Exhaustion crept over Ashlynn Kelly’s body, but she ignored it, pushing it deep down where she knew it would stay until she found time to actually take care of it. Much like she ignored the fact that her feet had gone numb about two hours ago in her red-soled stilettos, and how her back ached enough that she knew it would take at least three hour-long massages to get out the kinks. Of course, by the time she arranged appointments with her massage therapist, she’d need even more hours with him, and she’d be down another pair of shoes.

But she’d closed the damn deal.

Nothing could take that away from her.

Not even blisters on her feet and a throbbing temple or two or even the muggy Atlanta air.

She’d spent her life working countless hours and barely sleeping while dealing with condescending men in business suits. Guys who traveled on Mondays to get to out-of-town business meetings while laughing far too loudly and looking at her legs rather than her face before flying back home Friday evenings with even more leers. She’d dealt with them during her meetings as they called her “honey,” and flashed them her patented icy glare when they gave her their coffee orders before every conference or panel instead of treating her like an equal. She’d gotten her MBA while working two jobs and dealt with men who only looked at her for her tits and pins—their words, not hers—not her brain.

Now, she was the CFO of a Forbes 500 company and kicking genuine ass.

At least, this week.

So, yes, her feet hurt, and she had a headache from hell, but there were no mediocre men with fat egos around to piss her off. Only, she had a feeling as soon as she walked back into the hotel lobby, she’d be surrounded by those blowhards in suits and loosened ties. She’d been in the conference center across the street most of the day, and rather than walk the extra mile to use the covered bridge that connected the two buildings, she’d opted to go outside and breathe some fresh air for what felt like the first time in weeks.

Between meetings, panels, lunches on the premises, and dinners that had, for some reason, only occurred in the revolving restaurant on-site, she’d spent her entire week breathing hotel and conference room air.

As soon as her crosswalk light turned green, Ashlynn inhaled a deep breath and almost choked. It was a little too humid and damp at the moment for that kind of breathing, and she knew the underneath layers of her hair were starting to curl. That was why she’d spent the days inside rather than out. Her throat might be dry and her skin in need of some serious lotion time thanks to the acrid air of the hotel, but her hair and makeup had stayed in place for the ten hours she’d needed it to throughout the day.

At the moment, however, she didn’t give a damn how she looked. She’d made the deal, gotten her company’s name in the hands of the few people at the event who didn’t know about them and had even impressed the good ol’ boys who thought her a stripper rather than their potential rival.

Silly men and their tiny dicks in this business, she thought. They never saw her coming until it was far too late and she’d walked all over them, wrapping them around her finger at the same time for good measure.

Ashlynn was damn good at what she did, and when she got home, she’d open a bottle of wine to celebrate.

By herself.

Because it wasn’t as if she had time these days to actually go out and meet someone, let alone get to know them enough to bring them into her life like that. She hadn’t had sex with another person in months, but that was fine. She had her hand, and a nice selection of vibrators— even one that blew little puffs of air right on her clit and made her come in five seconds flat—she didn’t need a man.

Though a hot night of sex with no commitments might be nice one day. Just meaningless, against-the-door sex with a man who loved going down on her until she came over and over again before fucking her hard into the mattress until he released himself all over her. Just downright dirty, unhinged, no-holds-barred sex.

Ashlynn swallowed hard. Yes, that would be nice.

Not that she’d actually get that in her hotel at the moment since she knew probably half the men down in the bar area. That meant she needed to remain her professional, icy self and make use of the showerhead in her hotel bathroom when she got back up to her room. There was no way she’d sleep with someone in her profession—not when that would rebound on her. God forbid a woman want a night of hot sex without being labeled a slut. The rest of her coworkers could get away with that because they were men, but not her. She had to remain aboveboard because double standards were still a thing, no matter how many marches she attended or how hard she tapped that glass ceiling—at least for now, damn it.

It wasn’t as if she were the only woman in this position either. Her company had more women than it had before—thanks to her—but she was the only one at this particular conference since it was her project on the line. Ashlynn didn’t know the other women attending this week that well since they hadn’t been in her panels as they each had their own jobs to do, so she was pretty much on her own. And while that suited her most days, tonight, she was a bit lonely.

Ashlynn shook her head as she stepped onto the pavement that separated the two large streets she had to cross in order to get back to her hotel. The pedestrian crossing lights were so short that it took two cycles to get from one side to the other—even with her power walk in heels.

Tapping her foot, she looked around at the traffic surrounding her and tried not to sway from foot to foot. Her feet hurt. Maybe she didn’t need hot sex; a foot massage might be enough. Sadly, she knew from experience that doing it herself wasn’t quite the same—much like an orgasm, but that was something she wasn’t going to think about.

The red hand went away, and the little man lit up, so she looked both ways—as people were idiots when it came to driving no matter what state you were in—and stepped into the crosswalk. She’d almost made it to the other side when bright lights came at her, and she did the one thing she’d sworn never to do in an intense situation—something she’d never done before.

She froze.

Strong hands wrapped around her middle and tugged her to the side of the road, and her toe caught on the curb. With an oof, she found herself lying on a hard, male chest, a large hand on her waist, the other on her head as if protecting her, even though she’d been the one to land on him.

“You okay, princess?” the man rumbled. Yes, rumbled—she could feel the sound of his growl of a voice under her hands. She blinked down at him, the adrenaline pounding in her system and making it hard for her to catch her breath. The man beneath her wore a T-shirt with some logo on the front, and from what she could feel beneath her legs, he also wore jeans. His hair was a tad too long, and his beard was scruffy yet oddly sexy. And the ink she caught a glimpse of? Oh, my.

Maybe she’d hit her head when she’d fallen.

“Princess?”

“Don’t call me princess.” Not the thank you she’d planned on saying, but clearly, she wasn’t thinking straight.

He smirked at her, but it wasn’t like the ones the men in suits usually gave her. Instead, this one heated her inner thighs, and she really hated him for it.

“If you can snap at me like that, you should be okay. Want me to let you up, or would you rather lie sprawled like this outside? I don’t mind it much since having a sexy woman on top of me is never a hardship, but I’m pretty sure there’s a rock underneath my back digging into my spine that’ll probably hurt in the morning.”

Ashlynn scrambled off him, aware that she never scrambled. She was far too put-together for that, but she supposed nearly being run over by a car would do that to any woman. The man put a hand on her hip as she stood with him, and she took a step to the side, needing her space. He might have saved her life, but she didn’t know this man, and for some reason, he screamed danger to her instincts. Not his looks since menace could wear suits just as well as ink, but she could still sense something that told her to walk away and never look back.

“Thank you for getting me out of the way,” she said stiffly. “I shouldn’t have frozen like that.” She was so pissed at herself for not reacting quickly enough.

The man in front of her frowned. “No need to thank me, princess. And you didn’t freeze. Not really. Everything happened so quickly that I’m pretty sure you could have saved yourself. I just helped it along since that asshole didn’t even stop after running that red.” He shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Anyway, I’d still be sure to check for any bruises.” He blinked when she narrowed her eyes at him. “Not meaning me, though I wouldn’t say no since you’re damn sexy right now with that glare of yours. I meant you, or your doctor or something. You want me to walk you to your hotel just to be sure?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine, but thank you again.”

“No problem. Just keep a lookout for rogue cars.” He nodded and started back to the hotel behind them. Her hotel.

That was a little too coincidental for her to keep up the icy act she’d perfected. “Are you staying here?” she asked his back.

He turned and raised a sexy brow. Who knew brows could be sexy? “Yeah. You?”

She nodded and licked her lips. It had to be the adrenaline making her want to say what she was about to say. But a girl didn’t land on a sexy-as-hell man in the middle of a sidewalk every day.

“Can I buy you a drink?” Her nipples tightened. Adrenaline. Had to be the adrenaline. “To say thank you.”

His gaze met hers before he smiled widely—not that smirk he’d given her before, but a bright grin surrounded by a big beard. A smile that once again went straight to the center of her thighs and made her knees weak.

“I’m Jax, princess, and I think a drink sounds perfect.”

“Ashlynn. I’m Ashlynn.” And I’m about to do the most reckless thing I’ve ever done in my life.

* * *

Jax pressed her back against the hotel door, and she moaned into his mouth, not able to get enough of him. He tasted of the beer he’d had when she bought him that drink in the hotel bar, though she couldn’t remember what she’d ordered. She’d ignored the blatant stares from those she knew in the bar and would ignore them from here on out if they gave her any shit.

The man currently licking her ear and biting down on the lobe wasn’t any of those men. He was hers. Just for this night—and that’s exactly how she wanted it.

His beard wasn’t as scruffy as she’d thought it would be. Instead, it was soft and slid against her skin in a delicious way that had her thinking about what it would feel like when he ate her out.

Not if. When.

Because she’d damn well get that talented tongue of his between her thighs tonight. That was a given.

“Damn, princess, you can kiss,” Jax breathed as he licked up her neck.

Seriously, the man had a talented tongue.

“Call me Ashlynn,” she panted, sliding her hands under his shirt so she could feel the heat of his skin beneath her fingertips. “I’m no princess.”

He moved to cup her face and kiss her hard, his tongue sliding across hers in an erotic caress. “But you look like a dark-haired version of that icy one from the movie with that song that I’m not going to sing or we’ll end up having it stuck in our heads for the next six months.”

And now she would be singing it for at least that long. Thank you, Jax.

She raised a brow even as her eyes rolled to the back of her head when he sucked on the place where her shoulder met her neck. “She was a queen, and animated. I don’t look like her.”

He kissed her hard again on the lips. “You have her eyes. And that attitude.”

“Call me Ashlynn if you want to finish what we started here. Because I won’t just be a random woman for the evening. Tomorrow, when we part ways and never see each other again, you can think of me as princess all you want. Tonight? Tonight, I’m Ashlynn. Got me?”

Jax grinned this time, and it was a new smile to her. He had so many expressions, and she’d only just met the man. “I can do that, Ashlynn. As long as I get to suck on these tits of yours that have been talking to me since they were pressed against my chest, and as long as I can taste that pussy of yours that has pretty much drenched my thigh since you straddled me. Does that sound like a plan?”

She swallowed hard, her clit throbbing in response to his words. No need to be embarrassed when she could see his arousal just as well as he could feel hers. “As long as you fuck me, too. Because I’m going to need this cock of yours inside me.” She reached between them and gripped the long line of him through his jeans. “Does that sound like a plan?”

He growled low in his throat, and she barely kept from pressing her legs together to relieve the ache. “We’re wearing too many clothes for this.” Then he gripped the back of her hair and tugged, pulling her head back so he could devour her mouth with his.

They pulled on each other’s clothes, practically tearing them from their bodies. There was no finesse here, no tease of temptation. This was all need pounding through them as they learned one another.

Ashlynn reached between them, wrapping her fingers around his hard length. Of course, since this had to all be a dream, her fingers couldn’t quite touch each other around the base.

Best. Fantasy. Ever.

“Jesus, Ash,” Jax growled out. “You’re gonna make me blow my load before I even get to taste your cunt. And believe me, I need to get a taste of you.” He squeezed his hand over hers with a groan before pulling away. “On your back, Ash. I need you.”

“Ashlynn. I’m Ashlynn.” She never shortened her name, never wanted to be a pile of burned embers, the remnants of the woman she’d once been.

He kissed her again, and she almost forgot her name entirely. “You’re my Ash. My Ashlynn. Just for tonight, remember.” He winked at her. “I promise to respect you in the morning.”

She laughed at the joke before letting out a little gasp when he tossed her onto the bed behind them. Before she could scold him for throwing her around like a sack of potatoes, she screamed his name as he buried his face between her thighs.

“Jesus,” she panted when he lapped at her clit, his beard scraping her skin in such a way that it nearly sent her over the edge of bliss. He sucked and licked until she arched against him, coming so hard that she didn’t have the air in her lungs to even call out his name.

Her nipples ached, and her breasts were heavy, so she lazily pinched the nubs between her fingers, still needing relief even while Jax licked up her orgasm.

“Those are mine for the night, Ash.”

She blinked up at him in a haze as he leaned down and sucked a nipple into his mouth. “Damn,” she breathed.

He chuckled against her, his beard scraping her overly sensitive skin. “You taste fucking sweet. I’m going to enjoy fucking that tight pussy of yours tonight. You still okay with this?” He kissed her breasts, then met her eyes. “Because we can stop if you want to. Just say the word, and I’ll walk out of here without another word if this is too much for you.”

For some reason, the care in his words made her choke up, and she hated herself for that. This was just meaningless sex, and it would do her well to remember that.

“Thanks for your concern, but I see a very thick and hard cock in front of me that needs to be inside me. So, if you aren’t going to get the job done, then I’ll just use my fingers on myself and leave you hurting. How does that sound?” Knowing she sounded like a bitch, she added, “Plus, I need to repay the favor, Jax. I want you. Right now. Just you and me for one night, remember?”

He leaned down and kissed her so softly it was just a bare brush of lips. “I remember. Just checking, Ashlynn. Don’t want to hurt you.”

“You can’t hurt me.” A lie. It was always a lie, but one she’d perfected.

He met her gaze. “Okay, then. Let me wrap up because I want you safe.” He shuffled to his jeans and pulled out his wallet and a condom before locking eyes with her as he rolled the latex down his length. “Ready for me?”

In answer, she cupped her breast and slid her other hand between her legs. “Hurry.”

He was on her in a flash, sliding into her in one deep thrust. They both let out a gasp, but he didn’t pause. Instead, he pounded into her, edging her closer and closer until all she could feel was him inside and the heat of her need. Then she came with a groan, her inner walls clamping around him, hard.

Jax kissed her fiercely again as he came, his hips moving at such a vigorous pace that she had a feeling they’d both be sore in the morning. She clung to him, her orgasm slowly fading but her need for him anything but.

Yet this was only one night. And when she left in the morning, she’d never look back. She couldn’t afford to.

There would be no last names. No numbers exchanged. No promises.

This was all she needed.

At least that’s what she told herself.