The Debt

by Jackie Ashenden

She sighed, her breath minty and warm, the press of her tits against my chest making my head spin. ‘Are you kidding me?’ she murmured. ‘Not a chance.’

  Of course she wouldn’t. She didn’t understand. So maybe it was time I showed her.

  I tightened my grip and held her still as I closed the distance between us, devouring the sweetness of her mouth utterly.

  She shivered, stilling as I thrust my tongue into her mouth, taking it, ravaging it as if it was mine to do what I wanted with.

  But then her arms constricted like a vine around my neck and she was kissing me back, her tongue meeting mine, thrusting and devouring, twining and tasting. It was raw and desperate and I was down on the floor with her before I’d even realised what was happening.

  Fabric tore as I put my hands on her, ripping away the tissue-fine silk of her gown, exposing golden skin. She didn’t stop me, her own hands struggling with the jacket of my tux, then giving up to find the buttons on my shirt, jerking at them in a frenzy.

  But she wasn’t in charge of this now. I was.

  With one last rip, I got rid of the remains of her gown, taking her underwear with it. Then when she was naked, I flipped her over onto her stomach and pulled her hands behind her back. She gasped, struggling against my hold. ‘Let me see you,’ she said thickly. ‘I want to touch you.’

  ‘No.’ I used my weight to keep her pinned, holding her hands at the base of her spine. ‘I told you that you weren’t in charge.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  She didn’t sound afraid in the least, only curious.

  ‘This,’ I growled and grabbed at a length of the green fabric, tying it around her wrists to keep them where they were.

  ‘Oh...’ The word sighed out of her in a moan, her naked body soft and hot beneath mine.

  Now her hands were tied, I put mine on the floor on either side of her head, grinding my aching cock against the soft curves of her bare arse. ‘And then,’ I snarled, hungry and feral, ‘I’m going to fuck you hard the way I told you I would.’

  She moaned, shuddering, her hips rising to meet mine, pushing herself back against me like the little warrior she was.

  And something inside me growled in deep satisfaction.

  Of course she’d meet me in this. She wasn’t weak and she wasn’t a coward. And she enjoyed the fight as much as I did.

  My hands were shaking as I got my trousers undone and it took longer than I would have liked to get the condom on, too, but then it was done and I put one hand beneath her, my palm on her stomach, raising her so she was perfectly positioned to take my cock.

  Then I flexed my hips, rubbing the head of my dick through the slick folds of her delicious little pussy, the friction making me growl in pleasure.

  She shuddered again, bucking her hips against mine, urging me on. ‘Ash, please...’ she panted.

  I’d never managed to resist that throaty plea and I didn’t now, pushing hard and deep inside her. But then I had to pause, the tight clasp and the slick heat blanking my brain entirely. The pleasure was unbelievable and for a good few seconds I simply couldn’t move. I hadn’t been this close to coming prematurely since I’d been an overenthusiastic teenager.

  She was trembling beneath me, her breathing wild and uncontrolled. ‘Oh...’ she moaned, her back flexing and arching as she tried to take me deeper. ‘Oh, God...’

  Fuck. No. She wasn’t going to take control of me that easily. Not tonight. Not after fucking Dumont had taken my victory from me.

  I shoved her hips down flat to the floor, letting my weight slowly rest on her so she was pinned. Then I gave her a couple of shallow thrusts, which was a little of what she wanted, but not everything.

  She gave another moan. ‘Ash...please...’

  I gripped her bound wrists, teasing her with a few more shallow thrusts, while I kept my other hand on one hip to stop her bucking up. She cried out in frustration but I ignored her, teasing myself as much as her with her heat and slickness.

  Pleasure licked up my spine, twining with my rage to become something more intense, something stronger.

  I snarled like an animal and pulled her up on her knees, thrusting hard into her, driving myself into her as deep as I could get. She was panting now, the feel of her beneath me mesmerising, the slap of her flesh against mine more arousing than any aphrodisiac.

  I looked down at her writhing body trying to keep pace and then managing it, synchronising with me, her panting breaths matching the sound of my own. Then we were surging together, neither one of us trying to get the upper hand this time, but moving with one another, perfectly aligned, perfectly in time.

  Travelling together to the same destination.

  The edge of my anger became less raw, less ragged, and something powerful tightened in my chest. She’d come after me, she hadn’t let me frighten her away. No, she’d simply wrapped her arms around my neck and given herself to me as if I weren’t a bitter, angry man. As if I were more than that.

  And for a moment I wanted to believe her. I wanted to be something more, something other than myself. The kid my dad hadn’t wanted. The teenager who’d broken my mother’s trust.

  The man who’d burned a deep friendship on the altar of his pride.

  I didn’t want to be any of those things.

  I wanted to be someone who was worthy of the trust she’d placed in me and who could bring her pleasure.

  So I curled my body over hers, thrusting deeper, reaching around to cup the softness of her tits, pinching her nipples, increasing the speed and rhythm. She began to shudder, writhing up against me, twisting around, her hungry mouth trying to find mine. So I let go of her breasts and grabbed her hair in one fist, tugging her head around so she could kiss me.

  Her mouth was hungry and desperate, and I kissed her back hard, reaching down with my free hand, sliding down across the trembling plane of her stomach to the slick flesh of her pussy. Her clit was swollen and hard and she cried out as I stroked lightly over it, her whole body trembling in response.

  ‘Oh, Ash... I need you...please...please...’

  All my aggression and anger fell away, all my focus on her and what she needed.

  I rumbled my appreciation of her, stroking her clit in time with my thrusts, fighting the unbearable pleasure that was pulling at me, determined that she was going to come before I did. And sure enough, another touch and one deep thrust, and she gave a high, thin scream as the orgasm hit, the convulsion of her pussy around my cock unmistakable, releasing something feral inside me.

  As she trembled and gasped beneath me, I unleashed myself, thrusting wildly and hard, driving myself inside her, until the climax hit me, too, like a bomb going off in the confines of my body, blasting me with pleasure so intense I couldn’t do anything but roar as lights burst behind my eyes.

  It took a long time for me to come back to myself and when I did, I could hear some muffled sobs. A second later, I realised it was Ellie and she was crying.

  My chest went so tight it was painful.

  Jesus, was it something I’d done? Had I hurt her?

  A cold feeling wound through me, the languid heat of the orgasm disappearing.

  Pulling out of her, I dealt with the condom in a nearby and cleverly disguised bin, then bent and gathered her trembling body into my arms. She tried to push against me, turning her face away, but I ignored it, tightening my grip as I took her over to the bed and laid her down on it. Then I stripped off my clothes and climbed in beside her, drawing the thick, soft velvety quilt over us as I held her small body close to mine, using my touch to soothe her.

  She pushed against my chest. ‘Don’t,’ she muttered even as more sobs caught in her throat. ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘You’re not fine.’ I held her tighter, not even sure what I was doing, something deep and instinctive inside me responding to her tears. ‘Did I hurt you?
Because if I did—’

  ‘No,’ she said thickly. ‘You didn’t hurt me. It’s just... I don’t know what’s happening. That was just so...amazing. I can’t... I don’t know...’

  I stroked her hair, wanting to give her some reassurance, the strands silky and soft against my palm. ‘What did I say about not minding a fuss? You can cry if you want. Tears don’t bother me.’ Although I was beginning to think that her tears in particular bothered me. As in, I didn’t like them if it meant she was in pain.

  She sighed, some of her resistance receding. ‘It just makes...this seem like a big deal.’

  ‘This being the sex, you mean?’

  Another soft sigh escaped her. ‘Yeah.’

  I looked down at her pink face, the fierce protectiveness that had hit me earlier gripping me again. Her life seemed to be full of her being concerned for other people’s feelings, while no one was ever concerned with hers. Certainly her bloody father hadn’t been and I suspected her brothers weren’t overly involved either.

  Perhaps today, right now, someone could show her that her feelings mattered. That they were important.

  And that someone was going to be me.

  ‘It is a big deal.’ I ignored the warning that went off in my head as I spoke. ‘It’s a fucking huge deal.’

  Her hazel eyes were wide and dark from beneath lashes glittering with moisture. ‘You think so?’

  I stared back, letting her see the truth in my eyes. ‘It certainly doesn’t feel like any sex I’ve ever had before.’

  A wave of colour washed through her skin. ‘But you’ve had a lot, haven’t you? A lot of sex, I mean.’

  ‘Yes, I’ve had a lot. And no, this is not the same. Not in any way.’

  ‘Oh.’ She blinked a couple of times, looking shocked.

  I narrowed my gaze. ‘Just how often have you had sex?’ Obviously it wasn’t going to be much.

  Her chin lifted, but the flush in her skin betrayed her. ‘A couple of times. With my high-school boyfriend. I mean, after Mark...’

  She didn’t finish the sentence, but then she didn’t need to. I knew already. And I could understand. She hadn’t wanted to be with anyone after him. Except me.

  I wouldn’t have been human if that hadn’t satisfied me on some level, while at the same time a small part of me was appalled.

  Violent and angry and selfish. Yeah, you’re a great choice.

  The cold threat inside me pulled tight through the heat of my triumph.

  ‘What?’ Ellie’s gaze sharpened on my face, her warm palm pressing against my chest.

  It was disturbing how easily she could read me, though I should have expected that by now.

  ‘You shouldn’t be letting me touch you,’ I said gruffly, not in a position to be able to deny her anything, not when she was naked and locked in my arms, with tears on her cheeks. ‘You need someone patient and gentle. Someone kind. Christ, someone less angry at least.’

  Her brow wrinkled. ‘I don’t want someone patient and kind. Sure, you have a few issues with your anger and you’ve snapped at me a few times, but you’ve never been violent. You’ve never made me feel afraid. Mark was supposed to be a nice guy and look what he did.’ She began to trace circles on my skin with her cool fingers. ‘You’re take-charge, Ash. A bit arrogant, but I kind of like that. I like that you’re passionate, too, and how you don’t care who knows it. How you don’t care what anyone thinks of you. I really admire that about you.’

  I ached, a longing I didn’t know it was possible to feel tugging at my heart. She admired me... God help her.

  ‘Ellie,’ I began roughly.

  ‘Patient and kind, I’d eat for breakfast,’ she went on, totally ignoring me. ‘I like arrogant and bossy and grumpy. And I really like sexy and hot and tattooed.’ She shot a coy glance from beneath her lashes. ‘But you know what I’d like most of all? If you told me what pissed you off so much before.’

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Ellie

  I COULD FEEL the tension gathering in Ash’s hard, muscled body. His scarred face was full of his usual ferocity, but there was something else burning in his eyes, something other than anger for a change.

  If I hadn’t known any better I would have said it was longing, though why he’d be looking at me that way I had no idea.

  Though it all vanished the instant I asked the question.

  I shouldn’t have asked it, not when the post-sex warmth between us had been so wonderful, but I couldn’t let it go.

  I had felt the force of his anger when he’d pinned me to the floor and taken me hard. My poor bear with his sore paw...

  He didn’t want to tell me and he’d been trying to distract me ever since, but something had hurt him, and I had a feeling it wasn’t simply the fight he’d been denied. It was something more and I wanted to know what it was.

  I was betting it had something to do with the strange thing he’d said to me, about how I needed someone patient and kind, which was such obvious bullshit, I didn’t even know what to say.

  ‘Come on,’ I said crisply, digging my nails into the hard muscle of his chest and meeting his glowering look without flinching. ‘Tell me.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said after a moment and with great reluctance. ‘I was expecting a fight. I wanted it. And then Seb just took it away.’

  ‘I think it’s more than that, though,’ I said, stroking him carefully.

  For the first time, his gaze avoided mine, the tension in his body palpable now. ‘I’ve done nothing but burn bridges with him ever since I lost that money. And yet, he just gave up those islands. After twelve years of me making his life difficult. It doesn’t make any sense.’

  ‘Why is that such a bad thing?’ I asked carefully. ‘So you didn’t get your big fight. So what?’

  His gaze came back to mine, fierce and hot. ‘Don’t you see? Mum didn’t want to give the money to me, but I convinced her. I told her it would make our lives easier. And it didn’t. I broke her trust, Ellie.’ A muscle flickered in his jaw. ‘Like Dad did.’

  I saw it then, why he was so angry and so bloody driven. I reached up and touched his face gently. ‘You’re not like him, Ash.’ Because that was what he was afraid of, wasn’t it?

  ‘You don’t know him so you can’t tell me that.’

  ‘That’s true. But honestly? Your father sounds awful. He got a woman pregnant and then threw her out, not caring one bit what happened to her. And then turning away his own son? By telling you that you weren’t his problem?’ I stared right into his eyes. ‘You’re protective and possessive, Ash Evans. Are you seriously telling me that’s what you’d do to anyone you care about?’

  That muscle jumped in his jaw again, the fierce blue glow in his eyes getting fiercer. ‘I did to Mum. And I did to Seb. He kept trying to pay that money back to me and I refused to take it. Hell, I refused to see him at all. And as for Mum...’ He paused. ‘We never spoke of it again.’

  It didn’t surprise me in the slightest. And I thought I knew why.

  ‘You pushed them away, didn’t you?’ I brushed my fingertips over his cheekbone. ‘So they wouldn’t reject you like your dad did.’

  He shifted beneath me, clearly uncomfortable. ‘I appreciate the psychology, Miss Little. But I assure you, it’s not necessary.’

  So, he was back to being a grumpy bear again, was he?

  I stilled my fingers on his face, pressing lightly. ‘The islands sound to me like an olive branch, Ash. And as for your mother, you should talk to her.’ I held his gaze. ‘It’s not too late. None of it is. If I still had my mother, that’s what I’d be doing.’

  He blinked then turned his head so his mouth brushed over my fingertips instead. ‘That’s a low blow, pretty thing.’

  It was, but too bad.

  ‘If you can’t handle it, don’t deal.’ I traced the line of his
lower lip, revelling in the softness of it, then grazed over the stark line of his scar.

  He stilled as I did so, watching me. ‘I was hard on you,’ he murmured after a moment. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ He lifted a hand and cupped my cheek gently, his big palm warm against my skin. ‘I shouldn’t have been so rough.’

  I couldn’t help myself, leaning into that hand, loving the warmth of it. ‘No, I’m glad you were. I’m not made of glass, Ash.’ I gave him a level look. ‘I don’t want to be treated like a victim just because some dumb bastard thought he could put his hands on me. I mean, I might be a woman who cries after sex, but I’m tough.’

  His thumb stroked the side of my cheek, his gaze unreadable. ‘Why do you trust me? I don’t understand it. Not when I haven’t done one fucking thing to deserve it.’

  The question took me by surprise and for a second I didn’t quite know how to answer. ‘I trust you because...well, I just do. Maybe it’s an instinctive thing.’ I flushed, remembering. ‘That first night in the limo, well, I kind of thought you were like a car and as long as I was driving nothing bad would happen. And then I wasn’t driving any more and you were in charge and I just felt...’ I struggled to find the right word. ‘I suppose I felt free. There’s something quite liberating about giving yourself up to the speed, you know?’

  An intense expression flickered across his face. ‘Ellie, you should know right now that I would never do anything to make you regret that trust, understand me? Not a single thing.’ He was absolutely serious, I could see it in his eyes. He meant this.

  I put my hand over his where it rested against my cheek and gave him back a smile. ‘I know you won’t.’

  He didn’t smile back. If anything, the look in his eyes intensified. ‘I don’t know what you want after tonight is over, but I think we should stay on in Dubai for a couple of days.’

  Something bloomed inside me like a flower. ‘You mean, you want me to stay with you? And not to drive you around, I take it?’

  His hard mouth relaxed, curving into one of the sexiest smiles I’d ever seen. ‘No, not to drive me around. I want you to stay with me as my lover.’