Always Mine

by Ruth Cardello

  If so, what could he say that would make her see how he felt about her? That was the moment he realized something that rocked him back onto his heels. I want this to last. I want Emily in my next week, next month, forever.

  He swung her up into his arms and kissed her deeply, passionately, momentarily letting go of the control he’d maintained all week. She met his kiss with a passion that matched his, and had they been anywhere but the hallway of his parents’ home, they would not have remained clothed long. “Emily, I—”

  Kenzi made a loud announcement from the doorway. “No, Mom, Asher must have already left for work. He’s not in here.”

  He looked up in time to see Kenzi turn away. This wasn’t the time or the place for what he’d been about to say. “Emily, let’s go to dinner tonight. Just you and me. There’s something I need to tell you.”

  Looking adorably flushed, Emily breathed raggedly and asked, “Didn’t we promise a Scrabble rematch with Andrew and Grant tonight?”

  “This is more important,” Asher assured her. He gave her one final quick kiss and promised to be back as early as he could. He paused before walking out the door and said, “Pack an overnight bag for tonight.” The answering flare of desire in her eyes was all the yes he required. Although he’d said they should stay at his parents’ house all week, one night away was needed. When he told Emily how he felt about her, he was certain she’d agree.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‡

  Emily sat across from Asher in easily the most expensive restaurant she’d ever eaten in. The food came in tiny, decorative portions that normally wouldn’t have satisfied Emily, but her stomach was a bundle of nerves, and she had barely tasted the first two courses. They’d successfully talked about nothing in particular to that point.

  Asher reached across the table and took her hand in his. “I’m glad you decided to stay.”

  The warmth in his eyes took Emily’s breath away. She bit her bottom lip to hold back the nervous babble that threatened to spill forth. “Me, too.”

  “Not quite Paris, but this has been good.”

  “I agree.”

  “You seem to enjoy Boston.”

  “I do.”

  “The support for your project has been substantial.”

  “It’s been amazing.”

  “Imagine the traffic your museum would get if it were here.”

  Emily took a quick sip of water and choked. Was he saying he had changed his mind and was moving forward with the facility? When she could speak again, she said, “What are you saying, Asher?”

  He turned her hand over and lightly caressed the inside of her wrist with his thumb. “If you moved your museum here, you wouldn’t have to leave after the auction.”

  Emily’s heart started beating wildly. “You know I can’t do that.”

  He laced his fingers with hers. “Can’t isn’t in my vocabulary. It never has been. When I want something, I assess what is standing between me and what I want, then remove the obstacle. What is stopping you from saying yes to me?”

  The warmth she’d seen in his eyes earlier was replaced by determination. On one hand it was a dream to know he wanted her to stay, on the other hand he wasn’t declaring his love for her. He wanted her with him, but he wasn’t giving her more than that. “What are you asking me to say yes to?” Although she’d never judged her mother for her decisions, Emily wanted more for herself. Was Asher able to give her that?

  “I don’t want you to leave after the auction.”

  “You know I have to go back, Asher. If I get the funding your mother thinks I will, I can finish the museum ahead of schedule. I’m so close. I need to be there for the final phase.”

  He took out a folder and handed it to Emily. “Most of your pieces are already here. I found a building in Brookline that would be perfect for your museum. You don’t need to rely on donations to renovate it. I’ll back your project. In my estimation, we could have the place ready in less than two months.”

  Emily gripped the folder in her hand for moment. She didn’t want to believe he was still hoping to buy her land, but she had to know. “And what would happen to my grandfather’s house? To my land?”

  “We’d figure that out later.”

  Acid churned in Emily’s stomach. “My grandfather’s house is where I grew up. It’s where my mother and I envisioned the museum, and it’s where it has to be.” She handed the folder back to him unopened. The magic of the days they’d spent together with his family faded. “That hasn’t changed.” Please tell me it doesn’t matter, that all you really care about is me, and figuring out how we can be together.

  Asher frowned. “If you stay here, I’d want you to move in with me.”

  “For how long?” Emily asked, no longer able to hold in her fears. “Until you convince me to sell my land?”

  He reached for her hand, but she clasped them in front of her. “I don’t care about your damn land.”

  Emily stood. “Well, at least you’re honest about that. Take me back to your parents’ house, Asher.”

  Asher slapped several large bills on the table and walked out of the restaurant with her. As soon as they were outside he swung her toward him. “Most people would be grateful—”

  “Grateful? You’re lucky I didn’t take that folder and stuff it up your—”

  His kiss cut off the rest of what she would have said. She fisted her hands at his shoulders and hit him, but her anger quickly sparked into desire as her body leapt to life beneath his touch. She was angry, but that didn’t stop her from opening her mouth to him, clinging to him. No matter what else was between them, this was one area where they were perfectly in accord. He backed her against the wall and kissed her until they were both feverishly close to taking it too far, despite being in public.

  He raised his head, and between ragged breaths he said, “Let’s go.”

  With a hand on her lower back he guided her to his car. Emily was still trying to gather her scattered thoughts when she realized they weren’t headed in the right direction. “Where are we going?”

  He shifted his car forcefully and said, “To my apartment.”

  Despite the way her body was already wet and craving him, Emily resisted. “I said I wanted—”

  He shot her a hot glance. “We both know that’s not what you want, Emily. It’s not what I want either.”

  Emily closed her eyes and tried to muster a denial to his claim, but the chaste kisses they’d exchanged all week had built a wild need within her. How can I want him when he hasn’t answered my questions? I am worth more than just being his convenient fuck. I want to be loved. To be cherished. He says he doesn’t care about my land. If he doesn’t care about that, he doesn’t care about me. Where is my brain? Why can’t I walk away from him? She opened her eyes and peered over at him. Speaking more to her libido regarding its weakness than to him, she said, “Sometimes I hate you.”

  He laid a hand on her thigh. “No, you don’t. You get afraid, and I don’t help by saying stupid shit when I’m around you. I meant to tell you this week has been one of the best of my life. You’re not only great with my family, but everyone is happier because you’re here with us. I’m happier. That’s why I want you to stay.” He rubbed his hand up and down her thigh. “That and I want to fuck you so badly I can’t think straight.”

  His words had her mind racing and her sex clenching with desire. Breathlessly she said, “I loved every minute of being with you this week. I want to say yes, but what happens next?”

  “Whatever we want,” he ground out when he slowed for a stop sign. The kiss he gave her then wiped the rest of her mind clean of anything beyond wanting to be with him again.

  Parking the car at Asher’s apartment building and taking the elevator was a blur of feverish, impatient kissing. They started unbuttoning each other’s clothing before they were inside the door of his apartment.

  Asher slammed the door behind them and continued to kiss her deeply as he stripped her bar
e. She was completely naked and all he’d shed was his coat. If asked, Emily would have said she was the type of person who preferred to be in control. Like her mother, she’d been raised to be a strong, independent woman. What she thought she wanted and what she found pleasure in were two very different things. Giving herself over to Asher’s control should have been scary, but in this area at least, she trusted him. He would demand everything from her, but in return, he would give her more pleasure than she’d ever known. This had never been their problem.

  He lifted her so her legs wrapped around his waist. His belt bit into her thighs, but the pleasure of his mouth hungrily kissing her neck far outweighed the pain. He held her to him with one arm, and his free hand expertly went from one of her breasts to the other until both were eager for his mouth.

  She dug her hands into his hair and writhed against him, loving the feel of his business clothing against her bare skin but craving the feel of his skin. He turned and walked her a few strides to the dining room table. He sat her on the edge, leaned above her, and cleared the centerpiece with a swipe of his hand. Emily lay back onto the table and spread her legs for him.

  He stood there for a moment looking her over hungrily. He sank to his knees between her legs while positioning her at the end of the table. He kissed the inside of her right thigh, then her left. His breath was hot on her exposed sex when he said, “I want to see you make yourself come, Emily. Touch yourself for me, baby.”

  Emily ran her hand down her stomach and her trimmed sex. She dipped a finger between her lower lips. She was wet and ready for him. She circled her clit slowly, then faster, building a tempo she was well familiar with. Then she stopped, pulled him forward with her legs, and ran her wet finger across his lips. He made an animalistic noise as he lost control and took her sex into his mouth. His tongue plunged inside her while his fingers encircled her engorged clit.

  The push and pull of their lovemaking had never been clearer than in that moment. Asher was definitely a man who knew what he wanted and was used to demanding it, but he was as helpless as she was in the face of passion. He teased and loved her sex until she was on the brink of an orgasm.

  He replaced his tongue with two fingers and rose to his feet. He dug his other hand into the back of her hair and raised her face to his. Emily tasted herself on his tongue and cried out as he plunged his fingers into her again and again. Deeper and harder until she came with a sob, clenched around his fingers.

  She was still in a haze when he stood and stripped. A moment later she felt the tip of his cock rub over her clit. He lifted her hips off the table with one arm and continued to kiss her as he plunged deeply into her. His thrusts were powerful, and each one had Emily gasping as it was almost too deep, too good. There was no escape, but Emily wasn’t trying to.

  He nipped her neck and moved down to claim one of her breasts with his mouth. There was nothing gentle about the way his teeth pulled at her nipple, but Emily grabbed the back of his head and held him there, begging him not to stop. And he didn’t. He easily took her to a second orgasm, and only when she was calling out his name wildly did he give himself over to his.

  He pulled out, lifted Emily into his arms, and walked to his bedroom where he laid her across his bed. He was back a moment later with a warm washcloth and wiped her intimately. “Are you on birth control?”

  “I think so. I mean, yes,” she said, barely able to think in the aftermath of the soul-rocking climax.

  He threw the towel across the room into the door of the bathroom. He joined her, pulled her into his arms, then covered both of them with a sheet. “It wouldn’t matter. You’re mine, Emily. We’ll figure everything else out, but you’re not leaving Boston.”

  Emily opened her mouth to argue with him but closed it when she realized she was too relaxed to fight. She was floating in the peaceful sated place she only found in his arms. An hour would change nothing. She rested her head on his shoulder and let herself melt against his side. She’d give herself a few more minutes of bliss, then she’d tell him exactly what she thought of the way he’d spoken to her.

  She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent. She didn’t want to rehash the conversation they’d had earlier. Not yet. All she wanted was a few more minutes in heaven.

  Asher watched Emily pretend to sleep and smiled. He knew she hadn’t liked what he’d said, but she was too happy with him to say so. It was adorable. Note to self: multiple orgasms win arguments.

  He absently caressed the curve of her ass and her lower back as he rehashed the night in his mind. He knew he wasn’t an easy man to get along with, but he did want Emily to be happy. He understood that her land was important to her. It was why he’d agreed not to move forward with the facility there. That didn’t mean, though, that he liked the idea of her living in New Hampshire while he was living in Boston. He’d hoped she would see his offer to help her relocate to Boston as a declaration that she was important to him.

  For Emily he was breaking his own rules. He’d changed business plans for her and had offered to invest in hers. He had never done that for anyone, not even his family. He’d also never asked a woman to live with him before.

  He remembered how he’d suggested she should be grateful. He hadn’t meant that the way it had sounded. He’d meant she should appreciate the fact that he’d put time and money into finding a nearby location for the museum. He cringed when he considered the pompous ass he’d been. Emily was a woman who would always keep him on his toes and demand better from him. He was beginning to think that was a good thing.

  “Emily,” he said.

  Her eyes opened slowly, and she watched him warily. “Yes?”

  “I care about you, but . . .”

  She tensed in his arms. “But?”

  “But I’m not what people would call a romantic guy. I don’t do relationships. I never have. So I don’t spout smooth lines. I’ve always been blunt about what I wanted, and it has always worked out. Women usually want to sleep with me, and it’s never been more complicated than fitting them into my schedule.”

  Emily rose up onto one elbow and looked down at him. “Do you know what a nipple twist is?”

  Asher rolled onto his side. “I’m being honest.”

  Emily nodded but continued to look at him in a way that made him want to protect parts of his body from her. “I know.”

  He sighed and continued, “Don’t look at me like that. I remember telling Andrew he shouldn’t join the Marines. He told me he didn’t have a choice. I joked that he was born to smash things, kill people, and save the world. He joked that I was born to make money, make more money, and in general be a dick. I’ve always laughed. I’ve never cared what anyone thought of me until I met you. How do we always get to this place?”

  Emily cocked her head to one side. “Because you speak dick?”

  His eyebrows shot up, then he threw back his head and laughed. She joined in, seemingly thoroughly amused by her joke. He rolled on top of her and growled, “I was being serious.”

  Her expression softened. “So was I. Asher, if you want to be with me, be with who I am, not who you want me to be. I don’t need you to give up what’s important to you; don’t ask me to do that for you.”

  He ran a hand lightly up her bare arm. “I don’t want to change you.”

  She leaned over and kissed his lips lightly. “Then instead of looking for real estate for me, buy me flowers on the opening day of my museum in Welchton. That’s all I want. Can you promise me that?”

  “I can.” He hugged her to his chest. Her request touched his heart. He was used to people wanting something from him, but Emily didn’t care about his money or his social circle. She held him to a higher standard, and as he held her he admitted to himself he could no longer imagine his life without her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  ‡

  Two days later Emily was sitting next to Asher on the couch in his parents’ living room as Kenzi drew what looked like a lizard on a large sheet of paper.
Weeks ago, dinners were always followed by tea or coffee in the living room and serious conversation. The tension had been unbearable for Emily so she’d suggested board games. The Barringtons didn’t follow all the rules, but they embraced the idea of making evenings fun. Dale told Emily she’d brought laughter back to his house, and that was why she’d always be welcomed there. Emily still got misty just thinking about it.

  “Godzilla,” Ian called out.

  Kenzi shook her head and put clothing on the lizard.

  “It’s that gecko from the commercial,” Sophie guessed while waving her hand at the picture.

  “No,” Dale said, “it’s an alligator, but why is he wearing clothing?”

  Kenzi drew a bell next to the alligator. Then a trash can with broken cans next to it. She tapped the alligator’s neck, the bell, then the trash can.

  In frustration, Kenzi drew a golf tee and ball after the alligator and then after the trash can. She tapped all of the items again.

  “Time’s up,” Grant announced. He looked over at Asher, Emily, and Lance. “Does our team have a guess?”

  Emily assessed Kenzi’s art ability and let her imagination go wide. “I’ve got it! Humpty Dumpty.”

  Kenzi clapped. “You got it.”

  Ian said, “You realize you’re clapping for the other team.”

  Kenzi threw the marker at her brother. “I would clap for my team, but you can’t figure out a simple pictogram.”

  Andrew laughed. “How could anyone get Humpty Dumpty out of an alligator and a bell?”

  Kenzi pointed to her first drawing. “That is obviously the hump on the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Why would I put clothes on an alligator?”

  Ian sat back and folded his hands over his chest. “Since when does Quasimodo have a snout?”

  “If you think you can draw better than I can, why don’t you come up here next?”