Free Crazy Love - Krista & Chase by Melanie Shawn

more active in the Chase department just from spending five minutes with him in a dimly lit hospital room. Hearing his voice again. Experiencing the sensation she always got when he looked into her eyes, when he touched her. It might have only been on the wrist for a moment, but sweet marmalade, his touch was as potent as ever, if not more so.
    As she turned down the hall to walk towards the master bedroom, she immediately took note of the fact that the door to Chase’s childhood bedroom was closed.
    There it was. Proof. He was definitely here . Abby always kept Chase’s door open. In fact, several times when Krista had come over, she had let herself in because Abby had not answered the door. Inside, Krista had found Abby curled up on Chase’s bed. It was heartbreaking.
    Moving past the shut door, she had to stop herself from reaching out, turning the knob, and peeking inside. Damn it . It had always been that way with Chase. Krista was drawn to him. Yes, she’d heard people throw that term around, but this was different. She really was. Literally. It was like an outside force that she had to actively fight against not to give in to. If he was in the same area, she gravitated towards him.
    Once, when she’d tried to explain the phenomenon to Jessie, her sister had tried to reason it out with logic, explaining that it was just his natural charisma, which was why he’d been able to become who he was. People—fans—were drawn to him. Her sister’s logic made total sense, but Krista knew it was more than just his charisma that pulled her to him. Since the first time he’d kissed her when she was in the sixth grade, she’d known it was something different. Something more.
    Okay, this little trip down memory lane was not going to help her get any sleep tonight. Five a.m. was a cruel, unforgiving hour that didn’t care whether or not Krista had wasted the precious hours preceding it waxing poetic about the love of her life.
    Get Teddy. Go home. That was what she was here for. All this sidetracking was not on the schedule.
    Thankfully she was able to retrieve the stuffed animal quickly. It was lying beside the queen-sized bed in the center of Abby’s room.
    Teddy in hand, she made it down the hall without so much as a glance in the direction her body was screaming for her to move towards. Her body could protest all it wanted. Krista’s mind was running things. Not her hormones. Not her heart. Not her soul… Her mind.
    Just as a twinge of pride tickled in her chest from the satisfaction of not giving in to her body’s base instinct, she heard a sound behind her. Spinning around, she came face to chest with a shirtless Chase Malone.
    Oh boy.
    Obviously her body had not been on board with her previous pep talk, because at the sight of Chase’s bare chest, her mouth instantly watered and there was a quickening in her core. Down girl , Krista instructed her lady parts. What she should have done was rein in her eyes, which took in every line, every muscle that ran down Chase’s sinfully sexy abdomen and painfully perfect chest. The sight caused a pulsing need between her legs.
    “What are you doing?” Chase’s deep voice sent a thrill racing down Krista’s spine. The normal everyday timbre in Chase’s voice was enough to dampen panties, but just one syllable from Chase’s just-woke-up-voice was orgasm inducing.
    Krista’s body instantly reacted to his deep melodic tone, and she clenched her hand around the cottony softness of Teddy.
    Mind, she reminded herself. Her mind was running things. Her tongue ran across the seam of her lips as her chest rose and fell in rapid succession at the intense desire that was exploding inside of her.
    As she licked her lips, a nervous habit she’d had from the time she was a child, she heard a very familiar sound—a sound Krista honestly could not believe she’d forgotten. Chase exhaled loudly through his nose. The moment the audible air exchange registered in her consciousness,