“I don’t know, sweetheart, I—”
She grasped my arm, catching me off guard. “I’ve put my trust in you at every turn. It’s time for you to trust in me.”
23
~Ashley~
HE WAS UNEASY.
I got it. It was hard for him. I knew he trusted me to an extent, just not all the way yet.
He’d depended only on himself his whole life and when he’d tried to alter that and let people in, that awful black ops team he’d belonged to had screwed him over in the worst way possible, even trying to take his life.
I’d known it for a while now and I’d thought giving him time would’ve been enough. But it hadn’t been. That had become brutally clear tonight when his solution to his resurfacing struggle with the dark had been to end things with us, to push me away, rather than asking for my help and pulling together with me.
“Okay,” he finally conceded.
I swallowed hard, struggling to work up the nerve now that he’d given me the green light.
My heart was pounding in my ears.
I could feel my whole body shaking.
Conflicting emotions were coursing through me.
Determination to do this for him.
Excitement and anticipation that it could change everything for him, for us.
And trepidation toward the act itself.
I might’ve come out of my shell a lot, sexually speaking, but Finn had always been the one to take the dominant role, to lead me along, to guide me with his experience and skill. But what I planned to do here was a step beyond what’d become our norm.
I drew in a breath, summoning my courage.
And then I stepped up close, pressing my hand to his dick. He grunted and jerked at my unexpectedly brazen touch.
I began to slide my hand up and down his length through his pants, feeling him growing harder from my every determined stroke.
“Ashley,” he gritted out, in a warning tone.
I looked up at him, pained by what I saw from him.
He had his eyes squeezed shut. His jaw was clenched tightly, like he was gritting his teeth within. I glanced down at his hands to see that his fingertips were digging into his thighs. His entire body was coiled tight, majorly on edge.
“Finn?” I said, leaning into him.
My breath against his cheek had his eyes snapping open. There was a dark desire sparking in them, something disturbingly carnal.
I swallowed hard. Oh God.
“I can’t,” he rasped. “I can’t let you take control. It’s too dangerous.”
I shook my head and grasped his belt. “Relax. You’re not dangerous to me.”
Unbuckling his belt and popping his fly, I reached in to free his cock, but his hand clamped down around my wrist. “I could lose myself. You mean too much to me to allow that to happen.”
“I trust that you won’t.”
“You shouldn’t.” A feral growl rumbled from him, as he slid his hand into my hair. He fisted it, tugging roughly, forcing my gaze to his, the burning intensity there almost enough to choke me. “You make me want to, Ashley. You’re the only woman I’ve ever known who’s had me wanting to break all my rules. And I’m right on the edge already with all the bullshit that’s been happening lately.” He grasped my hips, making me yelp from the suddenness of it, as he rolled his hips, grinding hard between my legs. “I want to know what it’s like to snap and unleash all over you, to hear your delicious whimpers and screams of ecstasy, you begging me for more, even though a part of you knows you can’t take another second of me.”
“Finn,” I choked out.
He released my hair and leaned in close, resting his forehead against mine, as he told me on a pained whisper, “But you’re so incredibly innocent. I’ll ruin you if I lose control.”
With that, he just assumed his reasoning had won out, that all was said and done, and he batted my hand from his dick and maneuvered around me.
“It’s unbelievably sad that you can never be your true self with anyone, that you always keep yourself locked up tight and imprisoned with all your rules.”
He stopped short at my words, his back to me. “Don’t,” he ground out.
But I was nowhere near done. “I mean, how can you ever experience true pleasure, true happiness or freedom, when you never let yourself go, when you’re never fully open?”
“I know what you’re doing. Don’t.”
“What am I doing?”
“You’re trying to get inside my head.”
“What I’m doing is trying to help you, Finn. You just need to let me.”
Before he could stop me, I closed the distance between us and shoved him onto the bed. Taking advantage of his shock at my bold, unprecedented move, I used the opportunity to unbuckle his belt, my determination usurping my nerves and inexperience.
I had his pants and boxers down to his thighs exceedingly quickly.
Swallowing hard at the intimidating sight of his thick, hard dick jutting out proud and tall, I gathered my nerves and sank to my knees.
My tongue darted out and licked the circumference of his head.
I heard his breath hitch.
I delivered another lick, this one long and slow, then I dipped my head and suckled.
“Shit,” I heard him rasp.
His hands grasped my shoulders.
I paused, looking up at him.
The moment our gazes clashed, his grip on my shoulders went lax, his dick jerking in my mouth.
24
~Wraith~
SHE WAS MY UNDOING.
I wasn’t completely sure how it’d even gotten to this point. She’d moved so quickly with me distracted and caught up in my own head. As soon as reality had slammed back into me, though, I’d been ready to put a stop to her plans.
Until she’d fucking well looked up at me.
Jesus Christ. The
