by Wynn, Renee
She swallowed the lump in her throat, not trusting herself to speak. Everything was a rollercoaster but she didn’t want to slow it down or even get off.
She inhaled his scent. Ever since she met him, when she was seventeen, he’d worn the same smell, clean, masculine and with a hint of something she could never detect. She could always tell when he entered the room because of it.
What made her think of that? Needing a barrier, she back up and walked to the sofa table. She wiped her clammy hands on her skirt. His riveted blue gaze watched her every movement.
“Don’t do this, Ashton.”
“We already crossed that invisible line drawn years ago.”
“Please let it go.”
“I let you hide behind that damn crush you had for my brother but no more. There’ll be no one else in our bed but you and me.”
She sputtered and breathed deeply to control the anger that immediately flared. “I can see why you go from woman to woman. With those archaic ideas, no woman would stay with you. You need—”
He slammed her up against his chest. She stumbled during the process, grasping hold of his arms for support but it wasn’t needed because he held her tightly. She felt her heart beating against the rapid beat of his. She involuntarily parted her lips and waited. His tongue swiped across her lips, lightly biting but didn’t enter her mouth.
He followed it with soft kisses although she craved more. It seemed like an eternity of tease, but ended when he captured her lips, suckling her tongue in the process. She moaned deep when the seductive dance that she had come to know so well began. Intense pleasure clawed at her body. Her breasts hardened to painful peaks. Desperately, she molded her body to his, trying to get closer even though there was no space between them. With her hands in his hair, she tugged hard, opening her mouth wider to receive more.
He released his magnetic hold and took a deep breath. “I needed that.”
“We can’t keep doing this,” she whispered, as his lips skimmed across her cheek and finally her mouth again. She pushed half-heartedly at his chest. “I…need to think.”
Lifting his head, he frowned. “ Nicole, stop it.” His eyes were unreadable but direct. “One minute you’re hot and then the next you’re cold. It’s got to stop, baby.”
“I know.” Nicole tried to move out of arms but he held her firmly within his arms. “Everything is so complicated…and confusing.”
“We’ve already slept together. It can’t get any more complicated than that. We aren’t going back to the way things were before it happened.”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a brief moment. “I know that. But you want to move forward. You’re going too fast.”
“Damn, Nicole it has been almost two months. Don’t you think that’s long enough for you to make a decision about us?”
“I never thought of us as a couple..”
“I have spent a long time searching for you.”
“And your point?”
“My point is you need to ask yourself why I bothered to search for you. Grow up, Nicole, and see life as it really is. There are ups and downs, good and bad. You and I have something that is good. I know what it is but I need for you to figure it out. I won’t take only part of you. I want it all. I need…” He took a deep breath. “I need for you to make a choice, right now.”
She glared. “You’re pushing too hard. Brent is—”
“Bullshit! My brother isn’t part of the equation. It’s only you and me..” He pointed to her and then himself. “No one else. I could seduce you and you make you want me, but I won’t. There’s more to us than sex. I want you to see it and come to me with your own free will..”
“It’s too much. You want too much. You want to consume me. I need for you to give me space.”
He took hold of her shoulders. “Look at me, Nicole. What the hell do you see? I’m the man you’ve known since you were a teenager. I haven’t changed except for the feelings I have for you.” He touched his chest. “I don’t play games and I’m not going to start now.”
The silence between them hung thick like branches of a weeping willow tree, but tired and still.
“Baby, this back and forward shit…” He shook his head in disgust. “You need to stop doing it. I’m crowding you but I knew the first night together that we had something. It was special. But, I’m not going to beg you.”
“I need time.”
“For what?”
“I want to get to know you. I need to see if this is real between us. I need for it to be more than passion…sex.” She squeezed her eyes and then rubbed at her temple. “You want a decision now and I can’t give it to you.”
Her gaze was caught by the dark lashes fringing those deep blue eyes. She almost missed the quick shadow of pain that crossed him face and then disappeared. Was it real or her imagination because now his ever-present frown was back in place? She wanted to smooth it away but couldn’t. He wanted more than she was willing to give.
“I see,” he said and stepped back. “You have given me your answer.”
He turned toward the door, opened it and walked through not making a sound. The finality of it spurred her into action. She ran out the door and down the steps. When she hit the last step, Ashton’s hand was already on the door handle of the Mercedes.
“Don’t go,” she uttered in a voice barely audible but hoped he heard her.
He turned toward her. She released the pain in her chest.
Hooded eyes collided with hers. “Why?”
She struggled to produce the words that were in her heart. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders. He opened the door of the car.
“I’m trying!” she shouted.
Ashton slammed door and walked slowly toward her. They now stood face to face. Anger was still etched on his face; his eyes were cold and guarded.
“I’m trying,” she said again
“It’s not good enough.”
She dropped her head, took a deep breath and lifted it high. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“I’m not making you do anything you don’t want.”
“I don’t—”
“It’s your choice, Nicole. You hold the entire deck of cards.”
A tick pulsated in his jaw. He wasn’t as unaffected as he sound. This gave her courage. She took his hand and walked with him into the house. Closing the door, she leaned against it. He stood stoic, not moving an inch.
“I don’t know what this is between us. To be frank, I’m scared to examine it or give it a name.” He remained immobile. She continued, “It’s strong and powerful. I feel as if I’m teetering on a high cliff and could fall any moment.”
She laid the palm of her hand against his face, feeling the stiffness. “I don’t want to be hurt.”
At that moment something changed in his eyes. Emotion surfaced from their depths, flickered and then was gone.
“I swear with everything in me I’ll never hurt you.”
The silence of the house reminded of midnight when all was quiet. Finally, she heard the soft chime of the clock in the hallway informing her that time didn’t stand still for on one.
For the second time that day, Nicole initiated a kiss by covering his lips with hers. He stiffened but she continued searching for his tongue, timidly at first and then with vigor. Once she captured it he finally broke by sweeping her up his arms and walking to the sofa.
“No, bedroom,” she mumbled against his mouth. He groaned. She smiled inwardly at his lack of control.
Inside the bedroom, he placed her on the bed and stared down at her. “I need you, Nicole.” His voice was low and rough. “More than you will ever know.”
Nicole nodded. “I know. I need you too.” He watched her for a long time before he began to unbutton his shirt. He removed the remainder of his clothes in unhurried movements. His bulging chest and patch of fine dark hair on his masculine form caused the fire that was simmering in her to build to unbelievable heights.
&n
bsp; “Hurry.”
“There’s no rush. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” Ashton sultry eyes burned through her. When he was finished, he undressed her slowly. “I’m not letting you run from me tonight.”
“Good,” she said, pulling him down on her. She wrapped her legs around his back. Nicole slipped her hand between them, finding him hard and smooth.
He groaned. “Baby, if you continue, I won’t last.”
“Oh, I think you’ll make it.”
Ashton’s mouth covered hers; she felt the hunger in the kiss and returned it. Without thinking, she grabbed his penis and placed it at the opening of her vagina.
“Sweetheart, stop. I need to make you ready for me,” he hissed through clenched teeth.
“I’m ready.”
He flicked his fingers at her clit, found it saturated with her fluids and smiled. He put his fingers in his mouth and sucked. “You’re so right.”
Her breath caught in her throat at the gesture.
He grabbed his cock and eased slowly into her.
“Oooh… so good.” Nicole blindly bunched up the sheet struggling to hold on to something that could give her balance.
His strokes were deep, powerful— and hypnotic. Ashton’s tongue continued its journey, causing her to claw at the bed sheets. Nicole’s breathing increased. Mouth open, gasping for air, she met him stroke for stroke.
“Please don’t stop.” The force of her climax hit hard and along the way she chanted his name. “Ashton…” She tightened her vagina muscles around his penis.
“You’re mine.” The words were hoarse and mixed with a deep rumbled groan as released his seed.
###
Nicole kept her eyes closed, refusing to let go of the sweet dream she was having of Ashton. He bestowed a thorough kiss on her lips and ran his fingers gently down her cheek.
“Hmm. That’s nice,” she said groggily and yawned.
“Nice? Is that the best you can give me?”
Nicole peered at him and saw that he was fully dressed. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
She squinted at the clock on the nightstand. “What time is it?”
“Six a.m.”
“It’s too early,” she grumbled.
He chuckled. Nicole loved the sound of his laughter. He did a lot of it since he had been with her. She liked it.
“I want you to rest. Besides, I’m leaving to give you the time you requested.”
“Really?” She sat up. “I thought last night changed all of that.”
“No, it didn’t.” His hand softly rubbed the nipple on one breast. Heat flooded her heat as she pulled the sheet to cover herself. He laughed and kissed her breast through the sheet.
“What is time alone supposed to do now?”
“For you see if this is really what you want. I don’t want you to have any doubts.”
“But, I don’t.”
He shook his head. “I believe you do. You’re confused, especially about Brent’s place in your life.”
“But—”
He placed his fingers to her lips. “Confusion is not something that will be between us. If we are to be together, I want you to be sure. I know we belong together but I need for you realize it also. No doubts.”
“How long will you be gone?’
“Until you call.” He kissed her again and moved toward the door.
“Let me walk you out.” She wrapped the sheet around, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
“No. I’ll lock the door behind me.” With a hand on the doorknob, he stood looking at her. “I want to leave with the memory of you lounging in bed with the essence of our lovemaking still clinging to you.”
His words made her dizzy with longing. She reached up and kissed him, long and deep, causing a hunger that at the moment couldn’t be filled.
He pulled back but not before running his tongue across her lips and kissing the side of her mouth. “Get back into bed. Rest.” He opened the door. “Don’t make me wait too long, if you do, I’ll come for you.” The door closed quietly behind him.
Chapter Ten
“Sally told me about your obsession with Nicole Travis,” Ashton’s best friend, Broadus Lawrence Beaumont, whom everyone called Brody, said to him.
They’d just finished a huge steak dinner prepared by Brody’s cook, and now they were relaxing in his den. For once his friend was in the mood to talk and Ashton wasn’t.
Brody known as the silent, brooding type was normally a man of very few words, which women loved and men feared. Their personality kinship was something neither bothered to deny. Since their families, the Sinclair’s and Beaumont’s had been friends for over forty years, long before either of them was born; it seemed natural that their sons would be lifelong friends as well.
Brody had been adopted by the Beaumont’s when he was five days old. He was part Native American Indian, with startling green eyes, which attested to the fact that one of his biological parents wasn’t Indian.
When Claire Beaumont had opened the door to the orphanage where she was volunteering and found a baby in a woven carrier and wrapped in a Native American handmade blanket on the doorstep, she’d fallen in love immediately. She and her husband had been trying for years to have children but with no success. To hear her tell it, God had sent Brody just for her. He was her miracle.
Although the note pinned to his blanket gave his age, the only other words on the handwritten sheet of paper had said that he was a good baby and to please take care of him.
To this day, Brody never mentioned or sought to find his biological parents. He was the only son of Grayson and Claire Beaumont. No one dared to bring up the fact that Brody was adopted and not a bloodline Beaumont. If they did, that person would’ve been cut from the Beaumont’s circle.
Brody was their firstborn and heir apparent; therefore, he would receive the reins of Beaumont Oil and Gas and all other Beaumont holdings. Like Ashton, Brody was a billionaire but getting him to take his rightful place in the family was another battle. He was a loner. He never took to being cooped up in an office. Brody had made a deal with his father. He would run the Beaumont Enterprises but he would spend two months a year on his Montana ranch without interruption.
Brody was in the final week of his two month exile and would be going back to Dallas. Although, Brody didn’t like unexpected guests, he and Ashton had open door policies when it came to their friendship and homes.
“Your sister likes to gossip.”
His best friend grumbled. “What young girl doesn’t?”
“She’s old enough not to entertain it.”
Ashton walked to the bar and poured a straight whiskey into the glass. He drank deeply and poured another. He returned to the dark chocolate leather chair in the corner and propped his leg on the armrest.
Brody, lounging in another chair with his leg thrown over the side, watched him in silence.
Ashton had been at Brody’s two-thousand acre ranch in Montana for the last week, trying to give Nicole the space he promised. He should’ve gone to Dallas but he wasn’t in the mood to attend meetings or work. The problem was that he missed Nicole…badly.
He’d called his right hand VP at the company and asked him to attend all meetings in his place. There had been a stunned silence on the other end of the line. He knew he’d shock the man. What the hell, he’d shocked himself. Well things change. Damn, he was changing—Nicole changed him. He smiled at the thought of her.
“Nicole…she’s young, Ashton.”
He didn’t pretend not to know what Brody was talking about. “I realize that.” He ran a hand across his face in exasperation.”
“She’s not like your other women.”
Ashton took another swallow of whiskey and looked over his glass at his friend. “No. She’s always been different.”
With no expression on his face, he said, “Ah, I see. She’s special? I never thought I would see the day.”
“It’s not a joke.�
��
“I didn’t laugh.”
“I know but your tone stated that you did.”
Brody asked, “How do you know Nicole is the one?”
“I knew it the first time I saw her.”
Brody frowned. “But she was…what? Sixteen?”
“Seventeen. My heart did unbelievable things at the time. I didn’t know what was going on.”
There was a long moment of silence.
“I didn’t know those words could come from you, a cynic.”
“Don’t be an ass, Brody. I’m serious.”
“I’m not trying to. I just don’t want whenever has happen to you to rub off on me. This is weird. I’ve never seen you like this. If you believe that Nicole is the one, you need to seal it up quickly.”
Ashton snorted. “She’s not an acquisition or merger, Brody.”
“Really?” Haven’t you been working on acquiring her for years?”
“You’re wrong. I never thought Nicole and I were a possibility.” He grinned, thinking of her feistiness. “She doesn’t take any bullshit from me.”
“You finally met a lady who doesn’t fall at your feet?” He was quiet for a moment. “You’ve always been a love-‘em and leave-‘em them kind of guy.”
“People change, Brody.”
“You and I don’t.” His eyes narrowed. “But I hear the way you say her name. I thought Sally was joking when she told me. Damn, man, you’ve known Nicole since she was a kid.”
He ground out. “She’s a grown woman, not a child.”
“And you’re thirty-four, soon to be thirty-five and sliding quickly toward forty. You got a lot of years on her…and experience.”
“You’re not telling me something I don’t know.”
“The point I’m trying to make, Ashton, is that you’re too old, too jaded, and too messed up to be with this girl. For goodness sake, she’s Sally’s age, not one of the women you usually screw.”
“Shut the hell up.” Ashton pointed his finger at Brody. “Never, and I mean never talk about Nicole in that manner.”
Brody held up his hand. “Whoa. What’s gotten into you? I would’ve thought that episode with Victoria soured you.”
