15. Asher
15
ASHER
Five fucking hours of wondering where the hell she was, thinking she was dead on the side of the road or trapped in her car in the fucking snow. I was going out of my mind with worry until I got her fucking message, and by then, I had already pulled up to her shop and saw her SUV parked in her usual spot.
It took me a hot minute to cool the fuck down and not blow a gasket. What the hell was she thinking, staying here so long when there was a snowstorm raging outside? When I talked to Noelle hours ago, she said Holly was leaving right after her. So, imagine my surprise when I headed over to her house to find her and no one was home. Then the panic set in.
Another car accident.
Another woman dead.
Another fucking nightmare that I couldn’t contend with.
Yet, here she was. Safe and sound.
If she had just fucking texted me back, I would have known she was safe. As it was, the roads were shit, and it took me forever to get to her after getting stuck behind pile-ups and roadblocks. And the entire fucking time, I was going out of my mind.
I took a deep breath and opened the door, shutting it quickly to block the snow from following me inside. The wind was howling outside, making such a racket that it filled the house with an unsettling feeling.
After stomping my boots on the rug, I wandered through the house, peeking into the various rooms until I came to the kitchen where I saw Holly looking down at her cat.
“That’s not keeping me company.”
I shook my head, unable to stay mad at her when she was talking to a cat.
“Perhaps I can do that.”
My girl gasped, whirling around and glaring at me with daggers. It wasn’t quite the reception I was hoping for. “What the hell are you doing here?”
My toes were freezing, my hands were like icicles, and I had to piss from driving on the slickest roads for fucking hours to get here and make sure she was okay. I did not want her attitude right now.
“Call me crazy, but I wanted to make sure my girl was okay.”
Her jaw dropped, but then all the anger fled from her face as tears pricked her eyes. In an instant, she was running toward me, throwing herself at me and crying into my arms. I had no idea what elicited this kind of reaction, but all the anger I felt about her putting herself in danger by staying so fucking long fled in an instant.
“Hey—”
“I had so much work to do and I’m tired and—” She drew in a breath and sobbed hysterically. “—and Noelle had a date and the stupid weather radio didn’t warn me. And my eyes were gritty and I didn’t have the books done and the cat ignored me!”
I nodded, rubbing her back. “Yeah.” That was a bunch of rambling bullshit I didn’t understand, but I had the feeling it didn’t really matter. “It’s okay, baby.”
She sniffled, stepping back as she wiped her nose. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you called. And it’s so late. What are you doing out here?”
“I couldn’t get ahold of you.”
“And you came out here?” she cried. “That’s so sweet!”
“Are you gonna keep crying every time you say something?”
“Yes!”
“Good to know, Holly Bear,” I chuckled, pulling her back into my arms.
I shifted, wishing I could let her go so I could run to the bathroom, but telling her to hold that thought probably wouldn’t go over well. I glanced around the shop, wondering why there was so much stuff moved around. It was so chaotic in here, so unlike Holly.
“Baby, what are you doing in here?”
She finally calmed down and stepped out of my arms and wiped the tears from my face. “I was getting ready for our spring collection.”
“And it had to be done tonight?”
“I don’t like having a messy back room. It looks like a bomb exploded back there.”
“Well…we’re not going anywhere for a while. Let’s get settled in for the night. We should get some blankets together in case the power goes out.”
“Right.” She sighed and started gathering up things while I headed for the bathroom. Along the way, I chucked my winter gear and my boots. Luckily, I always kept a spare set of clothes in my truck.
I found Holly in the living room, laying blankets on the floor and tossing a few pillows out for us to lay on. Everything else had been pushed to the sides out of our way.
“It was the best I could do,” she shrugged as she found me watching her.
“It’ll do. I’ve slept in worse conditions.”
I started to undo my pants and she laughed, pointing at me like it was funny. “Uh…whatcha doin’?”
“Taking my pants off.”
“We’re in my store.”
“I realize that,” I smirked. “But my pants are wet from trudging through the snow. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t sound very comfortable.”
“But someone might see!”
“You mean all the customers you’re expecting to show up at two o’clock in the morning? I’ll be sure to put my pants on before they come knocking.”
She shot me a sarcastic smile and laid down fully dressed. My little Holly Lane was worried about impropriety in her own store. It was hilarious.
I laid down beside her, tugging the blanket over me to ward off the chill, then pulled her into my side. She immediately skittered away, looking at me like I was insane.
“Umm…whatcha doin’, big man?”
“Big man?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m laying next to my woman after driving all around the fucking state looking for her.”
“No, I understand that, but what exactly do you think you’re doing?”
I didn’t understand the question. I glanced down at the blankets and then back at her. “Am I missing something?”
“You mean other than all your body warmth?”
I snorted in amusement. “Hold up a second. Let me get this straight. If you were cold, I would warm you up in a second. I would wrap my body around you and make sure you couldn’t feel an ounce of cold, but when I’m cold, I can’t snuggle into you?”
“Have you seen the size of your thighs?”
“Actually, I have,” I grinned.
“Then you know that each of those thighs is like a giant slab of beef pressed up against my body. I won’t have a chance of warming you up. Instead, I’ll turn into a popsicle.”
“Ah, I see how it goes. I’m only good for one thing.”
“Apparently not,” she muttered under her breath.
She was such an impatient little thing. “Is this payback because I left you the other morning?”
“What? No.” She shook her head, but wouldn’t meet my eye.
“I think it might be.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Just a hunch,” I replied, not calling her out on her bullshit. “You know why I left you.”
She sighed heavily, grabbing another blanket and tugging it around her shoulders. “If I did, maybe I would understand all of this better, Asher.”
“Do you remember what you found in that box?”
She stilled for a moment. I didn’t want to make her feel bad or bring up bad shit. I just wanted to explain myself. And the only way for her to truly understand me was to see where I was coming from.
“I remember.”
“That was part of me I hadn’t shared with you yet. And I wasn’t hiding it from you, but I wanted for us to really know each other before I jumped into bed with you. I didn’t have that with Jade. Things were…nothing like this.”
She ducked her head, her cheeks staining red. I really didn’t want to have this discussion with her, not when I might say something that could either push us in one direction or another, but maybe that was the only way to make her really understand.
“I told you what I had with Jade was complicated, and I did love her, but what we have is so much different. It’s real and special. I don’t want to screw that up. I have never met anyone like you, who I wanted to just take my time with and really get to know. So?—”
I didn’t get to finish my sentence because she tackled me in the next instant, throwing herself at me and laying a kiss on me as she wrapped her legs around my waist.
“Baby, I?—”
“Doesn’t matter,” she panted. “I love you.”
“Fuck, I?—”
“Shit, was that too soon?” she gasped, pulling back and slapping her hand over her mouth. “Oh, to hell with it.”
Then her lips were on mine again and she was kissing me, sliding her tongue against mine and refusing to let me answer. Which I would have if she gave me a chance.
“Asher,” she moaned against my lips.
“Yeah, baby.”
“If you tell me no tonight, I’ll throw you out in the snow with no pants on.”
I chuckled and tore her shirt over her head, tossing it somewhere in the room. “You don’t have cameras in here, do you?”
“No, why?”
“Because I would hate for your boss to see what I’m about to do to you,” I growled, flicking the clasp on her bra and letting it fall down her arms. “Fuck, I love seeing your tits.”
“I love it when you talk dirty to me,” she gasped as I sucked one of her nipples in my mouth.
“Fuck, that wasn’t even close to dirty.” She ground her pussy on my cock and I moaned at the friction. If she kept that up, I wasn’t going to last very long, and I really fucking wanted to remember this night as something fucking amazing.
“Clothes, Asher. You’re wearing too many.”
“Can’t stop kissing you.” My lips slid along her jaw as my hands caressed her back, running down her spine, memorizing each bump.
She was so impatient, already gripping my shirt and tugging, yanking it over my head. It got caught on my chin and then my teeth as she tried to rip it off.
“Uh! My face!”
Her laughter vibrated through my chest, making it impossible not to join in. “Hold on.” She removed it from my mouth, still smiling as she pulled it off. “Sorry about that.”
“Patience is a virtue,” I reminded her.
“Not right now, it isn’t.”
“Just remember that when you take off my pants, if you’re not careful, you might damage what you’re trying so desperately to get to.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I couldn’t help but stare into her eyes, watching how they danced with humor. God, this woman was so fucking special. How the hell I had ever gotten so lucky to find her was beyond me, but I knew I could never let her go. She was a breath of fresh air after all the bullshit in my life. There would never be another woman for me.
“Fuck, Holly. I’m so in love with you.”
Her breath caught in her throat as I brought my lips to hers in a soft kiss. I rolled her over, laying her down on the blankets, ready to finally take what was mine. Planting sweet kisses down her body, I made sure this was damn special for her. Every fucking inch of her was touched by my lips, licked by my tongue.
Dragging her pants off, I flung them behind me and stood. Her gaze heated as I slid my thumbs into my boxers. My cock was hard and ready, and it was no secret how much I wanted her. But when I slid them down my legs, her eyes bulged at my length and her legs closed slightly.
“Are you ready for me, Holly?”
I stroked my cock, getting to my knees and spreading hers so I could look at her glistening pussy. Fuck, I needed just a taste of her before I slid inside her.
“Asher… what?—”
“Just a taste, baby.” I moaned the second my lips touched her pussy. Sweet and tangy, she was fucking perfect. But even better was the way her fingers slid into my hair and she guided me to where she wanted me, crying out when she liked what I did.
My tongue flicked across her clit over and over, pulling every last moan I could from her. Goddamn, it was like heaven being buried between her legs. I never wanted to leave, but my cock was aching to be inside her, to feel her wrapped around me and squeezing me. But I wasn’t stopping until I made her come.
“You like that, baby? You like me eating your pussy?”
“Ash…”
“Do you like me covered in your cum? You taste so fucking good,” I said, curling my fingers inside her. “I can’t wait to have my cock inside you, fucking this sweet pussy.”
“Asher!” she cried out, gripping my hair hard. She smashed my face against her pussy, nearly suffocating me as she came hard. I sucked her clit into my mouth and flicked it with my tongue as she fell apart in my arms. Her whole body shook as she came undone, and when she finally released me, tiny strands of hair were tangled in her fingers.
“Oops,” she chuckled.
“Totally worth it to see that smile on your face.”
“Yeah?”
I crawled between her legs and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Fuck yeah.”
She grimaced, wiping the taste of herself from her lips. “Gross.”
“What’s wrong, baby? You don’t like to taste yourself?”
“Not particularly.”
“Too fucking bad,” I growled, slamming my lips down on hers, refusing to give up as I slid my tongue inside her mouth. She squirmed underneath me, laughing as I kissed her sloppily, making it harder and harder for her to escape me.
“Alright, alright! I give in!”
“Give in to what?”
“Anything. Everything,” she panted. “Whatever you want. Just don’t make me ever do that again.”
I rested on my elbows and brushed the hair away from her face, grinning down at her. “Anything I want?”
“Anything.”
“A man could get in a lot of trouble with freedom like that.”
“He could, so use that power wisely.”
“And what if I said that all I wanted was you?”
A smile tugged at her lips as she wrapped her arms around my neck. “I’d say it’s a really good thing Noelle isn’t here because she’d be gagging right about now.”
“But we’d sure as hell get mega points from Hallmark.”
“We would,” she grinned.
This time, I lowered my lips to her neck, kissing everywhere but her mouth, removing the taste of her pussy from my lips before I tasted her again. I was stalling and I fucking knew it. Once I sank inside Holly, that was it. It would be official that I moved on from Jade, and while I knew it would happen eventually and I was glad that day was here, I just hadn’t been prepared for how fucking good it would feel.
And I felt like shit for that.
But Jade had no room in my new life, so I shoved her to the back of my mind and reminded myself why I was here and who I was with. My new life, the woman who saved me from living a wretched life and made me laugh again—that was who I chose to be. And I wasn’t turning back.
I sank inside Holly, never tearing my eyes from hers the entire time. She was so goddamn beautiful that I almost forgot to move. I just stared at her, reminding myself to breathe.
“I fucking love you, Holly.”