Jill Shalvis - Chance Encounter

And for that moment, she was. “Touch me,” she whispered again.

He reached between them to do just that, his fingers driving her with a deliberate sureness that told her he already knew her body better than she did. “Like this?” he asked, his fingers slipping into her with exquisite care. He brought her to the edge with one stroke. She grabbed his arms so tightly she probably bruised him, but she didn’t want him to stop. Not ever.

“Ally?”

“Yes! Yes, like that!” She dipped down and ran the tip of her tongue across his bottom lip. His breath caught, and beneath her, she felt him, hard and heavy, pushing against her soft flesh, felt the thrust of his hips against hers. Fisting him in her hands, she stroked him slowly from base to tip, thrilling to the way his body writhed.

When he couldn’t take it any longer, he pushed her hand away. Splaying his fingers over her bare back, he urged her forward, drawing her close so that he could open his lips on one of her breasts. His tongue flicked over her nipples, laving each of them with equal care before drawing one between his lips to suck hard. The pressure continued to build within her and her body tightened. “Now, Chance. Please, now.”

Eyes fierce, mouth taut in a line of hunger and need, he guided her over him, sinking into her slowly, so slowly she thought she would die from the wanting. They were naked body pressed to naked body, sweat-slicked skin to sweat-slicked skin, and she couldn’t get enough of him, of touching, of tasting him. She couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything for fear of blinking and having it all be gone. It couldn’t be so real, so right…could it? Afraid to let herself hope and dream, she had to close her eyes, had to hide, but he placed his hands on the sides of her face and made her look at him.

“No hiding now.” His eyes were alive with passion, his mouth wet from hers, his breathing labored as if he’d run a race. “No more hiding for either of us.”

No more hiding. Good thing, because the love she was holding back was currently threatening to choke her. “Chance-”

“Yes. Now. Watch.” And he rolled her to her back, surging up so that she could see him enter her with each flex of his hips, could watch her own hips rock up to meet his. It was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen and she struggled to keep her eyes open, to bite off the dark sounds of unbelievable pleasure as she strained against him.

“It’s never been like this,” she told him. “Never.”

He stilled for a moment, then plunged deeper, harder, again and again until she started to shudder. Her climax ripped through her, ripping her heart and soul as well. “I love you,” she whispered and he shuddered, too, letting out a low, wrenching groan as his own orgasm gripped him. She wondered if he’d heard her words, but the mixture of passion and torment on his face said that he had. Threading his fingers through her hair, he gathered her close for a kiss that claimed her mouth as surely as he’d claimed her heart.

And when they could breathe, he took her again, as if he could somehow drive the need out of him. And then again, deep into the night. Finally, he fell into an exhausted slumber, and for a long, long time Ally watched him sleep, thinking she would give anything to be entwined with him like this forever, held against his chest, close to his heart.

But as soon as he woke up, this special interlude would be over. Oh, she’d let him touch her again, because she couldn’t resist. He was a masterful lover.

But she knew now without a doubt what she wanted in life, and it had to be more than lust. As the light of dawn drifted through the slats on her wooden blinds, she touched him one last time, her fingers skimming over his rough jaw, her eyes soaking up every inch of him. “You’re so beautiful,” she whispered. “Inside and out.”

He didn’t budge, lost in his exhausted slumber.

“I’ll never forget you,” she said softly. “Never.”

And she slipped out of bed.

WHEN CHANCE WOKE AN hour later, he found himself reaching for Ally. It shocked him, how natural it felt to do so. How natural it felt to look into her big gray eyes and want her to smile at him. He thought about what it would be like to roll over every single morning for the rest of his life and reach for her, and had to admit, he liked the thought.

Where was his usual restlessness after a night like the one they’d shared? Where was his urge to get out of bed and run like hell?

Gone. Vanished, like the rest of his reserve when it came to Ally. He’d never felt this way for another woman. He actually wanted more. He wanted all those things he’d never given much thought to before. Commitment. A home. Children. Forever.

But Ally hadn’t asked him for any of those things. To the contrary, she’d always planned on leaving. And for the first time in his life he found himself in the awkward position of wanting more from a woman than she wanted from him. Yes, he was completely over the top in love with her, and she loved him back. He might not deserve that love, but she’d offered it and he wanted it more than his next breath.

But she was still leaving.

He lay still for a moment, absorbing that, and the fact she wasn’t in the bed with him. She’d come back any second, he told himself, maybe even with that sexy yet shy smile, the one that made him want to tumble her down again and have his way with her.

Which he’d done many satisfying times during the night.

A grin broke free at that, and he stretched languidly, lasciviously, thinking no matter what time it was, they could spare a few extra moments to make love again. Then he’d tell her how he felt about her. It was time to let go of his fear of commitment, time to give in and realize Ally would never hold him back, she’d only enhance everything about his life.

It took him awhile, but he eventually realized the cabin was far too still. He slid his hand over the pillow they’d shared, when she hadn’t been sleeping sprawled across the top of him. He’d learned many things about the incredible, warm, passionate Ally in their time together, and one of them was that she was a complete and utter bed hog.

He liked that about her.

But her side of the pillow, though seeped in her light, sexy scent, was ice-cold.

With a jerk of his heart, he shoved up to a sitting position, his gaze searching the room. The closet was open and he pushed the covers aside and hopped out of bed to go look. He tore past the leggings, the new fleece sweats, the wet suit…everything she’d purchased here at the resort. He was looking for the clothes she’d brought with her from San Francisco, the clothes she’d never once worn here, but they were gone.

And so was she.

He threw on his clothes and ran down the path to the lodge. She’d be there, he told himself.

But she wasn’t. He searched everywhere, and the longer he searched, the more desperate he became because he knew the ugly truth. He’d made her unhappy. God, what he’d give to fix that. He wanted to see her smile at him with that love in her eyes, the love he’d been afraid of. He wanted to live with her and watch them both turn gray. He wanted every damn thing. But it was too late.

He was too damn late.

All Jo knew was that she’d indeed left. When Chance called Lucy, she was annoyingly vague, too, telling him she was being released in a few days, that she’d come by the resort to see everyone and that they could talk then.

He couldn’t wait that long. His heart felt like someone had taken a two-by-four to it. How could he have waited so long to face the truth about loving Ally? He’d been so busy being the big, bad, tough T. J. Chance, only his sweet, determined Ally had really been the brave, tough one all along. She’d gone against the grain just to come here. To stay here. She’d risked her self-esteem and confidence to face this world she’d known nothing about.