Chapter Forty
Ashton
As birthday celebrations go, it’s a small gathering. Just Bryce and a couple of friends from work. And Brett and the brother.
The date.
I’m in the kitchen with Bryce and the guys, bullshitting about work and women over beer and pizza, but I’m only half interested. I can’t keep my attention from wandering to the living room, where Sadie is trying her damnedest not to look at me. She’s failing miserably.
She and my sister are standing in a small group of friends…and Brett and the brother.
The date.
Fuck, it digs under my skin that this guy is anywhere near my girl. Logically, I have no reason to harbor such jealousy—she told me as much herself the last time we went on one of our “friend dates.” But logic and assurances does jack shit from stopping me from wanting to stalk over there and claim her as mine in front of everyone.
We’ve kept our budding relationship on the down low, and Mandy and Bryce are the only ones who have an inkling of what’s going on. By the end of the night, if my plans play out like I’m hoping, Sadie and I will no longer be a secret.
We’ll no longer be stuck in limbo hell, trapped in the constraints of Sadie’s unbendable rules.
And it’s about time. For weeks now, I’ve barely managed to keep my hands and lips to myself, and it’s been absolute torture.
Laughter filters through the living room, and I find Sadie piercing me with her green eyes from where she stands as she chats with one of Mandy’s friends from the club.
I know the brunette…intimately. I can’t recall her name, but I remember her colorful ink of butterflies and barbed wire that circle her wrists. She says something that makes Sadie laugh.
Beautiful laughter as melodious as the finest symphony.
The brunette happens to catch my gaze, and there’s no mistaking the inviting design of her smile. Sadie picks up on it and falls silent.
Shit.
I’ve fucked half of the female population in Douglas Falls, so keeping Sadie away from my past conquests is an impossibility. She knows my sordid history better than most, but now that things have shifted between us, I’m not sure how she’ll handle the inevitable run-ins with the girls I’ve hooked up with.
Hopefully, after tonight, it won’t matter. There will be no more doubt, no more insecurities. No more running from something that is scary and a huge step but so fucking worth it.
No more waiting.
The brunette’s attention is lured away by Brett, and Sadie takes a sip of her cocktail, meeting my gaze above the rim of her glass. Those jade eyes narrow on me, darkening with a hint of jealousy and a whole lot of awareness. I swear she knows what I’m thinking.
Tonight is the night I’m going to bust through the last of her walls, and she’s going to let me. Everyone around us might as well fade away because Sadie and I fall into intense moments of longing, surrendering to the connection that not even a room full of people can shatter. We’re going to cross the line tonight. It doesn’t even need to be spoken.
“You’re totally going to fuck her.” Bryce takes a swig of his beer.
“Did your crystal ball tell you that?”
“Please,” he scoffs, “I don’t need bullshit mumbo jumbo to spell it out for me. If eyesight had the power to strip, you’d both be naked a dozen times over, man.” He nods toward Sadie. “Why don’t you take her into your bedroom and get it over with?”
“Are you serious right now?” I arch a brow at him, and the other guys laugh before Bryce can reply.
“That’s hilarious,” says Preston, a guy from my crew. “Ash and Sadie? Riiiight.” The guy’s buzzed and doesn’t mean anything by it, but that still doesn’t stop me from socking him in the shoulder. “Don’t be a douche. It’s my birthday.”
“You’re pushing fifty now, right?”
“Dude, take that back. Don’t make me sic my sister on you.”
He throws his hands in the air. “Your sister is scary as fuck.”
I’m about to agree with him when I catch movement out of my peripheral. Sadie saunters toward the kitchen, and she’s got a sexy, come-hither curve to her lips. I’m powerless against her witchery—she never fails to tempt my dick into a standing ovation.
“Have I told you ‘Happy Birthday’ yet?” She stops on the other side of the bar and sets down her empty tumbler.
“You might’ve told me a time or two.” I grab her glass and mix her another drink before sliding it into her waiting hands. “Want another piece of pizza?”
She glances down at her drink. “What I want is a little alcohol with the juice. Did you forget I hit the legal age over a year ago, Ash?”
“Nope.” As I lean over the bar and shoot her a flirty grin, I’m fully aware the guys have gone quiet. “Maybe I don’t want to get you drunk.”
She snorts. “Said no man ever.”
“I can’t have my way with you if you get plastered.”
A low whistle brings me around to face the guys again. “You got something to share with the class, boys?”
“Nope,” Preston says, choking back laughter. “It’s your birthday. Who am I to disillusion you?” He tips his beer toward me in a sign of cheers. “Keep living in fantasy land.”
Setting my beer down, I round the bar and grab Sadie by the hand before ushering her into the middle of the living room. “I’ve got an announcement to make,” I call out. The chatter dies down, and everyone’s attention turns to me. “This incredible, sexy, stubborn woman,” I say, pulling her snug against me, “is mine.”
Another one of my coworkers joins in on the ribbing. “How much have you had to drink, Levine?”
“Which Levine are you talking to?” Mandy speaks up, a grin on her face.
“The drunk dude who thinks he’s got a chance with Sadie.” More laughter, followed by more ribbing from the assholes I happen to call friends. But at some point, everyone realizes I’m being serious, and they go quiet again.
“I’m not kidding. She’s my girl, and now you all know it.”
Sadie’s eyes are huge and alight with the tiniest amount of irritation. I sense an argument on the rise. She’s either reverting into retreat-mode, or she’s about to give me grief. Before she can do either, I lift her over my shoulder and stride toward my bedroom.
“Ash! What are you doing? Put me down!”
“We’ve got some private celebrating to do.” My houseguests treat us to a tirade of catcalls as I disappear down the hall. We escape into my bedroom and shut the door amid more boisterous laughter.
“You are absolutely crazy,” she says as I set her on her feet.
“Crazy for you, Sawyer.”
The weeks of no touching, no kissing, no nothing but friends rise between us, and we crack under the weight of desire. We fly at each other, our mouths colliding as if destined to come together in this frenzied reunion. I’m starved for her, drugged by the insistent licks of her tongue against mine. She reaches between us and rubs me through my jeans, and I groan against her mouth.
My response spurs her on, and she unbuttons my pants and tears at the zipper, her movements jerky and desperate and raw with hunger.
Then she’s fisting my cock, and I’m the desperate one. Breaking our lip-lock, I glance down and watch her stroke my length.
Jesus, it’s been too long, and I’ve regressed into a pubescent boy experiencing his first hand job. I grab her wrist.
“Take it easy. You’re going to end this before it begins.”
“What makes you think you’re getting lucky?” Her expression is one-hundred percent sass. “I’m just playing with what’s mine, Ash.”
“Don’t deny you haven’t been eye-fucking me all night.”
“I won’t deny it. Still doesn’t mean you’re getting lucky.”
With a laugh, I slide my hands into her hair. “I’m already lucky. More lucky than the luckiest bastard on the planet.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Backing her toward my bed, I kiss a wet path up her neck until I reach the top of her jawline. “Time’s up, baby. I’m calling the shots, and I say you’re ready for your next lesson.”
“You sure about that?” Her voice is a seductive sigh in my ear.
“Oh, yeah.”
“What lesson do you have in mind?”
“The one where you give your virginity to the man who’s crazy in love with you.” I step back and gesture toward her dress. “Take it off.”
“You’re being bossy again. We’ll have to work on that.”
“I’m being practical. Clothing will only get in the way.”
“In the way of what?” She’s baiting me, one eyebrow raised as she unzips the red number that’s taunted me all night with its short length and cleavage-revealing front.
“In the way of your body and my hands.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself.” She’s putting up a token fight, but with her next breath, she lets go of the dress and it pools around her feet. Next, the heels come off, and she’s standing in nothing but lingerie.
Sexy white lingerie. I take her in from the crown of her red hair to the pearly polish on her toenails. That shimmery hue matches her lacy undergarments to perfection. Her bra is sheer enough that I spy the dusty rose of her nipples. I lower my perusal and give her panties an appreciative eye.
Lace. Soft and pure, just like she is.
“Damn, Sawyer. I’m pretty sure it’s my birthday, and I’m pretty sure you wore that for me.”
Her cheeks go pink, and I know I’m right.
“I have one condition,” she says.
“Name it.”
“I don’t want anything between us. I’ve been on birth control since we started dating, and I trust you, Ash.”
I’m blown away by what she’s asking and completely humbled by it. The idea that I’ll be the first man to get inside of her, and that I’ll get to do it bareback, leaves me in awe.
I grab her by the chin, the need to dominate her a force I can’t fight. “I also have a condition.” We’re shuffling toward the bed again, one footstep at a time. “I want you to bend over the end of the mattress.”
Her eyes widen. “This is our first time. You’re not fucking me from behind.”
“I’m not fucking you at all. This is more than sex, Sadie.” I run my thumb across her lips. “I’m going to share with you what I’ve never shared with anyone.”
She bites her lip, and I let out a low growl. “Head down, ass up. Before we get to our firsts, I need you to submit to me.”
So there’s no question of who’s in charge here, I peel the shirt from my body and drop it on the floor. Planting my feet shoulder-width apart, I hammer home our roles with my rigid posture as I settle my hands on my hips.
My job keeps me fit, and I’m no stranger to the inside of a gym. Next to her feminine, petite form, there’s no contest who has the physical advantage.
The longer she stares at me, the more her pupils dilate.
My cock is big enough to choke her, and it has, multiple times. She’s probably a little apprehensive at the thought of taking all of me inside her.
“What do you mean by submit?”
“What do you think I mean?”
“You want to spank me?”
“Fuck yes.”
“But it’s your birthday. Aren’t you getting this ritual a little backwards?”
“Semantics, sweetheart.” I whirl her and push her over the end of the mattress. She raises her ass in the language of invitation, and the arch of her spine is graceful, the exquisite curvature of female beauty.
Round bottom exposed, cheeks left bare from the strip of lace running between them. She wore that scrap of lace for me, and that’s as good as her begging for my hand.
That first night at the club, when everything between us changed, I thought she was too innocent for a guy like me.
Too pure.
But Sadie Sawyer is far from innocent. She might be dressed in the hue of purity, her virginity intact, but her kinky streak is as real as my love for her, and it’s begging to come out to play.
I plan to bring her onto my playground with every orgasm and firm strike of my hand.