Page 16 of Ash
ChapterThirteen
Lainey
Sleep, that's what he had said. Well, actually it had been more of a barked order than a request and usually, that would have been a massive turn-off. I wasn't the kind of girl who let a man boss her about except when Ash did i kind of liked it. And that coupled with the fact I could feel him pressing against my ass cheek meant sleep was going to be next to impossible. Even as exhausted as I was.
He was warm and imposing and he made me feel things I should not be feeling especially in the current circumstances.
And what was worse I was pretty sure he was already asleep. His breathing was low and even and he was perfectly still. His arm was heavy around my waist. It was me who was having a hard time drifting off. The forest around us was quiet. So it was only the mingled sound of our breathing that I could hear.
“Ash….” I whispered his name into the darkness and my voice came out more frightened than I meant it to be. I didn't feel afraid, not really. I wasn't sure if I was going into shock. Or whether it was just now that I knew I was safe my adrenaline had dropped.
A twig outside broke with an audible snap and I yelped. “Ash.” Something was out there. Something that didn't belong. That's why I had been suddenly so scared, my body had sensed something approaching. “Ash please wake up.” I shifted in his arms, turning to face him even when my injured shoulder screamed with pain. His eyes met mine in the darkness. Wide awake and glittering. There was no sign of sleep in them.
He had been pretending the entire time.
“Something is out there.”
He didn't blink. His face was like a statue.
“Ash, something is….”
He didn't let me finish. “Sshh.”
If I hadn't been so bone deep terrified I might have been angry at yet another order from him but I couldn't think of anything but fear. Was the thing sulking around outside the same thing that had taken me?
“They have come…. Back” Tears made my voice thick. I choked on my words.
Ash opened his mouth to say something and then his eyes softened. His hand wiggled free of the sleeping bag to cup my face. “It’s nothing, Lainey. You are safe. I promise.”
He could promise all he liked. The monsters had managed to get me once, they had snatched me from a busy street without anyone even seeing them do it. What hope did I have here if they came back for me? Ash was a trained soldier but he wasn't armed. What chance did one man have against the monsters?
“I.. we need to get off this mountain.”
“We will but not tonight. Look at me, Lainey.” He waited until I met his eyes. “It's just a fox, there is nothing here that can hurt you. I promise I'll keep you safe.”
“I can't breathe, I can't…”Desperately I clutched at my throat. My fear was so real even when I knew he was telling me the truth. It was probably a fox. “I need to…”Scrambling upwards I freed my arms from the sleeping bag in an attempt to get to my feet. I needed to get some air, and yet I did not want to step outside.
Catching my face in his big hands, Ash took a second to look into my eyes and then his lips came crashing down. He kissed me softly. His lips sipped at my mouth and his tongue traced my bottom lip.
And with every press of his lips against mine, the panic ebbed away a little more. Ash's hand came to cup the base of my skull as he pulled away an inch. “There is nothing here that can hurt you, Lainey. Not while I'm with you.” The smallest of smiles twitched the corners of his mouth. The mouth that had just been on mine. “Do you feel better now?” Ash's eyes never left mine.
I nodded. “Don't stop.”
One dark eyebrow shot up. His eyes shifted from my eyes to my lips. His chest heaved. “Lainey.”
“Please Ash, Please don't stop.”
He didn't hesitate a second time. Drawing me towards him his lips came crashing down. There were no slow, sensual kisses; this was pure lust. Animalistic, primal and needy. It was like he put all the months of watching me into that kiss. and it was everything a kiss should be.
Just like he was everything a man should be. How had I not noticed it before?
Easily he shifted our weight, so I was sat half over him. I shivered but it had nothing to do with the cold air that was drifting around my body and everything to do with him.
“Oh.” Tearing my mouth away from him, I let my head drop back so my hair fell between my shoulder blades as a moan escaped my lips. Kissing down my throat for a second Ash made a series of needy growl-like noises in the back of his throat before his lips found mine again. With one hand cupping the back of my head he tightened the other around my waist. His hand slid upwards until his fingers brushed against the side of my breast through the green material of the Tee I was wearing.
I moaned again, thrusting my breasts into his chest. “Touch me.” I bagged. “Please touch me, Ash.”
“Lainey, I’m naked.” He moaned straight back and I almost laughed. I knew he was naked. I had been aware he was without his clothes for a long time. “If i…”
His voice trailed off, a groan ripped his way from his throat as I pulled the shirt up and over my head. I tossed it away. “And now I'm naked as well.”
Slowly his eyes left my face to trail down over my body. Lingering on every place I wanted his hands. When he lifted his eyes back to mine there was a slow sensual smile on his face. “Yes you are, and you are beautiful. Now come here.”
