Page 88 of Ruthless, But for Her

His voice, low and thick, nearly startled her. The night was so silent, otherwise. The dock, mostly quiet. The North Sea, a distant hum. Only Ashton’s voice punctuated the stillness.

She turned.

Again he dipped, wrung, and continued to clean her. When he ran the cloth across her breasts, his fingertips lingered.

She shivered.

Replacing the wet cloth with a dry one, he removed any remaining drops of water from her body. Dropping that cloth beside the other on the table, Ashton closed the space between them.

She waited.

When Ashton hesitated, Cassia repeated her words from the Wild Boar. “I would know what it is between a man and a woman, if it is as I know it to be.”

His jaw flexed, but still Ashton said nothing. He wanted her, that much was plain. But why he hesitated was something she would have to work out later. Right now, Cassia was done waiting.

She leaned forward, taking the kiss she’d asked for. Ashton’s hands were everywhere all at once, making her body sing.

When he broke the kiss, she’d been about to protest until Cassia realized he did it only to undress. He pulled his shirt over his head and let it fall, boots and hose following in short order.

Outside, a gust of wind filled the loft with the smell of old hemp. It wasn’t a scent she’d normally find pleasing, but tonight it smelled like him.

When he dropped the last of his clothing, Ashton stood before her, naked and unbothered by it. Glorious, like a saint carved for a cathedral nave, which she should have been shy to look upon so openly...but was not.

He drew her down with him onto the pallet, straw beneath old sailcloth, worn thin from years of use.

“Cassia.”

Just her name. Nothing more.

“What are you⁠—”

She hadn’t expected Ashton to pull her on top of him. Knees on either side of his hips, she found herself looking down at him instead of up.

This time, when his hand reached between her legs, she was prepared for it. Prepared for the assault on her senses as his lips found hers, as his tongue and fingers found the same rhythm.

As before, her body tensed and built upon itself, rising and coiling until... he stopped.

She pulled up, looking down at him.

“Lift your hips above me.”

This was so entirely different, Cassia had little notion of what to do, even though she understood the mechanics of it. When she did as he bid, Ashton held her and began to guide himself into her. Slowly, she pressed downward, smiling at his expression.

He looked pained, excruciatingly so. But it was a good pain. She knew that, at least.

Once he was fully inside her, Cassia hesitated. What was she supposed to do now? At that moment, his hands grasped her hips and guided them. Up and down. Circling, though “not too far that way.” He watched her. Coaxed her. Told her with his words and his own movements what to do.

“Kiss me, Cassia.”

She did, pressing onto him fully.

“Do not be afraid to hurt me. You cannot,” he murmured just before capturing her mouth once again. When he groaned, Cassia realized it was she who was bringing him pleasure, simply by the way she moved.

When he reached between their bodies, Cassia stilled until she understood his intent. His thumb circled her, just above where they were joined. And as before, she bucked her hips at the touch, while still leaning into it. Pressing against his hand. Moving... just so.

The building began again, but this time, Cassia was driving it. She determined when to slow down, and when to speed up. But as her buttocks clenched and the release he’d given her before became imminent, she pulled up to look at him.

“I would see to your pleasure, too.”