by Levine, Nina
“Fuck,” he roars as he pulls out.
I feel the same way.
Ashton is a man who knows what he’s doing. I’m not sure whether it’s his confidence, his bossiness or his skills that turns me on more. All I know is I can’t get enough. And I can’t get it as fast as I want it.
He slams into me again.
Deep.
So fucking deep and hard that I feel like he’s going to slam right through me.
I shift my arms so my hands lock around his neck. “Don’t stop,” I beg. “Fuck me so hard I can’t walk out of here.”
“Jesus, you’re perfecting that dirty talk,” he rasps.
“Well, I figured I have to. You seem to like it.”
He stares down at me as he pushes me closer and closer to another orgasm. His muscles flex as he holds his powerful body over mine, giving me what I asked for—the kind of sex a girl doesn’t recover from fast.
I grip him harder when his pace picks up even more. Our bodies move in perfect rhythm together until my orgasm finally tears through me.
Takes me high.
So high.
And then I’m gliding.
The pleasure wraps itself around me.
All I know is that bliss.
It shatters me.
I come completely apart in Ashton’s arms.
Time stands still.
When I eventually come to, he’s stopped moving, his cock still fills me, and his head has dropped to my shoulder.
I slide my hands across his shoulders and down his arms. Ashton has the biggest arms I’ve ever seen on a man and I take a moment to touch them. My mind is still righting itself after that orgasm just wiped all sense from me, and I linger in this moment for a beat.
Just him and me.
He lifts his head and finds my gaze. I’m not sure what I see in his eyes, but he watches me with an expression I haven’t seen from him yet.
Catching my lips, he kisses me. “For the record, I do like your dirty talk. I’d planned hours of exploring your body before I fucked you again, but you pushed me over the edge faster than I thought you would.” He drops his gaze to my lips. “This mouth is full of surprises.”
I trail my fingers over his lips. “You like surprises?”
“No, I don’t, but it seems you have a way of challenging everything I know and turning it on its ass.”
I have no idea what he means by that, but I don’t have the energy for a deep conversation right now, so I simply smile up at him. “I like surprises. Just so you know.”
He pulls out of me and pushes himself off the bed. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he says before leaving the room.
I roll onto my side and wait for him to return. My entire body is worn out and sleep beckons, but I’m determined not to fall asleep.
I came here to spend the whole day with Ashton; there’s no way I’m spending any of it sleeping.
20
Ashton
Holding the phone against my ear, I watch Lorelei sleep. She passed out after I fucked her the second time and she hasn’t woken up since. That was a couple of hours ago. I’d been just about to wake her up when Jessica phoned me with an urgent issue I needed to take care of. So I let her sleep.
“You’re heading into the office now?” Jessica asks over the phone.
“Yes, I need to sort this out before it escalates.” It’s a million-dollar-at-least problem if I don’t fix it today so I have no other choice.
“Is Lorelei pissed?”
“I doubt it.”
“You haven’t told her you’re leaving yet?”
“I haven’t spoken to her for a couple of hours.”
“Fuck,” she mutters. “You wore her out, didn’t you?”
“You could say that.”
“I am so jealous of you right now.”
“You—”
“Nuh, uh… stop talking. I haven’t been laid in weeks so you need to shut the hell up about your sex life.”
“You were the one who brought it up.” Lorelei stirs, blinking up at me. “I have to go, Jessica. Can you email me the information I need for when I get back to the office?”
“Will do. And just to keep you in the loop, Jack’s spent most of the day in your gym. I have no idea what he’s doing down there, but at least he’s not drinking.”
We end the call and I take a seat on the edge of the bed.
Lorelei frowns. “Why are you dressed? And how long did I sleep for?”
Fuck, she’s beautiful when she’s just woken up.
“You slept for a couple of hours.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“I’ve had some problems at work to take care of while you slept.”
“And now you have to go to work?”
I wait for her to complain, but she doesn’t. Instead, she surprises me once more by not giving me hell about it. She’s so unlike the women I’ve dated in the past who took issue with the number of hours I chose to work.
I nod. “Yes.”
She sits up and her arms circle my neck. A sexy smile spreads across her face. “I think you should leave your toys behind so I can play with them. We didn’t get to test any of them out.”
“They’re not mine. I bought them for you.” I steal a hungry kiss from her before adding. “I’ll call you later for an update.”
“An update on what I tried out?”
“No, an update on how wet you are.”
I stand before I lose the shred of control I have left. Lorelei has me so damn hard for her that I’m concerned I’ll fuck up the business deal I need to fix. This is new territory for me and I’m not comfortable with it.
However, as much as I don’t want to be in this predicament, the only thought in my mind as I exit the hotel room is how soon I can have her under me again.
My thoughts drift to Lorelei as I listen to my sister later that night. It’s been a few hours since I’ve spoken to Lorelei. She was on her way out to dinner with a friend after leaving the hotel and promised to call me when she got home.
“Ashton, are you even listening to me?”
I turn my attention back to Alessandra and take a swig of my Scotch. “What was the outcome of the session?” She’s just arrived back to collect the kids after the counselling session with Malcolm. I’m surprised he isn’t here with her.
She exhales a long breath. “Well, we ended up having another huge fight afterwards, and he told me to get in my car and pick up the kids while he calmed down.”
“Did the session go okay, though?”
“It was bloody awful. I hated every fucking minute of it. And I think he did too.”
I lean forward and rest my elbows on my thighs. “I imagine that’s how this is going to go for a while, Aly. At least while you two get all the shit out into the open.”
“I know! And it’s why I didn’t want to do it. What if he decides he hates me and can’t live with me?”
“How could anyone decide that, Alessandra?” Jack asks as he enters the living room and sits next to me on the sofa.
Aly rolls her eyes. “You only say that because you’ve had a crush on me your whole life, Jack. This is my husband we’re talking about. The man who shares a house with me and puts up with all my shit. There’re no rose-coloured glasses there.”
Jack chuckles and I drink some more Scotch. “It’s all true. I have had a crush on you for that long. Maybe if Malcolm leaves you, I could finally have a shot.”
My phone buzzes with a text message and I leave them to their conversation so I can check it.
* * *
Jessica: Your father is doing the rounds on Willow Street trying to buy up property.
Me: Where did you hear this?
Jessica: I just had drinks with your new real estate agent, Sian. It only took me three drinks and some sweet talk to get it out of her.
Me: Leave it with me.
Jessica: Oh, I was planning to. I’ve got better things to do now. You’re not the only one who�
��s getting lucky today.
* * *
“Was that Lorelei?” Jack asks.
I glance at him before directing my attention to Alessandra. “No, it was Jessica who has informed me that Dad is trying to buy up properties on Willow Street. What do you know about this?”
She sighs. “God, Ashton, let it go. I keep telling you this. It’s not good for your mental health.”
My shoulders tense. “You knew about this?”
“I heard rumours, yes, but I haven’t spoken to him about it yet.”
I push up off the sofa. “Fuck, Aly. You knew I wanted to be kept up-to-date with this.”
She stands too and glares at me. “I did. And I also know that you should stay well clear of anything he’s got going on. You two are toxic when you get mixed up in this stuff.”
My phone rings and I stab at it without checking caller ID. Holding Alessandra’s gaze, I bark, “Yes?”
There’s a pause before Lorelei’s voice sounds. “Have I done something to piss you off?”
I rake my fingers through my hair. “No, I thought you were Jessica.”
“And you answer your phone like that to your assistant?” She sounds less than impressed with me.
“No. You caught me in a bad moment.”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing. Are you home?”
“Ashton, it’s hardly nothing. You practically bit my head off just now.”
Forcing out a harsh breath, I say, “I just discovered something about my father that irritated me.”
“Oh, God, your father. He came to see me.”
I frown. “When?”
“Last week.”
“And you’re just telling me now?” I snap, instantly regretting it, but unable to stop myself. My father always brings out the worst in me.
“I didn’t realise it was that important. But if it’s that important to you to know, he offered me three million dollars for my property.”
I still. That amount is about a million more than it’s worth and in my experience, people don’t turn down money that comes that easily. “Are you going to accept his offer?”
She doesn’t reply.
“Lorelei,” I demand, “are you going to accept it?”
“You know what, Ashton? I’ll tell you what I told him. And what I told you when you wanted to buy it. Not everything is for sale.”
The line goes dead as she ends the call.
“Fuck,” I mutter as I stab at the phone to dial Jessica.
She answers almost straight away. “This better be important, Ashton. I was just about to go dow—”
“Find out everything you can from Sian tonight, and then first thing tomorrow, I want an estimate of how much each property on Willow Street is worth. And I want an appointment set up with my father.”
“Done. Now can you please leave me in pussy heaven?”
I end the call and throw my phone down on the coffee table.
Alessandra stares at me. “What are you doing?”
I stare back at her. “I’m buying up Willow Street. No fucking way is he getting his hands on that street.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, God. This is not a battle you want to fight with him, Ashton.”
“This”—I stab in the air at her—“is not a fight he should have waged. He fucking knows what it means to me. I won’t allow him to have it.”
My phone buzzes with another text and I snatch it up off the coffee table.
* * *
Lorelei: I think we made a mistake. I’m going to send these toys back to you.
* * *
I exit the living room as I phone her, wanting privacy for this call.
“Ashton, I don’t want—”
“Lorelei, you want me. You can’t deny it.”
“I might want your body, but I forgot that I don’t like the way you do business. And that’s a huge part of you, so I think we should just stop this now before it goes any further. We’re just too different to be able to make anything work between us.”
“Bullshit. You told me last night you weren’t ready for me and I knew what that meant, but I also know you just need some time. And now you’re using this as an excuse to pull away.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Well, you’re just going to have to for once in your life, because I’m not saying yes to you.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’ll see you in twenty.” I end the call before she can argue with me anymore and stalk back into the living room.
“I have to head out. Are you good to get the kids into the car?” I ask Alessandra.
“You go,” Jack says. “I’ll make sure Aly’s okay.”
“Thanks.”
As I’m leaving, Alessandra yells out, “I’m calling you tomorrow morning to try to talk some sense into you.”
I ignore her, my thoughts completely on Lorelei.
There’s no way I’m letting her walk away from this. As much as she thinks she can say no, it’s not a word anyone ever says to me.
21
Lorelei
Fifteen minutes after he hung up on me, Ashton bangs on my front door. The man is infuriating. I told him not to come over for a good reason, and he just barges right on over. I know if I let him in that door, he’ll convince me to change my mind. And goddam it, I don’t want to change my mind. He may have given me the best sex I’ve ever had, but he’s too much in every other way. My heart isn’t ready for what I know he’ll demand.
He bangs harder. “Lorelei, open the door.”
I give in, expecting him to stride through the door, but he doesn’t. Instead, he stays where he is and watches me, waiting. It unnerves me. Just being in his presence is enough to do that, but the way his eyes hold me captive, and the way his body screams desire completely messes with my thinking.
Not to mention the fact my body remembers every inch of his from earlier today.
Pointing my finger at him, I say, “Stop that!”
His brows lift. “I haven’t done a thing yet.”
His deep voice stirs butterflies in my stomach. Damn you, Ashton Scott. I wave my finger in the air. “Yes, you have. You came over here when I told you not to and now you’re just standing there staring at me….”
His lips twitch. “Staring at you isn’t doing anything.”
“Well, you’re talking to me, too. So just stop it all, turn around and go home. We had fun and now it’s ove—”
With one purposeful step, he enters my home and invades my personal space. His arm easily slides around my waist, pulling me hard against his body. “It is so far from over, Lorelei. I know that, and as much as you’re trying to convince yourself otherwise, you know it, too.”
My heart races so fast I can feel it all over my skin. My core is begging for him. Traitor.
He holds me tighter and forces his way further into my home while closing the door behind him. Once the door's closed, he turns me and backs me up against it. Pressing his erection into me, he growls, “Tell me you don’t want this and I’ll leave.”
My hands go to his chest and I attempt to push against him, but my effort is weak at best. I open my mouth to reply, not even sure what I’m about to say. When no words come, I snap my mouth shut.
His eyes search mine. “I thought so.”
A second later his mouth crashes down onto mine. The traitor that it is, my body responds without hesitation. My arms circle him and my hips rock against him while my lips show him just how much I want this.
No, no, no.
Unwrapping my arms from around him, I push on his chest. Breathless, I manage to get out, “I don’t… I can’t…. You need to go.” I’m scattered and still fighting to think straight, but I need to end this.
“Why?”
I blink, staring up at him. Again, he didn’t do what I expected. I assumed he would continue to
try and force his way in, but he’s not. And that only bewilders me more.
“I told you on the phone, we’re too different for this to go anywhere.”
“Leaving aside the fact I don’t agree, why do we have to know where it will go before we begin?”
“Because I like to have a plan and know where I’m going.”
“Bullshit.”
My eyes widen and angry heat flushes my skin. “You’ve said that to me twice tonight, Ashton. I won’t put up with it again.”
“Someone has to say it to you. I suspect not many get the chance to challenge you.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “And what does that mean?”
“It means you run hot and cold, and I can see that you close yourself off at the first sign of trouble. But what you need to know about me is I don’t give up easily. I want you and I will have you.”
I exhale a harsh breath. “And I keep telling you that sometimes you just can’t have what you want.”
He dips his face to mine and traces my lips with his finger. “Baby, you can keep fighting me if you want, because trust me, I fucking love a good fight. But what I’d really love you to do is let me fuck that fight out of you. I thought I’d done that today. Clearly I need to up my game.”
My legs sway.
Ashton does not need to up his game.
Far from it.
But I’m finished playing his game.
I drop my arms, straighten my shoulders and take a deep breath. “No. I want you to leave.”
His face is still close and he doesn’t shift away fast. He holds my gaze for what feels like forever before finally taking a step back. “This isn’t done, Lorelei. Not by a long shot.”
With that, he leaves and I close the door behind him. His scent lingers, and I close my eyes and inhale it as I sag against the door. The tension knotting my shoulders eases, but not by much, because as much as I don’t want to admit it, Ashton was right. I do run at the first sign of trouble. Usually, though, that trouble takes a lot longer to find me. Usually, I don’t fall this fast.