Chapter 19
Nolan
My phone vibrating somewhere pulls me from a deep sleep. I slowly blink my eyes open and try to remember where I am, when a soft, warm body splays against my chest. I glance down, and Ashley’s curled around me, sound asleep. Images of the last few hours come drifting back to my mind and I smile. I remember her falling apart in my hands in the bathroom and the stairway in the subway station. I remember her mouth owning me, demanding my attention as she sucked me off. Thinking back to all our daily text and phone calls and now I'm here with her is perfect, just like I remember. She's just as beautiful in person than she is on the phone.
Damn, this woman is under my skin. I’m never letting her go. I turn my head to check the time and we’ve been asleep for five hours.
Ashley shifts slightly throwing her leg over my waist and it brushes against my hard dick. I release a low groan from the back of my throat as her tits press against my side. I run my hands up and down her back tenderly. She stirs a little more, pressing her pussy against my hip. The heat radiating from her body is turning me on. Fuck I can’t get enough of this woman.
My phone vibrates again somewhere, and I remember that’s what woke me up. I haven’t slept this good in a long time. I’m constantly on alert and get maybe three or four hours of sleep at a time. Too many ghosts and demons invade my mind when I sleep. I trained myself a long time ago to always be alert, sleep only when needed and when I do sleep, it’s light and I’m always prepared. It’s saved my life quite a few times.
But not today. Today, sleeping next to Ashley, I actually slept soundly and deeply.
“Uh, are you going to get that?” Ashley grumbles in a husky voice.
“Nope,” I answer popping the p. “I’m not planning on moving."
She lets out a laugh and picks her head up, her light brown eyes are full of humor. The bruise on the side of her face has turned a deep purple, and it’s pissing me off, but instead of killing that little fucker like I want to right now, channeling my anger, like I was taught, I grip her hips and pull her closer.
“Sleep good?” Ashley asks.
“Yeah, really good. I haven’t slept that soundly in a long time.” I respond, swallowing the lump in my throat.
Ashley leans towards me, our lips are a breath apart. Her body is almost covering mine now and I tighten my arms around her, pulling her against me. Her tank top has risen to her chest so were skin on skin.
“Me either. I feel a lot better. My muscles aren’t hurting as bad anymore,” she tells me.
Dirty, filthy thoughts cross my mind as my lips find hers. Oh, the things I crave to do to her. She whimpers into my mouth as my cock grows even harder from her pussy rubbing against it. My tongue is caressing the hot wet cave of her mouth, showing Ashley what I want to do to other areas of her body when there’s a loud knock on her door making us both jump.
Fuck! Now I know why Xavier wanted to kill me when I did that to him. I owe him an apology next time I see him.
“Go away," Ashley growls against my lips.
There’s another loud knock, they’re not going away. Whoever is on the other side of that door is like an annoying fly. Always around bugging you at the wrong time. Ashley huffs out a heavy sigh and gets up from the bed. I watch her in her tight little shorts and tank top as she stalks over to the door and yanks it open.
“Go the fuck…,” Ashley’s voice stops mid-sentence. She’s just standing there, not moving, not saying a word. I can’t see who’s there from where I’m lying on her bed.
“Ash, who is it?” I ask. She turns towards me narrowing her eyes. I hear a giggle from the other side of the door and sit up. “No fucking way,” I mumble to myself as I stand up.
I walk over to Ashley’s door and yup, sure enough, that giggle belongs to the one and only Izabella Jones in a yellow sundress, white sandals, and her hair pulled up in a sleek ponytail. Her green eyes widen in surprise when she sees me.
“Nolan? What are you doing here?” Izzy asks, stunned.
“Well, I was sleeping,” I answer her.
She huffs out a breath and crosses her arms. “How long have you two been seeing each other?” she asks, looking between the two of us. She sounds a little hurt. Shit, now I feel bad for not saying anything to her or Xavier on how serious I am about Ashley.
“Since the night you and Xavier got engaged,” Ashley whispers. She peers over her shoulder at me and offers me a small smile. I stand behind her and rest my palms on her shoulders, hiding my scars with Ashley’s body. We both look back at Izzy, preparing for a tongue lashing
“It’s about fucking time,” Izzy says with a grin, shocking both of us.
“What?” We answer at the same time.
“You two were driving me nuts when she was at home. She was constantly watching you, you always watching her. I thought I would go crazy," she says, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Izzy, what are you doing here?” Ashley finally asks.
“I came to help,” Izzy answers, looking at Ashley.
“That’s very sweet of you Izz, but it’s not safe for you to be here right now,” Ashley says with a hint of sadness in her voice.
“You,” Izzy says pointing at me. “Out, I need to talk to Ashley, in private."
“Yes, ma’am,” I say saluting her like a smart ass. Izzy rolls her eyes at me.
“Give us a minute,” Ashley say, closing the door and clicking the lock before she can respond. She turns towards me narrowing her honey brown eyes, giving me a look I can’t quite decipher. I hold my hands up in front of me not sure what to say as I back away a little. That look scares me.
“I thought you called Ashton not Christian," she says, leaning against the door.
“I did. I don’t know why she’s here. I swear I have nothing to do with this.”
Ashley pushes away from the door and approaches me. She’s so close, I can smell the strawberry body soap she used earlier. I search her eyes for annoyance or anger. When I only see worry, I wrap my arms around her waist pulling her closer.
“I’m sorry Ash, I’ll find out why they’re here,” I say against her lips.
“I'm just worried she’ll get hurt,” Ashley says, laying her head on my chest. “It’s dangerous right now and I don’t want anything happening to her or Xavier for that matter. She’s only known the racing side, not the other parts of my business. She’s never met Reiser or seen the things he’s capable of. I wanted to keep her protected from this part of my life."
I run my hands up and down Ashley’s back, trying to sooth the fear. Pulling her face up gently, being careful to avoid the bruising, I lean my head towards hers. Our lips meet, and a tingling sensation starts low in my stomach. Ashley whimpers when my tongue enters her mouth in a heat of passion. She presses up against me tighter, threading her fingers through my hair, grabbing ahold of it. I want to finish what we started a few minutes ago, but I know we can’t right now.
I break the kiss, breathing heavily. I rest my forehead against Ashley's. Our hearts are beating hard, I can feel them in sync with each other through her thin tank top. She takes a deep breath and a smile appears on her face.
“I suppose I should face the firing range,” Ashley says reluctantly.
“Yeah, let me change my clothes and I’ll let you two talk. I’m sure you’ll have some explaining to do with her and I will with Xavier."
“Unified front. Stronger together than apart,” she says with a wink.
I let go of her even though I honestly don’t want to and find my jeans on the bathroom floor. Ashley’s eyes are watching me when I take off the sweatpants she let me borrow. Standing in just my boxers, my hard on back in full swing I shift so she gets a front view and our eyes lock for a minute. I smirk at her and raise an eyebrow. Ashley bits her bottom lip and watches me with no shame.
“Like what you see?” I inquire.
She nods her head, her blond hair bouncing on her shoulders. She approaches me slowly and wraps her arms around my neck. Kissing her gently on the lips, I rest my hands on her hips.
“She isn’t going to wait forever,” Ashley says against my lips.
“I know. Let’s get dressed. I’ll go to the firing squad downstairs and you deal with Izzy."
“Do I have to? She scares me when she gets that look in her eyes,” she replies, and I release a laugh.
“Yes, you do. I’m not dealing with her. She scares me sometimes,” I confess.
Ashley lets out a giggle as we let go of each other and I slide on my jeans and put my t-shirt on, covering my scars, Xavier and Izzy have never seen them and they never will. I find my side arm on her night stand where I laid it earlier and strap it to my hip. Ashley wiggles into a pair of dark blue jeans and a black tank top with a black and white flannel over it. She pulls her blond hair up in a messy bun on her head and nods to open the door.
Izzy is standing on the other side; her arms are across her chest and she’s tapping her foot on the floor. She’s trying to intimidate me but it’s hard to take her seriously in the little yellow sundress she’s wearing. If looks could kill, I’d be dead. Oh, boy she’s pissed. I give her a huge grin, trying to ease her tension and she glares at me.
“Don’t try to be all cute, Nolan, I’m pissed at you,” Izzy growls.
I turn my head back towards Ashley, mouth good luck to her and duck past Izzy. I walk at a rapid pace down the hallway when I hear Ashley’s door shut, and a squeal comes from behind it. I don’t know if it was Ashley or Izzy, but my hearing is thanking me for not being in that room.