The Look of Love (The Sullivans): Chapter 11 + Audiobook + Exclusive Commentary from Bella
I hope you loved Chapter 10 of The Look of Love (The Sullivans)!
Chapter 11 is a particularly pivotal chapter for both Chase and Chloe. Not only can they no longer fight their attraction to each other, but their emotional bond is growing so much stronger. Particularly for Chloe, trust is a huge issue. Fortunately, Chase cares so much about her that he would never hurt her in any way.
If you’ve missed any of the previous chapters you can find them here:
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10
Enjoy Chapter 11!
Note: You can also listen to THE LOOK OF LOVE for free!
AUDIOBOOK:
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
copyright 2022 Bella Andre / Oak Press, LLC
Please Note: My books are sexy and emotional love stories. Which is to say there will be lots of scenes where the hero and heroine are smooching (and doing much, much more!) in nearly all of my posts. 😍
Chloe could hardly believe she was lying on the bed looking up at such a sinfully gorgeous man as Chase pulled his T-shirt off and threw it on the floor. Seeing all those muscles, his incredible washboard abs, all but paralyzed her.
She’d never seen anyone like him, live and in person, before.
“You’re so beautiful.” The words were out of her mouth before she even realized they were coming.
He responded by moving over her on the bed, placing his hands on either side of her face and kissing the rest of the breath from her lungs. One of his legs came between hers, and she couldn’t stop herself from closing her thighs around him and thrusting her hips up against his taut leg muscles.
She was already so close, knew she could probably come with nothing more than another one of his mind-blowing kisses and the friction of his thigh against her. Heck, she’d almost come just from the sound of his voice a few minutes earlier. That was how strongly he affected her.
“Chloe.”
Her name was a whisper of need from his lips to hers, and before she knew it he had her T-shirt and jeans off. When she was wearing nothing but her bra and panties—thank God she’d at least kept her nice lingerie from her earlier life—he shifted away to stare at her.
She knew she wasn’t nearly as thin as the models he worked with, knew that her body wasn’t perfect, not by any means…but, amazingly, she could tell that Chase didn’t care.
He liked her just the way she was.
“Jesus, Chloe. You’re killing me here.” He reached out and ran one slow finger from her chin down her neck, making her arch into his hands as he trailed his gentle, heated touch down to the valley between her breasts. “You’re so damned lovely.”
“You’ve already seen my body,” she reminded him.
“Not like this. I couldn’t touch you then.” His eyes lifted from her curves to her face. “And I couldn’t kiss you the way I wanted to kiss you.”
How did he manage to keep stealing her breath when she was beyond certain that he’d already stolen it completely away just moments before?
“Show me,” she pleaded. “Show me how you wanted to kiss me.”
She could have sworn a growl rumbled in his chest as he slid one hand into her hair, the other beneath her hips to press her more firmly against him.
His mouth was hot, yet gentle, over hers—that first, desperate rush to have each other turning into such sweetness, such joy, as he tasted every inch of her lips with his, pressing soft kisses into the corners, the flesh at the center, the Cupid’s bow of her upper lip. And then his tongue licked along the curve of her lips, a slow, sensuous journey that awakened every last cell in Chloe’s body. Until, finally, he dipped his tongue between her teeth, and she met him halfway, taking everything he was giving her and returning it multiplied.
Her entire body had turned soft, pliant against him, and she could feel herself throbbing between her legs.
“Please,” she whispered when he lifted his head so that they could draw some oxygen into their lungs, “I need—”
She hadn’t put words to her desire for so long that she found the words drying up on her tongue.
Fortunately, it seemed that he already understood, because instead of pushing her to tell him what she needed, he asked her, “Will you trust me?”
Only, it turned out that wasn’t any easier. She wished she didn’t have to think about it. But she did. Trust wasn’t just something she could give out easily anymore, not even when the beautiful man she was in bed with had proved himself again and again to be kind and gentle.
“I want to.”
His smile warmed her from head to toe before he pressed a kiss just below her earlobe. “Wanting to is a perfect place to start.”
Loving the fact that he wasn’t pressuring her to try to give him something she wasn’t capable of giving, as he shifted again on the bed and began to run his tongue across the swell of one breast, she let loose a low moan of pleasure.
From one breast to the other, he didn’t rush, didn’t hurry despite the desperate sounds she was making. The look he gave her was more than a little wicked when he lifted his head from her chest.
She opened her mouth to try to tell him what she needed, opened her mouth to speak, but again, the words wouldn’t come.
“Never be scared to tell me what you need,” he told her in a low voice that rumbled over her skin like a sensual caress. “Never be afraid to tell me what you want.”
“More.” The one word was all she could get out.
His response to her request was to brush the pad of his thumb over one of her breasts, and she actually gasped at the sensation.
She’d never known a smile could be so full of desire until she looked into his eyes. He stroked her nipple again, and this time she instinctively arched into his hand. It was so much easier now, with his hands on her, touching her just the right way, to say, “Yes. Please. More of that.”
His hands moved behind her back, and then he was pulling her bra off, and the air felt cool on the aroused skin of her breasts.
“I’ll never, ever get tired of looking at you.” Even though his hands were large, her breasts overflowed them. “I’ll never stop wanting to touch you.”
Somewhere in the back of her brain, an alarm sounded, telling her never wasn’t the kind of word someone used when they were simply having a fling. But she was too busy holding her breath, waiting for what was coming next, to pay attention to that faint warning.
“I’ll never stop wanting to taste you.” He lowered his head until the soft hair on the top of his head was brushing against her skin, and then his tongue was flicking out to tease her.
They’d been here last night, with his mouth on her while she melted into a puddle of need, but he hadn’t been telling her how much he desired her as he kissed and touched her.
Out on his brother’s porch, they’d been stealing a moment. Tonight, there were no limits. And she knew he wouldn’t stop after making her come this time.
The only question that remained was, would she get scared and decide to run again? Or would she be brave enough to take all of the pleasure that Chase could give her?
The gentle pull of his lips on her breast, the perfect scratch of his teeth against her sensitive, taut flesh, had the questions scattering away as her entire focus narrowed down to those few square inches that he was torturing so beautifully.
And then he was kissing his way down her stomach, making her squirm as his tongue dipped into the hollow of her belly button. She was lost in sensation when she felt the bed dip again and realized he was kneeling between her legs. A gentle press of his large hands on the insides of her thighs had her opening up for him.
She should have been shy, should have wondered how she could lie there and let him just look at her like that, almost naked except for a pair of fairly indecent panties, but she wanted him so much that she didn’t care how long they’d known each other.
Only, a moment later when he pressed his palm against her core and she felt just how wet she was, something in her brain clicked over to memories, bad ones, where she’d been vulnerable like this with another man.
A man who had hurt her.
Chase had been wonderful so far, but what if he turned on her? She didn’t really know him. How could she in only forty-eight hours?
Oh, God, what was she doing, lying here spread-eagled for a man who was, for all intents and purposes, a stranger?
“Chase, I—” She tried to close her thighs and covered her breasts with her hands.
He stilled the moment she stiffened and immediately said, “One word and I stop.”
She knew what she should do. She should get up off this bed, put her clothes on and try to pretend none of this had ever happened.
But, oh, how she wanted this. How she wanted Chase.
He’d told her just before they’d ripped off each other’s clothes that if they started down this road, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And yet, here he was, offering to do just that if she needed him to.
It was more than she expected a man to do, but even as she was amazed that he’d done it, she had to wonder why she’d always expected so little.
Finally feeling trust begin to root a little deeper within her heart, she whispered, “What word should I use if I want to stop?”
She was surprised to see his mouth move up into a small smile that also held a great deal of relief in it.
“How about bananas?” he suggested.
Amazed to find herself almost smiling back at him, she confirmed, “So if I need to say that word, we’ll stop.”
He nodded. “Instantly.”
She couldn’t believe how quickly talking that out—and knowing he’d be true to his word—made the fear recede.
And the heat resurface.
Suddenly, instead of embarrassment, instead of hesitation, there was only need. So much need that as his hand moved between her legs again and found her so slick and hot and ready for him, even through the lace fabric of her underwear, she had to press herself even harder against the heel of his hand, had to say his name again as a plea for even more.
“It’s even better than I thought it would be,” he murmured against her skin.
Somehow, she managed to get her brain to click into gear, to take in what he’d just said. “What’s better?”
“You. This.” His eyes roved over her body, to the place where his hands were covering her panties, then up over her breasts, to her face. “I’ve been picturing you like this for so long.”
She had to smile then, despite the throbbing ache between her legs, as she reminded him, “We’ve only known each other two days.”
“It’s been a rough forty-eight hours.” He moved his palm away from her damp core and slipped his fingers into the side of her lace panties. “Every single second of them, I’ve wanted to be here with you. Like this.”
The way he slid the lace from her hips was pure sensual torture.
And then she was completely bare before him.
“So damn lovely.” The awe in his murmured words made it easy for her not to shut her legs as he stared at her. “And so wet. For me.” His hand was back a moment later, sliding over her sex. “All for me.”
His touch, his fingers on her, was more than she thought she could bear, and her begging shifted gears. “I can’t.” She panted, feeling wild and out of control. “It’s too much.” But even as she said it, she knew wild horses couldn’t drag the word bananas from her.
And when he didn’t hear the seven-letter word, he urged her, “Come for me, Chloe.”
Her eyes locked onto his in the exact instant that his fingers slid into her, and her body obeyed his request. Her back arched, her head fell back against the pillow, her eyes closed tight, and she cried out his name. Her orgasm seemed to go on forever until she felt limp. Utterly wrung out. Not sure when she’d be able to even move again.
Until she felt that soft brush of hair against her skin. Not on her chest this time, however.
On the insides of her thighs.
She tried to sit up on her elbows, but her muscles were all still too rubbery. “Chase?”
Her only answer was the slow swipe of his tongue against her most intimate flesh. He cupped her bottom in his hands and dragged her closer to his mouth.
Chloe knew she couldn’t possibly come again. Not after the orgasm he’d just given her. She would be good to go for a while now. She opened her mouth to tell him so, but before she could get even one single word out, she realized just how good he was making her feel.
She was still sensitive, but unlike most guys, Chase seemed to understand that without being told. Instead, he focused his attention on drawing perfectly light circles around the flesh that was growing tighter and tighter with every passing second.
She supposed she should have known this was coming, that he wasn’t going to stop without tasting her everywhere. She’d felt wild when he’d made her come with his fingers, but that wildness had nothing on what came over her when his tongue and fingers started playing her with the genius of a maestro.
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.”
The second time around she wasn’t even sure when her orgasm started, couldn’t spare a thought for how Chase could have possibly gotten her there again so quickly. Lost in a world of sensation, of pure ecstasy, the beauty wasn’t just from the way Chase was touching her, licking her.
What she was feeling was all wrapped up in the man himself, in every kind thing he’d said and done for her since that moment by the car.
Sex wasn’t just sex anymore. Instead, it was something so much bigger, something utterly interconnected to a part of her heart that had been dead for so long she’d thought it would stay forever buried.
It was that realization that had her falling down from the peak. Way too fast.
She would have tried to hide her reaction from Chase if she could have, but he was too good at reading her.
And she wasn’t nearly in the frame of mind to play games.
“Talk to me,” he said.
In an instant, he was beside her on the bed, cradling her in his arms. She could feel his erection—still trapped in his jeans, huge and throbbing against her hip—but even though she’d had two orgasms and he’d had none, he clearly wasn’t in any hurry to finish what they’d started.
Didn’t he realize that only made things worse? That he only scared her more when he acted so sweet, when he put her first? Because he made her want things, long for things she’d tried to convince herself she didn’t need anymore.
She shook her head and made herself say, “Just take me.” Her breath hitched in her chest, and not just because she was still recovering from two back-to-back climaxes. “I want you to just take me.”
But instead of doing what any other guy would have done, he simply raised an eyebrow. And looked even more concerned.
“I will,” he promised, “but first I want you to talk to me.”
She swallowed. “You already know how much I want you.” She gestured to her body. “You would have known that if I hadn’t said a single word.”
He kissed her then, once on the lips, softly, before saying, “Tell me how you’re feeling, lovely girl.”
The endearment had her tensed muscles turning to mush again. “Stop doing that.”
He frowned. “What am I doing? Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Frustration with herself—and with him for being way too awesome—made the word staccato and sharp. “You know you didn’t hurt me.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“You’re too great!”
The three words came out at almost a wail, and he shifted her in his arms, as if he might understand what she was getting at if they only changed position. A moment later, she found herself flat on her back with Chase levered over her, his weight trapping her against the bed.
“You don’t like great?” He was running one hand down her arm as he asked the question.
“I do, but—”
Wrapping his fingers around her wrist, he gently lifted her arm above her head and leaned in to run kisses and love bites up the sensitive skin on the underside of her arm.
“But what?” he asked between kisses.
“It’s just that—” Her words fell away as he repeated the gentle caress and kisses with her other arm, lifting it above her head, too.
“Right there,” he murmured, looking down at the way her ribs were arching slightly, lifting her breasts up to his chest. “So pretty.” He circled the tip of one breast, and it begged for more, tightening beneath the sweet caress of his fingertip.
Oh, God, it was hard to form rational thought when he was doing that, but she had to at least try.
“This is supposed to be sex.” His eyes met hers, and she clarified, “Just sex.”
She watched him go still above her, and when his hand tightened on her wrist at what she’d said, the clarification she’d just made about the fling they were having, for the first time since she’d been in his bed, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking how big, how powerful, he was. If he wanted to hurt her, it wouldn’t matter if she yelled, “Bananas!” as loud as she could.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered when she stiffened. “I won’t do that again.”
Before she even realized what had happened, he let go of her wrists and had them switch places so that he was lying on his back and she was sitting up, naked and straddling him.
“No fear, Chloe.” He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them. “I can’t stand to see that frightened look in your eyes when we’re together. I won’t hold you down again like that. I promised you I’d never hurt you, and I meant it.”
“I know.” The two whispered words floated between them as they stared at each other like that for a long moment.
Emotion pulsed and flowed, rose without ebbing. This was what she was really afraid of, she knew.
Not that Chase would physically overpower her.
But that the strength of his emotions might actually slip in beneath her armor. The armor she needed firmly in place so that she could deal with her problems without completely falling apart.
And yet, at the same time that her heart was grappling with fear and love and pain and trust, her body was crying out for more.
For Chase.
The way she was sitting on his hips perfectly positioned her over his erection. Even the slightest movement, as small as a breath, had the zipper of his jeans rubbing against her groin. Looking down at Chase, his beautiful, bare chest laid out beneath her for the taking, pure female instinct sent her hands off to explore his muscles, to play in the light dusting of hair on his chest and below his belly button.
“You should be a model,” she told him, hardly able to believe that he was really here with her now as she took in his incredible male beauty.
She watched him try to grin, but it never quite replaced the need on his face.
“I’d much rather stay behind the camera,” he replied, “but I’m glad you like what you see.”
It sounded like he was gritting out each word, and she knew why. In this position, his erection had, shockingly, grown even bigger beneath her.
“I want to see more of you,” she said softly.
Sliding a little lower down his body, she was barely aware of the fact that her bare breasts were directly over his face as she concentrated on undoing the zipper of his jeans.
He tried to distract her by cupping her breasts and tasting both at once. She moaned and nearly gave in to him, to the delicious persuasion of his lips and tongue and teeth. But, God, she wanted him naked, too, wanted to see all of him just as badly as he’d seemed to want to see her bared and spread before him.
With increased focus, she slid his zipper down the rest of the way, and even behind the fabric of his boxers his erection jumped toward her. She tried to take his jeans off, but her hands were suddenly shaking.
“I’m right there with you,” he said in a husky voice before he took matters into his own hands and took care of his clothes.
Chloe knew better than to stare. She wasn’t a virgin. But no naked male she’d ever seen in person—or even in a photo—had looked like Chase. His stomach rippled with muscles; his biceps and triceps flexed as he pulled off the final pieces of his clothes to reveal long, strong muscles running down his thighs.
She couldn’t stop the thought that he was built like a knight.
Her knight.
And then he was kissing her, both of their naked bodies pressed against each other, and just that skin-to-skin contact, the feel of him, hot and hard, the hair on his legs scratching against her, the muscles of his stomach and chest and arms pressing into her, was the most erotic thing she’d ever experienced. Even more than her orgasms.
Her words “You feel so good” were out and between them before she could hold them back.
“So damn good,” was his response, and this time she was the one kissing him, wanting to climb inside of him and never come out into the real world again.
Complete. She felt complete with him. Except, as her body reminded her, for one thing.
She needed him inside of her.
Now.
Her hips moved into place over his, and she was so close—oh, God, just one more inch and he’d be pressing against her, into her—when his hands moved to her hips and held her still. “Wait a second.”
Misunderstanding him, thinking the whole honorable thing was popping back up at just the worst possible time, she said, “I want it, Chase. I want you inside of me. So, so bad.” Her desire was so big, so overpowering, that she momentarily lost her fear of speaking what she wanted aloud.
She belatedly realized he was tearing something open. A condom wrapper. Another time she would ask him where it had come from, but right now, all she cared about was getting it on him.
And getting him in her.
Together, they worked to slide the latex protection over his hard shaft, and then he was lifting her again, over him. The first press of his thick, broad head into her made her breath come out in a gasp.
“We’ll go slow,” he told her, but she didn’t want to go slow.
She wanted all of him. She wanted fast. She wanted hard. She wanted to be so full of Chase that there was no room for anything else, no room for fear or worry or thoughts of what the future might hold.
She looked straight at him, let herself fall into his beautiful eyes, so intense, so full of desire and arousal…yet so gentle all at the same time.
“I want you.” Her words rang out like a vow in the bedroom.
“Then take me.”
He was making it her choice. Despite how hard he was, despite the fact that he could be inside her before she even blinked, he was still making sure he didn’t take anything she wasn’t ready to give.
She sank down onto his shaft with a moan of deep, deep pleasure. When they were groin to groin, she stilled over him to appreciate how good he was making her feel. Beneath her, she could feel how tense every muscle was, but he let her settle deeper onto him at her own pace.
She began to lift off him—wanting to feel that delicious slide of heat and power, wanting him to make her entirely his—and her inner muscles clenched tight around him.
“Chloe, sweetheart.”
She put her hands on his chest and felt how fast, how hard, his heart was beating beneath her palms.
And then she was riding him until her thigh muscles were screaming out, and he was driving into her, farther, deeper, than she thought he could go. Nothing had ever felt like this.
She had never felt like she could fly before.
Oh, how she flew, higher and higher until she was crying out Chase’s name and he was rolling them over, his heavy weight crushing her into the mattress as he moved with her, up to the peak and then over.
Chase had done more than show her how to fly.
He’d flown with her.
Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for Chapter 12!
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