Page 98 of King of Ashes
“I don’t think I had a choice. It was fate.”
“I can’t contradict you on that.”
“Well, you wanted me too.”
“I did. I do. I always will.”
Silence descends, preserving the sacredness of this moment.
A radiant smile curls the corners of her mouth as she sweeps her gaze from me to the ocean. “I want to swim at night, feel the water embrace me and the moon kiss me.”
“While I fuck you. You forgot to include that part.”
Food is forgotten as she sashays to me, eyeing me with a flirty expression. “I thought that was implied.”
“Fuck, baby. You’re terrific at driving me wild.”
“I have to, to keep up with you,” she says, reaching out her hand to me. It feels monumental, like she’s offering me her trust, a silent promise of forever.
“It’s the other way around,” I rasp, overcome by emotion. “But I appreciate your attempt at making me feel better.”
“Needed.”
That is such a loaded and potent word, and I grab her hand, placing it on my chest. “It’s yours. My life. My heart. Whatever you desire, whatever you need, it’s yours for the taking.”
Hand in hand, we walk toward the shore. The water splashes at our feet, and I peel her dress off, a goddess bathing in moonlight as she disappears like an offering to the sea. I undress in hurried moves, following quickly because she’s mine. No one else’s but mine.
Catching up with her, I spin her around and drag her to my chest, slamming my mouth on hers, wanting my breath to be the one to feed her. What I am for her has not been named yet. No false modesty, but she’s just as mad about me, making the plunge into madness sweeter. The surrender to obsession simpler. The fall unavoidable.
She floats around, humming softly as I watch her with hawk eyes, too afraid she will slip somewhere else and I will lose her.
Her features are soft and relaxed. There’s a newly found lightness to her.
“Let’s stay here,” I suggest, just to preserve this hard-found happiness.
She threads through the water toward me, and rising onto her toes, she palms my chest and kisses my jaw. “Paradise. A tempting offer, but this is just a reprieve from reality. We can’tescape our tribulations, but we will grow stronger together by facing challenges and overcoming them. We’ll grow old and look back knowing we stood the test of time and weathered life’s curveballs. I don’t want the simple path, but the less-traveled one—steep and hard at times, but every mile conquered will make the journey memorable, knowing the destination is true and well deserved.”
I lower my face, bringing our foreheads together. “You’ve always been the wiser one.”
“Lucky you.”
“Yes, lucky me,” I say, swallowing through the lump of emotion lodged in my throat.
I gather her in my arms and return to shore, placing her on the sand. Crawling on top of her, I slip inside her with gentle reverence, to show her that I cherish her––the starlit sky, my witness of claiming my woman, daring anyone to take her from me and face eternal wrath.
“Whoever said this is romantic had no freaking idea,” she whines in the shower as I try to wash away the sand that has stuck in places it shouldn’t. “This was the first and last time.”
“Baby, I have sand in my fucking asshole.”
“Me too, and I much prefer your cock to this.”
Only hearing that injects a shot of desire straight into my groin. “Happy now?” I point at my hard cock that juts and weeps between us as I scoop some more out of her openings.
“That’s the norm,” she sasses me and hugs my middle, looking up at me with a bright smile. “It was still sweet and romantic.”
While she keeps her eyes on me, her hand moves lower toward my ass, a gleam sparking in her eyes and instantly alerting me. “What are you doing?”
Her lips thrust out in a sweet pout. This woman gets any damn thing without fail. “Don’t freak out. I want to test something.”
