There was no one to disturb. We were up there all alone, and I knew Killian liked to hear he was doing good work. And fuck, he was doing good work.
I moaned his name and cried out when he hit that spot inside of me, pushing back and coaxing him to keep rubbing up against it.
Already the tide of pleasure was shifting, rising and threatening to get so high I was going to drown in it, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to feel good, and when the friction of his cock in me finally sent me over the edge, I almost screamed my pleasure, fingers clawing at the smooth marble of the counter, shaking and taking everything Killian had to give.
He followed soon after, making me messy all over again, even though I'd just had a bath. I didn't think I was going to be able to get the image of myself, face contorted in pleasure, out of my head for the rest of the night, and so I let Killian clean me up and get me water, and when he tucked me into the bed in the master bedroom, I didn't complain.
He sat down on the edge of it, hesitating like he couldn't decide whether to stay or go find somewhere else to sleep.
It wasn't even all that late yet, but I was still tired. The bath and the sex were catching up to me, and I felt slow and lethargic, weighed down in the best way.
The blankets were warm and smelled fresh and clean, and the pillows under my head were softer than the ones I had by a long shot.
Killian moved like he was going to get up, and I reached out, wrapping fingers around his wrist.
Usually, the end of the sex spelled the end of our interaction. I went home, and Killian did whatever it was he did when I wasn't there.
I didn't need cuddling and soft words or any of that from him. That wasn't what any of it was about between us.
But somehow, in that moment, the thought of him being somewhere else in the massive house made me a little sad, and so I had reached for him, trying to impress upon him without using words that I wanted him to stay.
Chapter 11
Killian
I'd never woken up with her before.
Not in the six months that we'd been doing whatever it was we were doing had I woken up, morning light streaming into the room, with Ashlyn in my arm.
And now that I'd done it, I realized I had a problem, and not a small one, either.
I wanted to do it again. I wanted her warmth, her softness, in my arms in the morning. I wanted the way her hair tickled the bottom of my chin, and the way she breathed softly, interspersed with little snores.
Neither of us had anywhere to be. There was no one else around, and for the moment, I felt like I knew the most peace I'd had in months. Maybe more.
I didn't know what to make of it. I hadn't gone into this marriage with the intention of getting any sort of feelings. I wanted the money, and I wanted a partner, and Ash was providing both of those things. When we'd first started out together, I'd hoped maybe we could be friends at the very least, tolerating each other for the sake of what we were doing, but I couldn't lie to myself and say this feeling was just tolerating her.
Ash had worked her way into my life little by little, and I'd known that for a while.
When she wasn't there, I missed her, and when she was, I was usually in a better mood than usual.
I was so worked up about her and Simon because I didn't want anyone else to ever touch her. I wanted to be the only one who got to kiss her and make her fall apart.
But I didn't know what to do with any of that.
Ash didn't owe me anything. She was living up to her part of the contract perfectly, showing up, letting me have my way with her. She complained almost every step of the way, but she still did it.
I couldn't ask more of her. I couldn't ask her to tell Simon she belonged to me and wasn't at all interested in him.
I didn't even know how interested in him she was. It wasn't something I could just come out and ask and expect her to be happy giving me an answer.
I'd teased her about being jealous when I played with other women, but it turned out I was just playing myself because there I was, wanting to make sure no one else ever got to have Ash again.
But we didn't have that kind of marriage. In six months, she would be free of me and could do whatever she wanted.
If she wanted Simon or whoever else, she could have them, and there was nothing I could do about that.
It was a feeling of powerlessness that I hated, and I couldn't just lay there with her in my arms, basking in the glow of the morning with those thoughts in my head. They got me worked up and irritated, so I pulled myself away from her, making sure to tuck the blankets back around her to ward off the chill of the morning, and went for a jog.
The brisk air and exercise helped, and the sound of my feet pounding against the pavement of the road that looped around the hill drove the thoughts from my head. I was able to concentrate, focus on nothing other than moving my body and counting my breaths, working through whatever mood had seized me that morning.
It was pretty stupid, all things considered, to think there would ever be anything other than a business arrangement between Ashlyn and myself.
I was so far from her type, more than likely.
Simon was an
