I regarded my General Tso’s chicken and dumplings with wonder. “Yeah. It sure was.”
Besides grateful for some really excellent takeout, I had no idea how to feel about this. It was something of a grand gesture, a level of consideration I hadn’t thought Ash held for me. The fact that he not only recalled the restaurant I’d ordered from that seemingly meaningless night, but also remembered what I’d ordered, made me feel like maybe I hadn’t been giving him enough credit this whole time. Maybe what had happened with Tanya really was a fluke.
Ash brought me a plate and I used the chopsticks in the bag to dump a little rice onto it. Carefully, doing my best to keep my voice airy and level, I said to him, “This almost makes up for your girlfriend’s tantrum last night.”
Ash chuckled. “Almost?” Then he went through a few drawers, hunting for flatware. “Well, at least we’re making progress. Although…” He brought me over a fork. Our hands brushed and I looked up at him. “…she’s not my girlfriend.”
“You sure?” I asked him. I didn’t pull my hand away, but I didn’t move to grab his either. “She didn’t seem to know that.”
Steadily, he held my gaze. “Nope. Not my girlfriend. Never was.”
There was such honesty between us in that moment. Simple, almost monosyllabic honesty. There was no need for explanations. No lengthy exposition on the matter. No effusive declaration of complicated feelings. Tanya was not Ash’s girlfriend. They’d never been dating at all. There’d been a mix-up. He was sorry. And as compensation, he’d brought me some of my favorite food. Food he remembered from months ago, without prompting.
For the time being, that was all I needed to know.
“Hey, um,” I began, running a hand through my hair. It was not my strongest start, but Ash looked captivated anyway. “Thanks. For not just saying you’re sorry. For doing something about it.” I shifted on the stool, trying to relocate my composure, my center of gravity. Sentiment was not my strong suit. “It means a lot.”
“Anytime, love,” he said, pressing the fork into my hand. Right. I’d almost forgotten about it. Blushing, I looked away and busied myself with transferring my entrée to a proper plate.
“Thanks, too, for letting Sarah and Reid use your cabin. I think… I think it’ll do her some good. Get her closer to nature. The kind of life she’s used to, without actually going back home. You know?”
Ash was working on a similar task, loading up his own plate with spring rolls and broccoli beef. “The cabin’s not a done deal yet. Sarah still hasn’t agreed to it. He’ll probably ask her after the movie. Impatient bastard.”
I smirked. “Well, assuming all goes well and he doesn’t fuck up royally, it seems I’ll have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to you.” I set my fork down next to my plate. “But you know… maybe I shouldn’t just say thank you. I should probably show you.”
Ash, eyes still on his food, arched an eyebrow at me. “And if she says no?”
I hopped down off my stool and walked around the counter to his side. When I drew my nails along his bicep, his back stiffened a little.
“C’mon, Ash,” I said, stepping forward again. He turned toward me, but I had him backed into a corner now. “Let me thank you.”
Ash leaned back against the counter, trying to affect a casual pose as he looked down at me, eyes searching my face. I could see the conflict in his gaze. He wanted to grab me, wanted to assert dominance. He was a big fan of being in control, but my request had been to switch things up—to let me have a chance to grab the wheel for once.
It took him a minute, but eventually, Ash answered me with a wicked smirk and a one-shouldered shrug. “Go for it, love.”
I smiled. That must have taken some trust. I’d just have to make sure he didn’t regret it.
I slid my body up along his, angling onto my toes to kiss his mouth. Ash kept his fingers curled around the edge of the counter, bracing as I eased his lips apart. He gave a soft grunt as I fluttered my tongue along his, slick and warm, the way I might tantalize the tip of his cock if he’d let me. I was pretty sure he’d let me. I could already feel him hardening against my stomach.
Ash took a long, slow breath when I moved my lips to his neck instead, covering the sensitive skin along his jugular with hot, lazy kisses and sharp, toothy nips. He tilted his head to grant me more access to the area, a sound somewhere between a hum and a growl vibrating his throat, and I ran my tongue over his quivering trachea right down to the hollow between his collarbones.
His cock gave an urgent pulse, a request for satisfaction I wasn’t ready to give in to yet. I wound my hips in a tight figure-eight against him instead, smiling when I felt him swell even more.
“This is an excellent start,” Ash murmured against my hair. I loved the way his breath gusted against my scalp, bringing with it a tingling sensation that traveled all the way down my spine. “You have no idea what that mouth of yours does to me.”
I let my hands drop to his belt buckle. “Luckily,” I told him, prying it loose, “we’re about to find out.”
Ash remained still as I worked on his zipper, bringing it low so I could slip the waistbands of both his jeans and his boxers down to the tops of his thighs. His dick sprang in response, bobbing in the air between us as I knelt, nuzzling along its underside with a small, contented sigh. There was nothing I didn’t love about Ash’s cock—its soft, velvety skin; its hardness, girth, and length; the low drag of his balls; the musky, masculine scent of it. Every aspect made my mouth water, not to mention other, more southern regions. I placed the flat of my tongue against the root of Ash’s cock and lapped upward, kissing the underside before engulfing the tip—and half his erection with it—in my mouth.
I sucked, gaining him inch by inch, wetting him down to let my lips glide farther and farther still until I was kissing his hips. Ash’s dick fit snugly in the back of my throat, crammed in until there was nowhere left for him to go, until he stopped my breath even as his own hissed between his teeth, eyes fluttering closed.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
Music to my ears.
I bobbed my head, using one hand to caress the slick length of him, twisting my grip down toward his balls with each pass as I twirled my tongue around his width. Ash squirmed and I heard his breath come heavier and more shallow as I sought the spots that would drive him wild, all those sensitive places that would make him stretch my lips even wider. He didn’t disappoint; I’d thought he’d filled out earlier in the process, but as I worked him, Ash grew so thick it was a challenge to keep my teeth from grazing his skin.
He ran his hands through my hair, pulling it away from my face and holding it in his fist so he could watch me labor. I hummed as I looked up at him, and the tiny vibrations made his balls clench.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, dragging his teeth over his lower lip, his expression one of pure concentration. “God, Hannah, that mouth…”
I let him all the way in again, this time keeping my eyes on his, even though they watered. I took him a third of the way out before I repeated the process, encouraging him to fuck my throat, to use me for this pleasure.
This was a comfortable exchange. I was familiar with it. The look in a man’s eyes as he submitted to his needs. The bucking of his hips as he took what he wanted without question or hesitation. The disregard for anything other than his own pleasure. There was something primal about it, something that felt safe and right. Maybe it was because I’d never known anything else.
But Ash wasn’t having it. He refused to make me gag. Instead he leaned down and wiped my tears with his thumbs, then pulled out until I could breathe, rocking gently across my tongue.
“I wanna fuck you,” he told me, squinting a little as he fought to hold back his orgasm. “I don’t wanna come like this. Not yet. Not in your mouth.”
I withdrew and swirled my tongue around him like he was the world’s most delicious lollipop. “Mm, but I’m supposed to be thanking you.”
Ash throbbed, the tip of his cock lightly tapping against my lips. “If you wanna thank me, then let me put you on all fours.”
I grinned. How was I supposed to say no to a request like that?
I stood up and Ash lifted me over his shoulder, pulling his jeans and boxers up as I squealed. Groping my ass the whole way there, he turned out of the kitchen in search of my bedroom, kicking the door the rest of the way open when I finally pointed it out to him, giggling.
He dropped me on the bed, knocking the air from my lungs. When he pulled off my panties and jeans I expected him to slam his dick into me without even checking to see if I was wet enough for him, but instead, he yanked my hips up and spread my thighs, probing me first with a light touch of his fingers, and then with his tongue.
I moaned and buried my face in the sheets. Keeping my ass in the air would prove a challenge, if this kind of attention was what I was up against.
Ash circled my clit with his tongue, flicking intermittently with pressure that varied between hard and stiff, and the wing beats of a butterfly. I squirmed and rode that sensation like a rail, purring and bucking, toes curled. The expertise and care with which he navigated all the most sensitive parts of me was something I’d never encountered before—not that I’d never had a guy go down on me, but they were usually awful at it, bad enough that I’d grab them and pull them back up my body just so we could get to a part of our night that wouldn’t suck quite as much.
They didn’t care to learn my body. They weren’t interested in finding out what made me moan. They just wanted me to put on a performance so they could feel good about themselves later. Not Ash, though.
Ash was invested. He was observant. Intuitive. He seemed to know what I wanted before I did, and before I knew it, I was going to come.
I ground into Ash’s face, biting my lip to smother a cry of ecstasy as I burst, inner muscles spasming with glee. My knees threatened to give out, thighs quaking as Ash pushed me higher, demanding I endure this pleasure and so much more—spiriting me up, up, up to heights both dizzying and beautiful. Showering me in sensations so intense I wailed in their wake. I balled the sheets in my fists, tugging on them, biting at them as I crested again, cursing and flailing to the sound of Ash opening up a condom behind me.
“Oh, thank God,” I murmured, spreading wider to accommodate him. “Please… I need you inside me.”
Ash chuckled, leaning over my back to grasp both my hands. His chest was bare; I cooed at his warmth, pulling my own shirt off so we could be skin-to-skin, completely, for the very first time.
“I can tell,” he said, aligning his tip with my steaming channel. And then he pushed inside me with a breath of relief, offering me every inch of him right up to the hilt.
I waited for him to pull back, to take my hips in his hands and hold me still while he plunged into me with reckless abandon, but he didn’t. He just squeezed my hands tighter, nuzzled into the back of my neck, and kissed the skin of my shoulders as he began to move, fucking me close, even on all fours like this.
No one had ever taken me this way before. No one had ever started out slow, ensuring I could take it before they began ploughing away. Ash was different. He was concerned. He seemed to get off on getting me off. And he wanted me to be comfortable while he did it.
I’d heard rumors that he was a “generous” lover. I just hadn’t realized he had so much to give.
He nipped along my nape, trailing kisses behind those love bites, and I arched my back to push back on him, driving him in as deep as he could go. We moved with perfect synchronicity, falling into a rhythm that made Ash grip my wrists so tightly I knew he could feel my pulse. One of his hands left mine to grab one of my breasts, tweaking the nipple, and I leaned my head back against his shoulder, cheek-to-cheek, and moaned his name in his ear.
“Ash…”
“Hannah,” he breathed in reply, sliding that same hand up my chest to my throat. He turned my head toward him so he could kiss my mouth, our tongues entwining. I didn’t want him to stop kissing me. Not then. Not ever.
I captured his groan between my lips, felt him shudder against my spine, and knew he was close. Pressing back against him, I squirmed and bucked, feeling him swell within the condom until he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Fuck, Hannah!” he hissed, holding me as tightly as he dared, hands roaming my body as he spilled inside me. He kissed every lock of my hair, found the curve of my shoulder, and bit down with a low snarl, pumping up into me a few more times before he stalled out.
I shot him a lazy grin as he withdrew and lay down beside me, carefully pulling the condom off and tossing it in a small waste bin near my nightstand. Ash returned the smile and grabbed my arm, pulling me against his chest, kissing me feverishly as he tangled our legs together.
“You’re welcome,” he said, and it took me a moment to remember that all of this had started because I wanted to thank him.
I laughed, shaking my head. “You’re lucky I like you, Brody. Anyone else, they would’ve gotten smacked.”
Ash wound an arm around my waist. “Mm. Sorry. You wore me out a little. Must be the afterglow talking.”
I bit my lip. I could offer to let Ash stay here, just for a little while. Maybe take a nap. An hour or so, and then he’d be out the door. But I’d never extended that invitation to a man before. I’d never even considered it. I liked my personal space, and it almost seemed a violation of it to have someone linger in my bed.
But not with Ash. With Ash, it seemed the courteous thing to do. Just as long as he was gone before my sisters got back.
“If you want,” I ventured, “you can rest for a little bit. Not too long—enough so, you know, you don’t crash your bike on the way home.” I shrugged, trying to seem casual. “Just for a minute.”
Ash looked at me a long time, as if he wasn’t sure what to make of the offer. Then, slowly, he grinned. “Guess that works. Should I put the food away?”
I shook my head. “Nah. Leave it for when you get up.” And I kissed him, gently, before rolling onto my side and putting a little distance between us.
It didn’t take long for me to feel Ash shift beside me, then reach out to lay one hand across my hip. I closed my eyes and pretended not to notice, even though the gesture made me realize that for once, I didn’t mind someone chasing after me.
In fact… I was beginning to like it.
10
Ash
That minute went by way, way too fast.
It seemed like I’d only just closed my eyes when Hannah turned over and slid her arm around me, waking me up again. Not that I minded—I quite liked the way she reached out for me, even in her sleep—but it served as an unintentional reminder that she expected me to go. And soon, probably. She’d made it pretty clear that I shouldn’t be in her bed when her sisters got home.
Fuck, and I was still so drowsy. I was probably gonna have to stop at a Starbucks or something on the way home. Getting my eyes open proved a Herculean feat; I could only imagine what keeping them open would entail.
When I finally managed, I realized two things. One: pale, dim light was filtering in through Hannah’s curtains, illuminating the downright angelic features of her pretty face. And two: that meant that it was not still evening.
I’d slept way more than a minute.
Fuck… what time was it?
My phone was somewhere on the floor, still tucked into my pants. Part of me—muscle memory, maybe—wanted me to swing out of bed and get it, throw on the rest of my clothes, and hurry out the door. But a bigger part of me, one I hadn’t fully realized existed before, was urging me to stay. To wrap myself around Hannah the same way she was unconsciously trying to wrap herself around me.
I tried to tell myself I was just tired, and Hannah’s bed was just that comfortable. But those were both half-truths. They weren’t the reason I wanted to stay. Her peaceful face, the wild ramblings of her hair across our pillows, her soft breath on my shoulder—those were the reasons. They wer
e the full truth of the matter.
Fuck. This was gonna be a problem.
Hannah had made it abundantly clear that I wasn’t dating material, and shit, I had to agree with her. I wasn’t the kind of guy to “settle down.” Sure, I’d stay for a little while—I’d already stayed with Hannah longer than most—but eventually, our time together would be up. I’d wear out my usefulness. She’d quit holding my attention quite as strongly. And then it would be time for me to go.
Only… only with Hannah, it didn’t feel like that’s where this was leading. If I laid real still beside her, if I gave myself the opportunity to just… stay here and be with her—really with her—it seemed to me like something completely different would happen. It seemed like maybe I’d never leave her bed again. And that maybe I would be content with that.
No. That was a fairy tale. Wishful thinking, on my part. And if I kept it up, we were both gonna get hurt. I knew the kind of man I was. I knew the things I’d done. I disappointed everyone around me, no matter what I did. If I kept imagining a better life for myself—if I let myself believe that I could have this one thing, this one person, just for me—then I’d end up disappointing us both.
That was not a sin I would allow myself to inflict on Hannah Miller. I was a lot of things to a lot of people, but a heartbreaker? No. That wasn’t one of them. Well, not an intentional one, anyway. Tanya might disagree.
Hannah was too good for me. I’d known it from the start, and I reminded myself of it now. She had this glow about her as she slept, like she wasn’t even human—like she was some supernatural creature I’d had the good fortune to behold for just a little while. I had to be content with that. It was what she wanted. What was meant to be.
For now, I’d just have to convince myself that it was what I wanted, too.
I kissed her forehead, letting my lips linger a little longer than I should. Then I carefully, regretfully, disengaged from the warmth of her limbs and slid off the bed, searching for my clothes and my cell phone.
The Brody Bunch Collection: Bad Boy Romance Page 27