Chapter 20—Aspen
After a delightful meal of fish tacos, a much different ending from the last time they visited the food truck, they found themselves back at Connor’s stunning turn of the century home.
“You’re going down, Wheel Boy.”
“Haters gonna hate, sweetheart,” Connor teased then yanked Aspen to straddle his lap. “Although I don’t mind your puzzle challenges because the rewards are so sweet when I always win.”
To prove his point, Connor grabbed Aspen’s hips and ground his thick cock pushing against the fly of his jeans and against her perfectly positioned center. Ribbons of pleasure exploded through her body at the contact.
“I just don’t understand how you win just about every single time,” Aspen gasped and met Connor’s thrusts.
She then tangled her fingers in his blonde hair hanging loose. He may be obsessed with her crimson curls, but she had a serious thing about his wild hair and the perfectly trimmed stubble on his face.
“And I just don’t understand how you can have conversation right now when I’m one layer of clothes away from burying my dick deep inside of you.”
To punctuate his point, Connor ground even harder against her core while tugging her head toward his and capturing her lips in a scorching hot kiss.
He shifted his hands downward to splay across her waist and under her t-shirt to remove the cloth from her body.
On a groan, Connor pulled back just a fraction to guide the shirt over her head and toss it behind the couch.
Aspen’s heartrate zoomed as she awaited the return of his delicious mouth to her own. But he didn’t. Instead, Connor’s hooded gaze scanned her body as if she was his favorite dish at an all-night buffet and he didn’t know where to start.
He then skimmed his massive hands across her bared skin, his bronzed flesh looking widely rugged compared to her paleness. Connor stroked his hands higher up her body to bridge her ribcage just below her breast covered in a black lace bra.
“Touch, me, Connor,” Aspen begged, not recognizing the lustfulness in her own voice.
“You are so fucking beautiful, BB.”
Before Aspen could take another breath, he bent his head to capture the distended bud of her nipple into his mouth.
The sensation of her flesh pressed against the lace combined with the suction of this mouth and teasing nibbles caused her pussy to clench.
When Connor used his thumb and index finger to manipulate her other nipple, she shrieked as pleasure overwhelmed her senses.
“I need more, Connor,” Aspen demanded and yanked at his own t-shirt so she could expose the expanse of his chest and run her fingers across those washboard abs. “Bedroom. Now.”
Connor immediately stood from the couch supporting Aspen by her ass, and began marching them up the stairs to his master suite, his mouth never leaving the ebony material of her bra.
Once in his bedroom, he tossed her on the bed and began removing his own clothing. “Bossy little thing, aren’t you?”
“You do call me the boss baker, so...” Aspen retorted, discarding her own clothes until she was naked along with her conqueror standing at the foot of his bed.
“That’s more like it,” Connor tossed a condom packet onto the mattress before he climbed onto the bed, hooking his hands under her knees and slowly spreading her legs apart.
Aspen’s breath hitched as Connor glided his tongue across the inside of her thigh until he ended at the juncture between her legs. He peppered light kisses against her body’s most sensitive spot before using his tongue to tease her clit with impeccable pressure.
Overwhelmed by the sensations of his wicked mouth, Aspen nearly jack-knifed from the bed when he took the entire bud between his lips with the perfect amount of suction.
Wolfe added one of his long, thick fingers and began pumping into her as he continued his assault against the charged bundle of nerves.
“More. Please, Connor. More,” Aspen pleaded and began bucking her hips as the stirrings of a stellar orgasm began to gather like an impending storm.
“That’s it, baby, give it to me. Let me feel how much you want this. How much you want me,” Connor returned his mouth to perform those perfect circles around her clit.
With the blood rushing in her ears and her heart about ready to pound out of her chest, the husky timbre washed over her.
Before Aspen knew what was happening, she felt the push of Connor’s cock against her opening and then inside to the hilt.
Aspen needed more and began gyrating her hips, causing a delicious rub of her clit against Connor.
After several thrusts, Aspen pushed against Connor’s shoulder until he understood her needs and rolled to his back.
Crawling on top of him, Aspen slowly guided herself onto his cock and started gliding her hips in the perfect rhythm that caused her core to pulse with want.
Grabbing onto her hips, Connor began thrusting into her.
“I’m not going to last, BB.”
“Just go, Connor,” Aspen panted. “I’m right there with you. Right. There.”
And at that they both found their release, Aspen instantly collapsing onto his chest, her hair mingling with his.
After several minutes, Connor rolled her off him to lay on the bed, and left to discard the condom in his bathroom attached to the bedroom.
Connor quickly returned to the bed where he pulled Aspen against his side in one fluid motion. As soon as he settled her so her arm was over his chest, her leg tangled between his, he kissed her forehead.
“You’re fucking incredible, BB.”
“Seems to me you always do the work, big guy,” Aspen said, as she absently began tracing the intricate tattoo that spanned the length of his ribcage.
It was an angel on one knee, sword between her hands, head bowed.
The intricate wings weren’t represented in flight; rather, they rested against the ground in sadness spanning the entire length of Connor’s torso.
The art seemed alive, the sorrow pouring from the ink in movement with each breath Connor took.
“This is incredible. What does the angel symbolize to you?”
Connor took so long to speak, Aspen thought maybe he’d dozed after their intense love making session.
“Sheer power, yet absolute incapability to prevent doom.”
Still tracing the elaborate design, Aspen lifted her head to look up into Connor’s eyes. “Is there a personal story there or is that a philosophy about life in general?”
Aspen felt like they were at the crux of something crucial, something very few people might be privy to, and she desperately wanted to be the one he felt safe in which to confide. This was beyond pillow talk. This was Connor letting her see a part of him Aspen was certain no one knew.
She craved it. Needed to hear it.
As Wolfe began to speak, he suddenly stopped.
“You’re incredible, you know that?”
Connor rolled over the top of Aspen so she was once again pinned beneath his muscled mass.
He began kissing the column of her neck, and nuzzling against her skin. Aspen lost her mind along with her breath at the magic spell he wove.
Obviously, he avoided talking by distracting her with said voodoo, leaving her insides squishy and her mind otherwise occupied.
She was so turned on she swore she could hear bells. How did he make her lose her mind in such short order?
The nibbles and licks against her neck caused a cascade of goosebumps to tidal wave across her skin.
More bells.
“Your phone, BB.”
“Whaaaa?” confusion laced Aspen’s voice while her body continued to soak up the sensations sparked by Connor.
“You’re phone’s ringing, BB. I think it’s in the pocket of your pants on the floor.”
The last ring sounded and the caller blessedly went to voicemail, except the phone started ringing again a few seconds later.
“BB, that could be important.”
He was right, dang it.
“You’re right. You’re right,” Aspen gusted and sat upright. She crawled to the edge of the bed and leaned over to grab her phone as it rang again. “It’s Mia.”
Connor bolted up, concern bracketing his face. “Why is she calling this late?”
“I don’t know, but not a peep from you. Do you hear me?” Aspen leveled a stare at Connor while trying to control her breath from her intense foreplay session. She was also trying to keep the big guy from grabbing the phone before she could answer it.
She won, thank goodness, as she swatted his hand away from the phone to take the call.
“Hi, Aspen. I need a favor if you’re not busy,” Mia started without preamble. “But, um, it sounds like you’re busy. I can call you later.”
“No, no. It’s all good. It’s good,” Aspen said, trying to sound convincing to Mia while trying to keep Connor from nearly crawling into the phone as he strained to hear the conversation. Aspen worked to try to keep Mia from learning Connor and she laid naked together. “Whad’ya need?”
“I just had a fight with both Matt and Dante and wondered if I could crash on your couch tonight.”
“Oh, my gosh! A fight with both Matt and Dante?” Aspen covered the phone to relay the news to Connor.
“Um, yeah. I just need somewhere to go until I figure things out, but it really sounds like you’re busy and I don’t want to bother you. I’ll be fine.”
“Give me a sec,” Aspen mouthed to Connor to stop it, then turned her body away from him before replying to Mia. “It’s no problem. And you’re okay, right? No one’s hurt?”
There was such a long pause, Aspen began playing all sorts of scenarios in her mind, all of them involving Dante beating poor Matt to a pulp because Mia’s brother must have found out about his little sister and Matt being together.
“No, just my heart,” Mia whispered before she began sobbing.
“Oh, sweetie,” Aspen said, her own heart aching for her friend. “Do you need me to pick you up?”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll be over in about thirty minutes. Let me get some clothes together.”
Aspen ended the call. “Poor, sweet Mia.”
Connor leaped off the bed as if molten lava covered the mattress. He stormed to his dresser to pull out fresh clothes.
“I’ll go get her,” Connor growled as he finished pulling on his t-shirt then ran his hands through his hair to brush it from his face.
“You most certainly will not,” Aspen said quickly, and she, too, began to dress.
“It’s obvious something went down between Dante and Matt, and it most likely had to do with the fact they’ve been sneaking around behind her brother’s back.
The last thing Mia needs is to see us together when she needs to focus on her own problems right now. ”
“That’s ridiculous,” Connor spat out. “I’m her uncle for fuck’s sake. Who better to be there for her than me?”
“No, Connor. I’m not budging on this one,” Aspen moved toward Connor to push against his shoulders to try and move past him to leave his room.
Speaking of not budging, he was massive and nearly impossible to move.
“This is ridiculous, Aspen. I have every right to be here.”
Silence filled the room sharing space with the anger bubbling up inside Aspen.
“No, Connor, you don’t,” she threw her hands on her hips. “Are we dating? Is this a friends with benefits situation? We can’t even define what we are, so why would we add more confusion to poor Mia’s world when it’s obvious the bottom just fell out of it.”
“BB—”
“—Trust me. As soon as I find out what’s going on I’ll let you know. Let me figure this out with Mia, then I’ll call.”
Connor began grumbling about stubborn bakers and foolish rookies before leaning in and kissing Aspen on the lips. Hard.
“Don’t think we won’t address the ‘what are we’ comments,” Connor grumbled as he walked Aspen across the threshold of the front door and to her Rav4.
Just before slipping inside her small SUV, Aspen interrupted him by reaching up on her tiptoes and kissing him on the lips. “I’ll call you.”
She then shut the door on his scowling form.
Forty minutes later, Mia was sitting on Aspen’s couch, sipping wine and sharing the tale of how her brother caught she and Matt together in a compromising position. Unfortunately, it was in Dante’s condo where they were all three living at the time.
It appeared she and Matt hooked up a few weeks ago following a summer filled with more sexual tension than a Marvin Gaye ballad, and had been seeing each other in secret.
“I just don’t know what to do, Aspen,” Mia pulled her legs up to her chin, despair radiating from her body. “I’m so mad. So mad at both of them.”
“You focus on you, Mia. You can stay here as long as you like and work at the bakery and the kids’ summer camp. Do as much or as little yoga as you want, but just focus on you. It will all work out. I promise,” Aspen reassured her.
If only Aspen could reassure herself that whatever this was with Connor would work out, she’d be happier than a climber summiting on Everest.
But that was for another time. Right now her friend needed her, and she would be there.
Mia yawned. “How can I be tired after tonight?”
“Stress. Lots of stress, sweetie,” Aspen stood up and reached out to take Mia by the hands to help her rise from the couch. “Now, I’ve got the guest room made up with fresh sheets. Let me go tuck you in and smother you with TLC as defined in the official friends’ manual.”
“You’re the best, Aspen,” Mia said through tears. “Would you hang out with me for a bit longer?”
Aspen silently swept away the exhaustion that filled her body. “There’s nothing I’d rather do.”