“I do think you need some time to yourself, but just let it play out however it feels right. Again, stop worrying about what other people think so much. It’s not like you and Ash just met and you’re jumping into something new. You both acknowledge there was a connection between y’all from the very beginning, and I know that you both loved each other. It may not have been a physical relationship, but you were both emotionally and mentally dependent on one another.
Y’all’s
relationship was severed without warning; it’s not like you stopped loving one another. You both just got better at hiding it.”
I thought about what he said as we pulled into the parking lot. “You’re right on all accounts. I’m just scared of getting hurt. I don’t know if I can go through it again. Between Ash the first time and everything that has happened with Mason, I’m afraid I’m predestined for heart ache.”
“Fate will find a way sweetheart. Our happily ever
afters
are coming.” He turned off the car and smiled one of his precious Maxi smiles that I loved so much.
“I like that. Fate will find a way.” I leaned across the seat and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you, Max. You’re the best. I owe you my sanity... and my entire next paycheck,” I said in an attempt to lighten the somber mood.
We both chuckled as we got out of the car and waited for Ash to join us. I watched him as he crossed the pavement and
a calmness
settled over me. He looked so different in the dress clothes compared to his usual shorts and t-shirts or hoodies. I couldn’t help but stare at the tattoo on his forearm, peeking out from his rolled up sleeves. The names Eros and Psyche stared back at me, reminding me of what all they had to go through to be together. But in the end, fate found its way and they were rewarded with her immortal love. I sighed aloud as I wondered what fate had in store for me.
After we got in the apartment, Max went straight to the shower to get cleaned up and told us he was going to bed afterwards. Ash followed me back to my room and sat down on the bed. I sat down next to him and laid my head on his shoulder.
“It was awful. Absolutely awful,” I said just barely above a whisper.
He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me snug up against his side. “Whenever you’re ready to talk about it. No rush. I know it’s been a crazy day for you.”
“No, I want to get it out while it’s fresh in my head. I know my emotions are really raw, but after what happened between us tonight, I think we need to talk about it,” I said as I relaxed a bit next to him.
I knew I needed to be as honest as I could so I recapped the conversation for him as best as I could remember it. Unfortunately, it didn’t get any easier stomaching some of the words that Mason and I had exchanged the second time around. When I finished the recap, Ash asked me how I was feeling at that exact moment.
“Confused,” I replied. That was the best word that I could think of to describe the multitude of thoughts and feelings that were bouncing around in my head.
“That’s to be expected Scarlett. It’s
gonna
take some time to process it all. I’m sorry that I kissed you tonight.”
I pulled back away from him and looked at him questioningly. “Why do you say that?” No girl ever wants a guy to apologize for kissing her.
“Because if I’d had known you were going to deal with all of this other stuff, I wouldn’t have complicated things for you. You know how I feel about you Scarlett; I told you that day in the music shop, but I don’t ever want to cause you additional stress or cause more problems. I know now is not the right time for this… for the possibility of an
us…
but tonight, I just couldn’t help myself,” he said as he ran his fingers through his long blonde hair, clearly frustrated.
“It’s okay Ash. You didn’t know that he was
gonna
show up,” I said as I put my hand on his arm, hoping to comfort him. “And I was standing up there... I felt it too. I always feel it when I’m around you. Always have.”
He turned to face me, as we both sat on the bed still in our dress clothes, and cocked his head slightly. “Really? You really feel
it
?”
The ways his blue eyes bore into mine, I felt like he was looking in to my soul. Instantly all other thoughts and memories of the night vanished from my head, and the only thing I could concentrate on was sitting right next to me. I pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth and nodded my head. He glanced down at his arm and I followed suit. My hand that I had put on his arm to soothe him was rubbing the Eros & Psyche butterfly tattoo on his forearm. We both looked back up at one another and surrendered ourselves to the moment. I couldn’t have resisted if I wanted to.
He closed the small gap between our faces and brushed his lips lightly across mine before pulling back slightly to gage my response. Closing my eyes, I leaned towards him and was quickly met with his mouth on mine. This time his kiss was much more firm ~ demanding and almost desperate. His tongue teased my lower lip, tracing it, and then nibbling ever so slightly. Moaning, I parted my lips, allowing him entrance to my mouth. Our tongues tangled together as we lost ourselves in a kiss for the second time that day.
ASH
Kissing Scarlett at the wedding was wonderful… amazing even; however, when our lips touched as we sat there on her bed, the voice in my head screamed so loudly, the reverberations could be felt in the furthest tips of my toes. I had known from the moment I laid eyes on her that she was my future… my forever… my happily ever after. Unfortunately, we both needed to conquer some personal issues before it could be right for us to be together.
Now that I had finally dealt with the demon that was my father and his influence, I felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, and was ready to give myself to her… completely and whole-heartedly. I knew it had only been a week since the Mason bombshell had been dropped on her, but from listening to her explain how things had been the previous month, it seemed that they had been drifting apart with the physical distance between them.
Feeling her skin on my skin, her lips on my lips, I was aroused instantly. I knew that we were a long way from that, if ever, but fuck if I couldn’t help myself. I had waited so long to have her next to me, to touch her again, that at first contact I was hard. Reluctantly, I ended the kiss, knowing if I didn’t do it quickly, I may not be able to control my actions. Even after I had pulled back from her a bit, she kept her eyes closed, and I caressed her face ever-so-lightly. The whimper that I heard her try to hide nearly sent me over the edge, but not wanting to ruin what we were slowly rebuilding before it ever had a chance, I backed up a little more.
“Butterfly, let’s shower and get you ready for bed. It’s been a long day.”
She opened her eyes and I could see the desire looming her warm caramel-colored eyes. Even though I knew we couldn’t do anything about it right then, knowing she felt it too sent me over the moon.
“Will you stay here with me tonight?” she whispered. “Sleep with me like we used to do?”
Like there was any chance I was
gonna
say no to her for anything, especially not that. It was
gonna
be a huge fucking test of self-control, but I was up for the challenge. “Of course. Whatever you need or want. I’m yours.”
After we both had showered, and I had borrowed some clothes from Max, we lay down in bed and she snuggled up next to my body like we hadn’t been separated over the previous twelve months. I slung my arm around her waist, and pulled her closer to me. Without trying to seem too much like a weirdo, I sniffed her hair, remembering the fruity concoctions that she always smelled like. I smiled to myself as I settled myself onto the pillow and within minutes I was off in dreamland.
SCARLETT
Waking up covered in all things Ash took me straight back to the numerous nights I had spent in his bed the year before ~ his arms holding me securely against his body, his legs tangled in mine, his masculine scent filling my nostrils, his morning erection pressing into my back. I closed my eyes, trying to clear my mind and to ignore the desire spreading throughout my body. I knew that I was both emotionally and physically needy from not just the last week, but the last month that I had been by myself; however, that didn’t stop the memory of our kiss from just a few hours prior from flooding my mind.
Without even realizing what I was doing, I arched my back ever so slightly, pushing my ass up against his hard cock. He groaned in his sleep and tightened his hold on me. Oh God. I lay there for a few minutes as my id, ego, and superego battled one another on my next move. In that moment, my id was feeling awfully dominate, and it kept chanting to me the advice that
Evie
had given me so many times: Fuck it and just live. So I did.
I reached back behind me, slid my hand between our bodies, and gently grabbed his cock. Gently, I began to stroke him on the outside of his boxers. It didn’t take him long to stir to life as he unconsciously pressed himself into my hand. Strengthening the grip I had on him, as I continued the up and down motion with my hand, I turned my head to where I could see his face. His eyes were still closed but he was smiling. Wanting to give him the best wakeup call that I possibly could, I twisted my body to where I was facing him, and began to quietly shimmy down under the covers.
Trying not to wake him yet, I managed to get slip his erection out of his boxers. My heart was pounding out of my chest; I had fantasized what it would be like to be with Ash every night I had slept in his bed from the day I met him. I didn’t allow myself a chance to second guess I was about to do, I just went with what I was feeling. I wrapped my hand around the base of his cock and he jumped slightly and the unexpected touch. I waited a moment as he relaxed his body, and then began to slide my hand up and down his bare shaft. After wetting my lips with my tongue, I ever-so-lightly touched it to his head and began swirling it around the tip, increasing the pressure slowly. Continuing the stroking with my hand, I parted my lips and wrapped them snugly around his rock hard cock.
I wasn’t really sure at what point he was fully awake and aware of what was going on, but as I slid my mouth down his length, he moved his hands, threading his fingers in my hair. Any fear or hesitation I had that he would tell me what I was doing wasn’t a good idea was erased. Matching the same rhythm as my hand, I began moving my lips over his dick while running my tongue along the underneath.
“Scarlett,” he moaned as he tightened his hold on my hair.
Hearing him say my name and knowing what I was doing to him, drove me crazy. I could feel the butterflies come alive not only in my stomach but deep in my core as well. Fueled by a yearning over a year old, I devoured his cock, sliding it in and out of my mouth, sucking hard on the tip, and then burying it deep into my throat.
“Scarlett, oh my God, that’s incredible,” he said in between breaths. “Come here.”
He tugged my hair in an upwards motion and I pulled my mouth off his shaft, making a popping noise as the suction released him. I moved back up his body until we were face to face. We both just lay there for a moment lost in each other’s eyes, looking deep into each other’s soul, knowing that once the line was crossed, our destiny would be fulfilled. Fate had determined this inevitable long before I knew who Ash Walker was.
No words were necessary and none were said. I knew exactly what he was thinking, just as he did me. Our mouths collided feverously, craving one another’s taste, and our hands began a frenzied exploration of each other’s bodies as we ripped away the clothes separating us. Within minutes, we were both stripped free of the barriers, both physically and mentally, that kept us apart.
He pulled me onto his lap so that I was straddling him. His eyes roamed over my body, and instead of feeling any apprehension, I was completely comfortable as he took me in.
“Butterfly, you are most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on,” he said as he reached out with one hand and stroked my cheek.
I leaned forward and brushed my lips across his as I ran my hands over his chest. As I sat back up, he grabbed both of my wrists and swung my arms around to my back, and held them there with one hand. He used his free hand to rub over my breasts and to pull on each nipple. I arched my back into his touch and felt his cock twitch under me, and reactively I wiggled my throbbing pussy to where he was positioned directly against my clit.
“Ash, oh please…” I moaned.
He grabbed me and quickly flipped us to where I was flat on my back and he was hovering over me. He began kissing my neck and nibbling on my earlobe as his hand traveled down my stomach until it found my hot wet cunt.
“Ah, fuck Scarlett, you are drenched. I want to feel you so bad,” he admitted.
“I want you inside of me love,” I replied, drunk with desire and passion.
His fingers slid between my slick folds and he began massaging my sex, building the needy ache deep inside of me. My body was starving for his, my soul desperate to make that connection to him.
“Please…” I begged. “I need you.”
Hearing the intensity of my plea, he lifted his body and lined it up with mine. His eyes fixed on mine, there was nothing else in the world that mattered in that moment than him and me and our need for each other. He plunged deep inside of me with the first stroke, and I screamed out. He pulled back until he was almost completely out of me, but right before that, he slammed inside of me again.
And again.
And again.
It didn’t take either of long to reach our breaking point; we had both thought about this moment for way too fucking long.