Chapter 53
53
SUMMER
The piercing tone of a phone call woke me. I rolled over and grabbed for the device, blinking at the screen through blurry eyes, but the call wasn’t coming to me.
“Ash.” I jostled his shoulder.
“Wha’ is ‘t?” he mumbled, raising his head just enough for me to see his sleepy brown eyes.
“Your phone.”
Those eyes narrowed, and he sighed and flopped his arm off the side of the bed to retrieve the device.
He stiffened and dragged himself upright. “It’s Liam.” He accepted the call. “Hello?”
My brother’s voice was quiet and tinny. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but Asher nodded and threw off the blankets. He stood and stretched, showing off his toned abs to full advantage, then hitched up the waistband of his boxers and sauntered out of the room.
I watched wistfully as he left. I’d have been happy to snuggle, but obviously, he wanted some space to talk to Liam.
I lay back against the pillows and closed my eyes. I was surprisingly well-rested. I’d expected to wake up almost as exhausted as I’d been last night, but I must have slept deeply. In the other room, the cadence of Asher’s voice rose and fell. I couldn’t identify his tone, but when he returned, the phone hanging from his grip, he looked frustrated.
I patted the bed, and he sat. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. That’s the problem. It’s like you said last night: I’m ready for this to be over.”
I scooched myself alongside him and wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my face against his warm skin. “It will be soon.”
Or not.
I hadn’t believed him last night, and I got the impression he didn’t either.
I grimaced. Okay, perhaps I wasn’t in a very soothing frame of mind, but I could be a killer distraction.
I kissed his back and then his side.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Come to bed.” I tugged on his waist, and he lay down and slung one of his legs over mine. “Let’s pretend we just woke up and start this morning properly.”
His hands curved around my hips, and he tugged me up against the firm planes of his body. “How do you propose we do that?”
I rested my forehead against his and smiled, glorying in the desire that burned in the dark depths of his eyes. “Kiss me.”
He kissed the tip of my nose. The infuriating man.
“Properly,” I insisted.
He arched an eyebrow. “Are you saying that wasn’t a proper kiss?”
I rolled my eyes. “Kiss my lips, Ash.”
“Like this?”
His lips met mine. Soft. Chaste. Almost painfully gentle.
“Closer,” I murmured, the sensitive skin of my lips whispering over his. I cupped the side of his face, and his stubble rasped against my palm. I couldn’t wait to feel it elsewhere.
I ran my tongue along the seam of his lips, and when he parted them, I flicked it inside. He tasted of sleepy man with the faintest hint of mint from brushing his teeth last night. He groaned and deepened the kiss. My world shrank to that connection between us. At least until I felt the throb of his erection against me.
I rocked, drawing out a burst of pleasure from the friction between us. He grabbed my ass, his fingers sinking into my flesh as he encouraged me to move against him. He caressed the side of my neck, and my head fell back.
“I can’t believe I get to see you like this,” he rasped, wondering. “Fuck, you feel good. So goddamn perfect for me.”
He nipped the muscle where my neck met my shoulder, and I shuddered in response. He soothed the sting with his tongue and ghosted his lips up my neck and around the edge of my jaw.
Determined to level the playing field, I palmed his cock. It filled my hand, hot and heavy despite the thin satin barrier separating us. I stroked his length and teased the tip. My mouth watered, eager to taste him, but I held off. If I did that, I’d want to make him come, and I’d rather he did that inside me.
Instead, I pinched the fabric of his boxers between my thumb and forefinger and tugged it down, slowly exposing him. I wrapped my fingers around him, our kiss growing sloppier as he panted into my mouth and thrust into my grip.
He slid his hand inside my panties and cupped me, putting delicious pressure on my clit. His fingers slipped into my heat, and he teased me and toyed with me.
By the time he pushed one finger inside me, I’d almost forgotten what I was supposed to be doing to him, too distracted chasing my own pleasure.
He smiled against my lips and circled my clit with his fingertip. A shudder rippled through me. I was too close to the edge.
“Condom,” I gasped.
He raised his head, his eyes pitch black, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “Yeah. Where?”
“Um.” I squeezed my eyes shut and thought. “There might be some in the dresser.”
He got off me and made a beeline for it.
“Bottom drawer,” I said.
He knelt and sifted through my neatly folded clothes. He made a sound of victory as he extracted a box, and he checked the expiration date on the back before pulling one out.
“I’m relieved you have these,” he said, walking back toward me, his erection jutting out proudly. “But I don’t want to know when you last used them.”
I smirked, pleased by the hint of jealousy in his voice. I wasn’t about to admit that it had been a good long while since I’d needed condoms. I was lucky they were still valid.
He stopped at the foot of the bed to roll the condom on. His hot gaze seared my skin as he studied every inch of me. Based on the way his nostrils flared, he liked what he saw.
I did too.
Asher wasn’t just good-looking. He possessed an intensity that made him unlike anyone else I’d ever been with. He touched me as though he might never get another chance, and he looked at me with the same kind of astonishment that I experienced every time I remembered I was allowed to kiss him.
“Part your legs, baby.”
Heat shot to my core, and I slowly parted my thighs, letting him gaze at me openly. A sense of power thrummed through me. I was in a vulnerable position. Exposed to him. But his hands twitched at his sides, forming fists for the barest second, and a rumble of approval tore from his chest.
I had him exactly where I wanted him.
He knelt over me and peppered kisses up my torso, over my chest, pausing to flick my nipple with his tongue and then brush his lips against mine. His cock nudged against my entrance, and he reached down with one hand to position it properly.
“Are you ready, baby?” he asked.
“Yes,” I whispered, unable to take my eyes from his.
I caught my breath as he pushed inside me, bit by bit, stretching me. He moved forward inexorably, never stopping, until he was seated deep inside me.
“You feel me?” he asked, pulsing hot and hard within my channel.
I wet my lips. “I do.”
“Good.” His lips curled with satisfaction. “You’re mine now.”
I bucked my hips, his mere words causing me to clench around him. For so long, I’d wanted him to claim me, and now he was. Tears prickled in my eyes, but I blinked them back.
“I am. And you’re mine.” My tone was firm. It didn’t allow for a denial. “So show me.”
He bared his teeth. “With pleasure.”
He withdrew, and thrust back into me, filling me completely. I arched into him and cried out.
“That’s it, baby.” He rolled his hips, creating an exquisite slide between our bodies that had me seeing stars. “Say my name.”
“Ash!”
His grin was feral. “Yeah, Summer. My girl.”
He drove into me again, starting a rhythm that slowly drove me higher and higher. All I could do was cling to him and take what he gave me.
I kissed him as we moved together. His pace never eased. It wasn’t fast, but it was relentless. There was no escape from the sensations pouring through me. My head landed on the pillow, and I stared sightlessly at the ceiling as he filled me over and over again, winding me tighter and tighter.
When his movements became jerky, I knew he was close. I grabbed his ass and tilted my hips. His name spilled from my lips as our gazes locked. His eyes were liquid chocolate. Dark, rich, and intoxicating.
“You gonna come for me?” he asked, dragging his mouth down my throat.
I whimpered, unable to speak.
“Come for me, baby. Let me feel you.”
I touched my lips to his and let myself go, meaningless words falling from my mouth as I came. He stiffened and thrust deeper inside me than he’d ever been. Another wave of pleasure crested, and I cried out. His cock twitched as he emptied into the condom. I held him close and shut my eyes, burying my face in the crook of his neck.
We lay together, unwilling to separate, until the shriek of his phone once more broke the silence.
“Damn,” he muttered.
I laughed weakly. “You said it.”
He reared back and carefully climbed off me, his soft dick slipped from my body. He removed the condom, tied it off, and tossed it in the bin. Then he looked around, grimaced, wiped his hands on his belly before grabbing his phone.
He pushed a button on the screen and raised it to his ear. As he listened, all the color drained from his face.
“We’ll be there soon,” he said, and ended the call.
He turned to me, ashen. “Marcy is missing.”