Asher

by Piper Davenport

  I brushed my lips across her knuckles, holding her gaze.

  “I’m sorry my dad swung on you.”

  I chuckled. “It’s not the first fight I’ve been in, baby.”

  Her eyes widened. “I had no idea you were such a scrapper.”

  I shrugged and released her hand to start the car. “Guess I’m full of surprises.”

  “You sure are.” I could feel her gaze on me as I backed out of my parking space and pulled out of the lot. I had a feeling she was talking about the way I’d asked for her father’s blessing. Neither of us had brought it up since, but she had to be thinking about it.

  “You’re not going to chicken out on me, are you?” I asked.

  Her brow furrowed. “I’m worried that we might be taking things a little too fast.”

  I pulled over, threw the car into park, and stared at her. “Too fast?”

  “Well, we just started dating a few months ago.”

  She looked terrified. Worried. All the things she had no business feeling. Not with me. The entire situation was so damn ridiculous, I threw my head back and laughed.

  “What?” she asked. “I’m being serious, Ash.”

  “No, you aren’t. There’s no way you could possibly be serious about that. Dylan, this thing between us started in high school. I have known you were the one since that day I called Ms. Hiatt for you, pretending to be my dad. When I got off the phone, you looked at me like you’re looking at me right now. Nobody has ever looked at me like that before.”

  Eyes wide, she continued to watch me. “What do you mean?”

  “When people look at me, they see my parents, our money, what I can do for them, how I can help them as a lawyer. You’ve always looked at me like I hang the fucking moon. You’ve never cared about any of that shit. You’ve always just wanted me. I’ve let you run from me for a long ass time while you dealt with your insecurities and made up reasons you weren’t good enough for me. But you are exactly what I want. I love you, Dylan, and I’m not letting you run from me anymore.”

  She stared at me, her mouth opening, then closing, then opening again. I stared at her perfect, plump lips, wanting to kiss her, but needing to hear her response. “I love you, too,” she finally said. “So much it scares the crap out of me. I can’t lose you.”

  “And you’re not going to. We’re in this for the long haul, love. You finally done running from me?”

  Her gaze wandered over my body before settling on my lips. A need I’d never seen in Dylan ignited behind her eyes. “Let’s go back to the hotel, Ash.”

  It was barely more than a whisper, but my entire body recognized the meaning behind her words. A stronger man would point out that Dylan was going through a lot of shit right now and wait for better timing. But, I’d been waiting a long damn time, and I was no saint. I threw the car into drive and stomped on the gas pedal, burning rubber as I peeled out.

  Dylan laughed. After seeing her so distraught, the sound was music to my ears. I turned a sharp corner and discovered the real beauty of Lakeview in the way it only took five minutes to get from the retirement home to the motel. I grabbed my bag out of the trunk and Dylan let us into her room and poured us each a plastic cup of wine.

  I arched an eyebrow in surprise. “Addison drank wine from a plastic cup?”

  Dylan took a sip. And then another sip. “Yes. And she even lived.”

  I gasped in mock outrage.

  “I know! Forget the jewelry thief, that’s the real scandal.”

  Sipping from my glass, I eyed the bed. “Oh, I don’t know. You dragged me back to your room, alone, with a bed. That could be considered a little scandalous.”

  “Dragged you, huh?” she asked, draining the last of her wine and refilling her glass. “I believe you drove, Mister. And you broke some speed laws.”

  She still had her back to me, giving me a million-dollar view of the way her jeans accentuated her narrow waist and hugged her round ass. Her hands were trembling with nerves as she took another sip of wine. I stepped into her space, pressing my chest against her back, and brushed her hair over one shoulder. Dylan sucked in a breath, and I gently kissed the exposed side of her neck. Her skin was soft and cool against my lips, and she smelled faintly of her cucumber and melon soap. I felt myself growing hard against her ass. She took another sip of wine and leaned against my chest, closing her eyes.

  “Dragged, charmed, enchanted, bewitched,” I breathed against her neck. “I can’t explain what you do to me.”

  I took the glass from her hand and set it on the table, turning her around to face me. My lips pressed against her forehead before drifting down her cheeks, whispering across her jaw line, and finally landing on the lips that had been calling to me for hours. She tasted like wine and smelled like home, and as I deepened the kiss, she melted against me. Encouraged by the way her body was responding, I slid my hands under her shirt.

  My fingertips explored her soft skin as she let out a sexy little moan.

  “You sure you want this, Dylan?” I asked. We were rapidly approaching the point of no return, and I needed to make sure she was all in.

  In answer, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and tugged it over her head.

  My gaze drifted down the lines of her neck to her collar bone before lingering on her lacy black bra. Her body was even more beautiful than I’d imagined, and as I drank in my fill of it, she removed her bra and revealed even more.

  The swell of her breasts beckoned me forward. My hands slid from her waist up, gently caressing, stroking, reveling in the softness of her. She watched me beneath her lashes as I rolled one perfectly pink bud between my fingertips.

  “You are so damn perfect. I knew you would be. I want to see the rest of you.” My fingers drifted down to hook the top of her jeans. “I don’t want anything between us. Not ever again.”

  “Hold up,” she said, grabbing my hands. I worried that she was going to stop me, but she grinned. “This isn’t no one-sided dance. I want some eye candy too.”

  That, I could provide. Chuckling, I whipped my shirt over my head, enjoying the way her gaze gobbled up my chest and abs. With one hungry once-over, she managed to make every minute I’d spent at the gym worth it. Standing a little straighter thanks to her obvious appreciation, I returned my fingers to the top button of her jeans. “Now may I?”

  Eyes wide as saucers, chewing on her bottom lip, she nodded.

  I tugged her jeans down to her calves, and then grabbed her ass and boosted her in the air to pull them over her feet. Laughing, she brushed kisses across my face as I carried her the few feet to the bed. I tossed her ass on the mattress, then drew back and looked her over. Wearing nothing but a pair of lacy black panties, her long red hair cascading in waves down her shoulders, nipples pebbled and waiting for my attention, she was the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on.

  “I’m definitely the lucky one, love.”

  With my gaze still raking over her sexy body, I tugged off my own jeans. Her attention immediately went to the bulge in my boxers and her eyes widened even more. Dylan was damn good for my self-esteem. I climbed into bed beside her and started tracing the lines of her body from neck, to breasts, to waist. She sucked in a breath as my fingers gently roamed from her belly button to her mound and lingered there. Warmth greeted my hand as her eyes dilated. Knowing she was new at this, I started slowly, kissing her lips, then her neck, before drifting south to suck on one of her perfect pink nipples.

  She gasped, arching her back. With one hand still caressing the lips of her pussy, I used the other to pinch and squeeze her free nipple as I nibbled and sucked on the one in my mouth. She writhed beneath me, trying to get closer.

  “Trade you my boxers for your panties,” I said, my voice deep and gravelly with need. If I didn’t get inside her soon, I was going to explode.

  She nodded. “Yes. Please.”

  She sounded almost as desperate as I felt, so I hooked my fingers into the top of her panties and slid them dow
n. My lips followed the trail my fingers had taken, dusting her skin from her belly button down to her clit.

  “Ohmigod!” she said, raising her hips to bring herself closer to my mouth.

  Her responsiveness was so fucking hot. Especially since I knew it was authentic. She was loving everything I did to her, and that knowledge gave me a power high that made me want to make her squirm. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” I said between strokes of my tongue.

  “Wow. I...Yes. More.”

  She was wet and hot and it was taking everything in me to keep it slow. Sucking her clit into my mouth, I slid one finger inside her slick channel.

  Holy shit.

  Her walls squeezed around my finger, promising the tightest, sweetest fuck of my life. She swore, tangling her fingers in the sheets as she bucked her hips, trying to take me deeper. I pulled my finger out of her. When her gaze met mine, I popped the finger into my mouth and licked off her juices. She wrinkled up her nose.

  “Don’t do that babe,” I said. “You have no idea how good you taste. So fucking sweet.”

  She watched beneath hooded eyes as I buried my finger back inside her. She threw back her head and I added a second finger, stretching her and getting her ready for me.

  “Ohmigod,” she panted.

  I lapped at her swollen clit while my fingers twisted and pumped inside her until she was shaking with desire. “Come for me, love,” I said, pumping faster and harder, curling my fingertips to pressure her g-spot.

  She cried out my name and released the sheet, her entire body going stiff as she soaked my fingers.

  While Dylan recovered, I tugged off my boxers and climbed up her body. My cock was so hard it was throbbing when I settled it between her legs. She was still breathing hard, her eyes glazed over.

  “Liked that, did ya?” I asked, feeling a little proud of myself.

  “Nope. Hated it. You clearly need practice and should therefore do it every day until you get better.”

  I rubbed my shaft against her soaked folds, loving the wet heat of her. “Challenge accepted.”

  I kissed her, shifting my body until the blunt head of my cock was at her entrance. I knew I should put on a condom, but I was clean and knew she was, too. I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t want anything between us. Since I had every intention of marrying her, a condom seemed like an unnecessary barrier. “You on the pill?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  My hands once again found their way to her breasts, as I slid the tip of my cock inside her. I was trying to go slow, but she felt so damn good she was making that difficult.

  She sucked in a breath, tensing.

  “You okay?” I asked, freezing.

  “It’s...uh...my first time.” Her cheeks reddened with the admission.

  “You don’t say?” I replied with a smile. Brushing her bangs to the side so I could see her beautiful face, I met her gaze. “I got you, Dylan. You have my whole heart. I won’t hurt you. Not now, not ever.”

  “I know.”

  The trust in her eyes was enough to bring me to my knees. To make me want to build a life with her. I knew there’d be no going back to the way things were after this, and I was relieved. Forcing myself to slow down, I alternated between kissing her and playing with her breasts as I inched inside her. By the time I finally felt her hymen break, I was so relieved I wanted to shout. Instead, I buried myself balls-deep inside her, loving the way her walls tightened around me. I stayed there until Dylan started grinding against me, begging me to move because she was desperate for the friction.

  I gave her another orgasm before finally emptying myself inside her. Exhausted, but feeling better than I had ever felt in my life, I pulled her against me, wrapped my arms around her, and passed out.

  Addison

  THE MORNING OF Roundup arrived, and Dylan and I were ready. Well, we were as ready as we’d ever be. We’d been practicing for hours, and my shoulders were killing me from Dylan grabbing them to jump onto the back of the horse. I was pretty convinced some drunk asshat thought this game up after a night of tying one on. Seriously, it was so...so...redneck.

  “You ready?” Dylan called through the door.

  “Kind of,” I admitted, stepping into her room.

  She grabbed a bottle of water and her vitamins, only half paying attention to me. “I really wish you’d wear jeans.”

  “Joddies will be safer, considering they’re comfortable and, since they look ridiculous without my boots, the whole package is necessary.” I frowned. “Why? Do I look atrocious?”

  “No. You look uppity.”

  I squared my shoulders. “Well, I am uppity.”

  Dylan rolled her eyes. “Ain’t that the truth.”

  “Suck it.”

  She was still staring at her vitamins, and didn’t respond.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “I was just thinking about something my grandma said.”

  “You mean your crazy grandma?” I asked.

  “Yeah. I took Asher to see her while you were gone, and she was...different. Nice. Still embarrassing, though. And she’s always been perfectly lucid, unlike the others. I still can’t believe my kindergarten teacher didn’t recognize me.”

  “Dylan, you haven’t been back here in years.”

  “Yeah, I know. Anyway, Grandma says it’s the pills they’re giving them. Claims that they’re messing with their memories as well as their bodies. Did I tell you Ms. Long died?”

  “She did?”

  “Yeah. Grandma’s been spitting out the pills and flushing them, and I know that makes her sound conspiracy-theory crazy, but I can’t shake the feeling she’s on to something.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “Why would anyone want to hurt the elderly?”

  Dylan shrugged. “I don’t know, but I think we need to look into it.”

  There was a knock on my door. I looked out the peephole and groaned. Wyatt stood on the other side. Jake and Asher had to stay with us due to the fact that Roundup was popular enough to sell out all the hotels in town. Between Klamath and Lakeview, I’d spent two beautifully perfect nights with Jake. We talked and laughed, fucked like rabbits, and he held me as we slept. He and Asher had left earlier to grab us a proper breakfast and let us get ready in private. Things were going so well, and I wasn’t looking forward to him arriving back to find Wyatt on our doorstep. I pulled open the door.

  “Hey, Wy,” Dylan said, leaning over my shoulder. “What are you doing here?”

  “Thought I’d come give you two a ride. Figured Addison wouldn’t want to get her car dirty.”

  “Well, that’s really sweet,” I said. “But I’m not overly concerned about my car, and I think Ash and Jake are coming with us this morning.”

  Wyatt’s face fell, but he recovered quickly and pasted on a smile. “Okay, then.”

  “Congratulations on your win last night,” I rushed to say. “You looked amazing.”

  “Thanks, Addison. Good luck today. I’ll see you both there.”

  I bit my lip and nodded. “Thanks.”

  “’Bye, Wy,” Dylan said, and he drove away.

  “I feel like a total bitch,” I admitted.

  “Don’t. Wyatt doesn’t think that, so give yourself a break.”

  I sighed. “It’s just, he’s such a good guy...and really cute.”

  “I know.” Dylan smiled. “But you have Jake, and Wyatt will be fine. Plus, we have a competition to win, so you need to get your head in the game.”

  Before I could say anything further, Jake and Asher walked into the room. Jake frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “I’ll tell you later.”

  He raised an eyebrow and I shook my head. I was glad he took my silence in stride and handed me a cup of coffee, kissing my temple as he gave me a brief hug. “I got you a bagel.”

  “Thanks, honey.”

  “Ash, let’s give them a minute,” Dylan suggested.

  I smil
ed my thanks and waited for them to leave the room.

  “Okay, what’s up?” Jake asked.

  I sighed. “You have to promise not to freak out.”

  “Telling me not to freak out makes me leery.”

  “I think I hurt Wyatt’s feelings and that makes me feel bad.”

  Jake smiled. “I’m not going to freak out, baby.”

  I relaxed and rolled my eyes. “With you, I’m never entirely sure which way you’ll go sometimes. Especially when it comes to a really good-looking man being interested in me.”

  He crossed his arms. “What do you mean by ‘really good-looking man’?”

  “Slow your roll, big man. He’s not you.”

  “I’m just messin’ with you.” He grinned, pulling me to him and kissing me thoroughly. “Mornin’.”

  I smiled up at him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Good morning.”

  He gave me a squeeze. “You gonna fill me in on what you and Dylan are doin’ today?”

  “Nope.”

  “I figured.”

  I patted his chest. “It’s all going to be okay, honey. But now I need to eat.”

  I knocked on Dylan’s door, but it took them a little while to join us. I didn’t ask questions as we finished our breakfast quickly and headed to the fairgrounds.

  * * *

  Dylan

  Addison, Asher, Jake, and I were heading for the stables when Jake asked, “Now what are you guys gonna be doing again?”

  He was looking at me expectantly, so I glanced at Addison, who was shaking her head no. I could feel the weight of Asher’s stare as well.

  I hurried my steps, desperate to get out from under their scrutiny before I said something that sent them over the edge. “Uh...it’s difficult to explain. The type of thing you have to see to really understand. The horses are kept in that barn. We should hurry so we can make sure Bucky’s ready.”