Chapter Nineteen
Ashes couldn’t believe his luck. Not only had he managed to find the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, both inside and out, but she wanted him. She wanted to be his, permanently.
He had never been interested in force. At least not when it came to women.
Now that he had Miranda in his arms, the last thing he wanted was to try to make her do anything she didn’t want to.
But she wanted him and that he could give her.
But he was going to do it right. To show his Tiny Warrior how much she meant to him, even after such a short time.
Ashes trailed his lips along the edge of her jaw.
Miranda tilted her head back, giving him more room.
He used the edge of his teeth to nip her skin, giving her just the slightest bite of pain before he soothed away the sting with his lips and trailed down along her body.
Her hands on him, sliding over his back, gripping his arms, pulling at him, as if she needed him closer.
He could understand that. He wanted to be closer to her too, and he knew just the way to get there, at least physically.
The emotional part would grow with time, and while he could tell she cared, he couldn’t know if what she felt was anything near the possessiveness he felt for her, the fierce need to make sure she was happy and safe.
He might never know, but as long as she was here with him and happy to be in his arms, he’d take it.
Teasing his hands along her body, he found his Tiny Warrior had sensitive nipples. She arched her back as he flicked one back and forth with his tongue. She arched her back and cried out when he pulled it into his mouth and sucked. Her fingers were buried in his hair pulling him closer.
“You’ve done this before, right?” he asked, releasing her nipple and working his way down her body.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Miranda’s voice was breathy and distracted.
Ashes lifted his head and looked her in the face.
“Hey, look at me for a second.” He stilled his hands, but only to be sure he had her full attention. Miranda frowned as she lifted her head to look at him.
“What?”
“Are you a virgin?”
Her frown turned to a scowl.
“No, why?”
“Because the last thing I want to do is to hurt you, baby.” He kept eye contact as he lowered his head to kiss her belly.
“Oh.” Miranda let her head fall back against the pillow. “You won’t hurt me.”
The confidence in her voice warmed him. And made him more determined to make sure she enjoyed this.
“That’s right. You can trust me, Tiny Warrior.”
He worked his way down her body, taking the time to kiss, caress, and mentally note the location of every bruise.
He hated that he couldn’t make them disappear, make it so it had never happened, but it wasn’t possible.
The best he could do was to fill her mind with more pleasant memories. And he was determined to do that.
He kissed the thin line on her skin where her underwear had rested before she shoved them down then eased her leggings and underwear the rest of the way off, tossing them aside before turning back to her.
Looking up the length of her body, Ashes couldn’t help but wonder how he’d gotten so lucky.
There was something special about Miranda.
He didn’t know if he’d be able to handle it if she’d chosen one of his brothers.
He shook his head, pushing the thought away as he focused on the woman in front of him.
Running his hands up her legs, he moved back up her body until he was face to face with her.
“You okay?”
“I’m amazing. When do I get to touch you?” Miranda asked.
“Anytime you want. I’m yours, Tiny Warrior.”
“I can do this?” She trailed her hands up his torso. Ashes bit back a groan as her every touch ate away at his resolve to show her as much pleasure as he could.
“You can. You can also say anything to me. I hope you know that. I want you telling me if there’s something you don’t like, anything. Got me?” He met her gaze as he waited for her to answer.
“I do. But I like it all. I love it every time you touch me.”
“Good.” He kissed her again, this time letting things move more naturally between them.
When she started pushing at his jeans, he rolled to one side and shed them, kicking them off the side of the bed before turning back to Miranda.
While he’d dealt with his pants, she’d opened a condom and had it waiting.
He lay back and watched with surprise as she rolled the prophylactic down over his erection, then when he went to roll toward her again, Miranda stopped him with a hand on his chest.
“I want to,” Miranda said as she pushed Ashes onto his back.
“Whatever you want, Tiny Warrior.” He rolled to his back and watched as she swung one leg over him, settling on her knees as she straddled him.
“What I want is you.” She leaned forward and kissed him. Ashes let his hands rest on her thighs as he enjoyed her every touch. When she broke the kiss, trailing her lips along his jaw, she shifted her body. He didn’t realize what she was doing until he heard what she whispered in his ear.
“Are you ready?”
Before her meaning registered, much less before he had a chance to respond, she shifted, rocking her body backward and pushing his cock deep into her heat.
Ashes arched his back, unable to hold back the groan that the sudden sensation of her slick heat squeezing all around him ripped from his throat.
Then she moved again. Ashes bit the inside of his lip to keep from coming too fast. He felt like a green teenager with his first woman.
Determined that she would come at least once before he did, he smoothed his hands up Miranda’s torso until he cupped her breasts, then leaned up enough to pull one nipple into his mouth.
Miranda groaned and rocked her hips a little faster as she let her head fall back.
He rolled her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, while gently nipping the one in his mouth.
Miranda gasped and wrapped her hands around his wrists. He stilled, hoping he hadn’t hurt her, but she didn’t pull him away, instead she held on tight and kept his hands where they were. The whole time still moving above him. He used his hip to meet her every thrust.
“Oh, oh, oh,” she cried, as if she couldn’t think of anything else.
He was okay with that. He liked that she was so overwhelmed with what was going on between them that she couldn’t find more words.
He pulled her nipple back into his mouth, teasing and tormenting the taut tip as he snaked his hand down her belly and slipped it between them to where their bodies met.
It only took a couple of flicks and a little pressure on the tiny bundle of nerves, and she exploded.
Her hands on his wrists held tight. Her entire body tightened and the sweet heat of her cunt surrounding him clamped down tight as she let out a long scream of release.
Unable to resist, Ashes lost control and followed her into the abyss.
The world seemed to shatter. He was aware of Miranda falling forward and collapsing against his chest, his dick still buried deep inside her.
As they both tried to remember how to breathe normally.
After a while, Miranda rolled to one side.
“Sorry. I guess I should let you breathe.”
“You were fine, Tiny Warrior. I like having you lay on me. But it does mean I can get up and take care of a couple of things.” He rolled out of bed, went into the restroom, and took care of the spent condom, after washing up.
He took a damp cloth back into the bedroom where he cleaned up Miranda.
After tossing the cloth aside, he laid back down and pulled her into his arms.
“Hm. That was great, Ashes. I’d say let’s go again but I’m sleepy. Maybe after a little nap.”
“Call me Jacob.”
“Jacob?” She tilted her head back to scowl at him.
“Yeah, Tiny Warrior, Jacob.” He used a thumb to smooth the wrinkle between her brows. “It’s my name. No one uses it anymore but I’d like you to.”
She watched him, as if trying to decide if he was pranking her or something.
“Jacob, huh?” she asked.
He nodded. Not saying anything.
“All right. I can do that. I like it. It fits you.” She laid her head back against his chest and closed her eyes. “Jacob it is. Thank you, Jacob, for everything.”
“You’re welcome. Always.” He didn’t think there was anywhere else he wanted to be. This was perfect.