Reasons Why - 4

Chapter Four

Wow! That was the only thing that Chloe could manage to think as her lips were teased by the firm, inquisitive lips of Chris. She was anything but inexperienced, but this was...amazing. Their bodies were barely touching, but she could feel the heat of every inch of him. She was not one to surrender, but she did, loving the pressure of his lips,  the invasion of his tongue, the nip of his perfect teeth. Was there nothing that this man couldn't master?

His fingers wrapped themselves around her jaw, his thumb strummed her cheek bone, and it was the most erotic sensation she could ever imagine. He even smelled divine. Succumbing to this multisensory assault, the lips that massaged hers into submission, the smell, the taste, even the sound of his throaty growl, all encouraged her to reciprocate. It was so simple, so basic, yet so overwhelming that she couldn't help but groan at his magic. Chris took each moan as both encouragement and acceptance, and his hands dragged her closer to him.

Her hands settled on him, one his chest, the surprisingly firm, muscular body, the other at the base of his neck, in the silky soft short hair.  Gasping for air, Chloe pulled back and looked at Chris, all his bravado and  natural arrogance had gone, she could see his desire, could tell that he was struggling to maintain any semblance of control.

"Chloe..." his voice was a rasp and a spear of warmth jolted through her at the knowledge that she'd done that to him. Now was not the time to think of ex's, but at that moment she knew that no one had ever made her feel this...desirable, but on the flip side, she'd never had anyone look at her like this, as though she was the best gift that a man could ask for. It was a hedonistic pleasure.

"Chris," she breathed his name back, "I've had a great night..."

He raised an eyebrow in question, "you're brushing me off? Saying goodnight?"

She managed only half a nod before he thrust his lips back on hers, and it had all stepped up a notch. His hand was firm, gripping her chin, securing her in his command, the other hand in the small of her back held her close to his hard powerful body. His lips were soft, but insistent, and she could resist for only moments before hers parted and her tongue lashed out to meet his. Chloe found herself grabbing at him, clinging to his shoulders, she wanted more of this, so badly, yet she didn't too. It was so confusing, and whilst she was befuddled by him overwhelming her, the sensory overload and the relaxation of so many beers earlier, desire was winning the battle over common sense. Desire and arousal,  as his lips nibbled their way down to her throat, the curve of her shoulder. With closed eyes she absorbed every ounce of the sensation.

It was then that they heard a noise, and they pulled apart guiltily, as though they'd both been caught with their hand in the sweet jar. Chris chuckled, a deep relaxing sound as he pointed to one of the fishing boats that was heading out to sea. For Chloe it was a reality check. 

Standing she smiled at him, this hot stranger who, for some reason liked her,  "I have to go. I've got lots to do tomorrow..."

His fingers ensnared her wrist and tugged her back to face him, "meet me tomorrow? Evening? We can go out...talk?"

To Chloe this was a pleasant interlude, she couldn't imagine meeting him again, letting him get close, letting him hurt her. She shook her head slowly, "I'm only here a few weeks Chris, it was fun..." She cupped his cheek, "you are a beautiful and funny man...but," she shook her head again, "I can't do this."

With that she turned and ran off, escaping through the tree lined path that led to Phil and Didi's house.

Her heart was still racing as she let herself in through the front door. She'd feared...and maybe hoped, that he'd follow her, but he hadn't and she was relieved, and disappointed. Dropping her shoes in the closet near the door, she made for the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, then crept up the stairs. On the first floor landing she tiptoed towards the door to the loft, only pausing to listen to the erratic breathing of the two kids from the rooms to her right. As she opened the door that led to the bed she was desperate to sink into, she dropped the water and it clattered on the wooden floor.

"Shit!" she cursed under her breath, 

As she retrieved the bottle she heard Phil chuckle from deep within his bedroom, "hope you had a great night, I'll have all the details tomorrow! Have no fear!"

Groaning she climbed the stairs to her haven.

Barely any time had passed and Chloe was aware  of being woken by something. Opening an eye, squinting at the overly bright light, she saw Carter sat beside her head cross legged, smiling.

"Hi Aunty Clo!"

She rolled onto her back, an arm tossed over her eyes to shield them from the sun, "Hi darling! How are you today?"

He nodded, "good! We're going to the special day today!"

She raised an eyebrow, "special day?"

"Yep the sport day. Will you come?"

She sat up, ignoring her pounding head, and the fact that she had no idea what he was talking about, "if you want me to of course I will!"

Beaming he left the room and Chloe groaned. A few minutes later after a quick refreshing shower, she was glaring in the mirror with shock. Her chin and cheeks were pink from the abrasion of Chris' stubble, but that was nothing. Just above her left collar bone was a lovebite, a hickie, what Owen would have called a shagtag. She'd not had one since High School when John Malcolm had kissed her at a party, then branded her to prove it had happened. It wasn't a nice, pleasant thing, but then she couldn't remember him doing it last night. She hoped it wasn't a brand for him too. 

Fortunately her grey t-shirt covered it, and a little tinted moisturiser seemed to calm her rosy complexion, her denim shorts, and flipflops were as much as she could muster. But it was with trepidation that she joined the family downstairs.

"We've done breakfast, but I'm happy to make you something." Didi offered with a knowing smirk. 

Chloe groaned, "I'm fine!"

Didi chuckled at Chloe's obvious struggle to fight off the ill effects of the alcohol, "one of the girl's called last night after I got home concerned someone that you had disappeared with a hot looking man!"

Groaning again, she smiled at Didi, "you left me in the hands of predators! I was rescued by a dashing prince! That's all!"

"Yet you came home four hours later?" It was said with a friendly tone.

"Oh Didi, I wish you'd forewarned me over the hockey hair thing! I had no idea when I cut my hair this week that I was opening myself up to all that. They were awful!"

"Really?" Didi slid onto a stool across the breakfast bar from her, "I'm sorry, I'll have to talk to them, I've never known them be like that!"

"I suppose I was so friendly before I knew...may as well have had easy game tattooed on my head."

Didi chuckled, "but Anna said you met a really hot man?"

Chloe laughed, "it was like a knight in shining armour!" She relayed the rescue attempt, and then glossed over the details of her trip to a nightclub with him and the subsequent trip home.

"I am so jealous! Are you seeing him again?" When Chloe shrugged in a non committal way, Didi sighed, wishing her sister-in-law would relax and enjoy her life once more, and what could be worse than a holiday romance?  "Ah Chloe what it is to be young! I hope you reconsider, and don't let Phil tease you, ok?"

Burying her face in her palms, Chloe mumbled, "what's this sports day that Carter's asked me to come to?"

Phil spoke from behind her, "the Lacrosse team are having a family funday, a little coaching, some fundraising, that sort of thing."

"Lacrosse?" To Chloe that immediately that conjured images of Enid Blyton stories of boarding schools and posh girls.

Phil saw her confusion, "it's our major competitive summer sport. And we've got a professional team here, they use these days to pass on their experience to the kids. It won't be anything too special, but the kids will love it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it too, I mean it's played by young and very fit men! Though you may have had enough of fit young men last night?"

She scoffed, poking out her tongue, "when I think of lacrosse that's not what appears in my head, I can assure you!"

Whilst she sipped a mug of coffee, Phil played her a clip of the last game and she was astounded. This box lacrosse was a lot different to the game she imagined. Fast, almost violent in challenges, and with body armour, it was to field lacrosse what ice hockey was to field hockey, she was suddenly excited to watch the game that he told her would be played the following day. Carter had started to play, in one of the kids teams, and as they left the house, he proudly clutched his lacrosse stick tightly to his side. She followed, pulling a denim shirt over her t-shirt, and finding the straw hat she'd bought earlier in the week.

It was only half past eight, and as they travelled to the school that was hosting the family day Chloe realised she'd had a maximum of three hours sleep. Groaning she rested her head against the car window, hoping this nausea didn't come to anything more.

The school was adorned with banners and badges of the lacrosse team, and there were several training sessions happening for kids of all ages, and lots of stalls from tombola's to hot food. Phil excused himself taking Carter off to his booked session, Didi led them deeper into the furore of the fair. 

"I'm going to get a bagel here if you don't mind?" Chloe called to her sister in law who was expertly negotiating Mikey's buggy through the throng of people.

Turning she smiled, "I have to say you look as grey as your t-shirt!"

Groaning, Chloe tried to pinch her cheeks, get some colour into them, "I feel exhausted. Think the kids will let me have some sleep later?"

Looking at her with sympathy, she offered, "you should have stayed home. This is only on for a few hours."

"Carter asked me to come, I couldn't let him down!"

"Well, have some food then go and take a nap?" Didi handed her the picnic blanket that was stowed under the pushchair.

Chloe loved the sound of that idea. Glancing around she spotted the grass bank at the farside of the courts that were filled with squealing children. "That bank over there! Wake me if you need me?" She was so tired that she couldn't focus on the training sessions, the noise...nothing.

After wolfing down the breakfast bagel, she headed for the grass and lay down on the gentle incline of grass, a natural viewing bleacher for the courts it flanked, pulling the straw hat over her eyes. It wasn't long before sleep took her, and her dreams were scattered with the image of a man  a tall dark stranger who swept her off her feet.

Chloe was in a place half awake, half asleep. Dreaming. A familiar voice talking, some laughter. And the hot summer sun beating down on her body. Thankfully she had the straw hat tipped over her face, her delicate face didn't need to be toasted in the sun too! As she came more alive, she could hear voices, shouts, kids playing. But there it was again, that familiar voice. 

Tipping the hat so that she could actually see, she looked down from her position a few feet above the training court to see four men sat somewhere below her feet on the same incline watching a group of ten year olds slinging shots at a small target. One of them, a very blonde man was laughing, patting the back of a darker haired man, though a cap obscured most of his hair, his eyes hidden by shades. The other two were laughing.

"You will crawl home at four am Petrakis then you can't expect to find forty sprites easy to deal with the next day!"

Before she heard the words, Chloe had dropped her head back to the grass, her heart racing and that familiar nausea returned, wishing with all her being that she could make her five foot nine body invisible. She was literally a few feet from Chris and his mates. What the hell was he doing here? And more importantly, how did she escape from this?

Her forehead was clammy as she lounged there, amazed that no one had spotted her. She dared not look at what was happening, but the voices got quieter and it was only then she relaxed. Lifting her hat again, Chloe spotted Didi coming towards her smiling.

"You've been sleeping for about an hour. You ok?"

Chloe slowly pulled herself to sitting and turned to the other woman, "where's Phil and the kids?" When she gestured across the school to a group in the distance, she groaned. "Who's that guy over there? Black cap and royal blue t-shirt."

Didi followed her direction then asked with a smile, "the cute bum and those really nice legs?" Glancing at Chloe she spotted her stricken face, "Chloe, what is it? That's Chris Petrakis, he's this seasons new player. Brought in from some team on the East coast."

Chloe turned to her, "he plays lacrosse?"

She nodded, "yep, and very well. He's like top points scorer this season I think. Phil knows more about this than me!"

Shaking her head, this had suddenly got so much more complicated, she sighed, "that's my knight in shining armour!"