RUSH (Montgomery Men Book 1)

by C. A. Harms

  “I do,” he said with a smirk.

  “Yes, but the truth is so different than what I imagined. You aren’t selfish when gaining that control. It’s actually very sexy.” I looked down at my lap, and almost instantly he lifted my chin with a finger, forcing me to look at him.

  “What’s sexy is that you’re willingly give me that control. You trust me, and I know that wasn’t easy for you.” Even though I’d told him little about myself, somehow he’d picked up on the fact I’d been hurt. “I’d never force you to do anything you didn’t want. I think you know that, or you wouldn’t have given in to me the way you have.” He cupped my jaw and arched my head up so he could bring his lips to mine. “And seeing you feel so free and submissive while knowing you are so fucking strong makes me want so much more than I imagined.”

  “You make me feel safe.” I knew I should shut up, but being in Ashton’s presence made holding back my thoughts about him almost impossible.

  “You are safe,” he whispered as he leaned in close and pressed his lips to mine. The knot that had begun to form in my throat quickly faded, but only for a moment before he pulled back, looking at me with curiosity.

  “Tell me about your life,” he said as he lightly trailed his thumb over my jaw. “I wanna know everything about you.”

  Panic set in as my mind began to race with thoughts of the things Jase had put me through and the weakness I had shown in not walking away.

  I didn’t want Ashton to see that side of me, ever. I was too ashamed.

  I couldn’t look at him. Not if I expected myself to lie.

  “Not much to tell, really,” I said. “My life hasn’t been as fulfilling as yours, anyway.”

  “I wouldn’t say fulfilling. Accomplished maybe, but not fulfilling.” He shrugged. “At least not until recently,” he teased as he ran his hand up my bare thigh.

  I allowed him to toy with the lace of my panties, hoping he would get distracted and I would be given a way out of this conversation. But when he pulled his hand back and brought it to rest on my knee, I knew I had to continue.

  “I grew up in Chicago, actually in a suburb called Buffalo Grove. I’m an only child, and both my parents still live there.” Each lie I told felt like a knife to my chest. Lying at work almost felt natural. Lying to my building manager didn’t faze me a bit. But lying to Ashton was hurting more than I ever thought it would.

  “Are you close with your parents?” he asked.

  “Yes.” I couldn’t elaborate any further. If I did, I would have caved. I could already feel the ache inside me growing. “After high school I went to UCLA for college,” I continued, completely skipping over anything further about my parents. I would have to revisit that lie when I had more strength because talking about them was still too hard.

  “What made you settle here?” I could tell he was interested by the way he leaned against the back of the couch and propped his head up on his hand as he watched me closely.

  “My cousin actually asked me to move here with her.” I once again looked away and toyed with the stem of my wineglass just before lifting it to distract myself and taking a sip. “But after I got here and got settled, she told me she’d met a guy and decided to move to New Jersey to be with him.”

  Ashton chuckled, and for dramatic effect I looked over at him and rolled my eyes. “Yeah.”

  “How kind of her,” he said before he too took a sip of his wine.

  “I decided at that point that I might as well stay. I’d already landed a job, found a place to live, so why not give New York a shot? And to be honest, I just didn’t have it in me to move again.” I shrugged.

  “Not that I’m not extremely thankful you made that choice, but don’t your parents miss you?” I looked up and found him eyeing me skeptically.

  I had to play this right.

  “My father is wrapped up in his job. He works long hours, and most nights he brings his work home with him. My mother is so engrossed in her daily life that she doesn’t truly have the time to miss me either. We talk, but having some distance between us is actually better for us. They can be a little overbearing at times.” I hoped I was convincing enough.

  “Pressures of marriage and grandchildren?” he said with a smirk.

  If only that were the worst of the things that kept me hidden here. “Yeah, I know they just want to see me happy, but they can be so pushy at times.”

  “My mother is insane when it comes to those things.” He chuckled. “She’s always pushing me and my brothers to settle down. It is actually one of the reasons my brothers don’t visit my parents more often.”

  “You have two brothers?” I asked, grateful for a way to change the subject.

  “Knoxville and Beckett,” he replied, and I could see the love in his eyes. It was one more thing that made me feel as if this man was a figment of my imagination. He was almost too perfect. “Both are younger than me. Knox is a private investigator and has his own firm here in the city. He works a lot with the police department on cases and has become quite successful. Beckett is a detective and is the youngest of the three of us.”

  “Three boys, your poor mother,” I said with a smile.

  “She’s surrounded by four men who each strive to be leaders.” He smirked. “But she loves us even though we all drive her to drink.” He chuckled when I looked at him in question. I knew he was teasing about the drinking part.

  “No wonder she strives for each of you to get married and shower her with grandbabies.” I nudged him in the side. “The poor woman is just looking for a way to break up all the testosterone she’s swimming in.”

  Ashton placed his wineglass on the table just behind the couch, took my hand, and settled it beside his on my thigh. As he turned to face me, he hooked me around the waist and pulled me onto his lap. As I straddled him, my T-shirt rose, exposing my lace panties. “I like this,” he confessed. “Having you here, talking about our lives and those we love. I haven’t felt this at ease here, ever.”

  “It does feel like we’ve been doing this far longer than a few days,” I whispered. “It’s been a long time since I felt this at peace too.”

  “I’m glad it’s me you feel that with,” he said, hooking the back of my neck and pulling me closer.

  “Me too,” I replied just before his lips touched mine and the conversation we had been so wrapped up in only moments ago was over.

  ASHTON

  “SOMEONE SEEMS EXCEPTIONALLY HAPPY TODAY.” Lex eyed me knowingly as I passed his desk on Monday morning. I didn’t even give him a second glance, only continued past him as if I hadn’t heard his comment. He was fishing for information I wouldn’t give him about my time with the very sexy Kiera. Her long list of hidden sexual talents and comforting sweetness would remain mine alone.

  “So use me for the information you need and then toss me aside, why don’t you,” he complained dramatically as he followed me into my office. “I see how it is.” He flopped down in the chair opposite my desk with a pout.

  The man was the poster child for drama queen.

  “I should feel offended, but I can’t get past the fact you’re happier than I have ever seen you. So instead of giving you a hard time, I’ll just imagine what happened after I left Kiera on the doorstep of her building. And I’ll just say one more thing.” I knew it was coming. “The visions I’m having are making me a little hot and bothered.”

  I chuckled. I couldn’t help it. He was so over-the-top, but I couldn’t get annoyed with him because I was just too relaxed and I was sure there wasn’t too much that could upset me today.

  I felt lighter and happier than I had in what felt like forever. And after the weekend Kiera and I had just shared, all I could think about was getting through my day so I could lose myself in her again. That was something new for me. Work had always come first and success was my top priority, but now it felt meaningless, as if it was only taking up time I could be spending with her.

  “Since you obviously aren’t going to share
any of the juicy details, I guess we’ll move on to the boring stuff,” Lex continued, pulling me from my thoughts of the brown-haired beauty. Still pouting, he placed a stack of messages on my desk, and I sat down to begin thumbing through them.

  “You’ve gotten a few calls from that tycoon in Seattle. He is pushy.” Lex began to explain his chicken-scratch writing. His messages were sometimes hard to decipher. “He wants to set up a meeting next week because he’ll be in the city handling some other business.”

  “The guy seems shady,” I said without looking up. I had avoided Mr. Hayward for months now. He was an arrogant fuck that felt I owed him something. “Tell him I’ll be out of town next week,” I said as I tossed his message aside. “I have no desire to work with that man.”

  When Lex grew quiet, I looked up to find him giving me a quizzical stare. Unable to contain my smirk, I explained. “I haven’t finalized any plans yet, but I was thinking of taking a short trip to L.A.”

  I hadn’t planned on telling him any more now, but from the way he was still staring at me, I knew he wouldn’t let it go until I did. “I’ve got a few properties I want to look into, and yes, Lex, I thought of asking Kiera to join me.”

  He grew excited, clapping his hands enthusiastically, and I could see his mind working in overdrive. “Did you ask her to accompany you to the charity event this weekend?”

  The annual Rose Claremont Foundation charity gala was one of the few events I supported without even an ounce of hesitation. Rose was an amazing woman. She spent her life giving all she could to children suffering from cancer. And when she herself was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and went downhill suddenly, she still gave it her all that final year. In fact she beat all the years prior. In the three weeks before she passed, she donated over 1.2 million to the children’s hospital. The Rose Claremont Foundation would live on through the eyes of her children, and their children after.

  “Yes, I mentioned it,” I told Lex, suddenly remembering I hadn’t answered his question.

  “And she argued, didn’t she?” Lex had gotten to know Kiera over the last few weeks. At first the way she’d let him in bothered me, but now she had opened herself up to me as well, and I found myself only wanting to know more.

  “Yes, she did,” I replied, still thumbing through the messages from people hoping to gain my support on their projects or sell me their properties.

  “But?” he pressed.

  Lex knew just how well I took no as an answer.

  “But,” I said, finally looking up to meet his curious stare. “I never gave her a choice. I already have a dress being delivered to her on Thursday, and the limousine has been arranged to pick her up at 7:00 p.m.”

  “And if she still refuses to come?” he challenged me with a cock of his brow.

  “I can be very convincing. I’m more than positive I’ll be able to convince her.”

  Lex grew almost giddy as his eyes widened. I could tell he was running the scenario through his mind, and I didn’t even want to envision the details of what he could be imagining right now.

  “Oh to be a fly on the wall during those events,” Lex said dreamily. He faked a shiver and bit his lip.

  The phone rang from the reception desk just outside my office, and I waited for him to get up to retrieve it. When he remained seated, still lost in his erotic dreamland, I learned forward and placed my elbows on the desktop. “Isn’t there something else you should be doing besides fishing for details of my weekend?”

  “Fine,” he said in a huff. “You take all the fun out of everything.”

  I could only shake my head in wonder as he rushed from the room. He was harmless really, but extremely exhausting.

  My last meeting of the day couldn’t have come soon enough. The continuous talk of opportunity for growth and the benefits of this or that investment had all begun to run together, and I just wanted to leave early and make a surprise visit to Stockman and Wright. After more than forty-eight hours of full, uninterrupted access to Kiera, I was beginning to go into withdrawal.

  I had just lifted my cell so I could send a dirty little message to the woman that now consumed my mind when my desk phone rang. It was my direct line, and only a few people knew to call me there.

  I laid my cell back on the desk and leaned forward to answer. “Hello.”

  “Well if it isn’t the brother who deserted me Saturday night.” Beckett tried to come across as irritated, but I knew he wasn’t. “You do know I had to entertain both Milly and Tiffany all on my own.”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, something tells me you had no trouble with that task. And who the hell are Tiffany and Milly anyway?” He said their names like I should have known who they were.

  “I told you about the woman I met while I was in Jersey last month,” he replied quickly. “We set this double date up weeks ago, man. Tiffany is her roommate. But after I got a few drinks in them, they no longer cared that my mega-rich older brother stiffed us.” He let out a low whistle, and I imagined his cocky smirk as he continued. “The only stiff they were thinking of then was my very happy cock.”

  “So then you can thank me for not showing.”

  He chuckled again. “I guess I can. It was definitely a night to remember.” My brother was even worse than I had been when it came to one-night hook-ups. “So who did you ditch me for?”

  I thought he was long past this question, but apparently the girls he’d been with warranted no further conversation.

  “Her name is Kiera,” I offered. “I met her a few weeks ago.”

  “And?” he pried.

  “And we spent the weekend together.”

  He grew quiet, and I could picture his shocked and puzzled expression.

  “Before you say shit, just know that she isn’t like the other women I’ve spent time with.” I hoped he understood my meaning.

  “Well it would appear that our mother’s excessive talk of us settling down has finally reached her eldest son.” I was thankful he didn’t say something about the magic of Kiera’s pussy, because I’d heard that one before. He used to say it when Sloane and I were together, but Sloane had absolutely nothing on Kiera. Sloane was convenient for a time, but Kiera had quickly become a necessity.

  “Just enjoying one another’s company and seeing where it takes us,” I explained.

  “You sound like a fucking woman,” he grumbled, and this time I was the one that laughed. Beckett was such a manwhore. He loved women so much, I wasn’t sure he would ever be able to choose just one.

  But then again, that was exactly what I used to think about myself. Until I met her.

  KINSLEY

  The way you moan just as your orgasm hits you, I’ve never heard anything I crave more.

  WITH HEAT RISING IN MY neck, I stared at the message Ashton had sent me and thought of his good-bye to me just before he left my apartment this morning.

  He’d left me hunched over the couch, my panties still around my ankles as he slowly backed away, buckling his pants. A look of pure satisfaction and arrogance covered his face. He knew what he did to me. I had attempted to pretend I didn’t want him to take control and make me weak with desire, but I failed. He could see right through me, and there was no hope of hiding the fact I wanted him as badly as he wanted me, if not more.

  He was like a drug. One I had no desire of breaking clean from.

  What should have been a simple good-bye kiss morphed into something more very quickly, and I didn’t fight him when he pinned me to the sofa and took control. Giving him power over my body made my head spin with dirty thoughts. I wanted him to conquer me because I knew he was nothing like Jase. His dominance gave me pleasure, not fear.

  And the pleasure was toe-curlingly good.

  I’d been so lost in the memories of our morning that I hadn’t gotten the chance to respond before he send a second text.

  Ashton: I spent 90% of my day hard just thinking of that sweet moan.

  I smiled, imaging the uncomfortable situation of bein
g in a meeting, surrounded by men in suits while sporting an erection. The thought made me laugh.

  Me: I’d apologize for monopolizing your thoughts, but I am not sorry.

  I stared at my phone, waiting for his response. I looked forward to our banter. Ashton didn’t hold back, which in turn made me feel free to do the same. I could say whatever was on my mind without any repercussions.

  Ashton: I think you should make up for your invasion.

  Me: And how would you suggest I do that?

  I grew anxious once again, waiting for his response. And when his suggestion came through, I’d be lying if I said I was shocked.

  Ashton: Dinner. Or you could just show up here at my office unannounced and kneel before me just as you did Saturday afternoon and put an end to this uncomfortable erection I’ve fought all day.

  The day he was speaking of was the one where I fought off my nervousness and for once took control of my own thoughts and desires. The shocked look on Ashton’s face when I unbuckled his jeans and freed his cock had sent a thrilling jolt of excitement through me. It gave me the courage I needed to continue. And with each moan or thrust of his hips, I grew more confident. Every moment with him gave me back just another piece of the woman I’d thought I’d left back in Miami.

  I wanted more of this newfound sense of freedom. I wanted to take what I desired without thinking twice about it. I wanted to take over and leave him with no other choice but to give me what I needed.

  And he did. Without hesitation. It was like he could see my desire to regain yet another piece of myself and he didn’t question it.

  My phone vibrated in my hand, ringing instead of announcing another text. Ashton’s name flashed across the screen, and I realized I’d been too lost in thoughts of our weekend together to respond to his message.

  “Hello,” I said in a rush.

  “Did I scare you off?”

  “Actually I was remembering Saturday afternoon,” I confessed, and he responded with a deep intake of breath. “The way your head fell back against the cushions of the couch when I took you into my mouth. You say my moans are sexy,” I whispered, “but the look on your face in that moment was by far one of the most tantalizing things I have ever seen.”