Page 74

Ashton

“ W hat are we doing here?” I ask, swatting a bug away.

The air is muggy and hot for late September, but it doesn’t keep Oliver from pulling me along.

My feet trip over a protruding root that cuts across the path we’re on. This trail all too familiar, only this time, I’m not afraid of what lurks deeper in these woods. It helps that the early morning sun casts a shaded glow through the thick forest leaves.

It’s not the first time we’ve returned to our spot, but on a hot day like this, I’d much rather be getting ice cream or slipping under the cool water of the neighborhood pool, not hiking.

Oliver chuckles, looking back as I right myself after nearly face planting.

“Come on.”

I groan but pick the pace back up.

By the time we’re pushing through the telltale bushes, I’m taken aback. Set out by the river is a blanket with a bottle of Champagne on ice and a picnic basket. My eyes narrow on Oliver, questioning him even further.

“What is all this?” I laugh.

“Well, you said the first time I ever kissed you it didn’t count. So, here we are redoing our first kiss. Only, this one will count.” He smirks, leading me over to the blanket.

I slip off my sandals, ready to finally sit, but he stops me, yanking me back up by the hand.

My brows dip in confusion as he clears his throat, dropping to a knee before me. Suddenly, my overly worked heart stops beating. Even the light sheen of sweat coating my forehead from our walk turns cold.

“What are y-”

“Ashton Bliss Crawford, from the moment I met you, I knew you were it. You had the entire school begging for your attention, yet you still wanted mine. The day you smiled at me from across the playground, you caught it. You hooked me on your sunshine and all that darkness inside my heart slowly faded away. With you, I always felt free. I felt heard. I felt like I belonged. You were my best friend, Ash. Still are. Only, now I want you to be my wife. I loved you then and I love you now.” With shaking fingers, he pulls out a black velvet box. “Will you marry me?”

Tears fall freely down my cheek, only this time they’re tears of relief and joy, something I’m slowly starting to get used to again.

My eyes peel away from his to look down at the diamond glittering back at me. Simple, elegant, modest. The opposite of our very lives. The thought causes me to giggle, but I couldn’t love it more.

I nod, the words catching in my throat, but for Oliver’s sake I force it out. “Yes.”

He releases a breath with the most heart shattering smile, then slips the ring on my finger. Before I can even get a second look, his mouth is on mine. His lips press promises against them, his tongue entwining hope for our future.

“Fuck it.” He growls.

I try to pull away, confused, but he’s swiping my legs out from under me.

I land on my back with a hefty thud, the air punched right out of my lungs.

It doesn’t help that his large body is crawling over me, ripping my shirt from my torso.

Literally ripping it... down the center and throwing it into the water.

I don’t get a chance to think about it before his hands are grasping at me like I’m the first meal he’s seen in days and he’s ravenous. Our bodies writhe against each other in absolute chaos. Nothing about what we’re doing is gentle. No, it’s rough and violent, like the love between us.

“We’re outside.” I pant, reminding him as he kisses his way between my bare breasts.

“That hasn’t stopped us before.” He smirks up at me.

Images from the first time that wicked tongue granted me pleasure flashes before me eliciting a groan.

The memory sparks a hunger in my lower belly, a heat pooling between my legs.

In an instant, Oliver is shoving my jean shorts past my ankles and pulling my panties to the side.

As if he couldn’t waste any more time, I hear the zipper on his shorts descend before the smooth head of his cock presses against me.

“I’ve been thinking about this first a lot.” He murmurs against my lips as he pushes inside.

“This isn’t a first.” I pant as my walls stretch around him.

“It is.” Harsh, wet kisses trail down my neck to the crook of my shoulder. “This is the first time I get to call you my fiancé while I’m inside of you. Soon, my wife, then the mother of my children, but always my soulmate.”

I gasp as his teeth graze the taught skin over my collarbone.

“Fine!” I squeal. “I’ll let it count. ”

“Yeah?” He goads while thrusting his hips, his body slamming against mine. “I told you I would take all your firsts. Every single one of them, but what I forgot to mention was that I’ll be taking all your lasts too.”

He hooks his hand beneath my thigh and brings it around his waist. I feel every inch of him as he slides in and out of me. The pressure nearly hurts as it builds so thoroughly like being stuffed full until the threat of popping strays too close.

“And I’ll gladly give you everything. Every last bit as long as you’ll have it.”

“Until the day I die.”

His pace quickens, our skin feverish in the summer heat as we collide; our bodies, our hearts, our souls.

“Good. If there’s anything I’ve learned about you over the years, it’s that you don’t die easily.”

Oliver chuckles darkly, but not a single thought of our past plays out behind his eyes. All I see is happiness and a desperate desire to fuck his fiancé to completion.

And he does just that.