Chapter 12

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© 2013 Sandra Corton

Chapter 12

She still couldn't believe that he had managed to persuade her to stay. She looked around his old bedroom and let out a snort. That man could convince dirt to do what he wanted. At least she was leaving in the morning and thankfully Will had found somewhere else to be besides at the house. Brianna hoped he went to talk to Emma though she doubted it.

"Buttercup?" She looked up from where she sat on the edge of his bed.

"Hmmm?" She answered absently.

He walked across the room to her in nothing but low slung jeans and she felt her mind drifting away from the events of the day. Desire curled low in her stomach as he fell down on his knees in front of her.

He shocked her then by dropping his head into her lap seemingly defeated and wrapping his arms around her. Her fingers couldn't help but reach across and sweep the soft blonde hair back from his face. Worry lines creased his forehead and she smoothed them away with a soft touch.

"What is it?" She asked still unsure of what was bothering him.

"I screwed up royally." He eventually replied.

"What? How?"

"I should never have invited Will. We've been arguing so much recently. He goes and does stuff without telling me which is frustrating enough. I then have to deal with the repercussions. I know he said something to you today when you were up here because you haven’t really been yourself since then. Tell me what he said." He let out all the thoughts in his head and laid them at her feet. She couldn't help but sigh while wondering what to tell him once again.

"It was nothing Chase." She told him quietly making him look up at her.

"If it’s anything like what he told me then it is something. He thinks you're after my money or the fame simply because every other woman I've ever dated thinks like that. I know you're not.  

"Even though you could actually use the money you would refuse it if I tried to help you. If I want to spend a single cent on you it causes nothing but an argument but that's a part of who you are. He doesn't know you and he doesn't understand." He told her earnestly, his brown eyes still seeming filled with concern.

She felt herself melt a little at the fact that he did seem to understand her. Even though she knew the brothers were close despite their constant arguing, he chose to believe in her. He ignored all his brother's advice to stand by her. She had never had someone offer her such faith and trust in all her life. She wasn't quite sure what to say in answer so she stayed quiet.

"Please tell me you believe me." He whispered his voice raw with emotion.

"Of course I believe you Chase." He let out a huge sigh at her words.

"Well thank God for that." He muttered dropping his head back onto her lap.

"So you really do want to give up being an actor? It's not just something you said to annoy Will?" She asked still quite curious about the earlier discussion that flared into such a bitter argument.

"Yeah I know it probably sounds stupid but I just don't enjoy it like I used to. I'm tired of everyone around me just waiting for me to make the wrong move. On set they stare at me wanting to be at my beck and call but it's just not me. You know what you should come out on location and you can see for yourself." He finished excitedly, his earlier negativiity completely swept away.

"No I can't miss any more work." Brianna answered which only made him send her that pleading look she found hard to say no too. "Don't give me that look." She told him trying to be stern.

"Please, please, pretty please?" He begged looking so adorable that Brianna couldn't help the smile from blooming on her face. She quickly stifled it and looked sternly at him.

"No." She said determinedly.

"Come on Buttercup you know you want to." He said in a convincing tone.

"No." She pushed at his shoulders.

"You know I'm in a great bargaining position here." His eyes turned that wicked, melting chocolate brown and she felt her stomach tighten. He tugged on her legs and sent her a grimace. "Why couldn't you be wearing a skirt?" He grouched.

"Because I don't have many of them." She answered vaguely, a little distracted by his roaming hands.

"I'm definitely buying you some then." He said reaching for the button on her jeans.

"Chase what are you doing?"  She forced herself to ask.

"Convincing you to come on location with me." He said as he kissed her belly button and pushed her shirt up higher. She let out a shiver as all thoughts left her mind instead focusing only on his lips and hands.

"Oh good gracious." She exclaimed.

"Join me on location." He said against the skin of her stomach.

"Ahh no." She managed to whisper as he tugged her shirt over her head.

"Now that is sexy." He leaned away from her his eyes roaming across her body.

"Huh?"

"You in a bra and jeans Brianna. So fucking sexy." His voice dropped low and for the first time in her life she didn't care that someone swore in her presence. His hands ran reverently over her breasts making her moan before trailing lower and unsnapping her jeans.

"We can't do this." Brianna protested faintly.

"If you don't want to just tell me you'll join me on location."

"You're so stubborn." She threw her head back which only encouraged him.

"Spend one weekend with me there." He bargained as he dropped small, biting kisses from her neck down to her cleavage.

"I just can't stand it." She moaned out loud.

Her senses lost control then. She tugged at his hair until he raised his head to look at her. She crushed her lips to his, pulled his body in with her legs and kissed him with everything in her. His hands went wild and it wasn't until she felt her bra go loose around her that she came to her senses.

"Fine Chase you win." She answered breathlessly as she tried to get her bra back into place.

She couldn't fall under his spell. She just couldn't sleep with him again. She knew if she did she would be done for. She would never be able to come back from it emotionally or physically. She might as well give up her soul to him if she was going to let him in.

"You're so gorgeous Buttercup but please just...." He trailed off as his hands reached up to cup her breasts. Her whole body shuddered as his fingers ran across her nipples. She closed her eyes and tried not to get swept up in the intensity of his ministrations.

"Chase." She murmured breathlessly.

As though he heard something in her tone he stopped instantly. He looked at her his eyes glazed with passion, his lips beckoning her back but she had to stop for her own sanity. She was surprised when he went to rehook her bra and handed her back her shirt.

"So that means you're spending a weekend with me again." He said with a grin and she grumbled as she readjusted her bra.

"It's not like you're giving me a great deal of choice here." She said with a frown.

"There's always a choice Buttercup. You just really didn't want to say no." He told her confidently which she knew was true but would deny in an instant.

"You can be so arrogant." She muttered.

He sent her a look as though she had set him a challenge. Before she could blink he had pulled her down to the ground with him. She ended up sprawled against him but he quickly righted her and wrapped his arms around her hips.

"Arrogance had nothing to do with this. I want you. I'm starting to crave having your warm little body next to mine." At that he rolled his hips into hers making them both moan. "I'm going to need you on set with me so I know no other man is touching what's mine. And you are mine Brianna make no doubt about that." His voice was low, his eyes fiery as he pressed her even tighter to him.

"You really mean that don't you?" Brianna asked in surprise and he let out a deep chuckle.

"Of course I do Buttercup. I'm not feeding you a line or anything like that."

"Oh." She replied softly as she bit down on her lip.

"I'm on the edge here so don't do that." He warned his husky voice distracting her.

"Do what?" She looked at him puzzled.

"Geez Bree you're so bloody innocent sometimes." He shook his head at her as his finger touched her bottom lip. "Biting your lip only turns me on more. It makes me think about biting that lip. Makes me think about kissing it better when I do bite it...." He trailed off as he leaned down to leave a small, rather innocent kiss on her lips compared to the heat of his words.

"Oh." She repeated the barely there noise from before.

"How was I ever lucky enough to find you?" He tapped her on the nose and smiled. He forced a tiny amount of control over his body. She wasn't ready and he couldn't blame her after everything that had happened today. He had to give her time just like his Dad had advised.

"Are you sure that you were ever looking for me?" She asked tilting her head to the side and considering him.

"Buttercup I've always been waiting to find you. You were simply in the last place I looked. Now go in there and had a shower. You can have one of my shirts for sleeping in too."

He stood up and helped her up as well. He pulled a shirt out from his drawers and handed it to her before tapping her lightly on the bottom to send her off. He dropped down on the bed after she left knowing he was completely screwed.

He'd waited four days in Hawaii before he'd even kissed her. Now the torture he was enduring seemed almost too much for him to bear. He had to do this right or she would run, he knew that for certain. She needed time to accept what they were becoming to each other. He would just have to suck it up and keep a lid on his libido.

The sound of the water stopped and the sweet smell of her soon drifted over him when she opened the door. He tried not to stare. He definitely fought against grabbing hold of her sexy body but he couldn't stop the frustrated groan that escaped him. He was a goner.

She glanced over at him and went still at the heat coming from those chocolate eyes.  She quickly jumped in the bed and pulled the covers up over herself. He had such a predatory look about him when she had first entered the room. Maybe she had pushed him too far, though she wasn't quite sure in what way.

"Come out here Buttercup." He said calmly as he came out of the bathroom.

"Um no." She muttered.

"Talk about stubborn." She heard him mumble.

He pulled the covers back and got in beside her. He lay down until they were eye to eye with the sheet pulled over their heads so they could still see each other clearly. Her eyes widened as she wondered what he was doing.

"What's your favourite colour?" He asked out of the blue and for a moment she could only stare at him. That was the last thing she had expected.

"Yellow why?"

"It's something I didn't know about you. So why yellow?" He asked curiously as he kept his distance but watched her carefully.

"Uh it's bright and cheery. On cold winter days when you see the wattle flowering, well the bright yellow cheers you right up." She answered with a shrug and he grinned.

"That's the perfect Brianna answer. Now ask me something." He said as he reached over and picked up her hand.

"Like what?" She asked and he let out a long sigh as he swirled patterns against her skin.

"Have you ever played twenty questions Buttercup?" She just sent him an odd look. "Okay never played it then. Just ask me a question and then I'll ask in return, ask me something you want to know about me." He said with a small smile lighting his face.

"Okay why don't you like the fame? Isn't that like a perk of your job?" She asked. She had been curious about it since the night before when he had first mentioned Will.

"Don't start with the easy ones then." He said wryly and she just shrugged again. "You're not really going to believe why I don't like it." At that she sent him a dubious look.

"Well tell me anyway."

"I'm not the outgoing person I seem to be. I've always been an introvert really. Will was always the confident one while I've been the quite one.  My parents started me in plays because I was always so quiet. I took to it of course. It easier to pretend to be someone else than to be yourself." He explained and she let out a disbelieving snort.

"Are you trying to tell me you’re shy?" She asked with a laugh not believing it for a second.

"Not so much now but I'm still not comfortable being in the limelight. Will though is perfect at it; he lives for it in fact." Chase said with a shake of his head.

"So what you're telling me is the guy that approached me in the bar that night in Hawaii wasn't really you?" She asked cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Hey I think it's my turn for a question." He told her with a grin.

"Just answer and I'll answer two of yours." She bargained back finding it hard to focus as his fingers kept moving in tiny circles against her palm.

"Alright. Of course that was me. I've learnt one thing over the years and that is women can't tell me no, well until you. So now I get to ask you something. What happened today at lunch?" He asked seriously. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He touched her cheek and she opened her eyes again seeming troubled.

"Sorry for my uh freak out." She muttered and he watched as her blue eyes turned a hazy green.

"That's fine Bree but why did it happen?" He persisted in questioning and she rolled onto her back and stared at the sheet above her.

"I don't cope very well when people start yelling." She replied simply.

"And?"

"And what?" She replied with a frown.

"Is it for the same reason you don't like people swearing?" He asked and she managed to nod but said nothing. "Okay we'll leave that one alone. Tell me why you chose to work with children." He sent her a smile so she pushed memories aside and focused on his question.

"I love children. They are always honest, loving, eager to learn and most of the time happy. Yes they tire you out with questions a lot of the time but they are just so special. I just want them to have a better childhood than I did you know." She said as she rolled back over to face him.

"Do you want to have children of your own?" He asked as he swept a lock of hair that fell onto her face away.

"Obviously. I would never do it though unless I knew the person I was with would actually want them too. No child deserves to be treated the way I was." Her face dropped into sadness again and he wanted to curse at himself for making her feel that way.

"I would want to have a farm for my kids just the way I grew up. You get to spend your childhood years running around in nature and being free to use your imagination. It was a great life." He said with a cheery nostalgia running through his voice.

"So why did you leave?" She asked trying to get off the subject of children.

It sent uncomfortable thoughts into her mind. Things that could never actually happen. She squashed the images of what her and Chase's children might look like. Going down that road could prove to be a complete disaster.

"Isn't that what young adults are supposed to do? Fly the nest and all that stuff. Plus I did want to try my hand at acting. It was something I was really good at and I enjoyed it too. I never thought I would make it as far as I did though." He said with a wry smile.

"So what are you going to do when you quit acting?" She asked curiously and he let out a laugh.

"Not a damn clue Buttercup. I think it's my turn for a question. How long were you and Terrence together?" He asked and she winced. He kept hitting topics that were raw with her.

"Three years almost." She answered vaguely.

"Did you move in with him?"

"No he said he wasn't comfortable with others in his space but I stayed at his town house a lot. The day I caught him cheating on me....he knew I was coming over. I told him I'd make him dinner. I came in with all these groceries and he wasn't supposed to be back from work. I wanted to spoil him.

"I heard a noise and went to investigate what it was. He was in bed with her, his secretary. They were supposed to be married when I was staying in Hawaii. He dumped her at the alter so at least that didn't happen to me." She finished bitterly.

"That guy was a total...." Chase trailed off angrily.

"Insert bad word here?" She said trying to lighten the situation which made him smile a little.

"Definitely! I would never do that to you Buttercup. I'm not saying I haven't had one night stands or done some stupid stuff. Every relationship I’ve been in we've broken up amicably. There was never a need to be as ruthless as what that bastard was to you."

"He didn't want to break up Chase. He wanted me to join them." Brianna said and watched the shock hit his face.

"Double bastard even though that is totally hot." She slapped him in the arm for his comment.

"Why would that be remotely hot?" She asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Hell Bree! You and another girl, that's every man’s dream." He sent her a look that threatened to melt her insides.

"I guess I shouldn't have asked that." Brianna said with a nervous laugh.

"Probably not. I thought that was a universal known truth about us men." Chase answered sending her a wink.

"Look what are we doing right now?" She asked not able to keep from blushing but wanting to know the truth.

"What do you mean?"

"Chase we are in a bed together and you haven't done anything." She finished lamely with her face blushing even brighter.

"And you want to know why?" He asked watching her face as she nodded. "I'm not giving you the chance to run Brianna."

"Run where?" She asked puzzled and was surprised when he chuckled.

"If we slept together right now and believe me I want to," He said as he pulled her body tightly to his forcing her to feel how much he truly wanted her. "Then you will do the same thing you did in Hawaii, you will run. I'm not giving you any excuse to run from me." He told her firmly.

"So you're waiting for me?" She asked in amazement.

"Yes Buttercup I'm waiting for you." He said with a grin.

"That makes no sense to me at all." She answered still feeling a bit confused but buoyed at the same time. 

"Why?"

"Well look at you. Why would you ever wait for me? You could have any woman you want." She told him as though he was a bit thick in the head.

"Maybe but I want you." He leaned over to whisper in her ear before he left a soft kiss on her cheek.

"What's so special about me?" She asked in return. 

Any other woman and he would have said she was fishing for compliments but he knew she wasn't. He knew she didn't see herself at all the way he did and that he would have to explain it. It was one of the things he liked about her even though it frustrated him as well.

"Brianna Morgan when we were in Hawaii I woke up that first day wanting to see you because you were special. You fascinate me, you see things differently to the way other women do. I've seen you smile simply because you were watching the sun set. Most women I've known are too busy worrying about how they look every five seconds to even notice something like that.

“You picked up shells on the beach when we went walking and you looked in every rock pool. That's a rare thing. It's not just that though. You have this shyness about you that my internal introvert can relate to. At the same time you won't take any of my bull without a fight." He told her all this and she pursed her lips in consideration.

"I'm pretty sure you got what you wanted earlier." She told him dryly.

"Maybe but I had to fight you for it. You’ve got to understand Buttercup, if I had of asked any other woman that they would have said yes without hesitation. I like that you fight me about things like that, it gives me an excuse to touch you.” He finished with another wink and she rolled her eyes.

“You do know that should be considered cheating more than anything else.” She protested as he ran a hand down to her hip and back up again making her body shiver.

“Well if you don’t like it then just agree with what I’m saying next time.” He said with a sly grin and she just grumbled.

“Like that would do me any good.” She muttered and he let out a laugh. ”You can be so frustrating.”

“Ditto Buttercup.” He whispered.

He glanced between her lips and her eyes or a long time. Brianna’s breath hitched in with the intense look in those brown eyes. Her whole body felt like it came alive with just that look. He glanced away and his hands tightened into fists.

She realised how hard he was trying to keep control. A part of her softened as she reached for him. She ran her fingers along the hard planes of his chest and heard him suck in a harsh breath.

“Don’t Buttercup.” He warned as her fingers trailed back down his chest and traced along the edge of the boxers he was wearing.

“Why not?” She said as bravely as she could.

“Because I can’t survive it.” He said through gritted teeth as her hands cupped around him. A tortured groan escaped him but she never once let up.

“Yes you can.” Was all she told him as she watched his face go taut with desire.

She would do this for him just for knowing that he was trying to be patient and wait for her. She remembered their night in Hawaii with how much pleasure he had given her. She had learnt then exactly what he liked which she used to her advantage now. She smiled rather seductively as she brought him to the heights of pleasure he had given her the previous day.
 
 

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