Page 3 of Ash
Lainey
“You, ok?”
I jumped before I could help myself. Ash’s voice was right in my ear, His breath making the hair blow against my cheek. It shouldn’t have been such a shock; I was sat firmly on his lap after all. So, he was right behind me. and I could feel him there, staring at the back of my head. He was always staring at me, every time we were in the same vicinity, he would watch me. If he hadn’t been totally harmless it would have freaked me out. Even so, it was a little unnerving to be sat on his lap.
It almost felt like I was rooted to the spot. Even though his arms were stiffly at his side.
“Yeah, I…” I changed position and froze. Cursing myself. wiggling around on his lap was a bad, bad idea. I could feel him pressed against my ass, all of him. every damn inch. Not trusting myself to speak, I stared straight ahead. My cheeks heating
Ash might be harmless or so Laura had told me. but he was a very large, very intense and drop-dead gorgeous man whose lap I was squirming around on, and I didn’t want to give him any ideas.
The car hit a pothole, sending all of us lurching to the left. The roads up the mountain, at least the one Ace was using wasn’t exactly maintained. I would have fallen from Ash’s lap totally if his hand hadn’t curled almost protectively around my hip to keep me in place.
I threw him a look of gratitude. “Thanks, Ash.”
The big soldier beamed back at me. It was the kind of smile that lit up his dirt streaked face. A flash of white. Like me saying his name made him the happiest man in the world. I almost rolled my eyes. Laura had warned me of course, how flirty and charming they could be, but Ash was next level. My next thought evaporated as his thumb slid across my hip again. The breath caught in my throat and for a second there was no one but me and him. The look he was giving me was heated. The kind of look a lover would give you after you were both spent and happy. It wasn’t the kind of look I was used to getting from a man I barely knew.
“Good, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” There was sincerity in his voice. So much so that I blinked at him rapidly.
“No, I’m not uncomfortable.” I managed to squeak out in a whisper. “I should have asked you the same, with me on….”
Another swipe across my sensitive hip. “You’re perfect.” He whispered back. And the feeling was back. “So damn perfect.” Like he was talking to himself he mumbled. He shook himself, his dark eyes crinkling at the edges. “I probably don’t smell as good as you do though.” He added as an afterthought, ducking his head he nudged my hair with his nose and inhaled. and I could do nothing but stare at him for several long heartbeats. Had he really just said that out loud? Like sniffing someone’s hair was normal behaviour.
In front of us, someone laughed loudly, breaking the spell. As if he had just realised, we weren’t alone, Ash scooted backwards. Leaning back as far as the seat would allow him to go and an embarrassed rueful smile twitched the corners of his full mouth. It was almost adorable how self-conscious he looked. If he wasn’t so big and muscled, it would have been easy to imagine him as a naughty schoolboy who had just been caught playing with a girl's hair in class.
“You’re so strange.” The words left my lips before I could stop them, and his face fell even more. Instantly I felt bad. I just didn’t know why. “I….”
“Ignore Ash.” Leo laughed loudly. “He’s old and weird and hasn’t had a pretty lady on his lap for a very very long time.” Blue eyes crinkled at the edges. His lips twitched like he was holding back hysterics. I frowned. My eyes flicking towards the soldier whose lap I was on. Leo had said he was old, but he didn’t look a day over thirty-five, and a good thirty-five at that. They all looked similar in age apart from Oz.
“Ash isn’t old,” I said before I could stop myself and this time no one laughed. To my side, Laura leant back to whisper in her man’s ear. I barely had time to wonder what she said. My attention was diverted to what was happening under me. and for a second I wondered how I didn’t notice it before. Ash, big, beautiful Ash, with his hard muscles and sad eyes, was aroused. More than aroused. Once I had felt it pressing into my butt cheek, I couldn’t not feel it. it pressed against me no matter how I tried to sit. I didn’t know how I hadn’t noticed before because it was….
“So, are you coming up to base to spend time with Laura?” Ash’s question made me squirm uncomfortably. I had been thinking so hard about what I could feel in his pants that I hadn’t even realised they had all continued talking. Embarrassment heated my cheeks. His eyes widened slightly, and I had the strangest feeling that he could read my thoughts. shaking it away I smiled at him. trying my best to act normal.
“I wanted to hike a little as well but the weather…” My hand motioned to the snow falling slowly outside. It was just a small flurry, but I knew from experience just how quickly the weather could change in the hills. As much as I wanted answers to all of the questions I had about what happened a few months ago, I didn’t want to be stuck on the mountain if I could help it.
“You like hiking huh?” Ash’s thumb brushed against my hip again. It was such an unconscious movement I doubted he even realised he was doing it. like it was second nature to touch me, “I mean you are up… i…”
I frowned. How would he know if I was up the mountain a lot unless he had seen me? Was he the person I was sure had been watching me up there? I knew he had hovered around quite a bit after I got out of the hospital, but I hadn’t given it much thought at all. He was just being kind, making sure I was ok.
Could it be more than that? Could he know something about what had happened to me?
Could they all?
My memories were so vague and weird, flashing glimpses of things out of nightmares. My eyes narrowed. Maybe Ash would be able to tell me what really went on. Half turning in his lap, I let my eyes flick across his face.
“It's beautiful up there and after everything that happened to me,” I gave a shrug. “I don’t know, I feel the urge to go up there and look for answers.”
Ash swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You won’t find any answers up there, Lainey. It’s just a hill…”
“It's mysterious and almost magical though, don’t you think?” I carried on staring at him. gauging his reaction to my words. “Full of secrets.”
“There are no secrets on the mountain Lainey, none at all. You went through an ordeal. A really traumatic one but it’s over now.” From the front, Ace sounded almost angry. His eye glued to the road in front. “We were all there. if you have questions then we can try and answer them.”
I ignored him. turning my attention back to Ash. “Were you there? I don’t remember seeing your face.”
His lips twisted. His eye became hooded. “Yeah, I was there.”
“I don’t remember you until I woke up in the hospital and…”
