by Lexy Timms
Kallie watched as Sasha sized her up. Sasha ripped her arm away as a pretentious little giggle fell from her lips. It took all the strength Kallie had to hold in her anger. To not erupt onto this woman before slapping her across her mouselike face.
“We were having a conversation, and we would like to finish it in peace,” Kallie said.
“Look, I’m not sure what kind of hint you need, but Ash isn’t interested in you,” Sasha said. “There’s no way he could be, after the news that came out about you. So stop trying to take my man away from me.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s not anyone’s man,” Kallie said.
“He was at my birthday party,” Sasha said. “And we had a devil of a time in my bedroom. I’m pretty sure that proves it.”
“No, we didn’t,” Ash said.
Kallie’s eyes whipped up to him when the man finally found his voice again.
“We never hooked up, Kallie,” he said. “Not for one second. She kissed me and shoved me into her room. I had to fight her off me before I left that party.”
“You were hitting on me all night, Ashly,” Sasha said.
“No, you were hitting on me. Rubbing your hands on my body and offering to get me drinks. And maybe I didn’t bat you away then, but I sure as hell did it before you shoved me into your room. Before you shoved me onto your bed. Before you tried to take my pants off without my consent.”
“I would never do such a thing. I love you, Ash.”
“But I don’t love you. I’ve never been interested in you, Sasha. We were a one-time thing on the island, and that was it. A splash of fun on vacation. You were the one who constantly pursued me. Calling me. Coming to my apartment. Following me to all sorts of places. How in the world are you going to convince me that you just happen to be in Indonesia the same time as me? I’ve only ever been here one other time. My father doesn’t do business in this country.”
Kallie watched Sasha’s mouth drop open.
“What?” Sasha asked breathlessly.
Kallie almost felt sorry for the woman.
Almost.
“I’m more of a woman than this girl will ever be. She was going to use you for your money.”
“The text messages were faked. I’ll be dealing with Mr. Rathbone at a later date,” Ash said. “But for now, Kallie’s right. You’re not welcome here, and you interrupted a very private dinner. So you should leave.”
Kallie’s eyes widened as Sasha stalked off. She could tell the woman was embarrassed, pissed off, and mortified. Sasha cursed underneath her breath as she walked off, saying some very disgusting things Kallie wanted to address.
“That bitch isn’t good enough for him.”
“Fucking gold-digger fucker.”
“Ash isn’t good enough for me anyway.”
Kallie watched as her body disappeared back into the restaurant before she turned back to Ash. Her body was coursing with unused energy. Anger she didn’t know how to get rid of. She ripped her chair out from the table and sat down, her chest panting as she tried to settle her heart down. It was racing with adrenaline, and she could still see herself slapping the shit out of that woman.
But she felt empowered. Strong. Rooted.
She finally stood up for herself.
And she knew she had taken a wonderful first step into the rest of her life. Bali wasn’t simply rejuvenating for Ash, it had been rejuvenating for her. Getting out of the States had been exactly what she’d needed in order to get her head right. Yes, it was a business trip, but it was also an eye-opening adventure. Maybe one day, once her business grew, she’d move herself to a place like Indonesia.
A place where she felt like the strong woman she knew herself to be.
Even if that strength still had a quiet voice.
Chapter 19
Ash
Ash studied Kallie as he sat down into his chair. The two of them ordered drinks and food, but other than that no words were spoken between the two of them. He felt more conflicted than he’d ever had in his life. He was fucking pissed at the way Sasha just came up to them and ruined the moment he’d set perfectly for Kallie as well as their dinner. But watching how Kallie stood up for him? How calm and collected she kept her demeanor while putting that bitch in her place? He’d never seen Kallie like that before. He’d never witnessed that type of fierce protection from her. She had no problem standing up to that rude woman, and he liked the way she kind of stood up for him.
It reminded him of the way he should’ve stood up for her in the first place.
The dinner wasn’t a total wash. Even though the two of them weren’t talking, Ash got a great opportunity to study the beautiful woman in front of him. The high color in her cheekbones. The red that trickled down her neck. The way Kallie seemed to be talking with herself in her mind. She was riled up, and she looked sexy as hell. Ash’s mind bombarded him with the other times she had gotten angry with him. The other times she’d unleashed that part of herself. And the passionate moments that followed soon overtook his memories. The sex had been outstanding, and those were some of the closest moments they’d ever experienced with each other.
So when the two of them were done eating, an idea struck Ash.
They weren’t too far off from the beach. In fact, the rice paddies they were hovering over broke to the beach a couple of blocks up the road. He could smell the saltwater in the air as the breeze kicked up, causing the rice paddies to dance underneath them.
“Why don’t we take a walk on the beach?” he asked as the waiter cleared their table.
He watched her eyes whip over to him and he could see “no” etched all over her features. But he wasn’t taking that for an answer. He knew the only reason she wanted to say no was because of how angry she was.
“It looks like you need to cool off a bit before we go back to the hotel,” Ash said.
“You don’t get to tell me what I need and don’t need.”
“I could throw you in the ocean. It’s only a block or two that way,” he said as he thumbed over his back.
“Ashly Worthington, this is not the time to taunt me.”
But oh, it really was.
Ash threw some money down onto the table before getting up and walking off. He knew Kallie wouldn’t be able to resist chasing him down in her fitful manner in order to give him a piece of her mind. He charged out of the restaurant and heard her quick on his heels, so he picked up the pace. He began jogging and taunting her, yelling behind him that she really needed to cool her jets.
“I’ll show you what a cool jet looks like,” Kallie said with a murmur behind him.
The rice paddies quickly broke into the sand of the ocean and Ash started running. He unbuttoned his jacket and allowed it to flap behind him as Kallie chased him down. Telling him to stop and that they needed to talk and that she wasn’t taking one more step toward him until he slowed his fucking ass down.
He loved it when she cussed like that.
“Ash! Stop it! This isn’t funny!”
Then abruptly, he came to a halt.
He turned around and watched Kallie’s eyes widen. She couldn’t stop herself in her heels, and he swung her around the instant she barreled into his body. He lifted her off her feet as the waves crashed around them, wetting his very expensive suit underneath the moonlight of the coast. He walked her into the waves as Kallie kept rattling on in his ear.
“You’re a manipulative bastard, Ash. You know that? I know you like seeing me upset. I know you planned all this. I know you’re just trying to do all of this to get back with me and it’s not going to work. Do you hear me? It’s not going to work, you blinded, selfish little prick!”
Ash walked into the ocean, his face buried into the crook of her neck as she continued to yell.
“You hurt me. You broke my fucking heart. And then that bitch Sasha approaches us at dinner and you fucking fall silent like the shadow of a man you are. Why didn’t you stick up for me, Ash!? Why didn’t you defend me!? Why did you let th
em walk all over me, Ash?”
He felt his heart swell before it shattered into pieces. He didn’t have an answer for her.
He walked out into the ocean until he was waist deep. The waves slowly lapped at their bodies as Kallie sank down his torso. They were soaking wet, and his body was coursing with unused energy he wanted to toss against Kallie’s body. He set her down onto her feet and grabbed her chin, forcing her gaze up to his.
“What the fuck do you want?” she asked through clenched teeth.
“You have no idea how hot you make me,” Ash said. “Sasha’s a stuck-up brat who never meant anything to me. I could never be interested in someone as fake and nasty as she is to her core.”
“That’s how you’re going to skirt the rest of my questions?” she asked as she slapped his hand away.
His arms gripped onto her tightly, forcing her body against his.
“Let go of me.”
“No,” he said.
“Let me go, Ash. I’m soaking wet. What the hell are we doing in the damn ocean anyway?”
“Stop fighting, Kallie.”
“Oh, I’ve only just begun fighting with you.”
He fended off her attacks. Watched as she pounded her fists into his chest. Her hair was wild and her feet were fruitlessly trying to kick him underneath the water. Her face flushed with anger. Her neck trickled with that beautiful crimson red. Ash fisted her hair and drew her face back, watching as she panted so hard her nostrils flared.
“You’re the only woman for me, Kallie. And if I have to fight you every step of the way to get you to see that, I will.”
Then, Ash crashed his lips to hers and felt her body mold to him.
The waves bobbed them around as Kallie’s hands fisted his shirt. He felt her pull him closer as his cock came to life. Her leg ran up the back of his and hooked around his ass. His hand slid up her dress, feeling her wet skin against his as their tongues battled for dominance. Her hands dropped to his pants, undoing his belt, then sliding it down around the globe of his ass. Her radiating heat was no match for the cool ocean waters blanketing their wanton bodies from the coastline.
The reflection of the moon wavered on top of the water as Kallie jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist.
He caught her ass in the palms of his hands and slid easily into her. He broke their kiss. Trailed hot, openmouthed kisses down her cheek. She moaned as he filled her. Felt her pussy clench him tightly. He moved his lips down her neck until he was nibbling at her exposed shoulders, the waves knocking against them and pouring over their bodies. Kallie’s body was beautiful. Covered in a dark-green fabric that was soaked to the bone with saltwater. Her curves were more prominent than ever, and Ash couldn’t get enough. He trailed his lips along her cleavage as she leaned back, her hair dipping into the water as he fucked his cock with her body.
He gripped her luscious ass tightly, moving her up and down his girth. Her weight was supported by the water, as if they were floating aimlessly through the clouds.
The whole of Bali would be tainted with her by the time he was done.
He bent his knees and the water took on her weight. He crashed their lips together again and felt Kallie’s hands slip through his air. He pounded into her relentlessly. Filling her with his cock time and time again. She dug her heels into the small of his back and ground against him, her clit begging for friction against his wet curls. Her pussy was magnificent. It cradled him in all the ways he sought to be. He buried his face into her tits and bit. Nibbled. Sucked. Licked.
Until nothing but his name dripped from her lips.
“Ash. Yes. Holy fuck, don’t stop. It’s happening. I’m coming. I’m coming. I’m coming, Ash. Don’t stop! Please!”
He held her close to his body as her pussy sucked him deeper. Tugged at him. Teased his balls with the release he tried to fight off. Her walls fluttered, and he could feel her juices slipping along his skin before being carried off by the waves. He kissed her breasts, nuzzling at the teeth marks he left behind in his wake.
Then, once Kallie was done whimpering his name, he took his first of many steps toward the coastline with his cock still buried into her warmth.
Chapter 20
Kallie
Kallie had no idea how Ash had the constant power to overwhelm her good senses and seduce her without any effort. She clung to him against her better judgment as he walked them to the shore, her body soaked with the ocean. She panted into the side of his neck, her body buzzing with electricity. The water receded around them and her back was quickly placed down onto the matted sand as the waves licked at their feet.
The huge moon above them cast a glow over Ash’s back that played sharp shadows off his face. She held her breath. She couldn't take her eyes off him. He pulled out from between her thighs and snaked down her body, pushing her dress up and ripping her panties off her body. She gasped at the sound and watched as the waves carried the tattered fabric out to seat.
Then Ash plunged his tongue between her pussy lips.
“Oh my gosh,” Kallie said with a groan.
Her hands flew to his hair and immediately tugged him closer.
She gazed up at the starry sky as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Ash knew exactly what to do to her. What buttons to press and how to move his tongue. Her legs shook around his face and her pussy dripped for him. She kicked off her heels, relinquishing them to whatever fate they had before digging her heels into his twitching back. She rose her hips to his lips. Bucked against his face while feeling him smile into her. Her back arched and her legs trembled and her nails raked along his skin.
Kallie felt herself falling over the precipice as the waves rocked against their body.
“Ashly. Ashly. Yes. Lick me. Harder. Harder. To the right. The right. Right there. Right there. Right there, Ash! Don’t stop! Yes!”
Her entire body pulled taut and she felt his hands slip underneath her body. He gripped her ass, holding her pussy to his face like it were his last meal. His mouth encompassed her entire slit. His tongue lapped at her folds. He suckled at her pussy lips and licked up every single drop that fell from her body for him.
She gasped for breath as her back hit the sand.
He kissed up her body and fell back between her legs. Ash was soaked with ocean water that dripped from his mahogany tendrils. She fell into his dark-hazel stare as his cock pulsed at her entrance, but when he slid in she couldn't look away.
A sudden tenderness took over the moment and it brought tears to her eyes.
He rocked slowly into her body, timing it with the waves that rose beyond their sides. His hand cupped the back of her head, supporting her as she rose to kiss him. Soft. Sensual. His pillowy lips felt decadent against hers. He rolled his hips. Swiveled his cock. Moved with the pace of the earth around them. Her hands slid down his back, pulling the fabric of his shirt up so she could feel him. Every muscle in his back twitched for her. Every muscle in his body slowly worked for her pleasure.
And his eyes.
They never left hers.
Kallie ached, but not for a release. This was the closeness she had waited for with him. The closeness she’d craved in her life for so long. She gazed into Ash’s eyes as their bodies moved as one, his arms cradling her like she was the only treasure on the planet he wanted. Her heart thundered in her chest. Tears of passion and excitement and pleasure rushed down her cheeks. She watched Ash’s lips dip to her skin, kissing away her tears before his lips made their way to his ear.
“My Pretty Kallie,” he said with a whisper.
Her lip began to tremble. Her hips rolled deeper into his. She clung to him, her legs wrapped around him and her arms threaded tightly around his neck. He picked her up and sat her in his lap, his back to the ocean and her knees straddling him. She gazed out into the horizon. Into the ocean where they’d just made love.
And she realized why she hurt so much.
Kallie was still in love with Ash. And at the end of this trip, she wa
s going to be hurt.
Again.
She moved quicker. Ground her hips against his as she chased her end. Her toes curled and her eyes screwed shut and she felt Ash’s body buckle beneath hers. His cock stilled within her, shooting hot threads of cum deep into her body. Painting her walls with his streaks of arousal as her pussy fluttered around him. She buried her moaning lips into his neck. Kissed him repeatedly as she shivered in his grasp. No man had ever made her feel the way Ash did, but she knew there was no way they could live their lives together.
And it made the moment sour for her.
They collapsed back to the sand as the water rushed over their bodies. Ash stayed sheathed within her as long as he could. Until his cock returned to its original size, no longer able to sustain Kallie’s need to be close to him any longer. She closed her eyes as Ash stroked her cheek, trying to keep her tears at bay.
Trying to process her reality instead of constantly slipping back into her dreamworld.
Wrinkled like prunes, the two of them finally gathered their clothes and walked back to the hotel. They were only a couple of miles away, and they walked hand in hand. Kallie wanted to remember him like this. Remember the passion and the romance and the verbal dedication he’d made to her in the middle of the ocean. But Ash lived in a rich man’s world and Kallie didn’t. She had an established life, and she couldn't uproot all of it for a relationship that had already been known for its tumultuous moments.
Kallie walked back in silence to her hotel room, then suddenly Ash pulled her closer.
Pressed his lips against hers.
Made her heart soar like only he could.
“Stay with me tonight,” he said against her skin.
Kallie wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to.
But she couldn’t.
She couldn’t keep entertaining this fairy tale. She wasn’t really sure what convinced her it could work in the first place. Her conversation with Eris came soaring back to her and she chastised herself. What an idiot she’d been to think that things could work out with her and Ash. She figured he’d fly to Bali, hate it, then jet them off to a dozen different places before admitting he was only doing it to impress her. But he’d bought a house. He acted like he really was settling in.
