Chapter Nine
I woke in the morning with him still spooning me from behind. His arms were wrapped around me securely as his breath blew into my hair. I smiled to myself. For someone who has never spent the night with a girl, he sure is cuddly!
I closed my eyes and enjoyed the closeness of him. It felt nice having someone hold me who wasn’t after anything; if Carter had held me like this, it usually meant he wanted sex. I moved slightly to get more comfortable and his arms tightened around me. He sighed, and his leg tangled in with mine as his hand brushed against my thigh. My breath caught in my throat.
I gulped as unfamiliar feelings started creeping up on me, the same feelings that had started building yesterday in the car. My skin was prickling with sensation as my stomach fluttered. An unsatisfied ache, a longing for something unknown, filled my body. I’d never felt this kind of thing before, not of this magnitude anyway. The lust I felt inside was all consuming. I wondered what would happen if I turned around and kissed him, or if I ran my hand down his sculpted chest. Would he freak out and ask me what the heck I was doing?
Swallowing loudly, I rolled over to face him. The feelings of longing and need grew even more when I laid eyes on his beautiful, sleeping face. His body was so close, pressed against mine, and hard, toned and mouth-wateringly perfect. Before I even knew what I was doing, I’d bent forward and brushed my lips against his, just once, just needing to know what it would feel like. As soon as his lips touched mine, desire pulsed through my body. I laid my head back down and licked my lips, fighting the urge to kiss him again.
His eyes fluttered open, and a confused, shocked expression flitted across his face.
No! No, no, no, no! Oh my goodness, why did I do that? I gasped in horror because of what I’d just done – and the fact that I’d been caught doing it. My face flushed with embarrassment as I squirmed, trying to come up with words to explain my behaviour. I needed to apologise quickly because I’d just overstepped a line that should never be crossed.
“I-I’m really sorry! Oh God, I can’t believe I did that! I’m so sorry, Ashton.” I blushed like crazy and my voice wavered as I spoke.
Instead of answering, he bent his head and pressed his lips to mine again for a split second, before pulling back and looking at me cautiously. His expression was worried, nervous, scared even. It was almost as if he was waiting for me to freak out and punch him in the face.
My eyes widened in shock. I literally had no idea what to do or think. The only thing that registered in my mind was how nice it felt and how soft his lips were. My whole body was tingling with desire, my lips burning. I wanted more. Without my conscious consent, my hand moved to the back of his head, threading through his soft hair as I guided his mouth back down to mine, needing him like I needed the air in my lungs.
As his lips pressed against mine, he made a soft moan in the back of his throat as he pressed his body to mine. My mind was whirling, spinning, not making any sense as the sensations and passion took over, making my body ache for something that I’d not dared to think about since Jack was alive. When his tongue grazed my lip, the kiss deepened and changed to something even more desperate and fulfilling. His taste and the way his body pressed against mine made me forget who I was. It was glorious.
He cupped my face as he guided me onto my back and hovered above me, pressing me down into the soft mattress. I whimpered as the desire built. My fingers dug into his back, clutching him closer to me as one of his hands slowly trailed down my neck, across my side until finally, his fingertips brushed against the skin of my stomach. He was doing everything slowly, as if waiting for me to stop him. His hesitancy caught me off-guard and made me doubt that this was a good idea. After all, I didn’t really want to be doing this with my new bodyguard, did I? My body answered for me. Yes, yes I did. As his hand pushed up under my pyjama top and headed up to cup my breasts, I let out a little moan and arched into him, needing to get him closer to me, to be consumed by him, to be one with him.
As the kiss finally broke and he trailed his tongue down my neck, I was panting for breath and my body was on high alert. I closed my eyes as he inched my pyjama top up slowly. He was moving and doing everything so slowly, as if he thought I was going to freak out at any second.
“You can stop treating me like glass, Ashton, I’m not gonna break,” I whispered, wriggling under him, trying to feel as much of his body on mine as I could. He paused, pulling back from me gently before he nodded in acknowledgement, gripped my shirt and pulled it over my head in one swift motion.
I gasped, shocked how quickly it had happened. My face filled with heat because I was now half-naked in front of him. Insecurity and nervousness made me wince as I looked up at him. Only one man had ever seen me topless, and that wasn’t my choice. But my concern that he wasn’t going to like what he saw was immediately diminished when his eyes narrowed and his bottom lip rolled up into his mouth. The little moan of appreciation that he made set what felt like a hundred butterflies loose in my stomach.
“So beautiful,” he croaked, dropping my shirt over the side of the bed and hovering above me again, looking straight into my eyes. “So, so beautiful.”
His lips pressed against mine as he settled himself on top of me. I smiled against his mouth, looping my arms around his neck. It was like a dream, a nice one, one that I didn’t ever want to wake up from. The attention from him made me feel special, attractive and desired.
As his hands lavished attention on my body, I took the opportunity to touch him too. My fingertips glided over his chest, feeling the little bumps of his muscles, tracing the lines of them. He shivered, pulling his mouth from mine, heading down and closing his mouth over one of my nipples. I gasped at the sensation, unaware that anything could actually feel this good with a man. The passion and need for him was incredible and all-consuming. My whole body was screaming for more.
His mouth headed lower. His hot tongue drew a circular pattern around my belly button before his teeth nipped gently at my overheated skin. When I felt the waistband of my shorts move, I raised my hips from the mattress in silent encouragement. This was all taking too long. I needed more, I couldn’t wait. I’d never wanted anyone like I wanted him, not even Jack. To be fair, Jack and I were so young that I hadn’t even known that this level of desire actually existed. Cool air hit my thighs as he eased my shorts down.
I was lost. Lost in the bliss of Ashton Taylor and the sensations and feelings he was causing within me. His hands and mouth on my body made me feel both hot and cold at the same time. My mind was whirling, unable to form any coherent thoughts other than one: please don’t stop.
When his mouth found mine again, he let out a little moan as one of his hands fisted into my hair. His excitement was evident as he ground his hips against mine. A shiver of desire made my eyes flutter shut as my whole body started to ache. My hands slid down his back, catching hold of the top of his boxers and pushing them down, trailing my nails across his pert, little behind as I did so. When the material was at his knees he kicked them off quickly, and one of his hands slid between our bodies as his mouth claimed mine in a kiss that was full of fire and passion.
My body jerked as his hand moved to the apex of my legs, brushing against my overheated skin. Little ripples of pleasure burst from within me, and he groaned. “So wet. Fuck, Anna,” he mumbled, pushing his hand down further. I gasped as his fingers pushed inside me gently. More of those little, pleasurable ripples erupted and I arched my back, gripping his shoulders for support.
He sucked on the spot just below my ear as his fingers started moving inside me slowly. My teeth sank into my bottom lip as my heart started to race. Not able to endure any more waiting, I shook my head, guiding his mouth back to mine again. “I’ve had enough foreplay, Ashton,” I mumbled against his lips, wriggling as my whole body seemed to get hotter and hotter by the second. Something was building inside me, some sort of frenzy.
Ashton pulled away fractionally. A pained, disappointed frown lined his forehead. “I don’t have a condom. Do you have one?” he asked, still working his fingers inside me.
I couldn’t answer. The ripples of desire had turned into waves – giant, intense waves that crashed over me. He was pushing me towards something, and I knew it would be good whatever it was. My blood seemed to whoosh in my ears as my insides throbbed and twitched. My back arched off the mattress as I gripped his shoulders tightly, crying out his name. For a few blissful seconds, it felt as if I was flying, as the sensations drove me higher and higher, until my body sagged and a contented sigh left my lips and all that was left was the residual ebb of pleasure and the flutter of my inner muscles.
I swallowed, still panting for breath as I looked up at him a little confused. I’d never felt anything like that before. I’d never even dreamt that my body could feel like that. The only feelings that I’d ever had during sex were pain, disgust and shame. But at the moment, I felt incredible.
Ashton smiled down at me, his green eyes glittering with what looked like pride as he bent to kiss me again. “Do you have a condom, Anna?” he repeated, peppering little kisses across my cheek.
“No.”
He groaned quietly and pressed his face into the side of my neck, his shoulders slumping in defeat. Shifting one leg out from under him, I wrapped it around his waist, clamping him to me as I wriggled. At this point, I was past caring if I got pregnant. I wanted that flying, weightless, carefree feeling again. But this time I wanted to take him along with me. Gripping my hand in the back of his hair, I pulled his mouth to mine, kissing him almost desperately as I raised my hips in silent invitation, desperately needing more from him because I didn’t ever want this experience to end.
He groaned and shook his head, breaking the kiss. “We can’t. I want to, so bad, but we can’t,” he whined. His voice was pained. He almost looked as disappointed as I felt, almost, but not quite.
My heart sank as I pressed my face into his chest and let his delicious smell fill my lungs. “Please?” I begged, clutching him closer.
He dragged in a breath through his teeth as his shoulders stiffened under my hands. “I could pull out before I finish,” he suggested. I moved back to look at him, my pulse quickening at his words. “If you want I could do that,” he offered, looking at me curiously, his expression torn.
Oh hell yeah! I nodded eagerly as my body rejoiced. My leg unconsciously tightened around his waist as he shifted on top of me. He gulped and cupped my face in his hands, looking me right in the eyes.
“You really want this, Anna? You’re sure?” he asked, watching my face.
I wasn’t even sure I had the words to describe how much I wanted it. In fact, it wasn’t a want, it was a need. I needed it to happen. “Yeah,” I confirmed, begging him with my eyes. “Please, Ashton?”
He grinned and his hand slid down, gripping my thigh as he pushed his hips forward. My breath came out in one big burst as he slid home inside me and his hips met mine, filling me completely. He gasped, and his eyes widened as his fingers dug into my leg. “Fuck. So tight,” he grunted. “You okay?”
I bit my lip to stop myself from moaning too loudly at the pleasure of having him inside me. “Oh hell yeah,” I confirmed, tightening my leg around his waist like a death grip in case he changed his mind and tried to get away. He grinned – probably at my over-the-top enthusiasm. His mouth claimed mine in a scorching hot kiss that seemed to wake up every part of my body, parts that I thought were long since dead.
He built up a slow, steady rhythm. Every time he moved, my body tingled and throbbed. I was aching for something else, something more, but I didn’t even know what it was that I wanted. I actually had no idea what I was doing. Trying to match his movements, I raised my hips to meet his. My moans were bordering on obscene as I leant forward and bit his shoulder gently, moaning against his skin, muffling the sound. Every move he made was gentle and caring; his hands worshipped my body and his mouth never once seemed to leave my skin.
As perspiration glistened on his forehead and his back started to get slightly slick under my fingers, my body was screaming at me for something. Seeming to sense it too, he gripped my other leg and guided that around his waist too before his hand slid to the small of my back, lifting my behind off the mattress a little as he continued to thrust into me. The new angle changed the feel of it completely, seeming to allow him deeper inside me. I gasped, bending my head and kissing his chest gratefully.
“Okay?” he asked breathlessly, as he thrust a little harder this time.
I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut as every nerve in my body seemed to spark and flicker. “Please don’t stop,” I begged, tightening my legs on him.
He chuckled, slamming home again. “I won’t,” he whispered, as I ran my fingers through his already messy hair. “Fuck. So good,” he moaned, looking down at me through heavily-lidded, clearly awed eyes.
The same sensation was building like an inferno inside me. My eyes narrowed as I pressed my mouth against his, ravishing his mouth with my tongue. As if he knew I was close to my end too, his fingers bit into my butt as he sped up. The friction he was creating inside me was almost too much to bear. In an attempt to get him impossibly closer, I raised my quivering legs even higher, lifting most of my body off the bed. He grunted and seemed to lose control of himself as he slammed into me harder and harder, moaning my name.
My orgasm hit me like a train, even more powerful than the last time. My whole body seemed to convulse and shake as I squeezed my eyes shut. He groaned my name as my inner muscles tightened around him, trying to force him to climax.
He pulled out of me quickly and his body tensed too, coming onto my stomach. I watched the way his eyes squeezed shut and his jaw tightened, listening to the sexy, little moan of pleasure he made as he finished too. He slumped down on top of me, pinning me down on the mattress with his weight, but it was a pleasant weight, it felt comforting somehow.
I closed my eyes and smiled as he peppered little kisses around the base of my throat. My whole body was spent. My muscles felt like jelly as I struggled to catch my breath. He sighed contentedly, lifting his weight off me, only to plop down at my side and throw a heavy arm across my torso. As he moved and our bodies brushed together, I could feel the evidence of his climax on my stomach.
I rolled to my side so I was facing him. He was watching me with a contented smile on his face. A soft giggle escaped my lips because of his awed expression. The way he was looking at me made my tummy flutter due to the intensity of it. I smiled and reached up, pushing his hair off his sweaty forehead, guiding it to stand up on end. I chuckled wickedly as it stayed in that position. Messy sex hair certainly suited him.
“Well, I’d say you just added a whole new chapter to the ‘how to be a bodyguard’ book. I don’t think I’ve ever had a person guard my body that closely before,” I teased, blushing as I said it.
He laughed and tightened his arm across my body, clamping me to his side. “Mmm, I think I’m gonna be good at this body guarding job. I take my job incredibly seriously,” he purred, trailing his fingers down my spine, making me shiver.
“Ashton, do you mind if I count that as my first time? I mean, my real first time wasn’t something I want to remember.” The words tumbled from my mouth before I could even contemplate how embarrassing they would be. I winced, horrified.
“I would be honoured, Miss Spencer,” he replied, dipping his head and kissing me softly.
I smiled against his mouth, slipping one arm around his neck. When his arm tightened on me and he rolled onto his back, I squeaked, giggling as I was dragged on top of him. His hand slipped down to cup my ass as the kiss deepened, growing in intensity again. When the kiss finally broke, I dragged in a ragged breath. The room seemed to be too hot and stuffy. I needed a little air. Gulping nervously, I sat up, straddling him. He smiled up at me, folding one arm under his head as his other hand drew a lazy pattern on my thigh.
The way he was looking at me made a blush creep up my neck and spread across my face. Neither of us spoke. Suddenly, my cell phone started vibrating on my bedside cabinet, cutting through the silence and making us both jump. Leaning over and snagging the phone from the side, I frowned down at the number that belonged to my father.
“Dad?” I answered, suddenly now very aware that I was naked with my near guard laid out between my thighs.
Ashton’s body jerked as his eyes widened.
“Hi, Annabelle. I wanted to speak to Agent Taylor, but he’s not answering his cell. I wondered if he was with you?” my dad quizzed.
My mouth popped open in shock as I tried to come up with some lie that would placate him. “Um, no Ashton’s not with me.” I winced, looking at him for help. “I think he said he was going for… er…” Ashton suddenly used his hand to mime his fingers dancing across the palm of his hand. I raised one eyebrow. “A dance class?” I guessed. Ashton chuckled quietly, shaking his head and slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand.
“A dance class?” my father repeated incredulously.
I closed my eyes as I suddenly realised what Ashton was actually miming. Someone running. Hmm, that would have been a better excuse. I sighed. “Dad, look, I don’t know where he is, alright? For all I know he could be at a dance class. He’s probably gone for a run or something,” I snapped, covering the mouthpiece of my phone as Ashton’s chuckle turned into an outright laugh.
“Right, okay, well if you see him, could you ask him to come and speak to me about some arrangements for next week?” my dad requested.
“Sure thing,” I answered, pressing the end button and dropping my phone down onto the bed.
“Dance class?” Ashton teased, shaking his head at me.
I sighed and flopped down onto the bed. “He wants to see you to talk about some arrangements for next week,” I stated, wanting to change the subject.
He frowned but nodded; clearly now wondering what my father wanted to see him about. Settling himself down against my side, he ran his fingers through my hair. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, leaning in and planting a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. I smiled as his eyes latched onto mine and I became trapped in the beautiful green of them. After a couple of minutes of silence, he groaned. “I’d better go speak to your father.” He pushed himself up onto all fours, leaning over me, kissing me fiercely. “I’ll see you in a bit. Maybe we could go for a walk or something?”
“Yeah okay, sure,” I agreed, shrugging.
He kissed down the side of my neck and across my body, lingering on my breasts, then climbed out of the bed, frowning and not looking too happy about having to leave. I watched his pert, little behind as he pulled on his boxer shorts, picked up his weapons from the night before, and then strutted confidently to the door.
Just before he stepped out of my room, he turned back to me and a cocky smile slipped onto his face. “I knew you’d fall for me sooner or later. And thanks very much, ma’am,” he stated, winking before stepping out and closing the door firmly behind him.
My heart dropped down into my stomach. Fall for him? I haven’t fallen for him, I love Jack. Oh my God… Jack! My eyes widened in horror as my head whipped to the side, seeing the photo on my sideboard. He was smiling at me as usual. I started to feel nauseous; I ran to the bathroom and was sick violently until nothing else would come out.
Turning the shower to as hot as it would go, I climbed in, sobbing under the spray. My tears mingled with the water jets, circling down the drain as I scrubbed the sex smell from my skin.
When I got out, I still didn’t feel better. It wasn’t the dirty feeling that sometimes overcame me when I thought about Carter, no, this was worse in some ways. I literally repulsed myself from the inside out. I’d just done that with Ashton, and hadn’t even spared Jack a single thought until it was too late.
I dressed as quickly as possible, not even bothering to brush my sopping wet, tangled hair before I stalked over to the bed and ripped the sheets and covers from it, tossing them into the laundry basket.
Once I’d opened the windows, I ran out of my room as fast as my legs would carry me. As soon as I was in my car, I threw it into drive and sped out of the drive with the tyres squealing. I knew where I was going, I needed to see Jack and beg him to forgive me.