Free Perfect Harmony by Sarah P. Lodge Page A

to
snap.
    “Mr.  Strong!  Come on.  Just one statement.”
    Chase bats the man away.
    But he doesn’t let up.
    “Just one.  Jesus.  It’s hardly that hard, moneybags.  You
guys think you’re so special being born into all this shit.  You’re just
lucky.”
    Chase snaps and spins around.
    “You want a statement?”
    Suddenly, Chase swings with his fist, smacking the guy
straight in the jaw.  He topples over the curb and tumbles on to the pavement.
    Chase loosens his tie.  “And they say my speeches lack a
punch.”
    He climbs into the limo and slams the door.
    “Drive,” he says to the chauffeur.
    The driver’s foot hits the pedal and guns the engine.  The
limo roars into action and we shoot off down the street.
    I turn to look out the window behind us.  I can’t see
anything over the mob of flashbulbs sparking in the distance.
    “Are you alright?” I say to Chase.
    He rubs his fist with his fingers.  “Never felt better.”  He
sits back against the soft leather.  “Take the back streets, Miller.  I don’t
want them following.”
    “Right away, Sir,” says his driver.  “The penthouse?”
    Chase nods and presses a button on the door.  The privacy
divider rolls up.
    We are completely alone.
    “You’re penthouse?”  My mouth is dry.  I swallow.
    “Yes, it’s in Manhattan.  It’s like a castle in the sky. 
You can see the whole of New York stretched out into the horizon.”
    “Oh.”
    He takes my hand.  “It’ll give us total privacy.”
    “Chase, this is happening so fast.  One minute we were
talking and drinking, and then we almost... I can’t process it all.”
    “Don’t.  Forget over-thinking and rationalising.  There is
only you and me, nothing else.”
    Shit.  If it was that easy to turn my brain off I would have
done it years ago.
    But maybe he has a point - maybe I should just let go.
    I swallow again and my stomach gurgles.
    Hunger.  I completely forgot how hungry I was.
    I see a platter of delicious food opposite us, and a bottle
of champagne chilling in a bucket of ice on the seat.
    But sitting there and staring at that array of delicacies,
the hunger seemed trivial.  There was only one thing I was hungry for, and it
wasn’t dinner.
    I turn to Chase and smile.  He brushes my cheek softly with
his hand and I get lost once again in those fathomless eyes.
    “I never thought I’d meet someone like you, Melody.  Someone
so...”
    “Interesting?” I say.  I smile wanly.
    “...Incredible.”  His fingers trace the back of my neck,
slowly trickling down and setting my body on edge; a sensitive stroking tickle
that excites me at the deepest level.  “You’re nothing like anyone I’ve ever
known.”
    “Oh?” I whisper.
    “I want you — fuck that - I need you in my bed.”
    His bottomless gaze burns me, his thumb brushing my bottom
lip, so slowly and sensitively, my skin lights up and a thrill rushes through
every inch of my body.  His fingers are over my hair, massaging and kneading,
and I feel a hum between my legs.  A desperate craving that’s begging for him.
    “I want to touch you, Melody,” he says, his breath like fire
against my ear.  “I want to suck on your nipples, and taste this mouth, to lick
every inch of your sweat dripped skin until you beg me to fill you.”
    I tremble.  Breath seems impossible.  His words drip like
honey and I’m paralysed by his touch.
    “Your body will press against mine, naked and burning with
desire, and I’ll taste you and you’ll taste me and I’ll take you, filling you
deep inside until you quiver and cry out in ecstasy and beg me for more, and
our bodies buck against each other as the rest of the world fades to nothing,
and when you think it couldn’t go on any more - that it’s impossible to feel so
much blinding pleasure, you’ll pop like a bottle of warm champagne.”
    I’m there.  I’m in every word, powerless and under his
control, drifting and unable to focus.
    His lips are mere