Midlife Love Story

My eyes bugged out of my head, at least that’s how it felt as his words fell like a bomb between us. “I’m sorry, I must have heard wrong.”

Chase set the plastic bins down and took a step forward, his gaze serious, his green eyes dark and foreboding. “You heard me. I want us to give this another chance.”

“Well if that’s what you want, then I guess it has to happen doesn’t it?” My words were as sarcastic as they could be. “Why would I agree to this when it would change absolutely nothing?”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, but I do. At first I thought this was all about your privacy, like you said, about some sense of having something just for yourself. But that’s not it at all. You’re just like every other man on the planet, terrified of commitment. Your position as mayor just gives you a better excuse than most.”

“That’s not true,” he insisted. “You saw what they were like!”

“Yeah, I did. They were too curious and incredibly nosy, just like always. I don’t know why you think you get to be exempt as mayor. These people care about the people of this town and they want them to be happy, plain and simple. No one is forcing you to get married or even get serious if you don’t want to, but that’s the point isn’t it? You don’t actually want to.”

“Don’t say that,” he growled, his voice as angry as the expression on his face.

“Look Chase, I get it, the truth is difficult to hear, and damn near impossible to accept. But we can’t change who we are or what we want in life.”

He took another step closer and heat flared in his eyes. A beat later his arms wrapped around my waist and pull my body flush against his, hard and sculpted. “There’s something else we can’t change, Carlotta, this heat that swirls between us whenever we’re together.” A grin split his face a moment before his mouth crashed down on mine, practically drowning me in the heat and desire he offered.

I wanted to resist, wanted to pretend his kissed did nothing for me, but I couldn’t. Instead of resisting, I dove in head first, consequences be damned.

For now, anyway.

Chapter 26

Chase

As soon as our lips touched, all of the oxygen fled the room. It was difficult to breathe, to find one extra breath of air, because I was so consumed by the feel of her plump lips against mine, the tangy taste of some kind of alcohol mixed with chocolate or something sweet. Her kisses were the only ones I wanted, the only ones that mattered, and though Carlotta gave in to the kiss, her curves pressed against my body, arms wrapped tight around me, I knew this wasn’t actual capitulation.

She wasn’t giving in, not yet, at least not to anything beyond this burning lust that wouldn’t seem to go away. When she was around I wanted her, and if this kiss was any indication, it was the same for her. We were trapped by the fire that swirled around us, the flames licked at our bodies, threatening to incinerate everything in its path.

Sweat beaded on my forehead as her hands slid down my back in slow, drugging moves that sent shivers up and down my spine. She sucked my tongue and I damn near lost every ounce of control and willpower I’d been holding on to since she walked up her porch, beautiful and exhausted. “Carlotta,” I growled and nipped her bottom lip. From one jaw to the other and then down her neck. I enjoyed every gasp and every shiver that told me she was just as into this as I was.

Maybe more.

I picked her up and tossed her onto her oversized, squishy sofa, smiling at her gasp of shock that tore into the silent room.

I kissed my way down her body and removed every stitch of clothing she had on from the little black dress to the sexy heels that showed off shapely calves and highlighted the curve of her ass. She was so damn gorgeous, I couldn’t look away, and once she was bared to my gaze, it took a miracle for me to do anything other than stare at her feminine beauty.

“Chase,” she moaned and tangled her fingers in my hair.

I started at her ankles and kissed my way all the way back up to her sweet, plump lips. Juicy and soft like the ripest of fruits. Our lips and tongues and teeth tangled together in a wet mess, and when she pulled back, Carlotta’s eyes were glazed over and her lips were swollen from my kisses. I wanted her too badly to wait, I was too hungry to stop as I kissed between her breasts, stopping to lavish love on the bouncy flesh and the hard nubs as she squirmed and moaned beneath me.

She let out a soft throaty moan and I looked up at her with a smile.

“I’ve been dreaming of you for days Carlotta. Just like this.” I let out a long breath and opened her to my gaze. She pulsed under the heat of my gaze or the gust of air I blew on her.

“Chase,” she moaned or maybe she panted, either way the sound was like a shot of whiskey, so hot it burned.

“That’s me,” I growled. “Remember I’m the one who makes you feel this way.” My head fell forward and there she was, hot and wet and sticky on my tongue. I licked her until she squealed, sucked on her clit until her hips bucked against my jaw. I loved on her with my mouth until she couldn’t stand it and squirmed and squealed.

“Chase.”

I smiled and hooked one arm and then the other behind her knees, my hands clasped hers until we were tangled up, palm to palm, completely attached in nearly every way. Taking advantage of our position and her vulnerability my tongue went back to work, swirling around her clit and thrusting deep inside her body. Over and over I licked and sucked at her core and I refused to let up until she was a quivering mess on my tongue.

“Oh!”

I smiled against her and hummed my approval, the vibrations sent her hips bucking but she couldn’t move, not enough. Up and down my tongue flicked against her clit, more and more moisture gathered and dripped from her body and down my chin. When I tugged her clit into my mouth and sucked it, over and over again, she bucked and she howled as her body vibrated, quivered and shook with force of the pleasure that poured from her body.