Embrace: The Secret Billionaire Asher Christmas Duet, Two (The Dark Christmases Book 9)

by Z. L. Arkadie

  “I love you,” I whisper.

  Those three words are fuel to his fire. He flips me back over, grabs hold of my flimsy backboard, and grunts as he throws all his strength behind his final thrusts.

  Wood crashes against plaster. Harder … I tighten my pussy around the action so I can feel all of it. Hard … The tickling sensation in my pussy warns me that a new orgasm is blossoming. I grow tense as I lift my hips so that I can feel it more.

  It’s coming.

  We’re coming.

  Then we cry out together. Asher tosses his head back as he shivers and jerks. I sough as my pussy shivers around his cock. As soon his orgasm dwindles, he sweeps me up again and rolls me back on top of him.

  Lying on top of Asher was always just as comfortable as sleeping on the mattress. I loved listening to his heartbeats and feeling his skin and muscles. I circled my tongue around his nipple and sucked it into my mouth. “Mm,” I said as he sucked air. I loved tasting him too.

  “I love you too,” he whispered in the dim room.

  I wanted to put my heart and soul on the table and share something that made me vulnerable.

  “I would live on an apple farm with you and have as many kids as you wanted,” I said finally.

  “Is that so?” he asked, sounding highly inquisitive.

  I pressed my lips together, feeling deceitful because I’d omitted telling him that I got the whole notion of an apple farm with kids from Greg.

  “You want to live on an apple farm?” he asked.

  “Well, no. But I would, only for you.”

  He chuckled as he ran his large hands down my back then pushed my ass against his cock to keep himself inside me.

  “I’m happy to hear it because a day might come when we can’t do our jobs like regular people as Christmases.”

  I grimaced, sliding my hands up and down his strong torso. “What are you saying?”

  “The press can get out of hand. And people in general are fascinated by idols. We become unreal to them. Not even human, and they’ll treat us that way.”

  I smoothed my hand over his chest, indulging in the way his nipple felt against my palm. No wonder men loved tits and nipples so much. I wanted to suck his, too, and make him stiffen and grow hard again so he could pound the hell out of me. But I couldn’t get “they’ll treat us that way” out of my head. Does he mean him and me or his family in general?

  Finally, he kissed my forehead. “We should get up and go. We have to get some sleep. We’ve had a long day.”

  I raised my head off his chest. “Get up and go? You don’t want to sleep here?”

  He kissed my forehead again. “No. My bed.” He elbowed the mattress. “We almost broke this fucking thing. And I’m not done with you yet.”

  I gave him a lopsided smile. “I thought you said we had to sleep.”

  “We’re going to sleep for a little while. Then I’m going to fuck you again, hard, until I get the picture of Greg fucking you out of my head.”

  My eyebrows pulled together. “What?”

  “I know it’s not fucking rational, but it’s there.” He pointed at his skull. “In there.”

  Asher and I stared into my nearly empty suitcase. He kept reminding me that I didn’t have to bring a lot of clothes. The penthouse we would be residing in had been prepared for our arrival.

  “It’s not the same penthouse that I’m used to?”

  He’d said Gina thought she could sell the property to Julia without his permission, which meant the penthouse was currently tied up in a real estate deal. I was shocked the two women were associated in such a way. Gina was Asher’s ex-girlfriend too. That explained how Julia had found Asher.

  “Gina and Julia are that close?” I asked.

  He closed the suitcase and secured the clamps as he said, “No. Julia’s never close to anyone. The people she gets to know and everything she does is for her benefit. Remember that and stay the hell away from her.”

  “Warning heeded for the umpteenth time,” I said.

  “Good. Keep heeding it.” He snatched my suitcase off the bed. “Let’s get out of here.”

  I was still processing the last of his continued warnings about Julia. She was my sister. And at some point, I would have to really mull over that fact—or maybe not. I’d gone so far in life without knowing her. Our blood relation came from a very dark source. Perhaps that was what my mom’s running away and changing her identity was all about. Asher had done the same. Who am I to say they were wrong? Julia and I had never been sisters and never would be. And that was that, and it was okay.

  We walked into the living room, and I stopped at the front door for a final once-over. It was much cleaner. All the stray clothing, pieces of mail that had been on the coffee table, my robe, which had been draped across my office chair, and the one house shoe that had been sitting beside the couch were all put away. I had a strong hunch that I would not be back to the place that I had made home for the past seven years.

  “Are you ready?” Asher asked.

  Choked up, I nodded.

  “Ooh, one more thing,” I said and raced to my bedroom.

  I opened the closet. Behind rows of shoes I’d never worn, broken umbrellas, and a coat that had dropped off the hanger was the box where I stored important documents. I opened it and shuffled through the pages and envelopes.

  “You okay in there?” Asher asked.

  I smiled at the envelope my mom used to make me keep with me whenever she went off to do whatever she did to acquire money and drugs. “I am. Got it,” I called.

  “Got what?” Asher asked.

  I showed him the box as I walked back into the living room. “This.”

  Suddenly, that feeling that I was leaving something behind was gone. I had everything I needed with me and next to me.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “Personal documents and stuff.”

  Asher and I grinned at each other as he opened the door and I passed him. His nearness never failed to make me feel warm and giddy inside. When I stepped into the hallway, so did Kirk. He was coming out of Zara’s apartment.

  “Kirk,” Asher said, seeming surprised to see him.

  Kirk’s face was as red as a crab’s shell. “On my way to the car, boss.” He bolted to the stairwell.

  Asher set his stunned expression on me. “Really? Those two?”

  Pressing my lips together, I nodded.

  He grunted thoughtfully and wrapped an arm around my waist as he pulled my suitcase with his other hand, and we were on our way.

  The other penthouse suite was located at the Four Seasons Residences. The place was more opulent than the last. It had clean white furniture, contemporary paintings on the walls, and big windows overlooking the lake. Everything looked brand new.

  Asher said the residence was one his family owned, and we would be living there until we found a more permanent situation.

  “Permanent?” I asked.

  We stood in front of the window, staring at the moonlight spreading across the dark water. Asher wrapped me up from behind. He was hard again.

  He kissed my exposed shoulder. “I’ve been thinking. None of what occurred would’ve happened if you knew for sure we were a duo.”

  I sniffed. “A duo?”

  “Yes, baby. You and me. I want you, Penina. I would propose to you tonight, but I want to give us a little more time to prove to ourselves we belong together.”

  Frowning, I asked, “What does that even mean?”

  Asher searched my expression for several moments. “My family …” His mouth froze as if it was stuck open.

  “Your family what?”

  He blinked. “Not everyone has the constitution.” His hand flew up to rub the back of his neck. “I’m kind of afraid you don’t and, if not, what that means for us.”

  I reached up and carefully seized his nervous hand. When I had it securely in mine, I wove our fingers together. “Try me,” I whispered.

  He gulped. “Julia�
��s going to be dealt with on Monday.”

  “What do you mean by ‘dealt with’?”

  Asher released my hand to wrap his arms around me. He held me close. “My brother Jasper, he’s quite severe in the way he deals with people who oppose him … us.” With one eye narrowed, he picked apart my reaction.

  I leaned back as far as I could. Asher maintained a vise grip on me, as if he were stopping me from running away. “Is he going to kill her?”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head vehemently. “Money is how Julia fights. He’s going to take it all away from her and …”

  I tilted my head curiously. “And?”

  “Give it to another sibling.”

  “Another sibling?” I mused, then when it became clear which sibling he was referring to, I jerked my head back. “Me?”

  “What do you think about that?”

  “What do I think about it? I don’t know. This is unbelievable stuff you’re talking about. Is this what rich people do to each other?”

  Asher sniffed. “I can’t speak for other rich people, but Christmases, yes. As I said, my brother’s severe. He wouldn’t take the action if he saw a better way.”

  “So, he’s going to take all of her money?”

  “She used to have more, but he’ll take what’s left if necessary.”

  “But she bought the penthouse, so she has a pretty healthy amount.”

  “Well,” he said with a sigh. “Julia’s been extorting money from a few ex-employees of ours.”

  He went on to tell me about a doctor and a nurse who had been assigned to take care of his father. Julia learned that the nurse was the grandmother of one of Randolph’s past victims. Then Julia rolled the dice at using that information to her advantage. Her shot paid off. Julia didn’t know exactly what the nurse named Laura had done, but the nurse didn’t want it getting back to the Christmases that she had reason to want to see Randolph dead.

  Asher and I sat down on the sofa, and he kept his arm around me as I rested my head on his chest while he told me the rest. The story took several turns—his sister Bryn pulling the wrong plug; the nurse poisoning the father for several months; the autopsy results; Randolph being cremated.

  “Julia never knew the minute details, yet she was able to extort those who did?” I asked.

  “She’s smart when it comes to matters like these. She knew they were afraid of something, and that’s all she needed to know. But she was the one who told one of my brother’s political opponents that Bryn and I murdered our father. He paid her for that information.”

  “But why would she just make that up?”

  Asher sniffed. “She didn’t. Julia was having sex with the doctor. She got him inebriated, and he mentioned something about me and Bryn pulling the plug.”

  I looked up at Asher, and our gazes melted. “Why is your father so loathed anyway?”

  “Read the book,” he whispered.

  My eyelashes fluttered closed. “Soon. Very soon.”

  I knew what was coming next.

  First our lips brush, then the tip of his tongue gently pushes against mine and holds. My eyes open. Our staring intensifies.

  Asher’s eyebrows flew up and held. “Let’s go to bed.”

  I smirked. “To sleep.”

  He smirked as well. “That too.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Penina Ross

  I wasn’t sure if I’d slept. Since the moment we crawled into bed, Asher had been on fire. We made hot passionate love. Then I closed my eyes and dozed off. At a certain point, his hand ran up and down the curve of my waist. I stirred.

  “I want to be inside you,” he whispered in my ear.

  He had slipped inside me many times while I was halfway awake, and I mumbled permission for him to do me again. As usual, when his dick soared through me, rousing my pussy walls, I became more focused on procuring my next orgasm than returning to dreamland.

  And when it happened, when my thighs shuddered and I cried out, Asher cupped my tits, squeezing my nipples as he released himself inside me. We stayed that way until we did it again. Then he went down on me, and I had several orgasms. Now, as the light of day poured into the room, I breathed heavily after my body calmed down from another intravaginal orgasm.

  “Fuck,” I whispered, rubbing my forehead. “Have we been totally irresponsible throughout the night?”

  Asher was still on top of me, quenched dick still inside me. He had told me on several occasions to let him worry about the time. I wasn’t going on shift, but I was supposed to meet with Deb to sign some final paperwork. Then I was to report to HR to sign more paperwork that would officially make me the hospital’s newest fellow.

  Our cell phones weren’t in the room with us, so even if my alarm song played, I wouldn’t have been able to hear it. I had spent most of my adult life on a time clock. I couldn’t relax, but I didn’t want to get out of bed either. I loved that he was on top of me and inside me. I relished the fact that his hands had been all over me through the night, even while I slept.

  “Okay, babe,” I patted him on his back. “We have to finally rise and shine.”

  He groaned. “I know. But after your meetings, I want you to come home, get in bed, and wait for me.”

  I chuckled at how utterly insane but fun that sounded. “You mean you want me to walk through that door, take off my clothes, climb in bed, and wait for you?”

  Asher’s smile added extra light to the room. “In that order, yes.”

  I tilted my head to feign pondering. I already knew my answer. “Then you’ll be my next shift?”

  I hummed as his lips visited my earlobe then slid down to my neck, where he whispered, “Night call and all.”

  I embraced him tighter, hugging him in sweet bliss as I said, “Mm, the sound of that is making me wetter.”

  “Shit, I can feel it,” he said, trying to thrust into me with his spent dick. “Just give me a moment.” He kept pushing his dick in and out of me, eyes closed, concentrating.

  I patted him on the back again. “Asher, no. You’re being an awful timekeeper.”

  He laughed. “I just can’t get enough of you.” He carefully flipped over onto his back, his heaviness and moist skin abandoning my body.

  I pinched my thighs together, enjoying the flickers of the shadow orgasm my pussy experienced when he slipped out of me.

  When Asher said that I could wear whatever was in the closets and drawers, I could never have imagined what was in them. The few articles of clothing I’d packed looked like rags next to the high-fashion garments I had access to.

  I was also reminded how long it had been since I’d gone shopping. I stood in the walk-in closet, flanked by clothes and shoes, miraculously all in my size. It wasn’t coincidence either. Who did this? How did they know what to buy? Asher was right—I would have to get used to being a Christmas if walking into a closet full of racks of clothes displayed as if I were shopping in an upscale boutique was the norm.

  I recalled how Julia had been dressed the day before. She’d had on a black skirt suit that fit her so tightly that she looked like a vixen. I was surrounded by prettier suits than the one she’d had on. I opted for a sort of pearl-colored skirt suit and a royal-blue silk camisole. I also put on a pair of black patent-leather Mary Janes. The heels were not too high or too low.

  When I saw myself in the standing mirror, I admitted that I looked impeccable. I received even more proof of that when I walked into the kitchen and Asher stopped pouring coffee to stare at me. His reaction was strange. He looked angry yet lustful.

  He put down the carafe then walked over and took my hand. Then he put his mouth next to my ear. “Let’s go fuck.”

  I slipped my hand out of his. “Are you really this blasé about our jobs?”

  “I am now,” he said before his tongue dove into my mouth and tasted mine.

  “By the way,” I said against his hungry mouth.

  “What?”

  His tongue clamored for mine,
and I let him have it until I was able to ask, “Who bought all of those clothes?”

  “We have people.” Asher’s hand slipped under my skirt and tugged at the crotch of my panties until his fingers found what they were looking for.

  “Ha,” I said, gasping as his fingers thrust into me. “Babe. I don’t want to be late.”

  His tongue dove into my mouth, lapping mine several times before he stopped finger-fucking me and took a step back. “Later,” he said, pointing at me. “I’m finishing you later.”

  Allowing my weakened knees to strengthen yet again, I grabbed the counter. “Please do,” I said breathlessly.

  In the end, Asher had actually been a great steward of our time. We arrived at the hospital at five minutes to one, and I was supposed to meet Deb at one o’clock. He had other things to do, so we kissed and parted ways. It hadn’t occurred to me how off it was that we were meeting on a Sunday until I made it to the conference room. I checked over my shoulder as well, suddenly aware that I hadn’t run into anyone either. I wasn’t used to that, and I hoped it wouldn’t be the new normal. Before leaving for the day, I planned to make sure I said farewell to my team members and all the staff who had been part of my world for the past seven years. I would let them know that we would see one another again on the first of November. Although I was certain they would all mention something about Asher and me being a couple. I would confirm our status as two lovebirds who planned to make a serious go at a long-term relationship. After all, he’d almost proposed to me the previous night. I wasn’t hiding us anymore, and neither was he.

  Once I had that thought out of the way, I was ready to see Deb. I sighed and opened the door. A blast of streamers and confetti filled the air along with a loud chorus of “Congratulations, Dr. Ross!”

  I slapped my hand over my mouth, growing completely still. In front of me were all the people I’d wanted to visit later that day. My eyes watered as I took in Angela, Deb, even Zara, Kevin, and all of my favorite attendings and nurses, including Courtney. And grinning like he was my sun—because he was—was Asher.