Chapter 30
Ash
I’m like a zombie the next morning as I walk down the aisle of the team plane to where Kelsier already has seats staked out for us.
I kept Gray at my place way too late last night before I finally let her go home, and then it was another hour before my body wound down enough to fall asleep.
We missed the ball drop, but we rang in the new year in a much more satisfying way.
Between the lack of sleep and the memories of being inside her sweet-as-hell body that are playing on repeat in my head, I’m not all here. For that matter, I’m already planning the twelve new ways I’m going to fuck her when we’re done with this road trip.
I jerk to a stop in the middle of the aisle and look down to find Kingston’s hand wrapped around my forearm. My eyes meet his where he sits in his seat. His expression is hard, and I return it with a look of annoyance.
“I’m not sure what you and that professor have been doing,” he says, “but I hope you have your shit together for these games.”
I scowl at him. “You just worry about doing your own job and let me worry about mine,” I say before pulling my arm out of his grip and continuing on.
I throw my bag in the overhead compartment and thump down into the seat next to Kelsier, the sex-high I’ve been riding now spoiled.
“Problem?” he asks, noticing my mood.
“Fucking Kingston,” I say. “He needs to get off my case.”
Kelsier chuckles. “Good luck with that.”
“Whatever,” I mumble as I swipe open my phone. I’m hoping for a message from Gray, but there’s nothing.
I decide to text her myself. It seems like she’s been used by a lot of men, and I get the feeling she doesn’t expect to hear from me again now that we’ve slept together.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
If I could’ve packed her in my luggage and brought her with us to Winnipeg, I would’ve.
I’m starting to get hard just thinking about her, and I have to get that shit under control before Kelsier notices.
But first, I send her a couple texts.
Ash
Good morning, baby.
Ash
How do you feel today?
It’s a few seconds before her response comes in.
Gray
Like I was thoroughly railed almost half a dozen times last night.
I smile and type back.
Ash
I hope that’s a good thing.
There’s a few seconds before her answer.
Gray
Yes. Very good.
There’s a pause, and then the dots bounce again.
Gray
I like that I’m sore. I can still feel you inside me.
That does it. My dick goes full mast, and I barely manage to force back the groan that tries to pry its way up my throat.
I go to respond, but Kelsier’s voice stops me.
“Dude! Do you have an erection?” he whisper-hisses.
“Sshh! Keep your voice down,” I warn him.
“I’m trying,” he whispers, “but you’re about to pop your pants here, and I’m not sitting with you if you’re gonna sport a stiffy the entire flight.” He glances at my phone and his eyes widen. “Wait, did you fuck the doc last night?”
I shut the screen down and put a finger to my lips to shush him.
I look between the seats to see who’s behind us.
Mack is already passed out in the window seat.
He hates flying, so he usually hits the melatonin hard and goes to sleep when he gets on the plane.
Samsonov sits next to him with his noise-canceling headphones on.
Only Fig is in the row in front of us, and he listens to audiobooks the entire flight.
“Not one word to the rest of the team,” I warn Kelsier. “Especially not on the team chat, or I swear to Christ-”
“Yeah, you’ll beat the shit out of me,” Kelsier interrupts. “Just fucking tell me.”
I exhale deeply and sink back into my seat. “Yeah, we had sex last night. A lot.”
Kelsier raises a brow. “A lot?”
“Like four times before she went home.”
His eyes widen. “Jesus Christ!”
I give him a warning look, and he lowers his voice again. “I take it that it was good sex?”
I groan. “You have no idea. It was like I no longer needed a recovery period. I was almost ready to go again by the time I got the condom off.”
“That good?” he asks in surprise.
I look around to be sure no one is listening. “She has a praise kink,” I tell him. “One of these days she’ll squeeze my dick off if I call her a good girl too many times.”
He claps a hand over his mouth to stifle whatever reaction he was about to make. “Fuck, man,” he says when he pulls his hand back. “You hit the fake dating jackpot.”
I jerk my head to him. Everything with Gray was so real last night that I forgot the rest of the team thinks I’m only fake dating her.
Before last night, they were the only ones who knew the truth about us.
Now, they’re the only ones who don’t. The rest of the world thinks I’m actually dating Gray… and they’re right.
I have the urge to bolt out of my seat and announce to the whole plane I’m dating her and that they all need to keep their eyes and hands off, but one thing stops me.
If she and I date for real, will she still be allowed to work with me?
Maybe Kaladin will think we’ve gotten too close and call it off.
Are there ethical issues with him paying her if we’re dating?
It’s not a problem right now because he thinks we’re only fake dating, but if he knows the truth…
No, I can’t tell anyone yet.
Well, almost anyone.
“I need to tell you something, Kels, and it will seriously fuck things up if you say anything to anyone,” I say. I’m wary of divulging this to him, but he’s been my best friend since I got here. Granted that hasn’t been long, but I trust him.
He looks at me seriously. “Okay. What? Everything alright?”
“Swear you won’t say a word.”
He frowns. “I swear. What is it?”
I inhale deeply and let it out. “I’m not fake dating Gray. I’m actually dating her. I told her last night she’s mine for real.”
He stares at me for what seems like minutes as I wait for him to say something.
“Holy shit, Gunny,” he says finally. He grins. “Congrats. It sounds like you’ve got it bad for her.”
I sigh again. “I can’t stop thinking about her. I want her so much.”
He cocks his head. “Do you want to be with her, or is this just lust?”
I take a moment to consider, but I already know the answer.
I got angry with the reporters who suggested I was dating an older woman, mainly because I’d felt her stiffen next to me when they said it.
The thought of the way Drew and other men have hurt or used her makes me want to throw furniture across the room.
And, yes, I couldn’t wait to get between her legs while we were watching the movie, but I also loved the feel of her tucked up against my body.
I want to protect her. Make her feel safe and desired.
I’m not yet sure if it’s love like Kelsier suggested a while back, but it’s a whole lot more than just lust.
“Not just lust,” I say, and he nods slowly.
“You’ll have to tell the team and Kaladin eventually,” he says.
“I know,” I say, “but not yet.”
“Why not?”
I give him the reasons about not being able to work with her and possibly having Kaladin pull her funding.
He waggles his head in a ‘Yeah, that’s possible’ way.
“So what are you going to do?” he asks.
I pull out my phone again. The flight attendants are going through their preflight spiel, and I realize I never responded to Gray’s last text. I suspect she has abandonment issues, and I don’t want to leave her hanging, so I quickly text back.
Ash
Getting ready to take off. Gotta shut down now. Miss you already. Will text when I land.
The dots bounce almost immediately, and I suspect I was right, that she was freaking out after not hearing back after that last intimate text.
Gray
Miss you too. Safe flight.
I shut down my phone and turn back to Kelsier. “For now, I’m just going to stay under the radar as much as possible. Hopefully everyone will just think we’re great actors.”
Kelsier huffs a laugh. “Don’t bet on it. Fig is already on to you. He told half the team he caught you and Gray in the equipment room. He didn’t see anything, but he could guess what you were doing in there.”
I grimace. “Fuck.”
Kelsier cocks his head again. “What were you doing in there?”
I sigh. “I finger fucked her. It’s where I learned about her praise kink.”
Kelsier nearly chokes. “You finger fucked the doc in the equipment room?” he hisses under his breath.
I nod.
“And you didn’t tell me?” he asks indignantly.
It’s my turn to laugh. “We were in there because of you.”
“What?”
“I saw her talking to you before practice that day she had you chirp at me, and I got jealous,” I explain. “I told her I was going to prove to her who she belonged to.”
He stares at me before he cracks a grin. “You possessive asshole.”
I shrug just before the plane begins to taxi.
“You guys do any roleplaying last night?” Kelsier asks.
I frown at him. Kelsier and I have never gotten into the details of each other’s sex lives, so I’m not sure what makes him suspect I’m into roleplaying.
“Like what?” I ask.
He looks at me disbelievingly. “Like naughty professor and bad student,” he says, as if this answer is obvious.
And now that he says it, it is.
“Oh shit,” I say. “No, we haven’t done that yet, but we are absolutely going to when I get back.”
He grins. “You know what you need to do to make it realistic, right?”
My brows shoot up. “Are you suggesting what I think you are?”
He grins even wider. “Probably.”
I sink back in my seat again. Gray and I did get a chance to talk last night about what it will be like when she lets me dom for her, and we went over what her hard and soft limits are.
For instance, she wasn’t opposed to light slaps, but she nixed any serious impact play, which was fine by me.
I’m not into that either. She also didn’t mind something around her neck, including my hands, but more serious breath play was off the table.
More importantly, Gray agreed to let me use her body whenever and wherever I want.
Unless she red lights, of course. I was shocked she agreed to that request, but, then again, she strikes me as eager to please when it comes to sex.
I’ll have to be careful with that and watch for signs that she wants out but is afraid to safe word me.
For now, at least, I have her permission to start a scene anywhere, anytime, which makes Kelsier’s idea completely doable. I’m not sure Gray realized what she was getting in to when she agreed to that, but she’ll find out soon enough.
The thought doesn’t help the situation in my pants. When we hit cruising altitude, I’ll have to take a little trip to the bathroom for both my sake and Kelsier’s.
Gray has no idea what she’s in for when I get back.