Love Match Read online

  “Wait a minute, big guy,” she said, giving him a little shove. Once he was on his back, she grinned down at him. “You aren’t going to call all the shots in this relationship.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. This is a partnership all the way.”

  “Keep that in mind,” she said, practically purring as she straddled his torso. She pressed her damp pussy down on his hard cock, making her catch her breath as pleasure flashed through her center to curl low in her belly. Rocking her body, writhing over him, she closed her eyes. “Touch my nipples. They ache.”

  He touched her nipples, squeezing them lightly, rolling them. Finally he came up on his elbows and took one in his mouth to suck.

  “Yes, Ace. That feels so good,” she breathed. “Harder. Yeah, like that.”

  Passion spurring her movements, she drew her pussy over him repeatedly until she couldn’t stand the torment a moment longer. Gasping for breath, she was surprised when Ace moved her from his body and stacked the pillows against the headboard. He sat back against them and brought her close again. After reaching for a condom, he positioned her legs on either side of his body, then raised and bent his knees as she slowly impaled herself on his cock.

  Pleasure spiked sharply as she lifted then lowered over him. Every nerve ending sat up and screamed as he used his heels to lift himself and meet each downward stroke. Nothing had ever felt more right, and then Ace bent his head to take her nipple in his mouth. Using his teeth and tongue, sucking hard, he increased her pleasure to astronomical heights. Tingles cruised along her scalp, and her nipples tightened against Ace’s tongue.

  Chloe drew her hands over the warm strength of his broad shoulders and over his neck before sinking her fingers into his dark hair. The thick strands curled damply around her fingers and she buried her face there, holding him close as he fucked her, sucked her, brought her to heights she’d never felt before, not even with Scott.

  And then all thoughts of her old love flew from her mind as her new love increased the speed of his thrusts. She met every pumping stroke, rotating on his cock until each pass brushed her swollen clit. Again and again, they moved in perfect point and counterpoint until finally Ace reached between them to lightly pinch that tormented bundle of nerves. Crying out, lost in an orgasm that sent light and color swimming through her brain, Chloe clung to him.

  Ace released her nipple then took her mouth. He cried out too as they spun out of control.

  Together.

  * * * * *

  Mondays sucked.

  Last night she’d said a sad goodbye to Ace, knowing that her heart hadn’t ached this badly in a very long time. In the end, she’d not spent much time with her friends and she felt awful about it, but being with Ace was her new obsession. She hadn’t wanted to give it up but the choice was taken from her when Ace had driven her back to the house, walked her to the door and kissed her.

  The kiss rang of finality and it killed her.

  She wasn’t a fool to believe that he’d fall desperately in love with her in the space of a few days, tell her he never wanted to let her go and promise rings and rainbows. She’d given up being silly long ago. Fairy tales were just stories and Chloe had always been a realist.

  Listlessly she folded her things as Lindy sat on the edge of the bed, watching her quietly. “You fell in love with him all over again, didn’t you?”

  Chloe sighed. “Just shoot me.”

  Lindy stood to help and settled Chloe’s floral makeup bag into a compartment in her suitcase. “Why don’t you stay for a little while? The others left last night and it’ll just be the two of us. Might give you a break from things.”

  Impulsively Chloe reached out and hugged her friend. “I can’t believe I’ve been away from you for so long. You are good for me. Please promise you’ll come for a visit.”

  “To Texas? I’d love to. Maybe you could help me pick out some amazing cowboy boots.”

  “Sounds like a plan. And I’ll feed you the best barbecue and Tex-Mex you’ve ever eaten. Your taste buds will sit up and shout olé.”

  Lindy laughed as Chloe zipped her luggage and pulled it from the bed. “The size of my butt expands just thinking about it.”

  Together they’d made it about halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rang. Lindy sprinted the last half-dozen steps and opened the door. Ace stood framed there looking like something out of Chloe’s hottest, wettest dream and she froze. She had no idea why he was here but he didn’t look happy. When her heart started to beat again, she headed down the stairs. Before she could take a step, however, he was there taking the bag from her hands.

  “I’ve got it.”

  She laughed, slightly embarrassed by the shaky tone. “My hero.”

  Lindy beat a hasty retreat while Chloe followed Ace into the foyer and watched him set the bag down. Straightening, he looked at her. The intensity in his gaze sent a shiver racing over her skin and her heart thumped as memories whipped through her system. The whole avalanche of emotion was topped off with a dollop of pain that curled low in her belly. “Why are you here, Ace?”

  He shook his head. “I hated saying goodbye to you last night.”

  “Me too but you still haven’t answered my question.”

  Ace moved in on her and sent his arms around her to pull her close. “I couldn’t sleep last night. You?”

  She shook her head. “Not much but, Ace, you are a bona fide globetrotter and I’m a homebody with a little girl waiting for me back in Texas.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Precisely. We did a lot of that and it was wonderful but sadly, the reunion is over and the real world beckons.”

  Ace pressed his lips to her hair then bent low to kiss her mouth. His tongue swept the surface until it dipped deep to taste her fully. It was a hungry kiss, a kiss of possession and need and Chloe responded to it like a woman starved for the touch of a man. And not just any man…Ace. Unable to prevent it, she actually whimpered as sensation coalesced in her body and the power of her feelings invaded her mind. He pressed his body against hers, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t done with her. Not now, at least.

  Thank God.

  He broke the kiss. “The real world doesn’t have to crash down on us yet, does it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Recall that little town about twenty miles from here? We used to drive out to the lake to make out.”

  “Like bunnies.”

  He laughed. “Figured you’d know the place.” He moved his dark brows up and down. “If memory serves, you lost your virginity out there to a really sexy tennis dude.”

  Oh my.

  Yeah, did she ever remember the spot. Memories took her back to a hot, frantic initiation to sex and a first love so strong it was a miracle that anything could have replaced it.

  Shaking her head, struggling to think clearly, she stared at him. “What are you suggesting?”

  “Can you spare a few more days for a man you once loved? I promise to make it worth your while. There’s a little cabin out there. I impulsively booked it for a couple of days. Yeah, I jumped the gun, so sue me.”

  Joy bounced around in her brain for a second or two. Finally she smiled. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” She leaned into his rock-hard body and pressed her breasts to all that firm muscle. Her nipples ached deliciously at the contact. “I shouldn’t but you have such awesome ideas. I’m not ready for this time to be over yet either. Let me make a few calls.”

  * * * * *

  “Are you sure there’s really a lake here?” Chloe stretched naked over his body and settled her lips on his jaw. She sucked, licked and nibbled his flesh and how in God’s name was a man supposed to tease with a woman while so fucking turned-on? She lounged as though she were a goddess and his body was her own personal chaise. “I mean, really,” she whispered. “We’ve been here for two days and I don’t think I’ve looked at it once.”

  “Lake? What lake? Damn, woman, you’re so sweet. I wan
t your sexy ass underneath me right now.” Filling his hands with the body part in question, he rolled with her until he had her where he wanted. His dick was stiff and ready for action, complete with requisite latex, so he rubbed it along the seam of her labia, loving the way her flesh burned him even through the thin protective barrier. Beneath him, Chloe squirmed, struggling to get closer, a sexy little smile curving the most perfect lips this side of heaven. Unable to resist, he kissed her slowly at first and then harder as his lust burned higher and hotter.

  She was the most elegant woman he’d ever known and in his all his years of globe-hopping no one else had compared. Boring? Ace well knew she thought of herself that way but her inner tranquility and the natural sexiness she exuded called to him on a level he’d never experienced with another woman. Chloe possessed the cool beauty of Grace Kelly and the impish personality of Audrey Hepburn rolled into one fantastic modern woman.

  He wanted her but he needed to see if he was man enough to crack that shell of composure she wore like a suit of armor. Rising up on his elbows, he looked down at her and, knowing this was their last night together, ramped his need up a dangerous notch. Unsmiling, he stared into pools of deep blue and gripped his cock at the base. “Ready for me? Ready for what I want to do to you, darlin’ Chloe?”

  “Can a woman ever be prepared for a man like you?”

  Her legs moved restlessly on the bed beneath him but the teasing look on her face faded when he dragged the head of his dick over her pussy. She was wet and perfect, her flesh silken, and Ace knew he could fuck her this way and she’d love it but he wanted her crazy for him. He needed to know that when she got in her car tomorrow and drove away that her body would still be pulsing with the satisfying fuck he planned to give her.

  He wanted her to love him and to remember.

  “Well let’s just see, Chloe. Are you prepared?”

  She opened her mouth but didn’t answer. He went to his knees between her splayed thighs and slowly pulled his hand up the stalk of his cock and pushed it down again. Her gaze locked on the manipulation, her tongue streaking out to dampen her bottom lip. “Look at how hard I am for you. I get this way every time I look at you. Even when you smile, I want to throw you down on the closest horizontal surface and fuck you until you scream my name.”

  Ace traced the opening of her pussy with the tip of a finger then sent another to join it as he breached her. As he’d thought, she was drenched, her slick flesh prepared for sex. Vaginal walls gripped his fingers as he thrust them deep, working her over, and her eyes drifted shut. Her back bowed from the mattress in her eagerness for more but Ace didn’t want her this way. He wanted to build a seductive memory that would torment her until she admitted she loved him.

  His fingers were wet from her juices when he withdrew them and flipped her body until her belly pressed against the sheets.

  “Umm—”

  “Shh. You have the best ass, Chloe. Let me look at it.” His palms traced the firm globes then drifted higher to tease the small of her back and her spine. Bending low, he settled his lips at her nape then breathed into her ear. His aching cock was pillowed against her fine butt. “I’m going to fuck you until you scream for me and then I’m going to give it to you again. If tonight is the last night I ever have with you then, by damn, I’m going to make it memorable.”

  Ace nipped the lobe, his own personal exclamation mark on the statement, then teased her neck and her back with the edges of his teeth. Lower and lower he trailed biting kisses until Chloe’s breathing quickened. Wanting to thrust deep more than his next breath, he gripped her hips and lifted until her ass was right where he wanted it. He placed her hands around the rungs of the old-fashioned headboard and, leaning over her back, kissed her fingers. “Hang on,” he murmured. “Hang on tight and don’t let go.”

  She didn’t respond but then the only response he needed would come when he brought her to earth-shaking orgasm. Ace planned to be right there with her.

  Still kneeling on the bed behind her, he looked his fill, enjoying every inch of her lush body. Her skin was pearly perfection. Reaching down, he filled his hands with her breasts. Hard, tightly drawn nipples pressed against his palms. Taking his time, he pinched them lightly then harder as tiny cries filled the air. Ace released her nipples then moved into fuck me territory. He stroked her creamy pussy with his fingertips then felt her go still when he dragged his tongue over her. Over and over he plied her flesh, finding her clit and drawing tiny circles around it.

  She needed more, he knew. A firmer touch followed the slow tasting when he pressed the swollen knot of nerves with the tip of his tongue then sucked it into his mouth. Ace kept a hard grip on her ass as he plundered and when Chloe quivered, he savaged her pussy, sucking the clit with alternating soft and hard pressure. Her cries grew louder as she flew apart from the assault. Her flesh pulsed beneath his tongue but he didn’t linger. Ace wanted to feel her pussy spasm around his cock before he brought her up again.

  Moving quickly, taking advantage of her vulnerable position, he guided his cock to the entrance of her pussy then slammed deep. Chloe screamed sharply, her pussy squeezing around him spasmodically as he held himself still. Pleasure rolled through his stiff dick and settled in his balls. They were drawn up high and hard, resting against the soft skin of her ass. Moving was both a blessing and a curse as sensation gathered at the base of his spine, engaging him body and soul, prompting him to fuck her hard and deep. Faster and faster he thrust until they trembled together at the edge of a pleasure so deep there were no words.

  No words.

  Ace’s head fell back as he absorbed each sensation, each sigh, each quiver into his pores. His cock throbbed as the pressure built and tingles raced over him from toes to scalp. Gritting his teeth against the need to blast his cum into her, brand her, make her his forever, he fought the urges until finally the fight was gone. In a wild burst of pleasure, he lost control. It was the most powerful orgasm of his life. Lights flashed and flared behind his closed lids and he roared as lust ripped through his body in a blinding surge.

  Beneath him, Chloe joined him, her body clutching his cock and holding him deep as he came. Sobs broke from her lips, heaving from her chest, and Ace couldn’t bear it. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and rolled with her until they lay back-to-front on the bed. “Shh. It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”

  But deep in his heart, he knew it wasn’t. She would leave tomorrow and take his heart with her.

  Epilogue

  A month later, back home in Texas, Chloe sat curled at the end of the couch with the phone pressed to her ear. She’d been chatting with Lindy for the past thirty minutes. Once they’d reconnected at the reunion, they’d parted with hugs and laughter, each promising to stay in touch. So they had.

  She picked at the frayed hem of her cutoffs and sighed. “Yeah, I’ll tell you the minute I hear from him. I’ve talked with him many times since we got together at the reunion, but honestly, Lindy, I just don’t know. Maybe he’ll change his mind about the whole relationship thing.”

  “Never,” Lindy answered on the other end of the line. “He loves you, sweets. I know it.”

  Chloe laughed. “You have to say that. You’re my best friend.”

  “Yeah, well, your best friend would never lie to you either.”

  Memories of that long ago summer morning still had the ability to bring her to her knees. She’d never thought of herself as the kind of woman who would crave raunchy sex but suddenly she was a happy addict. Ace had tested the bounds, pushed her and still, through it all, refused to tell her how he felt about her. Was there a future for them? It was hard to know.

  “Know what’s pathetic?”

  “What?”

  Chloe shifted her position on the couch and lowered her voice. “My body still feels him. I know it’s weird but when I think of him and what he did to me for that series of days and nights, I tingle from head to toe. It’s pitiful.”

  “Sounds like it c
ould be love to me.”

  “I watched the entire US Open on television trying to catch a glimpse of him.”

  “The US Open?”

  “Yeah, it’s one of the top Grand Slam tennis tournaments of the year. One of the biggest and best. Anyway, I’ve been scanning the sides of every match looking for him. It’s dumb because he’s not a player anymore. He’s the guy taking the pictures. Now why on earth would I think I might catch a glimpse? I feel like a damn stalker, hungry for any little peek at him.”

  “Has he suggested you get together?”

  “Not really.” Chloe’s eyes burned as she fought tears. She hadn’t grieved so much since losing Scott so tragically. For sure it was a different kind of sadness but every bit as real. “He mainly gave me his itinerary. The tournament in New York has been over for a few days but he’s heading to Rome soon. Lord knows when or if I’ll ever see him again.”

  “You will, honey. I know it.”

  “I hope you’re right. I can’t think. Can’t sleep without dreaming of him and those days we were together. I need to snap out of it and get down to the business of living again.”

  Once she was off the phone, she looked down at the floor where Alyssa was busily stacking odd-shaped multicolored blocks. She pushed thoughts of Ace to the back of her mind and focused on her daughter. “What’cha buildin’, cookie?”

  Her four-year-old looked up and frowned. Her white curls were tangled and needed a good brushing. “A castle. Can’t you tell?”

  She cocked her head and considered the project. “Oh yeah. I see it now! That’s cool, sweet pea. Now listen, why don’t you get all this stuff picked up? Grandma is going to be here in two shakes.”

  “Think Grandma and Grandpa will get me some ice cream? Or popcorn? We can fix it in the mitrowabe. Ooooh. Yay!” Alyssa drew her words out dramatically and widened her big blue eyes. Yep. A diva in training.

  Laughing, Chloe stood and helped her daughter load the blocks into a plastic shopping cart. “Knowing your Grandpa, you’ll have both,” she said, mentally rolling her eyes. Her folks spoiled their only grandchild like crazy.