Chasing You (Thirsty Hearts Book 4) (9 page)

A
lexa avoided
Graham’s calls and texts all week, but she couldn’t duck him forever.

She and Graham had a meeting on Friday evening to check out a venue recommendation from Taryn for the fundraiser. The event coordinator walked them around the property before leaving to take a call.

Alexa stood on the edge of the ballroom, looking out at the expanse of lawn and the glint of the lake beyond it. The beauty mesmerized her. She made a note to mention the place to Melissa.

“This would be a great place to have a wedding. You have the ceremony outside, and then move inside for the reception. Or maybe set up tents and keep everything outside.”

“Are you planning a wedding?” Shock took Graham’s voice up nearly an octave.

Alexa ran her tongue along the top row of her teeth and pinched her mouth shut to keep from saying something she would regret. “Melissa got engaged to her boyfriend, Kyle.”

“Oh, tell her I said congratulations. That’s great.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. I’m thrilled for her.”

Graham snickered. “I figured you might be in mourning. Your friend becomes one of the fallen. I know what that’s like.”

“You know, I’m not nearly as against commitment as you think that I am. I’m happy when the people who want that get it. Hell, I even got engaged once.”

“Really? So what happened there? If you don’t mind my asking.” Almost immediately, Graham shook his head. “Forget it. It’s none of my business.”

“No, it’s fine. I thought I wanted to get married, and I thought I knew who I was marrying. It turned out I was wrong on both counts. It wasn’t the right time or the right guy.”

“That happens.”

“Have you ever even been close to getting married?”

“I’ve never been engaged—not even close. I guess I thought about it with my college girlfriend. You know how it is when you get close to graduation and all your friends are starting to propose and your girlfriend’s looking at you? I considered it, but I was too young.”

“She was okay with that?”

“Nooo, she wasn’t.” Graham drew out each word. “We got in this huge fight. Half her friends got engaged, and she expected me to come through with the ring. I told her why hurry, we’re only twenty-two. She didn’t see it that way.”

His jaw flexed, and Alexa waited for him to work his way through a pensive pause. “She got married a year later to the father of one of her sorority sisters. He was maybe forty-seven or forty-eight. Old. Or it seemed so at the time.”

“That’s still pretty old be dating a twenty-two-year-old. Plus, one of your daughter’s friends? That’s gross.”

Graham tossed out an arid laugh. “She really wanted to get married. And she got what she wanted. Plus, back then, I couldn’t have given her a Porsche for wedding gift.”

“No one ever dates an old guy who’s poor. Your wealth better climb with your age if you want a pretty young woman on your arm.”

Graham stared out the floor-to-ceiling window. Alexa moved closer to him, shoulder to shoulder, taking in his stern profile.

“I have no idea what Matthew—my ex fiancé—is doing now. I doubt he ever got married. Or if he did, he’s already traded her in for a new model. He was very into women maintaining, you know, their beauty, their figure. God forbid a woman have a baby and gain a little weight.”

She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head as if trying to shake the thoughts out. “He used to make the most vulgar jokes about what happened to a woman after she had a baby. He told me he’d have to make sure to get me a surrogate, so I wouldn’t have the baby myself.”

Graham snorted. “He sounds a total asshole.”

“He was joking. I guess. My parents absolutely hated him, which they didn’t tell me until after I broke off the engagement. My mother said she was trying to be supportive. My father said he never would’ve let me get married to that guy. They’ve been married forever and are completely happy with each other. I’d never want anything less than that.”

“My parents stayed married too. I don’t know that they were always so happy with each other. They seemed happy enough.”

“What does that mean, ‘happy enough?’”

Graham brought his gaze back into the room, settling on her. “My father was married before, but his first wife left him. Then, he met my mother, and they dated. My mother got pregnant with me, so they got married. I don’t think either one of them were the other’s first choice, but they love each other.”

“How do you know?”

“My mom got sick a few years ago with early stage Parkinson’s disease. My dad was so devoted to her. The way he looked at her. He brought her these little gifts to make her smile. He did his best right up until the end.”

Alexa wrapped her arm around his. “That’s sweet. I’m sorry to hear about your mother.”

Graham patted Alexa’s hand. The softness in his eyes made her heart squeeze. The thought of losing a parent made her bones shiver.

“My parents were college sweethearts. My mother never seriously dated anyone but my dad. He’s been her entire life. It’s hard on her. He’s a cop. He doesn’t patrol anymore, but still...my mom is counting down to his retirement at the end of the year. I can only imagine what it would be like to lose a parent. That’s…I don’t even know what to say.”

“It’s okay. It’s not easy. No matter how old you are, but I can’t imagine feeling that fear of losing your parent as a kid. At least I was an adult before I had to think about that.”

“I try not to think about it at all. He’s a detective now, so it’s better.” She nearly continued, but found she had nothing else to say on the topic.

“You mentioned Oklahoma City the other night. Is that where you’re from?”

“Yes. My dad is on the force there.”

Alexa shifted from leg to leg, dodging eye contact with Graham to avoid breaching the wall she mentally erected as they spoke.

Her childhood had been a good one, and she hated talking about the downsides of what her father did for a living. Contemplating what can go wrong and saying it out loud were taboo in her house.

“Do you two have any other questions?”

The sudden inquiry from the event manager caused Alexa to jump away from Graham as if they’d been caught necking under the bleachers. Alexa stuttered, and Graham assured the hotel representative they were fine. After his smooth reply, they made their way back out to the parking lot.

Alexa reached her car door and then felt Graham’s hand on her elbow. His touch both calmed and excited her.

“Listen, about the other night, I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was judging you. I think you have every right to do what you want with me or anyone else.”

The combination of his imploring apology and the bright twilight sun behind him crinkled her brow. Half of her wanted to jump in the car and peel out. The other half soaked up Graham’s touch like a thirsty plant.

“You don’t have to apologize. You were basically telling the truth. That’s how I’ve been in relationships, but that doesn’t mean that’s all I’ll ever want. I’m open to more if the guy warrants it.”

She intended that to be her conciliatory, parting note, but his jaw tightened.

“And I don’t?”

This time, she reached out and squeezed his upper arm. Graham tensed at the contact. A charge of tension and excitement passed between them.

* * *

T
his conversation should have made
him run the other direction. Alexa presented a confused mix of wanting reassurance and commitment out of a man while offering little in return. He knew he should recognize that for the nightmare it was, but he couldn’t. Graham felt more determination than aversion.

“I don’t know if you do or you don’t.”

“I might, then.”

Alexa fidgeted with her car door handle. Nervous humor crept into her voice. “You might. I don’t know. I’m not good at this, to be honest. I practice not bothering to look for more than that.”

“That’s too bad.”

“I need to get going.”

Graham accepted her unconvincing mutter as if she meant it. “Okay. So, I’ll see you around?”

“Probably. Look, I don’t mean to make it sound like…I don’t know. Like I’m not interested or that you’re not worth my time or however it sounds. I mean it when I say I’m not good at this.”

“At what, exactly?”

“Building more. Relationships.”

The utter confusion on her face beguiled him. He could show her what more looked like—if she let him.

He stepped toward her and brushed her chin with his thumb, settling it in the divot under her bottom lip. His other hand slipped behind her neck, feeling the soft fuzz of her hairline under his fingertips. He leaned in, but didn’t kiss her.

“This is more, right now. No rushing into bed. No rushing out the door. Just standing here together. Now.”

Her breath heaved, and he pulled his right thumb forward under her jaw. Her pulse beat against it, faster and faster. His eyes met hers. Her lids lowered in expectation.

“Kiss me.”

He held back.“No.”

As the moment expanded, her lips parted. Her tongue slid over her bottom lip and back again before she caught the edge of the plump flesh between her teeth. The movement almost undid him, but he kept his jaw snapped shut and went back to staring at the sparks of jade in the brown of her eyes.

She pressed forward, touching her forehead to his. Her mouth opened wider, but only to release a huffing laugh, then a whisper. “How long are we going to stay like this?”

“However long you’ll let me.”

“Okay then.”

Alexa lifted her chin and moved her lips lightly over his. Her breath mixed with his own, and the sensation pulled the blood away from his brain and to a lower, less thoughtful place. He held his breath.

Not giving her what she wanted only encouraged her. She extended the tip of her tongue to Graham’s lips and traced halfway around the bottom one before the desperation of desire overtook his control.

He grabbed her by the hair and thrust his tongue into her mouth, breathing again and like it was for the first time. The taste of her awakened memories of her body clenching his, and he lost himself.

He dropped his hands to her hips and gripped her closer, pressing his clothed erection between her legs and advancing until her ass stopped against her car door.

Her hands closed around his head, urging him deeper into her mouth. Her sweetness and fervor electrified every nerve in his body. Then, as suddenly as they came together, her palms shoved him backward, and he had to let her go. Her warmth left him.

One soft brown gaze met another.

“I’m hungry,” she declared. “Buy me dinner?”

“I could make you dinner at my place, but you live closer.”

“You can pick something up on the way to mine.”

“Deal.”

Graham stepped away from her.

She stood like a statue, hand poised on her car door. Leaving her frozen, he weaved through the lot toward his SUV and jumped in, feeling an urgency that scared him.

A
lexa tested
the limits of her sports car to get home. She showered at record speed, pinning her hair up in a plastic shower cap so she wouldn’t have to spend half an hour blow-drying it. She skipped redoing her makeup and threw on a T-shirt and jeans over a matching set of lace underwear in deep lavender.

The woman staring back at her in the mirror turned, posed, and declared herself ready for prime time.

When Graham knocked on the front door, her legs stiffened with nervous energy as she approached it slowly, breathing deeply.

Alexa leaned on the open door. “Hey. What’s for dinner?”

Graham gripped the handles of the paper bag with two hands as he came in. “A steak and veggie dinner and a salmon and veggie dinner. I know you like to eat healthy. Take your pick.”

SheS bent closer to get a view of her dinner. “I’ll take the salmon.”

“I did okay, then?”

Graham moved the bag to one hand and tipped up her chin with his other index finger.

“Fishing for compliments?”

“I went in search of food. I want to know if my lady is pleased.”

“Not yet.”

“You smell like the tropics.”

“I showered.”

“Now I feel like a pig. Would it be presumptuous to ask if I can shower real quick?”

“You don’t have to take a shower.”

Alexa took the bag from him and dropped it by the couch. The need for proper refrigeration crossed her mind, but she didn’t care. Graham smelled of sweat and a day’s work, and her pulse revved like her BMW.

She spread her fingertips over his chest and leaned into him, lips parted in sure expectation. Still, the pressure of his mouth on hers gave her a thrill.

Tiny shocks of joy rolled through her, swirling into the pit of her stomach. She trembled, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Had this been what he felt like on New Year’s? Alexa hated that the evening blurred every time she thought of it—especially now, experiencing him again.

His tongue rolled softly over hers. With her arms pinned between them, she longed to run her fingers through the gentle waves of his chestnut hair.

The sensations of his kisses threatened to knock her into oblivion, but she pulled it together to unbuckle his belt, then bring her hands back up to his chest. Warmth infused her, and the world around her dissolved. Only the sweetness of his mouth and the beating of his heart against her wrist anchored her in time and place.

Graham dropped his arms and pulled away from her mouth before recapturing it with a quick succession of kisses that tugged her lower lip between his teeth.

Alexa took advantage of her freedom and scraped her fingers down his abs and over his zipper. His solid flesh shifted under her finger tips as he pressed against her, his forehead on hers.

“Forget steak. I could eat you for dinner.”

His soft, whiskey-colored eyes sharpened on her. Then, he kissed her hard and found the hem of her T-shirt. In a flash, he exposed her laced cleavage to his ravenous eyes. Nips of his teeth traveled the swell of her breasts, slowing around each curve.

When his teeth found her nipple through the wet lace, Alexa fell into him as her left knee buckled.

“My bedroom is down the hall.” The direction rasped out of her desire-tightened throat.

“Lead the way.”

She plucked open the button on her jeans and slid the zipper down as they raced down the hallway. They reached her bedroom, and she stopped in front of the quilt-covered bed. Folding herself over, she pushed the denim down her smoothly muscled legs.

Graham moved beside her and traced the scalloped edge of the panties stretched across her ass. She looked up at him as he pinched the lacy fabric in one hand and a condom in the other.

“How much would you hate me if I tore these off?”

Alexa straightened and peered at him sideways.

“No panties need to die.”

She pulled them carefully down over her hips and legs and stepped out of them, hooking the lacy wisp of fabric on her fingertip. She turned and waved them in his face.

“Be kind to the lingerie.”

He snatched them and hurled them into the corner of Alexa’s dimly lit room. She cocked her head to the side.

“Come on. I’ll be kind to yours.”

Graham thrust his hips forward. “I’m not wearing lacy underpants.”

“Let’s see. You never know.” She snapped the waistband of his black boxer briefs. “Too boring. Those have to go.”

Graham pulled his pants and underwear down and kicked them to the side, then lifted off his shirt. Alexa took in the sharp line of his shoulders and the narrowing of his defined chest to firm abs.

The tiniest push and Graham fell back on the bed. She climbed on after him, legs folded underneath her at his side. Liquid infused her body—her limbs fluid, her mouth watering, her core clenched and wet.

Alexa’s trail of kisses started in the center of his chest. She drew her tongue across his pecs and stopped over his left nipple. Her teeth returned the biting favor while she grasped his erection in her hand and gave it a long, squeezing tug.

Graham tangled his fingers in her hair to lift her head, but she stayed fixed with his hard nipple in her mouth and the satin iron of his cock in her hand.

He pulled on the back of her head, and she turned. Her gaze traveled up his heaving chest to his eyes peering at her.

“Is there a problem?” The question came at her in a low grumble.

She tightened her hand and pulled, stopping to stroke his slick tip with her thumb. His belly rippled and hardened with a sharp intake of breath.

Graham pulled harder on her hair. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to put this on.” He waved the condom in his left hand. “And then, I’m going to flip you on your back.”

Alexa shook his fist from her head and stretched beside him. “You have to be on top, huh?”

She voluntarily rolled to her back, laughing as he nudged her legs apart. Then, he straightened up on his knees and tore the wrapper open with his teeth.

“This is better.”

“Sexist.”

“Probably.”

He unrolled the condom down his impressive length and dropped to one elbow, widening her knees with the weight of his hips.

“You’ll love it.” He thrust into her, hard and fast.

She did.

He pressed to the hilt again and ground against her before crushing her mouth with his. A ripple of his tongue accompanied each long thrust.

Rational thought and her resistance to this man evaporated. All she could taste, smell, or feel was him—the tug of his hands in her hair, his back rolling under her fingers in rhythm as he plunged, and the scratch of the hair on his legs against the smoothness of hers.

Each time he drew out of her, Alexa took a moment to catch a breath before he crashed into her again. Graham buried his face in her neck, punctuating his motion with a series of groans that grew deeper and deeper.

The friction of their bodies locked together in motion, first coiled sensation in her core, tighter and tighter, then it snapped, unraveling threads of pleasure in her blood. Her orgasm pulsed, heating her face and curling her toes.

“God, Graham!”

He let go. Forehead to forehead, he stared directly into her eyes and thrust longer and slower once, twice more. Every muscle in his body went rigid and then, he fell against her.

“Fuck, that was amazing.” He slapped the side of her thigh and grinned. “Tell me you didn’t love it.”

Shockwaves twitched from her clit up her belly even though he’d stopped moving. Alexa vowed not to return the satisfaction. “Not bad.”

Sweat beaded on his hairline, and he touched the tip of her nose with his. “You’re a liar.”

“Maybe.” A satiated sigh escaped her. “Probably.”

His lips played with hers until she opened to him and their tongues rolled together. Tiny shivers shot through her again. She ran his short, silky hair between her fingers.

Her mind began to coalesce again even with the new onslaught of awareness. She was a liar, and he spoke the truth. Amazing.

* * *

“
I
want
to do this again with you. Again and again.”

Alexa remained silent and pulled the tie on her short robe tighter. Every time she reached forward to stab a piece of food on her plate, it gaped open. Graham raised his chin and kept his eyes on her.

“You’re not getting rid of me so easily.”

“I don’t want to get rid of you.” Her admission swelled his bare chest with victory.

“Good. I love a chase, but catching you is more fun.”

And keeping you.

The thought died as quickly as it rose in his mind. Keeping was out of the question. She didn’t want that, and he didn’t know what he wanted beyond another round with her in bed. Sleeping with her to get her out of his mind might take a little longer than anticipated, which was just fine with him.

“Yeah, it is.” She nibbled on her grilled zucchini, still staring at him until she must have realized it and looked down at her plate.

She wanted him more than she’d admit to herself, which was crazy. Why not just go with it? However long this thing between them lasted, it was bound to be a hell of a lot of fun.

He took another bite of his flank steak. Its chewiness kept him from saying anything else, and she wasn’t in a talkative mood. They ate in near silence for another couple of minutes. Graham looked around her kitchen.

“I should find the rest of my clothes.” He’d only slipped on his boxers when hunger drove them from the bed.

“You should stay a little longer. The food is giving me more energy.” A lure in her voice hooked him, sending the blood rushing to his crotch.

Graham coughed to keep the meat from going down the wrong way. “Whatever you say.” He took a gulp of red wine.

“Good.” She stabbed another vegetable and popped it in her mouth.

They made small talk until she finished her dinner and downed the last of her wine. Then, she stood and slinked over to him, saying nothing.

Graham stood and took her hands in his, draping her arms over his shoulders. He thought she was going to kiss him on the lips and licked them in preparation

Instead, feathery kisses brushed from his chin to his ear. She suckled his neck, biting—no doubt leaving a hickey for him to explain in the morning.

Her touch covered him from neck to hip—fingertips, palms, and the occasional thumb strumming his nipples. The burn of wanting her intensified, pushing him to the edge.

“Let’s go.”

He pulled Alexa around the corner and back down the short hallway of her small house. Once in the bedroom, he grabbed her face and kissed her before guiding her backward on the bed.

She stretched her arms overhead slowly and extended her legs, pointing her toes. Graham yanked the sash of her robe, and it fell open.

Creamy mocha breasts tipped with brown mounded on her chest above a length of hard stomach and a generous expansion of hip.

He slid his hands between her knees and separated them. Their mutual desire thickened silence between them as Graham descended between her legs.

* * *

G
raham buried
his face between Alexa’s breasts and had just reached for the juncture between her legs when he started wide awake and pissed off. He always woke up in the best parts of his sex dreams.

The soft sighs of the woman sleeping next to him ruined his hope of a middle-of-the-night romp. He considered following through on the invitation to stay the night, but a half-hour later, he lay flat on his back, three cups of coffee and two energy drinks worth of awake. He needed his own bed.

Graham glanced again to his right. Half of the symmetrical lines and curves of her face, smashed into the pillow. Her eyelashes fluttered, and he held his breath, wondering if she would wake up. She stilled and stayed sleeping.

His mind tossed him back to the last time he saw her like this. He chuckled to himself and rose from the bed.

Alexa’s desk sat against the far wall, opposite the bed—a small mess of papers and unopened mail. Graham located a sticky note and a pen and scribbled. Turning back to the bed, he smoothed the paper onto the pillow.