Page 19

Chapter Seventeen

SUNNY

S unny made her way back out to the porch with two beers before joining Asher. Letting out a deep sigh, she sat.

Asher laid his arm along the back of the swing, and she leaned into him and tucked her feet up underneath her.

The way his body pressed against hers settled her in a way nothing ever could.

She laid her head on his shoulder and let out a contented sigh. “The porch looks really good. Thank you for fixing it.”

Asher nodded and took a long swig from his bottle.

Watching his throat bob as he swallowed it down shouldn’t have been sexy, but it was. She raised her head and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“What was that for?” he asked as he traced a circle on her shoulder.

“I just wanted to.”

As the stars slowly blinked into existence, she took a long pull from her beer.

While things were still messed up, this moment, here with Asher, was perfect.

Why have I waited this long to come home?

This is where she belonged, here, in the Hollow, with Asher. She’d known that all along but had been afraid.

She leaned up and kissed him again, only this time, on the lips. A sigh left her as he slid his hand into her hair, cradling her head, as he kissed her right back.

She opened her mouth, and his tongue swept in.

This is it. This is what she’d been missing.

Her tongue met his, and they kissed. She wasn’t sure how much time passed. Her hand ran along the firm plane of his chest and up along his beard before grabbing a fist full of his long, dark curls.

He groaned and kissed down her neck.

“Asher,” she moaned. “Will you come upstairs with me?”

He pulled back and pinned her with a gaze.

She was on fire for this man. She had always been. He bent his head, pressing another quick kiss to her mouth before pulling away and standing. Offering a hand, he helped her off the swing. The squeak of the screen door being opened against the symphony of crickets was the only prominent sound.

Asher closed the big wooden door and locked it. “Lead the way, Sunshine.”

Her heart started pounding in her chest... and in other places at the utterance of those words.

She climbed the stairs, turned, and looked at Asher, his gaze hungry.

Next thing she knew, he was taking the stairs two at a time, eating up the space between them. His wolf was just below the surface.

She squealed and ran to her room.

Asher’s footsteps fell steadily as he came down the hall. As he turned the corner and leaned against the doorframe, panic set in.

She hadn’t done this in years.

Asher’s head cocked as he took her in. The heat in his gaze shifted to concern.

“Sunny, we don’t have to do this.”

“No, I want to. I’m just a little nervous. It’s been a long time.”

He walked over and cupped her face. “We can take this at your speed. It took me a while to get here, but I’m just glad you’re back. I’m glad we have this again. I’m in no hurry.”

“Well, I am! I haven’t gotten laid in four years, Asher!”

A low laugh rumbled through him as he closed the distance between them. The need for him and his touch was increasing.

“It’s been so long,” she said barely above a whisper.

“You waited for me, like a good little witch. Even when you were running away, you didn’t let anybody else touch what’s mine.”

Fuck. She loved it when he got like this, loved his possessive hold on her.

“No. I’m yours.”

At the utterance of those words, it seemed to snap the restraint he had been clinging to. His mouth crashed into hers in a possessive, sexy kiss. His hand began roaming her body, as if trying to learn her silhouette.

Sunny had never been a small person. She’d always had a figure full of curves and softness, and Asher always loved it.

But she the nerves bubbled right under the surface. It’d been so long. What if she disappointed him?

Sunny ran her hands along the hem of his shirt, slipping it underneath. The feel of his bare skin ignited a fire inside of her.

His hand left her body as he reached behind head and pulled the shirt off. And then there he was. Before she knew it, he was lifting up her shirt. Then their mouths were connected, kissing and sucking and biting, as they stripped each other of their clothes.

“Asher,” she panted, pulling away from him. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“You don’t even know. Sunny, I need you.”

“I need you, too.”

Her hands ran down the firm plane of his chest until she came to the button of his jeans. She undid it as she dropped to her knees.

“Sunny,” Asher grumbled. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I want to, please,” she begged as she pushed his pants farther down.

“Okay,” he said, pulling her long blond waves back.

The only thing between them was the fabric of his boxers covering a bulge she had once known well.

She pulled them down, and his dick bobbed hard in front of her. She wrapped her hand around it and ran the head over her lips.

“Fuck, Sunny...”

She looked up at him as she took him farther into her mouth.

Asher’s head fell back on a groan. She did it again, and he gazed at her with his bottom lip trapped between his teeth.

“You feel so fucking good.”

His cock hit the back of her throat, and he groaned again.

“I need to be inside of you,” he said, pulling her off her knees and helping her out of her jeans. He cocked a brow. “But first...”

With a gentle nudge, she fell back onto the bed.

Falling to his knees, he pushed her legs wide. “Fuuuuck,” he growled out as he ran a finger down her seam before dragging it back up. With the mere touch of his tongue circling her clit, she was about to lose it.

No one had touched her like this in so long, and that fact it was Asher was everything.

Absolutely everything.

Then he lowered his head and licked up from her entrance to her clit, and all ability to hold a thought in her head left.

The sensation of Asher was all encompassing. Without even realizing it, she fisted his hair, which only seemed to spur him on. He slipped one finger in, then two, as he continued to lick her.

He sucked her clit into his mouth, and with that, her release came barreling out of her.

“Asher,” she cried as her body pulsed and shook.

Finally, her legs fell open, and she let go of his hair. She didn’t even realize her thighs had clenched around his head until it was all over. But his expression reassured her he didn’t care.

“Scoot up,” he said as he bent down and pulled a condom out of his wallet.

Once he was ready, he crawled over her between her spread legs.

Reaching a hand between them, his finger delved into her slippery core before inching slowly upward and circling her clit.

“Asher,” she cried out in a gasp.

Then his hand was gone, and before she could cry out, he positioned himself at her entrance and drove home.

And that is just what it felt like. Like returning home. Like they always should have been together.

That thought brought tears to her eyes but then he pulled out and slammed in again. Any trace of those feelings were replaced by one. Desire.

She clung to him as he worked slowly and deliciously in and out of her. The magic of their bond began to overtake it.

The world around them fell away. Magic swirled around them, encasing them in waves of charm and desire. This is why she had never had sex with anyone else; it would have never felt like this.

How could it? Asher was her mate. They were made for each other. She had never been more certain of that than she in that moment as heat pooled low in her belly.

Asher pulled back to look at her. She could see the wolf in him. As much as she wanted a fun time with the wolf, she wanted to connect with Asher.

And like he could sense it, his mouth came crashing down on her. His tongue swept into her mouth as she clung to his. He continued grinding and pressing into her clit with each thrust.

She was lost and found in the same moment as she gave over to the wave of pleasure. Asher kissed down her neck, nipping and biting and sucking, as she fell apart.

“Fuck,” he groaned as he slammed into her before pulling her close and pulsing inside of her.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Just the two of them connected in the moment.

They panted as he rested his forehead on hers.

“Fuck, Sunny. That was amazing. I almost forgot how good it could be.”

He kissed her one last time before pulling out. Her body almost ached at his absence but then he wrapped her up in his arms, and her head found its way to that blessed spot between his shoulder and his neck, and she was home.

“I missed this,” she said.

What she wanted to say was I love you , but she wasn’t quite sure she’d gained the right to say those words yet.

Asher held her tighter, and sleep started to overtake her. A yawn cracked her mouth as she snuggled into him, the safety of his embrace allowing her to drift off.