“Stop it, Andie,” he said, his voice low.
“Well then tell me what this is about!” she shouted, throwing her hands up in frustration. “I deserve an explanation, goddamn it!”
Chase could feel heat pooling in every surface of his body, feel his hands shaking. He had no idea what was coming, and he was afraid to move, afraid to open his mouth for fear of what might come out.
So he stood there, his eyes on her, and said nothing.
Andie stared at him, waiting for an answer, but after nearly a minute of silence, Chase watched as the bravado slowly left her body; the anger melted from her expression, and suddenly she just looked defeated.
He looked on in horror as her eyes welled with tears, and when she spoke, her voice was trembling. “You’re a coward,” she said before she turned and headed toward the door.
He had let her leave once. He would not make the same mistake again.
In three long strides, he crossed the room and grabbed her arm, turning her quickly as he pulled her back toward him. She stared up at him, her eyes wide with alarm, and before he could even think about what he was doing, he brought his mouth to hers.
He felt her arms come up, and for a split second, he thought she might hit him. But instead they slid around his neck, her fingers snaking into his hair as she pulled his mouth against hers, and in that second he stopped thinking altogether.
His hands came to the small of her back, pressing her body against his as he continued to kiss her, causing her torso to bow with the force of it. When he felt the arc of her body, the way she was yielding to him, he began to pull back, but her hands in his hair curled into fists as she pulled him back toward her, asking without words for what he was giving her only seconds before.
With a soft moan he obliged, kissing her fully, their lips and breath combining with renewed urgency. Andie’s hands were still tangled in his hair, and he could feel his own fingertips digging into the flesh of her back beneath her shirt.
Every second of built-up tension, every ounce of forbidden longing, every illicit desire, had finally found an outlet; he could feel her readily submit to it in his arms, fueling his own surrender, giving it free reign as the onslaught of repressed emotions exploded between them.
Chase brought his hands up to her face, his thumbs caressing her cheeks, trying to show her through the frenzied kiss that this was more than just physical for him, but he couldn’t stop kissing her long enough to say the words.
As many times as he fantasized about this, Chase had never imagined her lips would be this perfect; every time he removed his mouth from hers, he found himself leaning back in just to feel them again. She actually tasted sweet, and he could already feel himself getting drunk off of her.
Getting addicted to her.
He ran his thumbs over her cheeks again, and she pulled back slightly, looking up at him. This time as he leaned back in, he took control of the kiss, slowing it down, brushing his lips against hers, parting her lips with his own, pulling back ever so slightly before allowing their mouths to make contact again.
With a tiny whimper that broke Chase’s heart and mended it simultaneously, she followed his lead, kissing him with the same reverence with which he was regarding her, and suddenly they were both present again, so achingly aware of each other, of every breath and sound and touch.
He brushed his lips against hers again, fighting every instinct in his body as he pulled away from her, lifting his hand to brush the hair away from her face.
“Chase,” she whispered, her voice a mixture of desire and confusion, and he leaned forward, kissing the tip of her nose as he tucked her hair behind her ear.
“How could you not know?” he whispered, and she looked up at him with those eyes that owned him from the first day he looked into them. “You have to know how I feel about you, Andie.”
She dropped her gaze, a slight blush coloring her cheeks, and Chase brought his fingers beneath her chin, lifting her face back to his.
“How could you think this was just about sex?”
She licked her bottom lip nervously, inadvertently tempting Chase to bring his mouth back to hers, but he would not allow himself to. Not yet. Not until he made his feelings clear.
“But…why…you said…that I should have…” she fumbled nervously, her voice barely a whisper.
“Andromeda,” he said softly, and she stilled, looking up at him. “I want you. And I’m not just talking about sex. I want you in every way. But…you deserve better than what I can offer you. He can give you things, a future and a life that I just…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I’m not Colin,” he finally said. “There’s a good chance I’ll fuck this up, and then it will have all been for nothing, and you’ll wish that you had—”
Andie shook her head before she pressed her mouth to his, silencing him. There were so many things he still wanted to say, and as much as he needed to clarify things with her, he was instantly pulled back into the kiss. His left hand curled around the nape of her neck as her lips parted for him, her tongue teasing his lower lip, begging for entrance. He obliged with a groan, and when she pressed him back against the wall, he lost all train of thought.
It was Andie who slowed things down this time, pulling back from him slightly, and he found himself leaning toward her, trying to prolong the contact.
“So…is that the only reason you told me I should have said yes?” she asked, and he pressed his forehead to hers.
“I’m ready to face my consequences, Andie. I just want you to be sure,” he whispered, his bottom lip grazing her top one. “I want you to think about what you’d be giving up.”
“There’s nothing to think about,” she murmured against his lips, kissing him with a feather-light touch. “I know you’re what I want.”
Chase closed his eyes as a pleasant rush of heat coursed through his body at her words—words that seemed too good to be true. “Say that again,” he whispered.
He felt her breathy laugh against his lips before she pulled back slightly, meeting his gaze. “You’re what I want, Chase.”
He brought his forehead down to hers again as a contentment he’d never known wrapped around him, nearly taking his breath away. Andie lifted her face, touching the tip of her nose to his as she gently stroked the back of his neck.
The emotions were coursing through him with alarming speed, none of them recognizable, but all of them powerful. He felt drunk, like something had taken over his body, bombarding him with waves of pleasure and satisfaction, and he never wanted to feel normal again.
He lifted his head then, looking at her, and she smiled up at him. He kept waiting for it to feel wrong, standing there with his friend’s ex in his arms, but the undeniable truth was, nothing in his life had ever felt this right.
“I can’t help it. I want this,” he said hoarsely, and she smiled, her hand still grazing the back of his neck.
“Then it’s yours.”
He brought his mouth back to hers, unable to fight his need to be touching her, and she wrapped her arms around him again, gently walking him farther back into the room as she continued to kiss him.
When he felt the backs of his knees hit the side of his bed, he froze, and with one more gentle nudge from Andie, his legs buckled as he sat back on the mattress.
Chase stared up at her, trying to read her expression. He wanted her more than anything. He wanted to feel her, adore her, finally make her his after all this time, but he didn’t want her to think she had to do this now.
“Andromeda,” he began, and her eyes fluttered closed.
“I love when you call me that,” she sighed, bringing her knees to the bed outside his thighs as she straddled his lap, and he brought his hands to her hips, looking up at her.