“Wanna solve me?”
I nod. “More than I’ve ever wanted to solve anything in my life. There’s just something about you, and no matter how dangerous or rebellious you are, I can’t walk away.”
“Have you already tried?”
“I tried to ignore you. I tried not to think about you.”
“But why? Especially when there’s such an immense pull between us? Why fight that?”
“Because we’re from different worlds. And you’re so much older than me. And… up until recently, I haven’t really been available.”
“Age is just a number, Ra; souls are ageless.”
“Oh, Ash,” I exhale, reaching up on my tippy toes and leaning in for another kiss. “See? It’s things like that. You’re so addictive.”
“Am I?”
I giggle as I nod at him. But deep down, it worries me. I bet he’s had thousands of girlfriends. Or maybe they didn’t even get to that level? Maybe he’s just had a thousand women. In. His. Bed. How could he not have? He’s super charismatic; he lives in the sky; and he must have climbed a few rainbows ‘cause his lifestyle seems to be funded with large pots of gold.
“Are you okay, beautiful? You’re giving me price chart confusion again.”
“You must have had a lot of women up here.”
He shrugs. “Sure, I’ve had a few.”
“I mean, if you thought we’d already slept together ‘cause I seemed familiar, you must have had a few one night stands too.”
“Damn. How am I meant to respond to that, without you kicking me in the shins? You’re painting me into a real corner here.”
My jealously is so unattractive. I know that. He knows that. I pout. I don’t want too, but I do.
“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?”
He laughs, squeezing me tightly. “Why don’t you have a boyfriend?”
I cross my arms, not that I want to debate him. I know who will win. “I did, and then he cheated on me. You already know that. So what about you? Why aren’t you married yet? Are you scared of commitment or something?”
“Whoa, there.” He laughs. “You’re not afraid of asking the big questions are you? You may be small in stature, but you’re big in personality.”
I wiggle my eyebrows at him. “I’m afraid of most things, but questions? Let me at ‘em. I want to know everything about everything, and how else can I learn the answers without asking the questions?”
He taps his hand across my backside ever so lightly, and a shiver slips down my spine. “Straight to the point, Ra; I like it. And if you must know, I do want to share my life with someone. It’s just I haven’t met the right woman, that’s all.”
“What’s on your list of must-haves?”
He sniggers. “I don’t have a list. It’s not like I can pick her up from the grocer’s.”
“Oh, I don’t know—you’d be surprised.”
He laughs. “So you’re telling me that you’ve got a list?”
“Most girls do, I think.”
“What’s on yours?”
I frown. “Not so fast, Ash. We’re not talking about me; we’re talking about you. So what are you looking for?”
He leans his back against the wall and stares out across the city. “Someone who loves me for who I am, bank account and penthouse not included. The number of women who have thrown themselves at me just because of who my father is and what he’s worth sickens me. Honestly, money can come in at such a fast rate it would astonish most, but it can also disappear in the blink of an eye without warning. However, a real connection, you know, the spark between a man and a woman that neither can hide no matter how hard they try? That’s what I want.”
“Won’t it fade with time, though?”
He shakes his head, his eyes returning to mine. “If it’s authentic, the spark will never disappear.”
I hadn’t thought it was possible to like him anymore than I already did, but he just proved me wrong. “You make me feel like a little girl.”
He pulls me into his arms and kisses my lips tenderly. “Trust me, you’re not a little girl. You’re a freaking Lorelei, and every time I see you I just about crash my bike, you’re so distracting.”
“You haven’t heard me sing. I’m no Lorelei,” I giggle. “I sound like a … like a squashed cat.”
“Well, your claws are very sharp, that’s for sure,” he grumbles, kissing the edge of my ear.
Hold it together, Laura! “Whateves.” I shrug. I can do aloof.
“Have I passed the first round of questions?”
I smile, weaving my fingers through his. “Yes, let’s see what Daddy’s guilt buys!”
He sniggers. “Quite a lot, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
And he’s right—I thought the entrance of the apartment was impressive, but his place is so huge it’s practically bigger than the campus car park.
“I can’t believe you live here and feel like you have to climb other buildings.” I giggle. “I mean, what exactly are you trying to find?”
He smiles. “I enjoy the mental stimulation. If I don’t focus on the moment, I could slip, and if I do, it’s pretty certain I’ll die. Let’s just say the thought of that keeps me in the present.”
I exhale. “The world you live in is so different from mine. I didn’t even know such beauty existed.”
He turns and looks at me. “Have you looked at yourself lately? ‘Cause I promise you, it does. Every time I see you, my faith is restored in the current state of the world.”
I cover my face. “Haven’t you seen me turn red enough already? You’re so smooth it scares me.”
“Don’t ever be afraid of fear; fear is what makes you know you’re alive.” He pauses, leaning up against the doorframe. “And that’s the end of the tour.”
“But isn’t there one last room?”
He smiles. “Well, yes there is, but that room will lead us into a whole other world, and I don’t want to take you there until you’re one hundred percent ready.”
“Ash,” I whisper, stretching up on my tippy toes and running my fingers down and over his defined pectorals. “I’m way past ready.”
THIRTEEN
I don’t need to tell him twice.
He grumbles something I can’t make out, and I whimper as he pushes me up against the wall and kisses me again. But this time, it’s harder. More passionate, more raw. He lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around him without thinking. I can feel his hardness pushing through his jeans, and I’m desperate to feel him inside of me.
His warm hands slip up and under my pale blue sweater.
“Ash.” I breathe his name as he traces his fingertips over my lacey black bra.
“The things I want to do to you,” he growls, “concern me.”
“Why?” I moan as he kisses me again.
“Because once I’m with you, I know I’ll lose all self control.”
“Lose it,” I gasp, tossing my head back as he pushes the material up and over my breasts. “Please, I want you more than I ever wanted anyone.”
His deep throaty laughter rumbles around the apartment as he pulls off my sweater. “We may not be able to leave here for days,” he whispers, rubbing his thumb over my nipples.
“I don’t care,” I mumble, crumbling under his touch. My bra is so flimsy it hardly contains the weight of my breasts. The feeling of his rough, callused hands massaging them is making my sex throb so hard I wonder if it’s possible to come without him entering me.
He drops his head to the lace and licks over one bud and then the other.
“Yes, mmm,” I moan, clawing at his tattooed back. “Lose yourself in me.”
He pushes open the bedroom door and carries me into his room. I try to stop myself, but it’s too late. I squeal.
“What, beautiful?” he laughs. “You okay?”
His bedroom is spectacular. I swear, it’s the biggest one I’ve seen in my life. An entire family could live here. And I’m not talking about a family of
rats, either; I’m talking people and lots of them. The carpet is plush and snowy white, and the walls are painted a bluish-grey … slate, I guess you could call it. But it’s the view of New York that knocks the last breath out of me. I stare out the floor-to-ceiling glass panels that line the entire length of his bedroom.
“Ash,” I whisper into his neck. “You’re almost knocking on heaven’s door.”
“I probably don’t appreciate it as much as I should,” he chuckles, watching as my eyes drift across to the steaming spa pool.
“You have a spa?” I squeak. “Right in front of the windows?! What if someone sees you?”
He shrugs. “There’ve been no complaints so far.”
“Oh really?” I shake my head. “Like that, is it?”
He grins, kissing me again. “What do you want me to say?”
Another shiver slips down my spine as he carries me across to his oversized bed. It’s black with iron railings that curl up and around the ceiling.
“I can’t believe the world you live in,” I mutter, drowning in his kisses as he lays me down on the mattress. “But what about the windows?”
“Who is going to see us?” He laughs. “We’re practically the only ones up here.”
I giggle, forgetting the audience momentarily as I gaze up at the ceiling. “A mirror?” I point. “Are ya kidding me?”
He looks at me sheepishly. “What can I say? I appreciate all angles. That’s the architect in me, I guess.”
“No.” I roll my eyes. “That’s the horny little boy in you.”
“Yes, well, he’s very horny.” Ash smiles, running his hands down and over my stomach.
“Is he?” I laugh.
“Around you, he wants to break every rule in the book.”
“Then let him,” I whisper, closing my eyes as he begins kissing down my stomach. I quiver beneath his warm, wet lips. His hand slips beneath my jeans and trails over the soft, intricate lace of my panties.
“Mmm, baby,” he groans, rubbing his fingers over my moist panties. “I can feel my control slipping away.”
“Let it,” I whisper, my eyes locking with his.
Swiftly, he pulls the buttons of my jeans undone and tugs them down and off my hips. And now I’m lying here in nothing but my panties and bra. In front of the whole of New York City. Shit. If now was ever an appropriate time to blush, this would be it.
He leans back and drinks me in. “Damn, you’re so sexy, Ra. Do you have any idea how stunning you are?”
Shaking my head, I reach up and pull him back down on top of me, wrapping my legs around his hips. His weight on top of me feels so good. The hardness of him rubbing against me teases me in ways I can’t describe. Why have I been resisting him all this this time, when surrendering to him feels so good?
“Can I?” he rumbles, rubbing over the material of my bra.
“Please,” I whisper, forgetting all my pointless insecurities. “Ash,” I moan as he pulls the cup down and takes my erect nipple into his mouth, gently licking it.
“I told you I wouldn’t be able to stop myself,” he growls as we tussle and roll around on the mattress entangled in each other’s arms. Just as I manage to get on top of him, he pulls the other cup down, exposing both breasts to America.
“Ash,” I flush, reality quickly dawning on me. “I don’t think I should flash New York. It’s too early in the afternoon.”
He grins, adjusting the cups back up and over my breasts. “So there’s a chance you’ll change your mind later tonight?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. I’m not that kind of girl.”
“How would you know what kind of girl you are, though, if you’ve never tried it?”
“Ash,” I whisper, “please.”
He exhales. “You sure? I reckon a little peep show would brighten their day.”
He doesn’t know how many faults I see every time I look at myself. And I know they’re silly. Pointless, even. But still, they remain. He claps his hands, and soft lighting falls over the bedroom as the windows turn to blackness.
“Is that better? Can you relax now, knowing I’m the only one who can see your body?”
“Yes, thank you,” I whisper as he pulls my hands away from my chest.
“Don’t ever cover yourself up, beautiful. You should be proud of your body, not shy.”
“Sometimes I like it,” I exhale. “Sometimes I don’t.”
“Do you trust me?”
I bite down on the edge of my lip. “I know I shouldn’t … but I do.”
He pulls me into his broad, sculptured chest and whispers into my ear. “I want to look at you baby. I want to study you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Go and stand at the foot of the bed for me.”
I’m nervous, but I’m not going to deny him. His grey eyes follow me as I walk around to the end of the bed.
“Now, put your hands on the metal frame and bend forward.”
“Ash, I’ll feel silly.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
He quirks his eyebrow, and I do what he wants. I curl my fingers around the cool metal of the bedframe and lean forward. My sheer bra barely contains me. His eyes glaze over, as they drip into the depths of my cleavage. No one has ever looked at me like this. So intense, so carnal.
“Now,” he groans, his eyes hooded with lust, “how does that make you feel?”
“Exposed. Vulnerable. At risk.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Spread your legs for me, spread them nice and wide.”
I gulp, pausing for a second, but then I do it.
He stands up and walks around to the edge of the bed. My heart is pounding in my chest so fast I feel like I’m about to be attacked. Or punished. Or pleasured in ways I never have been. I don’t know what he’s capable of. I have no idea who he is. He stands right behind me, leaning over my body. His hand runs down my spine, and over my backside. My body quivers at his touch. My sex aches to be filled.
“Ash,” I whisper, “you’re making me feel so dirty.”
“Do you want me to stop?” he grumbles, squeezing my backside with his rough hand.
“No,” I whisper. “I like it.”
“Stand up straight,” he orders. “You’re beautiful, Ra. Don’t ever forget that,” he whispers in my ear, unclipping the clasp between my mounds. My breasts spill free, and he pushes them together with his warm hands. “Perfection.” He groans, tweaking my erect nipples between his fingers. I shiver beneath his touch, my panties pooling with wetness.
“Turn.”
I turn to face him, our eyes locking together as I stand topless before him. I rub my hand over the thick denim of his jeans, feeling the hardness of his length. I want to see it. I want to touch it.
“Not so fast.” He smiles.
“How long are you going to tease me?” I whimper.
He doesn’t reply. He kneels on the ground and kisses down my body. Down my stomach. Over and across my hips. Down my thighs, and across to my panties. He kisses over the material lightly and then harder as he pulls my panties down off my backside and lets them slip to my ankles.
“Lean back against the metal,” he groans as he pulls my panties off.
His eyes flash with desire as he looks over me. “Not one hair. I didn’t expect that.”
“I got it done the same day as my tattoo. I guess I was feeling … adventurous?”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “Did it hurt?”
“More than my stupid tattoo,” I giggle. “It was so painful I just about cried.”
“Let me kiss it better, then,” he whispers, spreading my legs apart and kissing gently over my wet, aching folds.
I moan, bucking my hips up to his mouth as he pushes his tongue deeper inside of me. “Ashhh,” I pant as he sucks my clit and pushes one finger inside of me and then another.
“I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to lick
you out for months now … the build-up has made me very hungry.” He smirks, dropping his head back down to my sex and licking me faster as his fingers penetrate me against the steel.
I moan, gripping onto the back of his neck as my insides dance with anticipation. He kisses and nibbles back up my body, slowly rising to his feet. Then he leans in and kisses me so hard it’s like electricity shoots through every part of me.
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