Chapter 8 Ember
Darkness filled the room, and I gasped.
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath. I hated the dark. I really, really hated it! Ash’s arm swung over my shoulder, and I immediately felt safe.
Calm.
Protected.
Loved.
Loved? That was ridiculous!
“Daddy,” I whispered as my eyes adjusted and the golden hue of the fire washed over us. “Shit,” I whispered. My face felt hot, and I knew it was a good thing it was dark because I was probably redder than a tomato.
“Shh,” he soothed against the top of my head. “I got you, sweetheart,” his deep voice rumbled, and white-hot heat filled me from the top of my head to my toes.
“I didn’t, umm…” Oh god! Had I actually called him daddy? Had he heard? Maybe he didn’t hear me?
“I got you, baby girl.” I shivered. A tingle ran up and down my spine, and a warm ache settled low in my belly.
“Asher…”
“You got it right the first time, princess,” he murmured, tipping my head up so our eyes met. “Daddy,” he repeated. Shit! He’d heard and now wanted me to call him that again.
It was crazy.
Insane.
We lived eight hours away from one another! Whatever this thing between us might feel like, it wasn’t viable. It couldn’t last longer than the week I’d planned on being here.
Take the moment. Capture it and make it yours, a voice in my head whispered. A tremble washed through me. The room was dark, with only a hint of silvery moonlight streaming through the windows I hadn’t shut yet and the fire still burning brightly; those were the only sources of light.
Asher’s blue eyes seemed darker as he stared not just at me but what felt like right through me. Like he saw me for me in a way no one ever had.
And everything inside of me wanted to give in.
Hand over the reins and let him be in charge.
Let him be my daddy for however long this blizzard lasted.
God, the idea with anyone else would have been terrifying.
But sitting next to Asher, wrapped up in his arms, I wanted daddy to take over and be in charge.
To let someone take care of me for a change.
I could see the challenge in his gaze as he stared back at me. The way he wanted me to repeat it as we stared at one another. My heart was beating wildly against my chest.
“Daddy,” I whispered. His hands on my tightened when I gave the two of us what we wanted.
Asher Tilbury might not have outright smiled, but his eyes that reflected he was more than happy with what he’d just heard.
His hand cupped my face, tilting me in place slowly, still giving me one last chance to change my mind.
But I wasn’t going to.
When my sexy stranger’s head started to drop, my eyes fluttered shut, unknowingly handing him more than my trust. His firm lips touched mine, and I melted.
I couldn’t describe it as anything else.
My head cleared of every thought while our mouths slow danced to a song only our hearts had ever heard before.
It was like we’d done it a million times before. Steady. Confident. Sure.
But completely new.
A first.
My hand moved between us as I clenched the soft material of his dress shirt as his slid into my hair perfectly, the way you saw happen on screen or read about but never really experienced without a couple of strands being tugged on the wrong way.
But not with Asher.
No. Daddy most definitely knew what he was doing.
He adjusted us, pulling me onto his lap completely, and I had no qualms about tossing my thighs over his as our chests touched and my shorts rode up my thighs. Thighs he was currently touching. Skin on skin, making me ache for more while seriously thankful I hadn’t changed into pants.
I wanted more. I needed his hands all over my body.
An image bubbled to life I wanted to make a reality. The two of us completely naked with one another, flesh against warm flesh. Preferably sweaty. I shivered, and he groaned, the sound like a shot of my favorite tequila.
“Cold?” he rasped against my lips, but I shook my head, resting my forehead against his. My eyes were still shut as we breathed the same sweet air. “Look at me, princess.”
“You shouldn’t call me that,” I said breathlessly.
“You don’t like it?” he asked with genuine curiosity.
I’d never liked anyone calling me that, hated it growing up. When you’re blonde with blue eyes and my build, a lot of people call you a lot of things. Princess is one of them, but it isn’t usually meant in a nice way.
“I think for the first time in my life, I do. And that could be a problem,” I answered honestly.
I didn’t feel the need to edit myself or overthink things.
If this was going to be for a couple of days—hell, for all I knew, we’d wake up and the snow could be gone by morning, and all we’d have was a night—I was going to be one hundred percent genuine.
“Baby,” he groaned. “I need those baby blues on me.” I opened my eyes.
“If we do this, we should have some rules,” I blurted before he could say something that would put my heart in even more danger than it was already in.
“Okay,” he said quietly, his gaze studying me.
“We have to be honest and real with one another.”
“Ember, I don’t think there is any other way I would know how to be with you.” My heart pounded against my chest.
“And we know this…” I swallowed hard.
“What is this, Ember?” he asked, brushing the hair off my face before setting his nose against mine.
“Is temporary.” The words tasted bitter on my tongue.
“Why?”
“Why?” I repeated, trying to remember, but good lord, every reason faded away as I stared into his eyes.
“What else?” he asked, moving the conversation forward. If I had been paying attention, I would have noticed he didn’t promise to follow that rule.
“Else?” I asked, my eyes now back on his mouth. God, it wasn’t fair for a man to have such perfect lips.
“Rules?” he repeated. His chocolate gaze softened. “Anything else you want to put in place?”
“Oh, umm… I’m not sure, just… we need to be honest with each other and…
anything you can think of?” His hands never stopped stroking my back and shoulders.
I didn’t care if it made me a little slutty, but I wanted so much more with him.
I didn’t care that we’d just met or I didn’t know all that much about him.
Or that this was possibly my first and only one-night stand.
“You let me take care of you. Within these walls, daddy’s in charge.” I blinked. “Within these walls, daddy’s in charge,” he repeated. Wetness coated my thighs. So much I wondered if he could feel it.
“Let you—“
“You asked for honesty, Ember, and you’re going to get it, baby girl. I’ve never done this before.”
“This?”
“The daddy/baby girl play,” he laid out plainly and without embarrassment.
“Oh.” My face felt hot, and I was probably cherry red. Thank goodness the lights hadn’t kicked back on. “I haven’t, either,” I confessed.
“But you called me—"
“It’s just how I thought of you. From when I first saw you. I do-don’t know—“ I stuttered, tripping over my own words. “There’s something about you where this just… feels easy to do. Only with you.”
“There’s something about you, too,” he said, and the way he did combined with the way he stared at me made me believe him. “I like the idea of exploring that dynamic with you.”
“You do?” Hope burst to life inside of me.
“I do. You make me want to…” He swallowed, tempering down an animal-like groan coming from inside chest.
“What?” I pressed, needing to know as I felt his lips press against my cheek.
“Take care of you. Protect you,” he murmured. “Cherish and worship you. Build you up so you know I have your back no matter what.”
“In this cabin?”
“Any time. Any place,” he vowed. Fuck, I wanted that.
“You just met me.”
“It doesn’t matter.” The confidence in his tone made me relax further.
“Tell me you don’t feel this with me. That you don’t feel like you could just let go and not think for a moment because you know daddy’s got you and is going to take care of you no matter what.
” My nipples felt like they could cut glass.
He wasn’t wrong.
“Asher,” I whispered. My breathing changed.
“For as long as you want this,” he laid out, “let me take care of you. Let me be the one you can lean on after holding on to so much for so long. Tell me that, and I promise, princess, I won’t let you regret it.
Not even for a split second.” His tone was so serious, part of me started to think he might be talking about more than the course of the blizzard howling outside the cabin’s walls.
And by god, I wanted to agree to that if it meant kissing him, touching him.
“I want daddy to take care of me.” The words slipped past my lips, and I knew I’d never been surer of anything in my life.
His lips tilted, and when he leaned in, he sealed the promise of more with a kiss.
Sweet and soft.
Tentative.
Almost like he was waiting for me to change my mind and push him away, but I didn’t.
I wasn’t going to. The hands on the clock ticked away while our kiss grew deeper.
Wetter. An insatiable hunger started to grow low in my belly, and my hands started to wander.
Up his neck, into his incredibly soft hair. Down to his strong shoulders.
“Fuck,” he cursed, “you’re going to be the death of me, baby.” My lips kicked up in a smile I felt in my heart. “So fucking sweet and cute. And mine,” he growled. A squeak escaped from me when he stood and carried me along with him.
He started to take a step forward but stopped just in front of the fireplace. He pulled back and stared at me. Even when I was in his arms, he had to look down at me.
“Need to stop?” he asked. I shook my head with enthusiasm. Stop? That was the last thing I wanted. “Cold?” His eyes skimmed to my bare shoulder. I shook my head again, but his brows bunched, and then one rose higher than the other. “You sure about that?”