WindSwept Narrows: #17 Pepper Ambrose Read online

  “I’ve never opened…” she scrambled to her knees, determined and opened the belt. She felt his hands on her head, fingers pulling the pins free and allowing her hair free.

  She moaned softly when his fingers speared the thick hair, massaging against her scalp and tilting her head back for his kiss. She shoved the zipper down and pushed the slacks to the edges of his hips, vaguely aware that they went to the floor and were kicked aside.

  She blinked for a quiet minute in the dim room when he bent and pulled something from his pocket, dropping shining packets to the nightstand before moving forward. Pepper moved back to the center of the bed, her arms up and circling his neck when their mutual assault began as if it had never stopped.

  She’d never known anything like it. The crashing sensations that seemed to careen into one another with each new place he stroked, each different touch he offered. His mouth was hot and moist against her breast, teasing, biting and repeating until she thought she’d go mad wanting more.

  She pushed against his shoulders, rolling him to his back and moving half over him, twining her leg with his until he stroked over her thigh and slid his fingers between them. Her mouth left his in a deep gulp, her teeth grazing his throat when the first spark of lightning threatened, teetered and went off like fireworks.

  Chase felt her tightening around his fingers, felt himself go impossibly hard as he reached for a packet and fixed the protection in place. He eased between her thighs while she was still gasping, stroking, prodding and stopping when the tight hot feeling sent a shouted message through his system.

  Before he realized what she was doing, she brought one leg high on his side and shifted them both. Long blond hair fell around her shoulders, dripping over the tips of her breasts. Her palms rested against his chest, her breathing ragged as she pivoted and tilted her hips against him. She stared into his eyes and let herself relax.

  Chase felt like he’d been body slammed and knew his heart had skipped several beats when her knees had split. His mouth was open, his eyes rolling at the pleasure when he was buried completely inside her, the long, slender body seeming to melt forward atop him. His teeth were ground together in a severe attempt at control, to not move and force his brain to think.

  “Pepper!” Her name groaned between his lips. His hands went to her waist, then her shoulders. He would have lifted her from him except for the softest of mews and the blond head lifting lazily. Then her hips began to move, coaxing, teasing and incredibly arousing. “Stop…Pepper, stop moving…Jesus…”

  “No…” she whispered and kissed over his chest, onto his throat and then covering his mouth. “More, Chase…I want it again…what you did…”

  “Are you alright?” He struggled to push the words from a fogging brain through a throat drying up from gasping for breath as she continued her movements. Tensed, taut muscles had slowly opened to him, sinking him a little deeper, caressing him with a continual pulse of her body to his.

  “Hmm…marvelous…” she breathed against his mouth, rising slowly, back arched and head back.

  Chase listened to his own, loud, deep groan at the vision and the sensual assault that was rapidly sending his blood back to the boiling point.

  “Pepper…honey, listen to me…are you hurt…”

  The soft tinkle of laughter and the smile she leveled upon him sent relief shooting through him enough that he could allow his body to react and move with her.

  “Oh, no…I’m pretty sure it wasn’t pain at all that you gave me…” Her fingers were splayed against his chest, her hips rocking, twisting and stroking in very small, very controlled movements. “I want it again, Chase…please…teach me how…”

  Chase dampened his fingers and reached between them, touching, caressing, stroking the alert nub. His other hand went to her breast, his thumb circling the pink nipple until it was puckered and sensitive.

  “Lean forward, Pepper…oh, god…yes…angle your hips forward but not the rest of you…Christ, woman…” he saw the effect in her eyes, wide and mesmerized at the sensations she was experiencing.

  Somewhere in the back of his mind echoed words he knows he should have keyed on. But even as he felt himself spiraling higher, he didn’t want to think about it. He watched her lips part, those glorious sky blue eyes wide in amazement at the same time the walls careened around him.

  Knowing she was crashing over a cliff, his hands moved to her hips, holding her firmly in place while moving his own with an ageless need. Long, hard strokes fueled him as the flush of palest pink tinted her skin atop him. He rearranged them carefully, looking down at her and moving, stroking, needing and demanding.

  She curled her long legs around him and clung to him, soft plaintive cries from her lips as her body rippled into another softer eruption that seemed to flow like a tide with every thrust he offered. Her hands came up to grip his arms, her hips moving with him, to him, for him until his shout filled the small apartment.

  Pepper had wound her arms around his neck, slim fingers stroking over his head, through the damp tendrils of hair and over his forehead. But the muscles in her legs slowly admitted defeat and slid gracefully toward the surface of the bed.

  Both of them were gulping in large breaths and her eyes only opened when she felt him move, raise his head and peer down at her, braced on his elbows. She smiled at the tender fingers raking through the hair at the side of her face.

  “It’s funny to see without glasses…on you or me…” She shivered when he caught her palm and placed a long, slow kiss in the center before he rolled to the side.

  “Don’t move…” He said gruffly.

  “Hmm…” But she sat up and lifted his shirt from the floor, wincing. “Chase…I think I damaged your shirt…” She held it to her face and drew in a breath meant to steady her seconds before she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

  “I’m sure I have others,” he told her with a low chuckle, a broad grin filling his eyes when he stepped from the bathroom to see her sitting in the center of the large bed. She’d put on his shirt but not buttoned it and definitely looked like a child playing dress up. “Hmm…not so sure about the fit…but it is incredibly sexy looking.”

  “No…but it smells like you,” she said, eyes closed as she gathered the sides over her face.

  Chase slid over the surface of the bed, one palm gliding over the bent knees she had split on either side of her. He wasn’t quite sure how her body did that and not hurt, but the vision she presented was sweet, feminine and his, he declared to a mind that had been working through the puzzling attraction to Pepper Ambrose.

  “I’m not entirely sure how I damaged the buttons…” she glanced over and saw he wasn’t concerned.

  “We left a trail of clothing through the apartment, Pepper,” he said with a low chuckle, a definite haze over that portion of the night in their frantic effort to get at each other.

  “Hmm…I guess we did…”

  “I was a little concerned it was the wine…” He loved watching her digest things he said.

  “Oh…that I only…we only…because I was drunk? Doesn’t make me look too good, does it?” She asked softly, crawling forward and lying across his chest, several pillows behind him where he rested against the headboard, a tangle of blankets resting from his waist down. “Wine makes me…relaxed and talkative…but if I didn’t want this…you…it would never have happened.”

  “Since I know it’s never happened before, I know, Pepper,” his fingers stroked over her head, tangling in the long lengths of so many colors.

  “It shouldn’t have happened,” she said softly, refusing to look up until she felt his palm close around her chin and force her to meet his gaze. “He’ll know…Chase, he’ll know…I don’t know how…but I can’t…I can’t let you be hurt! Don’t you see that?”

  “Who, Pepper?”

  “My father,” she whispered.”

  “And for some reason you seem to think I can’t take care of myself?” He pushed the words slowly bet
ween his lips, wondering just how she could take him from heaven to hell in less than ten minutes.

  “I can’t predict…I don’t think I could handle it…” her head fell forward, her forehead against his bare chest. “I couldn’t…” she whispered. “I know better…”

  “Is that why you don’t let guys close?”

  “Even friends…he told me…I’m disobedient and when I refused to follow orders, he told me no one would…he’d never allow it…” She tried explaining. “And I know it sounds…ludicrous…I know that…I’m an adult and he’s…he’s a predator…but he’s hurt friends of mine because he thought…he believed…”

  “How, Pepper?” He drew his palm soothingly over her head. Whatever fear was inside her, the last thing he wanted to do was add to it.

  “I don’t…he finds ways…ruins their business…their jobs…rumors and….muggings where nothing was stolen…home invasions…the police think I’m paranoid because he isn’t even here. He’s across the country.”

  “Well…I hate to ruin your plans, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m not letting you set the rules on this one,” Chase met the wide eyes when she lifted her head. “I don’t care how sappy or sloppy or insanely crazy it sounds, but you’re not walking out of my life unless you can sit there and look me in the eye and tell me you don’t care. Can you, Pepper?”

  “Don’t do this to me,” she closed her eyes, tried forcing his image away.

  “To you? After the twenty four hours we spent together you think I can let you do this to me, Pepper? You think I can just cheerfully walk away? You haven’t had experience with this, but trust me…what just happened between us goes beyond anything I could have imagined. I’ve never…” He stopped and let his head fall back, pale lashes down as he tried drawing in a steadying breath.

  “I’m sorry…you don’t know what he’s capable of, Chase…you don’t know…”

  “Until half an hour ago, I was scared shitless that he’d raped you, Pepper! I was afraid something I’d do…some move I made…would take you back and hurt you all over again,” Chase met the lashes she lifted slowly, his groan low when he saw the moisture swimming over the blue eyes. He gathered her closer, holding her against him and brushing her head with his lips.

  “I have to work tomorrow,” she said when her voice was level enough not to shake too badly. But there she lay, half on him, half on the bed; decked out in his open shirt and holding on with everything inside her. And she didn’t want to let go.

  “I know the feeling…sadly, it’s already tomorrow,” he told her, reaching over and turning the lamp out on the bedside table. He slid lower, until her mouth was within range, his kiss softly enticing.

  “You’ll stay…” She whispered over his mouth, shivering at the tingles beginning to form inside her, a low moan breaking free when his fingers captured a nipple pleading for his attention.

  “You’re holding my shirt captive…”

  “Hmm…I have to thank you…for thinking ahead, Chase,” Pepper sat up slowly, glancing absently at the packets that had fallen to the nightstand.

  “I have to stay over-night in Seattle tomorrow, Pepper,” he started to lose focus when she slid her leg over him at the knees and began kissing her way across his stomach and lower, gentle fingers exploring and sending blood rushing far, far from his brain. “I have a room reserved…come with me tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Tomorrow is a half day…we end at noon,” she whispered, her fingers tracing delicate lines along the hardened male, from end to end.

  “The room is on the top floor…there’s a skylight over the bed,” he recalled his room request vaguely. “We can have dinner in the room…”

  “I’ll pack some Saturday clothes and wait outside the resort for you.”

  “I’ll be there about two,” he groaned loudly when she followed her fingers with her tongue and then her mouth, his body tensing when she rose and crawled slowly higher. He didn’t remember ever seeing such a sexy sight, the edges of his shirt hung open, her small, full breasts peeking out now and then as she moved higher, wild blond hair framing her face as she brushed her mouth over his chest. His hands went to her waist, holding her firmly in place when their mouths found one another.

  Chapter Six

  Pepper couldn’t remember sleeping so soundly. Or being woken so sensuously in the middle of the night. A low groan broke from somewhere under the blankets when the alarm began to chirp at six in the morning.

  “I know you’re in there,” Chase came out of the bathroom, slacks still unbelted and resting low on his hips. He put his hands on the bed, grinning into the bright blue eyes half shielded with pale lashes when the blankets lifted slowly. “I hate to be a bother…but you’re holding my shirt hostage…I’d rather not go shirtless into the lobby of the resort, Pepper,” he watched her duck beneath the blankets, the slim body writhing and patting down, dark mumblings coming from inside. A hand came from beneath the blanket.

  “It’s not looking too good…sorry…” Pepper sat up and stretched, yawning and forcing her eyes wide and feeling the girl in her whimper. He had some seriously nice muscles and she remembered touching and licking each and every one of them from the night. “You always wake up looking so good? And…awake?”

  “Hmm...I’m sure it’s a character flaw,” he shrugged into his shirt and worked the buttons. “Pasta and prawns in creamy cheese sauce good for dinner?” He watched her nod and step onto the floor, long legs and curving form striding into the bathroom. He heard the shower start as he tapped out the hotel they were staying at tonight.

  “Good morning, my name is Chase Montgomery and I have a reservation for one of the suites on the upper level,” he listened to the request. “I’d like to place a room service order to be delivered at ten-thirty. Yes, we’re attending the benefit. Thank you,” he waited, wandering through the small apartment and finding his tie on the floor and his jacket tossed to the sofa. Shoes and socks were located nearby as he slipped the earpiece over his ear and dropped the phone in his pocket, working on the rest of his clothes.

  “Mr. Montgomery? What would you like to order, sir?”

  “Two fettuccine alfredo with prawns. One with sliced tomatoes. Two green salads with balsamic dressing and bottle of wine, a white Chardonnay. Make the delivery for after ten. Thank you. Yes, we’ll be there a little after four, I believe.”

  “You like sliced tomatoes with your pasta?” Pepper came out of the bedroom, dressed in jeans and simple blouse, her hands working a brush through the long hair, twisting and binding it into a high riding ponytail at the back of her head.

  “I love sliced tomatoes…more so when it’s summer,” he took her free hand and walked with her to her closet. “You need something for the benefit…”

  “Oh…is that why you’re going to be in Seattle…alright,” she stepped into the closet, fingers pulling dresses to the side and lifting a black one from inside. She held it up to her and turned to face him. “Okay?”

  “Nice…” He cupped her chin and kissed her softly. “I’ll see you at two, Pepper.”

  “Bye…have a nice day…” she brought her fingers up with a little wave as he went back to the main room, the sound of the closing front door making her sigh.

  Pepper found a pair of heels and slipped her dress into the small case she was taking. She added clean underwear, toiletries a small bottle of perfume and a light shawl to go over it. She had her things packed and ready to go by the front door before she grabbed up her pack and took off at a run to her office.

  She was glad there was nothing but work this morning. Each time there was a lull in her paperwork, her mind wandered to Chase.

  And then to her father. She’d always been hardest on herself. Harder than any of her employers. Maybe it was because her father had never been easy on her. She’d never been able to prove it. But it became too much of a coincidence when each time she became friends with any male, something happened to him. She hadn’t cared about them the way she fe
lt about Chase. And it frightened her to her toes that he wouldn’t listen.

  Chase sat back in the comfortable chair in Mac’s office, watching him pace the floor.

  “You’re serious?” Mac rubbed the back of his neck. “Lucas…and Mia…had a problem like that. I can’t believe…”

  “The more technology grows, the more people will use it, Mac,” Chase didn’t like his suspicions. “I don’t know how else to explain just how he’s uncovered things about her that are intensely personal. You’ll need to talk to Cassidy…I asked her to join us…and here comes your lovely wife now.”

  Cassidy looked from one to the other, her frown evident. “This is not how I wanted to start my Friday, Chase.”

  “You know her story. You know what she’s lived through because of her father,” Chase said flatly. “She’s told you about her friendships where things…just happened?”

  Cassidy leaned against the desk, legs stretched out and ankles crossed. She leaned forward, long silver hair falling forward. “Yes…yes, she told me. But there was never any proof. Just…”

  “Just him…telling her…with no witnesses…that she would do as she’s told, or else,” Chase pushed the words through his teeth. “And alright…maybe I can accept the ones when she lived at home. But when she left? In Las Vegas? How the hell would he know if she had friends or not?”

  “Suspicion isn’t a justifiable reason to go into her unit…” Mac began, torn between common sense and legalities.

  “I can,” Cassidy said from her bent over and muffled position. “It would be easier if Pepper asked me, but I can. Based on what I know…”

  “If I tell her, she’ll panic and I’ll be working damn hard to keep her from bolting to protect me,” Chase told them flatly. “That’s why I haven’t told her my suspicions.”

  “The tenant agreement allows me to enter with appropriate personnel and do the sweep,” Cassidy straightened up slowly. “And it really isn’t a legality, because I know Pepper wouldn’t file a complaint. But I don’t have to be comfortable with it.” She straightened up and looked at Mac. “You have the things here you need?”