Chapter 41 Love Bites
LOVE BITES
RAYA
Monday morning arrives too soon. Asher is driving me to work, while Reverie opted to stay at his place to organize a new bed-nook in the plants.
Asher parks a couple blocks away and pulls me in for an achingly sweet kiss full of tender affection and more than a hint of worry.
“I’ll be okay. I’ll text you and check in this time so you don’t worry as much,” I say as I slide out of the car.
“Be careful,” he says, glowering at me as I close the door and wave.
Although there’s a hefty dose of nervous apprehension running through my system, I don’t let it deter me from doing my job.
“Hey, glad you’re here,” I say to Alex as I drop into my desk chair.
“Welcome back, you feeling okay?” they ask, apparently assuming I was out sick last Friday.
“Yeah, not bad, just a little off still,” I reply, not bothering to correct them. It’s the truth of how I feel, even if the implication isn’t accurate.
We settle into our morning routines, and my skin prickles constantly, but it never gets far enough that I’m worried about an involuntary shift.
Hooray for small positives.
I pull out my phone every hour to text a random emoji to Asher. I try to find the most ridiculous, random ones I can, then imagine the reluctant scowly-smile on his face when he sees them.
So far, I’ve sent him a squid, to which he sent a string of question marks in reply, then I sent a blue bucket and he replied ‘…’ back.
He seems to catch on when I send a planet emoji, replying with an eye roll.
I don’t let it deter me, sending the brown swirl ‘poop’ emoji next, which makes me cackle when I imagine his reaction as I’m eating my lunch.
Unfortunately, that’s when a most unwelcome visitor strides into the open workspace.
Chadwick steps into view, a fake smile on his smarmy face that some people seem to find charming. It makes me nauseous.
I avoid meeting his eyes, staring intently at my computer screen until he saunters away.
My shoulders slump and the breath whooshes from my chest. Just as I’m settling back into work, a new email—from Chadwick—pops into my inbox. My eyes flare with alarm when I see his name.
From: Chadwick Walton
Subject: Notice
Hello staff,
There will be a live press conference tomorrow, Tuesday, taking place on the steps at the front of the office building. The front entrance will be closed from 8:30am until 12pm, with live taping from 10am-11am.
All employees are advised to either arrive at the office before 8:30am, or to use a side or back entrance during the above stated times to avoid any delays in the setup or taping of the press conference tomorrow.
Thank you for your understanding, and we hope you’ll tune in!
Regards,
Chadwick Walton, CFO
There’s also a link with instructions for how to view the live stream.
“Did you see this?” Alex says, leaning over their desk toward me.
“About the press conference?” I ask. “Yeah, I’m reading it now.”
“What do you think it’s about?”
“I have no idea.” I frown, then say, “The only thing I can think of is the Waltons taking over. What other news is there that would warrant a press conference?”
Alex shrugs, then looks at Kendall. I eye her, already knowing she’s not going to have an opinion.
“No idea,” she says, barely glancing our way before continuing her work.
“Guess we’ll see,” Alex says, leaning back into their own space again.
“How did today go?” Asher asks, his palm finding my thigh as soon as I plop into the passenger seat.
“Fine, actually, all things considered.”
He raises an eyebrow and I shrug.
“They announced a press conference for tomorrow,” I say.
Asher hums a noncommittal reply and I glance at him as he starts the car, then look again at his carefully neutral expression.
“Do you know anything about that?” I ask him, suspicion lacing my tone.
“They’ve been doing their best to keep me updated,” he says.
It’s not truly an answer, but it’s the most I’m going to get for now.
Asher’s gaze flicks to my lips, alerting me that I’ve been chewing on them again.
He leans forward and brushes his lips to mine, stopping the anxious movement and effectively distracting me.
I lean into the kiss, practically melting across the center console, and he growls at the distance still between us.
“I’ve hated being apart from you,” he says, and I huff in agreement. “Dinner at my place?”
“Your dinner or mine?” I say, my suggestive reply causing Asher’s chest to hitch on a surprised inhale.
“Both.” He nips at my bottom lip. “You mouthy little minx,” he mutters, then he pulls away and shifts the car into drive. We’re pulling up to his house before I know it.
He scoops his arm around my waist and hauls me against him as we stumble to the front door, kissing me until I’m senseless and my hands are tugging at his shirt.
He fumbles the keys and huffs an irritated breath when he has to break our kiss to pick them up.
Finally, we’re tripping inside, our lips locked together again.
Asher kicks the door closed and then we’re shocked out of the moment by a high pitched shriek.
“You guys are the worst!” Reverie says, hands covering her eyes as she hovers in the hallway.
“Stars, sorry Rev,” I say, having forgotten—again—that she was here.
“It’s fine. I don’t blame you,” she says, then waves one hand in our direction, possibly shooing us away, with the other still covering her eyes. “Carry on!”
With that, she turns and swoops away, disappearing into a leafy fern in the corner.
I turn back to Asher and grin. He takes one look and scoops me up again, then blurs us up the stairs to his bedroom. We waste no time shedding our clothes. I don’t even pause when I hear a seam rip in my desperation for skin-to-skin contact.
Our movements become frantic, uncoordinated as our hands roam and grasp, but I don’t care.
My body is already reacting to his proximity, and my senses are heightened to the need we’re both caving to.
I sense a tingle as ears pop into being on my head, disrupting my loose braid, but it’s a distant awareness, and it doesn’t matter enough to pay attention to.
All that matters is him.
His strong hands sliding up my ribs, cupping my breasts, skimming over my nipples. His chest pressing into mine, forcing me to step back until my knees hit the mattress. I tip onto it with his hands cushioning my fall.
His body cages mine as he follows me down, and my fingers twist through his silky hair, dragging him closer. Asher’s cedar-smoke scent surrounds me as his solid weight presses me into the mattress, his hard length heavy against my thigh.
I shudder beneath him, and he steals my breath as his lips take mine in a greedy kiss. Asher doesn’t hesitate this time as he overwhelms my senses, making me dizzy with desire until there are no thoughts for anything except me, and him, and my flaming need.
The noises he’s making in the back of his throat while he kisses me are turning me on even more, and it’s only when he pulls back for a moment to trail his tongue and lips along my jaw to my ear that I realize he’s been speaking this whole time.
Soft, possessive words that he doesn’t seem to realize are coming out of his mouth, words that weren’t intelligible moments ago, and only are now because my lips aren’t covering his and devouring them.
“Mine,” he growls, not pausing his ministrations and continuing to lick and suck his way down my neck. His hands are ravenous, tweaking my nipples and then digging into my hips to hold me in place.
“Such a pretty little shifter,” he murmurs into my collarbone.
“Perfect, so perfect,” he says as his lips relinquish one nipple to the swirl around the other. I’m ready to beg for more when his fangs scrape the side of my breast, and I arch into him with a throaty moan.
“Asher,” I say, unable to form anything more coherent with the way he’s set me on edge. I’m desperate for the euphoria of his bite, for the stretch of his cock, to feel him surrounding and owning me in every way.
“Yes, sunshine,” he says. “Yes.”
I reach between our bodies, finding the tip of his cock already wet with a bead of precum.
It jerks when I swipe my thumb over his slit, and he sucks on my neck when I wrap my fingers around him and give him one tight pump.
His hips punch forward into my hand, sending a heady combination of power and desire rushing through me.
“Fuck,” he groans, and I wholeheartedly agree.
“Yes, please,” I say, not caring how needy I sound.
Asher chuckles, a low, dark laugh against the shell of my ear that has the hairs on my arms rising. Before I can suck in a breath, his hands are firm on my hips as he rears back and flips me over.
My brain is spinning, trying to catch up with my body's position as my stomach hits the bedspread and my hands scrabble for purchase. I’m panting at his display of strength, struggling to catch my breath as he winds my pleasure higher with every moment.
Then his fingers dig into my hips and pull them up, raising me to my hands and knees.
My legs are quivering, and I’m practically dripping for him, but instead of plunging into me, his touch leaves.
I hear the crinkle of foil before sensing him step up behind me again, and my arms are trembling with expectation as I hold myself on hands and knees for him.
“Gorgeous,” Asher whispers.
His fingers, so light I can barely feel them, trail up my inner thigh, then over the curve of my ass. It’s the most torturous tease yet.
“Asher.” I’m breathless with anticipation.
His hand pauses, cupping one ass cheek, waiting for my permission to continue, but I’m panting, unable to catch my breath.
“What do you need, little shifter?”
“You, Ash. I need you, now.”
The only movement is his fingers tightening on my ass for an undefinable moment, and then both of his hands are on my hips again.
“As you wish,” he says, or at least I think he does, because his cock is steadily pressing into me as he says it, thrusting in a little more each time, and nothing else matters.
I moan at the stretch, my arms giving out as he splits me open, and I land on my elbows as my head dips down to the mattress. He feels enormous from this angle, and I’m not sure how much I can take.
“All of it,” he replies, and it’s only then I realize I must have worried aloud.
“My perfect girl,” he says. His breath ghosts across my back as his hand squeezes my ass and then traces the curve of my hip, reaching around for my center.
His fingers circle my clit and I close my eyes, all of my nerves alight and buzzing.
I feel myself getting even wetter, allowing him easier access as he pounds into me. The sounds we’re making are obscene.
“You’ll take all of me, won’t you?” His voice is low, rough with a note of gravel that sends a shiver up my spine.
I nod, but he isn’t happy with that. Asher tangles a fist in my braid, tugging my hair back while the other arm bands across my chest as he yanks me upright against him.
“What was that, little shifter?”
I gasp and my pussy clenches, loving this dominant side of him.
“Yes, I’ll take all of you.” The breathy words are barely coherent, so it must be the thought that counts.
He groans and angles my head to the side, then whispers in my ear.
“Tell me to stop, and I’ll stop.”
Asher’s fangs scrape along my neck and I whimper, ready to start begging if he doesn’t bite me soon.
“Don’t stop,” I say.
A pleased rumble sounds from his chest and reverberates through mine as he licks the pulse point in my neck, then sinks his fangs into me.
A bright spot of pain shocks me for a millisecond, but it’s immediately followed by blinding pleasure. Somehow, it feels even better than last time as Asher groans into my neck, sucking so hard I can feel my skin bowing against his lips.
It’s euphoric.
I’m delirious with bliss as I buck my hips back into him, meeting him thrust for thrust as Asher pulls from my neck and my pleasure builds impossibly high.
I’m wound so tight, so taut that I’m afraid there’s no way back down from here.
I’m going to be stuck in this torturous pleasure forever, and that might make me cry.
From joy or despair, I’m not sure, all I know is I need to come.
Asher tightens his hold on my hair, securing my bared neck, then angles the arm across my chest so he can pinch my nipple, and that does it.
My back arches, my entire body stiffens almost to the point of pain, and my pussy clenches so hard Asher can barely move inside me.
He rolls my nipple and takes one last, perfectly timed pull from my neck, and my insides pulse with my orgasm.
I writhe in his arms, rapturous as pleasure sears through me, and he groans into my shoulder with his own release. From my neck to my nipple to my clit to my pussy, pulse after pulse of ecstasy races through my body until I’m spent.
I fall limp in his arms, not noticing that he’s already healed my neck as I float in waves of bliss.
I barely comprehend as he adjusts our positions so I’m lying on top of him with my ear to his chest, his cheek resting on top of my head, and his arms banded securely around me.
Asher cradles me against him and I sigh in contentment, a serene smile gracing my lips when he places a gentle kiss on the top of my head.
I’m asleep before he has us fully tucked under the blankets.