Ash

Ash immediately felt her absence, but he ignored the longing. He kept stepping back from her, trying to ignore the rage boiling in his chest. He crossed his arms over his chest to hide his fists. Kallie was meeting another man tonight. He could tell. Those red cheeks of shame and the guilty look in her eye. Her skin was still flushing down her neck and she wouldn’t meet his eyes. Not when it counted.

He needed to know.

Ash needed to know who she was meeting

“You’re seeing him again, aren’t you?” he asked. “The man from your apartment.”

“Please don’t do this,” Kallie said.

“I haven’t done anything. There was a man in your apartment when I arrived in the city. That’s who you’re seeing tonight, isn’t it?” he asked.

He watched Kallie take in a deep breath and he braced himself for the impact. For the hurt her words were going to bring him. Rejected for another man. A man who wasn’t good enough for her. Part of him feared she would lie to him. Tell him what he wanted to hear instead of the truth. But instead of a lie, he got the truth.

And he wasn’t sure if it was any better.

“I am,” Kallie said.

“You’re having dinner with him.”

“I am.”

Ash snickered and shook his head.

“The man in my apartment was James, Ash.”

His gaze whipped back over to Kallie and he found tears in her eyes.

“He’s ... he’s trying to get me back,” she said. “He bought me a gift he’s still got the receipt to and I have to meet him for dinner, so I can return it.”

“What?”

“This morning, James sent me a gift. This ... this necklace I’d been eyeing for months. It was beautiful, and for a split second I thought—”

Kallie looked away and Ash’s arms uncurled.

“You thought about going back to him.”

“I thought it was a nice sentiment,” she said as her voice wavered. “Proof that he really had been paying attention to me more than I thought he was. But then why would he buy that necklace now? Send it to me now after he’s so royally fucked me over?”

Ash stayed silent and watched as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“I called him and told him I couldn't accept the gift, and he said if I didn’t want to hassle with returning it, then I could meet him for dinner and drop it off. So, I’m meeting him tonight to give it back.”

That manipulative bastard. What the fuck did he think he was doing? Scratch that, Ash knew that man knew what he was doing. Her ex still had a choke hold on her and he could see it in Kallie’s eyes. The conflict. The hurt. The confusion. Ash didn’t like any of this one fucking bit. He didn’t like watching his Kallie being manipulated by a man who was nowhere near good enough for her. Even if she was simply going to dinner to tell this man it was over between the two of them, he knew she was walking into a dangerous trap.

Kallie was his.

And he wanted to protect her.

Ash was also nervous. The part of him that wasn’t dripping red with anger was truly nervous about her meeting up with this guy. They had a history, and Kallie wasn’t the type of girl to take marriage lightly. What if her ex tried to sweet talk her? What if he convinced her to forgive him? To give him a second chance?

Ash was overwhelmed with emotions, and before he could catch himself, he reached out for Kallie.

She squealed as he pulled her body into his. Jealousy ran through his veins as he brought his lips to hers. His chest was panting. His tongue pushed between her lips. His entire body was shaking as he clung to Kallie’s upper arms. He pressed his lips harder. Farther. Deeper. Raked his tongue along the roof of her mouth until his teeth clattered against hers.

He kissed Kallie until she responded, her body bending to his. He pressed his strong grip into her lower back, grinding her hips along his growing cock. Her tongue finally slid between his lips and he gripped her hair, tugging her head to the side. She whimpered. Moaned. Gasped for air as his teeth trailed down her neck.

He bit into her skin as her legs caved from underneath her. He could feel her trembling against him as her hands fisted his clothes. Kallie was his. His to protect. His to care for. His to spoil. No other man would take that from him. And he would make sure Kallie was sent off with a goodbye she wouldn't forget all throughout that damn dinner. His hands cloaked her back and he pulled her even closer, sinking his scent into her body.

He wanted her to go to that dinner with his cum drying on her thighs.

He barreled her into the wall of his living room and hoisted her off her feet. He pawed at her clothes. Listened as they ripped underneath his grip. He bit at her neck, leaving indentations behind filled with his saliva. He pulled her shirt down until her luscious tits popped out, then wrapped his lips around them. Felt them pucker against his tongue. His hands shoved her skirt up her legs, rolling the tight fabric against her skin so he could feel her bare thighs.

“Ash. What are you—?”

His mouth collided with hers again, and Kallie’s moan filled his throat. His hands fell to his pants, pinning her body between his chest and the wall. He shoved them down his legs until his cock sprang free, trembling with a need to be inside her. He fisted Kallie’s excess, gripping the meat of her thighs, and wrapped her legs around him. Her hands clung to his hair and he growled into her, raking his teeth along her lower lip.

Then he grabbed his cock and positioned himself at her pussy, readying himself for her warmth.

A warmth that was his, and no one else’s.