Chapter 25
twenty-five
FRANCIE
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to Hudson’s for dinner?” Asher asks, pulling out of the driveway and onto the road that leads to the lighthouse. There’s an edge to his voice that sends a shiver down my spine.
Glancing out of the window, I can see the moonlight glimmering on the inky black ocean. “You didn’t call me all day,” I remind him. “When was I supposed to tell you?”
“I was with Hudson all day,” he replies. A frown plays at his lips. “Did you want me to call you? Why didn’t you say so?”
“Because maybe I wanted you to want to call me without any prompting,” I say.
For a second he says nothing. Like he’s trying to take the words in. I’m not trying to argue with him, but this is all very new and I’m not sure why he’s suddenly so mad with me.
“Of course I wanted to call you,” he finally says. “I didn’t want to leave your fucking bed this morning. I was thinking about you all damn day. And then...”
“Then what?” I ask, genuinely interested.
“And then I find you flirting with another guy.”
I turn to him, my brows raised. “Flirting? Are you serious? Did I look like I was entranced by his bro words?”
His knuckles are white as he grips the steering wheel. “He wanted your number. I nearly hit the guy. I spent most of last night inside of you for fuck’s sake.”
Is he jealous? Of Ben?
“This is stupid. I didn’t give it to him. And I absolutely didn’t flirt with him.”
He veers left, onto the tiny road that leads to the lighthouse.
I glance at him, then out the window, and bite my lip. “I missed you today,” I admit, my voice soft. “More than I wanted to.”
He glances over, and for a moment the tension breaks. His grip loosens on the wheel, the muscle in his jaw unclenches.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you either,” he admits.
But then, almost like he can’t help himself, the steel returns. “But that guy—”
“What did you think I was going to do?” I cut in. “Flirt my way to a dinner date with the first man who used a series of buzzwords? Just because you went radio silent like a ghost with a day job?”
His jaw twitches. “That’s not what I meant.”
I fold my arms. “Then what did you mean?”
He doesn’t answer for a beat. The silence feels thick between us, the only sound is the crunch of tires against the gravel. He pulls up outside the lighthouse and puts on the handbrake.
“You’re mine, that’s what I meant. And I don’t want to watch some finance prick try to slide into your DMs because he thinks you’re a fucking model with a family who might give him a boost in life.”
You’re mine. There it is again. I hate how annoyingly hot that makes me feel.
“You don’t own me,” I point out.
He shuts the engine off, then pinches the bridge of his nose, like he’s in genuine pain. “I know that.” His voice is low. “You think I don’t know that? Maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe you own me.”
Oh. My heart slams against my chest.
Finally he looks at me, his gaze catching mine. “I don’t own you, Francie, but I don’t like to share.”
The way he says it, so intensely, makes my thighs clench.
“I’m not looking to be shared,” I murmur.
“But this is all so… new. I still don’t know how you really feel.
And I’m worried. About Autumn, about my brothers.
You think they won’t care if they find out that I’m seeing somebody older than me?
Because they will.” The thought of it makes my stomach tighten.
“Is that what this is about?” he asks. “Your family? You keep so many damn secrets from them.” He looks at me like he’s trying to understand. “Why?”
I don’t know that I’m ready to talk about this. I know for a fact he won’t understand. He’s older. A brother. He has no idea how stifling my life can be.
“I’m the little sister, the baby,” I say, trying to find the right words. “I’ve spent a lifetime being coddled. Never taken seriously. Once I tell them about my books, they’ll become… I don’t know, jaded. Not mine anymore. Like everything else, they’ll want to take over. And I can’t bear that.”
His voice softens. “Francie,” he murmurs. “If it was my sister I’d want to know. I’d be so damn proud of her.”
I look him square in the eye. We both know his sisters. Yes, Autumn is my best friend, but I love Eden too.
“And how would you feel if they were sleeping with an older man?” I ask.
“Autumn’s married to Parker. He’s older.”
“And Hudson gave him hell for it. You did too,” I point out, because I had a front row seat to that shitshow.
“And now we accept it. Because he loves her and makes her happy. So yeah, I’d want to know what brings my sisters joy.”
I stare out of the windshield at the lighthouse. The white stucco looks almost gray in the moonlight.
“Maybe I just want something that’s only mine,” I say.
He unbuckles his seatbelt. “Am I that something?” he asks.
I swallow hard. “It felt like you were last night.”
He leans in, his face close enough that his breath tickles my cheek. This close, I can see the fire in his eyes.
“I’ve been yours for a lot longer than last night, sweetheart.”
Before I can respond, his hand is on my jaw, tipping my face toward his.
His mouth crashes into mine, hot, hungry, and full of frustration.
Like he’s starving. I gasp into him, grabbing at his shirt as his hands tangle in my hair.
All the tension, bickering, heat, and emotion explodes into that kiss.
I’m dizzy by the time he breaks away, only far enough for our eyes to lock.
“I didn’t call,” he says softly, “because I knew if I did, I’d lose it and come straight back here. And I didn’t think you’d want that. You have a book to write.”
“Maybe I do want that,” I whisper. “Maybe that’s all I want. Maybe I thought about you all day, thought about touching myself, but I knew nothing could feel as good as you do inside of me.”
He growls low in his throat, opening his door and speeding around to mine.
“Inside,” he says, holding out his hand. The gentlemanly act contrasts perfectly with his expression, which is definitely ungentlemanlike. “Now, before I fuck you in this car.”
I let him pull me up, breathless as his hand curls around mine and he leads me to the front of the lighthouse, spinning me around until my back is pressed against the door.
His lips brush my ear, his hand taking mine, pushing it down until I’m cupping him. Feeling the hardness of his desire against my palm.
“You want something that’s yours?” he says. “Good, because every inch of me is yours tonight.”
ASHER
She stares up at me, her eyes wide, her lips softly parted, and I realize that I’m already a goner for this woman. I can’t think properly, I can’t do anything but want her.
Maybe it’s the way she talked to me when I was losing it outside the hospital. Or the way she intuitively knows how to make me feel better.
All I know is that I can’t stand the thought of another man touching her.
Her chest is rising and falling fast, and the way she looks at me, like I’m a fucking god, sends heat straight down to my cock.
“I don’t want to fight with you anymore,” she murmurs.
Before I can tell her that I feel the same way, she grabs my face and kisses me.
It’s hard. Raw. My mouth slants across hers like I’ve been waiting all day for this, and I have.
Her lips part as she grasps onto me, her fingers curling into the front of my shirt, dragging me closer.
I nudge her head back with mine, and push her against the door, one hand braced behind her head, the other tight around her waist.
She moans when I press all of me against her. “Inside,” I rasp.
“No.” She shakes her head, her hands sliding down to my belt. “I can’t wait that long.”
Her fingers make quick work of my buckle, as she loosens my pants and slides her hand inside. Her warm palm wraps around me.
“Francie,” I growl against her mouth. “Are you trying to kill me?”
She grins wickedly. “I’ll make it a pleasurable end.”
She runs her hand up and down, her thumb rubbing against the bead of precum already forming on my dick.
She drops to her knees, and for a second, the heat in my chest mixes with something deeper.
The trust in her eyes, the way she looks at me like I’m already hers. It makes me feel fucking invincible.
Then her mouth envelops me, warm and velvety, her tongue teasingly trailing along the length of me.
“Christ.” My head tips back, my hand cups the back of her head. She finds a rhythm, her sweet lips making every nerve ending in my body vibrate.
It doesn’t take long for me to feel that familiar pull deep in my belly.
Her flickering tongue, her insistent mouth, the way she looks up at me, bats her eyelashes, shows me she owns me even while she’s knelt at my feet.
And then I tangle my fingers in her hair, my voice urgent as I tell her to stop.
“I don’t want to come in your mouth,” I tell her. “I need to come in you.”
I pull her back up and kiss her, showing her my appreciation, my hand slipping beneath her dress to find her warm, wet heat.
I slide my finger beneath her panties, dragging it against her before I push it inside of her without any preamble.
Her head slams against the door, her body clenching around me like she’s already close.
“This is mine,” I tell her.
Her eyes flash. She likes it. Fuck, I like it too. We both know it’s a lie. I’m the owned one here. But if my girl wants to feel my possession, I’ll give that to her. I slide a second finger inside of her, my cock delighting in her tightness.
“Yes,” she gasps. “Yours. Just yours.”
I can’t wait. I don’t want to. I yank her dress up higher, fist my cock, and she wraps her leg around my waist like she was made to do it.
“You want this?” I ask her, my voice rough as I drag myself against her. “You want me to fuck you against the door like you’ve been aching for me all day?”
Her eyes burn into mine. “Oh God yes.”