Chapter 20
TWENTY QUESTIONS
RAYA
I wake to the smell of coffee the next morning. While it’s a pleasant surprise, after the activities of the night before I was kind of hoping for a different wake up call.
Rolling over, I spot Asher moving quietly around the room.
There’s a pile of clothes on the desk that he must have picked up from where we discarded them last night, and he’s now setting the “practice pillows” on top of the floor blanket which is folded and placed on the desk chair.
He notices I’m awake when he turns back around to sweep his eyes over the room.
“Morning, sunshine," he murmurs with a lopsided smile. His voice is soft and tender, unlike his previously gruff exterior. My heart feels like it might burst, and there’s no holding in the answering grin that blooms across my face.
“Good morning,” my voice is still thick with sleep, and as I start to sit up, he holds out a mug of coffee.
“Thanks," I say, looking around again. My face must be full of questions because he answers them before I ask.
“I figured you needed it, so I let you sleep in. It’s 11am, we need to head to the airport in about an hour so I started cleaning up the room a bit. Your clothes are there.” He points to one of the folded piles on the desk, and I blink a few times in response. My brain is still sleepy.
When what he’s saying finally clicks, I’m not proud of the velociraptor screech that comes from my mouth, but it is what it is.
“Eleven?!” I scramble off the bed, forgetting that I’m completely naked until it’s too late. Although my entire body flushes under his heated gaze, the Cheshire-cat smirk on his face causes me to snap into action.
“No time!” I say, pointing a finger at his face.
There’s a robe hanging in the bathroom and I decide that’s good enough for now.
I shut the door and jump in the shower, berating myself for not setting an alarm the night before, and then wondering what even happened the rest of the night.
I must have passed out after our sexcapades because I don’t remember anything else until I woke up this morning.
I rush through my morning routine, not bothering with makeup or styling my hair.
I throw it into a messy braid so I’ll be comfortable on the plane and turn to packing my bag, all the while grumbling to myself under my breath.
I’m normally fairly even tempered, but being woken up and told I need to hurry is not the way to get on my good side, no matter how excellent someone might be at giving orgasms.
My cheeks flush and my skin tingles at the thought. I pause my folding to take some deep breaths, slowing my heart and causing the tingling sensation to recede.
That alone is enough to turn my entire mood around. I straighten with a smile on my face only to see Asher watching me, a knowing look in his eye.
“Nicely done," he says, and I don’t have time to wonder how he can read me so well.
“Thank you," I reply, my pride shining through.
We make it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and I can admit my earlier grumpiness was mostly unwarranted.
Like PDX, the San Diego airport is easy to navigate, and it takes less than twenty minutes to get through security.
I grab some snacks, then we settle in at our gate where I pull out my book, quickly getting lost in the adventures of a badass female former-pirate overcoming magic and mayhem on the high seas as she takes on one last quest.
I barely take my nose from the pages, even as we board and find our seats.
I allow Asher to guide me with a hand on my elbow or lower back, nudging me gently one way or the other as I somehow manage to survive treacherous waters, pulling off a daring rescue while dodging dangerous artifacts and magical attacks.
A short time later—or maybe a long time, I’m not sure—I finish the book and snap it closed with a heaving sigh.
Unfortunately, the plane is still in the air and I didn’t bring another book with me.
Nor did I stop by the airport bookstore to pick one up, even though I knew I was almost done with this one.
(Admittedly, one of my worst life decisions to date.)
I close my eyes and relive some of my favorite scenes, wondering what it would be like if I lived in that world.
I would like to think I’d be on the pirate captain’s crew, but realistically I’d more likely be a regular old village person.
I don’t feel like I have badass female main character energy, and I’m totally okay with that.
The reminiscing doesn’t entertain me for long, and without realizing it, my leg starts bouncing. My eyes fly open when I feel a heavy hand on my knee, stilling the movement.
“Sorry,” I offer Asher a sheepish smile as he moves his hand back to his own leg, to which he nods and leans his head back against the seat, closing his eyes.
I know he’s not sleeping, but he does have earbuds in.
I drum my fingers against my thigh, looking out the window at the clouds swirling around the plane and wondering what he’s listening to.
I jump when his hand grips my knee again. Turning to face Asher, I wrinkle my nose and bite the inside of my cheek.
“What is it?” He pulls one earbud out and turns toward me.
“Nothing, I’m just bored," I say. I hold my book up with a shrug. “Finished my book.”
Asher flips his wrist to check his watch. “Only another hour, you’ll be fine.”
With that, he returns his earbud to his ear and tips his head back again. I chew on my lip, contemplating what I’m going to do for an hour, plus extra because landing and taxi time before we can deplane.
Before I know it, I’m tapping his biceps, and he plucks out his earbud again with a slight scowl on his face.
“Whatcha listening to?” I ask, blinking innocently up at him with a practiced smile on my face—the one that almost always gets me what I want.
“The news," he says, and I stick my lower lip out in a pout.
No thanks.
When he sees I’m not pleased with that, he shrugs and moves to put the earbud in again.
I shift in my seat, pulling my feet up and resting my chin on one knee as I go back to staring out the window.
I quickly become uncomfortable, so I try to sit criss-cross, nudging his arm off the armrest so I can fold it back and have more space for my legs.
Asher rolls his eyes but allows it, shaking his head. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mind.
Tapping my fingers, I start wiggling my toes in my shoes too, making a fun new beat that I nod my head along to. When my knee starts bobbing too, rhythmically bumping into his leg, Asher pulls both earbuds out and turns toward me again.
“How do I make this stop?” he says, his voice exasperated, but a twinkle of amusement dancing in his eyes, too.
I widen my eyes, looking around as if there’s some other culprit that has offended him.
“Make what stop?” I ask.
“This—” he waves his hand up and down in front of me, encompassing my entire body. “The restless fidgeting.”
“I’m bored.”
“And?”
“And… I don’t know. You could talk to me," I say, trying not to pout for real this time.
Asher’s lips quirk and he pulls out the case for his earbuds, slipping them inside before he snaps it closed.
“Okay then. What do you want to talk about?”
A giddy grin lights up my face. I have so many questions. He narrows his eyes when he sees it, but I dive in before he can back out.
“How old are you?” I ask, and his eyes widen.
“Oh, so we’re doing that are we? Right.” Asher straightens in his seat, pushing his shoulders back like he has to brace himself for the “get to know each other” conversation. “I’m twenty-eight.”
I try not to balk, but he doesn’t look twenty-eight. I didn’t realize he was so much older than me. I would have guessed he was only a couple years older, something around twenty-five, maybe twenty-six at most.
“Oh, cool," I say, cringing at how lame that sounds. “And your parents?”
At this, his face closes. I can practically feel the wall as it slams down between us, shutting him away from me.
I frown at the reaction; I didn’t think that was a particularly invasive question.
Vampires can live decades longer than humans, and I was curious if his parents were older than mine, what time period they might have grown up in, that kind of thing.
“Never mind, I don’t actually care how old they are," I say, waving my hand to clear the air and quickly trying to backpedal.
“What do you do for fun?”
Asher clears his throat, visibly trying to reconnect, and I soften at the effort he’s putting into being present and engaged.
“I like to run," he says, and I snort a laugh. “Why is that funny?”
“It’s just, I mean. Run like a human, or run like you did at the hotel? Because that can hardly be classified as running.”
He smirks at this, another layer of the wall between us crumbling.
“I like to run like a human,” he gives me a pointed look, “on human running trails. Though I do also like the occasional vampire-speed run. I’ve been enjoying Forest Park lately, northwest of the city. Have you been?” he asks.
“Oh, yeah! Only a couple times, but it has some really pretty trails. I didn’t take you for the outdoorsy type.”
“What type did you take me for?” he asks, and I bite my lip in response. He notices, and he leans into my space for a brief moment before sitting back again, that predatory look flitting in and out of his eyes.
I will my heart to calm. It’s truly ridiculous how he can wind me up in a matter of moments. The pilot announces we’ll be arriving in Portland soon, and that snaps me back into reality.
“So.” I stop, looking down at my hands as I twist my fingers together, wondering if he’s thought about what this is between us, especially considering we’re coworkers.
Asher reaches over and takes one of my hands, threading his fingers through mine, and I freeze at the gesture. We’ve been incredibly intimate, but this feels different. This feels intimate in a new way. A close, affectionate way.
My eyes dart up to his serious face.
“So?” he says, prompting me to continue.
“Um,” I look back down at our entwined fingers. “What are we going to do about us? When we get back.”
“I already looked into PNCG policies. I’d like to talk to HR, see if we can fill out the forms that indicate we’re seeing each other, if you’d be open to that.”
I flash a grin and my skin tingles. “I like that idea.”
“Me too.” His lips quirk at the corners again, seemingly unable to resist answering whenever I smile at him.
“Sooooo.” I look down at my lap again, tapping my fingers against the back of his. “Does this mean we’re together then?”
Asher doesn’t answer until I meet his gaze.
“Yes, if you’ll have me," he says. “Raya, can I take you out on a real date?”
A smile whips across my face as I nod in agreement.
I tuck one arm around his biceps and lean my head against his shoulder, snuggling in and biting my lip when he softly kisses the top of my forehead.
I close my eyes, content now that I have a real life daydream to focus on for the rest of the flight.