“What can I do?” Ashlyn’s voice cut through the air and broke the silence.
“Just being here is good.”
She twisted until she was facing me. “How’s your hand?”
“I’ll live.”
“Stop being a tough guy and show me.”
I smiled at her sass, and hissed when she lifted my hand to have a closer look. I knew it looked worse than it was, but fuck it hurt like a bitch.
“Shit, Josh,” Ashlyn said. “We need to get you ice.”
“It’s fine. I just need to sit out here for a bit.”
“I can’t believe you fought for me,” she whispered, her voice strained and littered with worry and confusion. Did she really expect me to let that asshole come here and speak to her like he hadn’t fucked up? Her face was void of emotion, and her lip was tugged between her teeth.
“I’ll always fight for you, Ash. I’d move heaven and fucking earth for you. Don’t think that I’ll ever let an asshole treat you badly. I don’t care who it is. No matter what, I will always be there.”
“No one has ever said that before.”
“Said what?” I asked, disbelievingly.
“No one has ever said that they would fight for me.” As if she could read my mind, she said the words I never expected to hear. “Not even my best friend.”
Her eyes shimmered with something I couldn’t quite understand. Was it realization, confusion, or understanding flashing back at me? Being told that Ky had never made her feel like that pissed me off. He was meant to take care of her. I stepped aside for him. I gave up years of being with this girl. Ashlyn, who deserved the world, had to fight for everything she received, and she did it mostly on her own. That stopped now.
“I have a lot of explaining to do,” she stated softly, with the faintest smile.
“You talk when you want to talk.”
Ashlyn shifted toward me. Her eyes roamed over my face, before dropping to take in my throbbing hand. “We need to get some ice,” she whispered.
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
Once again, her magnetic force speared into me, and I needed to touch her, to feel the connection between us. There was nothing holding me back now. The world knew that she wasn’t with Lachlan, and that thought alone inspired me to not stop until I got what I wanted. I lifted my hand and cupped her cheek, and as soon as I did, her eyes fluttered shut under my touch. My thumb grazed her bottom lip, and suddenly everything appeared to me. No one had told her she was worth fighting for. I should have fought for her. I should have found another way to have her while still saving my brother.
“I’m going to kiss the shit out of those lips of yours, Ash, because I need you to know that you’re worth fighting for.” I didn’t give her a moment to respond. I stole the distance between us and pulled her on my lap. Her arms went straight around my neck, and I shifted her body until she was straddling me. Her dress bunched up around the top of her thighs, and my eager hands disappeared under her ass to hold her in place. My lips dropped to hers, and tonight she tasted like a sweet combination of champagne and strawberries. My tongue ran the seam of her lips in silent need for access. Her lips parted, and my tongue slipped through and collided with hers. The harder I kissed her, the more she ground herself into my lap. Her soft moans fueled the fire burning within me, and I couldn’t get enough. Kissing this woman was like nothing I had ever experienced. It was like taking a deep breath after being trapped under water. It was a lifeline I desperately craved. I didn’t want to stop. I almost couldn’t stop. But I knew if I didn’t I’d be fucking her on the pier behind my parents’ house, while inside Ky and Eden celebrated their engagement party.
“Ashy, we need to stop. Otherwise I’ll be blowing my load, and I really don’t want to have to explain that to my parents.”
Her giggle was like music to my ears. She rested her face in the crook of my neck and I wrapped my arms around her tightly.
“Can we get ice for your hand now? If we stay out here, you’ll blow your load and I’ll want an orgasm.”
Ashlyn was too much. I burst out laughing, then grabbed her around the waist to hurl her off my lap. I stood and offered her a hand. In the moonlight as we stood on the pier, I could see her lips were slightly swollen, and her gloss, or lipstick, or whatever she was wearing, was smudged. I fucking loved it, and my tongue instantly ran over my lips where I could still taste her.
I didn’t hesitate. I pulled my phone out from my pocket, held it up, and snapped a photo. The flash lit up the space around us, and her gasp rang out through the night air.
“What the hell are you doing?” she shrieked, and started blinking rapidly, due to the effects of the intense flash. I started shoving my phone in my pocket, but her hand shot out and grabbed onto my arm. “You need to get blinded too. It’s selfie time.”
She yelped and grabbed hold of my arm as I pulled her in front of me. Her back molded with my chest, and my height allowed me to rest my chin on the top of her shoulder. Ashlyn shifted back until her head was resting just over my heart. I pulled my arm back and held my phone in front of us. Just as I was about to press the button, I shifted my face until my lips were able to kiss the side of her neck. The flash illuminated the space around us, and I felt my cock jerk as Ashlyn sighed in my arms.
We walked back to the house in silence. My phone felt like it was burning in my pocket, taunting me to look at the photo we had just taken. The lights that flooded the backyard came into view, and I glanced at Ashlyn from the corner of my eye. Fuck, her lips were still smudged. Before we moved through the gate, I grabbed her arm and halted her movements. I didn’t say a word, just lifted my thumb to her face and lightly brushed over the smudge of red, desperately trying to avoid her gaze. I couldn’t walk through the gates with a raging hard on, and that was where I was headed if my eyes found hers.
“You’re good,” I muttered, and pushed open the gate. The moment we appeared, it was like people came out of everywhere. Mom rushed toward us, then Eden dropped Ky’s hand and soon joined her.
“Are you okay? Show me your hand. We need to take care of this. Where did you disappear to?” Their questions swamped my mind, and I didn’t feel Ashlyn go until I saw her standing by Ky.
I answered Mom and Eden’s questions, then disappeared inside. I needed a moment, and I needed to take care of my now-throbbing hand. Standing in the kitchen, I leaned against the counter, clutching an ice pack, and holding a whiskey in the other hand. My mind kept swirling with memories of Ashlyn grinding against my cock on the pier. She had lost all her inhibitions, and it was almost as if she was silently telling me to take her. It wouldn’t have taken more than a second to slip her panties to the side and run my fingers through her soaked pussy before sinking inside her. Fuck, I craved her warmth. To have her again was something I’d been fantasizing about since our first night together. Yes, I’d had other pussy since that night, but nothing would compare to her.
The harsh liquor hit the back of my throat and brought me back to the present.
Ky slipped into the kitchen, and my eyes trailed him as he moved to Dad’s liquor cabinet and brought out the whiskey that I was devouring. He poured himself a glass, and his eyes flashed to mine to see if I needed a top up. “So, are you going to tell me what the hell that was?”
Fuck! Here we go.
I sucked back the entire thing and placed the empty glass on the counter. Ky’s face was impassive, though his body language made it obvious that he wouldn’t tolerate any bullshit.