Chapter 43
43
SUMMER
Nerves riddled my gut as we stopped by my place for me to grab a change of clothes and some toiletries before continuing on to Asher’s house. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would mean to spend the night with him.
I didn’t know whether to expect sex or just some snuggling. Hell, knowing Ash’s misguided chivalry, maybe he’d end up sleeping on the couch, determined not to sully Liam’s baby sister until after the announcement of our relationship at brunch.
I parked outside his place and got out of the car, slinging my bag over my shoulder. Asher must have beaten me here by a couple of minutes because his car was dark, but a light shone through the house’s front window.
I shivered as I got out of the car and fumbled with the flashlight app on my phone. I needed the light to find my way up the path to his front door. I knocked, and he called for me to come in. I entered and took off my shoes, leaving them beside the door.
Cookie sauntered over to me and stretched, arching her back. I bent and patted her, then scratched behind her ears and rubbed under her chin. She purred loudly and sunk her claws into the carpet.
“I’m in the living room,” Asher called.
I walked through. The air inside was a few degrees warmer because he’d started the heat pump and the window was no longer boarded up. The window had been replaced, and I watched as Asher drew the curtains, blocking out the outside world.
I shuddered at the idea that someone out there might otherwise have been able to see in. I was reasonably convinced that someone intended Asher harm, but he didn’t want to see the truth. I supposed that if someone hated me enough to want to poison my cat and smash my window, I wouldn’t want to believe it either.
Asher took my bag from me. “I’ll put this in my bedroom.” He hesitated. “Is that okay?”
I nodded, and as he left, I scooped Cookie up, carried her to the sofa, and sat with her on my lap. She pulled away, and I let her go. She leapt to the floor and shot me a disdainful look over her shoulder, as if reminding me that I could only snuggle her when she allowed it.
Fair enough. Consent mattered.
Asher returned a few seconds later and sat beside me, pulling me into his arms. I melted against his strong body and rested my head on his shoulder. My mind wouldn’t calm though. It raced, unsure where this night was heading and what I ought to do to prepare.
“You seem nervous,” he murmured against my hair.
I sighed, embarrassed to be called on it. “A little.”
“Why?”
I closed my eyes, heat rising in my cheeks. “I’ve wanted you for so long, and now that I have you, I’m afraid I’ll do the wrong thing and lose you.”
He stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed again, bit by bit, in a way that had to be deliberate.
“I’m sorry I hurt you.” His lips moved against my temple with each word he spoke. His breath ghosted over my skin, somehow warming me and cooling me at the same time. “I wish I could go back and warn myself not to tell you that I’d never want you. I wish I could take that back, but I can’t, and I’m afraid it will always be between us.”
I burrowed closer to him. “I understand why you rejected me. I was young. You did the right thing. But I guess, even though I know that, subconsciously I still feel vulnerable.”
He kissed my forehead. “We can take this as slow as you need in order to believe that it’s real. I will never push you for anything.”
“Thank you.” I turned my face inward, toward the side of his neck. “But maybe I want you to push a little.”
“Yeah?” He sounded amused. Not enough to annoy me, but enough to let me know that he wanted to humor me, whatever it took. “For what?”
I drew back far enough that I could look into his eyes. I moistened my lips, my heart in my throat. I’d always prided myself on being brave enough to face difficult situations…except when it came to Asher Heaton.
Now, I had to be courageous, or I’d never get what I wanted.
I was strong. I could do this.
“I want to kiss and let it lead us wherever it leads us, without feeling guilty or paranoid about how everything could go wrong,” I confessed.
His pupils dilated, turning his dark eyes almost black. “Then kiss me.”
He didn’t move toward me or take control. He let me make the first move. I both loved and hated that. I loved that he was letting me lead, but I hated how raw it made me feel to be completely real with him.
I brushed my lips against his. First softly, then more firmly. He returned the pressure, angling his head to get better access to my mouth. He tasted like beer and man. I breathed him in, the scent of the forest with a hint of antiseptic leftover from his shift at work.
I’d dreamed of being this close to him for years. Sometimes, when I’d been with other partners, his face had popped into my mind unbidden—and unwelcome. But finally, I could indulge without guilt or recrimination.
I climbed over him, straddling his lap, and wrapped my legs around his narrow waist. Heat pulsed between my legs, and I rocked against him, chasing the sensation. Inside his jeans, his cock was hard as steel, and he groaned as I rubbed along the length of him.
Our mouths stayed connected the whole time, but we weren’t kissing, exactly. More like exchanging gasps and panted breaths.
It wasn’t enough.
I wanted more of him. I needed to taste him.
I scrambled off him, pulled his knees apart and knelt between them. I reached for the zipper of his jeans, but paused, meeting his eyes, a question in mine.
“Do it,” he hissed.
As I drew down his zipper, he grabbed his jeans by the waistband and yanked them down. Not all the way, but enough to reveal his tented boxer briefs, the hard outline of his cock showing through the soft fabric. I cupped my hand over the wet spot at its head and caressed him, then gripped the sides and eased the briefs down.
“Summer,” he breathed, his hands burying themselves in my hair. “Fuck. Summer.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off his cock. The head was an angry shade of red, the shaft longer than any I’d seen outside of porn, and thick enough to stretch my mouth. I gripped him by the base and kitten-licked the slit. His hands fisted, tugging on my hair but not painfully. Just so that I knew he was there.
“You don’t have to—” He broke off when I sucked the head of his cock into my mouth and swirled my tongue around it.
The skin was silky and salty, with a musk that was entirely masculine and not at all unpleasant. I shifted my face forward, taking him deeper. Tears prickled my eyes, and I exhaled slowly, forcing my throat to relax.
“You’re incredible.” Asher moaned, releasing my hair and stroking the back of my head, his fingers twitching each time I sucked.
I worked him with my lips, tongue, and throat, unable to drag my eyes from his as I brought him pleasure. I’d feared I’d never see him like this, with his jaw slack, his eyes dark, and his breath ragged. Now that I had him here, I never wanted it to end.
Based on the way he strained not to thrust into my mouth, his jaw clenching as he fought to maintain control of himself, he didn’t want it to end either.
“Summer, I…”
I swallowed, and his eyes narrowed to slits.
“I’m gonna…” He tried again. “Fuck, I’m gonna come.”
My lips curved as I sucked him harder, using my hands to massage the base of his cock. He shuddered and spilled into my mouth, his dark gaze still locked on mine. I swallowed every drop and, when he was soft, licked him clean.
I straightened, and he grabbed me and hauled me up his body. He kissed me, even though I must have tasted like him. Instead of being repulsed, as one of my exes had been, he groaned and deepened the kiss. I kissed him back, lax against him.
“You liked that?” I asked.
“Liked it?” His eyebrows shot up his forehead. “I fucking loved it.”
“Good.” I smiled, satisfied on every level. Well, except the physical one. But even that didn’t feel urgent. My arousal was more of a pleasant undercurrent than a raging need.
“But—”
“But what?” I stiffened, suddenly worried I’d done something wrong.
He smirked and kissed my cheek. “Nothing bad, baby. Just that you had all the fun, and now it’s my turn.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t completely sure what he meant by that until he lifted me and deposited me onto the sofa while he dropped to his knees in front of me.
He rested his hands on my thighs, and I wished more than anything that I wasn’t wearing pants. “Before I get carried away, I need to say something.”
His hands ran up my legs, distracting me from his words. I shook my head, trying to focus.
“What?” I asked.
He grinned, and there was something predatory about it. “You’re amazing, inside and out. I want you to make me a promise.”
I cocked my head. “What?”
I’d promise him almost anything. Almost.
Danger gleamed in his eyes. “From now on, your talented mouth is mine, and so is the rest of you.”
My core turned molten. “Yes. Yours.” That was one promise I was happy to make. After all, I’d always been his. “But you’re mine too.”
“Only yours,” he confirmed.
Just like I’d always wished.
My heart felt so full it might burst, but before I could get too sappy, Asher undid my button. I raised my hips so he could yank my pants off, leaving me bare except for a pair of lacy pink underwear.
“You are so sexy,” he breathed, never taking his eyes off me.
I squirmed, feeling myself blush. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice. He rubbed his thumb along the fabric at the bottom of my panties, teasing me with his barely there touch. He continued the gentle torture until I pushed myself against him more firmly. Then he narrowed his eyes and stopped.
“Come on, Ash. Don’t—”
His hot mouth covered my sex, and I cried out, my hips jerking, seeking more pressure. He hummed in the back of his throat, and the vibrations rocketed through my core, making my flesh quiver.
I shoved my panties down and he immediately dipped his tongue into my heat and licked me like an ice cream. His eyelashes fluttered as he gazed up at me from beneath them, and his lips quirked as he licked me again, this time brushing my clit with the tip of his tongue.
“Ungh.” My head flopped back against the sofa. Any capacity for rational thought fled. All I could do was cling to the cushion as he brought me to the edge with his clever tongue and fingers, spearing inside me, stroking my channel, murmuring encouragement against my damp skin.
His jeans were still half down, and from my angle, I could just see his cock, hard once again and bobbing with each movement.
“Up here,” I pleaded.
He tilted his head in question.
“Get up here,” I rasped out.
His brow furrowed, he climbed onto the couch beside me. Immediately, I stood for long enough to shed my pants completely, and then I straddled him, settling my sex over his erection, grinding against him. His mouth fell open, and he gripped my hips as I rode his length. He was slick with precum, and I moved over him easily.
He sucked two of his fingers into his mouth and then pressed them against my clit, relentlessly working the bud of nerves until I couldn’t think straight.
“Oh, God.” My hips stuttered as pleasure crested within me. I didn’t stop moving, even as an orgasm rolled through me, and I sobbed his name.
The tendons in his neck strained as his cock pulsed against me. He was coming again.
I’d made him come twice.
I slowed my movements as we both caught our breath, staring into each other’s eyes as though we’d never seen each other before.
“You… I…” I didn’t know what to say. I slipped off him and cuddled up to his side, hoping that the experience had been as powerful for him as it had been for me.
“Summer, that—” The ping of my phone cut him off. I’d turned the volume right up so that I’d be able to hear it in the crowded bar. Normally, I would have ignored it, but in case it was Liam, I didn’t feel like I could.
“Hold that thought.” I stood on shaky legs and fished my phone out of my pants pocket. I sighed with relief. “It’s just Bailey.”
But as I read the preview of her message, my gut tightened.
Bailey: Are you okay? Liam seemed upset…
Damn. Not much could dull the euphoria of the moment, but the memory of Liam storming out earlier sure as hell could.