Page 23 of The Master

I turned my face into his palm and laid a kiss in the center. It wasn’t until I felt his body relax that I realized how tense he’d been.

“I understand,” I said, “and I’m there with you.”

It was the truth. I wasn’t ready totellhim that I loved him. Even if I knew without a doubt that I did.

He pressed his forehead to mine. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so worried about whether or not someone would understand what I was trying to say.”

I put my hands on his cheeks, loving the rough rasp of stubble against my skin. “Thank you, Nathanial. I’ve never had anyone but my mom care so much about what I think.”

I kissed him then, a slow, sweet kiss that turned into something hot and demanding. I squirmed on his lap, wanting to be closer, wanting more. His hands found my hips, and he pulled me across him until I was straddling his lap. I had a sudden flash of memory back to the beginning of this weekend when I’d gotten us both off without intimate skin touching, and judging by the way his fingers dug into my flesh, he remembered it too.

I moaned as he caught my bottom lip between his teeth, and mywantbecameneed. Desperate, clawing need that left no room for rational thought or anything that wasn’t intensely focused on fulfilling that desire. I reached down between us, going up on my knees enough to give my hands space to work.

Nate was doing his part too, pushing the bottom of my dress up and pulling the crotch of my panties aside. I didn’t wait for him to use his fingers to get me ready. I couldn’t wait. Not having him inside me almost physically hurt. We both cursed as I lowered myself onto that thick, hard piece of flesh. I was wet, but not really enough, and I whimpered as I took the last two inches.

“Fuck,le soleil.” He wrapped his arms around me, his head dropping to my shoulder. “Fuck, Ashlee…”

I couldn’t move, couldn’t think, but I had to move. At the most base, primal part of my brain came the commands I’d lost the ability to make. Nate held me so tight that I couldn’t do anything more than rock back and forth, but neither of us needed much. His lips found my throat as I closed my eyes, lost in the sensation of his mouth on my skin, the press of his body against my clit, the way he filled me completely, the sounds we weren’t embarrassed to make.

He came suddenly, the rush of warmth inside me making me realize I’d forgotten something, but it was a passing thought, brushed aside by the pleasure that crashed into me a moment later.

We’d worry about that tomorrow, along with everything else. Right now, this was everything.

Fifteen

Nate

When my alarm went off,I was tempted to turn it off and spend the day the way I’d originally intended: giving Ashlee as many orgasms as her body could take…and then just one more. My cock was already hard and aching from having her bare ass pressed against it all night, and for a second, I considered how easy it would be to slide inside her from behind, wake her with the first of many climaxes.

But then she was stirring, and reality rose to the surface. We had work to do in the real world, no matter how much we both wished we could stay here. I just had to keep reminding myself that what we had was bigger than one weekend together.

“Morning.” Ashlee’s voice was thick with sleep. “Have you been awake long?”

I shook my head, running my fingers up her bare arm. She turned her face into my chest and kissed me, the press of her soft lips enough to send my pulse galloping.

“Mmm…”

Fuck. That humming sound was going to be the end of me. I needed a cold shower. Now.

Thirty minutes later, we were in my car and heading back to the city. We didn’t talk much, but we didn’t need to. Our linked hands said more than enough. We were in this together, and for someone who’d pretty much spent his entire life feeling like he was alone, it took some getting used to.

I’d driven this stretch of land several dozen times in my life, and I didn’t need to focus much to navigate, which was a good thing since I kept looking over at Ashlee. Every so often, she’d catch me looking, and we’d share a smile, but we didn’t discuss what was coming.

On my part, it was because I didn’t want this last little bit of peace to be over until absolutely necessary. I didn’t know why Ashlee hadn’t asked for details, but I hoped it wasn’t because she was thinking about walking away.

As soon as that thought came into my mind, I pushed it away. She’d said we were on the same page, even after she knew about the shitstorm coming our way. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of assuming again.

What Iwasgoing to do was make things right. Ashlee shouldn’t have to deal with any of this. Hell, I shouldn’t have to be dealing with this either. I hadn’t exactly been a nice guy, but Flora had been rightfully fired, and the other two had known from the first what they were getting into with me. It wasn’t my fault if they felt like they were due more than we’d originally agreed upon.

As we crossed into the city limits, I broke the silence. “I’m sorry about this.”

“Don’t you dare!”

The ferocity in her voice caught me off guard, and I shot her a quick look. She pointed at me, and my eyebrows shot up.

“I mean it, Nate. Don’t you dare blame yourself for any of this. Not for what those three are saying, and not for me being involved.”

“You may change your mind if it gets as bad as I think it might,” I cautioned.

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