Ryder
I leave Ashton to sleep. Instead, I sit watching the Game with a whiskey in my hand and fight the natural urge to go to her. The thought of her soft warm body lying in my bed is making my cock stand to attention. The alcohol will numb the feeling of frustration and the Game divert my attention. Tonight, she will sleep alone. She needs the sleep and I don’t need to fight the temptation until I have to. When Cassie returns tomorrow, she will want the storybook mom and dad. I will do anything for her and if that involves fighting my raging lust for the woman upstairs then so be it. When Ashton begs me and not a moment before. That’s the rule I’ve set in place which reminds me that I’m one stupid fucking bastard. I never thought this one through because the only one dealing with the results of it is me.
The morning sun filters through a crack in the blind and reminds me where I am. The couch is hard and unyielding to a man who passed out on it sometime in the early hours of the morning. The whiskey bottle is dangerously low and I feel the ache in my head punishing me for daring to think I could seek solace in the bottle. I feel like shit and must look like it. My eyes are burning and my face rough and unshaven. I run my fingers through my hair and groan. Fuck me, as wedding nights go, this one was the pits. My balls are throbbing and my cock is hard as steel. Thoughts of Ashton fill my mind as I picture her soft, sweet body tangled up in my sheets. The urge to go up there and take what I want is making me despise myself even more than she would if I allowed my natural urges to take over.
The door pushes open and I look up as the woman herself peers nervously into the room.
“Um... are you ok? Did you sleep here all night? I’m so sorry If I took your bed, I could have slept in the room Bonnie gave me.”
She is a gibbering mess and I smile inside. Morning Ashton is as adorable as I knew she would be. Her eyes are sleepy and her hair messed up. She looks nervous and my cock starts throbbing with the need to be inside her.
She moves inside the room nervously and holds out a steaming mug of coffee.
“I hope you don’t mind but I made you this.”
Reaching out, I take the mug from her hand and want nothing more than to pull her down onto my hard cock and drive it home. Instead, I shift to disguise its interest and smile regretfully.
“I must have fallen asleep watching the Game. Did you sleep ok?”
She smiles nervously. “Yes, thank you. I must have needed it because I slept really well. It’s only when I woke up that I realized you hadn’t come to bed.”
She blushes as she speaks and I feel my heart stir. She is so perfect and this little fragile angel is doing strange things to me inside. I’m fighting my ravenous lust for her against my need to protect her. I shake my head and grin.
“Thanks for the coffee. I’ll take it and shower. I feel like shit and we don’t have long.”
She looks surprised and I smile.
“I have work to do before Cassie returns and you have some shopping to get. Bonnie will be here soon to take you to town to buy whatever you need.”
Reaching for my wallet, I throw her my credit card.
“Get whatever you need on this.”
I watch her eyes flash and see the pride enter them.
“I have my own money.”
She throws the card back at me and I laugh softly as I throw it back.
“That may be, honey, but aren’t you hiding? The first rule is to go to ground. The second you use your credit card they will have a scent to follow. You make a call they know where you are. You use the computer, they know where you are. I have a lot to teach you, don’t I?”
She blushes and I laugh to myself. I actually couldn’t care less if they did come. They don’t scare me and what I know would finish them in a heartbeat. But I want Ashton to think she has no other option. I want her to rely on me for everything because I’m a sick bastard who wants to keep her for myself.
She takes the card and I feel a flash of triumph. Shaking her head, she looks worried.
“What if someone sees me shopping and reports it to the police?”
I laugh. “I doubt they even know you’re missing yet, honey. I think you’ll be perfectly safe and you’ll have Bonnie with you.”
She looks confused and I raise my eyes.
“Bonnie isn’t Snake’s old lady for nothing. If you think I can fight, you haven’t seen her. He’s taught her everything he knows and then some. That woman is a Ninja assassin and nothing would get past her. Don’t let her sweet nature fool you. That woman is as hard as nails and every bit as ruthless as the devil himself. She’s a good one to teach you our ways. Just don’t practice them on me, darlin’, before I’ve had my morning fix of caffeine. I’m not strong enough before that.”
I wink and see the laughter in her eyes. It makes my heart sing to see her relax. She smiles gratefully.
“Ok, but I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
I just wink. “I know you will, honey. I charge a great deal of interest as well and the interest I’ve got in you is mounting by the second.”
Laughing, I leave the room before she sees the cold hard facts of my interest staring her in the face. Fuck, this is gonna be harder for me than I thought.