“Mine,” he repeated, fucking her harder, forcing her to take more. To take him.
She turned her face sideways, kissing his hand where it was braced beside her head. “Yours,” she admitted, knowing it was true, understanding what he needed.
“Make me yours, Asa.”
He froze above her as if he wasn’t sure what he heard.
She kissed his hand again, and then turned her face into the quilt. “Make me yours, Asa,” she repeated. “Claim me.”
“Oh God, Darlin’.”
As if she’d lit a fire under him, he went into motion. His hands, mouth and cock were insatiable, demanding her response, demanding she hold nothing back, that she let him do as he wanted, with no restraint.
He wasn’t gentle. She didn’t want him to be. She wanted him as he was. This was her Asa. Part primitive warrior. Part wild knight in shining armor. The man who saw her for what she was and reveled in it. When he finally buried his cock as deep as he could and pumped his hot seed into her welcoming ass, she buried her face in the quilt and relished each spurt, knowing there was no going back. She’d made her choice. She was his.
Chapter Twenty
It turned out worrying about Asa borrowing trouble was a moot point. The next morning, it galloped up to the front door as bold as brass in the shape of Aaron on his blood bay. As soon as he heard the hoofbeats, Asa leapt out of bed. Despite his explicit “Stay there”, Elizabeth followed him to the window, her progress much smoother as she wasn’t hopping into her blue denims as she went. She merely had to shrug into her robe. By the time he was buttoning the fly of his pants, she was beside him. She ignored his exasperated glance and pulled back her side of the curtains.
She couldn’t believe her eyes. The message she’d sent Aaron two days ago had said she needed to speak to him. She hadn’t said it was urgent. As a matter of fact, she’d said anytime after breakfast would be fine. The rising sun flashed off the silver conches circling his hat. She flinched from the assault on her vision and the catastrophe brewing beside her. Asa was never at his most cooperative before a full stomach.
“Elly!” Aaron bellowed, the urgency in his voice unmistakable. “Elly! Are you all right?”
Asa let his side of the window curtain drop. “The man seems to have something important on his mind.”
“What makes you think that?” she asked, stepping back.
“Might be the way his horse is winded, or the way he’s bellowing like a bull.”
She strove for innocence. “It might?”
From Aaron’s haste, he must not have been home to receive her note, and had worked himself into a lather worrying as a result. She cast another glance at the window. She saw Cougar approaching from the bunkhouse where he’d spent the night. She breathed a sigh of relief. Cougar would keep Aaron entertained while she worked on her husband.
Asa reached out and touched her cheek, the grimness of his expression not matching the gentleness of his touch. “Yeah, it might.” He sighed. “What’d you do, Elizabeth?”
She tightened the belt on her robe and avoided Asa’s gaze. “What makes you think I did anything?”
Aaron bellowed again. Through the window, Cougar’s muffled drawl could be heard in response.
Asa trailed his finger down her cheek, tipping her gaze to his when he reached her chin. “The fact that you’re ducking my gaze. The fact that, if you pull that belt any tighter, I’m going to be caring for two wives, and because my gut says so.”
She couldn’t hold his gaze. “Your gut could be wrong.”
His fingers slid along her neck until they anchored in the curls at the base. One tug and she was back to looking at him. “Is my gut wrong?”
She took a deep breath. Instead of the hedge she’d intended, out popped the unvarnished truth. “I sent him a note.”
“After we agreed you’d trust me to handle this?”
She was glad she hadn’t lied before. “Of course not! I sent it two days ago.”
He stared at her a moment before the rigidity left his posture. The fingers still anchored in her hair began to stroke her skin. “I’m glad to hear that.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You were ready to believe I broke my promise!”
“Seemed possible based on the situation.”
“The situation being your worry that I place more value on Aaron than I do you?”
“You’ve known him all your life.”
“You’re my husband.”
“I know you’ve got a strong sense of duty, but—”
“You’re my husband.”
This time he didn’t argue. She stared at him a minute. Downstairs, she heard Cougar ushering Aaron into the study. No doubt he’d be up here in a minute. Aaron wasn’t easily put off. He would, however, just this once, have to wait. There was something she needed to get clear between herself and Asa. “Aaron and I grew up together. I know him and I trust him. I think you’re mistaken in your assessment of him based on my knowledge of his personality, but that doesn’t mean I put him before you.”