Chapter 58
58
SUMMER
Something wasn’t right. Forcing the last vestiges of sleep from my mind, I pushed myself upright and blinked until my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting in the cabin.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Asher, who sat at the table, his shoulders rigid.
The scent of cooking pumpkin filled the room. He must have started heating the soup.
“Everything is fine,” he replied a little too quickly. “I’m just watching the snow.”
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Has it slowed at all?”
“A little.”
I got up and padded across the wooden floor to stand in front of the fireplace. “At least with the weather like this, we can be reasonably sure that no one will try to get out here.”
“Yeah.” But he frowned.
Okay, something was definitely wrong.
“Seriously, what’s the matter?” I asked, holding my hands to the heat to warm them.
He shook his head, but almost didn’t seem aware of doing it. “It’s just been a hell of a day.”
My heart ached for him. First, his niece had vanished—possibly because someone had a vendetta against either him or Frannie-—and now we were stuck here. No wonder he didn’t feel well. I only felt semi-decent because I’d had a nap. If he’d been stressed, he might not have slept at all.
I knelt and checked the fire, then added another piece of wood. Hopefully the snow would stop by morning. It must be late afternoon now, and I doubted we had any chance of getting home. We had enough wood in the cabin to see us through the night, but tomorrow, we’d have to venture out and collect more.
Asher stood and walked over to check the soup. He grabbed a spoon from the counter, dunked it into the pot, and licked soup from the back of it.
“Good enough,” he said. I got out of the way, and he carried the pot to the counter and divided it between two bowls. “There’s no bread to go with it.”
“That’s fine.” I hadn’t expected there to be. Whoever had brought food to the cabin had focused on non-perishables. Without a freezer, most bread wouldn’t last for a week, let alone longer.
We ate together at the table. Neither of us said much. I was warm all the way through thanks to the fire, but the food was nonetheless soothing. There was nothing like sitting inside with a bowl of soup or a hot drink on a cold day. If not for the fact we were stranded here, inside a kidnapper’s hideaway, I might even be enjoying myself.
When we finished, we used a little of the stored water to rinse off the plates but didn’t wash them properly. It was best to conserve the water in case we needed to drink it.
Determined to take Asher’s mind off Marcy and his family, I held his hand and led him to the bed. “Hold me?”
He smiled tenderly. “I’d love to.”
We snuggled beneath the blankets. After a while, the warmth from the fire became too much, and I stripped off my shirt and pants. Asher did the same, and I noticed with a smirk that his eyes kept traveling to the exposed parts of my legs and torso.
I slid one of my calves between his, relishing the rasp of his hair against my smooth, sensitive skin. His breath caught, and when I tilted my head to look at him, his pupils had almost swallowed his irises.
Something hard pressed against my thigh, and my eyes widened. “You…”
He grimaced. “Not the time for it, I know, but you’re so damn sexy.”
I pursed my lips. “Why isn’t it a good time? We’re stuck here. Connor has already said that no one is coming until the weather clears. It’s not like there’s anything else to do.”
“What if someone is out there?” he asked, his eyes flicking toward the window.
“Whoever has been here is hunkered down, staying safe and dry. I doubt they’ll go anywhere until the weather clears.”
One side of his mouth began to hitch up. “I don’t have a condom.”
I grinned. “I do.”
I’d taken to carrying one in my purse after we’d decided we were officially together.
A smile spread across his face. “You’re smart.”
“I like to think so.”
I kissed him, slow and deep. His big hand curved around the side of my face, and my insides fluttered excitedly. Even now, I wasn’t over the novelty of having Asher Heaton touch me.
Wriggling my hips, I erased any space between us, and pressed myself against his thigh, rocking gently as lust sizzled through me. Asher reached behind me and undid the clasp of my bra. I slid it down my arms and he tossed it aside. I lifted myself up on my elbow just to double check the bra hadn’t landed in the fireplace.
“It’s fine,” he murmured, dropping kisses on my lips and cheeks.
I encircled his erection with my hand. It was hot, hard, and looked good enough to eat. I scooted down his body and sucked him into my mouth.
“Fuck, Summer.” His hands threaded through my hair, but he didn’t pull.
I teased his head with my tongue, then took him as deep as I could. He groaned as I swallowed around him. My jaw ached, but I licked along the underside of his cock as I drew back, and then sucked him down again, my cheeks hollowing. His grip tightened in my hair.
“No more, baby,” he said. “Not unless you want me to come.”
I smiled around him, satisfaction surging within me. I did want that, but I also wanted the release his dark tone promised. I slid back up until I was face to face with him. To my surprise, he gripped the back of my neck and plundered my mouth, twining his tongue with mine.
“I love tasting myself on you,” he rasped.
A full-body shiver rolled through me. “I didn’t know you were so possessive.”
His eyes were almost black as he held my gaze. “Neither did I until you.”
His arms wrapped around me, and he ground his cock against my clit. I rocked against him, and he groaned. He sucked one of his fingers into his mouth, his black gaze holding mine, and then he slipped his hand between us and used his finger to toy with me. He teased my clit, stroked down my center, and circled my entrance.
I pressed against his hand, and he cupped my sex and kissed me. I melted into the embrace, almost forgetting about his hand until he pushed his finger inside me and crooked it. My head fell back, and I gasped. His cock throbbed against my hip.
“Want you,” I said.
“Not yet.”
Another finger joined the first one, stretching me. He licked into my mouth, his eyes burning as he brought me to the edge with his touch.
He slid a third finger inside, and then withdrew them all, leaving me empty.
“Ash,” I protested.
“I’ve got you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Faster.”
He chuckled. My eyes narrowed further. If he could laugh, then he wasn’t nearly gone enough.
He rolled the condom on, but as soon as he tried to crawl over me, I shuffled out from under him and pushed him down until he was on his back. I positioned his erection beneath me and lowered myself onto it, squeezing my eyes shut as he filled me.
“Oh, god.” It was somehow too much and not enough at the same time.
I waited for my channel to adjust to the intrusion, and then rolled my hips. Asher grabbed me by the waist and held on. I lay over him, staying low enough not to bump my head, and rode him with sensual motions that created exquisite friction against my clit.
He pulsed inside me, and I beamed down at him, a burst of confidence arising from the desire plainly written across his face. His lips were parted, his breathing uneven, as he thrust up into me. I continued to move sinuously, tightening the delicious thread of pleasure until I cried out, my inner walls clenching around him as I fell apart.
Asher waited until the last spasm and then rolled me beneath him and pushed into me over and over again, his movements jerky. With a hoarse shout, he stiffened inside me and came.
He lowered himself onto me, careful enough not to squish me. I closed my eyes and basked in the sensations rioting through my body. There was physical satisfaction, yes, but also a bone deep sense of contentment, as if, despite everything, I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
I was vaguely aware of Asher removing the condom and pulling me into his arms, and then the world faded to black.
Until the smell of smoke woke me.