The Harder You Fall

by L A Cotton

  “I know,” I whispered, curling my hands around the stool.

  If I’d learned anything about Asher in my short time at Rixon, it was that he wore his heart on his sleeve. Sure, it was usually wrapped up in layers of jokes and humor, but if you looked hard enough, you’d find it right there. Vulnerable and defenseless.

  I knew what he felt for me was more than just some crush. Because I felt it too.

  “Just do me a solid and make sure you’re there to catch him, yeah?”

  Covering my mouth, I smothered a soft laugh.

  “What?” Jason asked.

  “Nothing.” Everyone seemed so certain it would be me who hurt him.

  I didn’t know what to think about that.

  “I’m glad he found you, Mya.”

  “What are you two talking about?” Asher appeared at my side. He spun the stool and took my hand, pulling me up, letting his hand drift down over the curve of my ass.

  “Oh, you know… life, the universe, all that other boring shit,” Jason grunted, giving me one final pointed look. “I’ll catch the two of you later.”

  The guys exchanged a nod before Asher anchored his hands at my waist. “Having fun?”

  “Surprisingly, yes.”

  “You’d tell me, right? If anyone said anything to you.”

  “Stop.” I kissed him. “Worrying. I’m fine, everything’s fine. In fact, I was hoping we could go somewhere…”

  “Somewhere?” Confusion crinkled his eyes, but they quickly widened. “Oh, you mean…” He swallowed hard. “Fuck, Mya.” Asher pulled me closer, brushing the stray curls from my face and letting his lips linger near my ear. “You’re serious?”

  “I know I said I want to go slow, but this isn’t about taking it slow or moving too fast, it’s about what I feel. What we feel.” I eased back to look at him. “I want you, Asher.”

  Awe glittered in his eyes as he dipped his head and kissed me softly. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he groaned. “But we need to wait. At least until the adults have drained the bar.”

  “Oh, okay.” Dejection cinched my chest, and I dropped my eyes to the floor.

  “Hey, hey.” Asher tilted my face back to his. “I want you. I want you so fucking much it hurts. But the things I want to do to you, with you, require time. I don’t want to screw this up.”

  “Has anyone ever told you, you’re a sweet talker, Asher Bennet?”

  “It may have been said before.” He kissed me again, hard and long, making a total scene of it. I heard a couple of gasps of astonishment but refused to give them credence. I wasn’t here for them, I was here for Asher.

  For us.

  “So, Mya Hernandez,” Asher lifted his head, grinning at me. “Do you think you can wait a little longer for me?”

  I gave him a salacious smile. “If you promise to make it worth my while.”

  “Fuck, I deserve a medal for this.” His gaze raked over me for the hundredth time tonight. I loved the way he looked at me. His heated gaze made me stand taller.

  Leaning up, I nipped his earlobe. “Maybe we should spike their drinks, speed things up?”

  Asher laughed at that, letting his gaze drift past me to the party going on behind us. He went rigid and I knew he’d spotted them, our small audience. “Or maybe I should just fuck you right here against the counter and give them something to really lose their shit over.”

  I pulled out of his arms, wrapping my arms around my waist, staring at the floor. Asher let out a heavy sigh, sliding his fingers underneath my chin and angling my face back to his. “Crap, Mya, I didn’t mean… I see them, you know. I’ve seen them all fucking night.”

  “Ignore them.” I pressed a hand to his cheek. “I am.” He remained still, his hard eyes still staring past me. “Ash, look at me. No one else matters but us.”

  Even if I didn’t fully believe my own words, I’d believe them tonight for him.

  “Thirty minutes. I’ll give them another thirty minutes and then I’m going to take you down to the boathouse and bury myself so deep inside you that all I can see is you, Mya.”

  “Thirty minutes,” I repeated, my body on fire at his words.

  It wasn’t long to wait but it already felt like forever.

  We waited almost an hour. Teasing each other with barely there touches and fleeting glances while the party went on around us. Jason and Cameron teased us, fake gagging and rolling their eyes every time we fell into our own little bubble.

  “Your dad is toasted,” Asher said to Jase as we lingered in the kitchen. It had been our safe haven for most of the night; the adults preferring to stick to the huge reception room, letting the catering staff wait on them with trays of canapés and flutes of expensive champagne.

  “My mom isn’t much better,” Hailee mused, looking a little glassy-eyed herself. “But at least they made up.”

  “That is one thing I never need to witness again. I still can’t believe I walked in on them almost... fuck, nope, not going there.” Jason shuddered, downing the rest of his beer. “Right,” he slammed it down. “I don’t know about anyone else, but we’re calling it a night.”

  “We are, are we?” Felicity arched a brow.

  He roped an arm around her neck and pulled her close. “Do you want to get fucked before I pass out, or not?”

  “Jason!”

  “Dude, there are some things I never need to hear,” Cam protested.

  Laughter rumbled in Jason’s chest. “Like you aren’t going to be boning my sister in about twenty minutes time.”

  “Dude!” We all shrieked this time.

  “I think that’s our cue,” Asher whispered against my ear, sending a delicious shiver up my spine.

  “Merry Christmas, Mya.” Flick launched herself at me, hugging me so tight I could hardly breathe.

  “Merry Christmas,” I chuckled at her enthusiasm.

  “I’m so happy you found each other,” she whispered, “be careful with his heart.”

  “Babe, let’s go,” Jason said, pulling her away. “Merry Christmas, Mya, Asher. We’ll see you guys in a couple of days.”

  “Have a good one, man.” Ash fist bumped him, and then Cam, before burying his face in my hair.

  “Ash?” I whispered. “What are you doing?”

  “Smelling you. You smell so fucking good, I could eat you.”

  “What are you waiting for then?”

  He pulled back, his eyes hooded, nostrils flared. “You sure about this?”

  “Do you want to unwrap your present or not?”

  Asher tipped his head back and groaned, the sound reverberating deep in his chest. I chuckled softly, enjoying teasing him. The air crackled around us, charged with anticipation.

  My hairs stood on end as he took my hand and led me to the door. “What if someone sees?”

  “At this point, I honestly couldn’t give a fuck.”

  The house was emptying now, the music mellowing. “It’s almost midnight,” I said, noting the time on the wall clock as we left the house and stepped into the cool December air.

  Asher was quiet as we walked across his vast yard toward the lake. I’d only been out here a handful of times, but the Bennets’ yard never failed to take my breath away. It was the stuff of movies. A huge pool, sun loungers dotted around the edge, a huge canopied area for the summer. Beyond that, a neatly mowed lawn that ran all the way down to the small lake where they had their own jetty and, just as Jason had said, a boathouse.

  “It looks... abandoned,” I said, noting the dark building hidden beyond some trees.

  “It doesn’t get much use these days but when I was a kid I was always out here. My grandpa, my mom’s dad, loved to tinker on the boat. I’d spend hours watching him from the mezzanine.”

  We reached the door and Asher paused, curving his hand around my neck and drawing me close. His lips found mine in an urgent kiss. “Thank you,” he breathed. “For being here tonight.”

  “I’m glad I came. Your dad might be a comple
te ass, but your mom is sweet.”

  He winced.

  “Hey,” I said. “Just because she makes some decisions you don’t understand or agree with, doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you.”

  “For as much as I want to confess all my deepest darkest secrets to you, I want to do this much more.” Asher kissed me again, pushing his tongue deep into my mouth, his body caging me against the door. I felt him hard at my stomach.

  “Merry Christmas, Mya,” he whispered.

  “Merry Christmas.” I pulled back to look at him. The moonlight reflected off his profile, making him seem ethereal. An angel caught somewhere between the light and the darkness.

  Asher grinned, before pulling me inside and pushing me against the cladded wall. “I had this all planned out,” he said. “There are candles and a blanket upstairs, but I’m not sure I can wait. I need you, Mya. I need you so fucking much it hurts.”

  I ran my finger across his brow, studying his face. Asher Bennet was gorgeous. From his piercing blue eyes to his playful smile and mussed up blond hair. On the face of it, he was perfect. But it wasn’t his perfect eyes or perfect smile or perfect teeth that drew me in, it was his imperfections. His maddening persistence. The darkness that sometimes shrouded his expression. The way he cared too much.

  On paper we were complete opposites but when you stripped away our exteriors, you were left with two people betrayed by the people they were supposed to be able to trust. Two people who were completely wrong for one another.

  But as I was quickly learning, sometimes wrong felt perfectly right.

  Asher

  I inched back from Mya, slowly unbuttoning my shirt. Her eyes tracked my movements, heavy-lidded with lust. We’d danced around one another all night. It had been the sweetest kind of torture, having her right there in plain sight but being unable to touch her the way I wanted.

  The way I needed.

  “See something you like, Hernandez?” I asked smugly, as I shuck out of my navy dress shirt. The material dropped to the floor as I began snapping my belt and unbuttoning my slacks. Mya swallowed, her hand gliding up the side of her neck. She was so fucking sexy.

  “Come here.” I crooked my finger at her and Mya came willingly, falling into my arms. Her hands slid up my bare chest, her touch like kryptonite; making my heart race and my knees weak.

  “Jesus,” I breathed, sucking in a harsh breath as she gently rolled one of my nipples between her fingers.

  “You have too many clothes on.” My hand drifted up her spine, locating the delicate zipper hidden beneath the seam of her dress. It slid down with ease, and Mya let the silky material fall down her arms, revealing a lacy black bra.

  “See something by you like, Hotshot?” Mya smirked, pushing the dress over her hips and down her body until she was standing before me in nothing but her underwear.

  “I think I just died and went to heaven.” I didn’t know where to look first. The swell of her perfect tits, the curve of her waist and flare of her hips. Her perfect ass.

  “Kiss me,” she whispered, staring up at me with anticipation.

  “Kiss you?” I said, hooking an arm around her waist and erasing the space between us. Until we were skin on skin, racing heart against racing heart.

  “I’m going to kiss every single inch of you, Mya. And when I’m done, I’m going to start all over again.”

  She shivered at my words, inhaling a shaky breath as I swept my fingers across her collarbone.

  “Tell me what you want.” I whispered against the corner of her mouth.

  “You, Ash... I just want you.” Mya wriggled closer, grazing my rock-hard dick. We both groaned. I dropped my hands to my jeans ready to kick them off, but Mya beat me to it. Her greedy hands dipping inside, stroking me through my boxer briefs.

  “Fuck,” I hissed.

  I don’t know how it happened, but Mya took control. Backing me up against the far wall, she ran one of her hands up and down my abs, dipping her head to nip and suck my neck while her hand worked me through the thin material.

  “Mya, wait...” But before I could stop her, she dropped to her knees, yanked down my jeans and boxers and sucked me into her mouth. “Holy fuck.” Sensation exploded up my spine as she ran her tongue up and down my length, pumping me with her hand. Slow torturous strokes that damn near blew my mind.

  God, I never wanted her to stop but this wasn’t supposed to be about me. It was supposed to be about her. About me showing her how I felt.

  “Mya, babe, stop.” I wound my hand into her curls and tugged gently. She looked up at me, eyes glazed with desire.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “Yeah, something’s wrong.” I pulled her to her feet, spinning us so her back was pressed against the wall. “This is about you, not me.” My hand glided down her flat stomach, dipping inside her lacy panties. “I want to watch you come.” Without warning I pushed a finger inside her.

  Mya gasped, her eyes fluttering closed as her body arched into my touch.

  “Eyes open, Mya.”

  She pinned me with a heated stare as I worked her with my fingers. No more words passed between us, just the sounds of her quiet moans and my labored breaths. It was intense. We both felt it. The shift between us. The tether binding us together.

  “Asher,” it was a shuddering breath but she might as well have reached into my chest and ripped out my heart.

  It was hers now.

  Whether she wanted it or not.

  I didn’t give Mya chance to catch her breath. Sliding my hands under her legs, I scooped her up and carried her over to the old boat. It was covered in a dust sheet that crinkled and crunched as I laid her out before me.

  “Shit,” I rasped, “Condom.”

  “No,” she shook her head, biting her bottom lip. “I’m on birth control and I’m clean. I need to feel you, all of you.”

  Thank fuck for small mercies.

  Pushing my boxer briefs off, I stroked myself a couple of times before leaning over her and covering her body with mine. Mya hitched her legs around my hips, steadying herself with a hand on my shoulder, as I teased her with the tip of my dick, letting it glide through her wetness.

  “More,” she begged, her voice thick with need.

  Slowly, inch by inch, I pressed into her. “Christ, Mya, you feel...” The words lodged in my throat as I went deeper, grinding against her in a way that had us both moaning in pleasure.

  Pressing my hands flat against the sheet, I stared down at her. I watched as her eyes rolled back every time I ground into her; watched the way her tits jiggled behind their lacy confines. “You are so fucking perfect,” I rasped, thrusting harder, needing more. Needing to bury myself as deep as I could possibly get inside her.

  But it wasn’t enough. I needed to consume her. To imprint myself on her the way she’d already imprinted herself on me.

  I needed to mark her.

  To make her mine in every sense of the word.

  Running a hand up her stomach, I toyed with the lacy shell of her bra before yanking it down. I licked her hungrily, before drawing her nipple into my mouth, sucking gently.

  “Oh god... Ash...”

  I released the dusky bud with a pop, moving to the curve of her breast. This time I sucked harder until blood rushed to the surface, bruising her skin.

  “Did you just bite me?” Mya asked breathlessly, beads of sweat forming on her smooth silky skin as I continued to rock into her.

  “Are you complaining?” My brow arched, the familiar tingle at the bottom of my spine building.

  “God, Asher,” she moaned my name. “Why does this feel so right?”

  “Because it is right.” I lowered my head to hers, every inch of me pressed up against every inch of her. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel this.” Pulling one of Mya’s hands off my shoulder, I slid my fingers through hers, pinning it at the side of her head. I rocked slower... harder... deeper, pushing us both toward the edge.

  “Fall with me, Mya. Fall w
ith me.”

  Her walls clenched around me, making us both cry out, as she came. Another thrust and I followed, jerking inside her.

  “That was...” she tried to catch her breath.

  “Epic… Earth shattering… The best you ever had,” I said around an arrogant smile.

  Mya chuckled, brushing the damp hair out of my face. “I was going to say intense.”

  “Not quite what I was going for, but we can practice.” I pecked her lips. “Lots and lots of practice.” My dick stirred to life again, but I ignored him, focusing on the girl beneath me.

  My girl.

  “I wish you could stay the night.”

  “Asher...”

  “I know, I know. But this, us, it means something to me, Mya.” It means everything. My thumb brushed over her lips as the unspoken words played on repeat in my head.

  “It means something to me too.” Her eyes burned with possessiveness.

  “So we’re really going to do this?”

  She already knew I was in, but I needed to hear her say the words too.

  “Yeah, we’re doing this.”

  “You know I’m never going to let you go, right?”

  “Asher...” Mya gazed up at me, letting out a resigned sigh. “It’s senior year. College is right around the corner...”

  “So? We have time, babe.” I kissed her softly, letting my lips linger on hers. Mya didn’t say anything else on the matter and I didn’t want to taint what had been one of the best moments of my life.

  Untangling myself from her, I held out my hand. Mya stared at it, confusion clouding her eyes. “The night isn’t over yet,” I said.

  She slid her palm against mine and I led her further into the boathouse to where the stairs led to the mezzanine. “Watch your step.”

  “You could have at least let me put on some clothes.”

  “Wait here.” I left Mya at the top step and located the box of matches I had left out here earlier. Once I’d lit the candles, I beckoned her over to the makeshift bed.

  “You did all this?”

  “If you’re impressed by a few blankets and candles, I really need to up my game. Come lie with me?”