Chapter 19 #2
We didn’t say much as we ate. The noise and constant interruptions of waitstaff and customers squeezing past us took up much of the meal. Asher hadn’t acted as if he noticed, but when the check was settled and we walked outside, he took a huge breath and sighed.
“Maybe someplace a little less crowded next time,” he said.
“Agreed.” The food had been good enough for the price, but if I came here again, it’d be by accident. “Do you have any other plans today?”
“Nope. I’m all yours.”
How true. Nearly forgetting myself, I reached for him but sailed past at the last minute and opened the passenger door.
“Such a gentleman is my old man,” Asher whispered as he ducked inside.
We drove through a donut shop for more coffee, and then I took us to a park that surrounded a historical monument.
The late morning was chilly with the promise of cold, wet weather on its way, so there were only dedicated runners out and about, who probably didn’t stop for snowstorms or tornados either.
Asher zipped his sweater and put the hood back over his head. I grabbed my coat from the back seat, and we slowly meandered our way along a broad path lined with benches and trees.
“What’re you doin’ for New Year’s Eve?” He stopped on the trail and faced me. “It better not be proposin’ to Miss Georgia or whatever her name is.”
I chuckled, but it was hardly funny. “Georgina, and no. My parents throw a party every year, and I’m expected to be there. Date provided for me, this time.”
“Man, fuck your parents. What a bag of dicks,” Asher snapped, then apologized.
“It’s fine. They are dicks. But the worst part is how I’ve never stood up to them.”
“You’ve never tried?” Asher asked, then hastily added, “I’m not calling you out, but I mean, do you know how they’d react if you told them to fuck off?”
“No. No, I haven’t, not exactly.” I bumped his shoulder with mine. “And you’re not calling me out. I’ve had many years to come to terms with the reality I’ve allowed to happen.”
“I don’t get it. What makes Georgina so perfect? She lay golden eggs or something?”
“Metaphorically speaking, yes. Her father is the mayor of Cressmann. His father and his oldest son are in politics, and Georgina’s mother’s family is insanely wealthy.
Who knows what she ‘lays,’ but she’s the golden goose for sure.
Connections, pedigree, reputation … The Dorsets command the same, so my parents will settle for no less. ”
“They want this for your younger sister and brother too?”
I nodded slowly. “To a degree. If I marry well, their matches won’t be as important. However, Mary is engaged to what they deem an acceptable man. A son of one of the larger pharmaceuticals with a corporate office here in the South.”
Asher kept his head bowed in his hood as we talked but shook it with my words. “I can’t even imagine the world you live in. Hell, my family wouldn’t care if I got married at all. I mean, they want me to be happy, no matter if that’s a husband or not.”
I stopped him again and gripped his shoulder until he faced me.
“Your description of your family is as foreign to me as mine is to you. Our backgrounds are so different. Even if I were to come out to my parents, ruin any chance with the ‘right woman,’ and lay my future on the line to go against their plans, I wouldn’t want you around them. ”
The late morning had grown chillier, and this section of the path was entirely empty of anyone but us. I cupped his cold cheek and brushed my thumb under his eye. They’d darkened to warm gold, and with his thick lashes, they drew me in like holes in space.
“If they knew about me, that I chose to be with a man, I still wouldn’t want to expose you to them. You deserve more than their prejudice.”
He nuzzled my palm and closed his eyes with a deep inhale. “I get it to a degree. I’d probably feel the same, but I’d give you the choice.”
“What do you mean?”
Asher shrugged and turned to walk again. “Everyone’s limit is different. What I can handle might not be the same as what you can.”
“Fair point.”
“I’ve got this cousin, Max. He had a finger ripped off at work.” Asher held up his hand and pointed to a knuckle. “All the way.” He dropped his hands and stuffed them into his pockets. “That guy drove himself to the hospital. Didn’t tell a soul until someone noticed it a few weeks later.”
“Wow. Is he okay?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s fine. But that same cousin about threw himself in the grave with his little poodle when she got hit by a car.”
“How awful. Poor guy.”
“All I’m sayin’ is everyone looks at everything in their own way.
It makes us us, you know? Had I been forced to hear half the shit your folks go on about, I’d probably have had a few choice words for them.
I ain’t good at keepin’ my mouth shut most of the time.
” He huffed. “I’m just sayin’ it wouldn’t get me down.
Like, I might even feel like a hero puttin’ them in their place. ”
I snickered. “I know what you’re saying, Asher. I’m the one who has a hard time and assumes everyone would be the same.” After that display with my father weeks ago, Asher was already far superior at handling their bile.
He nodded. “You’re better with your words than I am.”
“Not at all. I love hearing your stories.”
He stopped and turned, cocking his head. “That so? Did I tell you about the time I gave this old dude head in a public bathroom?”
“Watch it, Playboy. Old man, I’ll take, but old dude makes me sound like a pervert.”
He laughed and dodged my attempts to grab him. “Or the time I catfished this guy while dressed like a girl?”
Asher skirted a bench, darting opposite me when I growled and chased him around one side.
“What about when I ate his ass out in the moonlight?”
I stopped. “Huh?”
Asher grinned. “Oh, right. That hasn’t happened yet.”
My cock twitched. It’d been a long time since my physical reaction hadn’t been under my complete control. Though being under his wasn’t so bad.
“Run.”
Asher widened his eyes, spun on his heels, and took off. I dashed after him. He must’ve heard my boots getting closer because he shrieked and faked to one side, then darted the other way. I caught him, though. In seconds, I’d turned him and thrown him over my shoulder.
“Fuck me, where were you hiding these muscles?”
“How’s this for an old dude?”
Asher laughed and swatted my ass. “You sure your back can take it?”
I smacked his even harder, then slid him down my body until he was on his feet again. “Don’t worry about what I can take.” I tugged him closer with a grip on his ass so that my middle finger hugged him between his cheeks. I kept walking, backing him up one tiny shuffle at a time.
He chewed his lower lip and stared at me from under his dark lashes. The cool morning and the impromptu run had his cheeks pink, but they darkened.
“Do you want that, Luke?” Before I could ask for clarification, he was bold enough to spell it out. “Do you want me fucking you with my mouth, my fingers, my dick? Or do you want to split me open? Come inside me and make me beg for more?”
No one was around us. The curve of the path offered even more privacy among the bare trees and few evergreens. The isolation gave me the freedom to say things I never had before.
“Yes, Asher. I want it all. I may not have done any of it, but not because I didn’t want to.
Fucking, rimming, all of it. I want to taste you.
I want you bent over my bed and in my shower.
I want to feast on you across my table. I want to unwind between your legs before I lose my mind with you between mine. ”
“Oh sh-shit,” he whispered.
“I like you bold, Asher. I like you telling me what you want. Do you like it from me?”
He licked his lips, and I traced the path with my tongue.
Asher nodded. “Yes. Fuck, yes. You’re so hot, all buttoned up and stuffy. Then you show me the animal underneath, and I lose my fuckin’ shit.” He chuckled, then curled into me, shaking. “Jesus, Luke, I can’t even …”
I smiled and grabbed his hand to kiss it gently. “Don’t be shy now, Playboy.”
His laugh turned breathless. “The fuck I am. This isn’t shy.
This is me tryin’ like hell not to drop to my knees right here and lick between that slutty crease in your tight ass.
” He reached under my coat, grabbed a handful of said tight ass, and squeezed.
“These snooty britches unravel me like a dirty whore, and I’m so fuckin’ here for it. ”
“Dirty whore, huh?” I rubbed my hips into his, but with the layers of coats, sweaters, and pants, the friction was minimal and frustrating. “You were the one wearing something black and lacey.”