for her.

“711.”

We walk slowly down the hallway until we reach the room. “Where am I?”

She doesn’t answer me for a beat. “I only have one room. I didn’t know you were coming, remember?”

I can’t breathe for a second.

“But it’s a suite,” she adds as if it makes a difference.

She inserts the key card and opens the door to the room. We walk through an entry space and into the sitting room. I can see the king size bed in the next room. I’m not sure what she expects or wants, but my body temperature rises five degrees at the images running through my head.

I feel sixteen again and ready to get it on with my prom date in the back of the car I’ve borrowed. And then again, that’s not accurate, because I wanted a good quick lay back then and I want to worship every inch of Malerie. She doesn’t deserve less than that.

I want to drive into her so sweetly she’ll never want to be with anyone but me and to know that only my body can please her.

I want her to know she’s mine and she’ll call my name in her dreams.

I want her.

“I’ll put the bags away,” I grunt and manage to sound pissed off instead of tortured. When I turn around, she’s there.

“We have several hours until we meet Collin.” She lets the sentence hang in the air like a promise.

“Hell,” I mutter. “Malerie. Talk to me. Tell me what you want. Say it.”

“I want you.”

She states it so matter-of-factly, so sure of herself, that I’m a goner.

I step forward and put my hands on her shoulders. “You know where this is headed.” I search her eyes for any shred of doubt.

“Yes.” She puts both her thumbs through the belt loops of my jeans, tugging me closer.

My mouth meets hers in a rush, her lips parting in acceptance and opening to my tongue with no hesitation. The tip of my tongue touches hers and both tangle in a slow teasing. Her mouth is no longer the forbidden fruit; she is more delectable than anything I’ve ever tasted.

My fingertips glide down her back, tracing her spine, lingering at her waist and stopping at the top of her low-cut jeans. I tease my fingers against a sliver of skin offered at the bottom of her shirt. She shivers and the reaction pleases me beyond words. Our kiss grows intense and urgent.

My hands itch to move lower. I’m dying to cup her ass but a remote and quickly disappearing warning signal in my brain halts me. Too much too fast? I’m exploring her body, the curves I’ve wanted to mold to mine since the first time I saw her and every day since. I walk her backward and without even realizing it, I’ve led her to the bed. I bend my head and my lips trail kisses along her neck and down to her throat where she hums in satisfaction. Her pulse hammers … or is that mine?

I lower us to sit on the edge of the bed and pull back, breathing heavily and unwilling to break eye contact. I place my fingers on the top button of her shirt, and watch her face for any hesitation, for any way she’s going to change her mind. I don’t want to be rejected, but I don’t want to see her regret later.

She nods as if she can read my thoughts.

Instead of unbuttoning her shirt, I trail my finger along the open neckline and dip inside to touch her skin. I run one finger along the top of her bra and watch her eyes flutter closed.

She runs her tongue along her lips and I’m torn between kissing her again and watching her face as she becomes excited by my touch.

“I didn’t know it would be like this,” she whispers. The corner of her mouth lifts.

We haven’t even done anything yet, but I know what she means. This delicious anticipation rockets my erection into a state of emergency.

I inhale and try to think of something less erotic for a second so I don’t move this along too fast. The problem is, my dick has a mind of its own that wants me to get on with things.

She must sense my hesitation because she reaches up to her buttons and slowly undoes the first, the second, the third button. I’m staring mutely as if it’s my first time instead of hers. “Are you sure?” I ask again.

“Quit asking me,” she answers with a good deal of exasperation in her tone. “I’m going to wonder if you don’t want this.” I have to laugh. Here’s the sassy Malerie that turns me on so much. Little does she know I almost recited the Pledge of Allegiance a second ago just to keep myself in check.

“Sweetheart, you have no idea how much I do.” As if proof is needed, I glance down at my erection and up at her.

Her eyes go wide and she gives me a shy smile.

She’s unbuttoned her shirt at the rate of the slowest striptease bearable to man, and then waits for me to make the next move. I part the cotton fabric and force myself to keep staring into her eyes, no easy task considering I want to record this moment in a frame and hang it on a wall. I know how gorgeous she is, but somehow that doesn’t prepare me for this.

Slow, go slow.

“Can I touch you?” I ask.

She nods and closes her eyes when I run my hand along the top swell of one breast not contained within the bra. I knew she had this thing for pretty underwear, but it’s still not beautiful enough to compete with the body it showcases.

The peach bra with cream lace at the top edges sets off her lightly tanned skin and I lean forward before I know I’m going to do it. She gasps as my tongue follows a path of touching, tasting, and teasing. She squirms and puts both hands in my hair, pulling my head up.

Malerie’s heavy-lidded eyes and unsteady breath remind me that every touch is new for her. “Your turn.” She tugs at the bottom of my shirt so I take one hand at my collar and pull it over my head. She devours me with her gaze, and then scoots backward toward the headboard and I follow, as though I’m being pulled by a string.

I release the front clasp of her bra and groan as the cups fall away to reveal her breasts. I cup the bottom of one, and then move up to palm the pink, hard tip. Her body arches toward me like she wants to get closer, and there’s an answering response from my body.

“Take off your jeans.” My voice sounds hoarse and so low I’m unsure if she hears it at first. Her eyes are closed and I know she’s in the moment, feeling my hands as both cup her breasts and lightly squeeze.

I move back long enough to remove the rest of my clothes. She takes off hers. She watches me and I grin at her expression. Her gaze lingers on my groin. I’m as hard as a flagpole and ready to feel her.

Her skin is hot and so very soft under my hand. I lie beside her and slip my hand up her thigh and she tenses. I stroke gently higher until I reach the inside of her thighs.

She gives a little exhale and I move up and kiss her. I want to swallow that little sound and keep it for myself. Her mouth is one of my new favorite things. She uses it like a siren’s call when she makes her sounds of pleasure. She opens her thighs and I tease her with light touches of my fingers. Her wriggling hips and sexy moans tell me she likes the places I touch.

Make it about her, I remind myself. I’m dying to bury myself inside her.

“Tell me if I go too fast or if it hurts or…” I rub my free hand over my face. “Or if you want to stop.”

She nods. “I trust you,” she says. My heart breaks a little at that. My little brother trusted me and I left him at home with my meth head mother so I could go off to college. I trusted my mother but she brought home a boyfriend who beat the hell out of me when they got high. And she left my brother in a hospital to die alone without letting me know he was there.

Trust.

The word makes my heart race even more.

“What’s wrong?” Mal pushes up on her elbows. “Did I say the wrong thing?” She actually looks worried.

I focus on the here and now and the fantasy before me that I don’t deserve “No, beautiful girl, you didn’t say anything wrong. We’ll need a condom.”

I pull the wallet from my back pocket and remove the package, place it on the night table, and throw my wallet beside it.

“I’ve been tested and I’m clean,” I say and see a flash of hurt in her eyes. She doesn’t want to think I’ve been with anyone else and I can understand. For the first time in my life, I wish that, too.

“Show me how to make you feel good. Show me how to do it right.” Malerie is so serious I want to smash any self-doubt she may have.

“There’s no way it won’t feel good. Mal, it’s with
you
.” The look on her face is still there, so I try to give her more. “I care about you and that’s why it will feel good.” I cradle her face in my hands because she’s not looking me in the eye. “And because your body feels amazing. I think you were made just for me.”

I have a disturbing feeling this is how it’s supposed to be. Not that sex in the past was bad, but it was only sex. And sex is always good. But I look down into her eyes and feel her beneath my hands and I know having her in my arms is different. Better. Un-fucking-believable in intensity.

“I want you to love me,” she says, pulling my mouth down. The heat between us sparks again and there’s no more talking. I forget about everything else but her.