“Why was it so bad?” asked Asher curiously. “Thorn is a real ladies’ man.”
“I mean, he was charming, but... Thorn just went on and on about Pax! Pax, this, Pax that! Thorn is a very sweet fellow, and I really would have liked to get to know him better... but he just doesn't seem to be really interested in me.” Para smiled up at Asher. “He just doesn’t know how to treat a lady the way you do, Asher. You make me feel so wonderful.”
She’s right! Asher thought to himself proudly. I am a lot better with seducing women than Thorn is, and I always have been.
“So, I guess it’s obvious then, Ash,” she said with a smile, “I choose you.”
“Really? I’m so glad to hear it, Medea!” he exclaimed. He waited for the joyous feeling to begin that naturally followed any victory over Thornton. He squinted, wondering why it wouldn’t come. A lot had changed since Asher and Thornton made the initial bet. The impending threat of a comet did put a damper on the joy of their small games. “I guess you just chose me by default,” he added. “It doesn’t matter; it will be nice to spend more time with you.”
"It will be nice. But what does that make us, Ash? Am I your girlfriend now?" she asked.
He made a face. “I like you a lot, Medea, but I think you should know... I can’t do the boyfriend thing. I screw up a lot. I’ll just disappoint you.”
“Oh,” remarked Para softly.
“Maybe you and I could spend time together with...” Asher searched his mind for the old lingo, the phrases from his wild twenties. “Um... what do they call it? No strings attached?”
“No strings attached?” repeated Para.
“Yeah,” said Asher. “I mean... if you need me to lift heavy things or open jars or fix something in your house, I’m game. But I can’t offer much more than that in the way of commitment. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life right now.”
Para peeked inside Asher’s head to hear his thoughts: Girlfriend? No way—that shit with Mara was too awful and I never want to go through that again. It would kill me. But maybe I should take a chance on a strange girl. Someone less connected to my friends and family, someone less successful and… more in my league. It’s hard to downgrade after Mara.
Para smiled at what she felt was a little show of loyalty to Amara on Asher’s part. At least in a very small messed up way. It still warmed her heart to hear him think of her. She wanted to throw him off a cliff slightly less.
Come on, Ash, he told himself. Thinking about Amara every minute of every day is not cool, especially when you’re walking in the forest with another girl. It’s just wrong. Say something! Change the subject.
“I made a career change today,” Asher blurted out.
You need to have a career in order to change it, she thought to herself. “Oh, really? What’s the new job?”
“You will probably think it’s stupid,” he said with a blush. “I’m a personal trainer, specializing in self-defense skills. Thorn is hooking me up with some high profile clients. I’m really good at this; my family always made sure that I knew lots of martial arts growing up.”
“That actually sounds great,” she said earnestly. She felt a genuine smile come to her lips—she was surprised to see him taking initiative. “You seem like a really physical guy—a job like that might offer some stress relief. I took a few classes when I was younger, but I fear I was never very good at it.”
“Well, let me teach you!” said Asher in excitement, dropping into a battle stance. “Attack me.”
Para froze up, thinking that she should have taken more tranquilizers. She laughed nervously. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” She clutched her purse, feeling the extra vials of etorphine through the fabric.
“I’ll take it easy on you. Come on, it’s easy. Just try to hit me, Medea!”
Okay, Para. Be soft, be weak. Think... over-boiled soggy noodles. I am a wet, limp noodle. “I’m too nervous, Ash,” that I will reveal my awesome incredible power. “Maybe you should hit me first.”
“Awww, that’s no fun. Come on, you have to try!" he said, his eyes lighting up, even in the darkness.
“You really are excited,” she observed. “What made you realize you wanted to do this?”
“I recently learned that something really bad is going to happen—and was surprised to find that I got really energized about it. It seems like fighting and self-defense are the only things I’m really good at. It must be because of the way I grew up, with everyone around me practicing… certain arts.” He smiled. “Hey, you’re trying to change the subject! I’m waiting for you to hit me.”
Damn. I am a wet, limp noodle. I am a wet, limp noodle. “Alright. Here goes,” she said, wincing as she made a loose fist and threw a slow sloppy punch at Asher’s face.
He caught it easily with one hand and smiled at her. “Medea, you have to throw your whole body into it! Don’t focus on your hand, focus on the target. And be quick!”
“Oh... really?” She blushed from the shame of pretense. “I told you I’m terrible at this.”
“You have good energy in your body,” said Asher. “You must work out a lot? You could be a decent fighter if you had more technique.”
“Maybe you can teach me, Ash,” she said, Really? Do I really want to put myself through that? Why did I even say that? “I mean, maybe, if I have the time in my busy schedule,” she corrected, Time to waste, that is. Pretending very, very hard to be weak.
“Sure! I have been thinking about opening a school of my own someday.” Asher immediately frowned. That is, if the world doesn’t end. I’ve wasted a lot of time in my life—and now, I learn that the planet is about to be smashed, and I’m full of great ideas.
Para was truly impressed and surprised that Asher was trying to find a direction in which to take his life. Maybe Amara had kept him smothered in her shadow; maybe it was better for him this way. She frowned at this thought—she had not been so high maintenance! He could have “found himself” while she was working on her own goals. Instead he had chosen to watch television and hang out with her brother as much as humanly possible. As they walked, they had come to a scenic point where a little cliff overlooked a beautiful ravine. A mischievous smile crept onto Para’s face. There was a little spot on the railing with binoculars and she moved forward to take a peek through them.
As she swung the binoculars across the panorama of the park, she felt Asher come up behind her and circle his arms around her waist. The corners of her lips curled further. She remembered the hormone simulator that was working in her purse, and she wondered if it would have an effect on him again; there had been no clinical trials to test if the effect lessened over time. She leaned back against him, waiting. Para remembered the images she’d seen of Asher sleeping in her bed. Why would he do something like that? He did care. He must care.
Her mattress was great, but it wasn’t that great.
She did not understand why he had said such awful words to her. He obviously missed her, and he obviously still thought about her frequently. Yet here he was, standing with another woman. Holding another woman. He should pay.
“It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked softly, observing the scenery. She knew that after the vector zone she should be appreciating the flora and fauna of her home, but she was too numb.
Asher gently grasped her shoulders to spin her around, answering with a tender kiss. She allowed him to take the lead, guiding her mouth and guiding her hands onto his body. She felt his warm tongue plunge between her lips, tasting a mild minty-freshness. Of course, Asher would use mouthwash before a date. He edged her forward, pushing her against the railing which stood between her and the bottom of the cliff. She felt a small thrill of danger run through her at the height of the drop—even though there was no real danger at all. Both she and Asher could fly, after all.
Asher’s kiss began to intensify, and she felt the lightheaded rush throw her off balance. As his hands roamed her body, she felt herself grow dizzy and weak in
his arms. It suddenly sunk in that she hadn’t even kissed a man in several years. (At least, half of her hadn’t.) Her body was reacting more strongly than she could have imagined, and a violent rush of hormones seemed to begin coursing through her. It could have been the effect of the simulator in her purse, or it could have been that the elephant tranquilizer was causing her to experience a fuzzy, clouded dreamlike state... more likely, it was just Asher. His firm, demanding mouth on hers, and his careful, expert hands touching her in ways she had dreamed about for so long. She was hungry for him.
“Ash,” she murmured as his tongue and teeth assaulted her neck. His hands kneaded into her hips, crushing her body against his. She moaned against him, and feeling a small warm rush of prana starting in her stomach she grasped him by the shoulders and reversed their position, shoving him against the railing to reverse who had dominance of the situation. But when she pushed Asher against the railing, she must have pushed a little bit too aggressively, for the railing broke.
Asher went tumbling off the side of the cliff.
“Oops,” she muttered, staring at the empty spot where he had been standing a moment before. A smile broke out on her face, and she felt a giggle bubbling up in her throat. She stifled her humor, and realizing that she should act concerned, promptly began screaming. “Ash! Oh my god, Ash! Are you okay?”
She peeked over the side of the cliff and saw that Asher had fallen into a muddy, swamp-like area. She dug her canines into her lips to bite away the giant smile that threatened to appear when she saw Asher wiping mud out of his eyes. He was covered from head to toe in filth. She wondered why he had not been able to levitate and stop from falling into the mud, and this made her want to laugh even more. She wanted to take a picture, but all she could do was freeze the moment in her mind forever, to cherish for the rest of time. Even if the world ended; well, at least she had thrown her ex off a cliff. He pulled himself to his feet and flew back up to her.
Para restrained her giggles at his soiled state and instead brought her hands up to her face in mock horror. “Ash! I’m so sorry. Are you alright? Have you broken anything?”
Then she remembered to act surprised about the fact that he was flying. (This whole deception thing was really challenging.) “Oh my god, you’re flying!” she exclaimed necessarily. “Ash, let me check for broken bones.”
“How did the railing break?” he asked as he landed in front of her. “That’s really dangerous! Someone could have been hurt.”
“The wood must have been rotten.”
“It’s metal.”
“Then it rusted, I guess. I’ll have to complain to park management! It’s a miracle you’re alive!”
Para ran her hands over his legs firmly feeling the bones for any breaks (although she knew there wouldn’t be any) and then over his arms. She then moved to his ribcage (getting her hands completely covered in mud since he was so dirty) and ran her fingers over the bones gently.
“Does it hurt anywhere, Ash?” she asked dutifully.
“No,” he said. “I’m fine.”
“Thank goodness!” she said, throwing her arms around him and giving him a small hug. She quickly pulled away because she had gotten herself covered in mud from touching him. She smiled, reaching out to brush some of the mud away from Asher’s cheek.
“Medea,” he growled, catching her fingers in his hands. She looked at him in surprise as he quickly picked her up in his arms and dove off the cliff again.
She screamed and clung to him (as she figured she should) instead of using her prana to fly on her own. By the time they reached the bottom, Asher’s rapid descent had slowed, and he landed smoothly. He then gently bent down and deposited Para into the muddy water.
“Now we’re even!” said Asher with a grin. “You pushed me off a cliff and got me all dirty, and I did the same to you.”
She looked up at him in surprise. “You scared me half to death!” She did the first thing that came to mind. Reaching into the mud which she sat in, she took a clump in her hands and tossed it into Asher’s face. It hit his forehead with a plop, and began sliding down slowly. He blinked, wiping the mud away from his nose and mouth.
“Why, you little imp! Now you’re going to get it.” Asher tackled her into the mud, and she squealed. Naturally, a mud wrestling fight ensued. Asher held back almost all of his energy so that he didn’t easily overpower her (as he believed he could if he were wrestling with his normal strength) and she did the same.
Asher reached for a clump of mud and shoved it down the front of her dress, laughing when she screeched in horror. “How dare you!” As she stared down at her chest in dismay, he added another handful for good measure, spreading it around in her cleavage liberally.
“I swear!” she shouted. She yanked at the waistband of his pants and boxers with one hand and used her other hand to shovel mud into his shorts. She allowed the waistband to snap shut and patted the front of his trousers triumphantly. “Ha!”
“Ew! That’s just evil! It feels all squishy now.” Fearing what she would do next, he wrestled her hands forcefully above her head. He held them there and gazed down at her playfully. When their eyes met, both were filled with laughter. Para couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun, laughing and rolling around in the mud. Asher was the first to speak, and he declared, “It’s time for payback.”
Holding Para’s hands pinned to the ground with one hand, he reached down and gripped her dress and began to slide it off her.
"No, no," she said, mock-struggling, "This park is pretty public! You'll embarrass me!"
He ignored her protests, slipping the dress off her, leaving her only in her matching yellow bra and panties. Asher then proceeded to grab giant chunks of mud and to deposit them on her stomach before massaging the mud over every inch of her skin. She squirmed and protested, laughing the whole time, but she couldn't deny that Asher’s hands felt nice on her—heck! Even the mud felt nice. She wondered if it was rich with minerals and somehow good for her skin. She could not stop giggling breathlessly at the childlike, impromptu mud-wrestling event.
Her watch vibrated against her wrist. She had almost forgotten the time limit on the technique! She was disappointed that she would have to cut their antics short. Unless...
“Ash, this isn’t fair!” she said, pouting. “You’re too strong and I can’t win against you. You have to take your clothes off too and let me lather you.”
“No way!” he said with a laugh. “You got me good enough already. Trust me, there’s mud covering every inch of my body. Besides, I'm painting you.”
He slowly drew his fingers in circles over her body, creating little designs in the mud. His fingertips traced squiggles and circles and various geometric patterns. She would have liked nothing more than to let him continue, but she was a woman on a deadline. Her body would soon split in two.
Para slipped out of his grasp before hooking his legs with her own and tripping him into the mud. She pinned him to the ground in much the same way he had pinned her, except that he was facedown. She straddled him and began to tug his clothes off.
“Medea!” he protested while laughing.
She smirked. “Payback sure is sweet, isn’t it Ash? You’ve gotten me all dirty.” She bit her lip in glee as she tugged his shorts off, thinking about the video images of him sneaking into her bed. She slapped large chunks of mud onto his rear before lathering him thoroughly.
“What are you doing?” asked Asher, but he was laughing. “Please don't tell me you’re going to...”
THWAP!
Her hand came down hard onto his buttocks. “Say you’re sorry, mister!” Para demanded
“Medea, I’m sorry! Please don’t...”
THWAP!
“Ow! I really didn't mean to get you dirty! I just...”
THWAP!
“…liked the thought of us getting dirty together.”
THWAP!
“Ow! Whoa, Medea, you’re pretty strong, I actually felt...”<
br />
THWAP!
“Okay! Okay! I’m really very sorry! Please forgive me for putting you in the mud and getting you dirty, I won’t do it again!”
She stopped spanking him and leaned over him so that her breasts grazed his back before kissing his cheek and whispering, “That’s better. Good boy, Ash.”
Asher inwardly wondered how Medea knew that he liked to play these types of kinky games. Sometimes Amara used to dress up and role-play with him, and he had especially liked it when spanking was involved.
Para sighed contentedly, somehow feeling like she had avenged herself for the injustice that had been done to her when Asher had snuck into her bed without permission. She had tossed him off a cliff and given him a good spanking, and that was almost good enough. There was one more final, humiliating thing to do. Leaning forward, Para pressed her body against Asher’s seductively and murmured. “Hey, wait here, okay? I have a surprise for you.”
“Sure, Medea.”
“Close your eyes,” she said softly.
Asher felt a thrill of excitement. Normally when Amara told him she had a surprise for him, it was something really good. He wondered what Medea had planned. Would she be undressing? Would she let him make love to her in the forest?
She snuck away and picked up his clothing from where she had tossed it, leaving only his cell phone. She then pressed her hand against her abdomen and disappeared. Asher continued to lie there for several minutes, waiting, naked and covered in mud.
“Um, Medea?” he asked. “How much longer do I have to wait here?”
Asher peeked open one eye and looked around. He saw no sign of the mysterious maiden. He scratched his head and pulled himself out of the mud, beginning to search for her with concern. “Medea? Is everything okay?”
He decided it wasn’t a good idea to be seen walking around naked, and he moved to where he thought his clothing should be. “That’s funny. I thought...”
Thirty Minutes to Heartbreak Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 50
