Page 61 of Ashes to Ashes

I needed all ofhim.

Not only for the pleasure it would bring me, but for ownership it would give Ash over me. And yes, I knew that made me sound like a bad feminist, but since he already owned my heart and my soul, what was one more piece of my body? It was all his anyway—he’d ruined me for every other man. He owned me—he owned my pleasure—and I didn’t care who knewit.

“Claim me. Make me yours.”

He growled and captured my mouth in a rough, authoritative kiss. Our teeth gnashed together and with the next swipe of his tongue, I tasted the metallic taste of blood. I didn’t care. I’d bleed for this man any day of the week. When he stood, I hooked my legs around his waist and locked my arms around his neck. He squeezed my ass and smacked it, then rubbed away the sting. “I’d love nothing more than to fold you over that table and take you hard and fast—” he sank his teeth into my collarbone, sucked my flesh into his mouth “—but not this firsttime.”

Ash fumbled for the door handle, while I licked my way over his exposed throat. He finally got it open and carried me across the courtyard and into the house and up to the master bedroom.

Setting me on the edge of the bed, he dropped into a crouch and rested his palms on my knees. His eyes searched mine. “Is this what you really want, or are you doing it to assuage my ego? Because if youare …”

“No, Ash. I want this. I want you,” I rushed to tell him, reaching out and running my hand over his beard and then skating my fingers down his neck to rest on his shoulder. “I want you to have all ofme.”

He hesitated for a split second, but then nodded. His eyes sparking with desire, Ash dropped a quick kiss on my forehead. Marching backward until he reached the leather wingback chair in the corner of the room, he dropped into it. With his elbow resting on the arm, he brought his hand to his mouth and swiped his fingers back and forth over his lips, his eyes devouring me from across theroom.

“Strip for me,” he commanded in a low, seductivepurr.

As if there were invisible strings tethering me to him, I stood and shimmied my skirt over my hips until it fell in a whoosh at my feet. Hitching my fingers in the cotton of my panties and slid them to land atop my skirt. Stepping out of the puddled fabric, I took a few steps toward Ash and then pulled my shirt over my head. When only my bra was left, I reached around and unclasped it. With the inside of my arms holding the flimsy lace tight against my body, I fingered the strap until it skated down my shoulder. With Ash’s eyes trained on my hands, I traced my fingers over my collarbone, and then pushed the other strap down. When I dropped my arms, the lace fluttered to the ground in front ofme

When I was standing in front of him wearing nothing but a blush, Ash licked his lips and leaned forward. “You’re exquisite,” he growled. “And you’re allmine.”

“I am,” I agreed, taking another bold step forward. “Just like you’remine.”

His turbulent gray eyes roamed my body, and then his lips hitched up in a smirk of pure masculine satisfaction. “That I am,” he conceded, pushing off his chair to stand in front ofme.

His fingers danced over my shoulders and down the length of my arms until Ash linked our hands together. Raising one hand to his mouth, he placed a tender kiss along my knuckles, and then repeated the gesture with the other hand, his eyes trained onmine.

“So you know, I’ve only done this one other time, but the situation was much different. It was …” He blinked and pushed whatever he’d been about to say away. “ It doesn’t matter. What matters is this. Us. I want to savor the experience. Make it good foryou.”

I didn’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t this. I’d braced myself for rough, dirty talk, for Ash to fuck me hard and mercilessly. When Ash unleashed his dominant side, he took me right up to the edge of what I could physically endure, pushed my boundaries and capacity for both pleasure and pain. The type of journey we were about to embark on could hurt me, especially the first time. And with Ash exorcising his jealousy through fucking, I’d fully anticipated there’d be a lot of pain. Anticipated it and acceptedit.

I hadn’t expected him to be tender though.

“Your face gives away your every thought,” he whispered. “I know what you thought was going to happen right now, and it humbles me all the more that you still put your trust in me.” His face dropped forward and he took my lips in a reverent kiss as his hands roamed my back and pulled me closer. With his hard cock resting against my belly, Ash took one last pull on my mouth. “This isn’t about my need for control. Don’t get me wrong, I need to make you mine, in every way possible, but that doesn’t have to mean pain. I can claim you here and here—” he tapped my temple and palmed my heart “—with gentlenesstoo.”

My eyes welled with tears that hovered, held, and then broke free, cascading down my face in silent wonderment.

“I want to make love to you, Rae,” he continued, adorning my exposed neck, chest, and breasts with worshipful kisses and licks. “I want to sink so deep inside of you, that I drown in your love. Will you let me do thatbaby?”

With shaky legs and a quaking heart, I nodded my assent. I understood what he meant because it was exactly the same for me. I wanted him to succumb to his fire until I was scorched and reborn, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

He took my mouth then in the type of stormy kiss I’d come to associate with our lovemaking, the kind that made my stomach flutter with desire and my heart race with longing. Wrapping my leg around his waist, I rolled my hips in an attempt to get closer to him. I needed him against every molecule of myskin.

As we kissed, Ash walked us toward the bed until the mattress hit the back of my thighs. Pushing me onto the flat of my back, his fingers found their way to my pussy, already drenched forhim.

“I love how wet you get for me,” he said, taking my nipple in his teeth and stretching it taut. Sliding a finger between my folds, he ground the heel of his palm against my mound. “That’s it baby, fuck my hand.” Ash added a second finger and I bucked against him, chasing my release. The closer I got, the faster he moved until the wet sounds of my pussy were nearly as loud as my moans.

Sliding down my body, Ash sucked my clit into his mouth, and I soared.

“Scoot up the bed and roll onto your stomach.”

With my elbows braced against the covers, I dragged my body to the top of the bed and flipped over, letting my eyes fall closed and my arms rest next to me. With my eyes shut, my other senses kicked in to overdrive. I listened as the metal of Ash’s belt buckle clanked and then I heard the faint whoosh of his jeans dropping to the floor. At my feet, the mattress dipped and a naked Ash straddled my thighs. The snap of a plastic bottle cap being opened and then shut echoed in the silence, only to be filled by the slippery sound of him rubbing his palms together.

When Ash brought his hands to my waist, he smoothed them up and over my back, digging his fingers into me. With slick hands, he focused on my neck and shoulders—the places where I carried my worries. With strong, assured strokes, he moved lower, caressing the full roundness of each globe of my ass. After another snap of the lid, I felt the liquid pool near the base of my spine and then trail into my crevice in warm rivulets. Working the oil into my skin, Ash’s hands made wide, arcing sweeps of my muscles before curving closer and closer to that forbidden place.

When a thumb passed over my bud, I clenched against its presence. “Relax, baby,” he whispered.

As he nibbled his way across my flesh, I took a deep breath and willed my muscles to unclench. I want this, I reminded myself. Whatever he did to me, I’d asked for. Hell, I’d begged forit.

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