Chapter 14
ALANNA
Three days. That was how long we’d been holed up in the beach house, pretending the outside world didn’t exist while Chance did his best to ignore the chemistry between us.
The ocean crashed in steady rhythm beyond the dunes, wind hissing through the weathered siding, but nothing could distract me from Chance. I was acutely aware of his every movement, to the point where even his quiet exhales seemed to vibrate through the walls.
He didn’t talk much. He never really did. But I somehow knew when his gaze was on me.
No matter where I was—reading on the couch, working on my laptop, or wandering barefoot across the sand—he tracked me. And that awareness was starting to feel like a touch all its own.
I’d pushed back in subtle ways. Stretching a little longer than necessary when I caught him glancing up from his phone.
Brushing past him in the narrow kitchen instead of stepping aside.
Drawing out mornings in the oversized shirt he’d lent me the first day we arrived, even though my bag of clothes had shown up yesterday.
He hadn’t said a single word about it.
That, more than anything, told me he’d noticed.
Chance had a talent for holding his emotions behind that cool mask of discipline. But the longer we stayed here, the less effective it was.
Sometimes I caught the flash of heat in his eyes before he looked away. How his jaw flexed when I laughed. When he muttered something under his breath that I wasn’t meant to catch.
The chemistry between us wasn’t a question anymore. It was a living, breathing thing stalking the small spaces we shared.
And if he thought he could outlast me, he was wrong.
Because every time his gaze slid over me, or his hand brushed mine when he passed me a mug of coffee, the air between us tightened until it hurt, and I wanted him more.
I needed him to stop pretending.
To stop fighting it.
To stop treating me like I was just Jaxton’s little sister. The same kid he’d met so many years ago.
I wondered if the time for subtlety had passed, and I needed to push harder to make him break.
Or maybe that was just the storm talking—the one outside matching the chaos inside me.
The wind had started sometime after midnight, rattling the shutters and carrying the crash of waves up from the beach. Each gust made the old boards groan. The power flickered once, and the air felt thick.
Sleep didn’t come easy. And when it finally did, it brought the wrong kind of dreams—Ethan’s voice whispering through the dark, the slam of a door, the phantom weight of a hand on my wrist. I jolted awake, my chest heaving and the storm still raging outside.
Thunder rolled close enough to shake the glass. I pushed the blanket aside and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. The floorboards were cool under my bare feet as I padded toward the kitchen, still wearing Chance’s shirt with nothing but a pair of panties underneath.
Lightning flared through the window, spilling pale light across the room. In the next second, darkness swallowed it again. I reached for a glass in the cupboard and filled it from the tap, the hiss of water too loud in the hush.
“You okay?”
His voice came from behind me, rough with sleep and low enough to send a shiver down my spine.
I turned, the glass halfway to my lips. Chance stood near the doorway, shirtless with sweatpants hanging low on his hips.
“Just needed some water,” I murmured.
He nodded once but didn’t move away. Lightning flashed again, carving his features in sharp relief—the hard planes of muscle and the unyielding set of his jaw. His gaze caught mine and didn’t let go.
I took a slow sip, my pulse thrumming in my ears. “You can’t look at me like that and expect me to pretend you don’t feel something for me. As more than just Jaxton’s sister.”
For a heartbeat, neither of us breathed.
He took a few steps closer. “Never said I didn’t feel something for you.”
“You never say anything at all,” I muttered, setting the glass down before it slipped from my hand.
He drew in a deep breath, his shoulders rising as if he were bracing for impact. “Because I know that if I open my mouth, I’m gonna tell you that since the wedding, I haven’t seen you as anything but a gorgeous, sexy, amazing woman who makes me want things I shouldn’t.”
The storm cracked outside, lightning flooding the room again.
I moved close enough to feel the heat coming off his skin. “What if I want those things too?”
His eyes darkened, and for once, he didn’t look away.
The air between us tightened until I could barely breathe. The storm outside raged louder, wind clawing at the shutters and thunder rolling in like a warning. But all I could focus on was him.
“There’d be no going back, Alanna. You get that?” His hands settled at my hips, his fingers digging in just enough to make my pulse jump. “If you give yourself to me, I’ll fucking never let you go. You ready to say goodbye to your relationship with Jax?”
I lifted my chin, refusing to look away. “I love my brother, Chance. But I want you more.”
His control cracked. His growl vibrated straight through me. Then his mouth was on mine.
The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was rough and desperate. Consuming.
His stubble scraped my skin, his taste flooding my senses, and I clutched at his shoulders like I could anchor myself against the force of him.
When his tongue swept inside, I made a small sound against his mouth. The kind that had him dragging me closer until I felt every inch of muscle and heat pressed against me.
He broke the kiss just long enough to murmur against my lips, “If I take this any further, there’s no going back.”
“I don’t want to go back,” I breathed.
His eyes searched mine, giving me one last chance to pull away. But I didn’t.
His hand slid up my spine, gripping the back of my neck as he kissed me again. The other traced the hem of his shirt where it skimmed my thighs, rough fingertips brushing bare skin. The contact stole my breath.
“Fuck.” The word was a prayer and a curse.
Lightning flashed again, flooding the kitchen with white light as he lifted me onto the counter. My legs wrapped around his waist on instinct, and he caught my gasp with another kiss.
“Say it,” he demanded against my lips. “I need to hear it again, that you want me.”
“I want you, Chance.”
That was all it took.
His mouth crashed back to mine as his hand fisted in my hair. The other gripped my thigh to pull me closer.
The world narrowed to the rhythm of our breathing, the storm outside fading until nothing existed but heat, skin, and the sound of my name on his lips.
“This is gonna make you mine, Alanna.”
“I already was,” I confessed. “Always have been.”
“Always,” he echoed, lifting his head to search my face. “You tryin’ to tell me that you’re a virgin, beautiful? Did you keep that sweet pussy just for me?”
“Yes,” I whispered. His finger beneath my chin stopped my attempt to drop my gaze.
“That’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” He captured my lips again. “I’m grateful as fuck that you waited for me. That I’m the only man who gets to see you fly apart like you’re gonna do for me. Now.”
His ice-blue eyes were dark with intent as he gripped my hips and yanked me to the edge of the counter. The sudden movement stole my breath, my legs dangling as he stepped closer, his sweatpants straining against his arousal.
His fingers hooked into the lace of my panties. With one fierce tug, he ripped them off, the sound of tearing fabric mingling with the storm’s howl, leaving me exposed and trembling under his gaze.
His hands spread my thighs wider, his palms rough against my skin, and then he dropped to his knees, his mouth claiming me with a hunger that made me cry out. His tongue was relentless, teasing and tasting, circling that sensitive spot until my hips bucked against him.
I gripped the counter’s edge, my head falling back as waves of pleasure built. “Chance, yes! Oh yes!”
“Mine.”
The vibration of his voice pushed me closer until I couldn’t hold on any longer. My body shattered, an orgasm ripping through me with a scream that the thunder swallowed.
He rose, his stubble glistening with my release and his eyes burning with triumph as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“That’s just the start,” he rasped, stepping between my legs again, his hands reclaiming my hips. “Gonna feel you squeeze my cock the next time you come.”
I was still reeling from the intensity of my orgasm when he shoved his sweatpants down.
The counter was cold beneath me, but his heat seared through, his hands sliding under the shirt to grip my hips and pull me flush against him.
His hardness pressed against me without any barrier between us, which only fueled the fire as he positioned himself at my entrance.
“Been waiting so damn long for this.” His teeth grazed my skin, biting just hard enough to make me whimper, and I arched into him, my nails scoring his shoulders. “For you.”
His eyes burned with a need I’d only glimpsed that first time he’d made me come with his hand. This was different, though. He was finally fully giving in to our passion.
“Mine,” he repeated again as the tip of his dick pressed against my core.
I started to tense, but he didn’t give me the chance before he pushed into me with a groan that vibrated through my chest. The stretch burned, a sharp gasp tearing from my throat as he filled me, rough and unrelenting. My nails raked down his back, leaving red trails in their wake.
He hissed and held still. “Fuck, beautiful. You feel so damn good.”
“Wish I could say the same,” I panted through the sting. “But you’re so big.”
“Only for you, Alanna.” He shifted a little, and I was surprised to feel pleasure instead of pain. “And you were made to take me.”
I felt a feminine thrill at his words. I wiggled my hips and tugged him closer. “Then take me, Chance. Make me yours.”
“Mine,” he growled yet again as the final thread of his control snapped.
His hands pinned my hips as he moved, each stroke a claiming. The counter creaked beneath us, the storm outside a wild chorus to his rhythm. I couldn’t think…could only feel him, hot and hard inside me, his sweat-slicked skin slamming against mine with each powerful thrust.
I whimpered his name, my legs wrapping around him as I held on for the ride until I shattered beneath him.
“Chance! Yesssss!” My cry was lost to the thunder as waves of release crashed through me.
He followed, his grip tightening as a low groan escaped. “You’re mine, Alanna.”
He spilled into me, marking me in a way that felt permanent.
For a moment, we stayed there, breathless, his forehead pressed to mine while we caught our breath. Then he pulled back, his eyes softening just enough for me to see the tenderness he’d held back for far too long.