Adrift, page 20
She’d issued a statement that had been released on social media, thanking her fans for their support during this personal time. Lawyers were preparing to sue the media company that had published the photos. The Feds were sending a cop detail to Chase’s place to stand guard until their team arrived to take Becca away.
He stepped out of the gas station and paused, his gaze catching on the silhouette of a man walking away from the parking lot. Alone. He hadn’t been there when Chase had pulled in.
He automatically glanced at Becca. She was still asleep, the doors still locked.
Still, he watched for another few seconds until the guy got into a truck and drove out of view up the side street next to the station before heading to the vehicle. Becca woke when he got in, sitting up and blinking sleepily. “Where are we?”
“About an hour from home.”
She nodded and leaned her head against the window again, apparently done talking.
Chase pulled back onto the highway and kept heading toward KDH, having no idea what to say. Banal conversation was beyond him at this point, and everything he wanted to say would just make her retreat further.
The idea of losing her ripped him apart inside, dread building with every mile he drove. Afraid that no matter what he said or did, she wouldn’t come back to him.
A searing pressure built in his chest when he reached the bridge into Colington, until it felt like his ribs would split apart. Fuck, he couldn’t handle this. Couldn’t stand how detached she was being. How could she shut him out like this, shut off her feelings so fast, especially after last night?
Unless it’s an act.
Fuck. He glanced over at her as he parked in his garage. She was one of the best actors in the biz. Was that what this was? Was it really that easy to pretend he meant nothing to her?
A squad car was parked out front of his house. The cop got out, a young guy, and walked over to their vehicle to talk to them both. He smiled at Becca. “Hi. I’ve checked the house, and it’s secure. You can both go inside. I’ll stay here until the agents arrive.”
“Is it just you?” Chase asked, frowning.
“Yeah, we’re stretched a little thin tonight on the local force.”
As soon Chase pulled the key from the ignition, she opened her door and started to get out. Before he could change his mind, he caught her hand. “Bec.”
She stopped. Hesitated a moment before looking back at him. Her face was set, her expression unreadable. And her eyes…
The devastation in her eyes gave her away.
As if she knew it, she pulled free of his grip and got out of the car with her bag.
Chase slammed his own door shut and rushed after her as she stepped into the house, barely remembering to close the garage door. The kitchen was quiet, lit by a single lamp in the far corner by the French doors.
“Becca, wait.”
She didn’t stop. Didn’t even slow as she headed for the stairs without a word, in a hurry to get away from him.
No way in hell.
He caught her shoulder before she’d reached the bottom tread, yanked the bag from her hand and spun her around to face him.
He smothered her gasp with a deep, hungry kiss, drowning out any more protests or excuses, pouring everything he had into it. His lips slanted across hers, his tongue delving deep, hands fisting in her soft hair.
She thought she would just walk away after everything they’d done? That it would somehow protect his reputation and save him from misery?
Fuck that. Her leaving would be misery. Would literally rip his heart out and leave it bleeding on the ground.
He kissed her with a desperate fury he couldn’t lock down. Frantic, desperate to get through to her.
Desperate to crack the wall of ice she’d erected around herself and prove to her once and for all how good they were together. How much she meant to him. That he needed her.
That he loved her.
She gasped when he lifted her suddenly and pinned her to the stairwell wall, pressing their bodies flush together as he kissed her hard and deep, pouring everything he felt into it.
Frustration. Love. An aching tenderness mixed with protectiveness and a primal urge to possess her that he couldn’t shut off.
It felt like he’d only just found her. He wouldn’t lose her now. Refused to let her go without a fight. And even if she still walked away after that, he’d follow her.
A seam popped when he grabbed the front of her shirt to drag it upward, his hips keeping her in place while his other hand tugged one side of her bra down. The instant the hard point of her nipple popped free he was on it, sucking and licking, rubbing his tongue across it. Becca moaned his name and pushed deeper into his mouth, her body bowing against his.
She wanted him. Needed him. Cared about him too, even if she was too damn stubborn to admit it.
His left arm banded around her ass, the other splayed across her back to hold her in place as he pulled her from the wall and started for the bedroom where he planned to fuck her until she begged him to let her come. She was his, goddammit, and he would willingly face whatever consequences came from being with her through any scandal the world could dish out.
No one was taking her from him.
His heart tripped at the way she clung to him, holding his face in her hands as she kissed him back with total abandon on the way up the stairs. His shoulder bounced off the corner of the wall at the top, but he barely felt it, turning for his room at the end of the hall.
He kicked the door shut behind him and took her down on the bed, covering her from chest to thigh with his body.
The streetlight threw a warm glow through the slats in the blinds, giving him enough to see her face as he lifted his head. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, her breaths coming in rapid little pants as she stared up at him.
“Mine, Bec,” he rasped out, diving back in for another taste. “You’re mine, do you hear me?”
They tore at each other’s clothes. In seconds they were both naked, both groaning at the feel of being skin to skin.
He wasn’t gentle this time. He let his need for her guide him, hands gripping her hips hard, then her thighs while he buried his tongue between her legs to taste her. Claim her.
Her startled cry echoed in his ears, but her hands clenching in his hair drove him on. He slowed a little, licking and teasing the swollen knot of her clit. Sucking softly until she bowed up with a plaintive mewl that sliced through him.
Come on, sweetness, let me in. Melt for me like you did before.
He circled the fragile bud, drawing out every ounce of pleasure for her that he could, then drove his tongue into her. Tasting her as intimately as he could. Trying to brand her.
Her thighs tightened around his head. Chase withdrew his tongue to caress her clit again, slid two fingers inside to stroke while he sucked tenderly.
Becca’s breathing halted. He could feel her body tensing, gathering for the coming explosion.
He stopped. Shoved upward to claim her mouth once more, his hands busy rolling a condom down the length of his pulsing cock.
Becca clung to him, panting, her long legs coming up to lock around his waist. Chase rubbed the length of his erection against her swollen folds, dropping soft, tender kisses on her parted lips, reveling in her honest response to him.
This was real. What they shared was real, and too rare to give up on.
He flipped her over, pulling her up onto her hands and knees. She braced herself on her hands and tossed her hair back, meeting his gaze over her shoulder, her eyes dark and heavy with desire.
Chase growled low in his throat and moved in behind her, one hand coming up to cradle a breast while the other guided him to the glistening folds that tempted him.
“Say you need me.” The command came out as a deep rasp, his hips rocking slowly, gliding his rigid length along her sensitive flesh.
She hissed in a breath and pushed backward toward him, demanding more.
He locked his fingers around her hip. Clamped down as he dragged his teeth against the curve of her neck. “Say it, Bec.” Please say it.
“Need you,” she whimpered, reaching back to grab his nape, fingers digging in deep.
He closed his eyes at the proof of her need, buried his face in her neck and surged forward in a firm, slow stroke that buried him to the hilt in her heat.
They both sucked in a breath. Chase clenched his jaw, fighting back the looming orgasm already rushing at him.
This was too good. Too good to rush. And he needed to make his point.
He reached around her, pushing his hand deep between her thighs. Settled a finger on either side of her clit. Squeezed ever so gently while he thrust into her, his free hand twisting her nipple carefully.
Becca made a choked sound and grabbed his hand between her legs, holding it there. He nipped the side of her neck, soothed the sting with his tongue, a thrill rushing through him at the way she shivered.
“Gonna make you let go,” he told her, his breathing erratic and his pulse drumming in his ears.
“Yes, please,” she whimpered, fighting to move.
Chase gave a low chuckle and tightened his grip on her hip, stilling her. “You like control, Bec. You like staying in control and keeping people at a distance because you think it keeps you safe. But you’re not in control right now—I am.”
She sucked in a breath, expelled it on a long, liquid moan as he began sliding his fingers along the sides of her clit and kept up with the slow, steady roll of his hips.
He’d never been this turned on, something about dominating her satisfying a primal need he’d never known before her. “I can feel you clenching around me. You getting close, sweetness?” He stroked her nice and slow.
Her core squeezed his cock. Milking him. “Yes. Chase, please—”
He upped the pressure on her clit, his fingers forming a tender vice. Her voice fractured, a choked sound coming from her throat. She quivered in his hold, panting. Almost there.
He slowed his touch, delaying her release, and scraped his teeth over her neck again. “Mine, Becca. All mine,” he grated out. “You don’t get to take my heart and then walk out on me.”
She shook her head. “Chase. Need you,” she choked out, trembling.
The sweetest words he’d ever heard.
“I know. I need you too.” He closed his eyes as triumph and pleasure ripped through him, resumed his motion and drank in every cry, every shattered breath until she bucked and called out his name as her orgasm hit.
Chase held her tight and drove deeper, harder while she writhed, letting his own pleasure unfold. He kissed her neck, her shoulder, released her breast to capture the side of her face and twist her to meet his kiss. His tongue plunged between her parted lips, hungrily seeking hers, twining, stroking while he rode her, fire streaking up his spine.
The pleasure grew, winding tighter and tighter, until he was right on the edge. He pulled his mouth from Becca’s, forced his eyes open. Stared through heavy lids at the unguarded expression on her face.
His muscles locked, rendering him helpless as the orgasm ripped through him. He was only vaguely aware of the strangled roar coming from his throat, and then her mouth was on his. Drinking in the sound, her hands cradling his face, her tongue licking at his.
Chase groaned and sank into it, letting everything go but her. Never her.
Finally, chest heaving, he pressed a tender kiss to her swollen lips, eased out of her incredible warmth and reached for her, drawing her to his chest as he lay down beside her. His chest tightened when she came willingly, curling up tight into his body, her face tucked into the side of his neck.
Her shoulders jerked. Alarmed, he drew back to cup her chin in his hand. She tried to turn her face away, but he refused to let her hide. When he saw the tears in her eyes, his heart clenched. “Shh. It’s going to be okay, sweetness.”
A quiet sob slipped free. “I hate this.”
Ah, shit. He crushed her to him, holding her as close as he could, one hand cradling the back of her head. “I know. But they’re going to make sure you’re okay. And I’ll be right here waiting for you when it’s over.”
She threw her arms around him and pressed in tighter. “I don’t want you to get hurt if this turns ugly. I can’t bear to see you get hurt because of me—”
“Hey.” He hugged her close, stroked a hand over the length of her back. “I’m a former Marine. I can take it.”
She shook her head, shuddering. “You d-don’t understand.”
“I do understand. And I told you before, I don’t give a shit what anyone says or thinks about me, other than you and my family.” He buried his nose in her hair. “Don’t shut me out, sweetness. I won’t let you go. I can’t.”
BECCA STRUGGLED TO get her composure back, a spark of hope igniting deep inside at the determination in his voice. For the first time in forever, she wanted to believe that her life was about to stabilize.
At the same time, her mind kept blaring a warning that she was fooling herself, and everyone close to her was going to get hurt and publicly humiliated because of her.
She felt like she was being torn in half. She’d fallen so hard for Chase. He’d been so good to her, had completely stolen her heart, and worse, she had even started letting herself dream of a future with him.
There’s no way this could last. Everything about it was too perfect. Chase. The way they were together.
He said he understood what the consequence of Rick leaking those photos were, but he couldn’t. He was too new in the industry, didn’t know what people in it were really like. She was prepared to get a call from her agent any time now, telling her that the producers had decided to drop her from her next few projects. And it might go even farther than that.
Her lawyers, agent, assistant and PR team were already taking steps to try to combat the damage, but Rick’s first strike had done what he’d intended.
She exhaled a long, shaky breath and closed her eyes, focusing on Chase. Within an hour the FBI would take her away from him, and she’d be on her own to face Rick tomorrow. It terrified her. But it had to be done.
“One way or the other, he won’t have any power over you anymore,” he told her, the stroke of his hand soothing.
“Yes.” She just prayed Chase would stand by her through the coming storm, and still want to stay once it ended.
Drained, exhausted, she forced her mind to empty and allowed her body to melt into his hold. He held her like he wanted to protect her from everything, like she was the most precious thing in the world to him. The ache in her heart grew, making it hard to breathe. They didn’t have much time left together.
“Shhh, Bec,” he whispered into her hair. “It’s gonna be okay, I swear it.”
She hoped so. Hoped…for a lot of things. Maybe more than she deserved. “I don’t want to get up, but I need to pack my stuff and be ready for them when they get here.”
“Five more minutes,” he murmured.
It wasn’t hard to persuade her. Keeping the world at bay for five more minutes sounded heavenly. “Kay.”
She closed her eyes, mind just starting to drift when she heard something downstairs. Like the tinkle of breaking glass.
Chase tensed, lifting his head.
“What is it?” she whispered, heart jolting in alarm.
“Stay here,” he muttered, jumping from the bed to grab his clothes and boots. “Someone’s in the house.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rick kept to the shadows as he crept along the canal behind the houses. The address where Becca had arrived at not long ago was mostly dark, only a dim light on downstairs in what appeared to be the kitchen.
He reached back and drew the pistol from his waistband, the knife scabbard shifting against his calf as he snuck alongside of the house, careful to stay away from the motion-activated lights mounted on the exterior. The neighborhood was quiet, no one around.
At the corner of the house, he paused, his black clothing and mask helping him blend into the shadows. There was a cop car parked along the curb out front.
He clenched his jaw, silently cursing. The car was empty, but it meant there was at least one cop somewhere around here. He hadn’t come this far to get fucking arrested. Not when his chance to get Becca was so close.
Ducking around the front, he drew up short when he saw the cop lying sprawled on the grass near the front walkway, the streetlights illuminating the pool of blood spreading from the slash in his throat.
What the fuck?
He stared at the dead man, alarm gathering tight in his gut. Who the hell killed him, and why? Killing a cop and leaving his body out in the open was stupid.
The back of his neck prickled. This had to be because of Becca. Was someone else here to get her?
He sucked in a breath as something even worse occurred to him. What if the killer had already broken in and taken her?
No.
Raw fury exploded through him. No fucking way. She was his, and he would kill anyone who tried to stop him from taking her.
Clutching his weapon, he made another slow circle of the house. There were no other cops. But there was someone else out here as well. Someone he needed to be careful of. And now he couldn’t be certain Becca was even still inside.
He snuck back around to the rear of the house, his pulse accelerating as he neared the kitchen window and began to jimmy it open. She had to still be here. He hadn’t come this far to lose his chance now.
This was his moment, and he wasn’t letting it go to waste.
****
“Hide, then call 911, and don’t come out until I call for you,” Chase ordered Becca as he yanked his jeans on, heading for the bedroom door without looking back.
He jerked his shirt over his head on the way out into the hallway and hurried to the top of the stairs on silent feet, listening intently. That had definitely been breaking glass earlier, and it wasn’t Ryder dropping something, because no vehicle had pulled into the driveway.
The house was still and silent, no sound coming from the main floor, but his senses were tingling, telling him they definitely weren’t alone. There were no firearms in the house. Bowie had taken the gun safe and contents with him when he’d moved in with Aspen.
