Asher (The Casanova Club Book 10)

by Ali Parker

  So I showed her how I felt with a deep kiss right there on the sidewalk. People parted and walked around us as Piper drew herself in close and smiled into our kiss.

  Yes, there was no doubt about it.

  I’d fallen for an American girl with a New York accent.

  Chapter 18

  Piper

  My ears were ringing.

  I had a hard time hearing what Asher was saying if I wasn’t looking at him and watching his lips shape the words. It wasn’t such a bad thing. He had great lips.

  Soft, too.

  “Do you want to get out here?” he asked.

  I nodded, and he held his hand out to me. I snaked my fingers through his and let him steer me toward the curb, where he threw his arm in the air and signaled a cab. The first five that passed were already loaded up with people.

  “It usually isn’t so hard to catch a cab around here,” he muttered.

  “Well, an Elton John concert did just let out, and there are like, what, ten thousand more people out on the sidewalks right now?”

  “I suppose.”

  I breathed in a deep breath of fresh night air. “Why don’t we walk toward my hotel for a bit? When the crowds thin out, we’ll hail a cab.”

  We walked, and as we made our way down the sidewalk, we recounted our favorite parts of the show. I teased Asher for smoking the joint, and he laughed. “There’s a first time for everything, but I have to admit, I never thought I’d try smoking weed.”

  “Why not?” I cocked my head to the side and looked up at him as we walked. The moonlight painted his profile into dramatic shadows.

  “It’s just not something I ever really considered. My mother would blow her top.”

  “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

  “I suppose not.”

  The crowds grew thinner and thinner the farther we got from the stadium. Each step we took brought us closer together until Asher couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled me away from the curb to the other side of the sidewalk, where he pressed me up against a stone retaining wall. On the other side was a ravine thick with trees and crickets.

  He wasted little time cupping my cheeks in his hands and kissing me. I melted into him, and he ran his fingers into my hair. It felt so good to be touched like this. I trailed my fingers up his stomach and over his chest, loving the swell of muscle against my palm, and he kissed me more fiercely, almost desperately.

  “I need to get you someplace private,” he grated out. “Now.”

  I was panting for breath after our kiss. “We should try for a cab again. Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  Asher kissed me again before turning back to the street and hailing a cab. He caught the second one that passed, and we slid into the backseat.

  “Dorchester, please,” Asher told the driver.

  As soon as we were off, Asher had his hand on my thigh and his other hand resting at my throat, holding my chin up so he could devour me with more ravenous kisses. His tongue tasted like the beer he’d had at the show, and the sensation of his touch was amplified from the couple of puffs of the joint I’d had.

  If the driver was bothered by our PDA, he didn’t show it. He kept his eyes on the road, and Asher and I indulged in each other, hearts racing, minds spinning, bodies eagerly awaiting the release that lay on the horizon once we got back to my hotel room.

  The cab spit us out in front of the Dorchester. I caught my breath and tamed my hair as I waited for Asher to pay the driver. Then we both made our way inside and got on the elevator. I was reminded of the last time we did this when we were soaking wet from the rain, and I smiled.

  He moved toward me.

  I giggled softly and gazed up at him as he boxed me in, bracing himself with a hand planted on the elevator wall on each side of my shoulders. “I’ve been thinking about this all night,” he breathed.

  “Me too.”

  He leaned in close and hovered with his nose a mere inch from mine, teasing me. “I’m going to take care of you tonight, Piper.”

  A shiver ran through my body.

  Asher gave me a devilish smile that had the blood rushing in my veins. Then the doors slid open behind him, and he pushed himself off the wall. I sucked in a breath of air to ease my dizzying desire and followed him down the hall to my door, where, just like last time, I struggled with the key.

  This time, Asher didn’t help.

  Instead, he stood behind me and put his hands on my hips, pulling my ass against his crotch and resting his chin on my shoulder so he could press soft kisses to the side of my neck. It made it infinitely more difficult to get the door open, but I managed, and when we walked through, he was still wrapped around me, his breath hot on the side of my neck, his fingers pressing firmly into my hips, his teeth pressing gently into the skin of my neck.

  My body was already responding to him. My skin was hot and my breath quick. My pulse fluttered wildly, and there was a dull ache below my belly.

  I needed this.

  I needed him.

  We stumbled across the suite to the bedroom, each of us stripping each other’s clothes off as we went. By the time we reached the bed, I was only wearing my panties, and Asher was completely naked. He went to push me down on the bed, but I stopped him with a hand on his chest and a sexy smirk playing on my lips.

  “Slow down,” I cooed. “Let me take care of you first.”

  Asher fell still, and I ran my hand down his chest, to his navel, and then farther still to his cock, hard and ready, and took him in my hand. I stroked him slowly as he dropped his head for a kiss. When I broke away, I went to my knees on the floor before him.

  He watched me hungrily.

  I smiled before pressing my lips to the head of his cock. Then I parted them and eased his cock into my mouth, using my tongue against his shaft to apply pressure. Asher let out a soft groan as I took more of him, inch by inch, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching down and gathering my hair in his fist. He didn’t rush me. He let me go at my own speed, and when I held as much of him as I could and he was buried against the back of my throat, I began working him over.

  “Fuck,” Asher growled above me.

  The moonlight streaming in through the windows painted his body in sharp shadows, making his muscles appear even more chiseled. I soaked in the sight of him as I sucked him off, slowly at first, and then faster, relishing in the pleasure I was giving him.

  He deserved it. I wanted to worship him. I ran my hands up his thighs and sucked deeper, harder, keeping my lips sealed around his shaft and my throat relaxed. I had no intention of stopping. I was enjoying myself too much.

  But Asher had other ideas.

  He stepped away and pulled me to my feet, only to spin me around and throw me down on the bed. I giggled as he grabbed me under my thighs and jerked me to the edge of the bed. Then he ripped my panties off, pushed my legs apart, and dropped to his knees on the floor behind me.

  Asher kissed the inside of my thighs.

  “Tease,” I whispered at the ceiling.

  He chuckled. His hot breath danced across my skin, and I gripped the sheets beneath me.

  He proceeded to tease me, touching me anywhere and everywhere that wasn’t aching for him. Then finally, his tongue flicked over my clit.

  I flinched and let out a shaky breath.

  Asher gripped my thighs and pushed my legs back farther before he ran his tongue up and down my slit. I moaned. It was glorious. Every muscle in my body strained against the pleasure as he worked his magic, his tongue working in long strokes until I was about to lose it. He sensed I was coming undone and drew my clit between his lips, flicking his tongue over the sensitive and swollen tip.

  “Yes,” I breathed as my eyes fluttered closed and my back arched. “Yes!”

  The world broke apart around me. The tightness below my belly melted away and coursed through my body, and Asher kept working, his tongue licking and flicking as I came hard and fast.

  When I was don
e, he straightened above me and slapped my hip. “Roll over.”

  I rolled onto my stomach.

  “Knees,” he managed to say through clenched teeth.

  I lifted up to my knees and arched my back, putting on a display for him. Asher grabbed my ass in both hands and squeezed. I giggled. He stepped in close and ran his cock between my cheeks.

  “You’re so fucking sexy, Piper. It’s criminal.”

  I looked over my shoulder at him. “Are you going to fuck me or just keep talking?”

  He groaned. “Woman, you’re killing me.”

  “Condom,” I pleaded, wiggling my ass in his hands. “Please.”

  Asher slapped my ass for good measure before crouching down and rummaging through his pant pockets for a condom. At least one of us had come prepared. I wanted him so badly I might have risked a bareback ride to get him inside me. I watched him rise behind me over my shoulder, and my gaze slid to his cock. He was ready too.

  I swallowed. My body thrummed with need as I watched him roll the condom on. His eyes locked onto mine, and he gave me a crooked little smile.

  “What?” I whispered.

  “I’m a lucky man,” he breathed, and then he stepped forward, pressed his cock to my pussy, and pushed deep inside me.

  My breath caught in my throat. The pressure was exquisite. My eyes rolled back in my head, and I nearly collapsed forward on the bed. But Asher was there, pulling me up against him so that my back was flush to his chest as he fucked me.

  I gripped the arm he had wrapped around me and pressed my nails gently into his skin. He kissed my cheek and my neck, his hips thrusting the whole time, and I leaned back against his shoulder, tipping my face to the ceiling.

  He reached around in front of me and rubbed my clit with two fingers. My thighs quivered, and I whimpered in his arms. He nudged my cheek to the side for sweet kisses that became more and more needy with every breath and every thrust.

  Asher let me go and pushed me down on the bed seconds before I was about to come. He put a hand in between my shoulder blades and held me down as he fucked me hard and deep. My cry of ecstasy when I came was muffled by the sheets, and he took my hips and held me to him as he pumped furiously until his orgasm crashed over him.

  Then we broke apart, and he fell onto the bed beside me, his chest rising and falling with labored breaths.

  I rolled onto my back and smiled lazily at the ceiling. “Wow.”

  He chuckled.

  Still smiling, I shifted onto my side so I could look at him.

  He pulled me into him, and I rested my cheek on his shoulder. We shared a quiet moment as our breathing evened out and our heart rates went back to normal. He kissed the top of my head. “Have you ever been to a masquerade ball?”

  I lifted my cheek from his chest. “No. Why?”

  He grinned. “Well, that’s going to change. Toward the end of the month, there’s a big masquerade party at the house. I want you to come. As my date.”

  “I’d love to,” I said.

  This little fairy tale of ours kept getting better and better.

  Chapter 19

  Asher

  “When do I get to see you again?” Piper asked.

  I leaned back in my office chair and sighed. I wished she was here with me now, but there were things I had to attend to at the house that couldn’t wait. So she was alone in her hotel room, and I was alone in my study.

  At least we were both missing each other.

  “Soon,” I told her. “As soon as I finish up here, I’m going to come out to see you. I could pick up something for dinner on my way. And a bottle of wine. What do you say?”

  “I say, yes please. Now get back to work. The sooner you finish, the sooner I get to see you.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” I said, unable to wipe the smile off my face.

  I swear it had been there since the Elton John concert. I couldn’t help myself. I thought about her all day, every day, and thinking of her made me smile. She’d pushed me out of my comfort zone that night by offering me a joint, and the rest of the evening had been nothing short of magical.

  I’d fallen. Hard.

  And we only had twelve days left together. I refused to waste them cooped up in this house when she was just as short ten-minute drive away.

  “I’ll see you soon,” I promised.

  “Please hurry.”

  “Trust me. I will. There’s no place I’d rather be.”

  “I’m only wearing my hotel robe.”

  I ran my hand down my face. “You tease.”

  She giggled softly into the line, and the sound alone was enough to make me hard. “It’s just insurance to make sure you get your ass over here sooner rather than later. I don’t like waiting.”

  “How am I supposed—”

  I was cut off when my office door swung open, revealing my mother on the other side.

  I grimaced. “I have to go, Piper. Duty calls.”

  My mother watched me hang up the phone with narrowed eyes and her hands on her hips. She was dressed in her usual go-to outfit: a business dress with cap sleeves cut just past her knees, pointed toe pumps, and a navy-blue knit cardigan. Diamond earrings winked in her ears, and her hair appeared to have been freshly styled.

  “Do you need something, Mother?”

  “You were supposed to meet me in the ballroom at five o’clock.”

  “I told you I wasn’t participating in your little charade.”

  She marched into my study and stopped in front of my desk to stare down the length of her nose at me. “It’s not a charade, Ash. The masquerade is one of the biggest events of the year that we host, and it’s important that we all put our best foot forward. This is your opportunity to find a respectable date to wear on your arm. A woman with class and dignity who can easily follow the dance steps and—”

  “Mother,” I said sharply, narrowing my eyes into slits to match her glare. “I’m not interested.”

  She shook her head and rolled her eyes at the ceiling. “I can’t believe you. I went through all this work to bring in worthy women. And they’re all looking forward to meeting you. What am I supposed to tell them?”

  “Tell them I already have a date.”

  “And do you? Or are you just saying that to get me off your back?”

  I smirked. “Mother, you know who I’m bringing. Let’s not play these games.”

  She crossed her arms and lifted one hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. The many bracelets on her wrists jingled. “Asher, why do you insist on making things so difficult for me? I spent a lot of time vetting these women and arranging appointments.”

  “When did you do all that?”

  “This week.”

  “You mean after I told you I wasn’t interested?”

  She looked at me with cold eyes.

  I sighed and pushed away from my desk to stand. “You’re making things harder on yourself, Mother. I’m not adding more work to your plate. I told you I wasn’t going to pick a stranger to bring to the masquerade. I told you I had a date. You took matters into your own hands and decided to disregard what I was saying. You added more work to your schedule. Not me. So let’s stop pretending like it’s the other way around.”

  “What’s gotten into you, Asher?”

  “Nothing,” I said simply. “I’m just done being treated like a damn show pony.”

  “It’s that girl, isn’t it? The American with the sneakers?”

  It was my turn to roll my eyes. Why did she insist on categorizing people based on their wardrobe?

  “She’s only here for another twelve days,” I said. “Then she’ll go back to America, and everything will go back to normal. All right?”

  “I highly doubt that.” My mother planted her hands on her hips and glowered at me. “She’s gotten into your head, Ash. She has you thinking all these warped things. Has you sneaking out late at night. Has you going to concerts and partying with commoners on the ground floor. It’s appalling, Asher. W
e must do better. Because we are better.”

  “Can you even hear yourself sometimes?” I snapped.

  “Excuse me?”

  I braced myself on my desk and shook my head. “For starters, I can’t sneak out anymore. I’m thirty-one years old, not sixteen, and I can come and go as I wish, with or without your knowledge. And second, there is no such thing as ‘commoners’ anymore. There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’. There is simply everyone. And whether you like it or not, Mother, we are everyone.”

  She stiffened.

  I rubbed wearily at my eyes. “I can’t keep having these conversations with you. There is nothing more disappointing than this. I don’t know what went wrong along the way, but somewhere down the line, you lost your compassion and replaced it with righteousness. That might have worked when you and father were younger, but times have changed. And I’ve changed. And I refuse to behave like the two of you. And you know what, Mother?”

  She lifted her chin and stared defiantly back at me. “What?”

  “I’m the future of this family. And whether you like it or not, that means change is coming one way or another. Regardless of whether or not you approve. Now, I suggest you send those women home before they get their hopes too high that they’ll be attending the masquerade as my date.”

  “You want me to tell them you’re taking a little American whore instead?”

  A growl rumbled in my throat. “Don’t.”

  “What? Speak the truth? Like you are? I can’t have my two cents and come to my son with my own thoughts anymore? You seem perfectly capable of telling me what you think. Why can’t I do the same?”

  I bristled under her accusations and the fact that she was right. “You don’t need to attack Piper to make a point. She’s a good woman with a big heart. And if you’d give her a chance, you’d see that she’s worthier than the lineup of ass-kissing die-hards out in that ballroom right now.”