Love Match (3 page)

He didn’t give her time to respond but looped his arms
beneath her knees and plunged deep and hard.

Heaven.

Dear God, it was heaven and it was good to know He actually
answered prayers sometimes.

“You’re so tight, sweetheart. Damn. I could fucking fuck you
all day and never stop. Got that? I’d never stop.”

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t ever stop.”

“Not deep enough.” He moved incrementally, feeling her
tighten around him. “Hell, yes. That’s better.”

“Ace? Ace.”

The taut sound of her voice alerted him, as did the way her
body milked his cock. Plunging harder, ramming deeper, he fucked her until she
stilled, stiffened and flew apart with a ragged cry. It was too much. Pleasure
raced from the heels of his feet, settled in the base of his spine and ran
teasing fingers over his balls. His cock seized as he came, pulsing hard and
strong into the fragile latex barrier.

With a sigh, he rolled to her side and gathered her close
against his body. Replete, more than satisfied, he settled his lips on her
forehead and let himself fall deeper into love than he’d ever been before.

Chapter Three

Steam curled from the oversized tub in Ace’s room. Leaning
back against his sturdy chest, Chloe felt suddenly different and new, as if all
possibilities were open to her again. For the first time since Scott’s death
she felt whole, complete.

Ace smoothed warm water over her arms, chasing the drops
with his hands. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, then her neck, the touch of
his breath sending sensation down the length of her arms.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered. His hands moved to cup her
damp breasts. Lightly he thumbed her nipples, stroking them to throbbing life.
Lust curled low in her belly to settle in her core. She was deliciously sore
but obviously not so much that she wouldn’t welcome another long, slow fucking
from the man she’d never been able to forget.

“I think I knew even ten years ago that you were special.
You’re even more so now.”

“Hm. Time for revelations, I see.” Chloe rolled her head
against him, loving the feel of his strong chest muscles against her back. She
looked up at him. “Can you answer a question, Ace?”

“Yeah.”

“If I was so special to you back then, why did you break
things off and leave me? I was crazy about you. Madly in love and then suddenly
it was over and you were gone.”

Ace shook his head then dropped it back to rest on the rim
of the tub. Drops of water clung to his thick, dark lashes. “You knew where I
came from, Chloe. You were the poster girl for the all-American family and I
came from poor white trash.”

She gasped. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s true and you know it.” Ace laughed bitterly. “My
ability to play tennis and the scholarship that came with it were the only
reasons on God’s green earth I could’ve gone to college in the first place.” He
opened eyes that were swimming with emotion. “I never quite thought I was good
enough. Hell, I don’t know. Maybe I thought that if I joined the pro tour I’d
become some kind of star and I’d finally deserve you.”

“I can’t believe you thought that.”

“Looking back, I can’t believe it either.” He pressed a kiss
to her forehead. “I was young and made the wrong choice. And then I was injured
and hell, I knew my career was over. It was going nowhere anyway. Bottom line,
I never was good enough.”

“Oh yes you were.”

Ace laughed and Chloe heard the genuine humor in his voice.
“That’s what I love about you. No one is more loyal.” He cupped her face, his
laughter fading until only a slight smile remained. “Sweetie, I was good but
never great. I’m okay with that. I have no regrets about that part of my life.
My education was paid for, I saw a lot of the world and discovered something I
was truly good at.”

“Your pictures?”

“Yeah. I was injured so often that many times I’d run around
with my camera shooting pictures of the truly great players.” He shrugged. “I
love it. I happen to make a pretty good living at it now.”

Chloe stretched up and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I don’t
think I’ve had a chance to tell you how proud I am of you. You’ve made a good
life for yourself. How do you like living in California?”

“I love it. Have you ever been to San Francisco?”

She shook her head. “I’ve seen pictures. It looks
beautiful.”

“Would you come out to visit? You could bring Alyssa. She’d
love it.”

Hope and fear mingled inside her. Chloe caught her breath.
Sincerity filled his dark eyes. Oh God! She was falling in love with Ace all
over again. But could it work after all these years apart?

“What do you see happening here, Ace? A future for us?” Her
heartbeat sped up and she turned in his arms. She knelt in the water between
his legs, terrified to believe her dreams could come true. Lordy, he was
gorgeous. Long, lean and ripped with muscle, and she knew she could spend the
rest of her life looking at this man. His cock rose up beneath the water and
Ace’s eyes went dark with lust.

“Don’t you?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, reaching out and filling her hands
with his erection. Ace moaned low and she smiled as she drew her hands over his
length. “Maybe we should double-check our compatibility though. What do you
think?”

Minutes later, they laughingly dried each other, touching
and stroking until, passion riding them hard, they raced naked back to the
bedroom. Ace grabbed her up and swung her through the air until she squealed.
Finally they fell together on the rumpled sheets, a mass of entangled limbs,
until Ace loomed over her, grinning.

“Wait a minute, big guy,” she said, giving him a little
shove. Once he was on his back, she grinned down at him. “You aren’t going to
call
all
the shots in this relationship.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. This is a partnership all the way.”

“Keep that in mind,” she said, practically purring as she
straddled his torso. She pressed her damp pussy down on his hard cock, making
her catch her breath as pleasure flashed through her center to curl low in her
belly. Rocking her body, writhing over him, she closed her eyes. “Touch my nipples.
They ache.”

He touched her nipples, squeezing them lightly, rolling
them. Finally he came up on his elbows and took one in his mouth to suck.

“Yes, Ace. That feels so good,” she breathed. “Harder. Yeah,
like that.”

Passion spurring her movements, she drew her pussy over him
repeatedly until she couldn’t stand the torment a moment longer. Gasping for
breath, she was surprised when Ace moved her from his body and stacked the
pillows against the headboard. He sat back against them and brought her close again.
After reaching for a condom, he positioned her legs on either side of his body,
then raised and bent his knees as she slowly impaled herself on his cock.

Pleasure spiked sharply as she lifted then lowered over him.
Every nerve ending sat up and screamed as he used his heels to lift himself and
meet each downward stroke. Nothing had ever felt more right, and then Ace bent
his head to take her nipple in his mouth. Using his teeth and tongue, sucking
hard, he increased her pleasure to astronomical heights. Tingles cruised along
her scalp, and her nipples tightened against Ace’s tongue.

Chloe drew her hands over the warm strength of his broad
shoulders and over his neck before sinking her fingers into his dark hair. The
thick strands curled damply around her fingers and she buried her face there,
holding him close as he fucked her, sucked her, brought her to heights she’d
never felt before, not even with Scott.

And then all thoughts of her old love flew from her mind as
her new love increased the speed of his thrusts. She met every pumping stroke,
rotating on his cock until each pass brushed her swollen clit. Again and again,
they moved in perfect point and counterpoint until finally Ace reached between
them to lightly pinch that tormented bundle of nerves. Crying out, lost in an
orgasm that sent light and color swimming through her brain, Chloe clung to
him.

Ace released her nipple then took her mouth. He cried out
too as they spun out of control.

Together.

* * * * *

Mondays sucked.

Last night she’d said a sad goodbye to Ace, knowing that her
heart hadn’t ached this badly in a very long time. In the end, she’d not spent
much time with her friends and she felt awful about it, but being with Ace was
her new obsession. She hadn’t wanted to give it up but the choice was taken
from her when Ace had driven her back to the house, walked her to the door and
kissed her.

The kiss rang of finality and it killed her.

She wasn’t a fool to believe that he’d fall desperately in
love with her in the space of a few days, tell her he never wanted to let her
go and promise rings and rainbows. She’d given up being silly long ago. Fairy
tales were just stories and Chloe had always been a realist.

Listlessly she folded her things as Lindy sat on the edge of
the bed, watching her quietly. “You fell in love with him all over again,
didn’t you?”

Chloe sighed. “Just shoot me.”

Lindy stood to help and settled Chloe’s floral makeup bag
into a compartment in her suitcase. “Why don’t you stay for a little while? The
others left last night and it’ll just be the two of us. Might give you a break
from things.”

Impulsively Chloe reached out and hugged her friend. “I
can’t believe I’ve been away from you for so long. You are good for me. Please
promise you’ll come for a visit.”

“To Texas? I’d love to. Maybe you could help me pick out
some amazing cowboy boots.”

“Sounds like a plan. And I’ll feed you the best barbecue and
Tex-Mex you’ve ever eaten. Your taste buds will sit up and shout
olé
.”

Lindy laughed as Chloe zipped her luggage and pulled it from
the bed. “The size of my butt expands just thinking about it.”

Together they’d made it about halfway down the stairs when
the doorbell rang. Lindy sprinted the last half-dozen steps and opened the
door. Ace stood framed there looking like something out of Chloe’s hottest,
wettest dream and she froze. She had no idea why he was here but he didn’t look
happy. When her heart started to beat again, she headed down the stairs. Before
she could take a step, however, he was there taking the bag from her hands.

“I’ve got it.”

She laughed, slightly embarrassed by the shaky tone. “My
hero.”

Lindy beat a hasty retreat while Chloe followed Ace into the
foyer and watched him set the bag down. Straightening, he looked at her. The
intensity in his gaze sent a shiver racing over her skin and her heart thumped
as memories whipped through her system. The whole avalanche of emotion was
topped off with a dollop of pain that curled low in her belly. “Why are you
here, Ace?”

He shook his head. “I hated saying goodbye to you last
night.”

“Me too but you still haven’t answered my question.”

Ace moved in on her and sent his arms around her to pull her
close. “I couldn’t sleep last night. You?”

She shook her head. “Not much but, Ace, you are a bona fide
globetrotter and I’m a homebody with a little girl waiting for me back in
Texas.”

“Fuck.”

“Precisely. We did a lot of that and it was wonderful but
sadly, the reunion is over and the real world beckons.”

Ace pressed his lips to her hair then bent low to kiss her
mouth. His tongue swept the surface until it dipped deep to taste her fully. It
was a hungry kiss, a kiss of possession and need and Chloe responded to it like
a woman starved for the touch of a man. And not just any man…Ace. Unable to
prevent it, she actually whimpered as sensation coalesced in her body and the
power of her feelings invaded her mind. He pressed his body against hers,
letting her know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t done with her. Not now,
at least.

Thank God.

He broke the kiss. “The real world doesn’t have to crash
down on us yet, does it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Recall that little town about twenty miles from here? We
used to drive out to the lake to make out.”

“Like bunnies.”

He laughed. “Figured you’d know the place.” He moved his
dark brows up and down. “If memory serves, you lost your virginity out there to
a really sexy tennis dude.”

Oh my.

Yeah, did she
ever
remember the spot. Memories took
her back to a hot, frantic initiation to sex and a first love so strong it was
a miracle that anything could have replaced it.

Shaking her head, struggling to think clearly, she stared at
him. “What are you suggesting?”

“Can you spare a few more days for a man you once loved? I
promise to make it worth your while. There’s a little cabin out there. I
impulsively booked it for a couple of days. Yeah, I jumped the gun, so sue me.”

Joy bounced around in her brain for a second or two. Finally
she smiled. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” She leaned into his rock-hard
body and pressed her breasts to all that firm muscle. Her nipples ached
deliciously at the contact. “I shouldn’t but you have such awesome ideas. I’m
not ready for this time to be over yet either. Let me make a few calls.”

* * * * *

“Are you sure there’s really a lake here?” Chloe stretched
naked over his body and settled her lips on his jaw. She sucked, licked and
nibbled his flesh and how in God’s name was a man supposed to tease with a
woman while so fucking turned-on? She lounged as though she were a goddess and
his body was her own personal chaise. “I mean, really,” she whispered. “We’ve
been here for two days and I don’t think I’ve looked at it once.”

“Lake? What lake? Damn, woman, you’re so sweet. I want your
sexy ass underneath me right now.” Filling his hands with the body part in
question, he rolled with her until he had her where he wanted. His dick was
stiff and ready for action, complete with requisite latex, so he rubbed it
along the seam of her labia, loving the way her flesh burned him even through
the thin protective barrier. Beneath him, Chloe squirmed, struggling to get
closer, a sexy little smile curving the most perfect lips this side of heaven.
Unable to resist, he kissed her slowly at first and then harder as his lust
burned higher and hotter.

She was the most elegant woman he’d ever known and in his
all his years of globe-hopping no one else had compared. Boring? Ace well knew
she thought of herself that way but her inner tranquility and the natural
sexiness she exuded called to him on a level he’d never experienced with
another woman. Chloe possessed the cool beauty of Grace Kelly and the impish
personality of Audrey Hepburn rolled into one fantastic modern woman.

He wanted her but he needed to see if he was man enough to
crack that shell of composure she wore like a suit of armor. Rising up on his
elbows, he looked down at her and, knowing this was their last night together,
ramped his need up a dangerous notch. Unsmiling, he stared into pools of deep
blue and gripped his cock at the base. “Ready for me? Ready for what I want to
do to you, darlin’ Chloe?”