The VIP Room(140)

Still, there I was, standing in the doorway of the largest cabin known to man, and staring in at the dank and dusty interior as Chase fumbled for a light.

“You weren’t kidding.” I said flatly as the room lit up.

“About what?”

“This place really is old and dusty. You’ve got a lot of work to do, pal.”

Chase chuckled, a deep guttural sound that I hadn’t heard him make before, and he moved further into the cabin. He reached the center of the room and started unbuttoning his shirt, causing my heart to slam into my throat as he did.

“What are you doing?” I managed, though my throat grew tight at the thought of him stripping. My imagination ran wild with thoughts of his large, muscular frame leaning over me and taking me into his arms.

“Relax,” he said with a smile. “Like you said, there’s a lot of work to do here. And I don’t intend to do it in this shirt.” He finished unbuttoning the shirt and stripped it off, revealing a white tank top underneath. His arms bulged with hard muscles, and I felt that familiar warmth return between my legs.

Holy shit, I thought as I stared at him. Now that’s a body.

“You can have a seat over there if you’d like,” Chase said, gesturing toward a sofa in the corner of the room.

I stared at him quizzically. “Come again?”

“Well,” he started, “I’m obviously not going to make you clean with me. I just like the company.”

That - the fact that he liked my company - forced a smile onto my lips. I blushed for what must have been the millionth time tonight and began stripping off my shoes. The hardwood floors felt cool against my bare feet, a nice relief from the agony of the heels I’d been wearing.

“Not a chance,” I told him. “You dragged me all the way up here. The least you can do is show me around.”

“Absolutely,” he said, then threw his hands in the air as though he were presenting a grand prize. “This, my dear, is the den. If you’ll follow me, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

I followed Chase through the cabin as he showed me into the kitchen - a huge and dazzling room filled with rustic features in addition to more modernized appliances and brightly colored granite counter tops that heavily contrasted with the cabin’s dark hardwood interior. From there, he showed me to the rear of the cabin, where we found a large library and study filled with literally thousands of books. We passed by several bedrooms, each of which could easily contain my tiny studio apartment, and several large and modernized restrooms. Though everything was on a single floor, the cabin had incredibly high ceilings that seemed to be made of stone as if they were carved straight from the mountain. Finally, we made our way through a series of spare rooms, none of which Chase said were dedicated to anything in particular, before finding our way back into the main den. All throughout the house, there were enormous windows that offered breathtaking views of the Parkway and the forests below. It was, for lack of a better word, staggering.

“Your parents,” I said once we’d returned to the den. “How long did they live here?”

“As long as I can remember,” Chase said with a shrug.

“And you?” I asked.

He took a breath before answering, a look of pain in his eyes. “Not very long. I was sent off to boarding school when I was five. My parents had money, but not a lot of compassion. I guess they figured a decent education was the best thing for me. I came home during the summers, but most of that time was spent in this cabin or in the woods surrounding it. Finished school and went straight off to university. Then, from there to New York. My parents passed away just after I started Hammer Industries, and I haven’t been back since. Thus the dust.”

He spoke with a tone of uncertainty and sadness, and I immediately felt compelled to comfort him. I stepped up behind him, placed my hands on his bare shoulders, and gently massaged his muscles. The feeling of his warmth beneath my fingertips was electrifying, and the same primal lust from earlier began mounting inside me.

“Chase,” I whispered, drawing closer to him.

In an instant, he turned toward me and threw his hands around my waist, clasping onto my hips with a distinct firmness. Before I knew what was happening, he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine, and I all but melted right then and there. I kissed him back, taking him in totally and completely, as our lips danced against each other’s. The longer we kissed, the more passionate it became, and soon I felt his tongue slipping between my lips and thrusting into my mouth. My own tongue danced against his, and I felt his hands moving from my hips and up my back, his grip still firm and strong. I wrapped my own hands around his neck, pulling him in deeper as our tongues continued to intertwine.

He tasted of sweat and honey, and his salty breath filled my nostrils as the passion intensified. I wanted him. In that moment, I wanted him more than anything in the world. I wanted him to lift me up and carry me into one of the bedrooms and have his way with me. But a single thought kept reverberating in my mind.

Depends on who you ask, he’d said. He hadn’t denied he was a monster.

Still, my body protested against my better judgment, and I pulled him even closer, letting my fingers trace over the muscles beneath his shirt. At the same time, he moved his own hands over my back, teasing the zipper on the back of my dress. It was obvious that he wanted me as much as I wanted him, but he was, for some reason, hesitant. After building up enough willpower, I pulled away from his kiss before I ended up losing control altogether.