Chapter Forty-Four
Tyler
When we broke away, I asked her what happened and she explained what a fucking dickhead her father was to her. I told her what had happened when I had gotten back to the house.
Of course, I left out the part about my mother and the fact that I suspected her father might have done something to harm her, but we did have a conversation about what would have been a fight, had I let it progress that far.
“Are you all right?” Ashley asked me, her eyes widened with concern.
I laughed and swatted the air in front of me before I answered, “I’m fucking fine.”
“Are you sure? I don’t know what got into my father. I would have never guessed that he would have resorted to violence. Not like that.”
I chuckled slightly. “Yeah, me neither.” I showed her my broad grin, which I hoped was visible in the darkness. “I don’t know. I have to say that in a really twisted way, I’m kind of proud of your old man.”
At this, she hit my arm. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded in a teasing voice.
“I’m just sayin’…I didn’t think the asshole had it in him. I thought he would scurry away from a fight, but he kept coming back. He actually chased me.” I laughed.
Now, her voice was teasing and slightly condescending as she answered, “You were the one who ran away from him?”
“Fuck no!” I exclaimed as I felt my jaw drop and she laughed, playfully scooping herself up out of the sand in order to run away from me.
I returned her jovial expression before once again, I made my way back on my feet and began to chase her.
At this point, however, I wasn’t really sure I could actually do anything. My body was aching and seriously lacking nutrients. I hadn’t eaten anywhere near my calorie count and all I had done since the stupid competition was run around and fend off fights. My body was exhausted.
But I certainly didn’t want to look weak and so, I growled to hide the shot of pain that I felt when I pivoted to one side and then ran after her, while she let out a shrill shriek of giggles.
I chased her around for a while, before my body realized that I seriously could not function again until I received something to eat. I hurried up and grasped her tightly around her petite waist.
She let out another deafening laugh and kicked up sand as I pulled her back and up, before setting her back down. “I got you…” I said with a grin, as I collapsed on the sand before my legs actually gave out.
It didn’t take long for Ashley to curl up next to me. Breathing heavily from the strain of running, I could feel her breasts heave against my chest each time she inhaled and exhaled.
The feel of them against my skin caused me to feel horny. Yet, my need for food superseded my mojo, which was superseded still by my need to have my point be heard. “Seriously though…I wasn’t running away, I was prioritizing.” I shrugged as she looked at me. “I didn’t give a shit about him. I was looking for you. That’s all I care about.”
She looked at me strangely and I felt a rush of emotion. I both hated this feeling and loved it at the same fucking time.
I didn’t want to feel this way about her at all, but because I did and I was fairly certain that I didn’t have a choice in the matter, all I wanted was to help her with everything and anything.
Ashley had helped me more than anyone I had ever known and I was getting used to the attention she gave to me. As much as I would have never admitted it, I didn’t want the attention to stop. I wanted to go with her, wherever the hell she ended up going, and I wanted to be there for her no matter what.
It was in that moment, in the darkness, where I was barely able to see her eyes, when I realized that she was more like me than I had ever realized.
Even though she had at one time been able to count on her mother, for the entirety of her adult life, she had also been on her own. Her father hadn’t made anything easy for her especially after her mother died. And now she was trying to start her life, completely separate from her family and from the excitement I heard in her voice when I told her that I would go with her, wherever the road may take her. I was convinced that she was now searching for some kind of anchor; someone she could count on and rely on, no matter what.
Despite what I would have admitted to anyone, even at the time, I wanted to be that anchor
So, while I was staring into her eyes, I pulled my hands up and rested them solidly on her shoulders before I made myself perfectly clear. “Ashley, you are the only person in this world that I fucking care about and I am going to do whatever I can to help you.”
I saw her smile at this and after a few more seconds, she said in an earnest tone, “Thank you, Tyler. That means more to me than you know.”
I snickered at this and carefully drew my hand down her cheek. “I wouldn’t count on that,” then I grasped her chin between my finger and my thumb, brought her face toward me and kissed her.
She moved her head a little to the right in order to receive the kiss more fully and once our lips connected, I brought my other hand up and grasped her face, willing her toward me with the slight pressure I applied.
Her lips were swollen and juicy against my own and her tongue was curious. She parted her mouth and I could feel the excitement and desperation as she pressed in closer to me.
Ashley’s tongue lovingly swiped itself against the roof of my mouth, which caused a chill to run down my back. I shuddered just before I smiled behind her lips. I wasn’t quite sure why I was quite so intoxicated by her love, but I knew that I just couldn’t get enough.
I grasped her tighter and pulled her closer. After everything that had gone on between us today and the relief I felt prolonged by the knowledge she still wanted me, when everyone else I had ever known would have thrown me away, I couldn’t hide the passion and intense desire I had for her.
Through receiving the taste of her on my lips, I was able to block everything else out. I no longer cared about anything, unless it had to do with Ashley.
I no longer felt hungry or fatigued; all I wanted was to feel her fucking sexy body up against mine as I showed her exactly how much she meant to me.