Chapter 9 #2
“I’m trying to be nice,” I tell her. “I can make any kind of talk you like.” I clear my throat as I back out of the lot and turn right to drive through “downtown” Liberty before we reach the open road to the Lighthouse.
Parker is there waiting – he left Hudson’s house shortly after the girls went out.
Hudson called him to let him know what to expect after Francie’s SOS.
“Maybe we should just be silent,” Francie suggests. “I’m too tired to argue with you tonight.”
“Is asking if you had a nice evening arguing?” I ask her, genuinely interested.
“No, but no matter what I say, it’ll end up in an argument.”
My chest tightens again. I should probably get my heart checked out. Or stop letting her near it.
“I’m sorry,” I say gruffly.
Francie shifts in her seat. From the corner of my eye I can see her looking at me, like she’s trying to figure me out.
“What for?” she asks.
I let myself glance at her. Only for a second. But that’s long enough for me to take in her wide, expressive eyes and soft-as-fuck lips. “For being an asshole.”
She lets out a soft laugh. “Which time?”
This time I chuckle. Mostly because she’s right. “Every damn time,” I admit. “Work’s a mess. And I hear you’ve got your own stuff going on. I’m sorry if I made it worse.”
“What kind of hard time?” she asks, and I’m struck by how she always pushes the conversation away from herself. And by how similar we are in that respect. I don’t like talking about myself much either.
“Corporate bullshit. There are lawyers involved. It’s a ball ache, but it’ll work out.” There, I’ve admitted it. “How about you? What’s going on at work?”
“At work…” she trails off. “Oh yeah. No, it’s okay. I’m just a little burned out.”
She smiles as I pull up outside the lighthouse. My headlights sweep across the lighthouse window. Like clockwork, Parker opens the front door before I’ve even turned off the car.
“How is she?” he asks, looking concerned.
“Drunk as a skunk,” I tell him.
He walks around to the passenger seat and opens the car door. Autumn is snoring loudly. Parker unclips her belt and softly shakes her, kissing her brow as he does. “Come on, baby. Let’s get you to bed.”
Her eyes open. “Hello gorgeous,” she slurs.
He smiles and pulls her toward him, lifting her into his arms. She loops her arms around his neck and nestles her face against his chest. “I missed you,” she mutters.
“Missed you too, sweetheart.” He looks at me. “Thanks for picking her up, man.” Then he carries her inside, leaving me and Francie alone in the quiet.
I close the car door and circle around to her. The light on the second floor comes on.
“You okay?” I ask her.
“I’m fine.” She nods. “Thank you for picking us up.”
“You don’t need to thank me.” I take a breath. “If someone’s giving you trouble at work – a customer, co-worker, whatever – you can tell me.” I reach out like an idiot and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. She stares up at me for a moment, and all I can think about is kissing her.
“I didn’t go to the sex club to have sex,” she blurts out.
My lips twitch. Why is she always so unexpected? “What?”
“You told me the truth, so I should do the same. I didn’t go to the sex club for sex.”
There’s a pulse thudding in my ear. “Then why did you go?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I ask.
She leans against the car, and I catch the outline of her nipples beneath that gold top. No bra.
“Does it matter?” she asks. There’s that ghost of a smile on her lips.
“I could make you tell me,” I murmur.
“How exactly do you plan to do that?” she asks, her voice teasing. “Have you invented some kind of truth serum to go with your world changing algorithms?”
“Sadly not. Though it would be useful sometimes.” I give her a wry smile and she grins back. She’s still leaning against the car, looking up at me, our height difference making her have to angle her head up. I look at her lips again, wondering if they feel as soft as they look.
“Did you really think I was in danger at that club?” she asks, her voice low. A cloud drifts over the half-moon hanging high in the sky, casting a dark shadow all around us.
“Yeah.” I nod.
“And you came to save me.” Her lips part as she inhales.
“Of course I did.”
“Because I’m Autumn’s best friend.”
I swallow. “I wasn’t really thinking about Autumn right then. I just saw you and…” I shake my head. “I don’t like people getting hurt.”
For a second she says nothing. Our eyes are locked, our breaths synchronized. “You saved me.”
Fucking hell. It’s like she knows how to hit every damn button in my body.
“I’m not a hero.”
“Yeah you are. You fight injustice, just with code instead of a cape.”
“You have an overinflated sense of my worth,” I tell her. “I’m a damn idiot who can’t treat a beautiful woman right.”
“And that beautiful woman would be… me?” she asks, breathlessly.
“You know you’re beautiful,” I say. “You have to see it when you look in the mirror.”
“If I’m so beautiful, why is it that no man has touched me in four years?” She tips her head to the side. “Not even kissed me?”
For a second there’s silence. I try to take her words in. She hasn’t had sex since she was twenty-two? Fuck.
“What? How is that possible?” I shake my head. “I don’t…” Christ, what do I say here? “It’s their loss,” I tell her. “Maybe you haven’t met the right man yet.”
“I have.” Her eyes don’t leave mine. I feel the warmth of her stare pulsing through my body. I can’t look away. I don’t want to.
“Francie…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. It’s my problem, not yours.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and my dick throbs. “It’d really help if my brothers didn’t intimidate every man who’s interested in me.”
“If they’re intimidated by your brothers, they don’t deserve you,” I tell her. “You deserve so much more than a dick who doesn’t want to fight for you.”
Her gaze dips to my mouth then back to my eyes. “Would you fight for me?” she whispers.
There it is. The one question I haven’t let myself think about.
This is such a bad idea. I think about stepping back. And yet I can’t pull my eyes away from her.
Pushing herself off the car, she steps toward me, closing the gap between our bodies. I don’t move, my feet so firmly planted on the ground that I’m not sure even an earthquake could loosen their hold.
“Would you, Asher?” she murmurs, sliding her arms around my neck.
The floral sweetness of her perfume envelops me.
Her body presses against mine in all the right places.
Her soft breasts press into my abdomen. Her belly nestles against the thickening ache between my legs. I try to think but I can’t.
My brain decided to clock out for the night. It’s my body’s turn right now.
She tips her head back, her gaze meeting mine. And I’m well and truly fucked. The control I’m always so proud of maintaining is nowhere to be found. All I can think about is tasting her. Touching her.
Showing her what she’s been missing for the last four damn years.
“I’m done being careful,” she murmurs. “Kiss me.”
I let out a strangled groan. Her lips are right there, parted for me. I drag my tongue along my own, scrambling for one good reason not to do this.
But I come up with nothing.
There’s a steady throb between my legs as I angle my head down until my mouth is a breath away from hers. Our eyes are so close our lashes brush together. Cupping her jaw with my palm, I angle her face so it’s perfect.
“Francie…” I want to give her an out. But I also don’t.
Before I can say anything else, she’s the one who closes the gap. Her mouth meets mine and it’s so fucking welcoming I feel like moving in there. I kiss her hard, one hand on her face, the other trailing down her side, to the hem of her skirt where it meets her bare flesh.
I dig my fingers into her thigh and hitch it around my hip, turning her around so her back is against the car. When she gasps at the sudden movement, I swallow her low breath with my mouth.
Our lips move as one as I slide my hand beneath her hem, feeling the edge of her panties. She lets out a soft, broken sound, part need, part surprise. She hitches against me again, letting out a sigh like she’s almost in pain. “Touch me,” she whispers.
I obey, because saying no to her is no longer an option. I trace my thumb down the seam of her, feeling the warmth of desire through her panties. Her eyes widen as she whimpers at my touch. Four fucking years. God, I need to make her come.
“Asher…”
“It’s okay,” I murmur. “I’ve got you.”
“Don’t stop,” she says to me. “Please.”
I shift my hand, pressing the heel of it against where she needs me the most.
My fingers tease at the lace, and she rocks against me in a quiet, desperate rhythm. Her breath shortens, her kisses become more frantic.
And I’ve never been more turned on in my life.
“I need your fingers,” she begs. “Inside of me.”
I’m mesmerized by this woman. If she told me to jump off a damn cliff I probably would right now. But thankfully all I have to do is nudge the lace to the side, groaning as I feel the slickness ready to greet me. As I slide two fingers inside of her I wish it was my cock.
And I know it never can be.
My thumb finds her clit, circling against it as I curl my fingers inside of her, finding the spot I know is going to make her legs buckle. She clings on tightly to me, her head dropping to my shoulders, her cries soft as I bring her to the peak.
Her body tightens around my fingers as I massage the spot inside of her, my thumb echoing the movement on her clit. Then she’s gasping, and so tight I feel like my fingers are about to break.
“God… I’m gonna come, Asher. I’m gonna—”
I lift her head with my free hand, determined to taste her pleasure. Our mouths clash, her body stiffens, and she falls to pieces against me, letting out a whimper as she tightens around my fingers again and again.
I hold her as the convulsions subside, my own excitement throbbing in time to her ebbing orgasm. She slowly comes down from the peak, her eyes wide as they meet mine.
“It’s safe to come in,” Parker calls out as he opens the door to the lighthouse. I immediately jump away from Francie, like I’m on fucking fire, her feet dropping to the ground.
Her mouth opens in shock but she at least has the wherewithal to adjust her skirt so it’s hiding the sweetest part of her body, before she adjusts her top so it’s not messed up.
“Coming,” she calls out. Then she smiles at me and I smile back. Because yes, she fucking was.
Luckily Parker’s sudden arrival has cooled any ardor I had, and my erection subsides.
“You heading home?” Parker asks, walking over to the car where I just made Francie come like a fucking steam train. He winks at Francie. “Go on inside, I’ll be there in a minute.”
She looks at me and grimaces before walking past Parker to head inside.
“Everything okay?” Parker asks me.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” I ask him.
He shrugs. “Autumn’s worried about you and Francie. She thinks you have something against her.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I tell him. “Everything’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Okay, no need to bite my head off.” Parker grins at me. “Thanks for taking care of my wife tonight. I appreciate it.”
I’m still thinking about the way I took care of her friend as I bid Parker good night and walk around to the driver’s side of my car, giving him a wave before I climb in and drive away.
But I don’t sleep much that night. I’m too busy thinking about my sister’s best friend whimpering as she orgasmed, and then, in the early morning clarity, wishing that I’d never touched her. Because then I wouldn’t know what I was missing.
Eventually, at four a.m., I decide I’ll go over and talk to her in the light of day. Explain that while I find her undeniably beautiful, the two of us are a bad idea and that we should chalk this one up to experience.
But when I pull up to the lighthouse in the morning, she’s already gone.