by Kira Blakely
Laura had him thinking about a lot of things he was not sure he wanted to think about, like having something real and meaningful.
She was a hell of a woman. He thought that every single time he thought of her. But she was also a woman who didn’t want a relationship, and one who had no idea that he had money.
There was a problem. Lexie didn’t even know about his fortune. Dawson had always respected Ashton’s wishes that nobody would know about his money, and so Lexie could not possibly tell Laura, but she would have to know sooner or later, and he wondered if that would drive a wedge between them.
He had seen Dawson struggle with women who wanted him for his money and nothing else. The women who lived in the fancy houses and expected him to fuck them before going outside and cutting their grass had taught Ashton that women were willing to do anything to keep the money they had married into.
How could he trust Laura to be any different?
He got up and walked to the little mini bar, but he didn’t pour a drink. The strong painkillers might kill him if he mixed alcohol in with them, and he knew it.
He paced the room. After a few turns, his head began to ache and he sat back down.
He could see his reflection in a nearby mirror, and he winced. He had one hell of a black eye, and there was a large bruise on his left cheek. His head hadn’t been busted after all; the bleed the doctors thought they had spotted on his scans had proven to be not a bleed after all, and the concussion, while serious, was manageable.
The ribs were the worst, and they’d take a while to heal. Ashton didn’t like feeling helpless or sick, and he was restless as well as tired just then.
His phone rang. He took it out and saw Laura’s number on the screen. A smile crossed his lips as he answered with a cheery, “They released me. I’m free!”
Her laughter was a cure for his troubled thoughts and spirit. “Awesome. I was going to ask. So, are you okay?”
“I am.” He added, “I’m in a hotel though, thanks to Dawson.” It was partially true. Dawson had driven him there. He didn’t want to lie to Laura. He wanted to be as honest with her as he wanted her to be with him, but that distrust he held kept him from being able to. “It’s probably a good thing. I’d hate to get my skull busted again and so soon.”
That was all true. He had had a lot of time to think about that fact the night before. Gerald had a lot to be angry about. His father going to jail had taken whatever luster Gerald had in the hood. He had been reduced to trying to get a few side hustles and calling in favors, but he was a joke in the hood. Gerald was a coward, and everyone knew it. He never got into a one-on-one fight, and sneaking up on Ashton while his back was turned and Gerald had a pipe in his hand just showed what a coward he was. But Gerald being a coward didn’t make him any less dangerous. New worries sprang up. Laura didn’t live in the hood, but what if Gerald found out where she lived?
“Yeah, me too.” Laura said, then she fell silent. His heart beat picked up. Below the dry tone of her voice lay real concern. Maybe they might have a chance at something, but what?
He said, “So, how are you feeling?”
“Pretty good, all things considered.” He managed to inject a note of cheer into his voice. “It only hurts when I laugh or cough.”
“Then I’d advise you not to do either.”
He laughed. Laura said, “Shit,” and he laughed harder, one hand going to his ribs to try to stem the ache there. When he quit laughing, he said, “Are you busy tonight?”
“Not at all.” A long pause. Then, “Would you like some company?”
“I’d love it. I owe you dinner, so how about room service?”
“Oh, room service, is it? Fancy?” There was laughter bubbling up in her voice. “I’ll take it.”
“Great. What time?”
Laura said, “Well I am sitting in my car in the parking lot, so if you’re closer to my job than my place now might be a good time to know that.”
“I’m at the Swaros.”
“I don’t know where...oh wait, is that the big one downtown? The one by the park?”
“Yup.”
“Okay that’s not far from me. Would it be okay if I came now, or do you need to rest or something first?”
“Now’s great.” His voice dropped a little. His body, despite being battered, was awash in desire. He didn’t know how he was going to manage to make love to her, but he knew that he wanted to.
They hung up and he stood, making his way to the bathroom. He needed a shower. He couldn’t get the bandages around his ribs wet, but he would figure out a way to get clean. He smelled like blood and the astringent hospital odor, and he wanted that gone before she got there.
The shower – a massive thing made of marble and cultured tile – had a bench in it. Ashton muttered, “Well, here’s to hoping I don’t accidentally somehow turn my bandages into some kind of mummy wrapping,” and disrobed.
He caught sight of his body in the mirror and paused. His face was bad. His body was worse. His heart raced so hard he could feel the dangerous quickness of its pace in his ears.
He’d had worse, sure. But the sight of the ugly bruises – black and blue and turning yellow and green in spots – brought home to him again that he didn’t want his old life anymore. His fingers dropped to the scar on his abs, the old scar that had come from a knife a rich guy had cut him with, and a fight that had caused he and Dawson to nearly lose the friendship that had been all either of them had ever had to depend upon.
That life needed to be done. He knew that. The boy he had been and the man he had become needed to grow up a lot. It was time for him to try to be a better man, and he knew that, too.
The question was, who was he going to be, and how was he going to be that better man?
He had the money to buy himself a great place, sure, but he knew all too well that a nice house didn’t make a person better.
As he showered carefully, he thought about that. He found himself wondering how many women that app he and Jackson had made had hurt. That was an uneasy thought, but he thought about it anyway.
It wasn’t cool the way they had set it up. He knew that now. There was no way to fix it since he no longer owned it, but what if he created an app with Laura that was less sex-centric and more focused on helping people find actual dates?
Maybe he could help make the world a better place in some way. Wouldn’t that be a change?
LAURA
“Maybe I should dash home and change.” Laura looked down at the outfit she’d worn to work that day. She had on a rather sedate blouse in a pretty cream color and a set of dark slacks that emphasized her long legs but didn’t cling. That was accessorized by a wide belt and a pair of boring loafers. Hardly the stuff of seduction.
Not that it was likely Ashton could be in any shape for seduction.
A wry grin twisted her lips, and she quickly dug around in her handbag. She had a small can of dry shampoo and she sprayed it into her hair because she hadn’t washed it that morning, then she quickly brushed her tresses with quick hard strokes. A fast application of deodorant, a short burst of perfume, and a hasty rinse with a trial-sized bottle of mouthwash followed by a quick flossing had to do.
Laura quickly reapplied her lipstick and a thin line of eyeliner over the faded liner already on her wide and long upper lid and a dash of fresh mascara, and she was done. The five minutes of grooming made her feel much better, and she cranked her car and headed out of the parking garage, groaning when she saw the heavy flow of traffic streaming down the avenues.
She took a right. Downtown was massive – set between four highways that led to the suburbs on three sides of the city and the industrial parks on the eastern side of the city. Traffic was congested and the noise near deafening. As she sat in her car, fiddling with the air conditioner to get the temperature to one she could bear, Laura had to admit that the traffic was something she could live without.
The traffic back home had been an occasional back-up arou
nd the local strip mall. She grinned as she recalled how often she’d cursed that mild traffic and how many times she had thought that that traffic was the worst thing in the entire world.
She finally got to the hotel. The lobby was huge and gracious, and the elevator whisked her up nearly twenty stories before she landed on the floor Ashton’s room was situated on. He opened the door wearing a smile, a pair of jeans undone at the top, and the heavy bandages around his ribs. His hair was soaked and still uncombed. The scent of soap and cologne wafted to her nose, turning her senses to him.
She shouldn’t sleep with him. It was dangerous to sleep with him. She already had some emotions tied into him that frightened her, and she knew it. The bandages gave her pause. Just then, he stepped forward and her body went right to his. She hugged him gingerly and their mouths met. That kiss was raw and passionate, it invoked all the things she wanted to say, wanted done to her body and to do to his.
She closed the door with her foot. Ashton muttered, “Jesus Christ you’re going to kill me.”
She muttered back, “I’ll try not to.” Their bodies moved toward the bed, their fingers working on each other’s buttons and clothing. Her arms locked around his neck, and their bodies swayed together.
Ashton stepped across the floor and she went with him, her legs tangling up into his. His hands ran up and down her body, sending more thrills along her skin. Her nipples went rock hard and tight. Her belly filled with butterflies of anticipation.
She breathed, “Shit, your ribs. What if we do something to hurt them?”
“Fuck them,” Ashton muttered.
“I don’t know that position,” she retorted, earning a brief laugh.
He said, “The worst that could happen –”
“Is that we do something to cause one of them to pop a lung or something and have to call an ambulance,” she gasped as his mouth found her neck, and then his fingers went to her breasts, rubbing them hard through her blouse.
“They’d think I was a lucky guy,” he muttered, “Besides, as long as we don’t lay down, I think we’ll be okay.”
“Don’t lay down?”
His mouth was still on hers, robbing her of her ability to think or breathe. Her fingers tangled in his hair and his mouth devoured hers yet again, sending all thoughts of his ribs tumbling right out of her head.
His mouth never left hers. His fingers teased at her nipples through her blouse and bra. A button flew off her blouse, and she made use of what skin she could safely touch, letting her hands wander across his steely abs and dark-brown nipples.
Their mouths broke apart, their tongues untangling. Her tongue went to his ear and then to his neck. He shuddered once, then growled out, “Damn woman, I can’t even think of anything but how much I want you.”
All she could think of was how much she wanted him, so she figured that they were even. She knew they shouldn’t, not as injured as he was, but she couldn’t stop herself from reaching for him and trying to get closer while not hurting his abused body. It was a delicate balance, and she was terrified one wrong move would totally destroy the mood but he didn’t seem to notice his aches and pains just then.
His breath came back, blowing against the wetness that his tongue left behind, and she squirmed and cried out, her fingers digging into his thick hair.
Her whole body arched and trembled. Her pants were down around her ankles and his hands were running across the front of her damp panties, testing the moisture there and then pressing the scrap of lace into her cleft, massaging her clit through the material.
Her ass jerked forward. Her feet flexed, and she lifted herself up and down, trying to ride his fingers as he teased her stiffened bud. His fingers pressed harder. Her cries were no longer muffled; they were loud and clear in the silence. The soaked panties were chafing her vulva, rubbing against her labia, and she felt her lips parting for him.
More fluids trickled and ran into her panties, but then he yanked them down, bringing the scent of arousal to her nostrils. Her fingers dug deeper into the flesh of his shoulders as he pressed against her.
The hard press of his cock, the soft denim barely restraining that thick hardness she wanted in her body so badly, and his hands wrapped around her waist all made her body shake and tremble. Sensation soared through her body, and a slight pant became her breathing as his fingers moved back to her pussy, cupping it hard, his fingers squeezing rhythmically.
Her panties were halfway down, holding her legs open and yet keeping her from being able to spread them as much as she would have liked to. The predicament was astounding as were the sensations that were filtering through her body with every touch and caress – every moment.
His hands went back to the panties, tugging them down along her thighs, and then they were falling toward the floor. They landed on her shoe and she stepped neatly out of one side of them. The panties dangled from her ankle, but she didn't know that and didn't care. All that mattered was his fingers stroking her wet center, parting her lips and then going deep inside of her.
His kiss lit up her senses and made her knees go weak. Her bottom hit the desk that sat against the wall, and then she was being turned around. Her bottom was up in the air, and his fingers rubbed the pert slopes of her ass, his breath a hard gasp now, too.
A shiver broke out along her limbs, and her hands clasped the edge of the desk as he rubbed his hard cock against the soaked and swollen entry to her tunnel.
He sank into her flesh, her fluids easing the passage for the hard flesh he was pressing into her deeply within her walls.
She cried out, her body aching with the need to come as his stiff cock opened her walls even further and sank deeper into her. Her ass shot backward as she strained to get him inside her. She needed to feel that heavy muscular dick inside her swollen and creaming walls. Her back arched and her legs shook. He was so large that her walls had to stretch and stretch again. Her teeth grit together and pleasure rocketed through her. Her breasts bounced as he withdrew and thrust into her yet again.
His cock filled her again, making her whimper as he created friction within her lower body. Her walls opened and closed, and she sighed as his cock left her dripping inner folds and came back. His hand slid around her front to rub her high standing clitoris, and she began to thrust backward even faster, desperate to reach the climax that was hovering just at the edge of her reach and pleasure.
Her eyes were still closed and her mouth hung agape. She could feel the slackness in her face. Her body was tight though; it was shaking and aching. Her desire had gone even higher than it ever reached before, and she cried out – a long pleading cry.
His hand squeezed her buttocks, gripping them tightly as she cried out once more. The massaging motion raised heat on her bottom, making it ache and throb at the same time. He kept that up and she felt her opening widen as he did so. Her breath was coming harder and faster. Her hands clenched more tightly at the counter, and she began to push her hips backward frantically. Her heartbeat sped up and she moaned, losing all the control she had left, which was not much.
She felt her walls tighten. The orgasm hit her hard, making her entire body go rigid and then loosen. She almost fell, and would have if it had not been for his strong hands around her waist. His finger was still stroking her clitoris, and that drove her over the edge as her juices splashed onto his pulsing cock.
Her pussy closed around his stiffened organ. Ashton worked his hips harder, driving every inch of his cock into her pussy. The sound of their flesh slapping together was very loud, and the smell of sex filled the air.
They were both close to coming. His breath washed over her cheek as he bent over her body, drilling hard and fast as he began to come, his dick spurting hot, thick come into her slippery and soaked walls.
Laura sobbed out a ‘yes’ while Ashton filled her hot tunnel with the long, thick flesh that was taking her to such great heights. Her fingers scrabbled across the desk, knocking a note pad and ink pen to the floor. Her ass jer
ked and jiggled, and her knees went completely weak.
She let him help her upright and turn her around. He gave her long kiss and she sighed, resting her head on his chest. Her knees were weak and her heartbeat had yet to return to normal. “I guess this was different huh?”
He asked, “Are you okay?”
Laura said, “I'm absolutely great, thank you. How are you?” Then she burst into giggles. “That has to be the weirdest thing I've ever said to somebody after sex.”
“Let’s lay down for a second, okay? I’m a little tired.”
Instantly, remorse hit. “Are you okay?”
“Darling, I’m perfect.”
He was pale despite his words, and she pulled the covers down and helped him into the bed gently. Her pussy, swollen and pleasantly sore, gave off a few low throbs as she climbed into the bed, too, and carefully settled in next to him.
He said, “I was going to ask how your day was.”
She chuckled. “Lousy, up until I got here. I hate my job.”
“Quit.”
She wished! “No way. I like being able to eat.”
He caught her hands. “Maybe we could make some money on that app.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t think many people make money on apps. I know some folks get lucky with one, but it’s more miss than hit in the market, isn’t it?”
There was a strange look on his face that gave her pause. He looked like he wanted to say something and had changed his mind just before he had. He said, “I guess it depends on the app. So, tell me why your day was lousy at work.”
Laura sighed. “Oh, I work with a bunch of older people and the whole thing, accounting I mean, is really boring. It might be a lot more exciting if they ever let me do something like run the programs or write them, but they do everything with several checks, which I understand, and with all kinds of other outdated regulations that makes it so much more tedious than it really has to be.”