Page 51

“Ash, why do you say things like that? I don’t know how to handle this.”

“Let it happen. This time here is ours, Tara. Don’t let the outside world interfere. Remember there is no past or anything beyond each other.”

I studied him for a second. Could I risk it?

Who was I kidding? I was completely caught in his web and I couldn’t think of anything better than to be with this man.

Stepping onto my tiptoes, I bit his bottom lip and said, “Okay. Here. In this cabin. There is only us.”

He fisted a hand in my hair as he ate at my mouth.

“Now back to what I said before, get naked. I want to touch you.”

I shifted out of his hold, giving him my back. He lifted the strands of my hair, laying them on one shoulder, and kissed the hollow at the base of my ear. He grasped the zipper of my dress and tugged down. The soft fabric slid to the floor, leaving me in only a bra, panties, and a pair of thigh-highs.

Goosebumps prickled my skin and I let out a low moan.

“Now this is unexpected.” He traced the henna-style tattoo that ran from the back of my shoulder to the left curve of my bottom. “I don’t remember seeing this before.”

“That’s because we were too desperate to fuck yesterday to even think about getting me naked.”

“I remember that weekend at Jacinta’s estate you wore a bikini.” There was a tinge of possessive irritation in his tone. “And it did very little to cover your assets.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “That weekend I wore a sheer cover-up in a similar pattern to my tattoo so you wouldn’t have noticed.”

Nearly two years ago, Ashur had crashed a weekend gathering at Jacinta’s family estate. It was supposed to be my place to recover from the fallout of my work in the No Bride project. Jacinta and Samina had rallied around me and forced me to relax and recuperate. We’d barely spent an hour relaxing by the pool under the spring sun, when Ashur had shown up to join the festivities.

It was during that weekend I learned I wasn’t truly over him.

Ashur followed the design in slow, soft glides of his fingers. “When did you get it?”

“Ten years ago.” I hoped he wouldn’t ask me why I’d gotten the ink or why I’d chosen the design.

If he knew I’d wanted the tattoo to feel closer to him after he’d gone missing while deployed, he’d know this was more than business between us. He’d know I’d…I wasn’t ready to go there.

“It’s beautiful. It reminds me of that drawing I made you when we went to Galveston for a picnic.”

I kept quiet, just focusing on his touch and not his words. Galveston, Texas wasn’t one of the prettiest beaches in the world, but for me it was a special place, reminding me of a time before I’d lost my innocence.

“Now face me and then take off your bra.”

I followed his instructions, reaching behind me, unclasping my bra, and dropping it to the ground.

“God, you’re fucking gorgeous.”

His praise gave me a sense of happiness I hadn’t expected.

“Cup your breasts. Offer them to me,” he ordered.

Without thought I followed his instructions, holding my large mounds in my palms and lifting my chest toward him. He bent his head and closed his lips around one taut nipple, biting the tip, in an exquisite pleasure-pain. The soft, wet heat of him engulfed me as he rolled his tongue around the aching nub, laving it and teasing. Sensations shot through every nerve in my body.

I gasped, closing my eyes and throwing my head back.

He slipped a hand behind my back, leveraging me toward him, and repeated the delicious torture on the other breast. I gripped his shoulders, writhing in bliss.

When had my breasts become so sensitive? I was on the verge of coming. This had never happened to me before.

“So responsive. I knew you’d be this way.”