Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ASHER
It was nearing two in the morning by the time Nat and I got home, and even though, thanks to Gran and Caroline, we weren’t going to have an early morning wake-up call courtesy of the kids, we still had to pick them up at a reasonable time. Which meant we needed to call it a night.
The only trouble with that was, I couldn’t get Nat’s words out of my mind. Had she seriously spent the past eight years under the assumption that I was bad in bed? Normally, I wouldn’t be bothered by something like that, certainly not enough to feel the unrelenting need to redeem myself like an actual thrum in my veins. But that most definitely wasn’t the case tonight.
I leaned against the doorjamb of our bedroom, my eyes feasting on Nat as she lay spread out on the bed. She always overheated when she drank, which would explain why she was currently lying on her stomach, sprawled on top of the covers with her head resting on her folded arms. Her legs were stretched out toward me, her ass on full display in her pink lace thong. She’d never been one for modesty—something our frequent bouts of skinny-dipping would attest to—but it was different now.
My cock grew thick as I recalled the kiss we’d shared right there in that bed. The look on her face when she’d walked in on me in the middle of making myself come to thoughts of her. Not to mention, all the affection we’d laid on thick at the reception in the Havens’ backyard…
I’d been balancing on a tightrope all day, wondering if I’d fall off or make it across to the other side. The only trouble was, I wasn’t sure which was the ideal outcome.
“I wanna talk to you about something,” I said finally, breaking the silence.
“I was wonderin’ how long you were gonna stand there without sayin’ a word,” she said without lifting her head, her voice just a soft murmur. “Enjoyin’ the show?”
Probably more than she knew. Definitely more than I should.
Without answering, I pushed off the doorframe and strode toward her. “How long have you been under the impression that I’m a selfish lay?”
She snorted a laugh into her pillow before bracing herself up on her elbows and glancing over her shoulder at me. “I knew you’d fixate on that.”
“Fixate on the completely false rumor you made up just for shits and giggles?”
A slow smile spread across her face as she looked me up and down. “For someone who thinks it’s false, you sure do seem to have an awful lot to prove.”
With my eyes locked on hers, I crawled up from the foot of the bed, careful not to touch her, even though I desperately wanted to. Once I was braced directly above her, my fists bracketing her shoulders, I lowered my head and allowed my lips to brush her ear, reveling in the soft shudder that racked her body. “I’m not selfish in bed, wifey.”
She lifted one shoulder. “If you say so,” she said. Taunted, really. And from the look in her eye, she knew exactly what she was doing. Exactly the game she was playing. And she was all in.
“You gonna make me prove it?” I asked, my voice rough with barely restrained need. My cock was thick and hard, aching with a desperation to feel her again. This time, with far fewer clothes between us.
Nat bit her lip, the twinkle in her eye only increasing my desire. “I’m not makin’ you do anything. But…well…if it’ll put your mind at ease to prove yourself to me, who am I to stop you?”
Her words were nearly enough for me to lower myself onto her, crush my cock against her firm, round ass, and kiss her like both our lives depended on it. But first, I needed to make sure she was going to remember this in the morning. That she wasn’t too far gone to be able to make this decision. I wanted her, but not like that.
“How drunk are you?” I asked, eyes assessing.
She raised her brows. “My last beer was two hours ago, so you do the math.”
Slowly, I shook my head. “I need you to say the words, Nat.”
After a second of silence, she rolled over beneath me, the move causing her hip to graze my cock, and I hissed out a breath. With a devilish grin, she adjusted herself so her legs were outside of mine, wrapped them around my hips, and pulled me down until my erection was nestled against the soft heat of her pussy. “I’m not drunk, Ash. Now, what is it you wanted to show me?”
I froze for two beats, then, with a groaned curse, crashed my lips against hers. This kiss was different than it’d been this morning. For one thing, I went into it knowing exactly how explosive it was going to be between us. Exactly how sweet she’d taste, and exactly how I’d respond to each throaty moan that slipped past her lips.
For another thing, I had no intention of stopping now until I was buried deep inside her.
“I’m gonna prove every one of your points wrong, and I’m gonna love every fucking minute of it.” I thrust into the welcoming cradle of her spread thighs, grinding down harder when she pulled away on a gasp, her fingernails digging into my bare shoulders.
“Oh God,” she breathed, rotating her hips up to meet each roll of mine. “You feel good.”
“ Christ ,” I groaned into her neck. “Never thought it’d feel like this.”
Fuck, why had I worn sweatpants in here? And why did she still have any clothes on at all? I needed to see every inch of her, wanted to uncover parts of her I’d never known in our twenty years of friendship and commit them to memory.
I moved my lips down her neck, following the deep scoop of her tank top, exploring her skin but still needing more. Slipping my hand under the hem, I palmed the bare expanse of her stomach. “Can I take this off?”
In response, she crossed her arms and arched against me, tugging the article of clothing up and off her body, baring herself to me. “I appreciate you makin’ sure I’m okay with this, but for future reference, you’ve got a green light for whatever.”
“Whatever, huh?” I said, trying to maintain eye contact, but it was really damn hard with her tits staring me right in the face.
She raised a brow. “Let’s skip the butt stuff this time, but yes, whatever else.”
I snorted out a laugh and dropped my head down, resting my forehead between her breasts. “How can you make me laugh when I’m this fucking hard?”
“A talent we didn’t know I possessed when it came to you, I guess.”
“I think we’re gonna be learnin’ a lot of new things tonight…” I lifted my head just enough to curl my tongue around one of her nipples, my eyes locked on hers as I sucked her into my mouth.
She parted her lips and slid her fingers into my hair, matching her grip to the pressure of my tongue. “Let’s learn them faster.”
“After you told everyone I’m a ninety-second chump? Sorry, wifey, but you brought this on yourself.”
Pushing her head back into the pillow, she squeezed her eyes shut and groaned toward the ceiling. “I take it back. I take it all back.”
“Too late,” I said as I worked my way even lower, dragging my mouth along the underside of her breasts, across the soft curve of her stomach, the lines of script on her side.
Not all who wander are lost.
It reminded me of exactly who she was and who she wasn’t. She belonged out in the world, not stuck here in Havenbrook. But she’d made a sacrifice for me, and I intended to make damn sure it wasn’t for naught.
“Where’re you goin’?” she asked, her voice breathless in a way I’d never heard before. A way I wanted to hear again and again.
“Provin’ a point, remember?”
She huffed out a laugh and shook her head. “You don’t have to. I totally made it up.”
“I already knew that.”
“Okay, so what?—”
With my eyes locked on hers, I linked our fingers and fixed my mouth on her pussy over her panties, pressing my tongue against her clit through the lace. I groaned as her taste hit me, the material between us doing nothing to disguise it.
Only when she was good and panting did I pull back enough to say, “Thought that was obvious. Now hush up and let me enjoy this.”
“What about me?”
“If I’m doin’ this right, you should have a little fun, too.”
She breathed out a laugh, but soon it turned into a moan as I focused all my attention on her. As much as I wanted unencumbered access to her pussy, I loved getting her worked up like this. Whether from my mouth or her excitement, her panties were soaked, the scent of her pleasure making my cock throb with need. It took everything in me not to hump the damn mattress like some sixteen-year-old tasting a pussy for the first time.
She rolled her hips, faster with each passing second, her fingers gripping mine as if she needed the touchpoint to ground herself. I knew the feeling. Being with her like this—having her on my tongue and hearing the throaty moans I’d never had the privilege to before—was surreal.
“Oh my God , take them off,” she finally groaned. “You’re killin’ me. I need your fingers, Ash. Please .”
As quickly as humanly possible, I stripped her of her last remaining article of clothing before settling back between her legs, my shoulders holding her thighs wide.
I ran my fingers through her pussy and slipped one inside, groaning as her wetness coated me. “Fuck, you’re soaked.”
She delved her hands into my hair and gripped tight, tugging me closer to her clit. “That’s enough chitchat.”
I groaned out a laugh as I inserted a second finger before affixing my mouth to her. Swiping my tongue through her slit, I reveled in her taste as much as her moans.
The two of us had spent years being in sync, but this took it to a whole new level. I matched the pumping of my fingers to each roll of her hips, the throb in my cock begging me to hurry up and make her come so I could finally sink inside her.
She groaned as I slipped in a third finger before flicking her clit with unrelenting focus. “Ash…” she said on a gasp. “God, I’m coming…”
I hummed my approval as she tightened around my fingers and held me close while she rode out her orgasm, her pussy pulsing around me. I continued stroking my tongue over her clit, my fingers buried deep, wanting to draw out every ounce of her pleasure.
Finally, when she relaxed onto the bed and tugged my hair enough to pull me back, I lifted my head. I met her gaze with a smirk and a raised brow. “Well…we’ve definitely never done that before. You just came all over my fingers.”
She bit her bottom lip, her eyes heavy-lidded and lust-filled. A look I’d seen plenty, but never from her. “Let’s hope that’s not the only thing I’m gonna come all over tonight…”
I laughed, then froze, closing my eyes and hanging my head with a muttered curse. Of all the times to be caught without protection, I didn’t figure it’d be on my wedding night.
“What’s wrong?”
I sat back on my heels, ignoring the obscene hard-on trying to force its way out of my sweatpants. Running a hand down my face, I said, “I don’t have any condoms.”
“ What ?” she asked again, this time with a biting edge to the word.
“Didn’t exactly see this comin’…” I braced myself above her once again, trying to ignore the sight of her naked beneath me, her legs spread wide, her tits pointed directly toward my mouth. Except there was no ignoring any of it, and my cock twitched, brushing against her as it did so. “Ignore that.”
“Don’t think I can.” She hooked her legs around me again, pulling me down until my cock nestled perfectly against her.
“Fuck, you’re killin’ me,” I said on a groan. “I want inside you.”
She tugged my head down toward her and nipped my ear. “So, get inside me. I got tested last month, and I’m clear.”
Normally, I wouldn’t even consider going bareback—I’d never once had sex without a condom—but this wasn’t some random bed partner I was spending the night with. And I’d never been this tempted by a woman. “Me, too. You still have your IUD?”
“Mhmm,” she said, a sinful smile curving her lips as she ran her nails up my scalp.
I’d never trust anyone else at their word with something as important as this, but she wasn’t just anyone. This was Nat. My best friend.
Now, my wife.
“Why are you still wearing pants?” she asked even as she hooked her feet into my waistband and started shoving my sweatpants down my hips.
“You’re good at that.”
“If that’s all it takes to impress you, I’m about to blow your mind.”
I breathed out a laugh and shook my head. “Never had a doubt.”
After kicking off my pants, I hovered over her, blinking through a dozen different ways I wanted to fuck her, before finally settling right back between her legs. I wanted her to ride me, wanted to bend her over the bed, wanted to pin her to the wall and not stop until I could no longer hold us up.
But more than any of that, for our first time, I wanted to feel every inch of her. Kiss her and stare into her eyes when she came undone beneath me.
My breath caught as I slid my cock through her wetness, my muscles trembling as I held back. “Still sure?”
“What did I say?” She reached between us and gripped me, stroking twice before notching my cock at her entrance.
I slipped inside, just an inch, and my breath caught at the tight fist of her pussy. “ Fuck ,” I breathed, bracing my forehead against hers. “Tell me you’re not gonna regret this in the mornin’.”
Her eyes softened as much as I’d ever seen, and she slid her hands around my neck, catching my mouth with hers. She parted her lips immediately, our tongues twisting as I clenched my ass to keep from driving deep.
“I could never regret you, Ash.” She nipped my lower lip. “Now finish provin’ me wrong.”
Groaning, I pushed forward, sliding into her in one deep thrust. She gasped as she stared up at me with something that looked an awful lot like awe. With every thrust of my hips, every slide deep inside, I lost myself in her. In the feel of her body beneath me, surrounding me. In her gasps of pleasure, her whispered cries of my name.
I knew her a thousand different ways, but I’d never known this.
“Christ, why is this so good?” I asked, pulling out before sliding back inside, taking her slow and deep.
“So fucking good,” she echoed, her eyes rolling back at my next thrust.
I palmed the outside of her thigh, hooking her leg higher, adjusting the angle enough to allow me to slide even deeper. I ran my hand over the flare of her hips, up the curve of her waist. Cupped a breast and sucked the tip into my mouth while she rolled her hips up to meet each of my thrusts.
“I take back everything,” she said through panting breaths. “Stacey was a liar.”
I breathed out a laugh, then groaned when her pussy rippled around me, squeezing tight. “ Fuck . I’m close.”
“Wait for me.” Her hand disappeared between us, the back of it running along my clenched abs. And then she was touching herself, and I was going out of my goddamn mind, my resolve dust at my feet.
I gritted my teeth, every muscle in my body going taut as I tried to think about anything in the world other than the fact that Nat was rubbing her clit so she could come all over my cock. I sped up my pace, my hips snapping against hers while the headboard echoed each thrust. The sound of our bodies coming together peppered our labored breaths and Nat’s throaty moans until we mingled in the best piece of music I could’ve ever hoped to write.
“Now,” she breathed, tugging my face to hers, panting against my mouth as her legs tightened around my thrusting hips, her fingers a flurry against her clit.
I groaned, sealing our lips together as her orgasm tugged mine straight from my soul, the pleasure ripping through my insides as I spilled myself inside her with nothing between us.
Never, in my wildest dreams, had I imagined I’d find myself here. Settled between Nat’s legs, my cock still hard inside her after the most intense sex of my life.
I didn’t know if it was because she was my best friend, that we’d had a lifetime of experiences to build on… If it was because she was the first person I’d slept with whom I actually loved.
Or if it was because I was no longer so sure if that love was strictly friendship or if it was something more.