9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Asher
The lamps I left on when I went down to the beach to ensure everything was properly secured, left the living room basking in a light glow. It’s bright enough in the room that we can see each other but everything is softly muted.
My mind goes blank when Piper runs her fingers through her now tangled hair. It’s not like her place wasn’t the same distance. I could have walked her to the resort’s edge and gone my own way. But I didn’t want to.
When she said she was leaving, even though I already knew it would happen, the realization hit, I wanted to see her again. I stupidly looked for her all day but never saw her. How could someone get under my skin so easily? How could she when I hadn’t let anyone in since the explosion? Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter. All I know is that I want to spend time with her. What little time we have left.
“When do you leave?” My heart thumps in my chest as the central air conditioning kicks on.
“Monday,” she murmurs and crosses her arms over her chest.
Monday. Shit.
Her eyes meet mine. “Where are your parents?”
“Aruba.”
“Aruba?” The shock on her face gives me pause. Is she afraid to be alone with me? I should have taken her to her cabin. Where she’s comfortable.
“Yes. They left a week ago and won’t return until this weekend.”
“I see.” When her eyes flicker to my mouth, I bite down a growl of desire. “I didn’t realize they were gone.”
I step toward her. Once. Twice. And then, I’m there, breathing the same air as she does. The pulse point at the base of her throat thumps with each staccato heartbeat. I cup her chin and run my thumb along her silken flesh. “May I kiss you?”
“Yes.” She nods jerkily, and that’s all the agreement I need. I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her to my body as my lips find hers. The soft plumpness of her mouth makes my head spin. Her hands grip my bare biceps, and the sensation sears me with heat. I want more. I need more.
When she whimpers and arches closer, I take the small opening and swipe my tongue inside. Tasting her mouth. Stroking her tongue. Her tentative response to me has my dick straining against the rough fabric of my jeans. She tastes like peppermint and chocolate.
I groan, and it’s as if her restraint is unleashed. She wraps her arms around my neck and grinds her core against my erection. I gasp at the contact only to find her tongue thrusting against mine.
Jesus. The room around us spins. It’s been so long since I held a woman in my arms. It’s a miracle I remember how to kiss. Her fingers tangle in my hair and dig into my skull. I pull back, gasping, trying to catch my breath so I don’t rip a hole in the crotch of her leggings and fuck her right here. She deserves better than that. Better than a careless man intent on only his pleasure.
As I walk her backward to the sofa, I trail my mouth along her jawline, exploring the texture and scent of her skin. She smells like sea salt and vanilla. Dreams and fantasies. And I want more. I want it all. I don’t know what that means in the future, but my skin burns at the thought of letting her walk away without claiming her. Marking her. Pleasing her. Ensuring that if she lives to be 100 years old, she’ll never forget me.
I flick my tongue over her pulse point, savoring how the blood rushes against the tip.
“That feels so good.”
“Yes,” I murmur against her flesh. “Yes, it does.” I nip the hollow of her neck, which elicits a shudder that racks her entire body. “So responsive. So sweet. So….” The words fall away as we tumble to the cushions. She watches my hands as I caress every inch of her. I slide the T-shirt up and out of the way. Her beautiful breasts are taut and puckered at the tips. “Beautiful. You’re so damned beautiful.”
I flick my tongue over her nipple, twirling around the tip. She groans, wrapping her thighs around my waist and grinding. Her core is warm as I rock my hips into her, savoring the gripping of her thighs and the scent of her arousal. I’ve been with other women before, but none that made me want to lose control and take her like a savage.
“Princess, you’ve got to stop.” I lick my tongue along her collarbone. I’d love to taste my way down her body, but I’d have to dislodge her legs to do so. And as much as I’m pretending I want her to stop grinding against me, I don’t. I mean, I do, so I don’t come in my pants, but I don’t because I don’t want her heat to leave me.
“Stop what?”
“Stop riding my dick.”
“Why?” Her head jerks back as she gasps in horror. “Does it hurt?”
“God, no.” I pull back a fraction and caress her belly, dropping lower and lower until all that’s between me and heaven is a thin piece of black legging. “It feels amazing. But I’ve not come in my pants since I was sixteen, and I don’t want to start now.”
“Oh….” Her eyes glisten with desire and wonder.
I shake my head. “You have no idea what you do to me, do you?”
“No.” Her eyes are wide as she shakes her head.
“Let me show you by returning the favor.” I slide my palm along her exposed skin, dipping my fingers under the edge of her leggings and meet her eyes. “May I?”
“Yes, please.” She bites her lower lip and wiggles her ass against the cushion. “Please.”
The pleading in her voice is nearly my undoing. My cock twitches as precum coats my flesh. Just a little more, and I’d be that boy I’m trying desperately not to be.
I cup her cheek with my palm. Instead of freezing up, she lifts her hips and drags the fabric down her thighs. “Greedy.” I chuckle, and the full force of her scent hits me. Not fast enough. I rip the panties and leggings off, toss them onto the floor, and spread her thighs wide, giving me the perfect view of her sex.
“So perfect. Beautiful. Tight.” I lean down and twirl my tongue around her clit, delighting in her raw, guttural moan of pleasure. “So greedy.” I flick the taut bud with my tongue, and her thighs quake. “I love how greedy and responsive you are.” I slide my tongue in her wetness, getting it on the tip, and suck her clit into my mouth.
“Oh, my God, don’t stop,” she cries out, rotates her hips in a circle and shoves her pussy into my face. “Please.”
“Wouldn’t dream of stopping. Not until you come.” I grasp her thighs, holding her wide open for me. First, admiring the view and then feasting on her clit.
“Your tongue is….” She shakes her head from side to side. “It’s…” She doesn’t finish as she digs her heels into the cushions as lightning crashes around us.
My tongue flies over her flesh as her whimpers bounce off the walls. She’s too fucking much. I’ve never been with anyone who was this open about asking for what she wants, and my blood is boiling.
I’ve been with other women but not had an endless string of conquests. I was too busy dedicating myself to being the best SEAL prospect possible. Learning. Listening. Never stopping. And then, I made it to the elite team and the training was grueling. The missions were dangerous. That left little time for relationships beyond meaningless sex.
I hadn’t wanted my priorities to shift from my team to a woman. If I had, it would have jeopardized the team and the mission. I tense. It happened anyway. Don’t think about it. Focus on the woman in front of you. The heavy rain outside pelts against the windows. To push everything back, I lash her core and smile as her body explodes around me. She bucks and gasps as every inch of her body trembles in response.
Not able to resist her perfection any longer, I climb her body, unsheathe myself, and press at her entrance. Her eyes blink open. Beautiful dark eyes stare back. Mine. I want her to be mine.
I don’t want her to ever look at another man and not see my face. Want my body next to hers. The thought of the men, no the boys, who were with her before me, sends a jolt of jealousy through me.
Mine. I grab her hip and plunge to the hilt. Her eyes widen in shock as everything around me shuts down. A virgin. She was a virgin. Shit.
“Jesus, you should have said something.” Sweat slides down my forehead. She was a virgin and I just slammed into her like I was a battering ram.
“I….” Her eyes glisten as she turns away.
“Don’t.” I have the presence of mind to cup her cheek and turn her head toward me. “You should have said something, so I didn’t hurt you. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you.”
Her bottom lip trembles, lightning fills the sky, the entire house shudders in response to the raging storm as the windows rattle, and the lights go out.
Fuck. My heart pounds erratically in my chest, and cold clammy sweat covers my body. Crashing metal is everywhere. In my ears. In my soul. It curls around me like a living beast. Destroying everything in its wake. My breathing is ragged as I pull out from Piper’s heat and inhale. Count to ten. Breathe out.
More flashes. More crashing. Breath in.
Piper scrambles out from under me. It’s just a storm. It’s just a storm.
The lights flash on, and she stands before me in the lamplight. Her face is as white as death. My eyes rake over her as I try to remain in the moment. You’re here with Piper. You’re not under a smoldering truck.
As my gaze travels over the puckered skin on her thigh, I jump up and swallow hard. “I need–”
The word won’t come as bile slides up my throat. I spin on my heel and run to the bathroom, hurling up my lunch. When I come out, she’s gone.