Page 69 of The Master
“Yes, ma’am.” I winked at her and left her laughing as I headed for the bathroom.
Several minutes later, I was stepping under the spray to rinse off when the door slid aside, and Ashlee joined me. Without a word, she came to me, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling my head down for a kiss. I tasted her hunger as she leaned into me, and it was a heady thing to know this strong, sexy woman wanted me. Not my money, not just my body, but…me. Me, with all my flaws and weaknesses.
My hands slid down her slick skin until I palmed her ass. I squeezed the firm muscles there, then lifted her. Without breaking our kiss, she wrapped her legs around my waist, ankles crossing to give her balance. Her breasts pressed against my chest, and she made a soft noise as her tongue teased mine. I put her back against the wall and felt her shiver as she came in contact with the cool marble. My teeth scraped and nipped at her throat, leaving her mouth free to make all of those sounds that made everything even hotter.
She rocked against me, whimpering, and I reached between us. She nodded in answer to a question I hadn’t asked, and I pushed inside her. Hot and wet, she took every inch of me and begged for more. I buried my face in her neck, sucking on her skin until I’d marked her. Her nails dug into my shoulders and then scratched down my back, urging me to go harder and faster.
When she came, her cry echoed off the walls, and she clutched at me, body shuddering and trembling. Before she could completely come down, I moved a hand underneath her, pushing the tip of my finger into her ass. She climaxed again, and this time, no sound came out as her head fell back against the wall. Her muscles all clenched, and the increased pressure around my cock brought me to orgasm.
I held us there, together, bodies still joined. No matter how often either of us needed some alone time, we would always come back to this. Here, like this, we were complete in ways that I couldn’t explain. I could lose every cent I had, lose my company and my reputation, but as long as I had her, I would count myself lucky. I’d do whatever I needed to do to keep her in my life. Even if it meant bringing my not-so-positive past to light.
Forty-Six
Ashlee
Would there ever bea Saturday morning where I could wake up next to Nate and not have some unpleasant task ahead? A day when we could just relax and spend time getting to know each other in that way that only came from conversations that flowed from place to place without any official direction?
Sure, we’d gone on a vacation where we’d had a couple days of peace, but that wasn’t the same. How would we know if we could handle real life together if we hadn’t had a real day yet? The insanity we’d so far experienced couldn’t be what we’d always have.
Could it?
I sighed. After the past few days, it would’ve been really nice to be able to linger in bed. Maybe wake Nate up with my hands or mouth, reassure him again that I wasn’t angry with him for Roma and Calah’s trick. Or for not asking about the dinner before that. When we’d talked about it last night as we’d fallen asleep, he’d apologized again, even though I’d promised him that I understood.
If I initiated sex, however, who knew how many hours we’d lose, and we had a task today. One that, if it worked, would ensure that we might know what it was like to have a normal life sooner rather than later.
I propped myself up and kissed Nate’s cheek before whispering, “I’m going to make us breakfast.”
I didn’t know if he’d woken up yet or not, but the smell of food would most likely do it. This time, I’d make waffles.
Less than twenty minutes later, a bleary-eyed Nate stumbled into the kitchen. He looked rough, but not hungover enough to reject the plate of food I handed him.
“Thanks.”
We didn’t speak again until we were settled and had both eaten a few bites of breakfast. Half a cup of coffee helped too.
“How’s your head?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“Better now that the drugs have kicked in,” he said ruefully. “It’s far from the worst hangover I’ve ever had.”
“That’s good,” I said, “because we’ve got work to do.”
He raised an eyebrow. “We do?”
I nodded. “We’re going to end all of this. No more dragging it out. No more waiting for everyone else to do something.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He put another bite of waffle in his mouth and gestured for me to continue.
“I don’t think Calah and Roma broke into my apartment. It just doesn’t seem like the sort of thing those two would do. Too…average. But I don’t know if–”
“I think it was Isti,” he said as he reached for his coffee. “None of the women would break in themselves, and while I wouldn’t put it past the others to try to hire someone to do it, I doubt they have the means to get anyone good.”
I frowned. I agreed that it had probably been someone Isti had hired, but I wasn’t following this particular train of thought. “All they did was trash my apartment and steal my journals. How much skill does that really take?”
“To do it without leaving evidence does. All that glass and no blood? Not even a scrape?”
He had a point.
“And no one else in the building saw or heard a thing,” he continued. “That means whoever broke in managed to get into the building, up to your floor, kick the door open, spend the time needed to do all that damage, and then still have time to find your journals.”
