“I remember,” she says quietly, her emotions threatening to get the better of her.
“And do you remember what you said? That you didn’t want me to let you go.” Ashton forces her to look at him and a shock of electricity passes between them as their eyes connect. Sofie nods slowly, not trusting herself to say anything. “Has that changed? Do you want me to let you leave?”
Sofie swallows the lump in her throat. She looks into his blue eyes, eyes that see right through to her soul and see her totally, completely. She knows that she can’t let herself fall into him again, not when she knows that this can’t go anywhere. The longer she stays, the deeper she’s going to get, and the more it’s going to destroy her when it ends. She knows that it’s the truth, but she doesn’t care. All she cares about now is being with him, feeling his skin against hers, his lips against hers, and his body taking hers.
She reaches up and rubs her fingers along his prickly golden stubble, answering him with a kiss. As soon as his mouth is on hers, everything else falls away. They breathe together, through each other. Their mouths desperately seek each other, like they’re drowning in lust. She bites on Ashton’s full lower lip, hard. He answers her need with a growl that comes from deep inside of him. He runs his fingers through her hair, pulling it free from the ponytail, letting the dark silk sift through his fingers.
He pushes her back, so she’s trapped between him and the wall. Her hands run up his back, tracing the lines of his muscles up to his neck. They break away to catch their breath, and Ashton just stares at her, his eyes hooded. “You’re so beautiful,” he says, as he touches her face reverently, softly like he’s afraid to break her.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” she jokes back, going for her standard, self-deprecating response.
“Don’t do that.” Ashton forces her to look at him—gorgeous, sexy him. “Don’t act like l’m just feeding you a line. You are beautiful; you’re more exquisite than I could ever have imagined.”
Sofie feels herself blushing at the compliment, but, more than that, she’s touched by the tenderness, the gentleness in this man who is stronger than anyone she has ever met. “Kiss me.” She needs him, now more than anything else.
Their love-making is hot and heavy and desperate—neither can wait. Ashton feathers kisses down her neck, biting her gently as she rubs him through his jeans. She can feel that he’s already hard, ready to take her, and the thought sends a wave of desire over her.
He grabs her butt, lifting her easily, like she doesn’t weigh anything and placing her gently onto his workbench. He eases her dress up until it sits around her waist, exposing her white thong. She breathes in as he touches her through the material, material that is already wet with her need.
She moans against his chest, desperate for more, for more of his touch. This is how it always was with them, and Sofie wonders if this is how it would always be; her never having enough, always ready for more, more of him. She grabs the waistband of his jeans, pulling him closer, so that she can unzip him and reach her hand inside, gently squeezing his shaft.
Ashton leans his forehead against hers, breathing in, trying to keep himself under control. “You have no idea what you do to me. It’s crazy. I feel like it’s my first time when I’m with you.” He shakes his head like he can’t believe the effect she has on him.
Sofie responds by pushing his jeans down so that she has unfettered access to his cock, his long, beautiful cock. She loves the fact that the man doesn’t seem to own any underwear. She has never been turned on like this before, just seeing how hard he is makes her feel like she’s ready to come. Ashton keeps his head close to hers, watching her as he slips his hand under her panties and starts to stroke her swollen lips there. She throws her head back and moans, unembarrassed by how much he turns her on, how much she wants him.
“You’re so wet, running girl,” Ashton whispers against her mouth, trapping her bottom lip and sucking it, hard.
“It’s you. That’s how wet you make me,” she pants, losing control as Ashton rubs circles around her clitoris, stimulating her right to her very core.
“That’s right, baby. Feel it, feel it all,” Ashton growls, as he inserts three digits inside of her, encouraging her to rock up and down on his fingers as he touches her inside.
“Ash, I…need you…I need you inside of me.” She tightens her hold on his shaft, making him groan with pleasure.
“You want this?” Ashton looks down between them, at her pussy slick with her juices and his hard penis, throbbing with need.
“I want it; I want your cock,” Sofie says. She would never have dreamed of saying those to Tyler. With Ashton, she wasn’t embarrassed about her desires. She could say what she wanted, because she knows that he wants her as much as she does him.
She takes his shaft and guides it towards her entrance, wrapping her legs tighter around him. His cock pushes through her soft folds, and he eases into her, gently but insistently. He watches her as he buries himself inside of her pussy, delving as deep into her as he can. He holds onto her hips, controlling the rhythm as he moves in and out of her.
“Oh God.” A cry escapes Sofie, as he pushes her over the edge, and she reaches orgasm. She’s never come that quickly before from penetration, and she’s vaguely flustered.
“You’re so sexy when you come.” Ashton locks eyes with her, and it’s like he knows exactly what she’s thinking. “I could watch you all day long.” He smiles at her wolfishly, and she smiles back, her fluster forgotten as he pumps his hips, moving inside of her.
Sofie moans, as she feels him thrusting inside her. “Harder.” She locks eyes with him, and brown eyes meet sky blue. There’s a jolt of whatever it is that’s between them, a connection that neither can deny or walk away from. There’s a question in Ashton’s expression, he wants to be sure this is what she wants, and he doesn’t want to hurt her. For a man that’s half wolf, he’s so careful with her. “Fuck me harder,” she tells him, as she clenches her pussy, holding him tight inside of her and making him groan.
They lock eyes, neither wanting to look away, as Ashton plunges into her, harder and deeper than before. They both cry out as he does it again and again. Sofie can feel her climax building from her swollen pussy up her abdomen—until she can barely breathe she’s so hot. She pulls him even closer, wrapping her legs tighter around him. He slams into her grunting and growling, sounding like the animal that he is.
She cries out as he enters her, pushing her open, harder and faster as her climax overtakes her. “That’s it. Come hard, baby. Come hard,” Ashton growls, as she breaks into a million pieces around him. He roars as he rides the wave of his ecstasy, spurting his seed inside of her. They hold onto each other tight, as reality returns around them, neither wanting to be the first to pull away.
Sofie wishes they could stay like this forever, in this little bubble, where it’s just them. It seems like when the outside world is involved, that’s when things start to go wrong. However, she knows that she can’t live life inside a pipe dream; there always comes a time when she will have to wake up.
“You know we can’t always end our arguments like this?” Sofie looks at him ruefully, as she tries to pull some semblance of order together.
“Really? I think it’s the way we should end all our arguments!” Ashton kisses her softly, achingly, on the lips once more before stepping away and pulling his pants up, letting Sofie jump down from the workbench.
She takes a look at herself in the mirror, adjusting her dress and hating the idea that she now has to go see Luke and ask him for a favor. She needs to look professional and not like she’s just had a quickie in a back room. She’s angry with herself as she starts pulling her hair up into a messy bun, the only thing she can do with it now. “Avoiding all my questions isn’t a solution.”
Ashton doesn’t reply, he just looks at her curiously as she re-arranges herself.
“I have to go,” she says, moving to leave but stopped by Ashton’s voice.
“Where?” The way he says the word makes her wonder if he already knows the answer to the question, or perhaps he’s just afraid that he knows.
Sofie sighs. She has no intention of lying to him. What would be the point? she thinks. There are already too many secrets between them. “I have to go see Luke.” Ashton’s whole body stiffens as she says her boss’s name. “He’s asked me to report in to him, tonight. I don’t have a choice.” She wonders why she’s trying to justify herself, but she already knows why.
Ash is angry, he’s doing the deep breathing that she recognizes as one of the ways he holds back the wolf inside of him. She remembers her dream, the dream in which he bites her, but she forces the image to leave her mind. She knows that he would never hurt her.
“You mind explaining why you’re leaving me to go see that douchebag? The guy who threatens you, the guy who has set hunters on us. The guy who almost fucking raped you?” Ashton’s voice is getting louder as he’s finding it harder to take control of his anger.
Sofie knows that she should be trying to calm him down, but she’s never been great at taking advice, even when it’s her own. “In case you’d forgotten, I’m the one trying to help you guys. I have to at least try to persuade Luke that he should hold off on sending the poachers out into the woods. He listens to me. I can help.” She knows that there’s no guarantee that Luke will do anything of the sort, but she has to try, that much she’s sure of. “Besides, I need this job. You know that. I can’t just walk away from it, no matter how much of a douche I think Luke is. We’re going to dinner; there will be people around the whole time. I won’t be alone with him.” She closes the distance between them, reaching up and tracing the line of his stubbly jaw with her fingers, trying to appease him.
He doesn’t take hold of her, like he normally would, resisting the chemistry between them. His expression is blank. “I don’t like it. You’re vulnerable when you’re with him. I made a promise. I said that he would never hurt you. How can I keep it if I can’t be there to protect you?” The helpless look on his face breaks her heart.
“Ash, I don’t need you to protect me. I know you’re just trying to help, but I’ll be fine, really.” Her voice is calm and soothing, and she tries to communicate how serious she is just through her eyes. He seems to be able to read her mind a lot of the time, but now doesn’t seem to be one of those moments.
“I can’t just let you hand yourself over to him, wrapped up in a bow.” Ashton grits his teeth together, like he’s fighting an internal battle.
“What do you mean—let me?” Sofie feels the anger pricking at her now. “I’m not handing myself over to him. I’m having a work meeting with my boss. Besides, you don’t own me. You can’t tell me what to do and what not to do.” She crosses her arms, taking a step back from him. She thinks, I’ve been looking after myself for a long time. The people that should have been responsible for me, my parents, proved that I couldn’t depend on anyone, no one apart from myself. That is a rule that I live by.
Ashton’s breathing becomes heavier; he’s angry and upset. His eyes start to change color, glowing golden like they do when he’s in wolf form. Sofie almost misses it. He closes his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opens them again, they’re back to cornflower blue.
Ashton doesn’t say anything. Instead, he goes to the back of the workshop. He opens a bureau tucked in a corner and unlocks the drawer. Slowly, he picks up a wooden box and brings it over to her, carrying it as if it were something precious. He hands her the ornately engraved box, wordlessly.
“What is it?” She runs her fingers along the leaves carved into the wood. They’re so detailed that they look as if they’re real.
“Open it.” He keeps his eyes trained on her as she slowly lifts the lid.
Inside, placed in the middle of the dark velvet interior there is a rock strung through with a silver chain. However, it isn’t just any rock. It only takes a glance to see that it’s the same material as the one she’s been studying, the one that Ashton won’t tell her anything about. The stone is large. It’s a round piece almost taking up the whole circumference of her palm. It’s been polished and shines as brightly as a diamond, the light bouncing off of it.
“It’s beautiful.” She’s not lying; it almost takes her breath away. But there’s something more than that. As she looks at it, she feels like she’s falling into it, like it’s wrapping itself around her. She’s confused and doesn’t understand why Ashton is showing it to her though.
He reaches out and lifts the necklace out of the box, gently, touching it like it’s imbued with meaning. He takes the chain and fastens it around her neck. She feels something as the rock sits on her chest, something she can’t describe, something that feels vaguely comforting.
“What is this? Why do you want me to wear it?” Unconsciously, she wraps her hand around the stone, holding it like an amulet.
“You don’t like it.” Ashton says it like a statement of fact, and there’s a hint of disappointment in his voice.
“I didn’t say that. It’s beautiful. Of course I like it. But I don’t understand, why are you giving this to me?” She looks at him for answers, but answers are the one thing that he never seems able to give her.
“It suits you,” Ashton smiles, satisfied, but there’s a look in his eyes as if he’s remembering something, like he’s somewhere else.
“This is the same rock as the one that I’ve been trying to figure out. What aren’t you telling me?” Sofie tries to keep her cool, but is finding it harder and harder to be patient, especially since patience is something she was never very good at to start with anyway.
“It will keep you safe,” Ashton tells her softly, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, a gesture so tender it makes her ache inside. She waits to see if he’s going to say anything else.
“You’re not going to tell me what this is all about. After everything that we’ve talked about tonight, before tonight, you’re really going to keep me in the dark on this. Yet another secret?” Sofie wishes she didn’t sound so desperate, so desperate to understand, to understand him, his world, and how she is ever going to fit into it.
Ashton doesn’t say anything, but the look that he gives her is filled with emotion, as if he knows that he’s causing her pain but it’s not his choice. He remains silent and when it becomes clear that he isn’t going to volunteer any further information, Sofie does the only thing she feels she can do. She turns around and walks out.
***
“You sure about this?” Lindsey’s voice on the other end of the line tells him that she’s definitely not sure about it.
“Linds, I need you to do this for me.” Ashton tries to keep the need out of his voice, but she’s known him for too long for him to be able to fool her.
Lindsey waits for a few seconds, and Ashton wonders what her turbo-charged intuition is telling her through the cell towers. “Alright, Ash. But only because it’s you.” She sighs, knowing that she’s not kidding anyone. She would do pretty much anything he asked of her. They’ve been friends forever, more than friends, he was the brother she’d never had.
“Thanks Linds,” Ashton breathes a sigh of relief.
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbles good-naturedly. “But I just want you to know that I don’t have a good feeling about this. The vibes are definitely landing on the side of the bad.”
Ashton nods grimly. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“So talk to her! Ask her whatever it is you’re afraid of hearing.” Lindsey knows it’s virtually impossible to try to reason with him when he’s got an idea in his head, but that doesn’t stop her from trying. “If you ask me to do this, you’re showing that you don’t trust her. And if that’s true, then you risk losing her altogether. Are you willing to run that risk? And don’t even bother lying to me because you and I both know how you feel about this girl. She’s different. You’re different with her.” Ashton’s silence on the other end of the phone is
deafening. “Ash, are you even listening to me right now?”
“Tell Hector I’m sorry for dragging you away from him,” is Ashton’s only reply.
“He can live without me for a night,” Lindsey ignores the frown that immediately appears on her redheaded lover’s face. She sighs deeply, knowing that Ashton is avoiding facing up to his own feelings. She doesn’t bother to tell him about the flashes that she’s been getting, of the dreams she knows that Sofie has been having. “I’ll report back later,” she huffs dejectedly.
“You tell me everything, Linds; every detail no matter how big or small. Everything, not just what you think I should know.” Ashton grips the phone tightly in his hand.
“I heard you the first time, Ash, jeez. I’ll give you the full shebang if that’s what you want.” Lindsey tries to hang up before he makes her say the thing that she knows won’t give her any wiggle room.
“Swear to me, Linds.” Ashton’s tone is totally Alpha wolf; he who must be obeyed. Any other member of the pack would be cowed by the force of his words, but Lindsey’s known him too long for that.
“I swear, Ash. Now hang up the damn phone so I can go and do what you’ve asked of me,” she jokes weakly as they ring off. She stares at the cell in her hand before she starts getting herself ready.
“What’s going on?” Hector tries to catch her hand as she walks past him to change clothes.
“Nothing good,” Lindsey replies grimly.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sofie drives towards Luke’s hotel, faster than she should be going partly because she doesn’t want to be later than she already is and partly because she wants to limit the time that she’s alone with her thoughts. She’s put the radio on loud just to drown out some of the noise.
Thunder (Alpha Love - a Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 3) Page 9
