“You can sleep it off here. All these rooms are empty except that one.” I point to my bedroom door.
Leaving her to pick a room, I jog down the stairs to grab her bag and jacket. When I return, she’s sitting on the spare queen-sized bed at the end of the hall, staring out the French windows—barefoot, cross-legged, and crying. “Hey…” I sit next to her on the tufted ivory bedspread and pull her in for a side hug. My shirt sops up the tears soaking her face as her arms wrap around my torso. My eyes sweep the canvas paintings of seashells on the walls while I stiffly comfort her. Another wave passes, and I rub her back. I’ve already done this once tonight. After bonding over ridiculous videos, it’s not so hard comforting her again.
“I—” She shakes her head, choking back a sob. Her shoulders tremble as she draws in a shaky breath.
“Do you need anything? Water? Phone charger?” I feel like I should do something other than cuddle this newly single, hot, sassyfriendin her bed.
Shaking her head again, she sits up straight, a timid look in her eyes. “Am I being selfish?”
“Naw, I don’t think so.”
“But he said?—”
“Look, Bryan’s an idiot,” I say. “He doesn’t know how to treat someone like you, so he’s trying to knock you down to his level.” Her mouth gapes, shock flashing in her warm brown eyes. “You deserve someone who wants your happiness as much as their own, Ashlie.”
Her mouth is on mine before I register what’s happening. Slowly, she paints my lips with a kiss, teasing them open as she shifts her body closer. I slide my tongue against hers and fucking fall through the abyss.
She tastes so damn sweet, with a hint of the blackberry wine still on her tongue, and her lips might possibly be the softest things I’ve ever felt. Her fingertips stroke my face, her touch marking my soul as it sends jolts through me.I need more of her.
Pulling her close, I deepen the waltz of our kiss as she moves her knees around my hips. When she grinds into the bulge in my sweatpants, I’m ready to toss my “no commitment” rule right out the window.
I slip my hands under her shirt, grazing the smooth waist beads underneath. A shiver travels through her body when I give a little tug on the jewelry, and I lose my mind.More. She bucks her hips forward, and a moan escapes my lips, causing her to smile against my mouth.Goddamn. Being this close to that smile is mind-blowing.
This feels different from anything I’m used to, and the intrigue has my guard melting away. I strictly seek out casual, heated frenzy, butthis—slow, methodical, sensual—it’s like our souls are colliding. I can’t get enough.
Ashlie leans back, gasping for air. That brief loss of connection has me chasing, pulling her closer to taste her skin. She rolls her hips again, rubbing herself back and forth against my dick in a steady pace that grows more frantic with each pass. By the sounds she’s making, I don’t think she’ll last long.
With my hands stuck to those waist beads, I bury my face into her neck and suck the delicate skin above her collarbone. The sweet jasmine overtakes me.This? With her, every day? I can see myself craving her touch.
The sharp hiss of her moaning in my ear as she pushes me down flat on the mattress almost sends me over the edge. Her panted breath hitches, and she tips her head back, her hips jerking wildly while she slides against me. “Sh-shit, Hunter,” she stutters.
“That’s it,” I urge, gripping her ass to grind into her. She’s so fucking sexy like this, taking what she wants from me. Biting my lip, my eyes plastered on her blissed-out face, I watch for that rewarding moment when she spirals into ecstasy.
And then her phone rings.
We go still, and it rings again before she sits up straight, looking into my eyes. “I don’t want to answer it…” she whispers.
“Then don’t.” I keep my gaze locked with hers. My hands move to her waist, my thumbs tracing circles on her skin, just trying to keep this undeniable connection alive. We watch each other until the phone goes silent, my chest rising and falling in time with hers. Slowly, she climbs off my lap and sits next to me on the bed.
Well shit. I don’t know where we’re supposed to go from here.Is lying here quietly helping?Am I making the tension worse?
“Can you stay with me?” She bites the tip of her thumbnail. “I don’t want to be alone…”
“Uh, yeah…sure,” I say, thrown off by the rapid change of pace. She slides back to lie on one side of the bed. “I have to warn you, though…” I move to the other pillow. “I can’t sleep unless I’m holding onto something.”
“Can’t you use an extra pillow or something?”
“You mean the one you’re on?”
“I mean the plethora of pillows all over this house…”
“I’m tired and already lying down. If I have to get a pillow from my room, I’m staying in there.”
“So, you’re saying if I want you to stay with me, we have to cuddle?”
“Yep.”
“Are you—you’re joking.”
