Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
“Aye, lass, almost there. Just a little more. There you go.” He pushes forward in one final thrust, and I cry out as he fills me completely.
It's exactly what I want and nothing like I expected. It's intense and overwhelming, but beneath it, there's something else. Fullness. Rightness. Connection.
He's inside me. He's mine now too.
“Breathe, love,” he whispers. “Just breathe.”
I force myself to relax, to adjust to the intrusion. Slowly, he builds a rhythm. Very slowly, the burn fades to a dull ache, and then something else. Something beautiful begins to build.
“Okay,” I whisper. “I'm okay.”
He starts to move, slow and careful, shallow thrusts. “So fucking perfect.”
The movement sends sparks through my body.
“More,” I whisper. “Show me.”
He thrusts again, harder. “Mine.”
His hips snap against mine. “Mine.”
“Yours,” I whisper. “Yours.”
“Say my name,” he growls before another thrust. “Say it so you remember who owns you when you come.”
“Ashland.” My voice is choked as pleasure and emotion tangle together. “Ashland, please.”
“What do you need?”
“Everything. All of it.”
Then he lets go, and I'm not scared. I'm turned on by his lack of control as he thrusts and groans, holding me and kissing me. The evidence of what I do to him, his obsession made flesh—I do this to him.
“You okay?” he whispers.
“Yessss.”
He pounds into me, all pretense of gentleness gone.
“Come for me,” he whispers. “Come on my cock.”
His thumb presses my clit, and I shatter in a second orgasm, sweeter and more complete than the first. I feel him pulse inside me, feel the heat of him filling me—primal and possessive.
Mine.
“Fuck. Sorry. Did I hurt you, lass? Was I too rough? Christ, I knew that I—”
“No. No. You didn't hurt me, Ashland. You saved me.”
His forehead presses against mine. “Then why are you crying? Christ, I was too rough.”
“Stop. You were perfect. You gave me what I asked for.”
He kisses me. “Stay here. Shh. Stay here.” He positions himself beside me, still inside me, then slowly eases himself out. “You stay right here. Okay?”
I nod.
He returns with a warm washcloth and a towel, and his hands are so gentle as he cleans me.
“I don't deserve you,” he whispers as he slowly cleans me, then dries me carefully. He pulls me into his arms.
“Maybe not,” I say, poking teasingly at his ribs. “But you have me. And I'm not leaving. Not now.”
I worry about Marcus. Will he find me? What will he do? What will the retaliation be? I worry about what a future with Ashland looks like.
But right now, all I feel is his arms around me, possessive, protective, and perfect.
And I don't want him to ever let me go.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ashland
I wake to sunlight streaming through the cabin windows and the weight of Bianca curled against my chest. Her dark hair spills across my skin like ink on paper, and for a moment, just one fucking moment, I let myself believe this could last. That this is real. That she's not being pursued by an absolute monster and I'm not one myself, and that none of those factors are going to break us apart.
Her breathing is soft and even, one hand resting over my heart. I wonder if she can feel how it thunders at her touch, how it's been beating for her alone for years.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. Once. Twice. Three times.
Fuck.
I carefully extract myself from Bianca's embrace, her small sound of protest making something crack open in my chest. Even in sleep, she reaches for me. I force myself to move away before I crawl back into bed and say Fuck all to everything else.
The screen shows seven missed calls from Seamus.
My heartbeat thunders. Tiernan.
My jaw tightens as I pull on my jeans and step into the main room, keeping my voice low. “Is he alright?”
“Who? What the hell are you talking about?” His confusion gives me momentary relief. If he doesn’t know what I’m talking about…
“Tiernan.”
“Aye, he's fine, brother. I’m wondering where the hell you've been. I've been calling you for an hour.”
“I was asleep.”
“Well, it’s time to wake the fuck up.” Seamus’s voice is tight and angry. This isn’t good. “We’ve got a problem. What can you tell me about Marcus Crowning?”
Fuck.
My brief time with Bianca has come to a close, even before I imagined it would. I run a hand across the back of my neck. “What about him?”
“He's asking questions about a missing woman? Someone he was supposed to marry, Ash?”
Ice floods my veins. “What kind of questions?”
“The kind that means he knows she's gone and he's not happy about it. He's reached out to every family, claiming the McCarthys may be harboring stolen property.” Seamus's disgust is palpable. “Come to the house. I'm going to ask you one more time, Ash—do you know anything about this?”
“Aye.” It comes out hard. It’s time to tell them… to deal with the aftermath. “She's with me.”