23. Show Me
Show Me
Sunlight filters through my closed eyelids as awareness tickles at me, waking me from the most restful sleep I can ever remember having. Warmth at my back has me snuggling toward it, pressing into hard muscles and soft skin.
Ash.
Right. We had mind-blowing sex and then got in bed, went for round two, and promptly fell asleep.
I wait for the panic to hit me. For the urge to dive for my clothes and run to my car.
Instead, safety washes over me like a gentle wave. Ash’s arms are around me, holding me close and making me never want to leave.
Right now, I suppose I don’t have to.
My eyes flit over what I can see of his room. It can’t be too late, as the sunlight is still soft and hazy where it streams in from the window. The room itself isn’t overly decorated, but there are photos of Ash and an older man. I’d guess it’s his dad, if the resemblance is to be any indication.
They’re relaxed, arms slung around each other in front of a young forest with small trees.
Probably something they worked on together using magic.
Their smiles are easy, and I think I should feel jealous.
But all I feel is a warm sort of happiness that Ash has such a good relationship with his father.
And then there’s the plant I set on fire. Sooty ash clinging to its branches.
I still can’t fucking believe I did that and didn’t even notice. Grandma would be oddly proud of me, I’m sure. I am, too.
“I can hear you thinking.” Ash’s morning voice is lower and rougher than usual and sends a sluice of heat down my spine.
“All good things,” I reply honestly, pressing back into a few more inches of hardness that have awakened with Ash.
A soft groan is his response as he lines us up. He slowly grinds against my ass, one hand palming my breast.
I chuckle. “Seems you’re thinking about something, too.”
“I’m thinking you should always sleep naked,” he says, other hand slipping down to collect the wetness that has gathered and twirl it around my clit. “I’m thinking waking up with you in my arms is the best goddamn thing I’ve ever experienced.”
“Please,” I whisper. How I can still be so hungry for him is astounding.
“Anything for you.”
With a hand on his length, he guides himself to line up and pushes in from behind, keeping us spooning.
It happens again. The weirdest witchy thing I’ve ever experienced as I feel what he feels. What we feel.
“God, is it like this for you, too?” I ask, relishing the soft, lazy rhythm inspired by our soft, lazy morning.
He chuckles, fingers moving back and forth between my clit and where he spears me open. “I could never explain how good you feel.”
“Flattering, but—” I gasp on a deeper thrust “—not exactly what I meant.”
How do I explain it?
Lips fall to my neck, pressing softness to the bruises I caught sight of for a moment in the mirror last night. I won’t be able to hide them, and I don’t want to. I belong to someone, and the evidence of that on my skin is everything.
“I could spend the rest of my fucking life inside you,” he says, panting in my ear like he just ran a marathon. “Tell me what you feel.”
“You. Fuck, Ash, I feel you.”
His fingers still at the exact place his cock enters me. “That’s me, Goldilocks, spearing you open. That’s me filling you better than you’ve ever been filled. That’s me staking my goddamn claim.”
“Oh,” I gasp. I need him closer, I need more, I need. “Please turn me around. Please, I need to see you.”
He pulls out, maneuvering me until I’m underneath all his broad muscles. His smiling face and shoulders block out the entire world in the best way. “I’m here, Laura.”
I drag him down for a kiss, digging my nails into his back. The prickle of pain radiates in my skin as if it was his nails scraping my skin.
“I’d like to try something. May I?” he asks, eyes open and clear of any morning fatigue.
I nod. I trust him with everything I am, and everything I have.
A mischievous smirk twists his lips as he unwraps my arms from around his neck and presses them above my head.
Before I can say anything, vines slither in from the open window. They’re slow, cautious, as if they’re not sure how I’m going to react. They slip through the slats in the headboard and down until they wrap around my wrists.
“Sex magic?” I ask, testing my new bonds. “Who knew you had a kinky side.”
“There’s so much to me that you don’t know yet,” he practically growls, sliding back inside me in one confident thrust. “I can’t wait to explore every single decadent thought I’ve ever had about you.”
My legs circle around him, my heels digging into his toned ass. “Show me.”
His speed picks up, sweat making his abs glisten in the morning light. This perfect person is all mine.
I struggle against the bonds, wanting to sink my fingers in his hair or leave more crescent moons on his back. But not being able to makes it hotter. The resistance. The desire left unfulfilled.
He lifts my thigh, bringing my leg up to rest against his shoulder. It changes the angle, causing the very tip of him to hit that miraculous spot that nothing other than my big purple dildo had found until Ash.
My back arches underneath him, the hard points of my nipples scraping against his chest. I moan his name, surrendering to the onslaught of pleasure.
“I could survive on the way you say my name alone.” He’s close, he’s so close and I’m almost there. “I could feast on your sounds for the rest of my life and be sated.”
“Please,” I whimper. I’m not sure exactly what it is I need, but I know I need it. “Please, Ash.”
“I’ll tell you once, I’ll tell you a million times. I’ve got you, Laura Hollis,” he says, emerald eyes peering into my soul. His thumb slips and slides against my clit, the slick between us making his calluses glide like silk. “And I’m yours.”
Fireworks spark behind my eyes as my orgasm slams into me with the force of a thousand fiery suns exploding at the same time. It drags me under, his own orgasm heightening mine and threatening to make me lose consciousness.
Slowly, the intensity ebbs until I’m left with his weight pressing on me, and free hands to wind around his shoulders.
“Can we spend every morning like this?” he asks, lifting his head to show me his goofy smile.
Fondness melts any lingering defenses until I’m grinning just as goofily. “Pretty sure it would be too much for you. You’re not getting any younger.”
“I’m twenty-seven.”
I suck in a breath. “That old, huh?”
He shrugs, bracketing my head with his forearms. God, they’re so fucking thick. “You like it.”
“Women across history have ignored much worse things than age for good dick.”
“So you admit I have good dick?”
I level him with a heavy stare. “As much as I truly don’t believe your ego needs feeding, it would be ridiculous to try and lie about how good that was.”
“My woman is so goddamn romantic.”
I boop him on the nose. “And don’t you forget it.”
He laughs—loud and boisterous and free. The sound makes me yearn for that level of levity and lightness. Makes me want to fix things with Hazel and be better.
Ash Cedar is going to make me a better person. How utterly horrid.
“Shower with me and I’ll drop you off at the market,” he says, pushing himself onto his knees.
I sigh heavily. “I can’t just stay in bed all day?”
“Goldilocks, I’ll keep you in bed for the rest of your days if you want me to.”
Part of me does want to lock myself away in Ash’s lumberjack tree house kingdom. But I can’t.
Giving Hazel some space after last night was smart, but abandoning Grandma’s booth at the market isn’t.
“Shower and market,” I reluctantly agree, sitting up.
He stands, offering me his hand. “You’re not alone anymore. Whatever it is you don’t want to face, you won’t do it by yourself.”
I launch myself into his arms, burying my face in his chest.
I’m not alone anymore.