Asher (A Wesley Brothers Novel Book 3)

by Michelle Smith

  “Good, because we have a favor to ask.” Nora smiles, nodding her head when Cade looks at her, prompting him to go on.

  “Well, between the bar and work, and now school, we might need some help,” he tells my mom. “From all of you, actually.” He looks around the room to the rest of us.

  “Of course, honey. We'll all pitch in. What do you need help with?”

  Cade smiles. “Babysitting.”

  Mom's eyes widen in surprise, and she looks to Nora for confirmation. Tears are already welling in both their eyes as Nora nods. Showing no restraint, mom pulls Nora in for a hug. Once she releases her, the girls crowd around the mom-to-be, talking animatedly about all things baby.

  I'm the first to get to Cade. “Congratulations, man,” I tell him as I pull him in for a hug. The smile never leaves his face as each one of us takes our turn. When Sloan pulls away from his hug, he asks, “A baby’s a huge responsibility, man. Think you're up for the challenge?

  “I'm more than ready.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I mean, we weren't planning on starting a family yet, but I wouldn't change anything for the world.”

  “See, this is why I always tell you to plan things out.”

  Cade laughs at him. “Not everyone is a planner, Sloan.”

  Nik claps a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, in this family, that role belongs to you.”

  When we’re all done teasing Sloan for his unrelenting need to plan everything, he turns to the ladies. “Hey, where’s Lizzy?”

  “She excused herself a few minutes ago and hasn’t come back yet.” Natalia goes back to talking with mom and Nora.

  “I’d better go check on her.” Sloan heads off deeper into the house to find his girl.

  We lose track of time, wrapped up in all the excitement. Cade and Nora talk about plans to renovate their extra bedroom for the baby while mom goes on about baby showers and projects she wants dad to get done on the house before the baby comes. She’s a little ahead of herself, but no one wants to burst her bubble.

  I’m as excited as the others. I can’t wait to be an uncle. You get all the good parts of being a parent, but you get to give the kid back when he or she misbehaves or gets so sugared up they can’t sit still.

  I’m trying to stay focused on all the family stuff, but I keep finding myself stealing glances at Kara. The smile hasn't left her face as she talks animatedly with my mom and the others. It's not lost on me how well she's getting along with everyone. A warm feeling spreads through my chest at the thought of how well she fits in with my family. I’m not sure what it all means yet, but it reiterates the fact I’m not ready to end whatever this is. I can only hope she still wants to see me too, even after we no longer work together.

  “Hey, we're going to get out of here.” I was so lost in thoughts of Kara that I didn't notice Sloan had returned, Elizabeth now by his side.

  “Okay. I think we’ll head out too.” I’m anxious to get my night started with Kara, and I’m ready to get her home. This is the first night she’ll be spending at my place. I’ll make sure it’s not the last. “Ready Kara?”

  She nods her head, and we make our way through my family, saying our goodbyes. When we get to my bike parked out front, she lets out a long breath. “Your family is amazing. They made me feel right at home.”

  I take her hands as we stop next to the bike. “I told you not to worry. I know my family. I would have warned you if I thought there would be a problem.”

  Kara rolls her eyes at me and gives me a playful swat of her hand. “Thank you for inviting me. I had a great time meeting everyone.”

  “Thank you for coming.” I lean in, pressing my lips against hers. The kiss is meant to be light—a quick peck of appreciation, but the minute our lips touch, all the heat we’ve been suppressing for the last few hours surfaces. My hand glides across her cheek, cupping the back of her neck and pulling her in closer. Her arms slip around my waist, the warm heat of her palm searing my skin as she slips her hand under my shirt. My other hand squeezes her hip and her moan brings me back into the present. I don’t want to stop this, but I need to get her away from prying eyes. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

  I make sure the lid is secured and slip the container of leftovers into the storage compartment on my bike. I help Kara put on her backpack and then climb onto the motorcycle. Holding out my hand for support, she swings her leg over the bike and settles in behind me, arms firmly wrapped around my waist, her front pressed to my back. I start the engine and head down the drive, back onto the main road. Kara squeezes her arms tighter around me when we take a curve, and her hands rest against the hard planes of my stomach, sending a fresh burst of lust through me. I hit the throttle in response. The sooner I get her home, the sooner I can get her under me.

  Chapter Ten

  Kara

  Dusk is settling over the city, bathing the sky in shades of red, orange, and pink. It’s hard to concentrate on the beauty of it, though. It’s hard to concentrate on anything when my hands are wrapped around Ash.

  He takes a final turn at the light and pulls up to an underground parking gate of a nice, multilevel brick building. Punching in some numbers, Ash waits for the gate to open before driving through. He guides us through the rows until we reach a spot in the back where he parks the bike, killing the engine. He helps me off before climbing off himself.

  “I could get used to this,” I tell him after we both remove our helmets.

  “What's that?”

  “Letting you drive me around town on that thing,” I tell him, lifting my chin in the direction of his motorcycle. Ash digs into his pocket and pulls out a key fob, pressing the button. A silver Audi parked next to the bike beeps, and the trunk pops open.

  “I could be persuaded to make that happen.” Smiling, he takes the helmets and places them in the trunk of the car, closing the trunk after. Coming back to stand next to me after he’s finished, he pulls me to him, pinning me between him and the driver's side door. “What do I get in return?”

  Not one to let the opportunity to touch him pass me by, I let my hands trail over the shirt molded to his chest and drop my hands lower until they're resting on the waistband at the front of his jeans. The lust in his eyes tells me he already has a form of payment in mind, but I play coy. “What did you have in mind?”

  Another car parked a few spaces down from Ash’s beeps. “Come on upstairs and I'll show you.” He retrieves the leftovers from his bike, then pulls the backpack from my shoulders and slings one of the straps over his own before leaning in for a quick brush of his lips across mine. He takes my hand in his and leads me through the garage towards an entrance into the building. We pass a woman as she stops at the parked car that beeped.

  “How’s it going Ash?” The pretty blonde flips her hair over her shoulder, giving Ash what I can only imagine is her signature smile. You know, the one women have in their arsenal designed to bring a man to his knees thinking about all the naughty things she can do besides smile with that mouth. It bugs me, for a lot of reasons I’m not sure I want to explore right now. But for one, he’s obviously with me—our hands are still linked together—and her brazen flirtation grates on my nerves.

  He doesn't stop walking and barely looks in her direction when he replies. “Good, thanks.” He doesn't engage her in any small talk, simply tugs me along beside him. The fact he does that makes me feel a bit better. I shake off my irritation, because the truth is I have no right to be irritated. I don't know where this little flare of jealousy came from. The woman didn't do anything wrong. She only smiled at him. I choose to ignore the perusal her eyes took across his body while she bit her lip doing it. Yeah, Ash may not have noticed, but I sure did. And who am I to fault a woman for looking? He’s damn good to look at.

  We walk into the building and toward an elevator at the end of a short hallway. Ash presses the button and the doors open immediately. He waits for me to step in first, before following and pressing the button for the third floor.


  “The answer is no.”

  I look at him, confused as to what he’s talking about, then focus my attention on the closing doors. “What was the question?”

  He lets out a sigh. “Whether or not I’ve slept with her.” He leans his shoulder against the elevator wall and tucks his hands in his pockets. “The answer is no, I haven’t.”

  “I didn’t ask you that.”

  He pushes away from the wall and walks the two feet to me. “You didn’t have to. I could see it written all over your face. I’ve never slept with any of the women that live in my building, so you don’t have to worry that when you come here you’re going to run into anyone I've been with.”

  The doors ping with our arrival and open, and I exit the small space. Having no idea where to go, I stop in the neat, well-lit hallway and wait for Ash to come out behind me. “You don’t owe me any sort of explanation, Ash. It’s none of my business.”

  He takes my hand again and leads me down the hall. “I’m making it your business, Kara. I like you, okay? I want you to feel comfortable when you come here, because I want you coming over a lot more.”

  “You do?” I ask him when he stops at a door marked 3A. He takes the key fob from earlier back out of his pocket, selects a key from the ring attached to it, and inserts it into the lock. Once the door is open, he answers me.

  “Yes, I do. I want to spend as much time with my girlfriend as I possibly can. It doesn’t sound unreasonable to me.”

  Girlfriend?

  GIRLFRIEND?

  He introduced me to Nik as his girlfriend, but I thought he was simply being polite and the avoiding any awkwardness.

  He tosses his keys into a ceramic dish on a small table by the door like he didn’t just tilt my world with his words. He flips the lamp on that sits beside it and drops my backpack on the floor.

  “Girlfriend?” The word comes out broken, and if I’m being honest, with a hint of panic.

  “I wasn’t planning on having this conversation tonight, but since you opened the door, we might as well talk about it.” My eyes follow him as he walks through a living room and into a kitchen. The light from the fridge illuminates him as he puts the container inside and shuts the door. He strolls back to the living room and over to a soft-looking sofa, sitting down at one end and patting the cushion next to him for me to join. I do, maybe leaving a little more space between us than he likes, because he pulls me across his lap instead. He settles his arms around me and waits for me to look at him.

  “What conversation?”

  “The one where I tell you I want to keep seeing you after Kendra comes back from maternity leave.” He brushes my hair off my face, drawing my gaze up to his. “Look, I’m not sure what this is between us, but I’m not afraid to admit I don’t want it to end yet. I’ve never met anyone like you before, and I’m curious to see where this ends up.”

  “Really?” I’m having a hard time grasping what he’s saying. Every man I’ve ever gone out with has avoided this conversation like the plague. Hell, according to my friends, initiating this conversation is usually the kiss of death for any relationship. That’s why I didn’t want to bring it up. I never expected Ash to.

  “Yeah. Unless it’s not something you’re interested in. If that’s the case, you should forget the last five minutes ever happened.”

  His joke makes me smile, but I’m quick to speak up. “I don’t want to pretend they didn’t happen.”

  “You don’t?”

  I shake my head. “No, I don’t.” A beaming smile lights up Ash’s face and he pulls my mouth down to his. His kiss is rough, almost urgent. His thumbs stroke across my cheeks as his tongue sweeps across mine. In one quick move, he lays me down on my back on the sofa next to him and covers my body with his, his hips sliding between my legs when my knees fall open to give him more room.

  I love the feel of his body covering me. He doesn’t give me his full weight, but enough of himself where I can feel him in all the right places. His hips grind into me as we kiss, and I can feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing into the seam of my shorts. The friction is perfect, working me up fast.

  His hand drifts down my neck, over my shoulder, and down my side, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. “I want you so fucking bad right now,” he murmurs between capturing my kisses and hooking his hand under my knee to pull my calf over his hip. He rocks his hips into me again, hitting my clit perfectly, and ripping a moan from deep in my throat. I don’t think I’ve ever been more turned on than I am right now. And we aren’t even naked yet.

  I want to remedy that.

  I slide my hands under his shirt and tug, pulling it up his body until he gets the message. Ash breaks the kiss and sits up, removing the shirt, and tossing it across the living room. He doesn’t lay back down though, instead taking my hands and pulling me up with him. Standing, he guides me off the sofa.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Bedroom.” He pulls me into him, taking my mouth in another rough kiss. He scoops me up into his arms and wraps my legs around his waist. My hands quickly lock around his neck, holding on. He walks us out of the living room—a room I never got a good look at—and carries me down a hallway until we reach what I assume is his bedroom.

  It’s dark in here, only slivers of light filtering in from the covered windows.

  He puts me down on a soft bed, then disappears into the darkness. A few seconds later, two bedside lamps click on, bathing him and the room in a soft, warm light. My eyes take a quick glance at my surroundings—dark walls and furniture done in masculine colors and decorated with a man’s touch.

  No doubt about it, Ash’s space is all male.

  I watch as he walks back across the carpeted floor toward me. He’s breathtaking. Broad, strong shoulders and arms corded with muscle. Smooth, tanned skin pulled taut across well-defined pecs and a six-pack to go along with it.

  Jesus.

  It’s not like I’ve never seen a well-built man before. I have. I’ve lived in Florida long enough now to know a simple trip to the beach allows for all the eye candy I can handle. But a well-built man where I know the inside is just as attractive as the outside? That has me attracted to Ash in a way I’ve never been with anyone before.

  He stops short before he reaches me, his eyes roaming over my face. “Stand up.”

  The words are spoken lightly, but there’s no denying their command. Ash has a playful personality. He doesn’t like to take life too seriously, with the one exception being sex. It’s the one thing he likes to control. I’ve come to realize he takes sex very seriously.

  You won’t hear me complain.

  Biting my lip, I slowly rise to my feet and give him my full attention. “Strip for me.” His lips twitch as a grin starts to form when I reach for the hem of my shirt. I slowly lift it over my head and toss it onto the floor. I lean over, resting my hand on the bed for balance, taking off one shoe and sock, then repeat the action for the other ones. When I straighten up again, I tug the snap of my shorts, the sound of it popping open turning Ash’s growing grin into a full-blown smile.

  I pull the zipper down and slide the shorts over my legs, stepping out of them and tossing them on top of my shirt. Standing in front of him in only my bra and panties—the blue hue almost the same color as his eyes—my skin breaks out in chills as I watch his eyes trail down the contours of my body.

  From my head to my feet and back up again, Ash takes his time. The smile never drops from his face. In fact, it gets naughtier by the second. “Turn around.”

  Dragging my eyes from his, I do as he asks and turn to face the bed and notice for the first time how big it is. I’d guess California King, but custom-made larger isn’t out of the question.

  All thoughts of the bed dissipate as I feel his heat behind me. His fingertips graze across my neck, causing me to tilt it to the side. His lips pressing into the delicate skin and the stroke of his tongue across the tender flesh startles me. He nips, he licks, he nibbles the ski
n there until my nipples pebble underneath the lace covering them. He pulls back, and I feel his hands at the clasp of my bra, tugging the hooks free until the lace falls away. His lips return to my neck, but his hands wander over my skin until they reach my breasts. He cups them, his fingers flicking over the hardened tips as he squeezes their softness with more force. His kisses match the roughness of his grip as they travel to the other side, tilting my head the other direction so he can devour me there too.

  “I love the way your skin tastes,” he whispers as his lips pass my ear. His hands drop from my breasts and hook into the sides of my panties. “I like the way your pussy tastes even more.”

  Christ, I may not survive this night.

  His grip keeps me upright when my knees go week. The man always knows the right thing to say. He slides the lace down until my panties drop to the floor. “Spread your legs for me, baby.”

  His words, and the low, demanding growl to his voice, send a fresh rush of wetness to my core. He holds me steady while he directs my feet where he wants them. Once I'm positioned where he likes, he leans back in, breath hot against my ear. “Now, bend over for me and put your elbows on the bed. Keep that ass nice and high.”

  My heart hammers in my chest. I lean forward, and do as I'm told, losing his body heat when he moves away from me.

  “Fuck,” he breathes out. His palm presses into my back, tracing down my spine. I think he's going to stop before he reaches my ass, but he doesn't. His fingers slip lower and delve into my core, finding me more than ready for him.

  “Damn, you're so wet.”

  Words elude me; all I can manage is a moan. He drops to his knees behind me, getting an intimate view of my aching center. I'd be embarrassed if I wasn't so turned on.

  “So beautiful,” he tells me, spreading me wider with his thumbs. The feel of his hot breath takes me by surprise. His tongue dips into my pussy and swirls around the sensitive flesh.

  “So sweet,” he tells me, before diving back in. His hands dig into the soft flesh of my ass, massaging and kneading as his tongue works me over. He spends a few long, torturous minutes driving me to the edge, but backs away before he can send me tumbling over.