Page 43 of Wild Card
“Well, look at the virgin bride,” I smirk at her, but she clearly has no patience for humour when she grabs the front of my t-shirt and drags me back onto her lips.
“Make me yours, Ash,” she whispers, sounding breathless as I grip under her ass cheeks and lift her up against the wall. Reaching between us, I take my cock outta my jeans and line it up with her entrance.
“Youarefuckin’ mine,” I remind her, pushing all the way inside her and making her moan. I should be gentle with her; she’s still new to all of this, but she sounds much more relieved than in pain, and when her kisses continue and she tugs at my hair, I thrust my hips and fill her again.
I’m not wearing any protection, but I don’t fuckin’ care. Ruby doesn’t seem to have noticed, and if I stop this to remind her, she might start second-guessing herself again. I’m not gonna risk that, not when I want so badly to send her back into that barroom smelling like me.
“Say it.” I grip both her ass cheeks as I fuck her against the wall. “Tell me who you belong to,” I growl in her ear, cause I need to fuckin’ hear it.
“You,” she whispers, still sounding adorably cute even when she’s sinning.
“Damn straight, you are. Don’t lie to me again… It hurts.” I still myself inside her, suddenly realizing that no one else has ever done that to me before. I’ve made it to the age of twenty-seven without having a single expectation from anyone. I’ve worked hard to protect myself from this kinda shit, and in three days this girl has broken all my defenses.
“I’d never intentionally hurt you,” she tells me, looking deadly serious and like she’s about to cry.
“I know that.” I get back to kissing her before things get any deeper with her. I don’t want her memories of me to be sad ones, and when she starts to tremble and lose control of herself, I pull back so I can watch her. I don’t cover her mouth to silence her when she comes for me this time. I hope her cries are loud enough for her fiancé to hear over his fancy jazz band.
“Ash.” She shakes her head at me when she starts to come down, and when I feel myself starting to brim, I force that lace dress higher up her body, revealing her stomach.
“Ash, what are you doing?” She watches me take out my cock from inside her and land it on her belly, coming all over her soft skin as I growl outta frustration and pleasure combined.
“ASH!” She looks down at the mess I've made in shock.
“It was there, or inside you. I didn’t want to land us with an even bigger problem. Not yet, anyway.” I wink before I go to kiss her, and she pulls herself back from me, still looking shocked.
“You did that on purpose.” She tries to hide the smile from her lips as she calls me out.
“You better get back to your party, let Brett enjoy showing you off while he still can.” I remind her of what's waiting for her on the other side of the door, and I’m not too sure if it’s worry or sadness that takes that smile away again.
“This can’t change anything. I admit… I wish things could be different, but?—”
“Sssshhhh.” I place my finger over her lips before I carefully set her back on her feet and pull her dress back down.
“A lot can happen in three weeks; you wait and see,” I promise her, leaving her alone in the closet to gather herself back together and getting back to work.
TWENTY
Ruby
One Week Later
“What do you think?” I look to Esmé for her opinion, and she rolls her eyes like a delinquent teenager.
“If you don’t like the man you're marrying, does it matter if you like the dress you marry him in?” she points out, sipping from her champagne flute, and I quickly lift up the front of the dress and step down from the podium.
“Will you keep your voice down? The woman who owns this place is one of your father's investors,” I warn her.
Esmé hasn’t been herself lately; she’s being all moody and distant. I know she’s pissed at me for accepting her brother's behaviour, but I could really do with her support right now.
“The dress looks great, is that what you want to hear?” She finishes what's left of her glass and gets up, making her way out the door while I look at the woman by the fitting room curtain and smile awkwardly.
It feels like a long ride back to town from the city, especially with Esmé not talking to me, and I decide to try a new tactic and bring up something different.
“Hack couldn’t take his eyes off you the other night at the party,” I tell her, but she doesn’t take the bait. She doesn’t even take her eyes off the road or her hands from the ten-to-two position on the wheel. She never drives like that.
“Come on, anyone can see he’s got the hots for you.” I’m pretty sure the rumor that went round town about her spending a night at his trailer last summer was true. I’m sure if I wasn’t dating her brother, she would have talked about it with me, too. She gives nothing but silence back, and it makes me wanna cry.
“Ez, how long are you gonna be like this with me? I really need you,” I admit. Every day we get closer to the wedding, I get more and more anxious. I’m doing my best to avoid Ash. He’s like a wound-up coil ready to spring, and since we haven’t slept together again since the engagement party, the sexual tension between us has become unbearable.
