Free A Debt Repaid (1) by N. Isabelle Blanco, Nyddi Page A

you.” He didn’t say anything, but she could sense his confusion like a presence in the room.
    She didn’t turn to him.  Instead, she squeezed down on the door knob harder, staring at her reflection in the sleek-white surface of the door. “Lori needs the help. And I agree with you, and Brent, about moving her out of that shelter. She and Adam need to be somewhere that’s mor e secure. She’s hesitant to take it because she has her pride, but thank you for helping her.”
    There. She’d had her say. Now it was time to go.
    So why wasn’t she opening the door and stepping through?
    She should’ve left while she still had the chance.
    Chase moved close to her. She felt the heat of his body a split millisecond before he cupped the back of her neck. He overtook the entire span of her neck with his gentle hold.
    He wasn’t keeping her in place. She could’ve broken free of him if she had wanted to.
    But, Aria didn’t want too. Or rather, her body had once again gone traitor. Chase kneaded his thumb into the side of her neck, his touch eviscerating everything. Her resistance, her doubts, her anger… her identity. She couldn’t remember who she even was for a bit.
    “I’ve been worried about you,” he said out of nowhere. 
    The door in front of her was made out of an ultra-smooth alloy. Chase towered over her with an expression she’d never seen before on his face.
    “Aria, before you leave, I need to know…is everything alright with you?”  Chase punctuated his question with another stroke of her neck.
    She swallowed hard and knew the bastard felt it against his hand. That and her frantic pulse pounding through her artery. “Why would you even ask? Don’t you always have ways of looking into things like th-that?” Every touch made it harder and harder for her to talk. To think. It was obvious in her tone. He affected her.
    No, affected was too simple of a word. She was being destroyed on the inside. It was a hot, vicious throbbing, one that rattled every inch of her.
    She hated her weakness. Hated how starved her body was. It’d been so long since she had any physical connection; she knew she was up against a very basic need. The need for affection. Any type.
    Damn him, but she was on the verge of purring with every pass of his thumb.
    She hated, hated, hated herself for it.
    In the reflection in front of her, she saw the intense way Chase stared at her neck, his look one of fascination.
    Almost as if he was hungry for it.
    The pounding between her legs became worse. It was a battle between her will and what she wanted.
    “I do have ways,” he said after a while. Those dark eyes remained focused on where he touched. “But I decided to wait and ask you in person. I wanted to afford you your privacy.”
    How nice of him. So he had methods of spying on her, but he had chosen not to use said methods.
    Just hearing those words pass Chase’s lips should’ve been enough to send her flying right out that door.
    There was no such thing as flying for her. Aria couldn’t move. She was convinced that if Chase passed that spot on her neck one more time—
    He did.
    The only thing that stopped her legs from buckling was the fact that he captured her stare with his in the reflection.
    Every muscle in Aria’s body froze, her attention rapt.
    “Is everything okay? With the house, and…” He didn’t finish, but then again, he didn’t have to. His eyes had dropped to her left hand, still wrapped around the doorknob.
    Her wedding ring seemed to glint in the bright white light. Aria pulled her eyes away from her ring. She had no idea why she still wore it. She’d told Douglas to get the hell out yesterday.
    Not that she was in the mood to divulge that to Chase. It was her last barrier. Her last defense against the madness she was going through.
    So she lied instead. “It’s fine… everything, is… fine.”
    If he caught the hesitation in her response, he gave no sign. No, instead, he became angry. No, he was