Glass Ceilings: A Modern Steamy Cinderella Fairy Tale (Fairly Twisted Tales Book 1)

by Lux Miller

  She rolls her eyes at me. I’m certain she’s about to give me a here to and what for, but she doesn’t. Instead, she just smiles at me and takes my hands in hers. And then she says something to me that I never thought I would ever hear come out of a woman’s mouth… and certainly not a woman like Ashley. “Come with me to dinner, Eli.”

  I probably look like an idiot standing here with my mouth hanging open. Ashley’s soft voice breaks through my haze as she waves a hand in front of my face. “Eli, are you okay?”

  I nod stupidly as I blink quickly. “I, uh, yeah… for some silly reason, I thought you asked me to dinner. Must be because I haven’t eaten since breakfast. When Trevor and I got into that fight… well, never mind… let’s just say I’ll be hitting up a food truck on the way home. Ugh, if I even go home. I swear, I rather sleep on the streets than go home to that hell hole. If it isn’t Trevor all up in my personal business, then it’s Lacey prancing around acting like she’s better than me. The only thing she is is luckier than me that it wasn’t her parent that died. If Trevor’d been the one who bit it, my life… shit, all of our lives would probably be better than they are.”

  Realizing how much I’ve just said and revealed, I slap a hand over my mouth. Ashley twists her pretty lips up into a frown. “Eli, that’s horrible…”

  I nod, sighing. “I know, Ashley. I’m sorry. Normally I’m pretty good about staying chill on it, but Trevor just really pissed me off earlier. He took my phone. I mean, it wasn’t much. It certainly wasn’t an iPhone or anything, but it was one of the few things I actually had that was mine. Granted, I was only supposed to be using it for Trevor to contact me…”

  Ashley gasps. “Eli! Tell me you didn’t… aw shit, did you save any of those Snaps?”

  I gulp, swallow, and nod. In that order. “I’m sorry, Ashley. He’ll never find them, but yeah, I kinda put them in my spank bank.”

  She blushes, her cheeks flushing deep crimson. “Spank bank? Does that mean you…?”

  It’s my turn to blush as I nod. “Yeah, it’s the pictures I use to, well… jerk off. I’m a very sexual man, if you haven’t noticed, and it’s been a long time since I last had something regular. I’m just worried that one of these mornings, you’re going to wake up and realize you’re fucking a lowly gardener. Hell, I’m just the gardener’s stepson. You could have a movie star or a real prince… and you’re slumming it up with me. I just figure reality’s going to catch up with us sooner or later.”

  Ashley’s face blanches like she’s been slapped. She lets go of my hands and shakes her head wildly. “Eli… do you really think so little of me? Do you really think I’m that shallow that I couldn’t possibly care for someone who isn’t rich?”

  I look down at the sidewalk and toe the concrete with my work boot. “It’s not you that’s shallow, Ashley, but your world… you and I both know I don’t belong in it. This…” I motion back and forth between us quickly, “...is fucking amazing. But can you honestly tell me that you see a future for us? What’s going to happen in a week, a month… hell, maybe a year from now when your father insists you get married to one of those brown-noser ladder-climbers who wants to put a ring on it so they can put a check in the bank? I’ve been let down enough in my life, Ashley… I don’t know if my soul can take another crushing blow. I don’t know how much good is left in me. The next time could tip the balance and turn me into someone I hate… someone like Trevor.”

  Ashley steps inside my personal bubble and wraps her arms around me tightly. “You’ll never be Trevor…” Everything inside me surges with hope before it’s dashed to bits on the realization that I’m every kind of wrong for her. No matter how right it feels when our bodies are joined in carnal enjoyment of each other, I’m no good for her.

  Despite my epiphany, I can’t seem to untangle myself from her arms. I’m just working up the courage to let her down easy when she stands up on her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. They’re slightly salty from her earlier act of giving me a blowjob, but I don’t care. In fact, I give about zero fucks what the world thinks right this moment. I can’t even form a coherent thought as she slides her tongue along the seam of my mouth.

  I groan softly with the unexpected jolt of pleasure that surges through my body, and she dips her tongue into my mouth, claiming my tongue with hers. She battles it out with me for dominance of my mouth, and despite my half-cooked effort, she wins easily. After several heady minutes of her luscious mouth devouring mine, she pulls back.

  “Eli, nobody chooses your destiny but you…”

  I shake my head vigorously, “What if there’s things in my past that you can’t handle? What if I let you in and then you can’t accept everything that I am? That I have been? That I’ll never be?” What if I’m just not good enough for you?”

  Ashley swallows thoughtfully. “Are you a wanted criminal?”

  I shake my head quickly. “No, I’ve kept my nose clean of anything illegal. My record’s clean.”

  Ashley nods slowly, then asks, “Have you done anything that you haven’t been caught for?”

  Shrugging my shoulders, I avoid the implications of her question. “Nothing that’s legally against the law. Might be a few moral miscalculations here and there…but I’ve never forced anyone to do anything they didn’t want to do.”

  Ashley licks her lips slowly. “Come home with me. You don’t have to feel obligated to do anything, but my father’s out of town for the week. I talked to him this morning. He’s in Tokyo trying to sell the newest version of the Flush-O-Matic to a hotelier. You said you can’t go home… so come to mine.”

  I open my mouth to protest, but Ashley puts a finger against my mouth and shakes her head. “I insist. At least come eat dinner with me. No obligations outside of enjoying a meal together. I want to know more about you than how your dick feels buried inside me. I know that feels fucking amazing. I want to get to know the man behind the mask.”

  I swallow down the hard lump that’s bobbing in my throat. “What if you don’t like what you find? What if my secrets are too much for you to see past?”

  Ashley looks at me seriously and shakes her head. “What could someone like you have possibly done that would make me think any less of you?”

  I exhale an unsteady breath and look at her, my eyes boring into hers, “You’d be surprised…”

  SEVENTEEN

  Ashley

  After a tense argument, Eli agreed to come back with me to the SoHo apartment. I wasn’t lying about my father being out of town. He’s been in Tokyo for several days now and plans to be there for at least another two weeks. That means I have the entire apartment to myself to do whatever I want, without my father breathing down my neck and not-so-subtly reminding me that I’m supposed to be acting like a lady.

  I glance up from the third street taco I’ve tucked into in the last fifteen minutes. They’re greasy in the best way possible, and the splattering of toppings to the wrapper below just makes them that much better. They’re overloaded, and the collection of cheese, meat, sauces, and veggies that have gathered in the foil will serve as a fourth taco without a shell the moment this one is gone. I have a soft spot for New York street food, and I’m not ashamed to eat half my weight in food truck fare whenever my father is out of town. It’s a rite of passage to do the exact opposite of everything your parents tell you to do.

  Across from me, Eli has just polished off his own set of tacos and is sitting back on the plush, white leather couch with a satisfied smirk on his face. I tilt my head to the side slightly when our eyes meet and ask, “What are you so smug about?”

  He shrugs, looking around the apartment with wide eyes. He doesn’t spend too much time looking, though, before his eyes are right back on me. “So, which highly stainable couch am I sleeping on tonight?”

  I burst out laughing and stand up, licking my fingers clean before reaching for a napkin. I shake my head at him and point toward my bedroom. “None of them, silly. If you’re going to stay here, you�
��re going to be with me. Unless, of course, you’ve an objection to sleeping in a plush, king-size bed with two thousand thread count sheets.”

  Eli blinks at me in surprise, but he’s on his feet before I even stop talking. He closes the distance between us and scoops me up into his arms effortlessly. “Show me the way…”

  “Last door on the left is mine.”

  Eli carries me down the hallway and turns left at the open door of my bedroom. He stops in the doorway and stares in awe at the massive room. The California King bed barely takes up half the floor space, and I have a sixty-inch television mounted to the opposite wall. After he stands there staring for several seconds, I wriggle in his arms slightly. “Hey, it’s just a bedroom. Don’t drop me…”

  Eli chuckles and shakes his head to clear his mind. He sets me down on my feet and walks over to the bed, then glances back at me. “Your comforter is white. I can shower for an hour and there’s still layers of grime that cling to me like they’re a permanent part of me. Are you sure you want me in your bed?”

  I nod and watch him in complete silence as he crosses his arms over his chest and raises his form-fitting t-shirt over his head, flinging it to the floor behind himself. He also makes quick work of his worn jeans, discarding them into a messy pile of fabric with his shirt. He keeps his back facing me, but glances over his shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind. I don’t usually wear much when I sleep.”

  My bottom lip slides between my teeth as I eye him without shame. It’s been a few weeks since we first started having sex, and in that time, I’ve seen his chiseled physique more than a dozen times, but it never ceases to amaze me how built he is. His shoulders are broad and muscular. His arms are impressively large, but he’s not muscle-bound to the point where it’s creepy-looking. He looks like he could lift a horse. I know he throws me around like I’m nothing, and I weigh a solid hundred and thirty pounds.

  Trailing my eyes across his body, I follow the ridges of his muscles down between his shoulder blades and along his spine to where his massiveness tapers into a trim waist. A pair of tight boxer-briefs cling to a gorgeous set of asscheeks that highlight his strong legs. He does manual labor for a living, so it’s no wonder that everything about him is built for strength and endurance.

  Eli turns around and walks over to where I’m standing, unapologetically objectifying his body. He smirks and slides his hands onto my waist, pushing along the planes of my body until they’re resting against my ass. He slides his hands down, so that he’s cupping the roundness of my butt, then lifts me up.

  I squeak, throwing my arms around his neck and wrapping my legs around his waist tightly, hooking my ankles behind his back “Eli! You’re going to drop me!”

  He shakes his head, skillfully walking us over to my bed. He releases his grip on my ass, and I fall to the bed with a soft thud. I’ve barely come to a rest on top of the comforter before he’s pressing himself between my legs and hovering over me. There’s a darkness in his eyes as he leans down and plants gentle kisses along my neck, creating a red-hot path of pleasure from just below my ear to my collarbone. “Not until I intend to…”

  I watch him intently as his skilled fingers unbutton my plaid shirt one button at a time. He watches me with rapt attention as he rests his hands on my mostly-taut stomach. I’m sporting a bit of a food baby right now from the street tacos, but it’s not that noticeable. I hope. He pushes his calloused hands along my tender skin, up and over my stomach, pushing my shirt open in the process.

  He slides his hands into the valley between my breasts, and I shudder under his touch. There’s no doubt in my mind where this is leading, and to be honest, I don’t care. My entire body is yearning for him. I’d be a fool to stop him now.

  He brushes his palms up and over my breasts. The plaid shirt slips away, revealing my lacy bra. He groans with desire and swirls his thumbs over my nipples. They stand at half-mast through the lace, and I arch my back off the bed as he pinches the sensitive little nubs between his fingers and thumbs. The scratchiness of the lace heightens the pleasure and I moan softly.

  I lean my head back and let my eyes fall closed. He tugs down on the lacy cups, exposing my mounded flesh to the cold air of the room. My nipples harden instantly, stiff peaks on top of mountains of soft flesh. Eli groans with need, and before I can utter a single word, he sucks one nipple between his lips, sucking on it like his life depends upon it. He teases the other with his fingers while I writhe under him with the feelings of pleasure that shoot straight to my cunt.

  He chuckles and switches things out, now sucking on the other nipple while rolling the first between his fingers. After several moments, he lets my nipple slip out of his mouth with a soft ‘pop.’ I open my eyes and look up at him as he sits up straight, towering over me. He slides one hand down my body, grabbing hold of my knit shorts and tugging them down. He then moves the other hand down my body until it’s resting against the apex of my legs. He pushes aside the flimsy lace of my thong and pushes one long, slender finger inside of me, followjed seconds later by another.

  I buck my hips against his hand and moan loudly, the sound echoing off the walls. He grunts in response, his eyes focused on what his hand is doing to me. He pushes his thumb inside my folds and presses it against my swollen clit, flicking his thumbnail against the underside of it. “Mmmmm, damn, Ashley… somebody is happy to see me…”

  Propping myself up on my elbow, I watch him as he fingers me. He bottom lip is pulled between his teeth as he concentrates on what he’s doing. I drop my head back again and lay flat on the bed. He pulls his fingers out of me and tugs my shorts and thong off, leaving me halfway wearing my bra. “Fucking hell, Ashley… you’re so damn gorgeous. You’re literally going to be the death of me one day.”

  I bite down on my lip, lifting my ass off the bed with a whimper. “Eli, don’t tease…you can feel how wet I am. I love foreplay as much as the next woman, but if you don’t put your dick inside me somewhere, I’m going to scream...”

  His response is a somewhat sad groan, and my eyes snap open to meet his. “Eli, what’s wrong?”

  He blushes, looking down sheepishly. “I… I didn’t bring any condoms.”

  I don’t know what comes over me or why, but I shrug and motion for him to lay down over me. He discards his boxer briefs and his hardened cock flops out, bobbing against his body. If it’s even possible, my pussy is now wetter than before with anticipation.

  He crawls up my body, resting himself between my legs, but he’s careful not to let his swollen dick get too close to my cunt. He gently reaches around me and unhooks my bra, then pushes my shirt the rest of the way off and tosses both onto the floor. “Ashley, you’re so incredibly beautiful, and I want nothing more than to take you… make love to you… and show you what an amazing woman you are. You deserve so much more than fucking, and I want to give that to you…”

  I nod as I shove my hands into his hair, tugging his face down to mine. “Then take me… break me… make love to me.”

  Eli opens his mouth to protest, but I cut him off, “Fuck the condom. I need you inside me… I need to feel you. Please, Eli... “

  He groans, his entire body stilling for several breaths as he stares down at me in complete surprise. I’m sure he’s trying to determine if I’m bullshitting him or not. To reassure him, I wrap my legs around his waist and lift my hips so that the crown of his dick is pressing against my slick folds.

  His eyes widen as he realizes I’m serious. He opens and closes his mouth several times before giving me a little nod. He rests his elbows on the bed on either side of my head and rolls his hips, pushing his length inside of me with a gasp. By instinct, my pussy walls clench him tightly, and he leans his head back. A deep, rumbling moan emanates from him as he pushes himself balls-deep inside of me. I cry out with the sudden intrusion as his dick stretches my cunt to accommodate him.

  After a moment, I nod, and he begins thrusting. The raw feeling of his dick inside of me without any barriers
makes my eyes roll back into my head. He leans down and captures my lips in a heated kiss, immediately delving his tongue into my mouth. He relentlessly kisses me as he sets a languid rhythm, his body pumping mine with unbridled desire that sets my entire being on fire.

  After several minutes of fluid love-making, he gasps suddenly, and his entire body grows still. I can actually feel his dick twitching inside of me. I know, without a doubt, that he’s emptying his balls inside my cunt with thick ropes of sticky cum. Just the thought of my pussy milking his cock dry makes my entire body shudder with pleasure. As his body starts to shake with the effort of his orgasm, he rests his weight on top of me, keeping his cock buried deep inside of me.

  He nuzzles his face into my neck, placing butterfly kisses along my sweat-slicked skin. “Mmm Ashley, you’re fucking amazing…” Several heartbeats pass, then his voice lowers as he continues, “I don’t want to leave—”

  His words are interrupted by the loud buzzing of my phone. I sigh and wave my hand in the air. “Then stay… I want you to stay…in my home, in my bed… in my body...” I slide my hands down his back and dig my nails in, tugging him against me.