Chapter 18
Belle
Six Years Ago
Dust motes dance along the sunbeams I’ve invited in through the distillery’s open doors. It’s the only movement in the low, evening light. The old barn is ominously silent, the air stale and still.
The rich smells I’m used to are no more than ghostly impressions.
The mashing tanks and stills are empty for now, and the distillery has stopped breathing.
In a way, I’m holding my breath too. This is just a temporary measure while Ash and I figure out a plan to stop the bank foreclosing on the loans.
It’s a pause, that’s all. We can and will bring it back to life.
When I hear the low timbre of a voice, there’s only one person it can be. I’ve had to let all the staff go so we can contain costs, and it’s just me and Ash now, racing against time and mounting debt to save my father’s legacy.
I follow the sound of his voice into the barrel room, the one place that feels almost normal.
The rows of casks offer that much needed reassurance that we’re still making whiskey, and whatever happens, these remaining batches have absorbed something special.
A piece of me, and a piece of Ash. A piece of us.
Ash sits at an old, rickety desk where we keep our inventories, but he’s not looking at the paperwork. He’s staring at the wall, his phone pressed to his ear.
“No, I’ll come alone,” he’s saying. “And don’t mention any of this to Hunter or Mace. I’ll speak to them once I’m with you.”
He rubs his temple as he listens, his neck and shoulders hunched. I walk slowly and silently towards him, ready to massage away the tension, but his next comment stops me in my tracks.
“I’ll need to check flights, but I should be there by tomorrow evening.”
Ash has been a constant presence in my life over the summer, and while his other business interests have needed his attention from time to time, he’s stayed here.
There’s been no mention of how life might look once this crisis has reached its conclusion.
I don’t want to think about the possibility that he won’t hang around to share it with me.
I back away until I’m pressed against the sampling table. I shouldn’t be so selfish. Ash has a life beyond Eastham Grove. I can’t expect him to stay here indefinitely. He has to leave at some point.
Hoisting myself up, I sit on the edge of the table, my legs dangling off the floor. I wait patiently for Ash to finish the call and for my panic to settle.
“Thanks, Killian,” Ash says. “And thank your dad… Yeah, I know. As long as you make it clear that this is strictly a one-off… OK, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ash places his cell phone face down on the table and stares at it for the longest time. He doesn’t move. I want to know what he’s thinking. I need to know.
I clear my throat, and the only sign that Ash hears is the twitch of his biceps poking beneath his t-shirt.
Slowly, he turns to look over his shoulder.
His gaze crawls over my body, pausing at my waist to the tie that’s keeping my wrap dress in place.
It’s only when he smiles that I know, whatever this is, it’s going to be OK.
“And what samples are on offer today, Belle?”
“No samples,” I say, my legs swinging. “You get a whole bottle.”
He stands up and stretches his spine. “Only one bottle?”
“Not enough? How much do you want, Ash? Can I interest you in a cask?”
Once he’s standing in front of me, he pulls at the tie at my waist and pulls my dress over my shoulder. There’s a brief look of confusion when the other side doesn’t fall open too.
I undo the inner tie for him, and as the dress slides off my back, I open my legs. Ash steps into the gap.
His hands reach for my waist as my arms wrap around his neck. He’s still tensed up, but he’s trying not to show it.
“I want everything you can give me,” he says, settling his hips against mine as he kisses my neck.
“And how do you intend to manage that when you’re flying off to who-knows-where?” I ask before I get too distracted by his lips.
The light playing in his whiskey-colored eyes flickers. “How much of that conversation did you hear?”
I don’t like the way my gut twists at the question. “Why, Ash? Would it change how much you’re willing to tell me?”
My challenge doesn’t come out of nowhere. He’s been quieter in the last few days, more guarded about whatever thoughts have been keeping him up through the night. Secretive.
Ash’s mouth moves to the curve of my breasts, but instead of more kisses, he rests his forehead against my chest. I rake my fingers through his hair, pressing deep into his scalp, desperate to get to his innermost thoughts.
“I have to go to a place just outside Las Vegas,” he says. “There’s a job I need to do.”
“What kind of job?”
He groans. “A very well paid one.”
“Why do I get the feeling you don’t want to do it?”
He takes his time before answering, and while I wait, I continue to stroke my fingers through his hair. “It’s an area of business I wasn’t keen on being involved with, but it’s too good an offer to turn down.”
“Is it to raise cash for this place? Are you doing it for me?” I ask. “Because if you are, you don’t have to. Not if it’s something you don’t want to do.”
Ash straightens to cup my face in his strong hands. His thumb strokes across my lips. “Sweetheart, I’d do anything for you, without hesitation, and that includes saving this place,” he says. “What we have is rooted here, and this is where I’m meant to be.”
I fight to hold back the tears welling in my eyes, but it’s a losing battle. “You will come back?”
His hazel eyes smolder. “You really need to ask?”
I bite my lip and nod.
“Yes, Belle. I’ll come back.” It’s his turn to grapple with doubt. “If you’ll have me.”
My first tear falls. “I know we haven’t been together long, but I can’t imagine life without you.”
“You don’t have to. I’m yours for as long as you want me,” he says, sweeping across the tracks of my tears with his thumbs. “I’ll be gone two weeks at most. You can manage that, can’t you?”
I nod. “I love you so much.”
“And I love you, Belle,” he says. “You just have to trust me. I know what I’m doing.
And while I’m away, all you have to do is keep this place afloat so we can breathe new life into it when I get back.
” He kisses me gently, the light brush of his lips sending tingles down my spine.
“But first we need to give these barrels some extra vibrations.”
He seals his mouth over mine, and as a hum rises in my throat, Ash undoes my bra. He tries to take it off, but my hands are tangled in the folds of my dress.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he grumbles.
“Condom. There’s one in my pocket.”
I’m not on birth control because I’d reacted badly to the one contraceptive I’d tried, and since I’ve never had a serious boyfriend, the need to find an alternative has never arisen.
Until Ash. It was something I’d added to my never-ending list of problems to solve, and for now, unprotected sex isn’t an option.
Ash knows this, but he stills my hand. “I want to take you bare. Let me fill that tight pussy of yours with my cum, Belle. Let me claim you.”
“But…”
His hand grips the nape of my neck. “I’m coming back for you,” he promises. “You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”
I do a quick calculation in my head. I’m pretty sure it’s a safe time in my cycle, and even if it’s not… I give up the search for a condom and move my hand over the ridges of his cock and squeeze. “Then what are you waiting for?” I demand. “Claim me.”