TWENTY-FOUR – ASH
Gregory just told me he loves me. I am resting on his chest after a wonderfully satisfying bout of sex and am trying to process all my feelings. He was right when he said it sounded crazy. But I am crazy too, as I feel the same way. I have never felt this comfortable with anyone else.
I can tell he is starting to get nervous, as I haven’t responded to his declaration.
“Gregory, I don’t think you are crazy,” I say it so low, I wouldn’t be sure he heard it if he didn’t give me a squeeze right after. “You feel like the home I lost.” At this, he planted a light kiss on the crown of my head.
“I can’t imagine another day without you in it, Ash.”
“If we survive this, you won’t have to.” I stop talking and start running my hands through his chest hair. There is so much going on. I am so scared. Being here, in his arms, I can nearly forget all of that. But not quite. My love for Gregory makes me terrified, as I am now stuck. If things go south, I won’t be able to run. I won’t leave here, or him.
I know Gregory is confident we will stay under the radar and Ted will just leave, but I am not so sure. My gut is telling me that this is going to get much more violent before we see a resolution. With that risk, I don’t want him to have any doubts about my feelings. I felt so wonderful, hearing his declaration of love, I want him to feel the same.
I push off his chest and sit to the side of him. I keep my hands on his chest and he sits to face me. Leaning into him, I say, “Gregory, I love you too.” His face breaks into complete joy and he gives me a deep kiss. I embrace it and enjoy the moment of love surrounding us. I am instantly validated by how wonderful it feels kissing him. I want to do this every single day. His love is tender and I trust him completely.
When we separate, I stand up and move to get dressed. He says, “We don’t have to go quite yet. Let’s enjoy each other a little bit longer.” I look back, and see he means another round, it’s impossible, but his cock seems larger than it was only a short time ago.
“You’re insatiable. We can’t right now, we need to find Grant and see what he found out.” I turn away and grab my dress off the ground. Before I have a chance to slip it over my head, he is holding me from behind, and I can feel the full, hypnotic length of him. “That can wait,” he argues.
“No, it can’t. We need to come up with a plan.” He is incessant, he starts kneading my breasts, trying to coax me into arousal, so we can make love again. I step away from him and laugh, “Gregory, stop. If you behave, we can pick this back up tonight.”
“But that is so far away.”
“It is,” I smile and he looks mockingly hurt. Trying to ease his temptation, I slip my dress over my head and let it settle over my body. I look at him and ask, “Can I have some help with the laces?” He obliges and somehow it takes twice as long. He managed to touch all my most intimate parts during the process. He finally finishes and I smack his hands away, laughing at his advances.
“I can’t help it, you're magnetic.” He shrugs and smiles at me. I can’t help but smile as well. I toss his pants to him, “You need to get dressed too.”
As he is dressing I add, “Thank you for this, I feel much better. I am still sad and scared, but it is not overwhelming anymore.”
“I am glad it worked. I need you to be at your best, so we can fight this. We will have plenty of time to grieve your clan after the trouble is over”
“And I will. I am going to plant a tree for each of them. I don’t know what happened to their bodies, but I can at least do this.” The similarity to my sister’s lack of proper grave is so stark.
“I’ll help. You can tell me about each of them when we plant their tree?”
“I would like that,” I add as I start cleaning up the remnants of our lovemaking. I hang up the borrowed sparring outfit and straighten some tools we knocked over.
As soon as the shed is back to normal, Gregory approaches me and wraps me in a hug then asks, "Are you sure we can't stay in here a little bit longer?"
I lean into his embrace, "We cannot. Hiding won't make our problems disappear."
"You are right about that." He unwraps himself from around me, then grabs my hand, "But we will face those problems together."
We keeps our hands clasped together as we head outside. “Do you think he is back yet?” I ask.
“I hope so. Let’s check head into the main part of the house, maybe we will see him there.”
“Lead the way.” We start heading in the right direction and I notice how peaceful the land around us is. It is quite beautiful here, there are some mountains jutting up behind the house and forest surrounding us on three sides. I would enjoy my days in Cliffden, even though it’s colder. I bet Gregory would have no trouble keeping me warm.
When we are a little past halfway back to the house, Grant comes running out to meet us. “Heads up, father is right inside.”
“Oh,” Gregory says, “We will head in then, it’s time for him to meet Ash and it will show that we have nothing to hide.”
“Well before you head in, you should hear me out. Father is the reason I got back so fast, I followed him back from Den’s house.”
“He was meeting with them?” Gregory asked.
“Looks like it. I think it would be better to go in without Ash. If we go in together, we can strike up a conversation about Den’s dead cousin and hopefully see what he knows.”
“Do you think he would tell us, he hasn’t disclosed anything about this part of his life before?”
“I don’t know,” Grant responds.
This sounds like a good idea, so I add in, “It’s worth a try, at least.”
Gregory turns to me, “I don’t want to leave you alone, not when they are so close.”
“I can hide out in your room, besides you know I am not helpless.” I give his hand a squeeze, emphasizing my statement.
“I know. I just don’t want to take any risks.”
“Dude, she will be safe upstairs. No one will enter your room without us knowing.”
“He is right. We need to find out what your father knows.”
“Okay. We will sneak you up the stairs. I am going to hurry, as fast as I can, to get back to you.” He bends his head down to kiss me and we all three head for the door. I don’t speak until I am on the staircase and about to head up when I whisper to Gregory, “Perhaps you could send for a bath?” I turn without getting his response, but I know in a few minutes, Rose will be bringing some warm water in.