Page 12

12

HOLLY

“Son of a bitch!” I shouted after I hit my head on the edge of the table.

Noelle came running around the corner, bending over to look at me where I was sprawled out on the floor. “You know, yelling at the table is never the answer.”

I pressed my hand to my head, already feeling a lump forming. “Crap, that really hurt.”

“What exactly are you doing?”

“I was trying to rearrange the display.”

“Under the table?”

“It looked weird,” I grumbled.

She nodded skeptically. “Tell me about it, sister. What’s really going on?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I sat down here to work out some shit because the little tables were where they were supposed to be and the chimes were dangling all weird, and then the candles didn’t match with the potpourri. I just wanted to make it look perfect!”

“And you decided to fix it all by shimmying under the table and wiggling your ass.”

I growled at her, not finding her brand of humor particularly funny today. “I was trying to move the stuff in the back so I could move the stuff in the front, and when I was crawling out, I hit my head.”

“I see. So, what’s this really about?” she asked, resting on her haunches as she propped her elbow on her thigh and rested her chin in her hand.

She knew me so well. When I was frustrated, I cleaned, organized, or redecorated. I couldn’t help myself. I had to stay busy. And right now, I was the epitome of frustrated.

“It’s Asher.”

“Uh-oh. Bad mood again?” she frowned, nodding in understanding.

“No. I wish it were that,” I grumbled.

“I’m not really following. Is he not being nice? Because I’ll kick his ass. I brought my travel kit. I swear it, I’ll stab him with needles!”

She could be so damn dramatic. I crawled out with her help and got to my feet, brushing myself off. “No, the problem is that he’s perfectly sweet. Too sweet.”

“Okay?”

She didn’t get it.

“He’s… too sweet.”

Her brows furrowed, then shot up in surprise. “Oh. Oh! Wow. I did not see that coming. Um…Well, I guess you don’t know everything about a person. Who would have guessed he was a gentle lover? I mean, I guess you could try wearing a cowboy hat and riding him. Then again—maybe he likes to ride the bull, if you know what I mean?—”

“Noelle, we haven’t had sex!” I cried out, stopping her from continuing that line of thought.

Thankfully, the shop was closed, so no one heard me make that rather loud declaration. The last thing I needed was for everyone in the world to know my business and spread it all over the city. Not that everyone in the city was interested in my love life.

I thunked my hand to my forehead and whined pitifully. “What is wrong with me?”

“Uh…I think the question is, what is wrong with him? Seriously, has he not made the move?”

“Oh, he sort of did and then pulled back!”

“He did what?”

“I know!” I shouted, losing my shit. “It’s been an entire week! He stripped me half naked and was doing very dirty things to my body and made me come with just his tongue!”

“Down below?”

“Nope,” I shook my head. “All above the waist.”

Her jaw dropped in shock. “Wow, I take back everything I said about him. He must be a damn genius in bed.” Her eyes got all glossy as she started drifting off in some kind of daydream.

“Noelle, that’s not the point.”

“Sorry, right,” she said, flustered and probably a little sexually frustrated. As far as I knew, she wasn’t getting laid either. “Okay, so it’s been a week. Hasn’t he called?”

“Called? I’ve seen him every night.”

“And?”

“And he takes me out. We’ve gone out to dinner. We’ve been to the movies. I’ve been wined and dined?—”

“But not sixty-nined.”

“Exactly. He takes me home and at the end of the night, he gives me this earth-shattering kiss, but he refuses to come in.”

“Did you try just getting on your knees?”

I shot her a deadly glare. “With my front door open?”

“Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.”

She had a point, but I was not going to do that. “I just don’t get it. Why won’t he just give me what I need?”

“Have you asked him?”

“Yes, and all he does is smirk at me. Or chuckle! That’s the worst.” I snatched my things off the table and stomped out of the room. The shop closed a half hour ago and Noelle was free to go home, but she was here because of me.

Because I was too chicken to leave and go home to another night of no sex. I just didn’t think I could take it. I wanted to cancel on him. Frankly, I was too desperate for him to be turned down again. I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me.

I plopped my stuff down on the counter and slid onto my stool, huffing in frustration. “Is it me? Is it some weird vibe I’m putting out?”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Then what is it? Why won’t he just fuck me!”

Three knocks on the glass broke the silence and my face flushed bright red. I had no idea what to do, so I ducked down behind the counter, knowing that whoever was out there could still see me since the window was right behind me.

I huddled in the corner, pulling my knees into me as I rocked back and forth.

“Um…Holly, I think you’re going to want to answer it,” Noelle said, her voice filled with laughter.

I didn’t need to look at her face. I already knew who was there. “Nope. Tell him I’m not here.”

“He’s staring at you through the window.”

“Tell him it’s not me.”

“He’s laughing.”

“It’s still not me.”

“Fine. I’ll let him in,” she sighed.

I jumped to my feet and raced to the door, but I didn’t beat her. She had the door unlocked before I could reach her and she was letting him in.

“Hey, would you look at that? We were just talking about you.”

“You were, huh?”

There was so much laughter in his voice that there was no escaping the teasing that was sure to follow. His eyes slid my way, and then they continued a path over my body, heating every inch of me along the way. See, right there. How could he look at me like that and not tear my clothes off and sleep with me? I didn’t understand it!

“Hey,” I said as nonchalantly as possible.

His eyes twinkled as he stepped closer to me, slipping his hand around my waist and tugging me closer to him. I swore he was lingering on purpose just to tease me as he pressed a kiss to my cheek.

“I have something for you.”

“You do?”

He held out a brown paper bag in front of him with two fingers, grinning from ear to ear. I couldn’t believe he bought something for me. It was so unexpected. I took it from him, pulling at the tissue paper in the bag until I pulled out something extremely soft. It was a blue hat with a white snowflake pattern that wrapped around it. Earflaps adorned either side with braids and a pom pom at the bottom of each one and another at the top of the hat. There was also a set of matching gloves. It was absolutely adorable.

“I told you I was going to find you a hat you could wrap around your arm.” He took it from me and tied the braids in a knot around my arm. “See? Now you can’t lose it.”

I had no words. He was just so freaking perfect. I flung my arms around him, making him stumble backward and slam into the wall. My mouth fused with his as I climbed him like a monkey, desperate to have all of him.

A low rumble came from his chest as he practically tore himself from me, holding me up by the ass as I wrapped my legs around his waist and held on. “If I had known you were going to react like that to a hat, I might have considered getting you something bigger.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Not sure. I’ll have to think about it.”

I licked my lips as I felt him growing against me. He had to be ready now. He was hard. I could feel it.

“I think maybe I’ll leave. See ya Monday,” Noelle said, slipping out the door.

I vaguely heard the door shut, but I only had eyes for Asher. “You wanna go to my place?”

“I’m pretty sure I do.”

“You said next time there would be a much happier ending.”

The sexiest smile curved across his lips as he leaned in and whispered in my ear. “Baby, you won’t want to get out of bed when I’m through with you.”

The door slammed against the wall as he carried me inside, kicking the door shut behind him. The mirror rattled on the wall, crashing to the floor.

“Holly—”

“Shh, don’t talk.” I yanked off his hat and slid my fingers through his hair as I pulled his lips toward me. We were so close to bliss.

“Baby—”

I groaned as he yanked his lips from mine. Why was he trying to ruin this for me? I responded by rubbing my core against his raging cock. That shut him up real quick. He kicked off his boots and stumbled down the hall to my room, tossing me on the bed as he tore off his coat. He was on me before I even unzipped mine.

I sat up, wrenching it free and tossing it away as he lifted my legs, spreading them over his shoulders. I was a little confused since I still had my pants on, and then he bit me right on the crotch. I cried out, wondering what the hell that was, but then he did it again, this time letting out a growl as he wriggled my jeans from my body.

Clothes went flying and then I was naked, so very naked, and he was still very much clothed. “Asher—ah!” My legs were wrenched open and cold air struck my center as he once again tossed my legs over his shoulders. Only this time, I was very bare for him, right in his face for him to see.

“I…um…I should…I would have?—”

I never got to finish rambling because his lips were on me in the next second, licking me, sucking my clit into his mouth. I cried out, my eyes widening when I felt two fingers enter me in one swift movement. Holy shit, that was?—

And then he twisted and —my body jerked as he pressed just the right spot as he sucked hard on my clit. A scream was ripped from my throat as pleasure snaked through my body in such a way that I had no idea how hard it would hit until it struck like lightning. My whole body shook, my fingers grasping at anything I could to hold on for dear life. I was breaking apart from the inside out, and we had just begun. What else was in store for us tonight? And would I survive it?

I fell limp on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as he climbed up my body, kissing me lovingly. I was still trying to catch my breath when his tongue started swirling around my nipple, getting me ready for round two. I needed a breather, just a little break to catch my breath, and I knew the perfect way to get that.

I slid my hand down his chest and grabbed the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up over his head. He stopped me halfway and did that sexy guy move where he pulled it over his head with one hand from behind his neck. And right then and there, I got a lady boner.

And then I made the mistake of looking down at his very muscular, very sexy, very tattooed chest. My heart stopped beating for a second as I ran my fingers over one of the designs. They were absolutely beautiful. I knew very little about tattoos, but something about them made me want to explore every single one.

It felt like I was staring at him for five minutes, but in reality, it was only long enough for him to tear his shirt off, throw it across the room, and then bend down to kiss me. Then I was swept up in his arms again, lost in his touch as his body covered mine and his hands slid over my skin.

“Baby,” he whispered, sliding down my body, leaving love bites down my neck. His hand cupped my breast, bringing it to his mouth. “What were you saying at the shop?”

His tongue swirled around my nipple, nipping at the bud, torturing me every second. I panted hard, trying to remember what he was talking about, but he was making it so damn difficult.

“What?”

“At the shop. Do you remember?”

“Um…” I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to think past the feel of his tongue and teeth on my breast.

“Do you need a reminder?”

His hand lightly trailed down my body, leaving a swirling trail as he headed down to my pussy. He sucked my nipple in his mouth just as two fingers slid inside me.

I cried out, spreading my legs wider to allow him more room, already forgetting his question. All I knew was that I wanted more.

“I take it you don’t remember,” he tsked, pumping his fingers in and out. “What are we gonna do about that?”

“Wha—what?”

His speed increased and my body hummed with pleasure. Oh, God, I was going to explode. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take of this.

“Ash—”

His thumb brushed back and forth over my clit as he worked his fingers in and out and he went back to tugging on my nipples with his teeth. My heart was pounding and my breathing was erratic. I could scarcely breathe. Holy shit.

“Why won’t I fuck you? Is that what you wanted to know?” he whispered.

His lips slammed down on mine just as my orgasm tore through me. My legs clamped shut around his hand, but he forced my legs open and kept fucking me, giving me more pleasure than I could take.

“Asher!” I cried out, my nails digging into him as my whole body cramped up. His lips found mine again and his fingers slowed, stroking me slowly and bringing me down from the high I had just been riding. My body twitched every few seconds as my body tried to regulate itself. I thought for sure I was going to go into heart failure there for a second.

And the whole time, he kept pressing soft kisses to my lips, my jaw, my throat—anywhere he could until I was finally sated and limp in his arms. It only occurred to me after he wrapped his body around mine that while I had a very happy ending, he hadn’t even taken his pants off. And while I really wanted to find out what that was all about, I was already drifting off to sleep.