Burn (Breathless #3)(55)

Josie nodded. “I understand.”

Ash cocked his head, staring intently at her. “Does the thing with Bethany still bother you?”

Her shoulders heaved with a sigh but she was honest. She owed him that much at least.

“Yeah. I won’t lie. It makes me a little nervous to meet her. It’s not that I don’t believe you at all. But I don’t know a woman alive who likes being confronted by her man’s ex-lover, even if it was just a one-night stand. And bad enough to have to meet her, but to have to spend time together long term. I’ll get over it. But I’m honest enough to admit that when I meet her for the first time, I’ll be picturing you with her and that won’t be fun.”

Ash didn’t look happy with that statement.

“I don’t want you torturing yourself over this, baby. It meant nothing. Or at least I should say it meant nothing to me. It meant a hell of a lot to Jace. And if he’d been honest with me from the start, that night would have never happened. I would have backed off because I wasn’t into her. Not then and not now.”

Relief settled into her chest. His words were absolutely sincere, and she believed him absolutely.

“I’m being silly. I won’t let it bother me, Ash. I promise. And I won’t bring it up. I won’t bring up Bethany’s past either. She sounds like a pretty amazing woman.”

“She is,” Ash said. “She’s perfect for Jace. And you’re perfect for me.”

Chapter nineteen

Ash led Josie into the bedroom, his jaw clenched tight as he battled the urge to haul her onto the bed and thrust into her and ride her long and hard. He was on edge, the thing with Michael still bright in his mind.

And it only made his desire to possess Josie, to reassert his claim and possession, that much more fierce. It was inexplicable, this urge that came over him whenever he was near her. He wondered if it would ever dim with time. Somehow he didn’t think so.

Something this volatile, this consuming, wasn’t just a flash in the pan. It wouldn’t go away next week, next month or even next year. He could well imagine himself feeling this way ten or twenty years into the future. Which told him he was already thinking long-term, no matter that he’d decided to take it a day at a time and not look beyond the present.

It was damn hard to only think about today when he was dead set on tying her to him on a permanent basis. Everything he did now was to convince her to remain with him. To show her how perfect she was for him and hopefully how perfect for her he was.

Josie turned, her naked body soft and warm against his. She gazed up at him, her eyes glowing with soft desire. He thought, at times, could swear, that he saw love in her eyes. But maybe it was what he wanted to see. She hadn’t said anything, but then neither had he. It was too fast. No matter what he told her, it had only been a week. People didn’t fall in love in a week.

Only they did. He’d seen it. Knew it happened. Knew it lasted.

Did he want Josie to love him?

Hell yeah he did. He wanted it, could taste it, would savor the sweetness of those words when they finally passed her lips.

“What would you like tonight, Ash?” she asked in a soft voice. “Tell me how you want me. You’ve had a long day. I want to make you feel good.”

His heart softened. Sweet, darling Josie. So eager to please. So warm and willing. The darkness that had hung over him ever since he’d left the office building to go after Michael lifted under the ray of sunshine that was Josie. Some of the tension left his shoulders as her hands smoothed up his arms and to his neck where she cupped his jaw in her palms.

“Not going to mark your ass tonight, baby. I did that last night. Loved every minute of it. Loved those marks on your sweet ass. But it would hurt if I did it tonight.”

And he didn’t want the violence he’d meted out just an hour earlier to touch her in any way. He knew he wouldn’t hurt her—intentionally—but he’d give himself no possibility of slipping beyond the here and now and back into that dark place he’d been when he’d beat another man.

He didn’t regret what he’d done, but neither did he want it touching Josie. Ever.

“What, then?” she whispered. “Tell me. I’ll do whatever you want.”

He smoothed a hand down the side of her hair, staring down into her eyes awash with earnestness. So eager to please. So soft and submissive she made his gut ache.

“Want you on your hands and knees, baby. Not tying you up tonight. Want you to be able to hold yourself up. Going to f**k that pu**y first and then I’m going to have your ass. Won’t be as gentle as I was that first night I had your ass. Can you handle that?”

Her breath stuttered across her lips and her pupils dilated rapidly as desire swamped her face.

“I want whatever you give me, Ash.”

He kissed her mouth, sliding his tongue in to taste her. He loved the way he swallowed her breath, breathed in the same air she expelled. There was something decidedly intimate about that. About taking the air she gave, sucking it in and savoring it before returning it.

“Go get on the bed,” he said in a gruff voice. “Hands and knees, knees perched on the edge of the mattress.”

She pulled away from him and he was reluctant to let her go even for the time it took her to position herself as he’d directed. He watched as she crawled onto the bed and presented her ass just the way he wanted. Then she glanced back over her shoulder, clear invitation in her eyes.