by Sindee Lynn
A frown appeared between Heather’s brows and Ashley could tell she was in deep thought. Ashley wished her luck because all she’d come up with was a headache when she’d tried. It seemed she’d been living in a constant state of confusion for the last few days. There was something she was missing. There had to be.
“He hasn’t returned any of your phone calls?” Heather asked.
Ashley shook her head.
“Are you sure Ashley? You’re not the best one for checking voicemail. I mean that’s still no excuse for his disappearing act but maybe what he couldn't say to you in person he left in a message.”
“I’ve been checking all this week and nothing.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Have you gone out to the house to talk to him?”
“No, I’ve been tied up with the Blaze event.”
“Yeah I know I talked to Torrie. She’s stressing big time about this thing,” Heather said nodding her head.
Stressing was an understatement. Between being concerned about where things stood between herself and Wade, Ashley had been continuing to finalize plans for the event. Due to Torrie’s heavy schedule they’d had several conference calls this week, each lasting two or more hours in an effort to finalize some portion of this monstrous undertaking. If Torrie hadn't felt the need to be such an integral part of the decision making process Ashley could probably have more accomplished by now but she wanted to be kept in the loop.
“The event is in less than eight months. We’ve barely finalized anything and everything we do finalize Torrie always wants to go back over every time we meet and never fails to change her mind. The only places I’ve been are work and home.”
Heather nodded her head in understanding.
“I think you should just go see him.”
“Heather if he doesn’t want to talk to me by phone what makes you think he wants to see me?”
“Because it’s much easier to ignore a phone call. I can guarantee if you show up at the guesthouse he will have no choice but to talk to you.”
Ashley wasn’t convinced. Could she really put herself out there and practically beg him to talk to her? “After my meeting with Torrie tomorrow I’ll head over there.”
With a plan of action firmly in place, the rest of lunch was filled with catching up and plenty of wine. Deciding she would get nothing further done at work because her mind just wasn’t into it, Ashley headed home. After changing into something comfortable she set up her workstation at the island in her kitchen. The flashing light on her answering machine caught her attention. Had it been flashing this morning when she’d left? She couldn't remember. When was the last time she had checked it? Nobody ever called her at home. She only had the hard line for fax purposes really. Anticipation had her hand trembling as she reached for the play button.
“Oh God please let it be Wade. Let it be Wade.”
As she listened to the messages from the last two weeks, mostly telemarketers, hope began to fade. She was about to cut it off when a familiar voice came through the speaker.
“Hey Ashley this is David. Sorry I missed you at the office. I’m running about twenty minutes behind schedule. My meeting with my agent ran late. I just thought you might have come home before heading to the restaurant. I guess I’ll try you on your cell again.”
When the date and time played she felt sick to her stomach.
Chapter Twenty-one
Her meeting with Torrie over, Ashley headed towards the Romanos. Her stomach turned in trepidation as she got closer. She found herself wishing the fifteen minute drive from Torrie’s house to the Romano’s was a little bit longer today. With her thoughts focused on all the many ways this impromptu visit could go it seemed like only seconds had passed before she was turning onto the tree lined driveway of her second home.
Pulling into her normal parking space at the big house, she noticed Wade's car. She’d lucked out and he was home. Great. That was good. Wasn’t it? Sure it was she told herself.
Ashley took a ragged breath and sent up a quick prayer before getting out of her truck. She headed for the path which led to the guesthouse. It had always surprised her he had never ventured out on his own like a few of his other friends, especially given the number of girls he’d dealt with over the years. One would think having your own space you wouldn't have to contend with sneaking them in or answering questions of your whereabouts.
Pausing outside the door, Ashley felt as if she would be sick. There was no backing down. She willed her nerves to subside and rang the doorbell. When no answer came after her second attempt she turned the handle. Finding it unlocked she walked inside. Memories came rushing back.
Joey had built the structure when Heather had announced before their junior year of high school she was ready for a little more privacy than the main house allowed. It had started off as a place for them to hang with their friends without continuously having to deal with the younger clan members. Over the years Joey had continued to work on the place and had added a second floor complete with oversized bedroom, closet and two bathrooms. One upstairs in the master bedroom and one downstairs. It’s where she and Heather had stayed when they came home from college on breaks.
She didn’t think she had been back here since Wade had moved in. Ashley took in the updated furniture and flat screen television with surround sound hook up, definitely a sign Wade lived here. The lay out and the warmth and comfort of the room had not changed. Many late nights of girl talk had taken place in the living room and even more nights of heavy making out on the old couch that used to occupy the long wall in front of her. Those were the days when life was so much simpler. Back then if you liked a guy, he liked you, you went out a few times and you had sex. If it didn’t work out then you and he parted amicably or not. No one’s life was changed too much one way or the other. After heaving a heavy sigh, she took the doorway to the left of the living room, which led to the stairs.
“Wade,” she called as her foot hit the top step.
Following the hallway, she continued until she stood outside his bedroom. She pushed the door open gently and saw him lying on his bed. His arm was thrown over his eyes.
“Wade?”
He jumped, lowering his arms.
“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said leaning against the doorframe.
“What are you doing here Ashley?”
The hard edge in his voice shocked her and she almost took a step back. Gearing herself up for what was to come, she moved further into the bedroom. She stopped directly in front of where he sat refusing to look at her.
“You haven’t returned any of my phone calls.” For a minute she didn’t think he was going to answer.
“Why didn’t you tell me about David?” he asked not bothering to lift his head to look at her.
The bottom dropped out of her stomach and the air rushed from her lungs as her worst fears were realized.
“He called when I was at your house on Tuesday waiting for you to get home. When were you going to tell me?”
Daggers were aimed her way when he turned his head in her direction. His gaze held her captive and demanded honesty. Just behind the anger was pain and sadness. She had hurt him deeply by not being completely honest with him or herself.
“I’m sorry Nicki. I should have told you.”
“Quanto tempo Ashley? How long has it been going on?” he asked through clenched teeth, turning his head away from her once more.
She thought about all the many ways to answer his question. At this point she wasn’t sure if anything she said would make things better. The best she could hope for was that it wouldn't make them any worse. “He’s been calling for over a week.”
Wade sat up in bed and his fiery gaze pinned her to the spot where she stood.
“I swear there’s nothing to it,” she added quickly, hoping he would see the truth in her words.
“He’s been calling you for over a week and you didn’t think it was important to mention it?”
He
rose swiftly causing her to almost lose her balance when he brushed past her. After walking a few steps away, he turned back in her direction an accusing glare upon his face. “I figured you would tell me when you wanted things to be over between us. Guess I was wrong.”
The dull ache that had begun the minute she’d first felt his hard gaze upon her intensified. This was not going well at all. “Wade I have no intentions of going back to David.”
“Oh come off it Ashley. How could you not be considering it? He’s David ‘fucking’ Wright. He’s the big time football player. Why wouldn't you want him back?” He didn’t allow her time to answer before he continued. “I mean and look at you. You’re beautiful and smart. Talented. You have everything going for you. I’m sure he realized what a mistake he had made as soon as he walked out the door. Why wouldn't he want you back? Hell you make him look good.”
“Nicki, David and I have already…”
He stopped in his manic pacing to stare at her. “You already what Ashley? You two have already reconciled?”
The horrified look on his face had her moving into action and she stepped towards him. Her hand was inches from his arm when he pulled away. Hurt by the rejection she wrapped her arms around herself.
“No that’s not what I meant,” she started to explain but he refused to let her finish.
“What I don’t understand is why you didn’t just tell me? I would have understood. I thought we had enough between us for you to give me that courtesy.”
The slump of his shoulders was her undoing and she moved quickly to his side not considering another rejection. His head was bent and he refused to look at her. She cupped his cheek and caressed it softly. “We do have something between us. We’ve always have. No matter how I’ve tried to fight it has always been there.”
When he finally lifted his gaze to meet hers, Ashley wished he hadn’t. It tore at her heart to see his pain clearly reflected there.
“Oh Nicki. I’ve made a mess of things but I want you to know,” she began before he put his fingers over her lips.
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear about how you will always care for me. But you just couldn't live without him.”
Enough was enough. His refusal to allow her to speak or to explain was wearing thin.
“Couldn't live without him? Hell I couldn't breathe while he was there.”
The look he sent her spoke of his disbelief. He pulled away from her touch and moved to the other side of the large room.
“Yeah? You seemed to be breathing well enough to me. For four months if I remember right. I can’t help but think that if we hadn't had sex you would still be with him. Tell me that’s not true Ashley.” His glare begging her to tell him what he wanted to hear. “Tell me if we hadn't had sex you would have dumped him and given me a chance. Given us a chance to happen.”
She couldn't hold his gaze. Tears burned the backs of her eyes as she searched deep and found herself unable to give him the answer he needed to hear. Lying would not help the situation she was certain. “I can’t tell you that Nicki.”
He walked slowly back over to the bed, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Her heart ached.
“Nicki,” she paused.
What was she going to say? What could she say? The odds were stacked against his believing anything she said at this point. Yet how could she not at least try to get him to understand.
“Nicki, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you David was calling. I see now I should have. I never once considered going back to him but when he kept calling I felt… flattered,” she said moving to sit beside him on the bed her head down. “The day he left the voice message I did meet him. I went to tell him I had found someone else and he and I couldn't get back together. Because I was seeing you.”
Shock and disbelief flickered across his face.
“You told him about us?”
“Yes and I must say he was quite surprised.” That was an understatement. The look on David’s face when she’d admitted to being involved with Wade had been quite comical.
“So you really don’t want to get back with him?” he asked.
“No.”
He pulled her roughly against his body. She breathed the first real breath she’d taken since she’d entered the guesthouse.
“Ashley when I thought …” he paused.
The pain she saw reflected in his eyes told her where his thoughts where. She didn’t want to dwell on the past. Ashley had waited all week long to have him hold her and she didn’t want thoughts of David to intrude ever again. Moving closer to him on the bed she pulled him even closer. Wade’s eyebrow rose and an amused gleam sprang to life. His hands moved up and down her arms in a gentle caress.
“I can look at you and know you’re turned on. It’s in the way your breathing changes. In the way your nipples harden into little pebbles,” he said moving his hands from her arms to stroke her nipples through her t-shirt.
He lowered his head next to her ear, his hot breath grazing against her skin. Warm lips kissed the side of her neck as his fingers continued to pull and pinch her nipples through the thin material of her t-shirt. She fought to retain control of her breathing.
“What are you waiting for?” she asked a challenge in her voice.
“Just the invitation,” he said pushing her gently until she fell backwards on the bed. He reached down to unfasten the button of her shorts.
Ashley lifted her hips to allow him to pull them off. When they were removed she spread her legs. Her clit throbbed with the need to be touched. She gazed up at him as he moved to stand beside the bed, the outline of his heavy erection pushing against his jeans. When he kneeled on the floor, she wondered at his intent but she didn’t have long to discover the reason. Her breath rushed from her body when he gripped her under her knees and pulled her closer to him. His fingers moved the soaked crotch of her panties to the side.
“You’re so wet,” he said pushing a finger into her heated moisture.
A second finger joined the first and his thumb stroked her aching clit.
“Oh Wade I want you to eat my pussy. I want to feel your tongue buried deep inside me,” she said rising up on her elbows to look at him.
His head was so close. She could feel his hot breath against her.
“You were reading my mind.”
Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the hard ball of his tongue ring stroke her swollen nub. Her mouth opened as she gasped for breath. Round and round his tongue swirled before he sucked its hardness into the heat of his mouth. Her hips lifted from the bed at the pleasure. His fingers drove deeper into her.
“Wade,” she screamed as her stomach muscles clenched and her leg began to shake from the pleasure of his mouth on her.
Ashley pushed her t-shirt up, taking her bra with it, and pinched her aching nipples. They throbbed in time to his sucking on her clit. Her head thrashed back and forth on the bed as he finally released it from his mouth. He moved up her body. His lips wrapped around her aching peaks and tugged them into his mouth, while his fingers still thrust deep into her heat. Her vaginal muscles tightened, signaling she was close to her orgasm. With each pull of her nipples the closer she got.
“I’m so close Wade,” she breathed, moving up and down on the fingers invading her body.
“I want you to fuck me,” she said moving her hands between their bodies and fondling the button of his jeans. “I want your dick in me when I cum.”
She lifted her gaze to meet his and was surprised to see hesitation in their depths.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I don’t have any condoms here,” he replied.
Wade removed his cum covered fingers from between her legs and positioned his hardened jean clad body between them. She gasped in shock as the rough material moved against her clit causing shock waves to vibrate through her body.
“You mean you ran out?”
She did recall him bringing condoms with him to her house. They were stashed in almost ever
y drawer in every room as inconspicuously as possible. With Wade one never knew when the urge was going to hit. She wished he’d left some of them here though. It didn’t make any sense. There was no way a guy as sexually active as he was didn’t have extra condoms stashed somewhere in this house. He moved against her again, causing a pause in her thoughts, as she tried to keep her body from falling over the edge she was teetering on.
“You're the only girl who’s ever been here. To the guesthouse,” he whispered against her neck.
He bit hard in the spot he’d been only nibbling at before pulling away. The action short circuited Ashley’s brain for a brief moment. Had he just said she was the only girl who’d ever been there? How was that possible? Strong arms reached around her warm body bringer her closer to his naked chest.
“I love the feel of your breasts against me.”
Confusion warred with her growing need to cum. The increased friction of his movements against her clit was affecting her thought process. It was almost too much and all she wanted to do was give in to the way he was making her feel.
“I want you to cum for me Ashley. I want to feel your pussy clench around me as your orgasm takes you,” Wade whispered against her ear, before taking her lobe between his lips.
“Oh Nicki,” she breathed.
Her legs began to shake as her efforts to hold off her orgasm threatened to fail. This is not how she wanted their coming together to be. It took only a moment for her to come to a decision. She’d been on the pill for ages to help control her menstrual cycle so there was no danger of her getting pregnant. Decision made she pushed his body away from hers.
“What are you doing?” he asked raising his body off of hers slightly.
“I want you in me when I cum which means you’ll have to get rid of some clothes.” She pushed his jeans down over his slim hips, taking his boxers with them, ever careful of the erection thrusting out at her.
“Ashley didn’t you hear what I said. I don’t have any condoms here.”
She grabbed his hands causing him to come in contact with her open cunt. A deep groan left him as his hips moved against her wetness of their own will making short thrusts into her body before he went rigid against her.
