by Tania Sparks
If I thought my body was tingling before, it’s practically burning red-hot with anticipation now. His hands skim down my sides and across the front of my rib cage. He cups underneath my breasts, lifting them slightly, but not touching where I crave to feel him. His eyes are still following the downward movement of his hands as he smoothly traces the curve of my waist to my hips.
He surprises me by kneeling down in front of me, his hands glide downwards, first descending my bare left leg as he caresses my thigh…my calf…my ankle, he then glides back up, dragging his palms to the back of my knee. Then he repeats the same sensual stroke on my right leg, my thigh…my calf…my ankle then back up again. His hands come to a rest on my lower thighs just above my knees and he massages gently. Moving even further upwards, his thumbs caress my thighs and smooth over the top of my dress. He grazes his knuckles lightly over where I ache to feel him and where I’m drenched in readiness. A shiver prickles along my spine and my eyelids flutter with anticipation. He wraps his arms around my hips. Still on his knees he pulls me close as he rests his cheek against my stomach. He’s trembling with emotion as he mumbles in staccato, “You’re. Fucking. Perfect.” He takes a moment to recompose himself.
I slowly move my hands from above my head and tangle them into his hair. He tilts his head and looks up to me, eyes full of a combination of lust and adoration. Our heated gazes still fixed to each other, his hands move down and he gently squeezes my bum. His palms glide down the back of my thighs then his hands slip under the hem of my dress. The hunger being communicated between us is intense. I have never felt so cherished, so desired and so turned on in my entire life. His eyes drop to where his hands are moving as they slowly drag up my thighs, lifting my dress, past my hips to my waist, exposing my black lace panties. I hear him gasp softly and he whispers, “You’re amazing Angel. My dreams were never as good as this reality.” He grabs a hold of the hem of my dress and as he rises to his feet, he lifts it and gently removes it over my head.
I’m now standing in front of him wearing only my panties. He lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. He kisses me passionately as we suck and nibble at each other’s lips and tongues. He starts to slowly walk towards the bedroom, me still wrapped around him, our mouths still devouring each other hungrily.
We reach the bed and he gently lowers me down onto my back. I drag myself up so I’m lying on the centre of the bed. Ash kneels between my legs, still fully clothed. He pushes my thighs wider as he moves closer towards my knees. He leans over me, his hands resting either side of my shoulders and places a tender kiss on my mouth. His tongue lightly eases between my lips and I open my mouth to allow him access. His kiss is so soft yet deliberate, our tongues sensually slide together. He nibbles at my lips, moving across my jaw, licking the sensitive spot below my ear and sucking seductively on my neck. He descends placing small kisses along my collar bone. Supporting himself on one arm, his other hand moves to my breast as he squeezes lightly, moving in gentle circles. He rolls my nipple between his thumb and forefinger and it pebbles in response. I exhale and moan in pleasure. Ash moans back in agreement. He ducks his head down and I feel his warm wet mouth as he sucks softly on my breast.
My body heats and I arch my back to show him I want more. His teeth graze over my puckered nipple and he bites down firmly, sending a jolt of pleasure straight to my sex. He eases the sting with licks of his tongue and the pain morphs into pleasure. He sucks my nipple gently and pulls away so it plops out of his mouth. He repeats the entire erotic process on my other breast. My body is crying out for more. He releases my nipple from his mouth and moves up so his face is a few inches from mine, looking determinedly into my eyes he whispers, “Will you do something for me Angel?”
“Anything Ash, anything at all.” I whimper. Right at this moment I think I would do everything for him. He has me so wound up, so ready and so set to detonate that I think if he asked me to sell my soul, I probably would.
He leans over towards the nightstand. My eyes follow to where he’s reaching. He picks up the telephone and hands it to me.
“What?” I question completely puzzled.
“Call him Angel.”
“Who?” I ask confused.
“Call him…whatever his name is. Call him and tell him it’s over. Tell him that he lost you the moment he decided to take a break from you. Tell him that you’re mine now.”
I jump up and scurry backwards so my back’s against the headboard. I look at him in astonishment, “You want me to call Richard … now!?”
“I need to know you’re mine Angel. I need to know that you’re just mine.”
“Are you crazy! It’s two in the morning Ash. I’m not phoning him now!”
“Text him then.” he smirks.
I just stare at him in disbelief rolling my eyes.
He lowers his head bashfully as if he knows how ridiculous he’s being. Looking at me through his eye lashes he whispers, “I won’t fuck you until I know you’re mine Angel.”
“Un-fucking-believable Ash!” I shriek grabbing the sheet as I pull it up to cover myself. “You wait until I’m practically naked in your bed before you tell me this!”
“I sort of got a bit carried away, you’re so damned irresistible.” he mumbles under his breath as he moves and sits on the edge of the bed. He leans forward, his feet on the floor, his elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands, his fingers raking through his hair. He sits silently for a few seconds and then he murmurs uncertainly, “Do you want me Angel?” Desperation and sadness echoes through his words.
“Of course I want you Ash. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want you.” He’s so infuriating. How can he be so confident and cocky one minute and yet so uncertain the next?
“I mean us Angel, do you want us to be together? More than just this? I want you in my life. I can’t let you go again. It would wreck me if all you wanted was this here tonight and then you went back to that mother-fucker.” He looks utterly defeated as he sulks waiting for me to answer.
I scoot up, kneeling behind him. I put my arms around his waist, pressing my body against his back as I nuzzle into his neck. I take a few minutes to think about what I want to say as I hold him tightly. “Look Ash, I don’t know what I want right now, I’m really confused…what I do know is that over the past day or so I’ve felt a million times happier than I have for the past seven years. This feels right … whatever this is between us. I’ve missed you so much and now I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be … but we have to be honest here… you’re a bloody rock star for Christ sake. I’m not sure how I would fit into your life. How would this even work between us?”
Ash turns around and moves us so we’re sitting on the bed with our legs crossed facing each other. He reaches out and holds both of my hands in his, looking into my eyes. “Shit, we’ll find a way to make it work Angel, we have too. I’m not letting you go again. My life isn’t always this chaotic, we’re not always partying and performing.” He has a look of desperation on his face. “Angel , I feel the same way you do…this feels right, it feels like I’ve finally come home. It feels like the last seven years I’ve just been waiting for this…waiting for you…waiting for this opportunity to get you back in my life again. I’m not going to waste it Angel. I know I’m being unreasonable asking you to call him now, but I’m a selfish prick, I need to know you’re mine.” He looks down at our joined hands, then slowly looks back up to my eyes solemnly. “Promise me you’ll call him in the morning?” he asks hesitantly.
“It’s not something I should do on the phone Ash. We’ve been together a while, it wouldn’t be right for me to end our relationship with a phone call or text.”
There’s a long silence. Ash is staring at our joined hands. He looks at me with sadness and anxiety expressed on his beautiful face. “How long Angel, how long have you been with him?”
“Eight months.” I cringe. For some reason I feel guilty as if I have somehow betrayed Ash.
“
Fuck!” I hear Ash mumble under his breath. “Is it serious Angel?”
“We’re not engaged or anything Ash, but we’ve been together a decent amount of time.”
“Do you … do you love him Angel?” Ash whispers, I can sense the hesitancy in his question.
I sit for a few moments considering his question. “A month ago I thought I probably did….”
I hear Ash swear abruptly under his breath. His head lowers showing his disappointment and sadness. His hands tighten on mine and I can see his body tensing and his breathing become laboured as he tries to rein in his anger.
I release one of his hands and raise my arm placing my palm gently on his jaw, I lift his chin so we’re eye to eye as I brush my thumb back and forth across his lower lip. “I thought I probably did … but now … after seeing you again, I know that it isn’t the same all-consuming love that I have for you. I’ve never stopped loving you Ash.” I warily hope that this isn’t too much information too fast but I see him smiling warmly at me so I continue. “I never even imagined I’d get the chance to have you back in my life again, so I guess I settled for what I thought was the best love I could get. Don’t get me wrong, Richard’s a really nice guy … but he’s not you Ash.” I whisper.
I lower my hand so we’re again holding each other’s hands. I drop my head to rest on his shoulder. “This feels so right … but I’m scared and confused. I have no idea how this can even work between us.” I lift my head and look back up into his eyes and despondently say, “You’re so used to your lifestyle Ash, all the partying …” I shyly dip my head again and whisper “…all the girls.” I sigh sadly, “I’m not sure how I fit into all of that.”
“My life isn’t all parties Angel … and all the girls … they were just a pleasant distraction, a way of filling in some time.” he smirks and shrugs, looking embarrassed at his own admission.
I shake my head at him as I smile reassuringly. I think I should feel upset at the mention of the girls being a pleasant distraction, but I can see the apology in his face and he’s just way too endearing for me to be upset with him. Not only that, but it’s not as if I’ve been “uninvolved” over the past seven years. I’ve slept with my fair share of guys, but probably not the same sort of volumes of girls that Ash would have slept with. I’m just so glad that we’ve found each other again now. We sit there silently for a couple of minutes both trying to figure out how we can make this work.
Ash’s eyes light up and he excitedly says, “Let me show you tomorrow Angel. The band has a free day. Let me show you that my life can be normal. Let me take you out on a proper date. You can get to know me again. We can talk about how this can work…” Ash smiles at me shyly then smirks, “…Then you can call dickhead and tell him that you’re mine!
“My shift starts at 6am – in just over three hours!” I wince.
“Hell Angel, we need to get you some sleep then!” Ash walks over to the dresser and pulls out one of his t-shirts and tosses to me. “Here, put this on Angel.” It’s one of his Oblivion tour t-shirts. I smile as I pull on the over-size t-shirt. I breathe in deeply. It smells like him, clean, spicy and masculine. I’m not sure I’ll ever want to take it off. “Shit, I like you in my clothes.” He grins. He lowers himself to the bed lying on his back holding his arm open wide, patting the space next to him as he encourages me to lie down. “I like you even better in my bed.” he smirks.
I lie down next to him, my head nestling on his shoulder, my arm wrapped around his waist. He gently traces patterns on my shoulder as he reaches over and turns the light out. This is nice. We’re lying here in the dark holding each other. It feels right, it feels comfortable, it feels like seven years ago.
I’m just about to drop off to sleep when Ash whispers, “So Angel, once I prove to you that we can make this work, will you tell him then?” I smile to myself at his perseverance.
I hesitantly say, “He’s flying up the day after tomorrow Ash, if I’m going to break it off with him properly, I need to do it face-to-face.”
Ash’s body tenses. The room is silent for a few minutes. “I presume he’s planning on staying in your room with you?” I don’t answer, both of us knowing what the answer will be. It’s quiet for a few more minutes then Ash growls, “Just make sure you break it off with him before he tries anything with you Angel. You’re mine now. I won’t share. You can tell him it’s over and then come up to my suite.” Silence descends again. “If he’s coming to San Francisco, at least I get to meet the fucker I guess.” Ash mumbles.
I wave of trepidation flows across me. I can’t imagine Ash meeting Richard. They’re just so different and I’m not sure I could trust Ash to behave himself. “Ash, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” I say with a fretful voice.
He sternly says, “Get some sleep Angel, you need to be up for work in a few hours. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” He kisses me softly on the top of my head. I know there’s no arguing with him. We’ll just have to talk about it tomorrow. As I lie there weighing up all the possible scenarios in my head, my body relaxes and my eyelids start to get heavy. Considering all the thoughts and anxieties whooshing around in my mind I’m surprised how quickly we both drift off to sleep in each other’s arms.
After waking up, I rush back to my room wrapped in a bathrobe and I get ready for my shift. Ash had woken up with me and after kissing me passionately had tried to convince me to take a shower with him. Although I had been very tempted, I hadn’t wanted to be late for my shift. We agreed that he would pick me up from my room at three thirty that afternoon. That would give me enough time to finish my shift at two and get ready for our date.
Chapter 7
My shift went quickly and soon I was back to my room getting ready. Ash had left a note under my door telling me to wear casual comfortable clothing and also to bring some jeans and a warm jacket for later in the evening. I put on some jean shorts, a tank top and my converse. I get myself ready and I’m just grabbing my phone and purse to put in my handbag when there’s a knock at my door. I look through the peep hole to make sure it’s Ash. I can see him leaning casually against the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. He has his ankles crossed and his arms folded across his chest. He looks striking in a bad-boy sort of way. He’s wearing long khaki board shorts and a white t-shirt with some sort of band design on it. He’s smirking at me, knowing full well I’m checking him out through the peep hole.
I open the door. “Hey there band boy.” I sneer.
“Hey there yourself beautiful.” he says as he runs his eyes over my body. “Ready to go?” he questions.
“Sure am.” I grab my handbag as well as a small carry bag that holds my change of clothes for later. Ash takes my carry bag for me and puts his arm around my shoulder as we walk towards the elevator. We get down to the lobby and the concierge opens the door for us. As we walk outside I notice a black 1970 Dodger Charger sitting in the driveway. No it couldn’t be … I look at Ash and he has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. “No! – it’s not?!” I exclaim excitedly.
“Sure is.” Ash says raising his eyebrows. “I had her restored a few years back and I got one of the guys from the studio to drive her up from LA last night.”
“Really!” I say enthusiastically. I can’t believe it. I have a massive smile on my face, “Oh Ash, I have so many memories in this car!”
Ash is standing there grinning at me, “Mmm, I have lots of memories in this car too! Most of them with you and me in the backseat!” he smirks. I dig my elbow into his ribs as my cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. I remember the many times Ash and I were entangled with each other in that car too. Ash tilts his head and smirks at me. Opening the passenger side door he waves indicating for me to get in. I slide in and watch him walk around to the other side of the car. He slides into the driver’s seat, revs the engine and we take off out of the hotel driveway and down the road.
“So where are we going?” I enquire.
Ash glances over at me and smiles patti
ng me on my knee. “It’s a surprise Angel. It’s a little over an hour until we get there, so sit back and relax.” Ash plugs his iPhone into the car stereo, grinning, he presses play. I chuckle to myself as the first song starts. It’s Faithfully by Journey. It’s a song about a musician on tour who is telling his girl that although they’re apart, he’s forever hers. It’s really sweet and I start to wonder how many songs Ash has purposely chosen for our trip.
Over the next hour or so a litany of music plays on the stereo. Ash has chosen a clever mix of catchy songs suitable for a road trip such as AC/DC’s Highway to Hell as well as a collection of all the classic groups we used to listen to together in his car all those years ago. The song selection is perfect and we both relax as we listen to the music and enjoy each other’s company, chatting casually. The scenery is breath-taking as we head down the coastal road of the Scenic Highway driving south from San Francisco.
After just over an hour we pull into the seaside village of Santa Cruz. I can see the Beach Boardwalk with an old wooden rollercoaster and an old hand-carved merry-go-round. There are lots of rides and attractions. I’m smiling widely as Ash pulls into a car park space. He looks over to me, “This okay Angel?” he asks uncertainly.
“This is perfect Ash! I didn’t even know this was so close to San Francisco!” I gush excitedly.
Ash leans over and grabs a beanie out of his glove box and pulls it down low on his head. I guess he needs a bit of a disguise. “Okay, let’s go have some fun.” He gets out of the car and comes around to open my door. I jump out before he even gets to me, clapping my hands and jumping up and down excitedly. Ash takes my hand, shaking his head and smiling as he drags me towards the boardwalk. “What shall we go on first Angel? Shall we start off with an easy one – perhaps the carousel?” he asks shrugging his shoulders.