Chapter Twenty Seven
*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***
One week later, Ashleigh found herself going stir crazy. Since the day of Jessie’s incident, she hadn’t heard from Alex. He’d dropped her off at the house, and because they’d been riddled with emotional churn for the better part of the day, she’d decided to leave him alone for a little while. Now she was beginning to question her decision.
Maybe he hadn’t meant what he said after all. And yes, she remembered every last word.
I’ve always loved her. I don’t want to choose between being your friend, and being with her because I will choose her, Jessie.
She couldn’t get the conversation out of her head. Why hadn’t he said anything? Alex had never given her the impression that what they had between them was anything more than some intense sex and a budding friendship. They had become close over the last few months, and the sex was phenomenal.
After the day he’d picked her up at the bookstore, Ashleigh had had high hopes that he was opening up to her once again. He had even asked her about becoming a member of the club, and she had acquiesced. Grinning on the inside, of course.
And now, as it would appear, he’d withdrawn from her both emotionally and physically. At least that was the impression she got from him.
Granted, she could call him just as easily as he could call her. And she hadn’t.
No, she’d been reeling from his admission, wondering how in the hell she hadn’t seen it. Or how she hadn’t been able to tell him exactly how she felt about him. How she had always felt about him.
Her phone rang, startling her from her thoughts and she launched at it, praying it was Alex.
It wasn’t.
“Hey.” Ashleigh greeted her brother when she answered the phone.
“How are you?” He asked, sounding a little more cheerful than he had the last time she talked to him.
“Good. You sound happy. What’s up?”
Dylan chuckled. “Let’s just say this move has been good for me.”
That was so good to hear, Ashleigh couldn’t help but smile. She wondered exactly what he meant, but she didn’t have a chance to ask before he started talking again.
“What did you do to Alex?”
“Ummm... excuse me?” What she had done?
“He’s moping around this place. I told him if he doesn’t stop, I was going to punch him. I guess I now know what it’s been like to be around me.”
Ashleigh didn’t say a word.
“Ash? Is everything alright between you and Alex?”
“I don’t know.” She answered honestly, surprised by her admission.
“You know how I feel about people interfering, but...” Dylan let the sentence linger as though he were waiting for her to say something.
Ashleigh didn’t know what to say. Knowing that Alex wasn’t off gallivanting around, ignoring her on purpose gave her hope. Not that she wanted him to be upset, but at least she knew what she needed to do now.
“I need to go.” Ashleigh told her brother. “I’ve got something I need to do. And, hey, thanks.”
Dylan laughed, “Not sure what it was I did, but you’re welcome.”
With that, the line disconnected. Ashleigh didn’t hesitate; she dialed Alex’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Can you come over?” She blurted out before he had a chance to say anything more than hello.
“Is everything alright?”
Dylan was right, Alex didn’t sound like himself.
“We need to talk.” She said, trying to sound serious.
“Alright. I’ve got a meeting this morning, but I’ll stop by after lunch. Does that work?”
“Sure.” She threw in a little uncertainty, smiling into the phone. “See you then.”
Now she just needed to get ready.
~~*~~
Alex suffered through his only meeting of the morning, but had it not been Xavier he was meeting with, he would have cancelled and rushed over to Ashleigh’s.
Hope sparked in his chest when she had called; quickly doused when she told him they needed to talk. He wasn’t sure what she wanted to talk about, but he had an idea.
It’d been a week since he saw her and the last time was when they had checked Jessie into rehab. After that little ordeal, he figured Ashleigh didn’t want to have anything to do with him. And he almost couldn’t blame her.
He might not be married to Jessie, he might not have any binding ties to the woman, but he cared about her wellbeing. He didn’t figure Ashleigh wanted to deal with that kind of baggage, so he’d left her alone, hoping she’d call him.
He was walking out of XTX when he ran into Logan who was walking in.
“Hey.” Logan called out to him. “You too good to say hi these days?”
“Sorry.” He mumbled. He was too preoccupied at the moment.
“You’re girl called me this morning.” Logan grinned, and that got Alex’s attention.
“She did?”
“Yeah. She wanted Luke’s cell phone number.”
What the hell for? He didn’t voice the question, but he couldn’t stop wondering.
“I gave it to her. She sounded a little out of breath. I figured you were with her.”
“Funny.” Alex retorted. “I’m heading over there now.”
“Guess I’ll see you around.” Logan said, turning toward the entrance to the building, but suddenly turning back. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something.”
“What’s up?” Alex wanted nothing more than to run to his truck and haul ass to Ashleigh’s to see what she was up to, but he stood firmly in place, staring back at Logan.
“The club’s monthly get together is Tuesday. You coming?”
“Doubtful. Why?” He asked.
“Just wondering. Sam’s been pushing me to ask. Apparently she thinks it would be good for Ashleigh.” Logan laughed. “I’ve tried to tell her that not all women are as out of control as she is. She doesn’t believe me.”
Alex did laugh. Logan was right. Sam was out of control. Ashleigh wasn’t nearly as reserved as he’d expected her to be, but he wasn’t so sure she’d be willing to do some of the more carnal things that Sam was willing to do. Not that he minded in the least. Ashleigh was more than he could handle as she was.
“I’ll talk to you later.” Alex said and turned toward his truck.
A half hour later, Alex was rapping his knuckles on Ashleigh’s front door, his heart beating ninety miles a minute. Having not seen her in a week, he was more than ready to, but he was worried about what she wanted to talk about.
When she answered the door, she smiled at him, and the noose around his heart loosened a little. Damn the woman was beautiful.
“Come in.” She told him, turning away and leaving him to close the door behind him. As though it were a conditioned response, he immediately glanced down at her ass, admiring her as she walked away.
“What’s going on?” He asked when he walked into the living room.
“I was just thinking we could play a game.”
“And what game would that be?” He asked, noticing how the coffee table was pushed out of the way, and the chair was moved closer to the couch. He was tempted to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming because this was the last thing he expected, coming to her house.
“Truth or dare.” She grinned before taking a seat on the couch.
He grumbled good-naturedly. Who was he to argue with her if she wanted to play truth or dare? After the last time they’d played, he was open to damn near any game she wanted to play.
“There are some rules.” She mentioned, once again grinning from ear to ear.
God he loved when she smiled at him like that. For the last week, he had feared it wouldn’t happen ever again. And standing before her now, he felt like he was in an episode of the Twilight Zone, not knowing what was going to happen.
“And those would be?” He asked, taking a seat in the chair across from her, fully expecting her to lay into him for not having called for a week.
“We each get two truths and three dares.” She began. “And like always, you have to be honest. It doesn’t matter what order you take them in either.”
He had expected to be inundated with questions and for the two of them to hash out their differences. Never would he have expected to be trying to come up with the two most important questions that he wanted her to answer for him.
Nodding his head in agreement, he waited for her to start.
“Truth or dare?” Ashleigh asked him, leaning back as though she didn’t have a care in the world.
“Dare.” He figured that was the easiest at the moment, although the gleam in her eye said he should’ve picked truth.
“I dare you to take your shirt off.”
Well, that was easier than he thought. He untucked his polo shirt, lifting it over his head by gripping the collar behind his neck and gently sitting it on the edge of the chair beside him.
“Your turn.” Ashleigh said, her gaze caressing every inch of his chest, making his dick twitch.
“Truth or dare?”
“Dare.” She answered easily, albeit much faster than he expected.
“I dare you to take your shirt off.” He said, mirroring her dare.
Alex watched as she unlatched the small buttons on her shirt before sliding the cotton down her arms, leaving it to drop behind her. Clad in a sexy as hell red satin bra, his dick was no longer twitching, it was throbbing.
“Truth or dare?” She asked.
“Truth.” He held his breath, unsure of where this would lead them.
“Did you mean what you said to Jessie the other day?”
Alex didn’t have to dig hard to remember what she was talking about. When he had said the words out loud, he’d shocked himself with the admission. “Yes.” He answered firmly, not taking his eyes off of hers.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” She answered, and for the first time, Alex noted a little unease in her amber eyes.
“Did it scare you? What I told Jessie?”
Ashleigh’s gaze didn’t waiver, but her bottom lip trembled just slightly. “No.”
Ok, they were two truths and two dares down. Alex’s body was hard as steel, aching to get close enough to touch her, but he remained where he was, hoping to make it through the next round of questions.
“Truth or dare?” She asked.
“Dare.” Figuring they had to let the roundabout declarations simmer for a moment, Alex opted for the harder of the two.
He was stunned when Ashleigh’s eyes turned glassy, unshed tears welling up. For a moment, his heart stopped beating in his chest.
“I dare you to tell me you love me.” She whispered.
Alex launched across the small space between them, pulling her into his arms and pressing his mouth to hers, eager to feel her skin beneath his fingers, to feel her heartbeat against his chest. He didn’t take her fiercely, but rather licked her tongue while he cradled her head in his hands.
Pulling away from her, he glanced down, drowning in her whiskey brown eyes. “I love you. I love you with everything that I am, everything that I ever will be.”
A tear slipped down her cheek, and he brushed it away with his thumb. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” She whispered, her hands cupping his neck.
“How do you feel about me? About us?”
“I love you, Alex. I loved you the moment you stepped foot in my grandfather’s house. I’ve loved you every single second in between. You are my heart, my soul, my everything. You make me stronger than I thought possible and wilder than I could have dreamed.” The last was said with a small grin.
Her admission had tears welling up in his own eyes. To think he’d kept himself away from her for so many years, because of this. This emotion she filled him with, the foreign feeling of wanting to protect someone, to love them unconditionally today and forever. He was overwhelmed with it.
“Truth or dare?” He asked, although it was technically her turn.
“Dare.” She said, her eyes resting on his lips.
“Marry me.” He whispered.
To his surprise, Ashleigh didn’t answer; instead she pounced on him, making him laugh. Her mouth crushed to his, straddling him as he fell back on the couch. Sliding his hands through her hair, he gently pulled her head back so he could see her eyes.
“Answer me.” He insisted, smiling.
“Yes!” She squealed. “I will marry you, Alex McDermott!”
Alex rolled until she was crushed into the back cushions of the couch, but he was now on top of her. Sliding his lips down the sweet smelling curve of her neck, he kissed and licked as she tried to wrap herself around him.
“Patience, baby.” He said, lowering his lips over the swell of her breast. He snuck his tongue beneath the red satin, licking her nipple as she groaned. He didn’t even get a chance to assist before she had unclasped her bra, using some behind the back move that had him shocked.
“What?”
Alex laughed. “Nothing, baby. Nothing at all.”
Exploring lower, he kissed every inch of skin he saw and continued to do the same with the skin he uncovered as he removed her clothes. She was having none of his going slow business, and she told him as much when she pushed him off of her, all but ripping his remaining clothes from his body before she straddled him right there in the middle of her living room.
“Ashleigh.” He groaned her name as she lowered onto his cock while brutal waves of pleasure crashed over him. “Baby.”
“I love you, Alex.” She repeated her sentiment from earlier and Alex rolled her onto her back, pressing into her from above.
“Forever.” He said. “Tell me you’ll love me forever.” Pumping his hips, pushing deeper, Alex maintained a steady rhythm, trying to hold back but losing the battle.
“Forever. I’ll love you forever and always.” Ashleigh whispered, pulling his face down until their lips met.
Alex put everything he felt into the kiss, into the way he filled her body, taking everything she was giving him at the same time.
“Alex!” Ashleigh screamed his name, breaking the kiss, bowing her back as he thrust harder, faster until he could no longer contain the need to fill her with his seed.
“Come for me, Ashleigh.” He grit out, holding back, until her body gripped him, milking his cock and forcing him over the precipice to free fall into complete and total euphoria.