“Oh, shit! I’m sorry!” came the unexpected announcement that had Sloane breaking off the kiss to find a man wearing an Emerald Fire Department T-shirt with mused blonde hair that looked like it was from frustration more than styling, standing at the patio door with his hand over his eyes as he gestured toward the front of the house with the phone in his other hand. “I tried knocking, but nobody answered. I figured the game was going on in the back and I’m…shit, I’m sorry,” he said, sighing heavily as he turned around and took off before they could respond.
“Umm, who was that?” Sloane asked as she moved closer to the side of the pool.
“No one,” Chase murmured absently, pressing a kiss against the back of her neck as he reached over and grabbed onto the edge to hold himself up as he wrapped his other arm around her and–
Slowly slid inside her, making her forget everything else.
Chapter 31
“I’m done,” Chase bit out, shaking his head as he glanced back at his wheelchair and
Found himself groaning when the cruel woman that enjoyed torturing him cupped his face and pulled him down for a kiss that had him ignoring the muscles in his arms and legs straining to hold him up and forced himself to move closer when she took a step back.
“Only a few more steps,” Sloane said against his mouth as she continued to slowly pull back, giving him no other choice but to follow her because there was no way in hell that he was going to willingly stop kissing her.
“You’re evil,” he felt the need to point out as he forced his legs to work as he released his grip on the bars so that he could slide his trembling hands down the bar, grab hold, and force his fucking legs to keep going.
“And you’re walking,” the incredible woman that refused to give up on him said as he felt her lips pull up into a smile. She brushed her lips against his one last time before she pulled away so that he could see that he’d walked the entire length of the bars.
“Holy shit…” Chase said, releasing a shuddering breath as he glanced over his shoulder and then…
“Holy shit,” he said, chuckling as he glanced down at his legs.
He walked.
He fucking walked…
“You did it!” Sloane said, smiling as she leaned up to kiss his cheek as he stood there trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he’d just walked and…
“Pookie, I think I’m going to need that chair now,” Chase said as his legs threatened to give out.
“Sorry,” Sloane said, shooting him a sympathetic wince as she quickly made her way to his wheelchair and rolled it over as he struggled to stay standing.
As soon as she had the wheelchair ready, he forced his legs to work one last time, helping him turn around so that he could sit down and when he did, Sloane was there so that he could wrap his arms around her. God, he couldn’t believe that he did it.
He’d walked.
After resigning himself to living the rest of his life in that fucking chair, he’d walked.
He’d fucking walked!
“We need to celebrate,” the incredible woman in his arms said, smiling as she leaned down and kissed him.
“What did you have in mind?” Chase asked, reaching up to cup her face in his hand as he slowly returned that kiss.
“Well,” she said, shifting to get closer to him, “I was thinking that we could go home, grab a shower and then I’d take you out for a steak dinner where I would play hard to get until you took me home.”
“Then what happens?” he asked, dropping his hand away so that he could roll them toward the door.
“Then,” Sloane said, brushing her lips against his one last time before moving her lips next to his ear and whispered, “I let you fuck me in the hot tub,” making him groan.
He absently waved to the volunteer at the desk, barely glancing at her as she hit the automated door button for him so that he could roll out onto the parking lot and was reminded just how truly fucked up the world was when he spotted Amy in her usual spot. Every time they came here, she was there, standing in her office window, watching his every fucking move. He wished that she’d do them both a favor and shut the fucking curtain. He’d considered telling Sloane that he wanted to find another place to do his therapy, but he couldn’t do that to her.
Sloane loved working here and he…
He would do anything to make her happy.
“Are you okay?” Sloane asked, leaning in and kissed him, bringing his attention back to where it should be.
“I’d be better if we skipped that steak dinner,” he said, kissing her as he rolled to a stop next to the car.
He felt her lips twitch as she said, “I think we could arrange that.”
“What about the shower?” he asked, reaching down to set his brakes.
“What about it?” Sloane asked, brushing her lips against his as she climbed off his lap while he forced his legs to cooperate and kicked the footrests out of the way.
“Will you let me fuck you in the shower, too?” Chase asked as he grabbed hold of the armrests and moved to stand up.
“I might be persuaded to let you have your way with me in the shower, too,” she said with an incredibly sexy smile as she opened the passenger side door for him.
“Then we have a deal,” Chase said, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before he climbed into the car, doing his best to ignore the pain tearing through his legs. God, they fucking hurt, but he’d take pain over not being able to feel his legs any fucking day of the week.
Smiling, Sloane pushed his wheelchair toward the back of the car as he climbed in and found himself looking across the street to find the woman that he’d planned on spending the rest of his life with still watching him. She sent him a hurt look before she finally stepped away from the window. A year ago, that expression would have broken him, but now…
He had what he wanted, Chase thought, closing his eyes and as he dropped his head back against the headrest. When Sloane climbed into the car, she didn’t say anything and he’d never been more grateful. He sat there for the next fifteen minutes, thinking about what it felt like to walk again because that was all that mattered, getting his life back and once he did…
He wasn’t going to let anyone have that kind of hold over him again.
“Who’s this?” Sloane asked, sounding curious as he felt the car slowly pull into his driveway.
“What are you talking about?” Chase mumbled absently as he sat there, trying to mentally prepare himself for what was about to come.
God, his legs were already fucking killing him.
They might have to skip that shower and go straight to the hot
“There’s an incredibly cute kid hugging a box by the front door,” Sloane said, making him frown as he opened his eyes and felt is stomach drop.
“Shit!” Chase bit out as he quickly unsnapped his seatbelt and reached for the door.
“What’s going on?” Sloane asked as she thankfully moved her ass and jumped out of the car so that by the time he managed to climb out of the car, she was there waiting with his wheelchair.
“Nicholas,” was all he said as he wheeled himself around the car and
“I’m sorry for not doing my chores and my homework and for teasing Jacob about his blanket, but I stopped doing it, see?” Nicholas rushed to explain as he put the box on the ground and started grabbing things to show him. “I started doing my homework and I got all Bs this year, but I-I can do better next year. And I started making my bed every morning and helping around the house more.”