A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! In honor of the day of love, I've included some fluffy, smutty goodness in this chapter. :)

Chapter 20

September 11, 2019

Raina Thorpe wasn't a vengeful person by nature, but when she discovered the truth about her mother, she'd started planning her payback. Growing up in an impersonal hotel building with only the cooks and maids as her company had left her feeling lonely and unattached. She kept the company of a multitude of men to whom she would never commit mostly because she was desperate to feel some level of human intimacy. In those moments with each companion of the evening, she was able to pretend that she mattered to someone besides her father.

Whenever her father would take her to the ice rink at Christmas time or the mall for her birthday, she always felt a pang of envy when she would watch the other little girls hold their mother's hands as she would help them pick out sparkly headbands or bright ribbons for their hair. Her father had told her that her mother had left her when she was young. Though he had known it was a harsh lie to tell an impressionable little girl, he had validated the falsehood by telling himself that it would be easier for her than if she knew the truth. Thinking that her mother wanted nothing to do with her would keep her from seeking out answers that he wasn't prepared to give her.

Last year, she decided that it was time to face her mother and tell her exactly what she thought about her abandonment. She consulted with a private investigation firm and rummaged through some of her father's old files after guessing the combination on his safe. What she'd discovered sent chills down her spine: her mother hadn't abandoned her as a baby; she'd been murdered during a fire intentionally set by Bart Bass to collect insurance money. When she broached the topic with her father, he had told her that he had wanted to shield her from the pain of knowing that Bart Bass would never be held accountable for his actions because he was a very powerful man who had too many law officials in his back pocket.

In a rage, she had set forth in planning her revenge for the fact that her mother had been stolen from her before she even got a chance to know her - before she even had a chance to make any lasting memories with her. Soon after, though, she discovered that Bart Bass had died in a car accident several years earlier. Determined to tear apart the family that destroyed hers, she set her sights on bringing down Bass Industries.

At first she had planned to reveal everything she knew about Bart Bass's involvement in the fire that killed her mother to Dan Humphrey. She knew he was writing an expose about the Basses, specifically Charles Bass. She tried to talk him into changing angles and exposing Bart for the murderous piece of shit that he really was, but Dan seemed pretty steadfast about focusing on Charles. As much as she wanted the Bass name to pay for what had happened, she felt a small pang of guilt at the thought of a completely innocent man paying for his father's crimes.

When she discovered her father's plan to acquire Bass Industries and sell off the parts until there was little left of the infamous empire, she had quickly decided to jump in and help her father gain control. She and her father worked tirelessly to find ways to convince the Board of Thorpe Enterprises that although taking on Bass Industries was a risky move, the benefits of success far outweighed the price of failure. When the stock plummeted after some rather risque photos of Charles Bass and Blair Waldorf surfaced, they decided it was time to strike.

As Raina sat at the bar alone, she tried to convince herself that whatever repercussions came to the younger Bass weren't her problem. It's just business, that's all, she reminded herself unconvincingly. Having a heart and feeling empathy would only cause problems in the business world; in this world, she needed to be ruthless.

"Oh, my God! Raina Thorpe? Is that you?" The sound of a very bubbly voice pulled her from her thoughts.

She turned and saw a tall beautiful blonde standing beside her. The woman looked quite familiar, but she couldn't place her, "Yes. And you are?"

"Serena van der Woodsen," Serena responded with a bright smile. "We met at the fundraising dinner following the Investor's Summit a few years back. You were wearing that gorgeous Marchesa gown."

Raina thought back and vaguely remembered the blonde complimenting her dress, but she would have never noticed her in any other circumstances. She found it strange that Serena seemed to recognize her after such a brief introduction years ago. "Oh, yes, how are you?" Raina asked politely.

"I'm doing wonderfully," Serena beamed. "Recently divorced. Thank God," she emphasized. "And I just rekindled a relationship with an old flame. What are you doing back in New York? I thought you were in Chicago?"

"I am," Raina said slowly, allowing the blonde's exuberance to wash over her. She had been so tightly wound lately, so stressed, that it was nice to just be near someone so full of light and happiness. "I'm just in town for business."

"We must hang out while you are here," Serena suggested. "New York can get lonely by yourself, and you can't spend the whole time on business. You've got to make the best of your time here and have some fun. How about drinks tomorrow night?"

Raina couldn't remember the last time she had spent time with a female friend. She certainly didn't consider Serena to be a friend yet, but she thought maybe there was a possibility in the future. Serena embodied everything that was missing from her life, so she said, "Sure, that sounds wonderful."

XOXO

Chuck's eyes slowly opened as a groan escaped his lips and his hand instinctively drifted to the source of the pleasure emanating through his veins. He looked down to find brown eyes staring up at him mischievously. Without breaking eye contact, Blair engulfed his hardened member in her mouth and swirled her tongue around the engorged head. She used her dainty hands to pump the shaft in time with the bobbing of her head.

Realizing that this might be the last time he gets this treatment for a while, Chuck sat back and closed his eyes, relishing in the feel of her talented mouth. He gently stroked her hair and the skin of her shoulders as she took him in deeper. As his pleasure mounted, his hips started to buck up into her of their own volition.

Pulling back before he finished, she started kissing a path of soft wet kisses up his stomach and chest until she reached his face. Leaning in and kissing his lips, she whispered, "Good morning, handsome."

"Mmm, it's a good morning indeed," He said, pinning her underneath him so that he could lavish kisses across her chest and shoulders. "That is a hell of a way to wake up."

He moved his mouth down to her breasts to suck one of her pink buds into his mouth. She mewled softly as his left hand slowly trailed a tantalizing path down to her hips and eventually across to her warm center. His fingers teased the slickness he found there unhurriedly. She groaned and tried to push his hand further against her mound, but he slowed his movements, and asked in a husky voice, "What do you want, Blair? Tell me."

"I want -" She moaned when his fingers reached her clit and drew soft circles around the tingling nub.

"Yes, my love?" he goaded, nipping at her earlobe.

"God, Chuck, I need you inside me. Stop teasing me," she whined.

With a chuckle, he flipped them so that she was now straddling his hips. He gently gripped her waist and helped her guide his length into her. "Ride me, baby," he whispered, thrusting up into her as she pushed her hips down against him. "Oh, fuck, Blair," he cursed as he felt her tight warmth completely engulf him.

Throwing her head back so that her hair cascaded down her spine, she placed her hands on the headboard above them and began to slowly rise up off his hardness before slamming back down so that he was buried so deeply inside of her that she could barely think straight. He grabbed her hips and helped her set a rhythm that had them both panting a string of expletives, moans, and a combination of dirty words and each other's names. His eyes glazed over with lust as he watched her breasts bounce with each movement. He couldn't take the temptation much longer and gave in to his desire to knead her breasts with his hands.

He was so close to his climax with the way she rotated her hips sinfully against his own that he was desperate to slow her down. He flipped them once again so that she was on her back and he could regain some control. She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist as he pounded into her with slow, deep strokes.

Running his hand from her thigh up her sides to brush his thumb over her nipple gently, he slowed his hips to gentle rocking, causing Blair's eyes to flutter open. Her heart stopped when she saw the expression on his face. She'd never seen such raw emotion in his eyes, and it was honestly jarring. He trailed his hand from her breast up to hold her chin in place to maintain eye contact, and whispered, "I love you, Blair," as if he were revealing his deepest secret to her.

The emotional moment was too much for Blair, and she felt the tightening in her stomach begin to unwind and erupt into millions of shockwaves of pleasure. Wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, she whimpered, "Oh, God, Chuck, I love you, too."

At the feeling of her walls tightening around his length, hiis steady pace became frantic and uncontrolled as he started to thrust into her with complete abandon. Several moments later, he spilled himself deep inside of her with an animalistic grunt.

After cleaning up the remnants of their lovemaking, Chuck pulled Blair to his chest and stroked a gentle path up and down her spine with his fingers. Blair knew that she was delaying the inevitable; she needed to leave and return to the facade of her engagement to Louis, but she couldn't bring herself to leave Chuck just yet. He'd gotten eerily quiet, so she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Is everything okay?"

He kissed her forehead, "Of course, everything's perfect. Why do you ask?"

"You're just really quiet is all."

He sighed and pulled her from his shoulder to look her in the eyes, "Blair, this isn't going to be easy. I mean, what are you going to do when Louis -" he paused, "-when he wants -" he couldn't give words to the fears he felt inside.

"He won't touch me," she reassured him, "I belong to you and only you."

"But, he doesn't know that," he answered frustratedly. "I'm sure in a three month span he is going to expect to have sex with his fiance at some point." The jealousy that coursed through his veins at the thought of Louis touching Blair was too much. He sat up and moved to the edge of the bed, placing his head in the palms of his hands.

She scooted to wrap her arms around his waist and place sweet kisses between his shoulder blades, "Chuck, please just trust me. I am yours; nothing about that will change. I will deal with Louis."

He caressed her hands and leaned back into her embrace, "I do trust you, Blair," He admitted, "I've just never conquered the jealousy that I feel when it comes to you."

"It's three months. We can do this. Please don't make it any harder than it already is," she begged. "I have to leave soon, and I don't want to spend our last few minutes like this."

"You're right," He said with a sigh. He leaned in and kissed her, but it did little to quell the anxiety building in the pit of his stomach. Even though they had both repeatedly expressed their commitment to one another, he couldn't help feeling like he was letting her go all over again.

"I love you, Chuck," she whispered, hoping that he would believe her words.

"I love you, too, Blair," he said, placing his forehead against hers, "Please don't doubt it for one second. No matter how long we are apart, know that I love you more than words. I'll wait as long as it takes."

Blair reluctantly extracted herself from Chuck's arms and started to dress. She really didn't want a long emotional goodbye, so she simply leaned forward and kissed him firmly and said, "Soon, my love, soon."

Before he could respond, she had left the suite. He wasn't a man who shed tears or showed his emotions. For a long time, he felt like he was devoid of any emotions beside anger and lust. Blair had shown him what it meant to be a man who could have feelings, a man who could trust others, a man who could love unashamedly. As he heard the door close behind her, he reached up and quickly wiped away the lone tear that threatened to spill from his eye.

XOXO

After showering and pulling himself out of his self-pity, Chuck was dressed and ready to continue his fight for Bass Industries. He heard a familiar chime from his phone as he carefully fastened his cufflinks. He rolled his eyes as he reached for the device, expecting to see photos of Serena and Nate or a comment about Blair's reunion with Louis. He was shocked to see a photo of Landry locked in a rather intimate embrace with Carter Baizen. Grinding his teeth together, he threw the phone on the bed with a growl, "What the fuck?!"

XOXO

When Blair stepped off the elevator into the penthouse, she was shocked to be lifted off her feet and spun around in a circle. Before she realized what was happening, Louis had covered her mouth with his own. She pulled back quickly, and asked, "Louis, what are you doing here?"

"My mother explained to me that she talked to you, and she said that you were distraught over our broken engagement," He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, "She convinced me that your transgressions were out of fear and panic. I know you are scared, my love, but we'll figure this out. In no time, you will be a princess of Monaco and we can begin our lives together. I'm sorry for the way I reacted before."

Blair had to keep from rolling her eyes. Of course, Louis would go along with whatever Sophie told him. His lack of backbone in facing his mother was one the things that annoyed her the most about him. Sophie's word was gold as far as Louis is concerned. "I'm sorry, too," was all she could think to say. She wanted to push out of his embrace and tell him that he couldn't touch her that way anymore, but she couldn't do that.

"I've missed you, Blair," he responded, raising his eyebrows suggestively, "Perhaps we should get reacquainted in the bedroom?"

She gulped when she realized that Chuck wasn't wrong. Louis had never been particularly sexual in the way that Chuck was, but he certainly wasn't going to buy her excuses for a three month drought. "I want to take things slow this time, Louis. Let's just talk and spend time together without the pressure of being physical. That way it will be that much more special when it happens."

Louis frowned and dropped her hand, Blair's response clearly not what he had hoped for. "Not sure how slow we can take things when we are getting married in 3 months, but I suppose that's a good idea for now. So long as it's not too long before I can be with you again."

Blair gave him a forced grin. "Of course," she answered through gritted teeth.

A/N: Landry and Chuck will talk in the next chapter. I know you've been waiting for that regalreves. :)

**Also, I am starting to explore new fic ideas, and I'm open to suggestions. Send me a PM with any ideas you may have. I prefer to write Chair stories.