"You okay?” The beautiful man was smirking up at me, and I wanted to tell him that I’d never been more okay in my life, but then he was touching me again, and I forgot how to speak.
Back and forth, he cupped water into his hands and washed me before lifting one calf and resting it on his shoulder. Sliding his hands between my legs, he brought them up and behind me to hold me in place, my pussy against his eager mouth.
One lick from his tongue had me almost collapsing again.
“Holy shit.”
Lick.
When my wet hands slapped against the tiled surface of the shower walls, the sound became the beat for his moves.
Lick.
My hair was soaked and heavy, the long locks slapped against my face as I let my body go to this feeling of ecstasy.
Reaching forward, I shoved my hands into his thick, dark hair, holding his head in that perfectly sweet position. “Oh god, Asher . . .” He pushed his face in deeper, his tongue moving faster as he worked over me, driving me higher and higher until I didn’t think I could take it anymore. Then his lips closed around my clit, and the suction was enough to have stars exploding behind my eyes and my whole body erupting with the orgasm.
The sounds from the water, my heart, our breaths . . . they were a symphony.
When he stood, it was several minutes before I was finally able to regain conscious thought. I moved closer to him, turnabout was fair play, after all. “Let’s wait until we get out. I need to grab a condom.”
Fuck, shit, fuck . . . condom, yes, we need one of those. “I’ll get on the pill as soon as possible.”
“God, Paris, kill me now.”
I smiled, happy to know that he wanted all of me as desperately as I wanted all of him.
Asher
I turned off the shower, then reached out and grabbed the towels. Wrapping one around her, I let her hold it in place while I quickly dried myself off. Then I turned my whole attention to her. The feel of her body under my hands as I dragged the cloth up and down had me so hard, I was hurting.
“Stay here.” I was only gone long enough to grab a condom from my jeans. Racing back to the bathroom, the foil packet in my hands, I started ripping it open.
Paris was desperate for more, reaching to try and take the condom from my hands. “Hurry,” she panted. “Make short work of it.”
I shook my head at her choice of words and smirked. Quirking one brow, I waited for her words to sink in.
“Oh, I mean long work. Huge work, gigantic work of it. Just get the damn thing on.”
Letting out a laugh, I donned the condom, then stepped behind her, sliding my hands down her arms, until I was pressing her hands firmly on either side of the sink.
“Keep these right here,” I whispered before sweeping her hair off her shoulder. I dropped slow, open-mouthed kisses along the slope of her shoulder.
“Okay.” Her voice was low.
That little breathy sound from her perfect, perfect lips was too much, and yet not nearly enough. I wanted it all. I was still kissing her skin as I slid my hands down her body. My fingers found her heat, then sank deep into the well of her body.
She flexed and then widened her stance a little more, inviting me to take what I wanted. I did, because I needed it all. I needed everything this woman would give me.
Slowly, I rocked them in and out, stretching her and making sure she was nice and ready. I didn’t just want her drenched for me. I wanted her begging.
When I couldn’t take it anymore and Paris’s eyes were the color of dark chocolate, I gripped the base of my cock and guided myself in as I watched her face in the mirror.
The way her lips formed a tight O.
The way her cheeks pulled in as she fought not to scream with ecstasy.
The way her skin turned the shade of a rose as I drove into her again and again.
Me, behind her, us joined, this was us, a team. It was everything I’d ever wanted. We’d always belonged together. I thrust up, and she let out a long moan. I bent slightly and pulled out, then thrust up again, reveling in her cries of pleasure that matched my pace.
“Look at us,” I ordered. “I want to”—I shoved up deep—“make love to you”—I pulled back—“for the rest of my life.” I pushed up harder.
“Oh god, Asher, please, I’m going to come. Make me come.”
“Kitten, you haven’t even started to purr yet.”
I couldn’t believe how my life had changed as I gazed down at Paris, her head resting on my chest as she watched some chick flick she had seen a hundred times before. It didn’t matter how many times she tried to deny it, because if I’d seen it a hundred times, then she had, because there was no way in hell I’d have seen it on my own.
This morning, I had dreaded coming here, and the thought of getting out of my truck and facing her seemed like a distant memory. The hurt from knowing I was going to be in her presence and not be able to touch her had been all for nothing. I looked down at her again and smiled.
I ended up getting everything I’d ever wanted. I looked over at the screen and shook my head. “I don’t get it. Why do you always want to watch this movie?” I trailed my fingers through her hair and enjoyed the rhythmic pace of her beating heart.
“I love when Jonah calls in to the radio station and says that his dad needs a wife. Of course, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are just perfect. They are very MFEO.”
I shook my head. “You’re a nut. I don’t even know what that means.”
“Made For Each Other. It’s what that little girl Jessica says about fated love.” Paris curled tighter against me. “Kind of like us.”
“Yeah, I told you that a long time ago. When are you going to learn to listen?” I was expecting her to say something smartass, but she didn’t.
“Will you stay the night with me?”
“I didn’t know there was another option. I’m sorry, I finally have you, so there is no way I’m letting you go. But—”
“See . . . there’s already a caveat.” Paris was trying to be serious, but she was laughing too hard.
“If you will hush for a second, all I was going to say was that I needed to just run home and get a change of clothes.” And the ring.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” I kissed the top of her head and realized that this was my future, right here.
“Asher, will you start staying here with me? Please. I need you.”
“Are you sure? Won’t Holland mind?”
“No, she won’t, I promise. If it will make you feel better, I’ll talk to her, but I know that she won’t mind. Hell, she’s in the stables all the time anyway.”
“Okay, I’ll do whatever you want.” I kissed the top of her head again.
“Asher?”
“Yes, Kitten?”
“Am I crazy?” I smirked, but she was being serious, so I reined in my sarcasm. “I mean for inviting Cora back into our lives. All she did was cause more of a mess. All I wanted was for it to be like it used to be, when everyone was here for breakfast and we started our day as a family.”
“That isn’t crazy, that is one of the many things I love about you. And I’ve missed having our large breakfasts as well.”
“Maybe crazy isn’t the right word, but naive? I just wanted her to be the mom I remembered, or maybe that I imagined.”
“Look at the bright side.”
“There’s a bright side?”
“There’s always a bright side.” I buried my face into Paris’s long locks and inhaled; she smelled like peaches. She’d been using the same shampoo for as long as I could remember. “If it weren’t for you giving Cora a chance, then we never would have gotten around to cleaning out Samuel’s room, and that needed to be done.”
“Yeah, it really did need to get done.”
“See? Bright side. Plus, now you have another part of your dad. Those letters show you a side of him you didn’t know. Those yearly photos and how each milestone impacted him.” She pushed up from my che
st and stared at me. I gripped her chin between my finger and thumb and held her face so she was forced to lock eyes with me. “I love you. I fucking love you.”
Early the next morning before Paris woke, I ran home and got Cujo, my Golden Retriever. I did it more out of guilt than anything else, because he’d been staying at home a lot. I also grabbed some clothes and toiletries before heading back over to the ranch, hoping that I’d be back before Paris woke.
But I should have known.
“Cujo.” Paris clapped her hands, and he went running to her. “I’ve missed you so much.” She grabbed a piece of bacon she’d already fried and handed it to him.
“No wonder he loves you more than he loves me.”
She clapped her hands together again. “Asher,” she said with a smile, holding out a piece of bacon for me.
“Cute. Real cute.” I took it anyway. “I figured we could go for a ride later today. What do you think?”
“Sure, whatcha have in mind?”
“I don’t know. We just haven’t been out on the horses in a while. I’d like to start doing more things together.” I tried to think of a nice way to say this without hurting her feeling, but here goes. “Just us, you know?”
“I’d like that. Like date nights. We’ve always been together, but we haven’t really had date nights.”
I thought about what Paris had said, but she was wrong: all the things I’d viewed as couple times, she’d viewed as friend time. “You mean like when just you and I go out to dinner? Or when the two of us go to a movie? Or maybe when you want to go for a long ride and we take the top and door off the Jeep and go riding through the woods for hours…just the two of us, then we pull over by the St. John’s River and have lunch, stuff like that. Is that what you mean by date stuff?”
Paris tilted her head back and smiled brightly. “You’ve made your point, smart ass. Okay, so I was a little slow on the uptake.”
I lifted one brow.
“Okay, okay. I was real s-l-o-wwwww.” Paris dragged out the last word.
“Yeah, that’s much more like it.”
Paris
“Who’s here?” I moved and peered out the kitchen window. “Crap.” At the sound of my exclamation, the rest of my family jumped up to see.
“Cora.” Holland shook her head.
“What does that bitch want now?” London asked.
“Want me to handle it?” Braden asked.
“No, Paris needs to,” Asher assured them. He knew me so well.
I really did need to handle this. A part of me felt guilty for allowing her back into our lives, so I needed to be the one to push her out. Placing a hand on the doorknob, I waited until I heard her footsteps on the wooden planks of our front porch before pulling it open and meeting her.
“Darling, I’ve been so worried. I’ve been trying to call you.”
I was stunned that she hadn’t felt the icy chill that had swept out of our home, because I sure as hell could feel it.
“Then maybe you should have taken that as a hint,” London said from behind me. I turned and slid my hand in front of my throat, signaling for her to stop.
“Whatever are you talking about? Why don’t you move so we can sit and talk this out?” Cora took a step toward the front door, but then Holland was there, flanking my other side.
“Cora . . .” Cora’s eyes widened at my use of her first name, and she stood a little taller. I’d been the one calling her 'Mom' from the get-go. This must have been the first alarm bell that finally penetrated her blasé attitude. “I wanted a mom. I wanted to get to know you, I really did. But more than that, I wanted you to love me, love us.” I circled my hand in the air to encompass Holland and London as well. “But the truth is, you love no one but yourself.”
“What is going on?” Cora wore a blank expression, as if nothing was penetrating her, or she was truly dumbfounded. But she was smart enough to take one step back.
“We found your letters.”
“What letters?” Cora’s eyes darted from London to Holland, then back to me.
“Don’t play coy. The ones between you and Dad, the ones you obviously thought we’d never see.”
“I told you about the letters. Your father returned my letters.”
“That is a lie, and you know it. But do you know what I can’t figure out? I can’t figure out why you were in London’s office that day. I know you said that you were dusting, but something about it didn’t sit right with me, because you haven’t done a single thing since you’ve been here. You haven’t even fixed your own glass of tea, let alone load it into the dishwasher.”
“Is that what you were looking for? The letters?” Asher asked from behind me, but Cora didn’t answer him. “I have to give you credit, though, you were quick thinking, the way you suddenly fell sick just when Paris got home. I love how you needed her and didn’t want to be alone. Yet, you’ve been without her for almost twenty-two years. Convenient . . . huh?” Asher handed me one of the letters, then wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against his chest.
“Daddy wanted you to come see us, he tried—hell, he even offered to pay for your trip. He sent you money, and nothing penetrated that cold, dead heart of yours. He was so in love with you that he let you treat him like crap.” Saying those words hurt me because, for the first time, I wondered if I’d been treating Asher like crap all these years by not acknowledging his feelings. Did he feel like my father had? I promised myself that, no matter how long it took, I would make this up to him.
“Did you know that Dad knew you so well that he figured you’d eventually call Wally? Dad actually told Wally to let you know that he’d passed, he figured that would be the last any of us ever heard from you again,” London explained.
“But no, you’re like the damn religious door knockers. It doesn’t matter what we say to get rid of you, you just keep coming back.” Holland smiled, proud of her comment.
But I wanted to get back to Cora and her self-centered ways. “You never cared about him, and you certainly never cared about us. Daddy did a great job, and you know what? I’m glad you left. Imagine having you for a mother. We'd have turned out just as selfish as you are. I thought that I needed a mother, I thought I missed knowing a mother’s love, but I didn’t, not once. Dad never let us feel your absence. Everything I needed to know about how to be a good parent, he taught me. Now, please leave.”
She was going to speak again, but Asher stopped her. “Don’t, Cora. You’ve upset Paris enough, and I won’t have it.”
“You only cared about yourself. We want you gone.” London’s voice was cold and steady. “I’m glad my daughter won’t have one single memory of you. She will only know goodness, and that’s from these people inside this house.”
“Whatever. Just give me the money that Samuel left me, and I’ll be gone.”
“What money?” I looked at her, completely aghast. I knew she was cold, but some part of me, small as it was, wanted her to prove me wrong, wanted her to say that she’d learned her lesson and discovered all that she’d been missing.
“I have a letter from him saying he was going to leave me money, plus reimburse me for coming here.” Cora’s voice was rising. “I won’t let you three cheat me out of my money.”
“Who are you? You certainly are not the woman I remember.” I shook my head as nausea rolled my stomach. She couldn’t possibly be serious.
“She’s exactly who I remember.” London let out a sigh, then she snapped her fingers. “Now I get it. I didn’t understand what Daddy meant when he told Wally to relay the message, tell her she missed her chance. I bet this was what he was talking about.”
“I hate to break it to you, but Dad didn’t leave anything to you in his will. Maybe he was going to if you came before he died, but we’ll never know. The will was read a long time ago, and he left everything to the three of us equally. You weren’t named at all in it. You’re welcome to call the attorney who handled it, or you can get your own attorney. Ju
st know that you will be spending your own money and getting none in return. You should have enough common sense to know that if you try to sue us for claim on something that you walked away from twenty-two years ago, then we will fight you. By the way, did you ever pay Dad child support for us?” London asked.
Cora’s faced turned red.
“Then consider all those years of child support money your inheritance.”
“I’d cut my losses if I were you.” I stared at the woman in front of me, who was a perfect stranger, and smiled brightly. “If you’d like, we can have the deputy escort you off the property. But you are never welcome here again.” I slammed the door and let out a sigh.
Asher tightened his grip. “I know that was hard.”
I turned to face him. “No, it really wasn’t. After reading those letters, everything just seemed to click into place for me. She really is a stranger, and I feel nothing. Sure, I’d like to have had two parents, who wouldn’t? But I didn’t miss not having them. My dad was everything.” But out of the corner of my eye, I kept Cora in my line of sight, I wasn’t trusting her, she’d already proven she couldn’t be trusted.
Suddenly I was seven years old again, but this time I wasn’t crying, and I didn’t feel hopeless or even helpless. No, I felt empowered. I watched Cora’s car disappear down the driveway, and a sense of relief washed over me. This was the beginning of a new Paris.
I followed Asher’s line of sight and turned to see Marcus, Reid, and Ellie coming up our drive. “What are they doing?”
“I invited them. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t. But what are they carrying?”
“Food. I didn’t want you to have to cook, but I wanted us to have a little party.”
“What are we celebrating?”
Slow Burn: Iron Horse Series Page 13