Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
"Ash," I gasp. "Oh, God."
He fucks me with his tongue, grunting and snarling curses. His hands spread my cheeks, opening me up, allowing him to get closer, deeper. I writhe, choking on his name.
And then his tongue rolls over my back entrance, and I sob.
"Let it happen," he growls, flicking his tongue right there.
And God, I do. I push back against him, shocked and reeling. Delighted.
He pushes the tip of it against my entrance, thrusting two fingers inside me at the same time.
I come with a soft cry, my knees buckling as waves crash through me in a tsunami of pleasure. It's more intense than anything I've ever felt, a sky without end.
He growls behind me, and then he's on his feet, his chest to my back, his lips against my ear. "Fucking perfect," he growls, working desperately at the fly of his pants. "Even that little hole is fucking perfect, Loralei."
"Ash," I whimper.
My whimper bleeds to a moan when he notches at my entrance, pushing his way inside. I clench around him, clawing at the books, at the table, at anything in an attempt to root myself to reality. But it's useless. He's already inside me, fucking me hard enough to rattle books off the table. Hard enough to knock the air from my lungs every time he bottoms out.
I push back against him, loving the way his body covers mine and the way he kisses me everywhere he can reach. I love everything about the way he feels over me, inside me, like he's eclipsing the entire world, replacing it with him.
"That's it," he groans, his teeth sinking into the hollow of my throat when I splinter apart. "Come all over me, beautiful."
I do. God, I come so hard, nothing else exists. It's just me, him, and the books beneath my hands.
He follows me over the edge, chanting my name like it's the only thing he knows. Part of me, a part that's grown so impossibly large it's almost terrifying, kind of hopes it is the only thing he knows.
Ash helps put me back together with gentle, reverent hands and sweet words. Once I'm as presentable as I'm going to get, he pulls me into his arms, holding me tightly against his chest.
I burrow into him, my head against his chest. Part of me wants to stay right here, hidden in the basement, surrounded by him and books like the rest of the world doesn't exist. Except…it does.
"I need to get back to work," I say regretfully, tilting my head back to look up at him.
He sighs, scanning my face. "Do you still want me to come to dinner tonight?"
"Yes." I bite my lip. "Unless you don't want to?"
"Oh, I want to, Loralei." He rests his forehead against mine. "I want it enough that it should scare the shit out of me."
"Does it?"
He hesitates for a moment, and a tiny sliver of my heart breaks from the rest. "Not as much as it should," he finally admits.
I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I think I can guess. He didn't come here looking for this anymore than I went out to the canyon looking for him. Neither of us expected to meet the other or to feel the way we do. And yet…here we are anyway.
What are we supposed to do about that? Eventually, he has to go back to his real life. And his real life isn't sex with a small-town librarian in the basement. It's not a cabin in the middle of nowhere. It's sold-out shows, an endless barrage of media attention, publicity, and commitments. Does he even have a place in it for me?
I don't know, but I think I want him to. It's selfish and wrong, but I want him to want me to belong in his life, even if it's a pipe dream.
But it's never that simple, is it?
A chill rips through me, the sudden certainty that he's going to break my heart. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but some day soon, he's going to rip it right out of my chest. Whether he means to do it or not, he will.
I think maybe that's the only way this can end.
"I should go," I say, stepping out of the circle of his arms.
He catches my fingers at the last second, his gaze somber. "See you tonight?"
For a split second, I hesitate, wondering if this is the part where I'm supposed to protect myself and my heart. If this is where I'm supposed to step back and put up walls, build a buffer to mitigate the damage I can already see coming my way. And then I see the hopeful, pleading look on his face…and I think maybe it's already too late for that.
So I do the only thing I know how to do. I nod.