“You gonna bring her by one night? You know when the parties are.”
“Actually,” I start, but hesitate before telling him. “I haven’t told her about this place yet.”
Lane gives me a look filled with curiosity but chooses not to say anything. He knows I’m not embarrassed by what goes on here; I never have been. But everything with Kara is so new, and I haven’t figured out how to broach the topic with her yet.
“We can still get together for dinner or something one night though.” It’s all I can promise right now.
“Sounds good.” Lane doesn’t say anything else, but I know him. He has more to say, but he’s letting me have my space to make my own decision. The right thing to do is to tell Kara, And I will. I’m just not sure when I’ll do it.
Yet.
I’ll figure it out.
I grab my box, and Lane follows me out of the room. I head to the front door while he locks the storage room and meets me back in the foyer. “I’ve got to get back to the office, but I’ll get back to you on dinner. I’ll check with Kara and see when she’s available.”
“Yeah, let me know when and where. It was good to see you, man. Don’t be a stranger around here.”
“I won’t.” I head out the door. “Thanks again.”
“No problem.” Lane gives a short chuckle, and I can hear the smile in his voice even with my back turned. “Have fun.”
Chapter Twelve
Kara
Five o’clock can’t get here fast enough.
The last few hours after getting back from lunch have seemed to drag on, but I think it’s the anticipation of tonight that’s making time stand still. Ash told me he had a surprise for me, and I’m giddy with excitement.
Giddy.
The last client meeting of the day finished ten minutes ago, and because I’ve been anxious for Ash to spend the night at my place tonight, I’ve already breezed through my work to get out of here faster. As soon as he finishes his work, we’ll be out the door.
The phone rings and I pick it up, now an expert with all the buttons. “Wesley Finance, this is Kara.”
“What’s up bitch?”
Her and her greeting. I shake my head, even though she can’t see me. “Hey stranger. Haven’t heard from you in while.”
“You know me. Busy with babies and blowjobs.”
“Too much information, Kendra. I don’t need nor want that visual.” She really does have no filter.
Kendra laughs. “I kid, I kid. I thought I’d check in on you and my lovely boss. How are things going between you two?”
The mention of Ash brings a smile to my face. “Really good, actually. We talked about still seeing each other after you come back from maternity leave and I stop working for him.”
“Wow, it sounds like it’s getting serious.”
“Well, I don’t know if I’d call it serious. We’re having fun and getting to know each other for now. We’ll see what happens.” I’m startled when Ash’s large, warm palm slides over my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. Before I can even look back, his palm is replaced by his lips and the slow glide of his tongue over the tender flesh. My eyes drop shut and a moan nearly escapes because damn, it feels good.
The spell is broken, though, when there’s a loud wail of infant crying in the background and I hear Kendra mutter something under her breath.
“Okay. Keep me posted. I gotta run. Junior’s crying.”
“I will.” It comes out breathier than I want, but Kendra doesn’t notice. “Give that baby a kiss for me.”
“I will. Later.”
“Bye.”
It takes three tries to get the phone’s handset back into the cradle. Ash’s mouth sweeps up my neck, the most delicious distraction I’ve had all day. I let out an involuntary moan when his breath brushes across my ear. “You ready to go?”
“Hell yes,” I tell him. He laughs as I hastily stand, almost knocking him over in the process.
I give him a sheepish grin. “Sorry.”
We make our way out of the office, Ash locking the door behind us. He steals a few more kisses in the elevator, driving me crazy. I love that he can’t get enough of me.
His car is waiting for us out front and he helps me in, despite the valet’s attempt to do it instead. When he climbs in and pulls away from the curb into traffic, he slips his hand over to rest on my thigh.
Why is such an innocent move so sexy?
And to be fair, nothing is innocent where Ash is concerned. He proves my point by sliding his palm further up my leg to an almost indecent location.
“You hungry?”
God am I ever. But not for food.
“Um, sure. I didn’t eat much at lunch. We were too busy talking.”
“That’s right. I haven’t had time to ask how your lunch went with my brother and sister-in-law. How did it go?”
“Good,” I beam. “They were both so sweet in offering to help.”
“Did Sloan have any suggestions?”
“Yeah, a few actually. The most promising one is a colleague who is going to need a new administrative assistant when his retires in a few weeks. The timing is perfect. He’s not sure if it’s a permanent position or if he’s only interested in me to fill the position until he can find a long-term replacement. Nora is going to make an appointment for me to come in and meet with him next week. She said to tell you you’re going to have to suck it up and handle yourself without me for a few hours.”
Ash laughs, shaking his head. “I swear she gives me almost as much of a hard time as my brothers do.” He pulls into a parking lot near the beach and finds a space, killing the engine when he parks the car.
“Where are we?”
“Grabbing a quick bite. This is my brother Cade’s bar.”
He climbs out and comes around to my side, opening the door for me. “Oh, Nora mentioned something about him owning a bar on the beach at lunch today.” I look around at everything and I must say, I’m very impressed. “Wow, this place is really nice.”
I sense the brotherly pride in Ash’s voice when he tells me, “Yeah, he’s done well. He’s opening another location in Austin this year and plans on branching out even more after that.”
“That’s amazing.” Ash takes my hand and pulls me in for a quick kiss, all thoughts of his brother and the bar flying out of my mind. His lips are pillowy soft and his tongue faintly tastes of mint as it sweeps over mine. Forget going inside to eat. I want to drag him back into the car, go home, and not get back out of bed until tomorrow.
Or next week.
I’m flexible.
Much to my disappointment, he pulls away reluctantly and reaches for my hand, pulling me in beside him and walking us to the door. I’m not sure what it is about this man that makes me so insatiable, but I’m not complaining. It’s the opposite. I want to be greedy and find out how to get more of it.
He drops my hand to open the door for me and the blast of air conditioning instantly cools my heated thoughts of Ash. It takes me a second to adjust to the dim lighting in the bar. The bright sunshine outside is on full display today. The ladies mingling around the host stand greet Ash as we walk in, and he politely responds. They don’t try to seat him, instead letting him lead me into the bar unassisted.
It's apparent this is the norm for him. He leads me to a long bar not far off the entrance to a couple of stools at the end, a smile on his face when he spots the bartender.
“Hey Becks,” he greets her, reaching for her hand over the bar top and lifting it to his lips, placing a kiss on her knuckles the same way he did to me all those weeks ago when he picked me up for the party.
A strange pang of jealousy hits me square in the chest at the sight, but I immediately shake it off because this is simply another one of Ash’s charming quirks. He greeted his sister-in-law and the other women at dinner last night the same way.
He makes it even easier to dismiss when he introduces me as his girlfriend.
I'm really star
ting to like the way that sounds, the way his declaration makes me light up inside.
While she grabs the drinks Ash ordered for us, we settle into two stools near the end. “It doesn't mean anything.”
“What doesn't?” I ask, genuinely confused.
“When I kissed her hand. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Does the man read my mind or is he already that good at deciphering me?
I give him the same assurances I gave myself moments ago. “I know. It's one of the things you do. It's fine.”
“You say that now but the look on your face after I did it said otherwise.” He doesn't give me a chance to respond before he's tucking his fingers under my chin and turning my gaze to his. “I'll stop. Besides, I kind of like the idea of my lips only touching you and your beautiful body.”
His lips tilt up in a smirk so sexy he could ask me to do anything right now and I'd say yes.
Rob a bank with you? You got it.
Go skinny dipping in the ocean in broad daylight? Let's go.
Take off my panties and have sex on this bar? First, who does that kind of thing? Second, um...yes, please. I'll race you to see who gets naked first.
I shake off my spiraling thoughts and return his smile. “Thank you. I like the sound of that too.” His eyes flick down to my lips, and I slick my tongue over the lower one, an invitation for a kiss. Ash doesn't hesitate, sliding off his stool and standing in front of me, his hands cupping my face and his lips tangling with mine.
He kisses me breathless before pulling away, holding me upright for a second to make sure I don't tumble off the stool.
“Hey, Becks?” He says, without pulling his eyes away from me.
“Yeah?” She places our drinks on the coasters in front of us before directing her attention to him. I didn't even hear her approach. I didn't hear anything, my focus on Ash drowning out all the noises of the bar.
He finally pulls his gaze from mine. “Is my brother in his office?”
“He should be.”
Ash leans in for another quick kiss. “I'll be right back.” I give him a nod as he pulls away, turning his attention back to Becky. “Can you start a sampler and whatever else the lady wants please?”
“You got it,” Becky replies, her eyes lingering on Ash as he walks toward the kitchen. I can tell she's looking at his ass, because seriously, how can someone not look at this man's ass as he walks away? It's so firm and tight and fills out the trousers of his suit quite nicely. Though I can't fault her for looking, it does make it a little awkward to be left sitting here alone with her, knowing she’s ogling my man.
My man. The thought makes me giggle.
“He must really like you.”
Though this is the first time I've met Becky, I swear I hear a little bit of wistfulness and disappointment in her comment. Does she have a thing for Ash? I wouldn’t blame her if she did, but again...my man.
“Why do you say that?”
“Well—besides the fact I’ve never seen him bring a girl in here—that kiss pretty much sealed the deal.”
I can’t help the smile now crossing my face. He never brings women in here. It's a revelation I didn't expect, but also one I’m not quite sure how to respond to. Thankfully, I don't have to.
“So, what else would you like to order?”
I snag a menu and take a quick glance at the appetizers. “Potato skins with a side of ranch dressing sound good.”
“You got it.” Becky leaves to put in the order and check on her other patrons, leaving me to sit and wait for Ash. I don't miss him too long before strong arms wrap around my waist from behind. He nuzzles his nose against my neck, his touch sending chills across my body.
An inadvertent moan slips from my lips. “Can we get this to go?”
He chuckles in my ear. “A woman after my own heart,” He plants a sweet, chaste kiss against my cheek. “But no. If we don't eat here, now, we won't eat at all. I won't be able to control myself around you once we get back to your place.”
We sit and chat, enjoying each other's company. We laugh over dinner and switch to sodas after the first round. We marvel at the amount of fried food we consume but vow to work the calories off in the most delicious way possible.
It's amazing how fast innocent touches with this man turn not so innocent. His hand stroking my thigh until it's at an almost indecent position. His breath across my ear as he whispers the dirty things he wants to do with me so only I can hear. By the time we tumble out the door and reach the car, our hands have a mind of their own.
Somehow, we manage to save ourselves a public indecency fine and get safely back to my place. Ash parks the car and climbs out, grabbing a gym bag and a box from the backseat before coming around to let me out.
“Still not going to tell me what's in the box, huh?” I ask him. I noticed it earlier when we first left the office, and asked him about it while we were eating, after he made some vague comment about having a surprise for me.
“You'll find out soon enough, gorgeous.” He lets my hand go briefly so I can unlock my door but takes it again after I secure us in the apartment. Wordlessly, he pulls me down the hall to my bedroom. Putting the box on the bed, he tosses his bag into the corner before turning his attention back to me.
Christ, the way he looks at me is hot. Like he wants to devour me as if he's a lion and I'm his prey. I feel like he could pounce on me at any given moment, and I’m one-hundred percent sure I wouldn't put up a fight. I'd let him do anything he wanted to. Hell, I'd welcome it. I've been craving his intimate touch all night. I'm already a breathless, painting mess with panties soaked in anticipation and the man hasn't even touched me yet.
At least not in the ways I want.
He closes the distance between us until he's standing before me, not touching me but close enough that I’m forced to look up at him when he speaks. He towers over me, and I love how I feel so small around him. He takes a single finger and strokes it along my cheek. “I went to see my friend today.”
He says nothing else, which confuses me. Am I supposed to know who he’s talking about? His finger strokes over the soft skin of my neck. It's distracting, but I manage to ask anyway, “What friend?”
“His name is Lane.” I mentally rack my brain, but his name doesn't ring a bell. I don't think Ash has mentioned him before.
“He's the dominant I told you about.”
My eyes widen at the connection. When I was joking with him the first night about caning, he told me he had a friend who was a dominant. I didn't really believe him, but I never questioned him either. “You were serious? You really have a friend that...does that?”
He quirks an eyebrow at me, amusement written all over his face. “Very serious. In fact, I had him pick up a few things for us. Interested?”
Fuck yeah, I'm interested.
My head screams at me to say those exact words aloud, but they get trapped in my throat. I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. When my words finally come out they're truthful, albeit hesitant. “Maybe?”
Ash laughs lightly, the smile pulling at his lips putting me at ease. “Do you trust me?”
I don't hesitate. It's an answer I don't even need to think about. “Yes, I trust you.”
A smile lights his face and he dips his chin down, his lips meeting mine. He traces them over mine slowly, enough to start the slow burn of desire deep in my core, but he breaks it all too soon. I miss his touch when he steps away, going to the bed and pulling open the flaps of the box. My eyes widen as I watch him take items from the box and place them on the bed.
Four long black leather straps with cuffs attached at the ends.
More leather straps.
A wand massager I recognize instantly. It’s one I wanted but never bought for myself out of embarrassment.
And a cane.
Holy fuck, he brought a cane.
“You look nervous.” Ash’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts, and I flip my eyes up to his. He holds his hand out to me, and I c
ome to him. Pulling me next to him, he tells me, “Don’t be scared. I would never hurt you.” He picks up the leather cuffs. “I thought we could finally put this bed to use.” He hands them to me, my fingers tracing over the smooth leather. They’re black and wide, with a buckle on each one, presumably to lock around your wrist. The long double strap hangs down one side. “We can tie the end around the bedposts.” The lascivious grin that crosses his face tells me he’s already got things planned for me. Things I can’t wait to find out about.
I smile because he smiles. The rope and the wand are self-explanatory, so I skip right over those and pick up the cane. It’s long, and thicker than I thought it would be. The cool leather of the grip feels soft in my palm. I can feel Ash’s eyes on me, watching me move the object around in my hands.
“We don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. Or any of this stuff if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“No,” I answer, probably a little too fast. “I want to.” I put the cane back on the bed. “Will it hurt?” I need to know what he plans to do with it. I’ve seen porn. These things can inflict a lot of pain, and I don’t think I’m into that.
He shakes his head no. “I won’t hurt you. I don’t get off on pain, remember? And I can already tell you don’t either.”
“No, I don’t.” He takes the cane from me and puts it down on my comforter. He pulls my distracted gaze over to his and takes my lips in a searing kiss that makes me forget all about sex toys, bondage, and orgasms.
Well, maybe not the orgasms.
Those are hard not to think about any time Ash is around.
He pulls away from my lips, running pillow-soft kisses down my throat to the shell of my ear. “Take your clothes off for me Kara.”
He pulls away and steps back a few feet, his gaze locked on my body. When I look at him hesitantly, he repeats, “Get naked, Kara. I want to watch you strip for me.”
The way he looks at me, the way his eyes trail over my body as if he’s waiting for me to unwrap a present for him, has me moving to take things off. I slide my dress up over my head and let it hit the floor beside me. Under his lustful gaze, I slip my flats off and kick them to the side, then reach behind my back for the clasp of my bra. He watches the movement of my breasts as they press forward while I unclasp the hooks and slide the straps down my arms. Letting it drop to the floor proves all Ash can handle. He’s on me in a heartbeat, his lips delivering a punishing kiss while his hands roam over my naked torso, his hands finding my nipples hard and straining for him.
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