by Kris Royce
“Aww, how sweet,” Tegan said as she took them and placed them on Tina’s table.
No one had ever sent her flowers before.
Tina just grinned at the dreamy look on Tegan’s face. Ash knew his way around women that was for sure. Just then Tina’s phone rang. She dug it out of her pocket to see it was Ash, which made her grin.
“Oh yeah, she is right here. Hang on.”
Tegan blushed as she took the phone.
“Hi.”
“Hello, beautiful. Did you get my delivery?”
“Yes. Oh, Ash, the flowers are beautiful. Thank you.”
“They are not as beautiful as you,” he said as he grinned on his side of the phone because he knew she was blushing.
“You know, cowboy, if you keep this up you may just get stuck with me,” she teased.
“I would like nothing more, Tegan,” he told her, which blew her away.
She swallowed loudly, and it took her a second for her to speak again. Surely he wasn’t serious.
They talked for a while, and then he asked if he could take them all out to dinner that night. Tegan asked Tina, and she said yes, so they made plans.
After they had hung up Tina had another phone call, so she took it and walked in the other room. When she came back she was grinning.
“You ready to make some money, honey?” Tina asked her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Come on. Grab your bag. You, my sweet little cos, are going to your first shoot, and you are getting paid for it,” Tina told her with a big grin.
Tegan’s mouth fell opened.
“No shit?”
“No shit. Now come on. You can wear what you have on.”
Tina pulled her out of the apartment. They grabbed a taxi and went to a different place than before. Tegan was once again whisked away. This time she was wearing sexy lingerie, but none of it was see-through. She did have a bit of a problem with the thong until Tina told her that she got to keep all the things she wore and that they looked great on her. Tegan finally agreed.
Edward greeted her with a big smile and a kiss on the cheek when she walked out. He bit his fist and groaned when she dropped the small robe she had been wearing. Tina and the other models just watched in disbelief as Tegan posed, laughed, and giggled as she worked with Edward. She had him laughing as she did what he asked. The other girls wanted to know who this girl was who had the dragon-man Edward laughing.
There was an elegant bed, and he personally helped her get in the position he wanted her in before moving back to the camera. Twenty outfits and hours later Edward hugged Tegan and kissed her on the cheek good-bye. He told her that she had been fantastic.
Honestly Edward had never had so much fun on the job before, and Tegan Ryann was the sweetest and the sexiest little honey he had ever worked with. That was saying a lot because he worked with a lot of women. He had enjoyed working with Tina and he really liked her but there was something refreshingly innocent about Tegan that drew him. If he wasn’t dating the man of his dreams he would ask Tegan to marry him. He was smiling as he called Brandie to tell her the shoot was a success.
Neither Tina nor Tegan mentioned the shoot to the guys again.
That night when Ash picked them up she jumped into his arms and kissed him, surprising the shit out of him, but he was very pleased. Hell, he was more than pleased. He could damn sure get used to this.
He knew where they had gone today, but he wasn’t sure of what they did while they were there because his men were not allowed in the building. It was just a photo shoot, so Ash decided to let it go for now. He knew Tegan was just spending time with her cousin.
He looked Tegan over and really wanted her to change because she looked so fucking hot, and he didn’t want anyone else seeing her like that. She was wearing a low-cut, formfitting red dress with killer matching heels. The dress was too damned short, and the top was too low cut, showing off too much of her spectacular tits for his liking. His dick, however, liked the way she dressed a lot, and no matter what he did he couldn’t make it go down.
He noticed her lack of jewelry and decided he would have to do something about that. He managed to bite his tongue about her clothes for now. Once she was his she wouldn’t be wearing shit like that. He would have her dressed in turtlenecks and baggy pants to keep others from looking at her. One look at Tina who was grinning he knew she had something to do with the way his girl was dressed.
He felt like punching Marc who had his arm around Tina but was staring at Tegan’s ass. What the fuck?
Ash took them to a five-star restaurant, where they drew lots of attention. He almost choked on his drink when Tegan leaned over like she was going to tell him something, bit his neck, and then soothed it with a kiss instead. Of course, she blushed when she pulled away acting all innocent and shit.
He could not let her get away with that. She had started this shit. So he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and placed a hand on her knee as he buried his head in her neck, kissing and nipping her gently while he caressed her leg, letting his hand climbing higher and higher until she clamped her legs together and grabbed his wrist, stopping him. He gave her a wicked grin and leaned away when the food arrived.
After dinner they all went to another one of Ash’s clubs. This one was called the Lure. It was bigger and much more elegant than Ash’s other club. Ash told Tegan this club catered to wealthy clients who had certain tastes. She gave him a confused look, and he let it go, not wanting to explain the aspects of the club in front of Marc and Tina. He was fairly sure that they already knew what went on behind the private doors above the club because they had both been here a time or two.
The dance floor was larger, and it was packed. Tegan noticed nothing different, except maybe the women here weren’t wearing very much clothing. Black leather and shiny vinyl seemed the theme because most of the women there was wearing it along with some of the men.
A man who Ash introduced as Alexander was the manager. He was as tall as Ash. He was very handsome with dark-brown hair and intense brown eyes. He flirted with Tina and Tegan and had them both blushing until Marc and Ash pulled them away.
Tegan limited herself to one drink before she dragged Ash to the dance floor. She danced with Marc and even Alexander danced with her, but Ash kept running him off.
When she was busy dancing with Marc and Tina was dancing with some other guy, Alex found Ash, who was watching his girl.
“Who is she?”
Ash cut his eyes at him before finding Tegan again.
“She is mine.”
Alexander raised an eyebrow. He had never heard Ash say that about any women before.
“Well, I guess that answers my question then.”
“Stay away from her, Alex.”
“I am not stupid, Ash. I can see the way you look at her, and I can’t say as I blame you. Damn, she is a sexy little thing. Now, if you get tired of her I would be all over that in a heartbeat.”
Ash growled at him. Alex ignored him.
“She is fucking gorgeous, but I wasn’t asking for me. I have at least ten VIP clients asking about her.”
Well, motherfucker. Ash knew he should have never brought her here.
“She is off-limits. Make sure they know she is mine and I do not fucking share.”
Alexander nodded and tore his eyes away from the voluptuous dancing beauty before he walked away.
Ash heard him mumble as he walked away, “What a damned shame.”
Ash took a drink as he scanned the room, and sure enough the fucks were staring at her like vultures to a kill. He decided it was time to get her out of there and stood. He caught Marc’s eye as he headed their way. Marc must have been thinking the same thing because he grabbed both girls and pulled Tina and Tegan off the dance floor.
They were heading toward him when two guys stepped in the way to talk to Tegan while another man stepped up to talk to Tina like Marc wasn’t fucking even there. He had an “Are you fucking
insane look?” on his face as he glared at the three men who ignored him.
Just as Ash reached them from one side and Alexander from the other Marc growled and picked up the guy who was talking to Tina and trying to touch her. Okay, the big guy was really pissed. The thing was he picked the guy up by his throat and was holding him off the ground about a foot, and the guy was turning really red.
“Let him go, Marc,” Ash told him calmly.
“No one fucking touches her. I ought to rip out your fucking tongue for talking to her like that,” Marc told the guy he was choking, still not letting him go but rather shook him a little instead.
“Please, babe. Just let him go so we can get out of here,” Tina said to Marc.
Her words and her soft touch on his arm calmed down the very pissed-off linebacker, and he threw the guy to the floor before pulling her into his arms.
Ash turned to grab Tegan’s hand as he nodded to Alex, who was telling the bouncers to get the asshole who had been talking to Tina out of there.
One of the other two men who had been talking to Tegan grabbed her other hand.
“Hey, babe. You don’t have to run off. You can stay and play with us. We will make sure you get home,” he was saying as Ash caught him in the mouth with a fist.
Marc was trying to calm down Ash now and standing in front of him, holding him back. Tina and Tegan both got their shit together, grabbed their guys, and pulled them out the door before anything else could happen. Alex followed them out and said good-bye.
Tegan realized Ash’s hand was bleeding from hitting the asshole who had been saying all kinds of strange shit to her. She opened her clench purse and pulled out a tissue. She wet with her tongue before using it to clean the blood away.
Ash watched her but didn’t say anything because he was still furious. None of that shit had been Tegan’s fault, and he didn’t want to say anything to hurt her feelings. Jesus, he was turning into such a fucking pussy. She was oblivious to how beautiful she is and to the effect she had on the opposite sex. He had wanted to beat that fucker bloody and would have if he hadn’t of been worried Tegan would freak out, but he knew she would. Now she was taking care of him, and she was surprising calm.
He took the tissue away from her and hugged her in close.
“You all right, kitten?”
She smiled up at him, and he noticed she was a little pale.
“Yeah, I’m good. I am not the one who is bleeding. Here put pressure on it so it will stop bleeding,” she told him getting another tissue.
He kissed her on the head.
“What were those guys saying to you, kitten?”
She wrinkled her nose as she looked up at him. Fucking adorable.
“I think they must have been really drunk because they said something about putting a collar on me and spanking me or something like that.”
Ash shared a look with Tina and Marc over Tegan’s head.
“Yeah, babe, they must have been drunk,” Ash said, letting the subject go, and gritted his teeth. He wanted to go back and pound the asshole in the floor.
When they got back to Tina’s apartment Tina and Marc went to bed leaving them alone. Tegan insisted that Ash let her take care of his hand. She took him to her bathroom, where she washed it and put a Band-Aid on it, and he let her fuss over him. When she was done, he drew her in his arms and kissed her. The kiss started out soft and tender but quickly grew into deep and passionate. They were both breathless when Ash pulled away. He was surprised when Tegan walked him over to her bed, pushed him down, and hiked her dress up.
“Jesus,” he said in a strained voice when he saw the lacey tops of her thigh-high hose and her garter-belt straps. She had on a pair of barely-there black silk panties that made his mouth water.
Tegan bit her lip and straddled his lap.
“Damn, Tegan,” he said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“You want me to stop?”
“Fuck no.”
She grinned and kissed him. He groaned as his hand found the zipper to her dress and slowly slid it down, giving her plenty of time to tell him no. He was pleased when she didn’t stop him. He slipped the dress off and tossed it to the floor. Next came the lacy black bra. It went flying, too. Ash turned and laid her down as he took a nipple in his mouth. Tegan buried her hands in his hair and held him to her. Ash spread her legs and settled between them, letting her feel his thick hard erection. She wrapped her legs around him, and she lifted her hips, so he rubbed against her hot core. Ash reached between them, fisting her panties to rip them off. Just then Tina pounded on the door. Ash wanted to wring her fucking neck.
“Tegan, your dad is ringing your phone off the wall out here. I love you, cos, but I ain’t answering it,” she yelled through the door.
Tegan groaned and pressed her forehead against Ash’s.
“I’m sorry, but I have to call him back.”
Ash took a deep breath, hugged her to him, and kissed her deeply before drawing back. “You don’t have to call him back. Ignore him,” he said as he kissed his way down her neck and ground up against her.
“Tegan?” Tina said as she knocked again.
They could both hear Tegan’s phone going off and knew she was holding it in her hand.
Yeah, Tina was a pussy blocker all right. Did he mention he wanted to kill her right now?
“You know she is not going to leave us alone, right? She can’t help being protective over me.”
“I know. I need to go anyway. I have an early meeting,” he told her as he stood and adjusted himself. He couldn’t help but gaze down at her as he stood.
“Jesus, Tegan, you are beautiful,” Ash told her.
Tegan blushed as he helped her up off the bed and lifted her in his arms. She wrapped her legs around him and kissed him deeply, causing him to groan as he cupped her ass. Fuck, she was wearing a thong he realized as his hands closed around plump bare flesh. He groaned again and pulled back when Tina knocked again, and then slowly he slid her down his body, letting her feel what she did to him. He grabbed her by her nape and a handful of ass and kissed her once more, not wanting to let her go. It about killed him to pull away from those succulent lips and that lush body. He nipped her jaw and kissed his way down her neck before leaning away and searching her eyes.
“Tegan, just so you know we are going to happen, and when it does it will not be here. Next time there won’t be any interruptions. So prepare yourself because I fucking want you and I will not wait much longer. Understand?”
She stared up at him with those large blue eyes and her kiss-swollen lips slightly parted and nodded. Her breathing was erratic, and he felt her tremble at his words. He gave her one more kiss before he walked out. If the truth be told, his patience and control were hanging by a thread. If he didn’t leave right now he was going to take her to her bed and fuck her all night long, and he wouldn’t care who heard them. No, it was best he left now. He wanted Tegan’s first time to be special for both of them, not with Tina banging on the fucking door.
Chapter 10
Tegan woke up the next morning not in the best of moods. She had tossed and turned all night with her body aching and needy. Damn Ash, she thought. Then she felt bad because it wasn’t his fault. Then she thought about it a little more and decided that well, yeah, it really was his fault. His kisses, the way he touched her, and the way he made her feel had left her all hot and bothered. He had made her want to beg him to stay and finish what he started. Then what he told her before he walked out. God, those words had turned her on even more. So hell yes, it was his fault.
She had almost made a fool of herself when he left. She had been so tempted to go after him and tell him to take her to his place. She had grabbed her robe and had made it to the door to do just that when her phone went off again. Tina had laid it outside her door and had gone to bed, the hussy.
Yeah, speaking to her father had been like throwing ice water on the flames. He had shut that shit down real fast.
> Her father, of course, had done as he had done every time she talked to him since she left. He had made her feel guilty about not coming home to see her family, and then he turned right around and told her she was an ungrateful fat bitch for not putting her family first after all they had done for her.
Tegan had just rolled her eyes because even though her family had money, her father had not spent one dime for her to go to college. From the time she was sixteen she had worked, babysitting and tutoring. She saved her money. She had had to sneak around just to do that.
She had never asked Thomas for shit, and he had never offered. Even her clothes were hand-me-downs from her cousins. Her mother was the one who would give her a little money here and there without Thomas knowing. Tegan had hated taking it, knowing if Thomas found out he would take it out on her mother. He was a mean bastard.
When everyone else got a car on his or her sixteenth birthday she didn’t. She had to work to buy her own, and she did. She studied her ass off and graduated from high school early at the age of barely seventeen with a 4.0 grade average. She went to college on a full scholarship. Thomas Ryann didn’t give her a damned thing. That was fine with her because she wanted nothing from the hateful bastard. If she never saw him again that would be fine with her. No, all Thomas Ryann had ever given her was beatings and pain until the day she left. She loved her mother, though. Her mother had tried to stop Thomas from hurting her, but then he had beat her instead. Then there was the whole Roland bullshit.
She had been so mad at her father for what he was yelling at her that she had done something she had never done before—she had hung up on him. She had been so tempted to throw her phone, but she didn’t.
She looked up as she angrily swiped the tears and saw Tina standing there watching her. Tina. Her sweet Tina. She had been her rock and had helped her survive living with Thomas. She was the only one besides her mother who really knew what she had endured at Thomas’s cruel hand.
Tina had hugged her and told her he wasn’t worth her tears. Tegan already knew this, and she had been mad at herself for letting him get to her. She refused to feel guilty about not seeing her mother. Tegan loved her, but the woman had no backbone. She had always wondered why her mother didn’t just leave Thomas instead of putting up with his shit.